Charlie Reardon has passed on

Essex Street Fair 2007 012 BW, originally uploaded by dmoisan.

The Salem Con Disabilities is sad to announce that one of our long-time members has passed away.

Charlie Reardon is no longer with us.

When I first started filming disability meetings, Charlie was one of the first people I met. He and I would go to various city meetings in one of his vehicles so I could record them. He was on a lot of shoots with me.

He also ferried around my blind colleague Andy quite a lot--Andy's late guide dog, Elliot, adored Charlie!

We both lived in Ward 2 and we shared the same "opinions" on the Salem Common Neighborhood Association that I have long aired here.

We will miss Charlie.

My years of futility in Salem transit, part 1

In my last post, I updated the status of Salem Depot and its endless revisions and delays.  A little further south of downtown, there’s another situation that I am reminded of again and again.

I’ve long wrote about the Market Basket bus stop and the problems navigating to it in the winter.  Around this time of year, most of us are shopping for new winter boots and hoping against hope that the upcoming winter will be mild, or at least with little snow.

This picture outside Pep Boys showed that this was not to be, early in 2011.  In 2010, the Commission hoped that the MBTA would route buses through Market Basket to eliminate the problem.

That was also not to be;  the MBTA declined the idea.  The Market Basket plaza was never designed for buses, the routes would be delayed going through there, but most importantly, the abutter to Market Basket—the adjacent shopping complex with Shaws and TJ Maxx, objected.

There will be no new bus stop in the winter of 2011-2012 and, I fear, there may never be.

Since I’ve started this blog, I have heard regularly from a gentleman, a former city councilor, who’s been upset over the bus stop and its snowbanks.

Like clockwork, I’ll hear from him when Mayor Driscoll announces funding for some new project (“She can spend $XXXXX for something but not on the bus stop!”)

Repeatedly.

He’s made me even more cynical than I am already.  I have seen and known enough about government to know that the fact of Mayor Driscoll seeking to start some project or another is totally orthogonal and unrelated to that bus stop.  I didn’t even vote for her but I have expressed my thoughts on transit to her and other elected officials regularly.

Most people who’ve been outraged over this issue have cars and don’t need to wait in the snow for the bus!

I use that bus stop regularly. If I get run over standing next to a snowbank one gray chilly day, isn’t that poetic justice?  Given what the Tea Parties say about government and those who work for it, I wouldn’t expect an ounce of sympathy from anyone if that happened!  I don’t know the politics of my correspondent, but I do know a lot of people his age who parrot  the “hard work and personal responsibility” trope of the Tea Parties so often that it is just screaming noise.  (Obviously, I didn’t work hard enough to overcome my vision problems so I could drive!)

And my correspondent is an ex-city councilor!  I feel that if you are a current city official or even a former city official, you have an obligation to answer when someone asks, “What did you do to make Salem better when you served?”

I’d like to ask my correspondent what he did when he had the reins.

I know that in 4 years and 1-1/3rd terms into my service on the Commission on Disabilities, I have to ask myself that question every time I get up in the morning and every time I sit in our conference room at SATV every third Tuesday.

I’m beginning to wonder if I can really answer that.  Thoughts in my next post. 

Salem Depot Update

Two updates on Salem Depot:  Several of us from the Salem Commission on Disabilities met here at Salem Depot with representatives from the Salem and MBTA Police to discuss handicapped parking problems at the station.  The Salem News wrote about this in some detail.

There wasn’t much that the police could do at the moment, since there is no continual monitoring of the area, by video or otherwise, but the T placed a message board, seen in in the image, for the interim.  October and Halloween represent the biggest month that this station sees in car and foot traffic, so this sign is not or should not be an unexpected expense for the T.

I never read the Salem News comment section, but there was one comment to that article I want to address:  The commenter believes that, instead of enforcing HP parking, that people with disabilities should use the T’s paratransit service, The Ride.

Um, they could.  But as I’ve written before, that service is very expensive to provide.   Using The Ride for direct service from, say, North Salem to Boston is just nuts if one can make the commuter rail.  And using The Ride as a shuttle to the station itself is practically a non-starter with Salem’s downtown traffic as bad as it is.

It turns out to be much cheaper, in the long run, for the MBTA to make their regular service accessible to people with disabilities.  The current management at the T seems to realize this, only after decades of neglect—and lawsuits.

My second update is more disturbing.  There was a robbery at the station one night last month.  A student was robbed of his laptop and iPod to the tune of $1,400, while waiting for a ride around 9 PM.

On reading this in the News, I can imagine the good people of Federal Street locking their doors in unison.  It’s not safe at 9 PM, after all.

I have been at the Depot late at night getting off a train.  It’s not at all unusual to call for a ride or a taxi.  9 PM is not a “wrong” time to be on the T.

My Mom told me stories of the old Salem Depot, not the famous headhouse that was demolished 50 years ago, but the two that sat under the south end of Riley Plaza.

A platform that was virtually invisible from the street. 

There were crimes and assaults on that platform up until it was closed in 1987 when the current station opened.

It is not acceptable to have someone minding their business at the station, waiting for their ride home, and being robbed. 

It’s intolerable that we should be taking these events  for granted, but many do.  I know, we’re in a recession, government is ineffective, and can’t we just wait for better days?  We’ll build a better Salem Depot to the shrine of Sammy McIntyre someday soon!

I’m coming to think that nobody in Salem wants a new train station, not the politicians, not the Salem News 101st Keyboard Brigade, not the neighborhood groups, or the “government-is-bad” people, nobody.

More on my next post.

Salem’s ADA Day, 2011

Monday marked the 21st anniversary of the Americans With Disabilities Act. Seen here are David Tracht, Salem Commission on Disabilities co-chair, Mayor Kim Driscoll, David Martel, Salem Commission on Disabilities and Mary Margaret Moor, Independent Living Center of the North Shore and Cape Ann.

Salem Schools Looking For a Home—and Accessibility

As reported by the Salem News, the new charter school, Salem Community Charter School is looking for space.  Museum Place is one possibility they’re looking at;  the former Saint Joseph’s Rectory is another.

As well, the Saltonstall School is being renovated and Salem is scrambling to find space for their students, and for a special-needs program at the Collins.

The rectory will need a year’s worth of work before it is useable as a school.  The Boston diocese did not offer their other properties such as St. John’s School and one official has speculated it is due to ADA issues.

A regular member of the commentariat at the Salem News weighed in on both stories with a refrain I am too familiar with as a member of the disability community in Salem.  To paraphrase:  “Why do we have to serve a small minority of students.  Forget that touchy-feely stuff of [disabled kids].  It’s an emergency—use the parochial schools!”

(It’s an emergency;  does that mean emergency no-bid contracting?  The member of the commentariat is a Tea Partier and I presume for less government and taxation and against the charming “emergency” measures that have often concealed thefts of the public purse.  I’m getting off the point here.)

Here’s a scenario the hardest-bitten conservative can relate to:

John Jones is a decorated veteran.  A wounded veteran who came home from Afghanistan or perhaps Iraq.  There’s no way he’s gonna get up and down stairs unless he rolls.  Downhill, possibly not under his own control.

He has kids.  He has a daughter, a true daddy’s girl that goes to the Saltonstall, or perhaps the new charter school or the Academy charter school.

His girl isn’t one of these special-needs snowflakes;  she’s a normal active girl.  Except that she’s an athlete and a ball player and there was that unseen posthole in the outfield one day when she was running out a grounder.

She’ll be hopping around for some time.

Now, Dad is deciding on schools, perhaps his family’s moved to Salem or his girl is making a change.  Remember choice?  That’s what the charter schools were supposed to be about.  Choice, choice, choice!

You will tell Dad the vet, wounded for our sins (“freedom isn’t free”, mind?), that he and his daughter cannot participate as parent and child in their own school system?

Good luck with that.

While many people use patriotism to worship respect our soldiers, few of them realize something I’ve thought of.

If you count all the veterans still living from all wars, and those that are wounded and disabled, I suspect they don’t make up a large number.

In Salem, I have heard estimates that 20% of Salemmites have a disability.  Not all of them are of school age, of course.

I am certain that the 20% is not all made up of veterans.

