[Frances Nwajei]: Hello, everyone, and welcome to the start of the 2025 to 2026 cycle of the Commission for Persons with Disabilities. I'm Frances Magé, DEI Director and ADA Coordinator for the City of Medford. I'm going to pass it over to Susan.
[Susan Bibbins]: Hi, I'm Susan Bibbins. I am a member of the commission and I live in South Medford and I identify as disabled. I'm going to pass it over to Kate.
[Kate Ryan]: Kate Ryan, Disability Commission. She, hers. I live in West Medgard and I am disabled and I will pass it to John.
[MCM00001753_SPEAKER_00]: Hey there. I almost said good morning, but it's not. My name is John Shea and I'm a member of the coalition. I'm a disabled resident in Medgard.
[Frances Nwajei]: John, would you like to pass it over to someone?
[MCM00001753_SPEAKER_00]: Go.
[SPEAKER_06]: Thank you. I'm Joe Casey from MedFed, lifelong resident, disabled from many job injuries. And I have a son that is totally disabled and I'm here to make this a better place.
[Frances Nwajei]: Thank you so much, Joe. Anthony? Oh dear, Anthony, I think you're still on mute.
[SPEAKER_14]: Let me see.
[Andreottola]: How about now, can you hear me?
[Unidentified]: Yeah.
[Andreottola]: Yes, can hear you. I am Anthony Andrea. I live on Lawrence Road in Medford. I'm blind and a new member of the commission.
[Kate Ryan]: Excuse me. This is Kate. I just got a message. I sent it in the chat, but a friend is trying to get in via the city website and cannot.
[Frances Nwajei]: They should be able to. The link is posted and the link is also on the... The link is from July and does not work. That should not be the link on the city website. So the same link that you guys have is the link. So I'll be continuing with the agenda. If you want, you can forward them the link that you use to get in because it should be on the events calendar. That's what they should be looking at clicking right on our events calendar. It will show it will show up because you all you're all in here. All right, and now I'm gonna, I think we still have Cam left to do introductions.
[MCM00001753_SPEAKER_08]: Yep, thanks Frances. Nice to see everybody, Cam Nabb. I am a commissioner. I live up in the Heights in Medford and my day job is with Mass General Brigham.
[Frances Nwajei]: Fantastic. And last but never least, Nicholas.
[MCM00001753_SPEAKER_02]: Good evening, everyone. I hope you all can hear me fine.
[MCM00001753_SPEAKER_00]: Try to hear you, Nicholas. Got it.
[MCM00001753_SPEAKER_02]: Yes. OK. Hello. Can you all hear me now? Yep. All right, perfect. Hello, hello, and good evening, everyone. My name is Nicholas Kaikaringa. I am the disability specialist here in the office of DEI. I am a pretty much lifelong Medford resident, and I am excited to be here with all of you. Thank you.
[Frances Nwajei]: Fantastic. Thank you all so much for all your introductions. Raffaella, good to see you again. Amanda, I see that you're on and we'll bring you on as we move through our agenda. Next on the list is for somebody to make a motion to approve. the meeting minutes of June 2025 and somebody to second that.
[Susan Bibbins]: I need to jump off. I'm sorry.
[Frances Nwajei]: It was really good to see you. Go ahead, Susan. Go. Joe, I saw you raise your hand and then I heard somebody else speak. So Joe, you're making the motion, who's seconding Joe? I can second Joe. Okay. Thank you, Cam.
[Unidentified]: Okay.
