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HomeMy WebLinkAbout2003-01-03 Committee on People with Disabilities Minutes MAYOR'S COMMITTEE ON PEOPLE WITH DISABILITIES Friday, January 3, 2003, 10:30 a.m. County Councilroom PRESENT: Michael Gleason, Chair; Elizabeth Mason, Alisa Mitchener, James Souza, Ted Yamanaka EXCUSED: James Beimborn, Vice-Chair; Betsy Whitney, Secretary; Lisa Onorato, Laura Tobosa GUESTS: Lester Ishado, Corporation Counsel; Andy Levin, Mayor's Office; Bonnie Lewis, Interpreter; Norman Olesen, DCAB Board Member CALL TO ORDER The meeting was called to order at 10:50 a.m. APPROVAL OF MINUTES A. Mitchener made a correction to the minutes on page 1, Statements from the Public on Agenda Issues, third paragraph per S. Golden's request: The "two establishments" should be changed to "two shopping complexes." E. Mason made a motion to accept the minutes of December 6, 2002 as corrected. T. Yamanaka 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. Souza made a motion to accept the treasurer's report as submitted. A. Mitchener seconded the motion. The motion was passed. CORRESPONDENCE None. SUBCOMMITTEE REPORTS A. EDUCATION/PUBLIC AWARENESS SUBCOMMITTEE Î M. GLEASON M. Gleason reported that this subcommittee did not meet this month. B. RECREATION SUBCOMMITTEE Î A. MITCHENER A. Mitchener reported that there was a follow up meeting in December with the nine division liaisons resulting from the November training on assistive technology. The meeting was to discuss the creation of a lending library and implementing the assistive technology pieces from the transition plan into some kind of an action plan. B. Fischlowitz-Leong, executive director of the Assistive Technology Resource Center on Oahu, attended the meeting. A. Mitchener reported that A. Miyake said she was planning to go to TutuÓs House in Waimea to see the assistive technology lending library they manage for ATRC. A. Miyake also wants to offer deaf awareness training for her staff. She has more requests for training, but she doesnÓt know the resources to tap into and there's no budget. A. Mitchener recommended that the county training department in concert with A. Levin coordinate these trainings on a yearly schedule instead of having to scramble month by month searching for volunteers to coordinate and create trainings that the county is mandated to offer. A. Mitchener said a survey from the November workshop contains nominations for public awareness awards to honor people in our community. After some discussion, MCPD decided to set a March 7 deadline to submit nominations and the awards luncheon to be held at the May meeting in Hilo. A decision whether to have a separate recognition luncheon in Kona will be brought up at the next meeting in Kona. E. Mason expressed concerns about having one islandwide luncheon instead of two awards luncheon because she did not want to divide the island. C. TRANSPORTATION SUBCOMMITTEE Î B. WHITNEY No report. UNFINISHED BUSINESS A. VOLUNTEER PARKING VIOLATION ENFORCEMENT PROGRAM UPDATE Î A. LEVIN A. Levin reported that the volunteer parking program is up and running in Kona with five volunteers commencing in December. Sergeant Apele did not know how many tickets have actually been issued. He is concerned because every time a volunteer goes out, they are supposed to submit a packet to him and he hasn't gotten The program has not started in Hilo because only one person has gone through the training and they want to send people out in pairs. A second person is in the process of being trained in January. B. UPDATE FROM DCAB Î C. FLEMING/N. OLESEN/L. RINK N. Olesen reported that a meeting was held on December 18 regarding the new parking rules that passed. The changes or questions by those attending the meeting had already been incorporated. It was approved at that meeting and sent to the Governor's Office for signature. The DCAB is planning to have a meeting with the Senate on January 8 for a lobbying effort. There will be a panel discussion and then they will make a presentation before the Senate. 2 N. Olesen announced that the new Health Director is Dr. Chiyome Deputy Health Director is Dr. Jane Kadohiro. DCAB is not famili persons so they don't know what direction they will be taking or how they want DCAB to function under the Department of Health. A. Mitchener suggested sending a letter of support for DCAB. N. Olesen mentioned that one issue that may surface back from November 2002 is there are no laws with regards to signage that dictates illegal parking. However, there are laws in effect for illegal parking. He suggested resolving this issue via the rules and/or put in enforcement procedures with regard to the parking signage. N. Olesen reported that a major concern occurring on Oahu is the issue of parking permits to infants. Family and women are coming out of the hospitals and then walking in to obtain a disabled parking permit under this clause "unable to walk without the use of or assistance from another person." Therefore, there is an inundation of infants with parking permits. Mothers are seeing their family doctor who is abiding by the application. A suggestion has been made to prohibit the issues of permits to children under the age of two years, but there may be a medical reason that precludes this issue. He will keep MCPD posted on this topic. J. Souza pointed out that more accessible stalls would need to be installed if more infants will be issued a disabled parking permit. N. Olesen agreed and suggested he will bring it up at the next DCAB board meeting. If this issue cannot be reversed, he felt increasing the quantity of accessible stalls would compensate. N. Olesen explained that the $250 fine for a traffic violation for accessible stalls is not effective. Individuals are appearing in court and telling the judge about the huge fines and the judge then reduces the amount to $25 or dismissing