MINUTES
Mansfield Advisory Committee
on Persons with Disabilities
Regular Meeting - Tuesday May 26, 2009
2:30 PM - Conference Room B - Audrey P. Beck Building
I. Recording Attendance:
Present: K. Grunwald (staff), J. Blanshard, J. Tanner, W. Gibbs (Chair), K.A. Easley, C. Colon-Semenza
Regrets: J. Sidney
II. Approval of Minutes: The minutes for the April 28, 2009 meeting were approved as written.
a. Data on people with disabilities: K. Easley looked into statewide data on residents with disabilities. She contacted Stan Kosloski, but he did not have access to data. She searched census data, and found some 2005 data from the Center for Personal Assistance Services. Questions: how to define disability, specific age group, etc.? She contacted several other agencies to gather data. In general there is a lack of statistics kept in this area. The State Bureau of Rehabilitation Services collects data on people served. The question is how to show data on the number of people impacted in this community. W. Gibbs reported that 9-11% of students at UConn have disability. Census data shows that approximately 7% of the population of Tolland County have a disability. How can this information be used to demonstrate the potential impact of this committee? K. Easley made some suggestions as to how this committee can go about starting to gather data and look at opportunities to affect change. J. Tanner and J. Blanshard suggested that they could start to informally survey residents of town who would benefit from changes to access. J. Blanshard suggested possibly developing a survey. She will also ask if T.C. Karmel would be willing to do a story on this. Another suggestion was to put a question on the web site. K. Grunwald will check and see if this is possible to do, will look into Survey Monkey, and will also contact Brenda Sullivan at Mansfield Today. Look at a combination of publicizing the work of this committee and collecting data. Also contact the Board of Education to get a sense of how many students have disabilities. J. Tanner suggested posting an ad in the Chronicle as a way of soliciting information; list information about the web site. There was some discussion about benefits that are available.
b. “Other”
a. Accessible Parking Fines/Signs: K. Grunwald and J. Tanner attended a meeting of the Traffic Authority. There were some concerns raised about the fact that accessible spaces at the Community Center will not be moved.
b. Storrs Post Office Follow-Up: K. Grunwald reported that he will follow up with a letter to the Director of Consumer Affairs.
c. Whispering Glen Development Follow-Up: K. Grunwald presented a draft letter that he had written to the developer. K. Easley suggested that not all units would be built as accessible. C. Colon-Semenza feels that it would be realistic to offer this as a pre-construction option. J. Tanner suggested that the word be changed to “many.” Some discussion about the intent. K. Grunwald will check with Greg Padick and get the proper terminology for the letter.
d. Status of other accessibility issues previously identified: none.
Respectfully submitted,
Kevin Grunwald