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Dearborn
Commission on
Disability Concerns |
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Ford Community
& Performing Arts Center, Studio A
Public Meeting Minutes
March 20, 2003, 2 PM
Commissioners & Staff
Present:
Cathy McAdam
Kim B. Hetrick
Dale Swanson
Claudia Damian
Gary Filiak
Mary Hodak
Cheryl Kreger (2:52-4:40)
Susan Fitzmaurice, ADA Coordinator
Commissioners Excused:
Jane Thomas, excused
Christian Mageli, excused
Guests:
Denise Toepfer, Recreation (Until 3:02)
Call to Order:
2:16 PM
Agenda:
Dale Swanson ” I move to approve the agenda
with the change Cathy detailed.” Kim B. Hetrick seconded. Unanimous approval.
Minutes:
Dale:” I move to approve the minutes as is.” Kim
seconded. Unanimous approval.
ADA Report (Susan Fitzmaurice)
• New/old furniture placed in my office resulted in loss of name plates.
DPW will replace.
• Snow will have 2 unisex bathrooms, 1 accessible, the entry way will
have an auto door, New signage and new water fountain.
• Ford auditorium will have 5 seats placed in 3 spots. Ramp to stage area
is going to be developed.
• Bryant will have an accessible unisex bathroom placed just to right
of basement entrance near elevator. There will be keyed access to the rest of
the basement.
• DPW accessible bathroom nearly complete.
• Everyone has been contacted who will get Uniphones and the process
to get them installed is coming along.
• Public TTYS are problematical. The court and the Ford Center are owned
by the city and will be put in place by Paul Klink. City Hall is owned by SBC
and needs to be resolved in another way. The police no longer have a pay phone
- so we need to decide what to do with the other phone.
• Web page is coming along. New web page should be up by April 11th.
New web page address is www.dearborn-disabilities.org KIm will check web page
for errors.
• Braille business cards are at the braillers. They will be large print
and Braille. We should have them soon--it is a very long process.
• Assistive listening has been approved. PO sent to Sound Controls
today.
• Budget approved by executive committee by and large approved by
Kurt. He increased it. We now await approval by Mayor and then City Council.
• Cathy & I were interviewed on cable TV for Kiwanis.
• I went to Oakland CIL and presented info on ADA Coordinator position.
• I went to a workshop on grassroots organizing and grant writing.
I learned a lot- see yahoo note for more details. Sadly none of the grant info
seemed particularly relevant to the commission.
• I am taking an accessible web design course with 1/2 support from
commission and learning more than I ever imagined.
• Susan went over a time line for how long it takes to get a project going
from start to finish.
Vice-Chair Report (Cathy McAdam)
• Cathy reported on Christian’s phone call. Christian said his wound
was healing well and apologized for being over stressed of late.
• Christian provided copies of the Disability Agenda to all and suggested
that all commissioners be familiar with the contents. Cathy commented that this
is the first time such a coalition has existed to create a statewide policy
statement.
• 2 commissioners appointed: Mona Ramouni, a student, and Nancy Bower,
a mental health professional.
• Cathy needs a list of commissioner contact info.
• Cathy will be at Living w/o Limitations at Cobo Hall and encourages
us all to go. May 8th 10- 6 ( She provided flyers.)
• Secretary of State forming accessible voting committee. Cathy &
Claudia will write a letter of support.
• Medicaid Buy-In has been approved. Social Security recipients first
to be eligible,
• Cathy has been asked to review Chamber of Commerce web site. Will be
providing ADA info for web site and newsletter. Chamber is very appreciative
of our needs a and very supportive of our efforts in disability advocacy.
Recreation Report (Denise Toepfer)
Denise brought up an issue involving a shower chair in the Fitness Center family
changing room. A patron has asked the PAC if it purchase a specific shower chair.
She was asked by Cathy if their was a weight limit use for the existing chair
and if so that needs to be posted. It needs to be checked how it is stabilized-
perhaps large canes caps can be utilized to create a more stable chair. Dale
will contact Kevin Mitchell and see if he has any insights. The commission will
made a written recommendation when it has more information.
