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NOVEMBER2009  The meeting was convened at 4 pm by Mr. Jim Nash, in the absence of Mr. Mike Nagy. Jim presided over the first portion of the meeting, and Mr. Nash took over when he arrived. Introductions around the table showed the following in attendance: James Nash Letitia Ward City Councilor Liaison Marianne LaBarge ADA Coordinator Patricia Shaughnessy Secretary Ruth McGrath Susan McCreary Michael Morton Gaetane Fortin Michael Nagy Cynthia Schubach Old Business: A discussion of the round table meeting held on October 14th revealed that the general consensus was favorable. Everyone felt the roundtable went well. Jim Nash commented that we have not had snow yet so we will have to wait to see if everybody will meet their commitments. Patti Shaughnessy mentioned how good it was having everybody out in the same meeting hearing everybody else, and that it was good hearing the police chief saying the message was “call the police department – you’re not bothering them.” A number of suggestions arose from the round table meeting. Michael Morton suggested that kids could have a roster of people to call on. Giving them $5.00 or something would be a good thing. Patti said she had just sent letters out to the schools to get kids involved with an odd job program. People get parents names and contact the parents directly. It’s a good opportunity for kids to make money. Included are a wide range of jobs includes cleaning, raking leaves, sorting stuff in attics, really an individual opportunity for seniors – called ODD JOBS PROGRAM. The payment is negotiated – student parent and senior calling for services. About 18 students take part right now in the program. Right now, leaf raking is the most popular item, later it will probably be shoveling or things moved in houses. Parents know what their students are capable of moving. 587-1228 is the contact number. A suggestion was made to give some recognition to the students who work in the program. Maybe at the end of the school or calendar year? Several members offered to help with that. A suggestion to put the program on our website was made. Committee on Disabilities, Northampton, MA November 17, 2009 Page 2 New Business: Michael Morton raised a question regarding snow removal/raking leaves and things like that. Maybe it would be a good thing to have an awards meeting to recognize people that do things, a standing ovation meeting or something. Jim Nash asked if we wanted to form a subcommittee for snow and ice, to follow up on the round table. Michael Morton suggested having a meeting in January or February to review or thank everyone, to see how well things are going, or to recognize what is happening. Cynthia Schubach thinks that is a great idea. Marianne stated that we should be on top of it. We have asked for total communication from the public. We need to do the same. Patti was not given a reason why the information was never put on channel 15. Marianne asked Patti to write something up for her to bring to the high school, so she could get it on channel 15. Marianne also asked Patti if she should go to council to talk about the round table and let the public know exactly what has to be done for the Committee On Disabilities- where to call, and so forth. Jim put this in a motion that Letitia seconded. The vote was unanimous. Susan McCreary had a question resulting from the round table meeting. Was the number you can call to find out about parking bans discussed? Are they going to remind people about parking bans? Marianne asked if it was possible to also put down under items on TV that there is a snow removal ordinance - you have 48 hours to go ahead and remove snow. Marianne cannot understand why it is not being done. Susan wanted to know why the TV can’t say “yes there’s a parking ban don’t forget to clear your sidewalks within 48 hours” That was brought up at the round table meeting. During school closing, etc, add a snow removal reminder on TV. Marianne asked about calling Chris Collins? Jim asked Susan for more clarification on parking bans. Susan says that when someone calls and get’s a message about a parking ban – no parking – why can’t it also say remember to say shovel your sidewalks within such and such a time. Patti will need to talk to Ned at DPW about putting the additional information out with the parking bans. Ruth volunteered to put city ordinance up on our website. That was done prior to the end of the meeting. Perhaps our March meeting should be dedicated to doing a report – collecting a report and putting the data together. Letitia suggested putting the data in the gazette. Maybe invite Dan Crowley to meeting. Jim Nash thinks these are all great ideas; however, it would be a good idea to do something much more timely. Maybe we should have a committee in place. Maybe we should have a December report. What will be very telling is how people respond to the first snowstorm. Then we can say a thing is great - keep doing it, or this was missing - we need to see these things corrected. If we wait until March, it will be way to long. We can still do what the Mayor wants, but we need to do monthly updates. Some suggestions included: 1) Wait until a snowstorm and when it happens the committee will meet 2 days after. 2) Start to put together some kind of analysis. 3) Start watching channel 15 and see what is on it. 4) Make sure what is on TV, not just parking bans but the shoveling guidelines as well. Committee on Disabilities, Northampton, MA November 17, 2009 Page 3 How about writing a letter to the editor? Marianne will do that and will circulate it to everybody who has an email. Jim made the motion, Susan seconded. Marianne suggested that we do a guest column instead of a letter to the editor. It’s bigger with more room. Patti indicated we can put in more thoughts. Jim Nash amended the motion that Michael will do a guest column, Letitia seconded, the vote was unanimous. The December Meeting date has been changed to Dec 14th, which is a Monday. We will begin at 4 PM with a short 20 minute meeting to discuss snow removal, and then have a Holiday Party beginning at 4:30 PM. Plan on 13 people. We will invite all new and existing City Councilors, as well as others that have impact on this Committee. Ruth will send email invitations to all the City Councilors, Patti will send invitations to Staveros and others mentioned. Please make sure everyone RSVP’s so we have a good headcount. Patti asked about the Florence bus stop. Has anyone heard anything about it? Everything is ready to go. When is the start date? Before the ground freezes! This runaround is getting ridiculous. Respectfully Submitted, Ruth E. McGrath December 7, 2009