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HomeMy WebLinkAbout2005-03-04 Committee on People with Disabilities Minutes COMMITTEE ON PEOPLE WITH DISABILITIES Friday, March 4, 2005, 10:30 a.m. Aupuni Conference Room PRESENT: Lawrence Scadden, Chair; Ted Yamanaka, Vice-Chair; Betsy Whitney, Secretary; Denise Cowdrey, Jack Matsui, James Souza, Laura Tobosa EXCUSED: Michael Gleason GUESTS: Malina Dravis, Interpreter; Bob Dunkley, ADA Coordinator Hawaii Volcanoes National Park; Marianne Hodapp, Martin Hodapp, Andrea Johnson, CNA; Alisa Mitchener, Recreation Specialist-Department of Parks and Recreation; Norman Olesen, DCAB Board Member; Sonia Scadden, Teri Spinola-Campbell, ADA Coordinator (Personnel Program Specialist); Charles Taliferro, Michael Udovic, Corporation Counsel CALL TO ORDER The meeting was called to order at 10:28 a.m. An introduction of committee members, staff, and guests wasmade. APPROVAL OF MINUTES L. Tobosa made a motion to accept the minutes of February 4, 2005. T. Yamanaka seconded the motion. The motion was passed with B. Whitney abstaining. STATEMENTS FROM THE PUBLIC ON AGENDA ISSUES None. TREASURERS REPORT The treasurers report was reviewed. D. Cowdrey made a motion to accept the treasurers reportassubmitted. B. Whitney seconded the motion. The motion was passed. CORRESPONDENCE A. Letter from MCPD to Mayor regarding emergency preparedness L. Scadden reported that he drafted a letter to the Mayor with regards to emergency preparedness, especially for people with disabilities. He outlined four or five areas that MCPD have identified over a period of time that the county should be cognizant of, and that would assist people with disabilities in emergency preparedness. He alsocontactedLannyNakano,ActingCivilDefenseAdministrator,andL.Nakano asked that L. Scadden send him a summary of the issues MCPD discussed. B. Letter from Mayor H. Kim to MCPD in response to emergency preparedness L.ScaddenreportedthatMayorH.KimwrotebackbasicallythankingMCPDforthe information and referring the letter to L. Nakano for his information and review. Hawaii County is an Equal Opportunity Provider and Employer TEAM REPORTS A. EDUCATION/PUBLIC AWARENESS TEAM € M. GLEASON No report. L. Scadden stated that he needs to work with the education/public awareness team in the area of emergency preparedness. B. RECREATION TEAM € L. SCADDEN L. Scadden reported that D. Cowdrey, A. Mitchener, and he had a lengthy conversation by teleconference. A. Mitchener will provide a report under Parks and Recreation update. C. TRANSPORTATION TEAM € B. WHITNEY B. Whitney reported that she heard from several community members that the buses are running well. Secondly, she did not talk to L. Tobosa to determine if T. Brown will be attending the transportation training on March 15-16, 2005 sponsored by the Easter Seals Project ACTION. L. Tobosa reported that she spoke to T. Brown and he said he was unable to attend the training due to a prior commitment. However, there will be someone from his office that will be attending. B. Whitney said there is a possibility that she may attend the training. UNFINISHED BUSINESS A. VOLUNTEER PARKING VIOLATION ENFORCEMENT PROGRAM UPDATE € SGT. VERIATO No report. L. Scadden reported that he invited Sgt. Veriato to attend todays meeting if available. B. UPDATE FROM DCAB € C. FLEMING/D. JACKSON/N. OLESEN The March report from D. Jackson, DCAB was distributed to MCPD members. N. Olesen reported that anybody with a service animal is being indiscriminately charged a $350 service fee when arriving in Honolulu from the mainland. There were people who also were traveling interisland and they were being charged $350. At that time, it was a discretionary issue by whoever was doing the examination. However, the rules have changed. Now, anyone with a documented service animal will not be charged when coming into the state or intra state. The next step is to have the ability to have the service on the outer islands, particularly Maui and the Big Island. This process will occur within the next fiscal year. B.Whitneyaskedforclarificationonthedurationofthecertificateforaservice animal. The certificate may be good for two weeks or thirty days. For example, the 2 Executive Director of Hawaii Centers for Independent Living had to fly back from the mainland to Hawaii after ten days or two weeks so that she could go to Guam. N. Olesenwill report to the DCAB board on this issue. The National Council on Disability will be in Honolulu on March 9-11, 2005. The purpose of the meeting is an outreach program to gather public input from community members regarding what is needed. He pointed out that transportation was the major item with regard to persons with disabilities. N. Olesen will be attending the three-day meeting. N. Olesen reported that he serves on the Standing Committee on Parking and the Standing Committee on Facility Access. A response was made to the Facility Access Unit with regard to the new ADA requirements. Implementation of the new ADA requirement will be 18 months after the federal register publication of requirements.Thenewrulesandrequirementsaregoingtonecessitatethatallthe counties and the state review and update their plans with regard to compliance. The counties andstate dont like it