[Frances Nwajei]: The other thing is I wanted to make sure that all the commissioners had the opportunity to review the open meeting law guidelines. As you know, I don't deviate from that under any circumstances. We've actually had an attorney visit us a couple of times and provided us with some great trading, and I believe that I also shared the link to the presentation that was specifically created for us. Please note that the open meeting guidelines, things of that nature, they're really not up for discussion because it does not lie within our power to make changes. If we don't know when we're doing it wrong, that's okay. But when we do know, the expectation is that we self-correct. If anybody has any questions about that or things that I should see if the attorney can come back and do the presentation again, just e-mail me if you think that that would be helpful. It's the same attorney group that did the one in the link for the Mass. Municipal Association. Then just remembering that it's weird, right? If we're all in the same place and we're all getting ice cream, we must make sure that we identify that even though we're in the commission, we're simply just here to get ice cream because it's unbearably hot outside. Um, you know, there are ways that quorums get triggered without intention, but we really should not be discussing commission work outside of the commission. And it's really, really important that that is upheld because what really what we're doing by engaging in that manner is that. We're not being transparent and we're denying the public the opportunity to really see our work. So. I just, you know, I want to just put that out there. I like the work that we've done so far. I would like to keep it that way and I would like to not be in a situation where we now have a conflict as a result. Okay. meeting calendar review. So as you all know, our November meeting always falls in like the week of Thanksgiving and the December meeting falls in, if I'm not mistaken. It's not Yom Kippur, but it's another, you know, high Jewish holiday. So historically, we've combined our November and our December meeting and always tried to hold it within the first two weeks of December. If everybody could have some level of access to a calendar, that would be great. Because I'm sure you don't want to be having your meeting on Thanksgiving Eve. I mean, you're more than welcome to. Did someone say something? Was that you, John? Yes, I said December 10th, which is a Wednesday. December 10th, okay. All right. Yeah, Thanksgiving Eve 1, 2, 3, 4 would be would be a typical meeting date. And, you know, that date is historically interferes with people's family plans. So where typically going. Either we usually either do the 1st, Wednesday or the 2nd, Wednesday in December. So you're saying December 10th.
[MCM00001753_SPEAKER_00]: Yeah, I just do it out there.
[Frances Nwajei]: Okay. All right. Anybody have any issues or any opposition with the December 10th proposed date?
[MCM00001753_SPEAKER_02]: I don't.
[Andreottola]: Why don't we do this? Why don't I make a motion that we combine on November and December meetings and have them on December 10th.
[Frances Nwajei]: Thank you, Anthony. Anthony made the motion. I second. John, that was you that second? It is. Yes. Okay. Thank you. Thank you so much, Anthony. That's great. That's perfect. All right.
[SPEAKER_13]: This is Rafael.
[SPEAKER_15]: Just real quick. The link on the events calendar for today's meeting was incorrect.
[Frances Nwajei]: That is something that we can add at the end. I cannot pause the agenda to address that. I don't know how everybody else got here, but the only way that folks could get here is using the link that's posted. That's the link on the meeting minutes. It's not something that I can address that now, it's something that I have to go back and look at. Camp training. Community Access Monitoring Training. Is anybody interested? And before you say yes, I have to let you know that it is a two-day training. It is five hours each day, so it's a little bit shorter than the original, and it's virtual. It's hosted by the Mass Office on Disability. Nicholas, myself, and Susan have gone through this, and this is what really helps you or empowers you to have the ability to speak on things like measurements of, you know, width, right, gradients, variances, and things of that nature. No, you do not have to do it. I'm just sharing it with you because these opportunities do come up. But if you are interested, there is a session happening in October and there is also a session, if I'm not mistaken, happening in November. You can check out the Mass Office on Disability website yourself for more information. You can reach out to me for more information, but wanted to share that. And that is my piece. So I'll turn it over to you, Nicholas.
