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2001-02-28 - Commission for Residents with Disabilities - Minutes Board or Commission: ❑ Commission on Residents With Disabilities Document Type: 0 A e g nda 0 Minutes Meeting ate: 02/28/2001 Type of Meeting: ❑ Regular Meeting MINUTES OF THE BUFFALO GROVE COMMISSION FOR RESIDENTS WITH DISABILITIES FEBRUARY 28,2001 I. Call to Order-The meeting was called to order at 7:15 p.m. The agenda was adjusted to accommodate Adam Jaffe. IL Roll Call- Commissioners present included Chairman Kahen, Commissioners Chorney, Gottlieb,Sussman,Weiner,Spallone, and Slaw. Also present were Adam Jaffe,Legislative Aide to Representative Karen May (60th District),Brian Rubin,Trustee Marienthal and Staff Liaison Kelly. II. Approval of the Minutes- the minutes were adjusted to reflect a correction to the date for the Senior Fair,which was 4/24 and not 4/22. A motion to approve the minutes with the noted correction to the January 31st meeting was made by Comm. Chorney and seconded by Comm. Gottlieb. III. Adam Jaffe,Rep. Karen May's Legislative Aide introduced himself. He distributed his card to the Commissioners and indicated that Rep.May and he was available to the commission and the community. IV. Chairman's Report- Chairman Kahen thanked Mr.Jaffe and indicated that the commission would likely invite Rep. May to the next legislative discussion. Chairman Kahen distributed the group home ordinances for Arlington Heights, and Schaumburg. He also distributed two articles. Schaumburg's ordinance allowed for 8 residents plus staff. Arlington Heights appeared to allow 4 residents plus staff,however Mr. Rubin spoke with Arlene Mulder,former Mayor of Arlington Heights, and he believes the number is higher than four. He will check on that and report back to Chairman Kahen. Mr. Rubin led a discussion regarding the history of the changes of the Village ordinances in general concerning the number of residents per group home allowed. Mr. Rubin explained that states will not fund an individual with disabilities in a campus environment i.e. Lambs Farm,but they will fund group homes, they are a "catch all." He indicated that if the group homes were going to be the "catch all' then they need to be built. The discussion then turned to various political issues surrounding the reason for Buffalo Grove's ordinance being 6 people versus 8. V. Sub Committee Report- A. Regional Sub Committee- Comm. Slaw suggested the commission determine the "hard questions" that will be asked during the process of changing the ordinance in an effort to determine what the resistance will be. Ms. Gottlieb referred to the information sent to her from Clearbrook, which included questions and answers of potential community concerns. After reading them,it was agreed that the questions were too administrative, and the commission wanted to focus more on the social issues. The commission moved forward with questions regarding the social issues. Mr. Rubin suggested we record the questions and give them to Carl LaMell,President of Clearbrook. The questions/issues that were determined were as follows: Will the value of homes in the area go down? Will the noise level go up? What about the safety of the residents in the group home? What about the security of the neighborhood? What about increased strain on Government services such as police and fire? Will my taxes go up,why are they tax exempt? Will the home make the neighborhood appear run-down,unclean? How will the house staff be trained? It was agreed that although none of these concerns are justified,they are nonetheless questions that may arise. After a brief discussion of each of the questions it was determined that Carl LaMell should be able to help address the concerns. It was agreed that testimony from residents who live near group homes, as well as residents of group homes might be effective in helping to address the concerns of the community. B. Board/Comm Sub Committee-No Report. C. Public Information Sub-Committee-No Report. D. N.O.D. Sub-Committee-No Report E. Residents Inform&Response Dub Committee-No activity F. Goal Setting Committee-No Report G. Business/Community Liaison-No Report VI. Commissioners' Reports- Comm. Slaw reported on his one on one meeting with Rep. Mark Kirk. He said it appeared as if Rep.Kirk was interested in issues that are important to the Commission including the Patients Bill of Rights and the Family Opportunity Act.. Comm. Slaw noted that now is the best time to contact Rep. Kirk because his schedule is relatively open. Comm. Spallone reported that Karen Graber, from Rep. Kirk's office and Debra Roseman from Orchard Health Care would be attending the next meeting to discuss other alternatives for medical funding for those who need it. There was discussion about the possibility of having another legislative coffee. Chairman Kahen suggested that a thank you letter regarding the meeting between Comm. Slaw and Rep. Kirk be printed on Village letterhead and sent to Rep. Kirk. VII. Items for Discussion-No Report VIII. Staff Liaison Report-No Report IX. Questions from the Audience-There was no audience present X. Other Business-there was no other business XI. Adjournment-Motion to adjourn was made by Comm. Chorney and seconded by Comm. Slaw. Meeting adjourned at 9:55 p.m.