MINUTES

 

Mansfield Advisory Committee on Persons with Disabilities

Regular Meeting   - Tuesday Jan. 25, 2005

2:30 PM - Conference Room C - Audrey P. Beck Building

 

I.                     Attendance: K. Grunwald (staff), S. Hasson (Acting Chair), J. Sidney (prospective member), T. Miller, C. Vincente (staff), W. Gibbs, D. Korbel (guest), J. O’Keefe

II.                   Approval of the Minutes for the Meeting of Oct. 26, 2004: minutes were approved as written, with the correction that K. Grunwald and J. Sidney were not present at the meeting.

III.                  New Business

a.       K. Grunwald distributed information on a proposed legislative request to provide matching funding to municipalities to provide transportation to people over 60 and those with disabilities.  This bill was passed in 1999, but has not been funded.

b.        Agency Funding Request: K. Grunwald distributed copies of the agency funding request for WRCC Dial-A-Ride, and the ADA Dial-A-Ride component.  After some discussion the committee voted unanimously to approve the funding in the amounts requested.

                                                                                                                       

IV.               Old Business

 

a.       Membership: J. Sidney has submitted a letter of interest to the Town Manager’s office, requesting that she be appointed to this committee.  It was noted that the membership of the committee is predominantly connected to UConn, and there was some discussion about recruiting other community members who may be disabled or who may have family members who have disabilities.  K. Grunwald volunteered to place notices on the Town’s website and municipal television channel to recruit new members, and to contact Gail Daley of the Willimantic Chronicle to see if she will do an article on the committee.

 

b.       Update on ADA corridor/Dial-A-Ride: K. Grunwald reported that there are no immediate plans to expand this corridor.

 

c.      Update on ADA compliance – Community Center: C. Vincente and J. O’Keefe distributed copies of a report on shower accessibility that was done by David Hoyle.  It has been determined that the shower seat in the women’s “roll-in” shower needs to be moved to be closer to the shower control.  There was some question raised re: the apparent discrepancy between the building codes and ADA requirements.  D. Korbel asked if it may be easier to move the controls rather than the seat, and also suggested that it may make more sense to use a shower chair rather than moving the bench or the controls.  She pointed out that in her experience at UConn, compliance with ADA requirements does not necessarily meet each individual’s needs, and a chair provides more flexibility.  There was also discussion about adding a second pull-down bar.  D. Korbel and J. Sidney agreed to meet with Community Center staff to explore the use of a chair and other options that may be easily implemented.

 

d.      “Other”: There was brief discussion re: the committee being proactive in the development of the proposed Storrs downtown project, and also having input on the new theatres that are being built at the Eastbrook Mall.  A brief update was given on the assisted living initiative in Mansfield.

 

Meeting adjourned at 3:30 PM; next meeting will be on Tuesday, February 22 at 2:30.

 

Respectfully submitted,

Kevin Grunwald