good evening welcome to the June 11th uh Commission on disabilities meeting I'm going to do a roll call of of the members myself Ral Theo is present call Pauline perno I am present in Walking is present thank you uh uh Mario germanis present uh Ellie Vargas present Baron present yeah you just muted if you just unmute yourself present and um an Marie fiori um is was not sure if she was going to atttend she's a little bit under the weather so if she comes in uh later I will uh I will let everyone know um so I did a little a little out of the order so I just did a roll call the members and I'm just gonna do the pledge everyone temporarily and I called you again I can tell you and uh I'll do the Pledge of Allegiance I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the rep for which it stands one nation under God indivisible with liberty and justice for all thank you um since we already did the roll call of members I'm just going to move to item uh number one which was a motion to approve the meeting minutes from the May 14th uh 2024 meeting I sent them all out to everyone uh if everyone had a chance to take it take a look at it um if there's any questions or uh there's any questions at this time on that if anyone seen any errors if not if someone would like to make a motion to approve that was at that meeting uh and also second it I will motion to approve second it okay motion to approve made by Pauline okay um item number two is updates and next steps from the May 14 uh meeting um Pauline if you're able do you want to make any uh we have the calendar updates uh for future monthly guests sure I I don't as of right now I have no updates um I am reaching out re- reaching out to a couple of the places that have the um integrated Sports and um I have not heard back from any of them yet but I do know that one place has just opened up their calendar so I'm hoping that they'll get back to me um I know that we don't have a meeting in July but I'm hoping for either August or September I think September would be really timely um getting the kids back into school and maybe helping with some issues with helping kids maybe stress unwind at the end of their day as well as get some activity and um sports that are available to them so I'm really hopeful that I have three feelers out I have not heard back from any but I'm certainly working at it perfect and amarie was is was in as a tendy and I just saw that and I just let her in sorry about that Emory that's okay I was sure making I just noticed it thank you thank you hopefully you're feeling better um I'm gonna let you because I wasn't sure if you hand I had the email open but I'm since uh we're talking about the um potential guest speakers I'm gonna let you talk about the potential guest speaker that you have and if you and Pauline can uh can uh Co can try and get together and figureing out to see to uh how them come Poss for the August meeting but I'll let you talk on that now absolutely sounds good so uh yes her name is Maran she's the coordinator from the community family in Everett um it's basically a day program for people with all levels of disability um it's one of the first uh for um people with the diagnosis of Alzheimer's as well so it's a day program my aunt actually attended it for many many years and I know some of them aren't really the best um um but this provides you know a day where the um the people can go out and spend the day there's really a sense of community a sense of uh socialization and they provide all different levels of care depending on the level of disability um so the the coordinator Marian will be willing to come on as a guest speaker and she's available for August if that slot is open um so I'd be happy to coordinate with you Pauline and get you her information and she's happy to come on and tell a little bit about the program what they offer um and I really can't speak highly enough about it my family was involved in it for many years and they became like a second family almost so um if if that's something that we'd be interested in she would love to join us absolutely that sounds like an outstanding guest speaker um I think that August would be good to go I will not you know entertain anybody else for August so let's keep her on the docket for August's meeting um that will be great and an Marie if it's okay with you I will be emailing you um and we can maybe get together once you're I know that you have kids in school um my Summer's already begun haha but maybe we can get together and um maybe hash out a couple more of those things as well but that sounds awesome so why don't we keep her on the docket for our August meeting uh from six to seven or six to however long she would like to spend with us that's excellent sounds great looking forward forward to it okay great thank you um item number two for updates and next steps is uh Grant updates regarding save the hob or save the bay um basically the better Beach program um I am trying to solidify a meeting with the uh with the pox and Rex Department uh the date is going to be um Saturday August 17th um at River Beach we're going to be having an all abilities day out at the beach uh from 10 to two so I'm trying to solidify a meeting with rivox and Rex so that they could help me um create a registration um form and Link for online uh because it's going to be uh people are going to have to register for this event it's going to be a free event um for for this for the day out there we're going to have music we're g to have the universal access program from DCR is going to be bringing down U more of the beach mats on the sand and the beach wheelchairs um I'm looking to try and also find um a um a program that will come down that if they're available um to do some activities uh if not I will try and do something else I'm also going to have a DJ that day um for that and um looking to see if there's um any other organizations that want to come down and be a part of that event um so I'll be working