Salem Commission on Disabilities
June 18, 2013
Introductions
The Salem Commission on Disabilities met at 4 PM on Tuesday, June 18th at Salem Access Television. Present were Andrew J. LaPointe, Jim Nowlan, Jennifer Barz-Snell, David Martel, Bill Legault (Council liaison), David Tracht, Debra Lobsitz, and Steve Dibble of Dibble Parks.
Lisa Camaratta was not able to attend. Jean Harrison was absent.
Moment of Silence observed in remembrance of former Mayor Jean Levesque.
Debra: Jean was a very valuable member of the Commission; many of you have told me about him.
Guest speaker: Steve Dibble on Accessible Playgrounds
Steve Dibble: Thank you. It’s been 16 years since we last met. I worked for the city from 1986 to 2000, and I worked with Jean Levesque—he was my neighbor.
Unlike other access codes, the safety codes for playgrounds are quite different. Now, there needs to be a path from the parking lot to the equipment. It needs to be 60 inches wide. Once you get on the playground, there are different conflicting rules from the Consumer Products Safety Commission and the ASTM. The two regulatory boards mirror each other for the most part. The regulations are current as of 2006.
Regulations call for a soft surface on the playground.
The regulations conflict because there is a safety code, and an accessibility code. Five items have both codes apply to them.
There’s something called bark mulch that is used to make the surfacing for playgrounds. Shredded tires are four times the cost. It’s very bouncy. These surfaces can pass wheelchairs if they’re flat but once kids start bouncing around, it gets harder to move a chair over. Next category is rubber tiles. They look good initially. Astroturf, what Andy mentioned. Most expensive is a kind of spongy rubber. Salem Common has it. The top is one layer but the bottom is made up of different spongy materials by depth.
The difference might be $4,000 to $30,000 for a small playground.
It’s very expensive to place wheelchair ramps in all possible parts of a playground—perhaps $25,000—before there is even any equipment to play on. In a very large city playground, ramps are mandated. Elsewhere, there’s a “transfer station”, which is a kind of platform that the child in the chair will move onto.
I built playgrounds for autistic children at private schools. They have colors, like purple, and textures. For children with sight difficultly, you have stripes. We built a playground Mother’s Beach, at Kennebunkport, ME. We built two structures there. We made one structure that is under the water at high tide—reinforced. The other structure was made with a kind of herringbone pattern to stand out for children with visual disabilities.
The safety regulations dictate what age groups can use which equipment. The regulations are strict now for nursery schools (0-2 years). At McGrath Park we have two sets of equipment, and we have a physical fitness park with an obstacle course and a figure-eight loop.
We are working with Horace Mann to make them a physical fitness course.
Please visit McGrath Park, the rear playground by the parking lot. We built this park and it is the only fully accessible park in Salem that most people don’t know.
David Tracht: What do these playgrounds cost?
Steve Dibble: A design like McGrath’s cost about $60,000 for two structures. These playgrounds meet the ADA code. Most playgrounds in Salem would meet the code as long as they have an accessible path to the equipment.
I have not seen all the playgrounds—perhaps half of them have a path. For years, most playgrounds have been built on a grass or dirt path, which would not be compliant. As Salem is renovating each park, most are in compliance since there is a path.
If you were to rank Salem against other towns, there are a lot of towns with grounds that don’t have safety surfaces; the towns don’t see the need to spend the money since no one’s gotten hurt by their measure. We are near the top, in Salem. Only Boston could be better. There are about 30 playgrounds in Salem, most with play equipment.
Steve Dibble: We would need to work with the Parks and Recs director, the new director, and look at each of the parks to see what distinctive features they have and for which age groups. I would volunteer to a subcommittee to put together a list.
I would look at it from a young parent’s perspective. It isn’t always about wheelchairs; there are children with CP. Point is that there are playgrounds with unique features.
David Tracht: Is it possible that the Commission might offer some funds?
Steve Dibble: The needs change from year to year. There are several different sizes and types of swings, for instance. There is a lot of equipment that is specially designed for specific needs. It makes sense to have a few accessible seats.
Andy: What about visually impaired children.
Steve Dibble: The colors need to be varied for depth perception. We use at least three. Children can detect darker hues on a ladder. There are signs in Braille and instructions in Braille on panel. There’s a lot you can do. The safety codes are factored to help blind children. We’re learning more and more as an industry about to deal with these issues.
Old Business
Assistive Listening System purchase update by Lisa Cammarata
Debra: Lisa has invited Chris Hartling to look at our setup.
Scholarship for high school students: Lisa Cammarata
Debra: Lisa has no new information; She is going to speak to some other towns.
Andy: Make a motion to meet with Lisa and the Mayor and the Finance Director. Other towns are doing this.
If we don’t get past this, it may not happen. We need another plan if that comes to that.
Andrew LaPointe made a motion to direct Lisa Cammaratta to hold a meeting with the Commission, the Mayor and the Finance Director on establishing a Scholarship Program. The motion was approved unanimously.
