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HomeMy WebLinkAbout2008-09-05 Committee on People with Disabilities Minutes COMMITTEE ON PEOPLE WITH DISABILITIES Friday, September 5, 2008, 10:30 a.m. Aupuni Center Conference Room PRESENT: Michael Gleason, Chair; Laura Tobosa, Secretary; Judith Kirkendall, Jean Navarro, James Souza, Ted Yamanaka EXCUSED: Lawrence Scadden, Vice-Chair; Jack Matsui, Ronald Wagner-Wright GUESTS: Chelsea DeLuz, The Arc of Kona; Malina Dravis-Tucker, Interpreter; Lisa Duwall, Accessibility Coordinator at Hawaii Volcanoes National Park; Alisa Mitchener, Recreation Specialist-Department of Parks and Recreation; Ofelia Pertubal, CNA; Teri Spinola-Campbell, ADA Coordinator (Equal Opportunity Officer) CALL TO ORDER The meeting was called to order at 10:37 a.m. An introduction of committee members, staff, and guests was made. APPROVAL OF MINUTES L. Tobosa made a motion to accept the minutes of August 1, 2008. J. Navarro seconded the motion. The motion was passed. STATEMENTS FROM THE PUBLIC ON AGENDA ISSUES None. TREASURER’S REPORT The treasurer’s report was reviewed. J. Kirkendall made a motion to accept the treasurer’s report as submitted. T. Yamanaka seconded the motion. The motion was passed. CORRESPONDENCE A. Memorandum from Bruce McClure, Director of the Department of Public Works, regarding County Building Renovations – Temporary Employee Status and Temporary Parking Permits COMMUNITY LIAISON REPORTS A. EDUCATION/PUBLIC AWARENESS LIAISON – M. GLEASON/J. NAVARRO/ R. WAGNER-WRIGHT J. Navarro reported that she spoke to Blayne Hanagami at Workforce Development to find out where the workforce development money had been directed. She will work with Kathy Nielsen who works at the County Office of Housing because K. Nielsen is in charge of vendorizing programs. Hawai‘i County is an Equal Opportunity Provider and Employer B. RECREATION LIAISON – L. SCADDEN No report. C. TRANSPORTATION LIAISON – R. WAGNER-WRIGHT No report. D. EMERGENCY PREPAREDNESS – L. SCADDEN M. Gleason reported that DCAB is coordinating a Workshop on Emergency Preparedness for People with Disabilities to be held on September 23, 2008 at the Ohana Airport Hotel. DCAB has provided three airline tickets per island county for neighbor island participants.Interested members who would like to attend should inform him or J. Viernes. UNFINISHED BUSINESS A. VOLUNTEER PARKING VIOLATION ENFORCEMENT PROGRAM UPDATE – SGT. K. KAAUMOANA-MATSUMOTO No report. B. UPDATE FROM DCAB – C. FLEMING/N. OLESEN/F. WAI The September report from F. Wai, Executive Director of DCAB, was distributed to MCPD members. C. ADA COORDINATOR’S REPORT – T. SPINOLA-CAMPBELL T. Spinola-Campbell provided her report as the ADA Coordinator for August 2008. ADA Coordinator’s report attached. D. PARKS AND RECREATION REPORT – A. MITCHENER A. Mitchener provided her report on summer fun, the Recreation Division, and Aquatics Division. Report attached. L. Duwall reported that they have a new program starting. They are going to test from hydrogen battery operated hydrogen shuttles. This is a research and development project with partnership with the State Hawaii Natural Energy Institute and the U.S. Department of Energy. There is initiative in the state that wants to look at hydrogen energy and how it applies to the Big Island. Therefore, they approached the Hawaii Volcanoes National Park about using the shuttles in the park since it is the highest visitor use area in the state. They are working on specifications for vehicles and ensuring that they have all the vehicles physically and the programs accessible for everyone. They will probably going to go with a small bus like you use to get a rental car at the airport. It will have a physical capability of a wheelchair getting on and that also applies to strollers in the park. The shuttles will be on the ground in June 2009. L. Duwall said they would look at captioning for the hearing impaired. They want to have a ranger on board at all times interpreting as well as a flat screen video monitor behind the ranger to supplement his talks. Secondly, they are looking at the 2 headphones similar to what you use in the airplane, but the speaker amplified. The National Center for Accessibility recommended William Sound Products and multi channels so they could have audio description for the blind and another channel for language interpretation for non English speakers. They want their interpreters to be better trained for audio description for people who have limited sight or blind. L. Duwall asked MCPD to let her know of other accommodations that people need. A. Mitchener offered some blockbuster movies with audio descriptions, books from the National Federation of the blind, and audio description training for L. Duwall to borrow. L. Duwall stated that audio description helps everyone understand what to look at, what to focus on, and it enhances the program across the board. L. Duwall said that they have accessible campsites. TheKulanaokuaiki Campground is located down the Hilina Pali Road. It was made accessible about five years ago. The Namakanipaio Campground will be upgraded soon. The National Center for Accessibility came out to the park and did a whole assessment of all their visitor facilities and programs. The administrative facility will be assessed later due to funding issues. The deficiencies were put into a software program which is getting better at identifying deficiencies just for accessibility. However, the program does not account for program deficiencies so all the interpreters got together and walked through the park with a blind person. The next step with this project is to write a transition plan of what needs to be upgraded, how much it’s going to cost, and start implementing it. E. ADA TRAINING FOR EMPLOYERS – M. GLEASON M. Gleason reported there is nothing new. M. Gleason reported that Tom Brown was unable to attend today’s meeting to discuss the county buses at the Hilo pier. Secondly, MCPD wanted an update on the transition plan from the Department of Parks and Recreation and Department of Public Works. However, it was not forwarded in time for today’s meeting and it should be available at the next meeting. NEW BUSINESS J. Navarro reported that the Mobile Care Van which serves persons with disabilities and the uninsured and underinsured wants to know if this is the appropriate venue to request some funding assistance. They are $80,000 shy of making it through June 30, 2009. M. Gleason responded that the committee has a limited budget which has to last until the end of the fiscal year. A. Mitchener mentioned that there is a time when non-profit organizations approach the County Council for funding and they would be the proper venue. J. Navarro said they have done that and the allocations have been smaller this year. 3 STATEMENTS FROM THE PUBLIC ON NON-AGENDA ISSUES None. ANNOUNCEMENTS The next meeting will be held on Friday, October 3, 2008, at 10:30 a.m. in the Kona Mayor’s Office conference room. ADJOURNMENT The meeting was adjourned at 11:35 a.m. RESPECTFULLY SUBMITTED, _______________________________ JEAN VIERNES, STAFF SECRETARY 4