Minutes
Mansfield Advisory Committee
on Persons with Disabilities
Regular Meeting - Tuesday January 27, 2009
2:30 PM - Conference Room B - Audrey P. Beck Building
I. Recording Attendance:
Present: K. Grunwald (staff), W. Gibbs (Chair), J. Sidney, K.A. Easley (staff), C. Colon-Semenza
Regrets: J. Blanshard, J. Tanner
II. Approval of Minutes: The minutes for the Meeting of December 23, 2008 were not formally approved in the absence of a quorum.
a. Committee Goals for 2009: There was some discussion regarding the vision of this committee. It was agreed that it is not just about accessibility, but also about providing information and raising awareness. One proposed goal is the development of a web page, raising the profile of this committee and making community members more aware of a number of issues. K. Grunwald will do a draft article on the committee for Mansfield Today and the Willimantic Chronicle. We will address the issue of goals at our next meeting.
b. Use of family changing room at the Community Center: J. Sidney raised concerns about ongoing use of the family dressing room and the accessible changing room by individuals who do not appear to need this facility. It was suggested that we look at addressing this issue through some type of communication, possible a letter to members from the Director in the next mailing. Some discussion followed about how members perceive the purpose of the family dressing room, and whether or not this as seen as only being for families or individuals who need assistance. There was also some discussion about whether or not a key would help address some of these problems. What about the possibility of putting a timer on the showers? The question was posed as to whether or not we make rules and procedures for the least responsible or the most responsible person? What are staff expectations regarding use of the family changing room, and how are these expectations communicated? Also, some discussion regarding the use and location of signage, and how this information can be publicized. An additional suggestion was made to inform visitors to the Community Center of the use of the family changing room as they are receiving their wristband. C. Colon-Semenza raised concerns about the lack of orientation to the facility that took place for her as a new member, particularly around the culture of the facility. Questions were raised about how the orientation is taking place? J. Sidney agreed to draft a letter that could be sent to Community Center members.
c. “Other”: K. Grunwald mentioned that the Commission on Aging has raised concerns about not being able to hear Town Council members during meetings. A letter was sent to the Communications Committee and the Town Council
a. Follow-Up re: a web page for this committee: W. Gibbs and K. Grunwald met to review the outline for a web page, and a draft outline was distributed for discussion. K.A. Easley asked about coming up with a name that would draw individuals to the page. No suggestions were made. The IT Department is working on creating the page, and committee members will view it at our next meeting.
b. Follow-up on enforcement of accessible parking violation: We have not received any information from Sgt. Kodzis on fines. C. Colon-Semenza reported that they recently had an incident at the Nayden Clinic where they had difficulty getting police response. She raised concerns about the police capacity to respond to accessible parking violators.
c. Status of other accessibility issues previously identified: There was some discussion regarding modification of one of the community Center family changing rooms to make it accessible. Maria Capriola, Assistant to the Town Manager, reported that we may be able to get an amendment to use a grant from the Small Cities program to modify the changing room. Some questions were raised as to whether or not there are less costly ways of accomplishing this. We will refer this question to Curt Vincente.
Respectfully submitted,
Kevin Grunwald