uh with the parks and Rex Department to get registration um information done to be online registration then also uh be working on getting a flyer done and created uh to be posted uh through social media and also in the uh local papers and r r TV but as I mentioned this is in all abilities because we want to try and get people especially people with disabilities to be able to come and enjoy Riv Beach uh since it's in our own backyard uh and be able to have the equipment for the ones that need it to be able to get right into the into the water or at least onto the sand um with the with the accessible wheelchairs um so that is what we're going to be doing so more information to follow so I am working on that um also um in the process of trying to finish uh four mod grants um that have to be submitted by this Friday to get some um accessibility work done in uh various offices throughout City Hall um that were that were um designated in a transition plan uh that I had done a few years back uh to see if I can get some um some M grant money uh through them that will help pay for that there's also um signage that is um supposedly getting um priced out so that we can have more signage within City Hall inside and out uh for people know where there's handicap accessible locations uh offices um and uh other other wayf finding U signage throughout throughout City Hall for for right now but uh hopefully um there's going to be some uh at the library at the outside of the library they're doing on they're doing some work right now the DPW on the walkways so that it's more feasible for uh for people to protrude uh as we all know the public library um does not have access to the top floor um one of these sticking points it is a historical building so there's a couple of loopholes and that's the reason for it but what they do do is they have an a handicap accessible entrance for downstairs uh we try to stress that if anyone reserves a book or needs anything they can go down in that entrance uh and anyone that's down they will be more than willing to to uh get them what they need upstairs and they also do have computer a computer room downstairs um so they do have that there for for people to use um so there there's a there's there's things that are happening the library is is is is well-run um the director of the library does a lot along with the with the with the other employees that are there so of course it's a historical building so there's a lot of there's a lot of things that cannot be done uh but trying to find different ways um to make it more more accessible um so hopefully that will be good those lifts work Ralph in a historical building I know I've seen them in other libraries just the the small lifts the in the um individual ones I've seen them in several of the banks in the West Suburban area also is that something that that's the that's the problem because it's historical building historical yeah because not only that has to be done the doorways and not so so that's the whole thing so that's that's the you know that's the issue because I I have when we did the transition plan that I had for all the municipal buildings you know they did detail all that and they said you know there's a lot of limitations um because of it being historical and you it's on the state registry but you know that I know the city has been looking into it um so it's it's not a forgotten um forgotten area uh in need so I just wanted to get that out there good excellent um item number three um is the Kota which is the commission of disabilities Alliance monthly Zoom meeting on Wednesday June 5th um that happens and one of the items on here I'm gonna have amarie talk a little bit about it too because she had sent me some email that an email about some information that coincides what we spoke to at our Coda meeting um this ability policy Consortium DPC who helps run my the monthly Cota meeting spoke about the housing Bond Bill uh is presently being discussed in the Massachusetts he legislation this bill includes housing funds for people with disabilities and if the funding does go through it would it would help funding for at least the next five years um so amarie if you want to talk about uh briefly if you want about what you had sent me and I know Ellie probably has more information on this also so I'll hand it over to you am Marie first and then I can uh see if Ellie wants to add anything to it uh sure so from the little that I've learned I think one of the the big proponents of the bill is that they're trying to pass uh a component where they're allowing adus um to be so accessible dwelling units to be added to a single family dwelling as a matter of right I think there'll still be you know every town city will have maybe zoning or different things that they'll have to comply by but um The Arc of Massachusetts is um trying to put out uh take action now and is asking everyone to go to their representatives to see if they can try to push for this amendment to be added to the bill where um if the home is either owned by someone who's handicapped or a family member who's handicapped they're trying to push where they'll be allowed to add a two-bedroom unit um I don't know exactly I think it's 900 square feet is going to be the limit for the the dwelling unit but I think uh what they're trying to do here is have it be so they can add a two-bedroom which I think would be a tremendous help um obviously to keep people with disabilities to be able to stay in their homes and when they come out of facilities to be able to come in their homes um and modify space to be accessible for handicapped people I obviously think the challenge is going to be well how are we just going to build a 900 square foot unit on our home but there are programs through Massachusetts um the hmlp which I don't know if a lot of people are familiar with the home modification loan program they they are maybe incorporating something where they're going to help with the accessible