Denise also mentioned that a new flat bench has been specially created fro use
by wheelchair using patrons to utilize the free weights.
Inter-modal Station (Claudia Damian)
The final 3 designs that was presented to the public for the intermodal station
were discussed. She is unclear whether her suggestions have been addressed in
the final design. It was suggested that we be prepared to make public comments
when the design goes before the City Council for approval.
By-laws Change ( Kim B. Hetrick)
One by-law change was reviewed by Kurt Giberson advised it was unnecessary.
This was agreed to by the Commission. A second was approved unanimously after
being moved by Dale and seconded by Claudia. The bylaw change reads:
Article III, Section A, Paragraph 2
The commission shall have nine members and two alternates. The nine members
shall be appointed by the mayor for a term of three years. The alternates shall
be appointed for one year and have no vote unless serving to replace an absent
member. The first appointments to the commission shall be three commissioners
each for one-year, two-year and three-year terms. Subsequent appointments shall
be for three years.
Town Hall (Claudia Damian)
• Cathy & Susan will develop the logistic to the presentation itself.
• The food provided will come out of our budget.
• Cheryl will bring 6 dozen cookies & napkins.
• Susan will arrange for coffee, tea, and bottled water.
• Commissioners were reminded that to encourage audience participation,
commissioners and ADA Coordinator need to limit their participation.
• Madonna U has our letter requested student interpreters posted
• Announcement about THM will be on Channel 25, Comcast, March 27th
• Cathy arranged to get a closed captioned promo on Detroit Info
Service
• Kevin Mitchell will contact Roger for Tuesday 5 PM show and that
he announce THM. Can be contacted later to announce DAD.
• Flyers going to the Free press, Detroit News, Times Herald, Press
& Guide. Mary will pass out flyers at Senior Expos 3/13.
• Everyone will be responsible for passing out flyers. A list is
available.
•Brochures are in and updated. Kevin suggested the city and commission
logo be on the flyers- that they be printed on yellow paper and in blue ink.
Kevin offered service of Philip Wright as long as the PW logo on flyers.
• Email from DPW will go to all Department heads.
• Dales sign-in sheets will serve as a prototype for THM sign-in-
with a date added, heading, and a box added for those who do not want to be
put on our mailing list.
• Entry and post presentation survey still to be developed
• Email finished copy to local groups to pass onto members
• Jane faxed a copy to city council. THM will be mentioned at next
City Council meeting.
• Susan & Claudia will make a site tour of Dome room to get an
idea of how small the THM will.( After the meeting.)
* PAC will do setup and tear-down. Susan will check if we need to do cleanup.
People should arrive between 12 and 12:30 to help.
Disability Awareness Day (Dale Swanson)
• Call vendors on your list if you have not. 100 letters distributed.
• The 15 vendors participating were named bringing in about $1500.00.
• DPW will include a flyer with 3rd Q water bill (32,000 residents.)
• Ford Motor Co, bringing 2 vehicles adapted for people with disabilities
•Dale, Cathy, & Kurt meeting w/ mayor March 27th
•Booked Studio A for workshops - 10-4 PM.
• Nomination forms distributed, also to be posted on web site (see DAD
page.)
• Builder for a visitability presentation in lieu of table payment.
( Contact Karen Murphy for recommendation.)
• Contact Dohn Hoyle to do a guardian alternatives presentation
• It was agreed that we ask the mayor to proclaim a disability week.
Kim motioned “ Cathy and Dale will take a recommendation to the Mayor
that the DAD be associated with a Disability Awareness Week, to be declared
for the city, running from October 20-26. . Seconded by Claudia. Unanimous approval.
• Evening entertainment - discuss with Theatre Manager. ( Angela Henley
2381)
• Ask Christian to email Kurt about refreshments at DAD.
Visitability (Kim B. Hetrick)
• Met w/ Dave Norwood and Kurt Giberson. Recommendation that we meet with
local builders to discuss the pros and cons of Visitability and Universal Design.