Yet if I suggested that  veterans should not get help because their numbers are so few, I’m certain I would be assaulted in an alleyway.  (Freedom isn’t free…)

I have no animosity towards veterans—I’m too young to have ever spat upon a Vietnam veteran, and have never said a word of disrespect to them (perhaps, I have done this to the politicians who task them, but…)   Salem’s veteran groups are natural allies of the Commission on Disabilities and always will be.

I have to wonder why the diocese of Boston is not aggressive with its surplus properties.  Despite what Rand Paul would have you believe, in Massachusetts, any given building does not have to be made ADA accessible to current codes merely as if the authorities waved a pixie wand and made it so.

The requirement to make a building ADA compliant per current code very much depends on the use of the building, the age of the building and the intended use of the building.  There were several revisions to Massachusetts building codes for handicapped access and by the current law, a building constructed say, in 1978, only has to meet accessibility requirements for 1978.  I have several large (and large-print) binders with all the laws to date.

If a building is used for general business purposes, it may or may not need to be brought up to ADA access.  Often in Salem, buildings have been repurposed and have never been made accessible because there were very few if any renovations performed.

A benchmark the Commission often discusses is the “one-third rule” or “30% rule” or “hitting 30%”.  That refers  to the current value of the building.  If any proposed renovations exceed 30% of this value, the building must be brought fully up to ADA and Massachusetts code.

Even then, developers and architects have considerable wiggle room.  The law does not say absolute accommodations, merely reasonable accommodations.  The Mass. Architectural Access Board (MAAB) will grant variances if the regulations are burdensome or do not benefit.

A few years ago, the state renovated a home in North Salem to use as a group home.  By the letter of the law it would have needed an expensive elevator.  The developer convinced the MAAB that the only space that the public would access was the ground floor.  The ground floor of the building was brought up to code with HP parking and no steps, but there didn’t need to be an elevator.  

I’ve been in St. John’s School before, and is not so much a charming old fashioned parochial school as it is a dump, no disrespect to Catholics meant.  There are stairs everywhere.  It could be impossible to get variances for this or any of the other school buildings involved.

Don’t forget, too, that the staff and teachers have to use the space as well.  People get old and infirm, or have a negative encounter with an icy front step.  If you think there’s controversy over accommodating students, just wait until it’s a teacher with a grievance!

I have to wonder if the diocese fears that the values of their properties have fallen so much that any renovations at all to them would require them to be fully up to code.  After all, it isn’t only handicapped access at stake but also electrical, plumbing, fire safety and communications cabling that need to be upgraded as well.

Whatever the case, this is something you can’t blame on the special-needs snowflakes, “those people” or the ADA activists.  Salem schools are indeed in a pickle.  But they would be anyway even if you deported all the disabled to Lynn.

Back after an absence

Essex Street Mall 2011-05-26 007, originally uploaded by dmoisan.

Via Flickr:
Nature finally turned a switch to "Summer" today, as these folks are realizing.

And I've turned a switch, too.

I haven’t posted in almost six months.  I’m dispirited.

Last winter, my building had the bedbug hysteria that has affected many households in recent years.  Dealing with bedbugs has combined the worst aspects of moving and losing your house to fire or flood.  The Salem News covered the story in my building and it brought out the worst aspect of pest infestations—the moral opprobrium that comes when your betters can look down on you for being “dirty” and “unclean”, even though bedbugs, roaches and mice are blissfully unaware of class distinctions.  

In a building with a shared laundry space, like I have, I’ll never know how I got bedbugs and I just don’t care who or what “gave” them to me.  I just know that pest infestations don’t make me or my neighbors “immoral” or “unclean” or “lazy”, but that was on the minds of many of the Salem News commentariat.

There’s more, too.  Last spring I had quite a screaming match with my ward councilor Mike Sosnowski over a parking proposal at the Jail.

What I learned from that affair is that it doesn’t matter what neighborhood I live in, or what stake I have in anything, if someone more important than me thinks different.  At that meeting, a person from the Northfields neighborhood association asserted that me and my neighbors did not want commercial use at the Jail no matter what.

It doesn’t matter that that Northfields guy probably doesn’t even have a view of the Jail from his house.  And he never cared before about the apartment complex I live in.

As far as I can see, Mike Sosnowski has more or less aided and abetted groups like Northfields.  If you live in cheap rental housing, you will not get representation in Salem.

You will not get it.

Better that you show Mike your mortgage statement—or proof of McIntyre architecture—before coming to him with a problem.

I was at a meeting this past Saturday of the Alliance of Salem Neighborhood Associations.  It was held at the function room of Beverly Cooperative Bank, which is where the Downtown group meets.

I had my own problems with that group, and didn’t want to attend this meeting, except that I made a verbal commitment on recorded video and had to go. 

(I know the camera is on during our Commission meetings.  If I make a gaffe or a curse, then I do.  I don’t try to walk back what I said.  I said it and it’s on tape and that is that.)

Several people in the Alliance complained about being “outsiders”.  I wanted to say to them:  “Where’s Lucy [Corchado, head of  the Point association]?  Where are they?  The Point is a neighborhood, isn’t it?”

Those people have their own advisory board at the highest level of city government.  They have Jason Silva’s [Mayor Driscoll’s chief-of-staff] private number on speed-dial.  I have no doubt that someone like Michael Coleman can have Mike Sosnowski swing into action at 3 AM on a Sunday if he so commands it.  If Teasie Goggin wanted to repeat Mike Bencal’s Al Haig moment (“I’m in control here”, after the attempted assassination of President Reagan in 1981) when he tried to take charge of City Hall when the mayor was away a few years ago, she has more than enough social capital to do so!

They have that advisory commission in addition to the Alliance!  Tell me they are outsiders again?

As it happened, the meeting was a waste of time for me and and my colleagues on the Commission on Disabilities, since it was supposed to pertain to the MBTA parking garage, but was instead an unfocused rambling about pedestrian access and getting traffic usage stats, only to find out the state had already done that but nobody from the Alliance even read the report.  The Commission probably could have used that, but the person presenting that report didn’t bother to tell us where we could find the data from the state website.

(I’d filmed video of the meeting.  It would have been nice of them to tell us when the MBTA part of the meeting would get under way so I wouldn’t have to guess how long the batteries in my camera would last.  Not long enough as it turned out.)

If I can’t be involved in the workings of my own city, the one that I have spent 47 years in, I think, why am I bothering to blog?

I’ve asked myself that question over and over during the past six months.

The only thing keeping me going is the Commission—whose purpose I believe in with all my heart and soul—and Salem Access Television, where I have been applying my IT talents for 11 years.

I’m very proud, in fact, that SATV now has much of its local programming available over the Net.  Public meetings—including the Commission’s—are now available through our Government page.

I worked very hard with Sal Russo and the staff over the past year to make this possible and I am inordinately prideful.  I’ve been delighted to flip the figurative “bird” to a few former board members who thought this was a “fad” or “something for Dave and Sal to spend money on”.  (In fact, video-on-demand has been a roaring success at SATV.)

There are many other thoughts, ideas and initiatives at SATV and the Commission to make fodder for many more years of blog posts, which is why I’m continuing to blog.

But I will never, ever, let myself believe that I have a stake and a say with what happens in Salem.

I don’t.  And I won’t.

Salem City Hall Elevator Dedication

Salem City Hall finally has an elevator!  We saw the elevator under construction when the Commission attended Mayor Driscoll’s proclamation of the 20th anniversary of the Americans with Disabilities Act this past summer.

Here is the ceremony:

And here is a walkthrough of the new elevator. Notice that there are two elevator doors, as you sometimes see in hospitals; one door covers the ground floor from the sidewalk while the other is at the level of the existing ground floor at City Hall.

This is "The Whirlybird", the old chairlift on the front staircase into the Council Chambers:

Beth Rennard, our city solicitor, used this lift every day.

She won’t miss it.

Changes at the Commission

Mayor Driscoll with the Commission on Disabilities, with our former chairpersons, Jack Harris,  and Andy LaPointe, and new chairperson David Tracht (back turned to camera), in front of the new elevator at City Hall.  Also here were David Martel (behind Mayor Driscoll), Jean Harrison and Charlie Reardon (in red.)