because they would need to appropriate funding. The biggest single change is the high counter tops which will drop the requirements from 36 inches to 30 inches. N. Olesen recommended that all the counties and MCPD members obtain a copy of the Parking for Persons with Disabilities Reference Manual effective January 2005. The manual can be downloaded from DCABs website. The Honolulu Police Department has been called into court by the volunteer parking enforcement officers because they do not have the right to require people to show identification and it has caused some problems. The volunteer parking enforcement officers were told not to ask people for identification to avoid any confrontations. Therefore, the volunteer officers have said that their job is totally ineffective. The violators are usually adults and mostly teenagers according to the Honolulu Police Department. The DCAB board is looking into changes in the Administrative Rules and changes of the cost for the parking placard program because it has not been changed for four years. Administrative cost has risen so they need to take a closer look at what it is going to cost the counties effectively to provide that. It cost $10 for a replacement placard and theres a possibility it will increase to $12. C. ADA COORDINATORS REPORT € T. SPINOLA-CAMPBELL T. Spinola-Campbell provided her report as the ADA Coordinator for January and February2005.ADACoordinatorsreportattached. MarianneHodappraisedanissueaboutaccessibleparkingstallsatParkerRanch. The access aisle is narrow; therefore, her son is unable to use the ramp. T. Spinola- CampbellstatedthatDCABcamelastyearandprovidedtwotrainingsonhowto design an accessible parking space. 3 D. Cowdrey asked what was the result of golf carts used on public roads. T. Spinola-Campbell said there are places on the mainland where certain local regions are allowing golf carts to be used on certain roads. There are safety concerns and they have to be researched thoroughly. M. Udovic stated that their research shows that in the State of Hawaii all vehicles that are being operated on public roads and highways must meet safety requirements including licensing and a variety of other factors. There were some discussions about whether farm vehicles could be used. Farm vehicles were only permitted to be used in limited circumstances when you are essentially going from field to field. They cant be really used as general transportationvehicles. Therefore, some suggestions were made that there needs to be some relaxation of the law that has to be addressed by the legislature. He also contacted the Judiciary and there is no exemption. In addition, there has been no enforcement. The way to doitistoaddressthelegislaturetogettheexemptionsforaspecificvehicle. C.Taliferroaskedwhataboutridingalawnmowerontheshoulderofaroad. M. Udovic replied that its fine on lawns, but its not permitted to be used as a vehicle on the street. A consideration would have to be given on a case by case basis. But as a general rule, he would say no and it is not permissible. He was unable to provide an answer because C. Taliferro is asking for specific legal advice on a specific issue on a general basis. D. PARKS AND RECREATION REPORT AND ADA GUIDELINES UPDATE € A. MITCHENER A. Mitchener reported on the following: The staff training is strong for the Recreation Division. She created curriculum, conducted training, and seizure recognition in first aid. They also had a blood borne pathogen workshop with members of the Aquatic team. Public outreach is improving and individual support for children with disabilities and their families is strong. Preparation for the summer fun program will begin in May. There will be temporary staff hiring, staff training, accommodation requests, communication with parents, andstaffsupport. Completed a one on one projectwith the Keaau Elementary School for an assessment for a fifth grader at the request of a parent. This was the first time the RecreationDivisionhasdoneanassessmentandreferraltospecialeducation. YanoHallinKonahasafterschooldropinactivities.Severalteenswithdisabilities attend with their skills trainer. She recently borrowed a communication device for twoboyswithautismtohelppromotefriendshipbuildingwiththeotherkidswho attend. 4 The Aquatics Division worked with Special Olympics regarding lifeguarding and safety rules for the Special Olympics swim team. The rules in the county handbook require the aquatic sports team to provide their own lifeguard in addition to the regular public lifeguard during the reserved lane training practice. The Special Olympics rules for aquatics also required a ratio of 1 to 25 athletes for their own safety rules. It was not possible for the county lifeguard to provide that ratio for them. They are working out a solution so the athletes could still train. The result was that the athletes in Kona will be participating during public swim times as individuals, not under a coach. This will satisfy the current requirements with the idea that they will be working together to help them either recertify their coach with lifeguard credentials or work towards next year in making sure they have a lifeguard in place. DickMortemore,PanaewaRecreationComplexManagerofPanaewaZoo,received several