[MCM00001753_SPEAKER_02]: All right, well, thank you, Mr. Francis. Once again, good evening, everyone. It is good to see all of your faces. I'm glad that we are back in session. First things first, commissioners, you should have all received emails about the new stipends get given to the commissioners. Congratulations and thank you to Ms. Francis for helping that get on board. Next thing is my funding has been secured for the renovation of the City Hall restrooms to be ADA compliant. And it will be a slow process. process but every bathroom in City Hall will be redone to be made compliant with the ADA laws and we are very excited about that. In regards to Well, I guess I should say in the same vein as the very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very They had some access issues at their front doors. Renovations took place over the summer to make ramps in the front, and they are done, and they are looking very good, quite frankly. I went out with one of the engineering aides, to review their work. And all that they did is completely up to standards. So there is not a ramp going up into the schools. They are still waiting to put in the railings. Um, not makeshift, but there are temporary, um, there are temporary, um, wood handrails right now, but those are being cast. So, um, the metal handrails for the entrance ramps will be made and then will be installed. The rails do get in the way of the benches a little bit, if you know, the benches that are in front of the, in front of the McGlynn School, so those will be, moved, not moved off of the property, but just moved elsewhere so that they can be fully accessible and not obstructed by the handrails. They are still completing work at the back of the Mimiglin. And so, uh, when that is done, uh, I, I, I will go back out with the aid and I go out and, uh, and, um, uh, re-re-re-re-re-re-review those, those, those, those, those, those, um, renovations as well. Um, I think that's all on that one. And also in line with the schools, last time we had mentioned the gaga pit codes um for those of you that may not remember gaga is a game with the hexagonal or octagonal pit um and uh they they made codes for the of the pit, so that people don't just go in there and break stuff. But there is an accessible gate that has a code, and so they have configured a way to have people access the code after school hours. And so that, the way to do so will be, will be emailing the DMR Ministry Director. And then, those instructions will not only be posted on the gate, but they will also be on our ODEI website and on the... my subpage, if I am not mistaken. So, I believe that's all I have. Back to you, Ms. Francesca.
[Frances Nwajei]: Thank you everybody. I just did a quick double check. Um, the instructions for the Gaga code are on the website. They do look a little bit different because it is under a subsection that says parks, but on the. Commission for persons web page, it's a little bit of a larger section. It actually says, and I think it includes the rules and things of that nature. So that piece has been handled to very, very critical thing at this meeting. We need to pick a date. We need to pick two dates for our disability fair, which my understanding is you want this to become annually. The reason we need to do that is because of the location. I met with the new athletics director and space is filling quickly. So historically, we've done it in May. My suggestion is we pick two different Saturdays or two different Sundays. So that way, we hope that one of them would be available. Open to hearing other suggestions and looking at a tiny little calendar for 2026. Nick, if I call out the dates, because I'm looking at the tiny calendar, would you be able to make sure that it's not like Mother's Day or something? Because I've got one that doesn't tell me the special day.
[MCM00001753_SPEAKER_02]: Can you say that one more time? I'm sorry.
[Frances Nwajei]: I'm looking at a very tiny calendar that just gives me numbers, so I have no way of knowing if I'm falling into like a, you know, religious observance day or something.
[Andreottola]: Mother's Day is on the 10th of May this upcoming year.
[Frances Nwajei]: Oh, Mother's Day is on the 10th? Okay, so we'll stay away from, thank you, so we shall stay away from Sunday, May 10th?
[MCM00001753_SPEAKER_00]: Yep.
[Frances Nwajei]: What does May 9th? What do people think about May 9th and May 16th?
[MCM00001753_SPEAKER_02]: May 9th sounds good.
[Frances Nwajei]: Okay, and what about May 9th? All the other commissioners that are present?
[MCM00001753_SPEAKER_02]: The 23rd, I know that is Memorial Day weekend.
[Frances Nwajei]: The Memorial Day weekend, okay. So we're really looking at... I'm sorry, May 9th and May 16th. Is there anything that conflicts with May 16th as well?
[MCM00001753_SPEAKER_02]: Holiday-wise, no.
[SPEAKER_06]: Okay. I have a question. Are we shooting for a Sunday when we used to do it on Saturday?
[Frances Nwajei]: Saturday.
[SPEAKER_06]: All right. I'm sorry. Saturday. Okay.
[Frances Nwajei]: Yeah. Saturday.
[MCM00001753_SPEAKER_02]: Okay. We could also do the 30th. That's still open.
[Andreottola]: The thing with the 30th, it starts getting into the summer season. Yeah, that's true. And you may not have as many people able to attend a lot of graduations and things. Yeah, that's true. I believe in that type of thing then.