The Commission on Disabilities is going through our summer break, and meeting again in September with a different organization.

Jack Harris, after being on the Commission for over 20 years, is hanging it up at the end of the year when his term expires.  He announced his decision in June and called for an election of two co-chairs at our July meeting.

Here are his comments, from the meeting video:

I've known Jack for a very long time.  His two little girls have virtually adopted me!  Like many people who have served long terms in a job, it is inconceivable to think of his leaving.

But 20 years is a long time and I don't begrudge him.

Jack represents 20 years of very hard work to make the Commission as successful as it has been.   This is a position more for duty and love, than it is for prestige.

I've often wondered how I would fare as chair.  It's something I have to think about as I start my second term on the board.

I didn't nominate myself in the vote as I didn't feel I had enough seniority or experience, but as time  goes on, if I continue in the job, I have to prepare for that possibility, and prepare to step up in his position someday.

This is what I said to Jack when he announced his decision:

Our new co-chairs are David Tracht and Debra Lobsitz.  I and my colleagues will do our best to support them both.

Mayor's Proclamation of ADA Day

 

PROCLAMATION

WHEREAS:  July 26th, 2010 marks the twentieth anniversary of the signing of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA); and

WHEREAS: The ADA set regulations that have made it easier for people with disabilities to work, shop, go to school and enjoy recreational activities with their neighbors; and

WHEREAS:  Community leaders, businesses and government officials should celebrate the contributions that people with disabilities have made and continue to make to our community; and

WHEREAS:  We should acknowledge the rights of all persons with disabilities under the ADA and their daily activities, struggles and triumphs; and

WHEREAS:  The City of Salem is commemorating the twentieth anniversary of the signing of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA).

NOW, THEREFORE, pursuant to the authority vested in me as Mayor of Salem, I, Kimberly Driscoll, do hereby proclaim Monday, July 26th, 2010 to be:

SPIRIT OF THE 20TH ANNIVERSARY OF THE AMERICANS WITH DISABILITIES ACT (ADA) DAY

In the City of Salem, and urge all of the citizens of Salem to commemorate this anniversary by renewing our commitment to uphold the nondiscrimination principles of the ADA and to support them in their efforts to become as independent as possible.

Signed,

Mayor Kimberly Driscoll

July 26th, 2010

Remembering Elliot

[Courtesy photo from the Salem News used without permission.]

Last week, my colleague and friend on the Salem Commission on Disability had sad news:  His longtime guide dog, Elliot, passed away.

We have plenty of stories on the Commission about Elliot.  He was Andy’s second guide dog, following the retirement of Yates, both dogs having been fostered and trained by Fidelco Guide Dog Foundation.

One of the hardest things to remember when meeting any service animal—and I have met many over the years—is that the animal is “on the clock”.  It’s working for its owner, doing its job.  You can’t pet the animal or talk to the animal or interact with it as you would a pet.

As a pet lover in general, this is hard for me to remember.

Elliot made it even harder.

Elliot, like many dogs, loved most humans and wanted very much to meet new friends.  Whenever I got into a car with Andy to go somewhere, Elliot would jump in the back seat, but not before giving his fellow passengers a kiss and a lick with his tongue as if to say, “Hi!  You can be my buddy?!”

During Commission meetings, Andy would often pick the seat next to mine, near the center of the table.

Elliot would turn to me, lick my hand and look at me for acknowledgment.  It was hard to ignore him, yet I had to gently nudge him to curl up next to Andy for the remainder of the meeting.

Which he did.  Fidelco is not only good at socializing its foster dogs, but also training them. 

Elliot was a great dog.

He will be missed, and not only by Andy.

The 2010 Fidelco Walk next week is dedicated to Elliot.

My colleague, Jean Harrison, had this  memory of Elliot:

I really thought of Elliot as an under the table commissioner.  He was a dear, sweet dog.  I occasionally had the good fortune to have him rest his head against my leg or on my foot.  Which was very nice & made me feel welcome as the most junior commissioner.

Very sweet.  Thanks, Jean, for letting me repost this.

Tavern in the Square sidewalk controversy

Update on last summer’s controversy over Tavern in the Square.  The tavern’s outdoor seating has been completed and is now open for diners.

But as mentioned in the Salem News, it’s not necessarily open for pedestrians.  Due to state liquor laws, the sidewalk is closed to public access while the outdoor seating is in use.

The Commission on Disabilities has been very concerned about the blocked sidewalk for some time.  Our co-chairs spoke out last week.

SRA chairman Brennan says, of the detour:

"You might take 20 extra steps before you get beyond it," said Salem Redevelopment Authority Chairman Mike Brennan. "It's not a major impediment. I don't see this as a major problem. We're not asking you to walk a quarter of a mile."

Mr. Brennan, I have colleagues who have to count every step they have to take.  20 extra steps is not a problem for me but it is a problem for many cane users and those whose knees have given out.

But I can speak as a visually impaired person and I believe there is a problem.

Several years ago I nearly lost my sight:  My right eye’s retina tore, followed several months later by my left eye’s retina.  It was nearly two years and five operations before my sight was stable again.

During my recovery I had to perform many daily tasks with 20/100 vision or worse.  Tasks which included taking walks on sidewalks downtown and boarding buses.  You might think I should have just stayed home, but I and many others don’t have servants or even many family members to help.  There are many people walking their way through Salem with bad eyes;  I would not be the first nor the last.

To this day I have little usable vision in my left eye (20/200). 

To illustrate the problems around the Tavern in the Square area I took some photos, at noon and at dusk.  I’ve blurred them to approximate what and how I see out of my “bad” eye.

First, here is Tavern in the Square, from Washington St. walking south:

Here is the same view, through my bad eye:

Now, Tavern in the Square from New Derby St.:

And blurred:

These pictures were snapped around high noon that day.  I came back at dusk a few days later.  When your eyesight deteriorates, perhaps later in life, you may first notice it at dusk, a very challenging time to see, even for those with normal sight.

Tavern in the Square at dusk, Washington St.:

Blurred:

From New Derby St. at dusk:

And blurred:

The sign directing diners was blown down—it was gusty that day.

When your sight is bad enough  that you can only see lights and darks and vague shapes, it’s a very different experience than most are used to.  Many can imagine being sightless—just by closing their eyes—but few realize the problems faced by the visually impaired.

Much was made, during last week’s meeting and the comments in the News, about accommodating “just 4 blind people” who walk through the intersection.  I have no idea if that count is accurate, having been thrown out by a reader on the News page.  But I do know there are many more visually impaired out there.  Probably someone you know.

Here’s one last set of photos:

This is, for lack of a better term, a curb structure put in during Tavern in the Square’s development.  I don’t know what purpose it was originally for.  The Commission has been told this was “a mistake”.  Here it is blurred, and at dusk:

This is the quintessential problem I face as a visually impaired person.  Even though my sight is a good deal better than this, I have a very hard time seeing slight contrasts as represented by this sidewalk structure.

(This was blocked by sawhorses after this picture was taken.)

I occasionally attend seminars in IT as part of my field, and there is a hotel in the theatre district in Boston that I will never go to again because they insist on having steps into and out of the lobby that are black and completely unmarked.  I hate falling.  I have many other examples, of which this is only one.  (Another reason I hate cobblestones.)

I have no position on Prevey’s proposed fees on sidewalk access, and I don’t think the Commission will have a position either (at least until we next meet, if even then.)

I have no animus whatsoever towards Tavern in the Square, either, and I understand the other factors involved.

But I think there is a problem here, and I suspect the Commission will see it that way at next week’s meeting.

The resolution may involve orange barriers (at least, yellow or orange ropes, not necessarily construction barriers.)  Or it may involve redesigning the New Derby intersection, which has been on our wish-list.

But the one thing this is not about, Mr. Brennan, is “20 extra steps”.

Update:  EyesOnStreets has commented on my post..  I don’t agree with everything said there (I’m not a fan of Kunstler and, I can see the back side of the new courthouse from my house and don’t think it’s ugly) but I appreciate the kind words nonetheless.

Salem Commission on Disabilities April 2010 Unofficial Minutes

[Sorry for the delay.  No pictures this post—DM]

The Salem Commission on Disabilities met on April 20^th, 2010 at 4:00 PM.

