Committee Concerning People with Disabilities

COMMITTEE CONCERNING PEOPLE WITH DISABILITIES MEETING MINUTES City of Middletown 61 Durant Terrace October 1, 2024 6:00 PM 1. Members Present: Marty Knight/Chairperson, Keith Vinci, Laurie McFadden, Phil Cacciola, Joe Bibisi Absent: Molly Carta, Emily McCoy, Richard Pelletier Staff Present: Catherine Lechowicz – Director of Recreation and Community Services General Public: none 2. Meeting Called to Order: Called to order at 6:03pm. 3. Public Hearing: none 4. Approval of Minutes: A motion to approve the meeting minutes of September 10, 2024, was made by Phil Cacciola and seconded by Keith Vinci. Keith Vinci made some corrections to the minutes. He stated that he is not on the Board of the Connecticut Association of the Deaf or the State Advisory Board. He is, however, very involved with both agencies. The motion carries. Departmental Reports:  Laurie McFadden stated that she is still working on a testimony that she will present to the legislative body in trying to get support for eliminating the mask ban. She realizes that if she were to go in front of the Common Council, they would refer to the State on this issue. She is looking for a way to be proactive instead of reactive. Since the last meeting, Laurie has found a website called Stop Mask Bans Action Toolkit. That website was a great deal of help with stating the cause via letter writing. She also saw many petitions from Change.org. There is also an organization called Long Covid Justice that gives really helpful suggestions on how to phrase this. She is still working on this testimony and will have more information at the November meeting. She will email the testimony to Cathy and Cathy will bring to the CCPD meeting in November. A discussion ensued.  Keith Vinci stated that he did not have anything to present.  Phil Cacciola stated that the City has a plan for the handicapped parking for the field next door (Pat Kidney) field. There is an arm that comes down which prevents handicapped parking in that handicapped parking lot. Also, at the last meeting, Molly stated that the door at the post office is not accessible. Phil stated that we need to find out how to make the front door of the post office automatic. A discussion ensued.  Cathy Lechowicz stated that there were no new ADA issues with the City. There is one (1) senior that requires interaction between Laura as the Municipal Agent and her Social Worker at River Valley Services to make sure that she is ok. A discussion ensued.  Old Business: New Business: Miscellaneous:   There was the question as to whether or not the CCPD will hold its next meeting which will be held on November 5th (Election Day). It was determined that the committee will hold the November 5th CCPD meeting. There was an info session on voting. This was through the Registrar’s office. There was an info session regarding voting. There is supposed to be Moderators training as well which will explain ADA voting. A discussion ensued. Adjournment: A motion of adjournment was made by Phil Cacciola and was seconded by Joe Bibisi. The motion carries. The meeting adjourned at 6:23pm. Respectfully submitted, Laura Bruni Runte