the fine. C. ADA COORDINATOR'S REPORT Î A. LEVIN A. Levin reported that the meeting with DCAB and the Senate on January 8 poses a major problem. They invited the House members to attend and they are not attending. The chairman of the relevant House committee is Representative Joseph Souki, who tried to lower the parking fine from $250 to $50 (his bill was vetoed by the Governor because the disabled community complained so much). There is a unless that's healed, DCAB will have a tough time getting any legislation through. However, F. Wai is aware of this issue. You can get a bill through the Senate, but if you donÓt get it through the House, then it's a waste of time. A. Levin said he would follow up with Jane Larkin, county's training officer, on A. Mitchener's suggestion on training. He thanked A. Mitchener Leong for the training session held on December 19, which was very worthwhile. A. Levin stated that he received a communication from the Department of Justice that they are rethinking whether to come to the Big Island the last week of January. He was unsuccessful in getting a definite answer for today's meeting. 3 A. Levin reported that he received contact information for the official owners of Kona Alii Condominium. He would like to find out if Kona Alii Condominium or Sunset Plaza has a condominium association. He asked E. Mason to find out a inform the association about the status of the crosswalk. According to Paul Nash of the Engineering Division, the consultant has moved the ramp but he is unsure where. A. Levin will obtain a copy of the design and he will share it with MCPD when available. A. Levin circulated a chart of various projects that are on Schedule 1 per E. Mason's request on the county's obligation under the Transition Plan. Schedule 1 projects are to be completed by June 2003. Of the 23 projects, everyone is at least up to the stage of requesting to advertise for bid with the exception of Coconut Island because they have to determine how to get the equipment across. In addition, the county is not working on the Prosecutor's Office because the building will be abandoned rather than deal with the asbestos and other problems. The final plans for Hale Halawai driveway is being prepared and revisions to the final plan for Greenwell Park are being made. Furthermore, Glenn Miyao from the Department of Parks and Recreation has retired as of January 1, but he is coming back as a consultant. G. Miyao says that the county will be able to meet our obligations and complete the various projects by June 2003. A. Levin stated that he gave a copy of the Self-Evaluation and Transition Plan for Programs of the Department of Parks and Recreation to E. Mason. Interested members who would like a copy should let him know. A. Levin reported that he spoke to Mr. Manago regarding M. Martin's concern at the last meeting about installing a crosswalk at the Manago Hotel. Mr. Manago said a crosswalk was recently installed in the vicinity of the hotel, therefore he didn't see any need for an additional crosswalk. M. Martin went to check it out and said that the crosswalk is about 300 feet south of Manago Hotel. He felt that the crosswalk is too far. A. Levin offered to follow up with the engineers at M. Martin's request. He left this issue up to MCPD whether more should be done on this issue. E. Mason stated that many people park in the Yano Hall complex and walk across the street to eat at the Manago Hotel. She didn't feel it was MCPD's area to make concessions for private businesses. A. Levin felt A. MitchenerÓs suggestion of a letter in support of DCAB might be valuable rather than waiting for the Director of Health to set priorities. MCPD might consider sending a letter so the director has input from the community saying that DCAB is valuable to help her set priorities. D. CURB CUTS Î CROSSWALKS No further discussion. NEW BUSINESS A. POSSIBLE MCPD MEETINGS AT PARK PROJECTS M. Gleason reported that this issue has not generated much interest. 4 A. Mitchener asked A. Levin about places on his project list that would be important for MCPD to visit as a group. A. Levin responded that electricity might not be available at some of the construction sites so the operation of the meeting might be difficult. Perhaps a field trip might be more feasible. M. Gleason said that MCPD should get more familiar with the projects first and see what has actually been done. E. Mason suggested that MCPD look at logistics such as utilizing the Hele-On bus before making a decision whether to pursue this idea. A. Mitchener suggested having a discussion one more time at the next meeting and ask if there are certain sites people are interested in. Perhaps A. Levin could come up with three places that he feels should be of interest. A. Levin indicated that one project in process that MCPD can look at is Onekahakaha Beach Park. Secondly, it can be an individual review because di interests in different sites. N. Olesen added that this park has the uniqueness of every kind of change needed for access including restrooms, showers, and walkways. E. Mason suggested reviewing the Old Airport Complex in Kona. N. Olesen responded that this project is on Schedule 2 and to be completed 2003-2006 STATEMENTS FROM THE PUBLIC ON AGENDA ISSUES A. Mitchener asked A. Levin on the status of hiring a Therapeutic Recreation Specialist. E. Mason said she understood there was a gentleman who was third on the list, but he has never been called for an interview. A. Levin responded that a l Director. However, he understood that a second list was requested and is pending because no one qualified. He offered to follow up on this issue ANNOUNCEMENTS The next meeting will be held on February 7, 2003, at 10:30 a.m. in Kona. Location to be announced. ADJOURNMENT The meeting was adjourned at 11:50 a.m. RESPECTFULLY SUBMITTED, _______________________________ JEAN VIERNES, STAFF SECRETARY 5