Present: Jack Harris, Debra Lobsitz, Andy J. LaPointe, David Tracht, David Moisan, Charlie Reardon, David Martel and Jean Harrison.

Mike Taylor was unable to attend. Jean Levesque and Mike Sosnowski were not present.

Old Business--MBTA Bus stop, Market Basket

Jack: As most of you know, with the help of David Moisan, we’ve brought attention to the T bus stop at Market Basket. The city, with the help of Market Basket and the MBTA put a meeting together with suggestions. It has stalled. Not sure how, but in my discussions with Jason Silva, it ran into a roadblock. Market Basket and the T had a discussion, thought it was a good idea, MB offered to construct a shelter. But the T backed off, didn't like the location of the shelter.

I called Mr. Mathews to arrange a meeting with Jason in hopes of getting this done. It’s a safety issue.

Dave Moisan: I’d gotten a message from Richard Swinuch that he’d got from Keenan’s office; the abutter of MB (Shaw’s plaza next door) did not approve of the bus routing.

Jack: MB was going to pay for the bus shelter to be on their side of the mall.

Watch the Walmart/Lowes project--new stoplights and crosswalks are in now in the area but there could be reconfiguration. Several other stops on Highland Ave. present the same problems but the MB stop is the most notable.

MBTA New Garage at T lot

Jack: As some of you know, we won part of the fight: There will be a full-height platform--walk from the platform straight to the train (no steps). Now, we want a canopy over the whole platform. Previously, the T was citing money issues, plus the platform is on a curve and they didn't want to do it. From discussion with several people from the state, this is a win-win.

Charlie: There will be more wheelchair passengers, now that they can more easily board. Scott Maguire (friend of Charlie’s) once had to ride in the back of a baggage car.

Jack: This will help people on foot who won’t have to go up on steps.

David Martel: Will the boarding area be enclosed?

Jack: The T is still accepting comments.

Jean Harrison: They are more aware of the disabled.

Jack: A $300 million judgment (against the MBTA) will do that.

David Martel: Not to mention the curb cuts all over Salem. People take them for granted and if we took even half of them out, people would notice.

When we did the Access Monitor training, so many people from outside came to Salem and realized how good our access is compared to other places.

Charlie: The Witch Museum is accessible.

David Martel: Many of these people could grandfather out of the ADA requirements but they go ahead and make things accessible. Biff Michaud did that with the Witch Museum.

They put a lot of reenactments downstairs to make them accessible.

Andy: Another comment on the train platform; you may go on the train several times and not have any problems, but once you may have a problem. I had to call for my stop once and the train stopped halfway to Beverly. They had to back up to the station.

Jack: First rule: Disabled people need to let the conductor know where they will depart the train.

Andy: I did do that.

David Martel: Flight attendants do that too; I asked for assistance on a recent flight. You might hate doing that if you’re disabled—we’re all proud people—but we must do that.

Jack: Self-designation certainly helps. Safety, plus it helps them get to where they need to go.

David Tracht: The conductors must help too.

Andy: Blind people who get the ambition to travel, can get that ambition lost very quickly when they have a problem.

David Tracht: The train put me to sleep on the way home and I always woke up before my stop. I always wondered what if I didn’t? Partially-sighted people have particular problems in the fall and winter.

Jack: I ran into a new system today. They have automatic stop announcements that you may have heard in the subway (“Next stop...Government Center"). There is now a system on the commuter rail—but it has a female voice, which I don’t like.

Those who get a Blind Access Pass for the T: It's no longer good forever. It needs to be renewed every five years.

Renewal reminders aren't sent automatically.

Charlie: A blind person or a sight-impaired person can’t possibly read the fine print on the pass! What is he/she supposed to do?

Jack: I called the T to get a new one. They said they’re backed up. What do I do in the meantime? The phone rep told me something interesting: “Try the pass and maybe they’ll let you on!”

David Tracht: Won’t work on commuter rail.

David Moisan: I remind people that about five years ago, the T went to their Charlie Card system. They may be hoping people will fall off the rolls because they are deceased or they are no longer impaired.

David Martel: Where can you reload a Charlie Card in Salem?

David Moisan: Register the CharlieCard online. If you’re comfortable using debit online, this is best. All the buses have fare boxes that can be used to reload cards.

Most drivers are patient. Or you can go on the bus a few minutes before the trip. There are a few extra steps that involve tapping a button, tapping your card, inserting your money, tapping the card again and finally tapping the card one last time to pay the fare.

Jack: One of the drivers will help if you ask.

MAAB Update--4 First Street

4 First St. will get a site visit from the MAAB to review the parking lot access problem. We were hoping to do it this week but things came up. We’ll let everyone know when this is happening.

Variance at Morency Manor, Salem Housing Authority

Jack: The Salem Housing Authority asked for a variance. I handed this to David Martel and David Tracht since it would be a conflict of interest for me (and David Moisan) to handle it since I (and Dave M.) are SHA tenants.

David Martel: SHA wants a variance for Morency Manor. The control panel for the new elevator is in an alcove, but they want to put in a 2nd control panel. There should have been a variance in the first place from the contractor.

Variance at 76 Lafayette Street

Jack: Taco restaurant has been proposed for the unrented part of West Coast Video. The variance was requested before the building was even permitted, which we really appreciate. We will make a recommendation and send it along

Burba Dental (Highland Ave. @ Wilson Rd.) Variance

Jack: There are no HP parking spaces and ramp is not compliant. Tom St. Pierre will be back and we will discuss this. We want to know why the ramp is not compliant. I will let people know what’s going on.

Jack: The SRA had a meeting about outdoor seating. I talked about the direct path of travel. There was a problem involving the old Edgewater Café. They had seating that blocked off the sidewalk and got two complaints about it.

We will have to revisit this.

Dave Martel: Tavern in the Square: They flattened the traffic island and relocated the traffic controls. They did a very nice job and there are no access issues or trip hazards. They did listen.

Jack: We will have to watch this; summer will wind up quickly.

New Business

ADA Observance July 26, 2010

Jack: This year is the 20th anniversary of the ADA. I would like to put together some sort of good observance. The ILCNSCA is putting on an event. I'd like to have an event here, at Winter Island or Old Town Hall or the Ferry.

There are many accessible areas that are new in Salem that we should or want to highlight.

David Martel: Access training again?

Jack: Jeff Dugan is trying to visit every Commission on Disabilities in the state (200?). And is asking for an invitation (we will invite.) Regional meetings have happened, and the Disability Consortium Council has been doing some of these meetings.

Debra: Regional meeting in Salem?

David Martel: It’s possible. Visitor's Center is one possibility.

Dave Martel: For people starting up or reactivating their Commissions, Salem is an excellent model.

Incident on Bridge Street

Jack: There was a small article in the paper last weekend. A young lady in a chair was trying to get up Bridge St. near the motel with the MassHighway construction. A truck was parked on the sidewalk in the way, so she went around and the flagman on duty was very upset with her. Not that it’s necessarily the flagman’s fault, but the pedestrian should have gotten assistance. I brought it to the attention of John Jodoin about this.

Charlie Reardon: I talked about this with the construction crew on Bridge St. The flagmen don’t want to work on Bridge St. Officers will work Bridge St. while the [civilian] flagmen will do side streets.

Jack: My interest in this is that the flagman was obviously unhelpful. The truck should not have been parked there.

David Martel: It brings up a thought about school crossing guards. I wanted to cross the street at Boston & Essex Sts. and there was a crossing guard. I asked the guard for help crossing, and he told me I wasn’t a kid. Well, I’m not a senior citizen but still the traffic is horrendous.

Jack: Is the crossing guard solely for children? There needs to be clarification one way or the other.

David Moisan: I have had the opposite—crossing guards who insisted I cross the street with their assistance.

A Frame Signs, City Council Committee Meeting

Jack: Regulations for A-frame signs are being reconsidered. Joan Lovely is heading the committee to govern over these. We have asked for an invitation to a meeting. These signs directly impact the path of travel.

Andy: Nothing specific in the ordinances about disabled or blind, only the general 36 inch rule. If there needs to be consideration for the disabled with those signs, we need to speak out.

