Loading...
2005-01-26 - Commission for Residents with Disabilities - Minutes Board orCommission: ❑ commission on Residents With Disabilities Document Type: 0 A e g nda 0 Minutes Meeting ate: 01/26/2005 Type of Meeting: ❑ Regular Meeting MINUTES OF THE BUFFALO GROVE COMMISSION FOR RESIDENTS WITH DISABILITIES MEETING Special Meeting of November 30, 2004 I. Call to Order—The meeting was called to order at 7:05 p.m. IL Roll Call—Commissioners present included Chairman Kahen, Commissioners Holm, Klassman, Morton, Sussman,Verson, and Weiner. Also present were Staff Liaison Versten, and Fire Department Liaison Swieca. III. Approval of Minutes—A motion to approve the October 27, 2004 minutes was made by Comm. Morton and seconded by Comm. Sussman. Commissioner Verson requested a correction to the 9th paragraph under"Chairman's Report." She was not the one who noted that the parking lot for the new park does not contain enough extra handicapped parking stalls. Commissioner Verson motioned to approve the minutes of 10/27/04 as amended. Second by Commissioner Sussman. Motion carried. IV. Chairman's Report—Chairman Kahen shared correspondence he had received from Don Hedlund in regard to an`obliterated"handicapped parking space at PageComm at Buffalo Grove Road and Dundee. Upon receiving the correspondence,Mr. Kahen notified Buffalo Grove Building Commissioner Ed Schar, who saw that the problem was corrected. Chairman Kahen discussed the Countryside article about a charitable effort being undertaken by Buffalo Grove resident Ira Katz, which involves building wheelchair ramps at residences. Mr. Kahen contacted Mr. Katz and expressed his appreciation of Mr. Katz's community-minded efforts. Per his discussion with Mr. Katz, Mr. Kahen proposed, and the Commission agreed, that any public inquiries relative to ramp construction be forwarded to Mr. Katz. Mr. Kahen has contact information for Mr. Katz. Chairman Kahen shared correspondence from Chief Police Steve Balinska thanking the Commission for their ongoing involvement in public events such as Buffalo Grove Days. Chairman Kahen asked about Commissioner Verson's progress on the survey letter to school's regarding an emergency evacuation plan for students with disabilities. Commissioner Verson should have something to report at the next meeting. Fire Department Liaison Swieca reminded the Commission that the Village has very little influence over most school policies and this is one of those areas, and that we should keep that in mind as we formulate our approach. Mr. Swieca stated that it is a challenge to receive up-to-date information, such as current lists of locations of wheelchair students. The schools file this information with Slap Hart. Mr. Swieca wanted to know if the survey would have the effect of making the schools more proactive on maintaining and relaying this type of info, and whether it would help to make the parents of these children more aware of this issue. Other questions concerned who is responsible for the efficient emergency evacuation of handicapped students, and whether any such plan is in place. The Commission next discussed their web site page: http://www.vbg.orL,/BOARDS/DISAB/itzdex.htm Reviewing hardcopy print-outs distributed by Staff Liaison Summers at the previous meeting, the Commission offered suggestions concerning content. Staff liaison Versten, who maintains the web site for the Village, suggested that the CRD regard their page as something to be monitored,maintained and kept in front of the public by cross promoting via other media, such as Commission brochures and similar publications, cable Channel 6, signage on courtesy shuttles, T-shirts,in blurbs on the Village's subscriber e-mail. Commissioner Holm suggested we publish monthly"Timeless Tips" and it was suggested that such could be crawled across the top of the Commission's page. Mr. Versten suggested that the Commission send him,via e-mail, notices of events that he could promote as being endorsed by the Commission. V. Commissioners Reports—Commissioner Morton commented that the automatic handicapped doors at the main entrance of Village Hall work well. Commissioner Weiner asked if anyone had knowledge of the status of the Brittany Law. As proposed, this law would allow special needs students to graduate with their class. Consensus was that as of this date the proposed law had passed the House and was awaiting Senate review. Commissioner Holm noted that the Northwest Cook/Lake group was meeting at 8:30 a.m. on 12/6/04 and had been discussing with local legislators the funding of services for persons with disabilities and their families. Commissioner Klassman suggested that, perhaps for the January 26 meeting, we recruit a representative from the Center for Enriched Living, an organization that assists with social skills and work skills for persons with disabilities. This organization, which consists of about boo members, gets the bulk of its operating funds from fundraising efforts and event admission fees. Mr. Klassman suggested that Village media be used to promote the events. Staff liaison Versten encouraged the Commissioners to send him notification of any such events and he will disseminate it via Village media. Commissioners Klassman and Weiner discussed an October Progressive Services Network fundraiser they helped to establish to target funding options for adults with disabilities. A share of the funds raised will be granted to the Center for Enriched Living. Other funds will go toward the establishment of an endowment to fund other similar agencies and fundraising events. The dinner event cleared$65,000. Commissioner Weiner suggested that, as we formulate our goals for 2005, we create a publication to serve as a local directory of agencies and services for persons with disabilities and their families. Both Commissioner Weiner and Chairman Kahen remarked that they were impressed with publications coming from the City and Chamber of Commerce of Bloomington, Indiana, and suggested we use their directory and another publication, Malang Place of Public Accommodations Accessible to All (attached), as templates for publications we would produce. The Indiana publications were funded through a grant from ADA-Indiana, Indiana's State Steering Committee. A sub-committee was formed to develop the idea a bit further. VI. Sub-Committee Reports—None. VII. Items for Discussion—None. VIII. Staff Liaison Report—Staff liaison Versten distributed ID cards to Commissioners Holm and Verson. ID cards for Ms. Miller-Brown and Mr. Dumrauf are awaiting pick up by those Commissioners. IX. Questions from the Audience—No audience was present. X. Other Business—None. XI Adjournment—Motion to adjourn made by Comm. Sussman and seconded by Comm. Klassman. Meeting adjourned at 8:35 p.m.