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.