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HomeMy WebLinkAbout2013-03-27, Committee on People with Disabilities, Minutes MAYOR’S COMMITTEE ON PEOPLE WITH DISABILITIES c/o Hawai‘i County Office of Aging, 1055 Kino‘ole Street,Suite 101, Hilo, Hawai‘i 96720 MINUTES - Amended Wednesday, March 27, 2013 The County of Hawai‘i Mayor’s Committee on People with Disabilities met at 10:10 a.m. at the Aging and Disability Resource Center at 1055 Kino‘ole Street, Hilo, Hawai‘i 96720, with Vice Chair Wesley Tanigawa presiding. MEMBERS PRESENT: Wesley Tanigawa, Vice Chair; Jessica Arruda, Pauline Aughe, Chris Cholas, Janice Mancini, James Souza, Laura Tobosa, Dr. Ron Wagner-Wright ABSENT: Paige De Lima, Jean Navarro. OTHERS PRESENT AND GUESTS: Renee Schoen, Corporation Counsel; Alan Parker, HCOA, Woody Kita, HCOA, Sandra Arriola, HCOA; Teri Spinola-Campbell, Human Resources; Alisa Mitchener, P&R, Jesse Floyd, DD Council, Ku Mei Kern, Interpreter; Mar Ortaleza, Sam Nagasawa. CALL TO ORDER Vice Chair Tanigawa The meeting was called to order at 10:10 a.m. by . APPROVAL OF MINUTES OF THE FEBRUARY 13, 2012 MEETING W. Tanigawa Dr. R. Wagner-Wright called for a motion to accept the minutes. J. Mancini made a motion to accept the minutes and it was seconded by . Seven were in favor, and one abstained. (Laura abstained since she was absent at that meeting.) STATEMENTS FROM THE PUBLIC (Agenda Items) There were no statements from the public. NEW BUSINESS Establish Ad Hoc Committees 1. Site Evaluation Committee P.Aughe According to , it was agreed to call it access evaluation because along with building and access to services to the County, we were also going to include the relationship with the Police Department, Fire Department and disabled parking placard. She also stated that the #3 Communications and Education Committee should be two separate committees. R. Schoen didn’t see a problem with changing the titles of the ad hoc committees to the Access Evaluation Committee and separating out the Communications and Education Committees. She cautioned everyone about complying with the Sunshine Law. So, as an example, if you all meet next week as an ad hoc committee and then you come back in two months and you say this is what we recommend. This entire board cannot vote on that matter until the following meeting. The whole idea is that the board not meet in little groups and discuss board business without the public being afforded the opportunity to participate. And that’s why there is a longer process. You could just invite people that are involved in the community to the various committees. W. Tanigawa asked for volunteers for the Access Evaluation Committee. Chris, Janice, Pauline, Dr. Ron. It was decided that Pauline be the point person for the Access Evaluation Committee. 2. Emergency Preparedness Committee C. Cholas’ idea would be to meet with the Civil Defense Director and have him present what the county’s system is for meeting emergency preparedness for people with special needs in terms of sheltering in place, general programs to make sure people with disabilities know how to be prepared for emergencies. And from there see whether we would need an ad hoc committee for emergency preparedness. After discussion, it was decided to write a letter to the director. W. Tanigawa made a motion that we write a letter to the Civil Defense Director inviting him to the meeting and to ask him if there are any issues or comments that need to be addressed. Laura seconded the motion. All in favor; none opposed. 3. Communications Committee . (All past ad hoc committees were disbanded when the mayor’s term ended.) James and Dr. Ron. 4. Education Committee Dr. Ron, Paige, and Teri. C. Cholas wanted to know what they had in mind for the Education Committee. Dr. R. Wagner-Wright would like to produce educational material and/or presentations to everyone on the Big Island so that they know the law regarding what a service animal is. A service animal is for somebody like me where an animal performs a task to enable me to live a normal life. McGarrett is not a pet. McGarrett cost $60,000. McGarrett is fully trained and has to be because my life is in his hands. Teri did a fantastic manual for County employees regarding service animals, but it is not for the public because that’s Title II. We’re dealing with Title III, which is public population. So, I would like us to do something like what Teri did. 2 5. Housing C. Cholas brought up his memo to the mayor regarding promoting an amendment to the Building Code about universal home design. It’s ready to go, either approve sending it or disapprove. And then it’s off the table and we don’t really need a committee. We all had a chance to look at it. We’ve had copies distributed the last two or three meetings. Is the committee ready to say yeah or nay on just passing the recommendation on to our Mayor? R. Schoen informed him that it has to be agendized as a separate item for the next time. Chris thought it was going to be an agenda item this time. Wes stated that he should have agendized it as a separate item instead of as a committee. 6. Employment Committee James and Jean 7. Recreation Committee Janice, Jessica, Alisa 10:40 – Dr. Ron left. 8. ADA Day Jessica, Chris, Pauline, Mar W. Tanigawa was concerned about procurement issues for this event and was articulating that maybe an outside entity, nonprofit or business would like to take it over, and/or whether we should keep it as a committee item. Also wanted to add that the purpose of the committee is to serve as an advisory body for the Mayor and to serve more as a supportive body than a coordinating one. C. Cholas likes the idea of working with Mar which is about the same time as ADA Day. If we were part of the program with Abled Hawai‘i Artist Festival, emphasizing ADA day as part of the program that Mar has every year, then we M. Ortaleza wouldn’t have to buy anything. stated that he would be happy to have the Mayor’s Committee be part of that celebration in lieu of having its own celebration. Abled Hawai‘i Artist is on its sixth year is the largest celebration of ADA in the state. This occurs every third Saturday of July, usually around the time when ADA Day is celebrated. Discussion on Richardson Beach W. Tanigawa opened this up for discussion. Janice, James, and Chris all feel accessibility is more important than the building right now. Sam agrees. She says several of her consumers last year participated in Mobi Mat day find it extremely difficult to get there even for the ones with walkers or