Committee Concerning People with Disabilities

COMMITTEE CONCERNING PEOPLE WITH DISABILITIES MEETING MINUTES City of Middletown 61 Durant Terrace October 3, 2023 6:00 PM 1. Members Present: Marty Knight/Chairperson, Joe Bibisi, Phil Cacciola, Laurie McFadden, Keith Vinci, Richard Pelletier (Via phone) Absent: Molly Carta, Elderrean Paules, August DeFrance Staff Present: Catherine Lechowicz – Director of Recreation and Community Services General Public: none 2. Meeting Called to Order: Called to order at 6:01pm. 3. Public Hearing: none 4. Approval of Minutes: A motion to approve the meeting minutes of May 2, 2023, was made by Phil Cacciola and seconded by Keith Vinci. Richard Pelletier abstained. The motion carries. Departmental Reports:  Laurie McFadden stated that the parking spaces in town are not all the same dimension. Has there been a study in town to determine whether or not the handicapped parking spaces meet the specifications for ADA. There was a parking space which was located in front of Eli Cannon on Main Street and she received a parking ticket because in order to get out of the car it had to be parked over the line. A discussion ensued.  Richard Pelletier stated that they had a meeting regarding the river front restaurant. There is an electrical issue but they are uncertain where to move it. There was discussion about the multiple school committees that he is on. The roof of 1 of the schools is flat and they were talking about putting the electronics on the roof of Snow School. Middletown High School will be going out to bid for the turf. A discussion ensued  Phil Cacciola stated that he can’t imagine why they have to change the goal post since it has been in the ground for 75 years. The election is coming up in November. He hasn’t heard of any issues from the past primary. There was discussion about moving a voting location. Phil stated that they will be moving the voting location from Wesleyan to the American Legion building. A discussion ensued.  Keith Vinci stated that there was being work done with the association of interpreters and trying to get things back to how they were when there was a commission of deaf and hard of hearing. In December, the Critters will be putting on another holiday program. A discussion ensued.  Joe Bibisi stated that St. Vincent De Paul will be taking over the warming center this winter season. It will be held at the Baptist Church on the corner of Main and Williams Streets. The Columbus House will not be sponsoring the program like they did last year. A discussion ensued.  Cathy Lechowicz stated that she received an email from an individual who is interested in our committee. The person had concerns about parking and sidewalks on the North end. Cathy stated that the Senior Center provides Farmer’s Market coupons for those seniors that do not reside in senior housing. The housing authority distributes them to those seniors that live in their facilities. Sbona Towers decided that they would not be handing out Farmer’s Market coupons this year. The residents of Sbona Towers came to the senior center to get their Farmer’s Market coupons. We did not have enough coupons for both seniors not residing in senior housing and seniors residing in senior housing therefore we ran out quickly. Cathy called the housing authority to ask why they were not participating in the program this year and they stated that it was too much work. Looking forward to next year, the senior center will ask for more coupons so that everyone can be accommodated. Cathy mentioned the boat house issue that is going to be on the  referendum. A discussion ensued. There was also discussion about holding vaccine clinics. Cathy explained that when the Health Department is hosting a clinic, it is actually run by Stop and Shop and billed through Stop and Shop. A discussion ensued. Old Business:  Phil Cacciola discussed the update on the generator at Monarca Place. It will be up and running soon. New Business: Miscellaneous: Adjournment: A motion of adjournment was made by Phil Cacciola and was seconded by Keith Vinci. The motion carries. The meeting adjourned at 6:42pm. Respectfully submitted, Laura Bruni Runte