The minutes of the November meeting of the Salem Commission on Disabilities are up on Salem.com. Some highlights:
- Sidewalks are first last and always important to us. I already blogged about several sidewalks around downtown.
The moon crater at 10 Federal is still there.[UPDATE: 10 Federal is fixed. Thanks to Jason for the update.] - The ATM at Sovereign Bank on Essex St. is not accessible to the handicapped. It used to be accessed via a hallway to the rear of the building, which is accessible, but that hallway is now closed off. We’ve been after this for a few months.
- Health and Education Services is proposing a group home at 39-1/2 Mason St. They’re looking for a variance so they don’t have to put an elevator in the building; this would be cost-prohibitive. The variance application is on file with the MAAB.
- In other MAAB news, we’re still waiting to hear about MassHighway’s variance request on the Bypass Road bike path, blogged about back in June. I wish MassHighway had taken care of this sooner.
- The word from David Tracht, recently retired from the Massachusetts Commission for the Blind, is grim. The state cuts aren’t close to over, indeed they are likely just beginning. He’s worried that the various state commissions for the disabled may get rolled into, say, the Massachusetts Rehabiliation Commission, losing a lot of specialized knowledge in the process. Already low vision resources have been cut. This blogger wishes he had used such resources before that happened.
I wish a good Thanksgiving to all disabled people and their friends and relations, and may they have a quiet uneventful day with their loved ones.
No comments:
Post a Comment