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HomeMy WebLinkAboutMinutes Committee for Persons with Disabilities - 05/04/2022COMMITTEE FOR PERSONS WITH DISABILITIES Summary of Minutes for Meeting on May 4, 2022 CHAIRPERSON COMMITTEE MEMBERS ADMINISTRATIVE STAFF Dr. Jennifer Scott (CVI) Dr. Anthony Zoccolillo (CVI¹) Nora Vargas – Neighborhood Serv. VICE CHAIRPERSON Christina Buttler (ARP¹, PSA) Lisa Oliver – Parks and Recreation Melanie Gomez (PSA¹, CVI) Olivia Allan (ARP², ENG²) Mai Bernal – Engineering Services SECRETARY Imelda Trevino (PSA²) Michael Dice – Development Serv. Jennifer Gracia(ENG¹) Jennifer Mirabal (PSA) Ricardo Rodriguez – CCPD Dirk Hillard (CVI²) 1. Call to order: 3:03 pm 2. Moment of Reflection – Conducted 3. Pledge of Allegiance to the Flags of the United States and Texas -Waived due to WebEx 4. Roll Call: a. Roll Call: i. Committee Members Present – Dr. Jennifer Scott, Melanie Gomez, Jennifer Gracia, Dr. Anthony Zoccolillo, Olivia Allan, Imelda Trevino, Jennifer Mirabal, Dirk Hillard ii. Committee Members Absent – Christina Buttler iii. Staff Members Present – Nora Vargas, Lisa Oliver, Mai Bernal, Ricardo Rodriguez iv. Staff Members Absent – Michael Dice b. Requests and approvals for Excused Absences – Christina Buttler 5. Minutes – Minutes approved Motion – Imelda Trevino Second – Dr. Anthony Zoccolillo Action – Motion passed 6. Public Comments – Judy Telge 7. Presentations (Limited to 10 minutes): a. Jason Shaw – Texas Deaf Chamber – Mr. Shaw presented on the structure of the Texas Deaf Chamber of commerce. The chamber is comprised of all deaf or hard of hearing business owners. Mr. Shaw shared the mission of the chamber and that it is to develop, promote and perpetuate a positive and profitable business and civic climate for deaf owned businesses. The chamber is also comprised of 7 committees. b. Jennifer Buxton – Assistant Director Neighborhood Services – Ms. Buxton presented regarding a one time opportunity that the city has received to assist the homeless population called the HOME Investment Partnerships Program – American Rescue Plan Allocation. 4.2 million dollars has been awarded to the city from HUD (Housing and Urban Development). This is a one-time funding allocation and must be expended by September 2030. This is a reimbursement program. The funds are required to decrease homelessness and increase housing stability. There are 4 eligible activities which Ms. Buxton went into detail about. She shared that they are looking for input on how the one-time funding could impact our committee and decreasing homelessness. Please email her with your ideas or to discuss your input. 8. Staff Reports for the period: a. Neighborhood Services – Neighborhood Services provided a report on two ADA compliance issues regarding inaccessible curbs. Stephanie shared regarding the first issue which is located on Shannon Boulevard – an individual had witnessed a minor child in a wheelchair and there was not an accessible ramp for the wheelchair to get to Shannon Elementary. All four corners are an issue. Dr. Scott asked about how we were working to get it fixed. Nora explained that they are working on the issue. Two belong to the city and two belong to the school. The issue is that these streets are not on the rotation for street repair for the curbs to get fixed. There is no upcoming street repair for this area currently. There was extensive discussion on this, and Mai was going to discuss these issues with her boss and get some feedback regarding the issue. Nora provided a report on the second ADA compliance issue which was located at McCardle. The citizen could not properly use the ramp. There was dirt and debris that filled the ramp that did allow her to use it but if it washes away, it is not usable. This is on the street repair but not due until 2024. There was a question regarding a city ADA compliance officer being hired. It is still under consideration. b. Development Services Dept. – Michael Dice absent c. Engineering Services – Mai provided an updated report on current and future projects allowed. She was sending out an updated report to Nora who will send out to the committee. d. Parks and Recreation Dept. – Big event in June – Fun fit coming up – June 18th. No other updates to report. e. CCPD Parking Control – Ricardo Rodriguez provided the number of citations issued for the month of April. Citations included 172 citations for disabled parking violations, 6 citations for blocking the architectural design, and 15 citations for blocking the sidewalk. There was further discussion regarding handicap parking signs. There needs to be a sign in order for the police officers to issue a citation. There cannot be just a painted sign on the parking spot. 9. Subcommittee Reports: a. Engineering Subcommittee (ENG) – Shirin will be presenting in June on bike pathways. The committee will be responsible for researching ramps and compliance. b. Public Service Announcement Subcommittee (PSA) – Melanie Gomez reported that the subcommittee met with a representative from the League of Women Voters to begin working on a Voting PSA. Wants the PSA to highlight the accommodations to encourage voting. Checking on a state and national level PSA that maybe could be used. Will be the next step to check with the county to see what accommodations are in place. c. Accessible Recreation Playgrounds Subcommittee (ARP) –No update. Christina absent d. Community Volunteer Involvement Subcommittee (CVI) – Dr. Anthony Zoccolillo mentioned he will touch base with Anthony regarding the Driscoll toy drive to make a smooth transition. Dr. Z also brought up that we need to discuss exactly what we will be doing when we attend events. We do not have things to give away. Longer events are harder to get people there to volunteer. More discussion is needed for longer events etc.. Can we print brochures regarding what the committee is about? The suggestion was to get items from other departments when we attend the events to give away. Discussion was about getting in-kind donations for items for the committee. 10. Chairperson’s Report: a. Round Table Discussion – i. City Survey Project – We are still waiting on information from the city attorney regarding the verbiage on the survey etc… ii. Closed Caption Project– Dirk and Jen met and petitioned the Deaf and hard of hearing center. They are going to work on a Facebook page for the CC. They are working on proper language iii. 2022 Committee Goals – Committee agreed to stay with the city survey, closed captioning, and the workshop. iv. Logo – Part of the logo still needed to be corrected. The hearing and blind graphic needs to be revised. We already have the logo established but just need to be finalized. Change the eye to a person with a cane. Fix the ASL hands. 11. Identify Items to be placed on next Agenda – Consider presenters for next meeting 12. Motion to Adjourn @ 4:54 pm Motion – Melanie Gomez Second – Jennifer Gracia Action – Motion passed