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HomeMy Public PortalAboutWCOD Minutes 4-21-21Watertown Commission on Disability 149 Main St. Watertown, MA. 02472 Meeting Minutes Wednesday, April 21, 2021 The meeting was held by Zoom online and called to order at 7:03 p.m. by John Hawes, Vice Chair. ROLL CALL- John Hawes, Vice Chair; Lisa Feltner, Town Councilor; Lissa Gifford; Carol Menton; Naomi Ridge; Elan Rohde; Gayle Shattuck, Town Personnel Director and ADA Coordinator; and Megan O'Halloran. Absent — Carol Wilson Braun, Kim Charlson GUESTS -Greg St. Louis, Superintendent of Public Works, Matt Shuman, Town Engineer. Judy Fallows did not attend. Marcia Smith, resident 1. CALL TO ORDER — everyone introduced themselves. 2. AUDIENCE ISSUES — Ms. Smith described her disability and the effect of a raised table going in on Dexter Road; that Nichols Ave and Boylston St. is rough. She is looking for an alternative. Mr. St. Louis appreciated her concern and will look at other roads but the tables are ADA compliant, the project has been ongoing since last Fall with the approval of the Town Council and MBTA as part of a $20 million project to restore pavements and slow traffic. He reported that a lot of routes in and around Watertown will be under construction with the goal of improvement overall. Mr. Shuman stated that the DPW did a Safe Route To Schools assessment and road reconstruction is a capital item. He explained that drainage is in and tables are determined by drainage, a 6 inch drop in 10 feet. While they can look to see if something can be done, there are no guarantees. John acknowledged that DPW has been extraordinarily sensitive to ADA issues. He suggested looking for pot holes to be fixed on the route down Nichols, that may be all that's needed. Lisa Feltner acknowledged that it was an unusual situation, that the Town is doing it's best given ongoing construction, that it's difficult for the Town to adjust plans for one person but will respond as best as possible even if it doesn't result in what you're requesting. The Town has limits but will look at options. Elan asked Ms. Smith if pot holes are fixed would that suffice? (Ms. Smith answered but I couldn't hear). 3. GUEST SPEAKER — Mr. St. Louis introduced himself and let us know that has a background as ADA Coordinator on transportation program at the State level. We moved up the agenda items of 8c) that have to do with DPW items. 8c 1.) Audible signal for Church and Summer Streets, Mr. Shuman said that was completed previously. 8c2.) Pedestrian Crossing at North Beacon and Charles River Road 8c3) Detectable Warnings at Lexington and Main Streets: Mr. Shuman said they're looking to address the plastic and replacing with cast iron going forward. 8c4) Intersection at Lexington and Orchard Streets: Mr. Shuman said that the Project engineer will review. Regarding access around the signals Mr. Shuman said that there is no time frame for widening the area. Naomi identified that the tactile strips outside of CVS are torn and missing. Mr. Shuman said that they're looking to address the plastic and replace with cast iron going forward. 8c5) John discussed previous discussion regarding coordination of public concerns of sidewalks, roads and parks. Mr. St. Louis explained that there could be grading issues, that Watertown might not own the land, and cost considerations with requests. 4. Chair's Report — a) Stop & Shop: Elan gave a follow up discussion of the AAB notice to Stop & Shop regarding non compliance issues of handicap parking signs. She took picture and distributed to the Commissioners. It was decided that we'll let the AAB process manage the situation as the Local Inspector was copied on the letter that we received after the March meeting. b) How Park - John asked about How Park, the bench and solid surface inside the park has been discussed for a while, and that Filepello Park is a good example. Mr. St. Louis was aware of the issue and is in agreement with concrete pads and an accessible bench. c) Invitation to Christopher McClure, CIO to attend May meeting- has been confirmed. d) Gayle read a tribute on behalf of the WCOD to John Flynn, retired Town Clerk for all that he did for the Commission regarding the Faire on the Square and accessible voting. 5. ACCEPTANCE OF MINUTES- It was moved, seconded and VOTED unanimously to accept the minutes from the March meeting. Copies of the minutes may be requested from the Town Clerk's Office. 6. TREASURER'S REPORT- It was moved, seconded and VOTED unanimously to accept the Treasurer's Report for March. Copies of the Treasurer's report may be requested from the town's ADA Coordinator in the Personnel Office. 9. NEW BUSINESS- None 10. ADJOURN - It was moved, seconded and VOTED to end the Zoom meeting at 8:30 p.m. The next meeting of WCOD will take place via Zoom at 7 p.m. on Wed, May 19, 2021.