Charlie: I suggested to Rinus [Salem Chamber of Commerce] that the red line at Daniel Low's (now Rockefeller's) be cleared of any signs, seating and etc. and make a clear path of travel. This was done last year and all but 2 merchants complied. Signs should be near a tree, pole or other landmark when possible instead of standing on their own.

Andy & Dave Martel: Suggested a map similar to the official visitor's map, but instead of the usual red line, a blue line detailing path of travel and accessible pedestrian signals. A woman from Winthrop told me she has no idea how to safely get from one point of interest to another in her wheelchair.

Dave Martel has volunteered to do this.

Andy: Salem is a great place to visit for people with disabilities. Just go to any place where people from around the state meet, like the Carroll Center for the Blind. They all say Salem is great!

Jean Harrison: Put a sign outside designated restaurants?

Charlie Reardon: I’ll make the sign. It’ll have the HP logo and “courtesy of the Salem Commission on Disabilities” (blue and white).

Dave Martel: The information is sent also to Shaugnessy for use by the patients and families.

Other Business

Independent Living Center of the North Shore and Cape Ann—911 Indicator Form

Andy: The ILCNSCA had no idea about the 911 indicator form; they are aware now, but for now we need to remind every disabled person in Salem to fill out the 911 indicator form in case of emergencies. All information is confidential.

Jack: 911 Indicator form has been on our website for some time. They just have to call us or attend our meetings. They have not. They've refused to work with us. They haven't even asked us to be part of variance requests. They know we're part of the process and they just don't want to do it.

Andy: If they don't know about it and I didn't know about the ILCNSCA, what's more important is that some disabled person needs to call 911 and it's a crisis--the person won't be thinking of that. Point is, when they fill out the form and something goes wrong, they will know the situation, you're in a wheelchair, you need rescue, etc. We need to bring it to everyone's attention. 25% of Salem's population has a disability. (!)

We need to get the point out.

David Martel: Can put out a flyer?

Andy: We need to work on this continually, and never stop.

Debra: Send the forms to the ILCNSCA?

Andy: I do my show for TIC and send the information everywhere.

Jack: The ILCNSCA gets this?

Andy: Not unless they listen. It's important enough that we need to make this a priority.

Audible Signal at Market Basket Southbound

David Moisan: The audible signal at the bus shelter outside Pep Boys (Market Basket southbound) broke several weeks ago. I notified Jason. The Polara signal was replaced two weeks later with a non-audible button. Need to check back with city engineer to see if audible signal will be replaced. The crosswalk needs audible signals at both sides for them to be effective.

David Martel: I’m surprised there are no audible signals at Salem Hospital. The sun obstructs view at sunrise and sunset.

David Moisan: There are no new signals north of Salem High--all signals between Essex St. and Wilson St. are the old non-audible signals.

Jack: Since you started this query, can you follow up with Jason?

David Moisan: Yes, I will check on that one. And I will ask about what will happen north of the high school. Boston St. is another issue entirely, but my immediate concern is the Market Basket signal.

Adjournment

Next Meeting is May 18, 2010,

Guest will be Verizon [Tom Boudreau]

My letter to John Tierney on the health reform bill

No picture in this post.  I just faxed this to my congressman. 

Disclaimer:  Does not represent an official stance of the Salem Commission on Disabilities.

Short and I hope to the point:

Congressman John Tierney

2238 Rayburn

House Office Building

Washington, DC 20515

Dear Congressman Tierney,

I’ve followed the news on the health care bill and I understand that you’re undecided on it.

I urge you to vote yes tomorrow.

In your home town you may be familiar with the Salem Commission on Disabilities. We represent the interests of all of Salem’s citizens, businessmen and visitors with disabilities.

20% of the citizens of Salem have a disability.

Health care, and access to health care, are critically important. The unemployment rate for people with disabilities is 70%—this is a brutal statistic!

Many people on SSI or state welfare are trapped there, lest they lose their health coverage. More, still, become disabled and lose their jobs when their employers get the word and the premium hikes come—they can’t afford to keep people with health issues!

I am an unrepentant supporter of single-payer health care. But the current bill is probably as far as we’ll be able to get. There’ll always be another chance, if President Obama can be courageous.

I realize that, outside Salem, in the rest of your district, this is not a popular stance.

But it’s the courageous one.

You opposed the Iraq war, and expressed that opinion and got through it. You’re still in office.

I ask you to take a stand again, no matter how loud the opposition gets.

David Moisan

Commissioner, Salem Commission on Disabilities

Voting at St. John’s

As I mentioned in my last post, I voted at St. John’s today.   The handicapped entrance is around the corner at the old Pioneer House entrance:

The entrance to the hall is a newly installed door inside the entrance to the left.  It doesn’t have an automatic door opener and no one was at the door, as they often were at the Salem Heights polling place.

Once inside, I checked in, but had trouble with the Automark machine for people with disabilities.  The machine was in the dead center of the room, which was split off by precinct, one side (closest to the handicapped entrance) for Pct. 1, and the other for Pct. 2 (mine).

The area in front of the Automark was blocked by a table, I presumed it was there to divide the two halves of the room.

After looking stumped for a moment, one of the poll workers asked me if I wanted to use the machine.  Affirmative.  She and two other poll workers had to get the key to activate the machine and it was a few minutes before I could use it.

I did get to use the machine and eventually cast my ballot.

I know the poll workers are mostly inexperienced;  the clerk has had to aggressively seek workers in recent years.  Worse yet, there’s still the preliminary and final special elections for the US Senate coming up. 

But those in charge of setup should put the Automark on their checklist.

More Frustrations with HP Parking Enforcement

Last post I mentioned one of the hot buttons of the Salem Commission on Disabilities, sidewalk access.  Recently, Ken Bonacci, a colleague and former member of the Commission, brought up another frustrating situation for us over the years:  Handicapped parking violations at Salem Depot, and elsewhere around the city.

Ken has been very forward in dealing with the situation, more than most people would contemplate.  The MBTA police have directed him to stop:

Lenehan [Lt. Robert Lenehan, MBTA Police] said the T asked Ken Bonacci, a former Disabilities Commission officer, to stop approaching cars that are illegally parked in handicapped spaces and asking drivers to move, in part, out of concern for Bonacci's safety.

The MBTA recently received a two-page letter, apparently written by a commuter, complaining about the enforcement actions. As a result, Lenehan sent an officer to the Salem train station to speak with Bonacci.

The transit police want to make sure the well-intentioned enforcement actions of Bonacci and other volunteers working with the local commission don't result in a confrontation with an angry motorist, the T official said.

The article goes on to explain what the Commission has done:

Disability Commission members were trained several years ago by the Salem police in volunteer enforcement of handicapped parking violations, Harris said. They used to take photos of cars, write down license plate numbers and turn the information over to police, who would then issue parking tickets.

They were also given identification badges, which Bonacci said he places against the driver's window to identify himself before speaking to a motorist or asking a driver to move.

"He was doing exactly what ... the commission was trained to do," Harris said. "He just knocks on a window and politely explains that they're in a handicapped spot and they don't have a placard or plate and need to leave."

As part of the training, Salem police emphasized the need to avoid any kind of confrontations, Harris said.

The Commission has had a long history of frustration with HP parking enforcement and we have experimented with some different approaches, including the one mentioned in the article.

At one point a few years the Salem PD gave us "informational" ticket booklets which were to be forwarded to the Parking Department. Originally, the informational citations were to be a kind of green stamp; if a driver collected several, there would be points on the insurance and a real citation.

When we asked about the disposition of the tickets, we were told they would be thrown away. We gave up on that one.

The Salem PD tried volunteering us to go around with digital cameras, when the technology was newer, to monitor HP parking spaces, but there weren't enough volunteers, nor was there the money to have the PD do it.

Our latest idea, so far, isto get funds to pay a detail to monitor parking, again at key spaces like the train station and downtown. This would relieve us from the situation that Ken was in.

I would not have done what he did in that situation. I use the train station regularly; I don't drive but I can easily walk to the handicapped spaces and see who's in them. I wouldn't have confronted anyone. But Ken is a very forward person. He did this on his own initiative. That's why we respect him.

