ADA Committee

MONTPELIER ADA COMMITTEE Meeting Minutes DRAFT – for review only The Montpelier Americans with Disabilities (ADA) Committee held its regularly scheduled meeting on Monday, July 10, 2012 at 10:00 A.M. in the City Manager’s Conference Room. Committee Members Present: Kim Brittenham, VCIL, Chair Arne McMullen, Recreation Department Kevin Casey, Economic & Community Development Specialist Anne Wilson Angela Timpone, City Council Member Tom McArdle, Assistant Director of Public Works Bill Fraser, City Manager & ADA Coordinator Introductions and Welcome Kim Brittenham said according to the agenda they hope to review and approve the meeting minutes from last month. Tom McArdle circulated the first draft for the transition plan and has asked for comments on it. Review and Approval of Meeting Minutes of June 5, 2012 Upon a motion made by Anne Wilson seconded by Kim Brittenham the meeting minutes of June 5, 2012 were approved unanimously. Access Awareness Mini Campaign for Montpelier Originally, this was Bill Fraser’s idea to compile a few activities around the ADA’s anniversary which is July 26th. The goal of this campaign was to provide education and technical assistance to businesses and property owners in the Capital City. She created a rather lengthy list of access improvements that have been made in Montpelier and Glenn Moore added more. Her son Ashe Montpelier ADA Committee Page |2 July 10, 2012 turns 15 today and has a disability. Since he started using a wheelchair the disability is the environment around him. There are a lot of businesses and a few property owners on the list and she has enjoyed the process of connecting with Glenn about it. She asked how they wanted to circulate the list. Angela Timpone said she is writing a piece for The Bridge. The Committee talked about an event. They had talked about the Vermont Association for the Blind and Visually Impaired do a sightless walk and invite specific individuals to participate. We can also do a wheelchair and walker tour at the same time. That could be mentioned in the article. Angela Timpone asked if they could it at the Farmer’s Market. Perhaps we could have a table there with some information and invite the Mayor, City Council and business owners to participate. Kim Brittenham said she would write a summary of the tours they are talking about. Angela inquired how to get a table at Julio’s wall for the Farmer’s Market. City Manager Fraser said they should talk to Carolyn Grodinsky, the Manager of the Farmer’s Market. The only issues they have are there are 8 to 10 spaces. They should also invite the Montpelier Alive Board. By extension there is a Montpelier Business Association who is a link to Montpelier Alive. He said he would put a reminder about the event in his weekly message for The Bridge. They could also mention the transition plan and what the city has accomplished. Kevin Casey said they should also take an approach with seniors as well as the Montpelier population keeps aging. The event will be from 10:00 A.M. to 12:00 P.M. at the Farmer’s Market. Montpelier ADA Committee Page |3 July 10, 2012 Kim said she has a list 5 pages long that includes all the access improvements such as the new accessible parking and ramps at businesses and the Library. She has summarized it. She said she is sending a letter to the Editor for the World Newspaper and Times-Argus about VCIL recognizing when somebody makes access improvements. There are also a whole bunch of businesses on the Barre-Montpelier Road that have added accessible parking. Angela Timpone said they should also do a press release for the event. City Manager Fraser said this might be a press release about the event and also recognize positive businesses. It doesn’t hurt to duplicate the message. We are giving credit to people for doing something good. He should have any information by the end of the week. The Recreation Department is completing upgrades to the pool which is also noteworthy. There is a newsletter put out by the Recreation Department. ADA Transition Plan This has been circulated by e-mail by Tom McArdle to Kim and Bill Fraser for first review. It needs to be circulated to the rest of the members. Tom is looking for comments and guidance. We can discuss this at next month’s meeting. Tom McArdle said after the committee reviews it there is a formal public review they need to go through while it is still in draft. Hopefully by September we will be able adopt it as the official committee recommendation and it will go to City Council for adoption. Then, it has to be published. In the past, to provide public review of documents they have placed them at the Library and some at City Hall. We should also have the City Attorney review the document before publishing. This will be on the agenda for the next meeting. Montpelier ADA Committee Page |4 July 10, 2012 Committee Updates Tom McArdle said the paving for the accessible parking at the Library is happening today. It should be painted and signed by the end of the week. Kim said Bethel is having a Municipal Training Day and focusing on their pool and recreation area. That is on July 25th all day long. There maybe 8 or 10 spaces left for other municipalities that want to attend. The New England ADA Center is coming up with their design team and doing training on how to do assessments for facilities. It is $25 for an outside municipality to attend. The VCIL is doing an ADA Birthday Card campaign in their windows. Mark Kaufman from VCIL has a band “The Inaccessibles” that are playing on the 26th in the parking lot as part of the ADA Birthday Celebration from 5:00 to 7:00 P.M. Set Next Meeting Date August 7th at 10:00 A.M. is set for the next meeting. Meeting adjourned. By: Joan Clack Montpelier ADA Committee Page |5 July 10, 2012