dwelling units to be built and I think it's like a no interest interest loan um it's yeah it's either no interest or low interest and there there's a link right on our commission and disabilities web page for the for the hmlp yeah and I think that they're going to try to include with this for the accessible dwelling unit so if the bill passes I think that may be a huge thing you know there'll obviously be a lot of red tape and a lot of figuring out but maybe that's something we can try to give information on to Residents if the bill does pass you know what the steps you can take from there are that so that people can take advantage of it perfect thank you Ellie do you have anything you want to add to it not really uh Emory added most of it but yeah I'm just getting back into what's new with the new bills because a lot of them go in circulation a lot of them don't stick so I'm glad that that one sticks so hopefully it helps people you know being the home not being not in their homes because I see building everywhere yeah I just see buildings everywhere but I don't see anything accessible you know I mean especially shely have nowadays with the new buildings that they show putting up nowadays I don't know it's just scary so hopefully these B pass through yeah and the thing with the bill it has to be it has to either be built it has to be action has to be taken before is it August 31st I believe is it August 31st Alie I believe so yeah I think August 31st are out State they they dying committee until it get you know then it has to get the process has to start again for the next legisl session well I like they have that I mean my concern I want to piggy back up what you were saying earlier I didn't get a chance you know I'm tired of hearing about historic and because all all that says to me is that's just an excuse to make things not accessible I mean because everything in this country pretty much in some level has historic value to it I mean what are you going to do stop I mean we can't not make things accessible it's the same with homes so it's those two pieces fit we don't have enough housing for people and we don't have places that people can go I mean the city has to set the example so I hope they fix that too because that just still seems limiting both of those you know if you can't find housing and I can't F go to a public building then where am I going to go you know what I mean it's even even with my new chair it is difficult I'm sure all he knows is every time you go somewhere you never know what you're going to encounter these days right you think you'll fit and most of the time doesn't work right right okay anyone else all right the next the next item um uh Cod Commission members uh from various cities and towns were discussing the hybrid and remote meetings um there was um some discussions um on on some cities and towns trying to work on um expanding their their hybrid and remote options and uh everyone knows where I where I stand on that that's why we are doing remote meetings uh because for the ACC accessibility uh for people it makes it um really accessible uh for not only people with disabilities but uh families that uh have young children are elderly family members that they need to take care of or or if you're out of town and you work late and you want to attend meetings um it makes it more accessible for everyone um so there was a there was a there was a long discussion on that during the meeting and I could say everybody that was at that that uh that monthly meeting is is very much in favor of it uh and um the the main thing that they all they all say and agree and I agree with is uh a lot of a lot of municipalities say it's Financial Financial it's a barrier because of financial reasons but that's not a barrier money should never be a barrier if anybody wants to see a barrier um talk to talk to a person who has mobility issues or or um any type of other uh disability um that's what a true barrier is money should never be a barrier um so I I just don't don't go for that so but hopefully someday it'll come to truition that it'll be the norm we saw that because of uh covid uh it can be done the um one another item that they they talked about was the cood commission members from various cities and towns mentioned that they are working on trying to complete the state mod Grand application and as I mentioned earlier I am too for the city of rir um it's a it's a bit of a process but um what I am doing in rier which is which is great instead of putting all the projects that I want in one Grant I'm splitting them up into several grants um which you know sometimes when they see a big uh amount for a grant they don't necessarily take it but if they're smaller grants maybe they don't fund for for every single one of them but I have a better chance hopefully of getting some of the money and that will that will help us out if we can get anything but I I did get the mod Grant back in in 2019 I got a grant for $250,000 and that's what paid for our transition plan that showed us uh what all the needs were in our municipal buildings for adaa barriers um so be trying it again so keep your fingers crossed that I get all these done in time there was an issue with these with u with the I I was having a problem with the system yesterday and I had started them all and everything timed out on me so I had to start from scratch so uh I'll be working on I was working on it last night and I will be working on it tonight I have all the information I need now it's just a matter of plug everything in um and that was it for um for Kota item number four is something that I put in the thing that the in the agenda and I was trying to find the um the flyer because I was going to put it up on the screen but unfortunately I couldn't I can't locate the flyer but the Massachusetts commission for the Blind and the Perkin School for the Blind uh will be organizing and having a white cane Awareness Day celebration uh this is a to