Ken was a very respected member of the Commission, and we consider him a dear friend. Ken has been my ideal as a commissioner for the 2 years I have held the position. 

With the turmoil surrounding the MBTA, we're not certain how the MBTA police will be able to enforce the spaces until the new station is built. I understand that on weekends the T police is so thinly staffed there is only one officer to serve an area from Boston to New Hampshire.

Nevertheless, we do hope to leave this to the police. We really do. But Ken did not act out of thin air, but out of the many years of frustration that drivers with disabilities have experienced.

Many of whom, by the way, will complain to us.  That’s OK, it’s our job to hear them, but as with our sidewalk issues, we are dependent on the police and the rest of the government to help us out.

No doubt, in the near future, we’ll be meeting with Chief Tucker to get some ideas on dealing with parking scofflaws without being cops ourselves.

Sidewalk Access Flares Up

For a number of years now, the Commission on Disabilities has been frustrated with the obstacles often present on downtown sidewalks. Many restaurants have established outdoor seating; Tavern in the Square is constructing its outdoor seating in the photo above.

Many other businesses have sandwich signs. Many sidewalks, particularly the Essex St. pedestrian mall between Liberty & Washington Sts., are cobblestoned.

These are frustrating obstacles for people with mobility and visual impairments. Last Thursday night at the Council chambers, our frustration finally boiled over.

Jack Harris, Charlie Reardon, Andy LaPointe and myself were there. Only Jack was quoted in the Salem News article, but he said everything that was on the back of all our minds.

As best as I can paraphrase, this is what I said:

To me, it isn't about Tavern in the Square in particular. They have the right to want and try for outdoor seating. I understand and accept the reasoning behind roping off the dining area [to fullfill state liquor laws.]

It's the fact that the SRA did not let us know this was coming down the pike. We at the Commission on Disabilities only found out about it in September, and I posted the blueprint and sidewalk closings diagram on my blog just a few weeks ago.

If only we saw this in July!

We on the Commission would have said our piece and come to an understanding before earth was ever turned on the site.

We knew the Courthouse and Salem Depot projects were coming down the pike, as were the North St. and Bridge St projects. We could engage with their project managers and at least know what was coming.

The SRA? Absolutely nothing from them before the fact.

If this meeting were only about Tavern in the Square, I think we were invited here in bad faith for a matter that we can't advise on until after the fact.

Why did they start building now? Why didn't they line up the permitting over the fall and winter? They could have done that, started construction after the spring thaw and have been done very quickly without any animosity.

By itself, Tavern in the Square’s outdoor seating doesn’t bother me, but when you have it and the multitudes of other restaurants and shopowners that put out chairs and tables and sandwich signs all around Washington, Front and Essex Sts, the totality of this is that even able bodied people won't be able to move around on a moderately busy Saturday, never mind October.

[End of remarks to the Council.]

The News article got a good number of comments; I’m going to address “youasked”. He or she was somewhat critical:

DMoisan....Are you kidding? Picking on one of TWO sidewalks being blocked in one small sectin of Salem when there are entire areas without sidewalks or usable access at all? You of all people should know better.
Just want to get your Commissions mission statement out there? Great, more power to you.
But come on, be a little more proactive instead of reactive grand standing.

How about a sidewalk along Loring Ave around dead mans curve? South campus area, make the state pay for it.

Route 107 Highland Ave....
15-20 years ago when Washington Street Rotary was there it was SO safe and accessible...
Do I need to go on?

The sad part of this is that all of those items he or she listed have been on our agenda recently. I was hoping for some new items in that post that we could work on. We do have to work with other city departments and elected officials (in the case of Loring Ave. where’s Joe O’Keefe again?!) not to mention the state.

And I am all too aware of the problems on Bridge and Washington and have been for fifteen years. At least we have one small victory: the pedestrian signals at WalMart were done over last month, in case that’s what the commenter was referring to.

It’s like saying if we can’t fix all the sidewalks around town, we can’t fix any of them!

And what is this business of being “proactive”? If we don’t find out about things like Tavern in the Square until after everything else is permitted, then we are reactive and what’s the point? We get complaints from constituents about access problems and we are expected to help get these to the right people to be resolved. So we’re reactive. What was the point again?

Unless and until the Planning Department and the SRA gives the Commission, and the public, access (via the city’s web site) to the same exhibits they use to make decisions on outdoor seating or anything else, we’re just going to do this over and over again.

And we’ll be “reactive”. Sorry.

Salem Commission on Disabilities: Following up

On the Salem Commission on Disabilities, we move at a slower pace than we would want.  There are agenda items that stick around for years, problems that are never really resolved and other issues that recur again and again despite our best efforts.

This week, several items at our last meeting are actually moving forward with good news!

First of these is the handicapped spaces at Market Basket.  The spaces have flooded out in heavy rains.  Last week, the spaces were dug out and releveled.

The end result.

In another development, my friend and colleague Andy LaPointe has good news:

Hello Friends and Commissioners.  I just got a message from the Mayor and she stated that the remaining $1,250.00 needed to launch Project Lifesaver has been committed.  Now, Salem will have that layer of protection needed to save those lives of people that wander and get into harm's way.

This is a great day....

As soon as the training has been completed, I will contact the media to bring proper media coverage...  I will bring you all up to date with any and all updates as soon as I receive it.

Andy

Project Lifesaver is, as Andy puts it, “LoJack for People”.  It’s a locating device that’s worn by those who may wander off by themselves, such as Alzheimer’s victims.  Local police that participate in the program have direction-finding equipment, just like LoJack, that helps them quickly find missing people who carry the device.

Andy’s been working hard on getting this established in Salem for quite a few years.  It’s rare that the Commission gets results so quickly, but it is much appreciated.  Andy is getting, and deserving, all our praise!

Unofficial Minutes of the Salem Commission on Disabilities, September 2009

The regular meeting of the Salem Commission on Disabilities was held at SATV on September 15th, 2009.  Present:  Jack Harris, chair, David Martell, Debra Lobsitz, Jean Harrison, David Tracht, David Moisan, Jean Levesque, Michael Taylor, Andy LaPointe, Charlie Reardon, co-chair, Jean Levesque, Assistant ADA Coordinator and Mike Sosnowski, City Council Liaision.

SATV Audible Bulletin Board

Jack:  First, I apologize to Dave Gauthier for having him in the agenda as “Ron Gauthier”.  I’ve asked him to come and talk about the audible bulletin board that was on SATV.  I know Andy and Dave Moisan have been talking about this.

Dave Gauthier:  We have three bulletin boards, scrolling announcements that run on each channel 3, 15 and 16.  We used to videotape the announcements on Channel 3, and we had volunteers who would read each announcement to tape.  That tape was run as a program every week.

The problem we had with this is that we did this with older technology.  As we upgraded we found we couldn’t do this anymore.  Andy and I have been trying to come up with a temporary solution.  I’ve been talking with David Moisan, who does the IT work at SATV, about how to resolve this.  Dave and I are talking with the manufacturer of our system, Tightrope Media Systems, to see what they can do.  We’ve reached out to them but haven’t heard anything back yet.

I have no idea how hard it would be to do this;  I’m not a programmer.

Dave Moisan:  I’ve done a preliminary back-of-the-envelope calculation.  Everybody knows that software comes in version numbers, 1, 2, 3.  Windows is at 7.  Mac is at 10.  The highest level of function we need is a bulletin board option that offers a synthesized voice channel of the text information that goes into the system.  There are issues with audio since we broadcast TIC Network and we would have to sort those out.  If I recall, their bulletin board software is 4.8.  It isn’t a simple update that they can give to us in version 4.8.3.  It may be a version 5 or even a 6.  They may even have to put another category of (meta)data in there.

We have enough to do with them in getting our new computer to convert DVD’s into their system, without this.

I had the idea of taking the text data they already provide to get a voice along with the visual announcements.  It’s technically feasible for me to do it.  But it’s probably not smart for me to do this.  It’s not a good project for SATV to undertake right now.

Jack:  SATV was the only station to do this originally in 2000-2001. 

Is there anything the commission or the SATV board can do to contact the software vendor to ask them to support this?

Dave Moisan:   You can contact Tightrope.  I have contacted them on more than one occasion.  I would tell them this is an important area for them to look at.  With time, this could be easier for them to do.  It’s never the final word with this sort of software;  there is always something new we want.