requests for wheelchair access since wheelchairs have been removed from the zoo. A. Mitchener created a draft access brochure for the zoo. The final draft will need to be approved by Corporation Counsel. The Elderly Activities Division is one of the strongest division serving the most people with disabilities on a daily basis. A new TTY was installed in their information office. The number is 961-8025. A formal training has not been conducted with all of the staff. Staff is still panicking when a TTY call comes in and they are not comfortable with the equipment. A. Mitchener suggested establishing a register and practicing monthly drills. A. Mitchener asked J. Souza what is the protocol for printing a TTY phone call. Do you ask the person that you are talking to or do you say this call is being printed? J. Souza said theres no official rule. You dont have to inform the person, but the printout cant be used in court. A. Mitchener reported that the Recreation Division lacks new programs for younger adults with disabilities. The Recreation Division is still focusing on children from kindergarten through elementary age. The middle school age is not covered very well. This issue is noted in the Transition Plan. She suggested that photos showing facility access for facility rental should be expanded on the countys website and create this information in alternate format. Received bids and a final decision was made to purchase assistive listening tour guide system. She reviewed the recreation section in the General Plan. She suggested changing some of the language for clarification. A. Mitchener will forward this section to L. Scadden for revisions. 5 B. Whitney suggested creating the whole issue of person first language in the Transition Plan. She thought MCPD had discussion about doing training with county staff about using person first language. T. Spinola-Campbell said there was a booklet circulated from the University of Hawaii which talks about person first language. She has a segment on person first language when she does presentations and training for departments. The meeting was recessed at 11:30 a.m. The meeting was reconvened at 11:40 a.m. L. Scadden reported that he doesnt think many people know that the Department of Parks and Recreation has a website. Secondly, people with disabilities dont know there are accessible programs. Perhaps the Education/Public Awareness Team could assist with information dissemination. MCPD felt it was a great idea. A. Mitchener mentioned there are program guides, hard copy as well as on the countyswebsite,whichtalkaboutthesummerfunprogramorswimminglessons through aquatics. These are not adaptive programs, but they are regular programs made accessible by people asking for specific accommodations. The booklets are available at the main office of the Department of Parks and Recreation. Different programs are advertised in the newspaper when they come out. Each district park places their own ad because it is not a centralized process. Information is also available at the Recreation Division. Brochures and flyers are sent out to the agencies that she deals with such as Goodwill Industries, The Arc of Hilo, Full Life, and several agencies that are providing skills trainers for children. D. Cowdrey stated that there are no programs addressing young adults with disabilities. B. Whitney suggested asking the public what they would like. L. Scadden said there needs to be more cooperation between the county and the private organizations within the county that may be providing some of these services. A. Mitchener stated it is essential to start improving this process right now. It ties in to grants, maximizing the dollars, and to not duplicating services. E. EMERGENCY PREPAREDNESS Discussed under Correspondence. NEW BUSINESS None. STATEMENTSFROMTHEPUBLICONNON-AGENDAISSUES M. Hodapp raised a concern about the University of Hawaii at Hilo charging for parking forpersonswithdisabilities.However,B.Whitneypointedoutthateveryoneischarged, not only persons with disabilities. N. Olesen will follow up with DCAB. 6 T. Spinola-Campbell noted that this issue was raised before at the airport aswell. R. Amundson looked into it and they can charge everyone for parking. If they didnt charge everyone but only charged people with disabilities, then it would be discriminatory. N. Olesen stated that the ADA requires that entrance doors should be 5 pounds. He suggested that MCPD send a letter to the administration with regards to taking a proactive stand for installing actuators, particularly exterior doors in wind tunnel areas. L. Scadden replied that he wrote a letter to the Mayor in November 2004 which was forwarded to the Director of Public Works and the Housing Administrator. ANNOUNCEMENTS J. Matsui announced that he sign waves every morning and afternoon for the County of Hawaii drug awareness program. He has no volunteers assisting with sign waving and would like more cooperation from the public. A. Johnson volunteered to assist J. Matsui. The next meeting will be held on Friday, April 1, 2005, at 10:30 a.m. in Kona. Location to be announced. ADJOURNMENT The meeting was adjourned at 12:00 p.m. RESPECTFULLY SUBMITTED, _______________________________ JEAN VIERNES, STAFF SECRETARY 7