celebrate the independence of the white kinge and help raise awareness of the white cane La Massachusetts which requires drivers to identify and yield to pedestrians using a white cane or or dog and this is their their wording and I should have ch our dog guide at Street crossing should be guide dog at Street Crossings so I used their wording so they didn't have somebody that that changed our our did their checking on their spelling or grammatical Corrections um it's it's a little bit of ways but wanted to put it on everybody's radar um and if I do find the flyer I'm also going to be posting it everywhere it's going to be Friday October 18th 20124 from 10: A to 1 pm and it's going to be at the Massachusetts state house the Great Hall uh 24 Beacon Street Boston Mass and there is registration is going to be required because there's space limmited and if you look on the agenda there's two ways that you can you can link on it the shortest way is 2024 white Kee Awareness Day registration hi form stack or then they have the long website so I did it both ways for for everyone uh but it is on the agenda um for this month that's posted both on the uh City calendar and it will be posted on the commission on disabilities web page under the agenda for tonight so I don't know if anybody had any questions or comments on that or or if not hold your piece and then I will move on to um item number five item number five is CPAC uh there is no updates I I reached out and um received a message from Julie Brown the president CAC um they have uh stop their meetings now for the summertime since school's not in session and the next meeting will will begin again in the fall when school resumes so they didn't have any any updates to report since there was no no meeting uh schedule for June um item number six is uh if any commission member has any light items or information that theyd like to share I will open it up uh to the commission members okay seeing none hearing none we'll move on to item number seven number seven was residents concerns or issues um I don't have any that were brought to my attention um I'm not sure if any other commission members if anyone has reached out to them but if there is uh more than welcome to discuss that um with me um so I'll open it up again to the commission members uh only thing I want to say is um when I was in Puerto Rico I heard this thing was fun but funny is people that U tried to use a disabled placard and didn't have the person that that was licensed the same placard inside the vehicle they got additional $500 uh bill for not having the correct plaque or having the plaque and not having the rider so I was thinking maybe we should try to think of that route you know I mean like if you don't supposed to be doing that that is the law here if you okay good because they enforce it over there a lot so I was like because what it is not only what it is in Massachusetts if you're caught using a placard without the person in your vehicle it is a $500 fine and the placard gets confiscated and they do not get the placard back ah okay placard it is they do not get it back that's what the law is here in Massachusetts whether it's enforced or not I can't answer that but that's what the law is and it clearly states When anybody receives a placard uh it does tell them that that if if anyone is caught using that placard um without them being in the vehicle um it is penalties can be up to $500 and the placet could be confiscated and the um the owner of the placard um it could not be uh uh re reissued awesome all right um anyone else have anything they'd like to to discuss and since Pauline is uh mobile I will read um oh the next steps let's go over the next steps next steps we have is um Pauline and amarie are going to um work on getting the um the guest speaker for the August meeting um since we do not have a July meeting we uh every year we we do not schedule a July meeting we take July off for our monthly meetings um so I'll write that down as next steps we don't I don't think we have any other next steps except for I will be working on finalizing um registration and promot promotional I'll call it promotional items for the all abilities day at Rivier Beach for uh Saturday August 17th does that sound like I covered everything know my my age is catching up to me so I'm forgetting a few things okay so item number nine is our reminder the commission of disabilities office number is 781 286 8267 residents can also call at 311 directly and speak to their staff Monday through Friday they will answer most questions but if they are unable to or if you want to speak to our department directly or schedule an appointment please ask to be transferred to this disability office if we are if we are unavailable please leave a detailed message and someone will get back to you as soon as possible as always please tell us if you want something discussed or added to our monthly meeting agenda you can let us know if you would like to speak on any issue or concern the commission is here to help and assist all disabled residents and families of r um before I ask for a motion to adjourn our next uh meeting via Zoom will be Tuesday August 13 20124 at 6 PM as I mentioned there is no July uh July meeting um so wish everyone to have a happy and safe Fourth of July um if I could ask for a motion to adjourn motion to adjourn Jason and someone to second second and Mario uh once again I want to thank all my commission members for joining us for our meeting it was a great meeting thank you for Marie for reaching out um to the agency and if anyone else knows of anyone else that would like to join please um shoot an email and uh and um say and also uh put Pauline on it because I I'm using not using I'm I'm Pauline is gonna be the one that's going to be helping schedule all that in uh keeping that all in in in in in line for us sounds good all right but thank you again uh this concludes our our meeting for for for June 11 have a great night by by