HomeMy Public PortalAboutAll Citizens Access -- 2010-10-15 MinutesALL CITIZENS ACCESS COMMITTEE
Meeting Minutes for October 15, 2010
Members Present: Brian Ladley, Christine Glasheen, Jean Sears, Denise Rego,
Robert Steinmann, Maureen Steinmann
Minutes for the September 24, 2010 meeting were accepted.
There were several items mentioned by the Chair:
• Application for CPC funds is on the town's web site:.
• Summary of beach wheelchair usage -two beach wheelchairs were loaned a total
of 54 days, ten of which both beach wheelchairs were out simultaneously.
• Accessible Restaurant List:
Denise sent notes to accessible restaurants. These restaurants will be noted as
accessible in the Chamber of Commerce town booklet for visitors.
The Chair sent ElGuapo's Taqueria a letter saying they needed to designate
a handicap parking space to be on our accessible restaurant list. Members
mentioned that E1 Guapo's has since done this. The Chair will acknowledge this by
sending a note to El Guapo's.
One change was noted. The entrance walkway to the Brewster Pizza House is
too narrow and overgrown to be accessible. Therefore, the Brewster Pizza House
will not be included on this list.
• Nickerson State Park Visitor Center. The Chair spoke with Superintendent
Petersen. He said he would try to make the center accessible by the middle of
November. If not, we will ask the MA Office on Disability how to proceed.
• Blacksmith's Shop at Drummer Boy Park. The ramp was reinstalled.
• Brian, Bob and Maureen along with Tom Thatcher, head custodian, evaluated
Town Hall offices for wheelchair usability. Counters in the Assessor's,
Accounting, Town Clerk's, Health and Building offices will have to be modified.
In Planning/Conservation, possibly afold-down shelf will be all that is needed.
• Hearing assists for Selectmen's room in Town Hall. Brian mentioned about the
loop system which is best for people who wear their hearing aide outside of their
ear. The loop system is expensive and it is not now considered a priority as the
current microphone system appears to be adequate when used properly. Also,
the CART system is always available upon request as an option.
• CORD meeting of Sept. 30. Bob and Maureen attended. Discussion re
recreational activities for those with disabilities. CORD has received a grant for
special needs recreational activities. CORD has found facilities are available,
but not the modified equipment necessary for participants. Also discussed was
the "assistive voting machines". Carla Burke of Harwich encouraged everyone
to become more familiar with them so we could promote their use. The
committee members were interested in learning more about the assistive voting
machine and the Chair said she would see if it was possible for our Town Clerk,
Colette Williams, to fit an information session into her busy schedule.
The size type and color ink being used in the COA newsletter might be a
problem for individuals who are sight impaired. Denise said she did not have a
choice re ink color but that she would look into it.
• The change in the open meeting bylaw: Any meetinl~ notice has to be available
to the public 24/7. Brewster now has an outside announcement board on which
are posted the various committee meeting notices.
• "211". Dialing "211" will give you access to health and human services
information and referrals, free of charge, sponsored by United Way.
• Drummer Boy Park. The committee should be thinking about ways in which
DBP can be made accessible to all. At some point in time, the Chair feels that a
master plan will be developed for the park and our committee should be ready
with suggestions.
• Denise will be our committee's contact with the Chamber of Commerce which
runs the Brewster Visitor's Center dealing with information sheets re accessible
beaches, beach wheelchairs, accessible restaurants and any other pertinent
information that will be included in Brewster's 2011 Visitors Guide. Denise said
the information to be included in the book must be in sometime in January.
• Jeff Dougan, Assistant Director for Community Service at the MA Office on
Disability will be at our Nov. 19, 2010 meeting. Jillian Douglass, Assistant Town
Manager, was invited to attend this meeting. Jillian is Brewster's ADA
Coordinator.
Meeting ended 3:lOpm. Next meeting November 19, 2010. Respectfully submitted
by Maureen Steinmann