wheelchairs. C. Cholas suggested fixing that section first, from the building to the mobi mats, have an accessible pathway that’s wheelchair accessible and safe before working on the restroom. We’re asking to see if there is a way, to change the 3 order of what is done first, second and third so that the access trail from the building to the mobi mats are highest priority. Alisa was asked to move her office from Richardson’s back to Aunty Sally. There were some issues with hazardous materials and funding to move the restrooms to make it accessible to the end of the house instead of where it is. I have been given approval to continue with the beach access program that we’ve been doing. T. Spinola-Campbell stated that the project is one of the 20 that’s supposed to be completed in four years. They have a consultant, they’ve been working on it and the court is looking at it because it’s under our Consent Decree. Part of the building is used for Department of Education programs that go on there for kids. So part of that is making that accessible too, but I don’t have the breakdown of the step-by-step which stage will be done and when. Chris said the breakdown would be good to know. The committee discussed the letter that was supposed to have been written a while back regarding that. Janice said she was supposed to do that but she got sick and dropped the ball. . R. Schoen stated that she did recall the discussion about a letter, but her recollection was that Teri provided the year end report on the Russell Consent Decree and we articulated where Richardson was. I think that’s perfectly fine that you inform the Mayor that there is an issue at Richardson and the Committee would really like to see it addressed. Parks and Rec Department will probably report back to you and say this is what we’re doing. The problem is that if you change or modify an existing building, you have to comply with the new standards and so you have to make the entire area accessible. So, while that portion may not be accessible now, the department would be concerned with the entire structure according to law and also in accordance with the Consent Decree. So, to the extent that you all communicate to the department that this is an issue and you want it to be addressed, I think that’s completely fine. Renee requested that Janice could draft something and then bring it to the next meeting, you all can look at it and see if that’s what you want, and then it could Review draft be sent out to the mayor. We’ll just agendize it for next time - letter to mayor regarding Richardson. Report by Teri Spinola-Campbell. Teri stated that one project was for automatic entry doors for different departments at the Aupuni Center. The Department of Public Works, Engineering Division completed improvements to sidewalks on Hualalali Street, Kapiolani, and Kilauea Avenue. These were based on requests from the public. Teri conducted a service animal training for Coordinated Services for the Elderly in Hawi. Coordinated Services provides transportation for qualified seniors and persons with disabilities so they must follow the Federal Department of Transportation’s ADA rules, which are different then the Department of Justice’s 4 ADA rules, with respect to service animals. So basically the Department of Transportation never changed their ADA rules regarding service animals to the recommended Department of Justice’s change. With Department of Justice, it’s restricted to dogs and public entities and private entities must make modifications for miniature horses. Report from Alisa Mitchener. A. Mitchener stated that Snorkel Days now will start at Hilo at Richardson’s on May 24 and continue through October on the fourth Friday of every month. We have been conducting Snorkel Days at Kahalu‘u Beach in Kona which is co-sponsored by Deep and Beyond. In Mobi Mat Days, the County has provided beach access equipment only. Those dates will be announced later. So that’s the difference between Snorkel Days and our regular Mobi Mat Days sponsored by the County, which is just beach access equipment. There is a new piece of equipment now called a mobi chair and we were able to try it out. It’s like a tricycle shaped, two thick tires in the back, one in the front, similar to our hippocampe. The County doesn’t have those bought. Deep and Beyond was able to purchase one for their own group. Hippocampe beach chair will still be important because some of the participants will remain in the mobi chair in the water, and then our chairs will be used back and forth to the waters edge. We need to reevaluate and make recommendations on beach access ideas and hippocampe loan procedures as in other counties. You can sign a waiver and have access to the wheelchair. It puts the responsibility on the families, on the individuals and caregivers. Open House programs are in Pahoa, Puueo, Yano Hall and Kona. A drumming social was just started. It will be held at Mohouli Park. The next events will be May 3, August 30 and October 25, from 2:30 to 5:30. Some drums are provided but other folks bring their drums too. An in-service training was conducted for recreation staff, which covered the ADA compliance procedures that are offered to renters of their facilities. I also provided a slide show on our open house program so I could encourage our Recreation Directors to try that at their facility. I’ve also worked with the Recreation Directors on fire, safety and evacuation programming which might tie in to your Emergency Preparedness piece on your agenda. We’re also involved with Parks and Recreation rule changes. K. KernJ. Souza – is asking if your videos and your power points have close captioning or some kind of captioning? Alisa stated that she is doing it for staff so it’s not a public kind of thing. But if she were to bring it to committee, the way it was worked in the past was there were no captions or music or anything like that, but I did ask the interpreter to 5 interpret as she is now with my little descriptions of the slides. Would that be okay? K. Kern – J. Souza says that’s fine. He thinks that falls into reasonable accommodations. A. Mitchener provided suggestions for Parks and Recreation rules and it includes information on service animals and things like that. That happens every five years or so. ANNOUNCEMENTS: J. Mancini announced that Snorkel Day starts in May. NEXT MEETING Next meeting is May 22, 2013 at the ADRC Training Room from 10 AM-12 noon. ADJOURNMENT The meeting was adjourned at 11:20. Respectfully submitted, Sandra Arriola Recorder/Transcriber 6