Watertown Commission on Disability

Watertown Commission on Disability
November 18, 2009

Attendees: George Donahue, Chair; Kim Charlson; Anne Doughty; Fred Isaacs; Alex Liazos; Carol Menton, Gayle Shattuck.

Meeting called to order at 7:10 pm by Chair George Donahue.

Roll Call

Guests were Mark Sideris, the newly elected Town Council President; Ms. Carol Wilson-Braun, who would like to join the Commission; and Shannon Fitzpatrick, an ASL interpreting student.

Chair’s report – George Donahue
The website had hits from 36 countries and over 1300 hits. The majority looked at the front page and the dining guide. Tomorrow night there’s a meeting in Medford Town Hall at 5:00 PM of the Disability Policy Consortium. They will discuss what Disability Commissions should do; they want to meet on a quarterly basis.

Alex pointed out that next year there is a census. The person in charge of the census for Watertown is working with the Council on Aging and other local groups to maximize returns They need a protocol for the blind to allow them to check the census takers credentials. Alex will invite the census coordinator to our next meeting.

George invited Mark Sideris, the newly elected town council president, to try and have town council members attend our meetings on a rotating basis.

Minutes.
The September minutes are still tabled.
It was moved, seconded, and passed unanimously to accept the October 21 minutes as amended to remove Ann Doughty’s name since she wasn’t at the meeting.

Treasurers Report – Gayle Shattuck
It was moved, seconded, and passed unanimously to accept the treasurer’s report.

Special Ed Report—Fred Isaacs
Our recent attendance has been considerably better.
We need to get our disability awareness education subcommittee moving.

Safety and Access – Kim Charlson
Things have been quiet.

Our older visually impaired would like training on how to navigate Watertown Square given the variety of audible tones. We can have those interested meet with an instructor. Perkins has professionally trained orientation and mobility instructors. Kim will research the cost for a training session.
Nominating Committee – Gayle Shattuck.

The nominating committee met with Carol Wilson-Braun who is a candidate to fill Bob Hall’s seat which runs through 1 Nov 2010. The nominating committee favors moving Carol Wilson-Braun forward to be a Commission member.

We have some ratio issues – a majority of our members must be disabled.
The Watertown Tab printed a list of openings on town committees.

Closed Captioning—Carol Menton
We couldn’t get access to the Council Chambers for a test. We’re still trying to set up to do a test. The Cable Access Board is still getting the equipment. Stefanie will be out of town from Dec 9 through Dec 21.

New Business

Newsline – Kim Charlson
They are still working on the interface between the Watertown Tab and Newsline.

Accessible Dining Guide – George Donahue
We have an Advocacy student who will help us update the guide as part of a project. She will note restaurants that are new and need to be checked out. She can get a list of all licensed restaurants from the health department. She will ask them about catering and wireless network availability as well. Her project is due in mid-December.

Accessible Recycling Document
The town’s recycling document is being revised for 2010. The brochure has pictures, which don’t work for the visually impaired; the format will change when the document is brailled. The last time we did this the brailled recycling document was sent to registered users of the Perkins talking book library who live in Watertown. Kim will do this again and send a few extra copies to the DPW.

Town Website.
Our thanks to webmaster Bob Erickson. On the left of the town website, there’s a link to Watertown Cable Access so that you can watch Watertown Cable on your computer.

Perkins Notecards
Gail has sample notecards from Perkins. The covers are student art.

Snow Shoveling Help
The town is compiling a list of those who may need help with snow shoveling and another list of those willing to help. We need to help get the word out about this to people with disabilities.

Mark Sideris
Mark Sideris, the newly elected Town Council President, came down after a lengthy meeting elsewhere in the building and introduced himself. He takes office in January. He would like to see closer cooperation with the Commission and has talked with the Town Manager about appointing a new ex officio representative.

December Meeting
It will be a short meeting. The Chair will present his year-end report. There will be food at the meeting; Gail will coordinate it.

It was moved, seconded, and passed unanimously to adjourn at 8:50 PM

These minutes are respectfully submitted by Fred P. Isaacs.