Keep writing.

We have the individual pieces, oftentimes, but getting all these many components to fit together.  No one makes everything and oftentimes, no one makes the one thing you need.

Jack:  My hope is that we can somehow get across to them the importance of such a system.  And two, the feedback they may get knowing that there are people in their market who appreciate these features.

David G.:  You can contact Tightrope.  They’re very responsible.

Jack:  If we can keep the pressure up.  If new technology can come about that would make it possible to do these things, it would be good.

Andy:  Why is this so difficult.  Why don’t we have volunteers?  Why not a blank screen with voiceovers?

David G.:  Andy and I have discussed this.  We try to make our channel serve as many of the audience as possible.  A blank screen with audio would use up our resource.

I have a couple of ideas I’ve brought up to Andy:  Is it possible to use our software to output text announcements for people to read?  Or is it possible to get announcements to TIC Network to read?

Andy:  I’ve talked with Ron Bersani of TIC Network and I can see what they can do to help us.

David G.:  We could take selected announcements and read those.  Announcements that won’t expire for a few weeks.  Perhaps not every week, but every other week.  I think if I can get other staff involved, we might get something going, even if it’s only part-time.

Andy:  How can I help?

Jack:  Here’s my suggestion.  Ron Bersani and TIC would be something to explore.  Then your other idea of announcements every other week.

Andy:  It would be nice to come up with something. Salem has had its audible bulletin board on longer than in many other communities.  It’s not only for the blind, but it also benefits those who are multitasking and not able to pay attention to the screen.

Dave G.:  It will be up to Dave M. and Andy and me to figure out the easiest way to proceed.  I definitely want to speak with Mr. Bersani.  If that doesn’t work out, we’ll work on the other thing.

SATV is supportive of the disability community and of the Commission.  I’ll come back in a month.

Jack:  I have a guest next month;  come back in November.  If you can get some letters from the SATV board and the Mayor’s office to send to Tightrope to support this effort, it would be good.

I’ll leave you four to work out a meeting and I will thank Dave Gauthier for showing up.

Tavern in the Square (Old Business)

Jack:  Several of you have gone on a site visit of Tavern in the Square.  There’s a site plan in your packet.  We have a major problem.

As everyone knows, Tavern in the Square wants to establish outdoor seating outside the restaurant in the grass and the trees, at the corner of Washington and New Derby Sts.

Between that area and the restaurant, there’s a sidewalk that runs parallel to the building along Washington St.  To get their liquor license, they need to be able to have contiguous seating between the restaurant and the seating area, this is a state regulation.

The problem that the Commission runs into, that I have personally run into, is that when they block the sidewalk, you don’t have a direct path of travel.  Under the ADA regulations, there’s not a lot about this.  I have written to the MOD asking them to look at this.

If this were Hamilton or Wenham, Danvers or Peabody, it might not be a big deal but with a world-class city with thousands of tourists from all over the world, to put a barrier and obstacle with outdoor seating is a big deal.  They’re not the only ones who do this;  Rockafellas does, and Puleo’s does.  It’s like a maze!

Jean Levesque:  Are they saying the tables have to be on the sidewalk?

Jack:  To comply with state liquor laws, there has to be contiguous seating.  If you notice on the plans, if that sidewalk is blocked, there is another sidewalk that goes out and around.  My contention is that that route is not a direct path of travel and takes one away from the buildings.

Jean:  It’s not wide.

Jack:  No, it’s not.   Andy might attest to how difficult or challenging it may be to take that route.

Andy:  It might be difficult for those unfamiliar to Salem.

Mike S.:  The City Council wants to invite the Commission and others to speak about the impact that this would take.

Jack:  Personally, I will make clear, I am not against outdoor seating.  It would be an asset, particularly to this city, but this represents a barrier.  We talked about Rockafellas, and Essex St., some years ago.  We need a clear vision where we don’t block the direct path of travel, and that is up Washington St.

We also run the risk, I’ve said a thousand times, of someone coming in and filing a complaint about the path of travel and that could cost the city.

Andy:  We talked about this before:  Crossing Front St., from the bank, would be to go straight, and follow the walkway parallel to the building?

Jack:  You would take a right from Derby to Washington St, go straight and cross Front St.

Andy:  I’m trying to envision this:  The new path, is it ADA compliant? 

Jack:  It is physically ADA compliant;  the sidewalk is wide enough, the slope is right, etc.  The part that is not compliant is that the [alternate path around the bus shelter] is not the direct path of travel.

Andy:  I prefer the direct route.  People from all over the place come to Salem and talk about Salem, if you come to the lunchroom of the Carroll Center.  Someone who is blind and a cane user can run into serious difficulties.  They could get sighted assistance, but lots can happen.

Jack:  Talking about people in motorized chairs, canes, moms with carriages.  [Dave Martel:  emergency personnel]

Jean Harrison:  What about the incline at the corner?

Jack:  They’re taking the curbing out and grading it to level [at the corner.]

As I understand from Councilor Sosnowski, the Commission will be formally asked to attend a meeting about this sometime in the future.  I’ll let people know as soon as I get the invitation.

Jean L.:  As Councilor Sosnowski says, that comes under the jurisdiction of the SRA.   There’ll be 20-22 tables that’ll be serviced from the restaurant when it’s open.  Will the sidewalks be closed?

Jack:  Yes, the sidewalk will be closed to the public per state law.  Issue is that when the sidewalk is blocked, there is not a direct path of travel.

Jean L.:  The sidewalk becomes part of the restaurant when it is in use?

Jack:  Yes.  Mike, does that become technically the property of the restaurant when it’s open?

Mike S.:  That’s never been determined.

Charlie:  Is that sidewalk to belong to the restaurant year round?

Mike S.:  I’m not comfortable with handing them city property to get a liquor license.

Jack:  Not necessarily to defend Tavern in the Square, but they are the only ones to go through the paperwork to do this.  Others have just thrown their tables out on the sidewalk.  I give them credit.

Andy:  We went to some other licensing board meetings with another restaurant and I had trouble walking through there.  It’s still there.  There are quite a few incidents I have made known to the board, but they’re still there.

Jack:  Was there an ordinance on outdoor seating?

Mike S.:  There was a jurisdictional war over this that was not decided.

Jack:  I’ll let everyone know.

David M.:  Brief comment;  I’m not going to get into what Tavern in the Square is doing specifically, but I took pictures at the site.  I came there from the north.  There’s another restaurant on the corner of Front.  There’s a bottleneck there where you can go straight up Washington, or take a right to the bus shelter.  There’s another intersection on the sidewalk further down where they will block off.

I miss the direct path of travel, but there’s a lot of street furniture on that stretch of Washington St.  A lot of people are coming and going from  Front St., and the other bottleneck further down at New Derby.  Tavern in the Square could do everything right, but there’s still a bottleneck.  We know well Front St. is a perennial problem.  They have to fit in to our downtown and that’s the real problem

Salem Willows Bathrooms (Old Business)

Jack:  The bathrooms at the Salem Willows were vandalized.  A portapotty was torched, and an excursion boat was broken into.

Jean S.:  The new bathrooms were a great improvement.

Jack:  Jean Harrison and I have noted the toilet paper holders are too far from the toilets.  We hope this is fixed when the vandalism is fixed.

Market Basket T Stop (old business)

Jack:  Jason and I have been working on having the T stop at Market Basket directly.  We are hopeful this will happen before the first snow

Project Lifesaver

Andy:  We’ve gotten $450 towards Project Lifesaver.  We are going to the Rotary Club to close our funding gap.  Once done, John Jodoin of the Salem Police Dept. will write a letter of intent to the company.  And training will be arranged.  We have money from Dominion and the Trust Board, and we are closer.

Charlie:  What do they need?

Andy:  $1200.  There are more calls I need to make

Four First St.

I talked to Tom St. Pierre about this, and to Jason, and we are keeping on top of the situation

Jean L.:  Was a letter sent to the company?

Jack:  Yes

David Martel:  I have been keeping people in my complex updated.

Salem Common Playground

Jack:  There was a request of $30,000 towards the Salem Common Playground?

