HomeMy Public PortalAboutAll Citizens Access -- 2013-02-15 Minutes ALL CITIZENS ACCESS COMMITTEE BREWSTER TOWN CLERK
Meeting Minutes, February 15, 2013
Meeting began at 2:05pm at the Council on Aging Building. '13 MAR25 4:01 PM
{ Members present: Denise Rego, Claire Gradone, Robert Steinmann, Maureen Steinmann
Members absent: Brian Ladley
The meeting minutes for January 18th, 2013 were approved and accepted.
Potential Rotary Grant:
At their January meeting, the ACAC voted to use this grant to help improve accessibility at the Grist Millsite.
The Grist Mill dam is being repaired and when completed,the opportunity to make more of that area accessible
will be possible. The Chair spoke with Dana Condit,the Chair of the Millsites Committee about this. Dana is
committed to making the Mill site as accessible as possible and said he would give it some thought. He will
also contact Herb Montgomery from Nauset Rotary and Chris Miller, Director of Natural Resources to discuss
this matter with them. Dana will stay in touch with the ACAC regarding this project. Maureen was going to
check with Herb Montgomery about the application deadline.
If for some reason the Grist Millsite is not suitable for this grant, then the committee's second choice is an
accessible pathway at Paines Creek Landing. The reasons are:
• Due to the extensive damage to Brewster's bayside beaches this past week, it might not be practical or
possible to make another ocean beach fully accessible for quite some time, if at all. At Paines Creek
Landing it was felt that at least there would be access to the scenic, upper level, beachfront area during
the summer months if there were an accessible pathway. This pathway would be portable and removed
before winter.
• The ACAC had already put together an initial plan for an accessible walkway at Paines Creek Landing.
Last year such a plan was drawn up and quoted; hence, the committee felt that this project would be a
ready-made alternative for this potential Rotary grant. The final plan can't be determined until after the
eulvert at Paines Creek is rebuilt, which is scheduled for this springtime. The Chair brought in her
accessible walkway samples of Super Deck, PathMat and MobiMat and turned them over to Denise.
The Paines Creek pathway quote was for Super Deck and PathMat. The quoted figures were between
$11,000 and $12,000. Super Deck still seems to be the preferred material among the committee
members.
Future Funding for Accessibility Proiects.
John DiOkson, the Selectmen's liason to our committee mentioned in an email that there will be $20,000
annually in the five-year capital plan for accessibility projects. He feels we can use that as a guide to develop a
long range plan for accessibility projects, adjusting for costs depending on the project involved. That was good
news to the ACAC.
Current Proiects-suggested for annual annropriation
Drummer Boy Park:.
Phase II'of the Drummer Boy Park accessibility plan needs to be reviewed and acted upon by the Drummer Boy
Park Advisory Committee. As mentioned at the previous ACAC meeting, there is no designated handicap
parking and this needs to be addressed. The ACAC committee also discussed the possibility of using some of
this proposed annual allocation to repair and maintain the accessible walkway at Drummer Boy Park. There are
some areas of the walkway that got washed out this winter and will need to be repaired. The Drummer Boy
Advisory Committee last year discussed the need for annually budgeted money to maintain the pathway. The
DPW usually does this type of work, but it is unfunded. Further discussion will be necessary between the
3 concerned parties and the ACAC to see how they want to proceed.
Linnell Landing: It is hoped that the scheduled reconstruction of an accessible platform at Linnell Landing will
still happen despite the storm erosion. Linnell Landing is the only accessible beach in Brewster. The old
platform at Linnell was destroyed during the storm three weeks ago.
Future Proiects-suasested for annual appropriation
Long Pond: The next accessible project that probably should be developed is Long Pond. Brewster has no
accessible pond beach and the Long Pond area is the only pond beach that can be made accessible. A final plan
will have to be designed taking into account the issues of drainage, handicap parking, access to the beach area,
an accessible beach platform,picnic area, and portable bathroom facility . The committee felt that this plan
probably should be determined by a special group of town personnel, including Bob Bersin, Superintendent of
DPW; Chris Miller, Director of Natural Resources; Jillian Douglass, Assistant Town Administrator; Jim
Gallagher, Conservation Administrator; and John Dickson, Selectman, along with members of the ACAC.
Once a plan is developed,then the costs can be determined. Mention was made by the Chair that Chris Miller
is planning on redoing the boat ramp at Long Pond. The committee wondered if this new boat ramp by law
would have to be made accessible.
Recreational Fields: The committee felt that the town's Recreation Department would probably initiate the
development of a plan to make at least one of their baseball/softball and soccer fields accessible, as outlined by
Jeff Dougan from MA Office on Disability last fall. The committee will certainly help in any way we can.
Claire mentioned that a letter re CPA funding was sent by the Community Preservation Committee to
departments and groups who could apply for the special funding.
White Caps Field: The White Caps Field will be surveyed by Chris Becker from the MA Office on Disability on
April 16, at 1pm. Claire and other committee members will make note of any special areas they feel need to be
addressed with Mr. Becker. It was also mentioned that a variance from the Mass. Architectural Access Board
can be applied for if ADA compliance is difficult to meet when doing projects such as the White Caps Field or
Brewster's Freemans Way Recreational Fields.
Conservation areas: The Chair brought in the January-April 2013 issue of Mass Audubon's Connections. The
first article in this magazine describes the Audubon's ongoing Accessible Interpretive Trails Project,the object
of which is to make universal accessible trails to accommodate visitors who have a range of abilities. The Chair
felt that this information might be useful in making some of Brewster's conservation lands accessible.
Spruce Hill: This trail is located behind the Brewster Historical Society Museum. It is a wooded trail that
could possibly be made accessible by having AmeriCorps volunteers construct a boardwalk of composite wood
with a lip similar to the ones at the National Seashore Park. The trail leads to the beach,which is not accessible,
but it might be possible to build a small viewing platform with either a separate bench or built-in bench.
After April, there will be only three members on the ACAC committee: Denise Rego, Claire Gradone and
Brian Ladley. Brian is unable to attend the committee meetings on a regular basis. There was some discussion
about how to get new members but nothing definite was decided.
Our next meeting will be on March 22, 2013. The April meeting will be scheduled for April 26th' By then, it is
hoped that the committee will have MOD's survey of the White Caps Field to review.
The meeting adjourned at 3:10pm. Respectfully submitted by Maureen Steinmann