Debra: We are still trying to get the funds we get from parking violations to be used for a scholarship. We need to see if that meets the criteria. We have had conflicting opinions.
Steve: Steven Phillips is on Flint St. and they are the experts on scholarships in the Northeast. Could you talk with them?
Accessibility Icon Project
Bill: Should we reach out to the DPW director? It might be a good idea. He is a new hire and a go getter.
Accessible Taxicabs:
Bill: Seven companies in MA have accessible cabs: Boston, Worcester, Cambridge, Town Taxi, Metro Cab and Transit Services in New Bedford. I am talking with these companies now.
Debra: The Council would deal with this?
Bill: Taxi licenses are passed through the PD first, and then the Council. I’m waiting until I have more solid information. Once I do, I will talk to Mike Sosnowski. We are coming up on our break so it could be September or later. Please leave this as an open item.
New Business:
Letter of support for Bill S.604
Debra: This Bill was submitted by Joan Lovely. We can submit a letter to her as a group, but we can also write individually as well.
Andy: Do we want to write a letter from the whole board, or write letters individually.
Jim: I wrote a letter. I suggest the commissioners do the same. And the commission should send a letter. There is a template in the information I gave you.
Debra: I did draft a letter. I’ll send the electronic copy of the letter to everyone. I will have to miss the July meeting but Andy will have a copy.
Report on Salem Common access issues by Jim Nolan and Bill Legault
Jim: We did the survey in response to his complaints. I didn’t see anything
Jim: The original complaint we got was very non-specific. We went around the whole perimeter.
We need to make recommendations, but I’m not sure what. There wasn’t any particular situation that stood out for correction.
Bill: We didn’t find anything that was not correctable. The bollards are 50-52 inches apart at the Common entrance at Hawthorne Boulevard.
Steve: Any problems with the playground?
Jim: We were not asked to look at the playground specifically; we didn’t look at it.
Bill: We should send our findings to the Salem Common Neighborhood Association.
David Moisan: They are doing work replacing the fence. I’m not sure if any variances apply, or if the costs of the renovations require a variance. I recall that on sidewalks, there must be 36 inches of clearance along things like fire hydrants. That came up at the back service entrance to the courthouse, which had a hydrant mounted in the middle of the sidewalk. It did meet the 36 inch clearances.
Bill: It may require 48 inches, narrowed down to 36 inches as you say.
Jim: Also, there are no HP signs on the Common proper itself. No signs on the “inner ring” of the Common (outside perimeter of the Common fence.)
Bill: We will research and find out.
Debra: If we can get something very specific, that will help.
Andy: Ken talked about curb cuts. What about slopes?
Jim: I didn’t have the level or the battery to go with it, so I didn’t test that.
Debra: We may find that everything is actually in compliance.
Report on Crombie & Essex St.
Andy: Dave Martel and Dave Knowlton looked at a letter we were sent regarding Crombie St. & Essex St. by Sovereign Bank.
David Moisan: The work seems to have been done. The bricks on the sidewalk have been set into place; there are no loose bricks and the area looks better than it did. What I am worried about is the steel grate near the mailbox; it is dented, and bowing along the edges. It covers an underground cavity under the sidewalk. It should be replaced.
My bank is there. I am there all the time.
There’s a underground cavity under the sidewalk and a shiny steel grate. It should be replaced. It’s like the areas that Jim was talking about on the Common, but I could not say it was out of compliance. I’ve learned from looking at many of these areas
The mailbox is mounted on a concrete slab, not on the street itself, so it can be moved. It’s been moved against the building at the ATM entrance. It does not stick out.
I don’t think it’s the greatest area I walk down. But I’ve learned because I do not like how something looks does not mean it is necessarily out of compliance.
Commission of the Blind
Andy: Jim LeBlanc—Lisa Camaratta forwarded an email from him regarding the Commission of the Blind. His sight is improving, so the Commission wants to take him off the rolls.
David Tracht: That’s how it goes.
Andy: I haven’t been able to reach him at all. I don’t know what kind of help he wants. If he is gaining his sight, I don’t know if it will do much good.
David: It’s a tough one. I heard of a case where a man regained his sight after losing it in childhood. He had physical sight, but his brain’s vision center never developed, so he wasn’t as well off as he thought he would. We can’t do much about medical issues.
Andy: But I am obligated to help him and contact him.
Tedesco Country Club
Andy: The Marblehead Commission on Disabilities and the Marblehead Building Inspector has sent a letter of recommendation to approve the variance at Tedesco Country Club. The only thing that can be done from this point is file a complaint. It’s been two years.
I think what I want to see at the end of this is for Tedesco to host a Mass. Office on Disabilities access monitor course and have the Marblehead commission host it.
Jim: What I was concerned with, is that the Building Inspector is going to put ramps and rails on both side of it; but when I visited, they were going to put rails only on the inside, not on the traffic side. That is unsafe.
The variance talks about stairs, and there’s only one hand-railing. I don’t know what it is with those people, with railings.
Next meeting July 16, 2013
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