Mike S.:  This is not from the city, part of it came from the Salem Common Neighborhood Association.  This was just a formality;  it’s a done deal.

Jack:  I’ve looked at the regulations.  The only regulation regarding accessible playgrounds is path of travel;  you must be able to get to them.  But there’s nothing about the equipment itself.

I’ve talked with Tom St. Pierre about this and I have suggested that 25% of the play area, one or two pieces, should be made accessible to the disabled.

Accessible structures do tend to be safer for children than regular playground structures.  We want to get Parents United to go for it on that basis.

MAAB Bypass Road (old business)

Jack:  You have a packet about the bypass road bike path issue.  The interesting part is, this decision is coming from the counsel at MassHighway and not by the project manager.  Hopefully this will get resolved.

Sober House (old business)

Jack:  The MAAB has taken jurisdiction of this matter and ordered any tenants in the second floor to move out (he wasn’t supposed to have tenants, but advertised on Craigslist.)  The owner now wants to make this into a single family house.  We have to look very closely at the letter of the law.  There are two businesses on the first floor that are not accessible, which the MAAB has also taken jurisdiction on..  I talked to Tom St. Pierre and not heard from him.  There was a fine hearing last month and the owner was given one month to comply.  They won’t give him a break the next time.  The building department is keeping a very close watch.

Lyceum Renovations

They didn’t trigger the 30% rule and they didn’t trigger the $100,000 amount.  The only work was on the first floor and the only change was to rebuild the ramp in the rear of the building.  They asked for a variance for the front door.  I suggested they get a portable ramp for the front door and an automatic door opener.  The variance was accepted.  The Lyceum doesn’t have to follow our recommendations but they were strongly suggested to.  It will open this week and I will check them out myself.  They’ve been very cooperative.

Market Basket Parking Lot HP Spaces

Jack:  The MAAB has been getting complaints about water puddling in the handicapped spaces.  Someone complained to the MAAB and I have been in touch with their real estate person who assures me they will repave and set the pitch so that water trains off.

Formal Interpretation of  CMR 521-22.2

Jack:  Tom St. Pierre asked us to interpret the required width of sidewalks based on the problems we had at Marlborough Road.

This is very timely as I just got the completed project plans for the Bridge St. reconstruction project.

Jack:  The width is 48 inches for compliance.   The absolute minimum width is 36 inches.  This does not include the width of the curbstone itself.

Mike S.:  That’s a very important point.

Rt. 107 Highland Ave. (new business)

Jack:  There are finally audible signals at Wal-Mart. Charlie and Andy can elaborate:

Charlie:  We went down there to check the timing.  One thing we found is the crosswalks are not straight.  One curbstone is offset from the one across the street.

Andy:  That’s ok if the audible beacons are located at the curbstones and they are at a reasonable volume level.  This is Highland Ave.

We had a problem with Ravenna Ave.:  There were a lot of complaints with the audible signals so they turned them down.  That’s a waste of taxpayer money and does no one any good.  Jack, can you write a letter to MassHighway asking that the audible signals be turned up in volume?

Andy:  Most of Highland Ave. is not residential.

Andy:  The ones by Wal-Mart have a tactile strip, and you can get to them, but the locator beacons aren’t loud enough.  The state department has trouble with the levels.  I talked with Sue Cranney (you remember Sue?)  She suggested writing Dave Knowlton.

Jack:  I talked with him this morning.  He suggested talking with Don Giardi about the levels.  The road does belong to the state, but it, like the T station, it’s not clear on exactly who is responsible.

We were going to ask Tom Muxie to come out and check the pole placements and the walk buttons on the poles.  Regulations only say the poles be “reasonably placed”.

Charlie:  Tom’s in a wheelchair so he’ll be able to tell us if he can reach the buttons on the pole.

If I get stuck on Highland Ave., there’s no way in God’s green Earth, I’m going to be able to cross the street with traffic.

Jack:  When you hit the button to cross the street, the law says you have the time and right of way to cross no matter how long it takes.

Andy: There’s a law against robbing banks, too.

Hawthorne Hotel Parking Lot (new business)

Jack:  The hotel is restriping their lot.  A suggestion was made, a great one I thought, that they lay a stripe down marking the sidewalk area.  They did so and I give them a lot of praise.  There was a letter from the community praising them for doing that.

But something not so good:  At their other lot at Essex and Union St. (across the street from the hotel), there isn’t a curb cut at the sidewalk.  There’s a curbstone and a phone pole.  You can’t use the sidewalk unless you go around.  I can’t imagine why they did this.  I alerted Jason to this and like the leech I am I will hang on him until this is fixed.

Talking Books Demonstration (other business)

Andy:  Couple of toys I have.  First thing I have, is two different reading devices.  The first one is from National Library Services, free to the blind and print-handicapped.  These replace the old cassette machines.  These use cartridges.  The cartridges plug in and there are voice prompts.

There are braille symbols on the buttons and buttons for bookmarks, playback, fast forward, speed and volume.   A pause button, a backup (rewind) button,  keep your finger on it and it goes to the next chapter.

It has a very good voice.  Only problem is there are only 50 books, though there are more every time.  National Library Services has a download service for computer users.

The book reader has a slot for a flash card, and a remote controller for people who need alternate controls.

There is a headphone jack as well.  Any questions?

Jack:  They’ve come very quickly.  I talked with Andy about his and signed up on a waiting list and got it right away!

Andy:  This device is free.  They’re phasing out cassettes.

The next device is the Victor Reader.  This is not free. It’s smaller and you may not hear it as well in this demonstration.  It works like a computer;  it connects to your computer with a USB port and you transfer files to it like a flash drive.

You get the books in ZIP files and they’re specially encoded;  you can’t play the files in an MP3 player.  You hit buttons on the keypad—1,4, 6—to get individual folders to play.  [sound of Reader reading a chapter.)

You can buy books from Audible.com to work with this;  pretty much anything.  Some books are read by the author, others not.  You can also set bookmarks and highlights;  you can list bookmarks.

Jack:  Big question.  How much?

Andy:  $325.  This is life changing.  It has headphones.  It has a 1” external speaker which sounds great.  You can download podcasts.  You can download a Braille file and it will be transcribed to voice.

You can hit a key—7—and something to search for and it will search through your text book or Braille book for the terms.

[inaudible]:  How do we get the free reader?

Andy:  Call the Perkins Library, 1-617-924-3434 and get an application to join the library service and get one of these machines.  Just keep in mind that the inventory of books is very low, it’s a new system.

The Victor machine is made by Humanware, a Canadian company.  1-800-722-3393.  This is one of the best investments I ever made!  You can also take customized notes, on say a textbook.  I can literally put a thousand books on there and search them.

Jean L.:  Any charges for the books?

Andy:  National Library Service books are free.  Downloaded books from them are also free and don’t need to be returned.  You can put as many books as you want on an SD card.

Another device to demo:  This is a thing I think is very valuable for the average person:  Sierra Systems KeyRinger.    This is a key locator.  Nothing better.  $20 for a pair.  Push the button, and the other end, attached to my keys, will beep for 30 seconds until I shut it off.

I have a big yard.  I use these on my deck.  It’s saved me hours going on my deck.  It’s fun when there are three or four of these going off all at once.

This is great for any blind person who needs a locator.  One end could go on the fridge, and the other end on your keys, your remote, etc.

$20 and call 1-800-776-4888.

It’s weather resistant;  I’ve had it in the rain.  It’s advertised as being able to be run over by a truck;  someone dropped one in a field in the rain.  They found it and it worked.

Andy:  Questions?

Jack:  Ever take the sailing course again?  No?  We’ll see you taking the sailing course again with Maureen.

Jack:  Next meeting is October 20th.  There will be community meetings on the city’s five year plans.  I have invited Jane Guy to come.

I cannot be there;  there is a statewide transportation conference that I have been invited to, so Charlie will chair the next October meeting.

Charlie:  Anything to do with the RIDE?

Jack:  Yes, this will be part of the meeting.

Mike S.:  What about the tourist trolleys?  Are they accessible?

Jack:  I did witness the Salem Trolley pick up two disabled individuals.  They got on board and hopefully had a good trip.

Thanks very much and see you in October.