Committee Concerning People with Disabilities

COMMITTEE CONCERNING PEOPLE WITH DISABILITIES MEETING MINUTES City of Middletown 61 Durant Terrace September 10, 2024 6:00 PM 1. Members Present: Marty Knight/Chairperson, Emily McVoy, Keith Vinci, Laurie McFadden and Molly Carta Absent: Phil Cacciola, Joe Bibisi, Richard Pelletier Staff Present: Catherine Lechowicz – Director of Recreation and Community Services General Public: none 2. Meeting Called to Order: Called to order at 6:00pm. 3. Public Hearing: none 4. Approval of Minutes: A motion to approve the meeting minutes of June 4, 2024, was made by Molly Carta and seconded by Emily McVoy. Keith Vinci abstained. The motion carries. Departmental Reports:  Keith Vinci stated that he is no longer the President of the Connecticut Registry of Interpreters for the Deaf. Also, a bill was passed to establish a Bureau for Deaf and Hard of Hearing which is scheduled to open on October 1st. Keith is now a Board Member of the Connecticut Association of the Deaf as well as a member of the State Advisory Board. A discussion ensued.  Emily McVoy stated that she had nothing to report.  Molly Carta stated that while walking her new service dog at Crystal Lake and Pat Kidney Field the dog waste bags are situated too high for someone in a wheelchair. They are unable to reach the bags. On the path at Pat Kidney field it is fully accessible but on the path at Crystal Lake only 1 of them is accessible. Cathy stated that she will speak to the Parks Department to see if they can be more accessible. A discussion ensued.  Laurie McFadden stated that she is a person with an immune system disorder as well as long Covid. There is currently another surge with Covid. She is working with a group that is advocating bringing masks back in medical settings. Laurie stated that she will write a letter to the Common Council and Mayor to discuss this issue. A discussion ensued.  Cathy Lechowicz expressed that an individual who lives on Butternut Street reached out to Laura and asked why the sidewalk is not accessible. If the City needed to put in a sidewalk then the sidewalk would need to be accessible. Since the sidewalk is already built, the city is not obligated to make it accessible. This was double checked by calling Disability Rights New England. A discussion ensued.  Marty stated that on June 29th at Lions Landing at Harbor Park, there was a very nice dedication of the fact that the Lions club worked hard collecting 500 pounds of plastic and was therefore able to dedicate a bench to Elderrean Paules, who passed away and who was a long member of this committee. A discussion ensued. Old Business: New Business: Miscellaneous:   Emily McVoy stated that she works in the Department of Developmental Services. The department has heard that the State of Connecticut is stating that there is a moratorium on creating new group homes in Connecticut. A discussion ensued.  Molly Carta stated that the accessibility of many post offices in the surrounding areas is not sufficient. In particular, this pertains to the entrance options. A discussion ensued. Molly is a certified fitness instructor. Do you offer any type of adaptive fitness classes in Middletown? Cathy stated that she would love to speak to Molly about this.  Marty Knight asked that everyone respond to whether or not they will be attending the CCPD meetings so that it can be determined if there will be a quorum at our monthly meetings. A discussion ensued. Adjournment: A motion of adjournment was made by Keith Vinci and was seconded by Emily McVoy. The motion carries. The meeting adjourned at 6:40pm. Respectfully submitted, Laura Bruni Runte