We can counter some of their concerns, and help them understand the advantages
this could give them in terms of market opportunities, etc. It was agreed we
could ask the city to reduce of eliminate fees for permits, etc., for those
builders who are planning on building accessible housing. Dave Norwood will
set up a meeting with some of the top builders operating in Dearborn, and notify
Kim Hetrick & Dale Swanson of the date, and they will both attend.
• AARP is a powerful lobby, and has considerable influence in the legislative
field. The CEO of AARP has stated his unequivocal support for both Visitability
and Universal Design.
• Susan mentioned a discussion with Anita Toews where she mentioned Ann
Arbor was considering a visitability ordinance. Kim will check to see what Ann
Arbor is doing.
Public Relations (Dale Swanson)
• Press & Guide (March 13th)
• Detroit News, Free Press, Dearborn Times Herald (March 14th) articles
about Town Hall.. Also on City web site.
• WDET banner airing.
• Flyers to be passed out at Chamber of Commerce, Heath-a-Rama
• Email flyer to Ann Sonoga, Outreach counselor for dearborn Senior Housing
on April 1
• Public Service Announcements on CDTV & Community calendar
Accessibility (Claudia Damian)
• Cathy & Claudia have volunteered to be a part of the 75th anniversary
planning committee- Mayor has yet to choose participants.
• Kurt has given us permission to have snacks & beverages at commission
meetings. Purchasers must give receipts to Susan at that meeting. Keep copies
for your own record. Beverages from Shields - water, juice, and canned pop.
Gary will be in charge of snack food.
• Chris Hunter has said there are no cross disability training sessions
planned for the Dearborn police. We have the go-ahead to do our own- it would
be good to have neighborhood associations participate in these too.
• William Sounds assistive listening being placed April 18th (Susan)
Education/ Employment (Cathy McAdam)
• Workshops to remain fluid until after THM. Communication with people
with disabilities by Robin Jones. Mary will make contact in the arts. Ray Roberson
will cover transportation with a SMART booth. Kevin will try to develop something
relevant to sports. Special ed & Health issues hope to be defined by THM.
• MI Works - ACCESS Center computers not accessible to Blind users. Follow-up
with Jack O’Reiley’s office. There is grant money available to purchase
new equipment. Cathy will continue to follow-up.
• Kim, Claudia, & Cathy will be presenting info to HS students related
to job readiness on May 2nd..
• Chamber Expos very successful. Kim, Dale & Cathy participated. Multiple
flyers distributed.
Mary Hodak
• Senior Health & Job Fair. March 13th 10-3 well-organized, but bad
weather. 30 vendors. 100-125 attended. 30 signed in.
• 911 cell phones are being distributed thru police dept., for use in
car only. She let Paul Klink know about it. DH phones are available to anyone.
• Project Healthy Living. April 2nd 10-6 Tables will be covered by Commission
members and Dearborn AAUW members.
• Women’s Club of Dearborn available for mailings.
• Mary will continue to attend Arts Council meetings. There will
be a Chamber exhibit - Henry Ford Town Hall series.
• For Town Hal Mary will get AAUW volunteers - 2/registration, 2/refreshments,
2 circulating
Gary Filiak
• Will help Mary April 2 with Health-a-Rama.
• As a volunteer usher at PAC events he hears many complaints about handicapped
parking, but also that the PAC is very accessible.
• Homecoming Committee has not met since fall. Gary will attend and will
confirm we have a site near the bridge.
Claudia Damian
• Claudia discussed the new hire presentation. She described some of her
interactions with the participants.
• TTY tests have been excellent. 100% successful.
Cathy McAdam
• Baby shower for Heather Giberson.
• Invite Joe Schimizzi to next Commission meeting. Susan brought
to the commission some concerns regarding parking permits. It was felt we needed
further clarification regarding protocol for issuing these permits.
Next Commission meeting is technically April 11th, but business meeting is May
15th.
Meeting Adjourned
at 4:55 PM. Motion by Kim, Second by Dale, Unanimous approval.
Minutes approved 05-15-03
Submitted by Susan Fitzmaurice, ADA Coordinator