[Frances Nwajei]: Thanks, Anthony. I couldn't I couldn't remember why, but there was a reason that we sort of stayed away from the very tail end of May. However, if there are no objections, I will email a hold for May 9th or May 16th or both of both happen to be available. Same location same timeframe just so that we can, you know. uh, be on the books, um, per se. Um, so, um, if there are any objections, speak now. I have to, I have to check in with Susan, but I think we're good. I don't, I don't think we're hitting any, um, Jewish holidays around this time period. I know that if we were in April, we would be, um, hitting, um, some Muslim holidays. Um, okay. Alright. So that's on my task. Thank you so much. I can't believe we're talking about 2026. We haven't even finished 2025. I know, right?
[SPEAKER_13]: This is Rafael. I'm sorry, this was, what was the date that was expected? I have the Jewish calendar pulled up.
[Frances Nwajei]: Oh, it was May 9th and May 16th that we were- Both of those, neither of those will intersect with any Jewish holidays. Okay.
[SPEAKER_14]: Fantastic. Fantastic.
[Frances Nwajei]: All right. Now, the next thing that was a carry over that we had for a project that was a carry over from our June meeting, Commissioner Anthony had mentioned the need to review our ordinance. just throwing that out there as part of the work in addition with the disability fair that will need to happen this year. Wanted to give space to say, are there any other project ideas that you would like to see happen this year? Project ideas that we think we could do in a year. All right, hey, go ahead.
[Kate Ryan]: Overhaul accessible voting.
[Frances Nwajei]: Okay.
[Kate Ryan]: I second that. I third it.
[Frances Nwajei]: All right, and so, you know, when we say overall accessible voting, so these are areas that we would need to think about. So, what does that mean? Are we talking about education things of that nature? But it's great to have this on here. Anybody else have any other project that they think can be done in 1 year or that, you know, they want us to, you know, you want it on the. Agenda. and we don't think of one now, no biggie. I'm sure one will come up.
[Andreottola]: I just was wondering what other people might think about this. Frances, I know you and I have talked about this and I don't know if other people on the commission have had any experience with this or not, but the intersection of our commission with other commissions that may be involved in similar kind of activities. What I'm trying to get at is some type of more improved communication or collaboration, especially around issues of handicap parking, having accessible bus stops, Things that other commissions are involved in that we're not getting the ability to provide feedback from the disability commission's perspective.
[Frances Nwajei]: Thank you for that, Anthony. It's a very valid point. Like the traffic commission issuing accessible parking spots in residential streets. It's not that the Disability Commission is going to say yes or no, but it is important to extend that request for somebody from the Disability Commission to attend. I mean, it's all part of the work of the ordinance. And in so many areas, right, whether it's, you know, you mentioned traffic, and I recall something that a constituent told me that they're very concerned about. spaces that have been taken up by additional bike lanes, which pushes them further and further out into the street. The threats that they have mentioned about different meetings that they've gone to that threaten their own parking spot. So it is important and that is something that Nick and I continue to push. What do you call it? I don't know if it's education, but really more or less raising the awareness that the Disability Commission is here and it's a solid commission that is founded on ordinance to act and do these things. There is, you know, we have a whole outdoor dining committee. Where is anybody from the Disability Commission? And, you know, and I find out that we have one of these things after the thing has been You know, put together, you know, so these are very, very valid points, Anthony. I mean, there is a tremendous amount of intersection that goes on and I think that it's going to be continuous. Continuous education, continuous awareness and continuously showing people where that intersection is and how it is. Much better when things are approached in partnership. You know, so.
[Andreottola]: Go ahead. I just added that and just something that's like kind of real time that I don't know if people are aware of. There seems to be and I learned about this online an issue with the chirping crosswalk in Medford Square that is that has never worked properly in the 30 40 years that it's been there. You know if just a blind person like me were to try to cross the street by using that signal, you know, it's likely that we get killed because it doesn't allow you any, you know, way to really know who stopped, where they stopped, if you can walk or, you know, if you, you know, should take a plunge. But, you know, people are talking about this, addressing it. But it's not here. And, you know, in the commission where, you know, The affected community, right?
[Frances Nwajei]: Yeah, I was not even aware that there was an issue with that. I mean, there are. You know, many issues with how the. The square is designed and the whole crossover from Riverside for me personally, just in terms of helping to support people navigate that area. But that hasn't been brought up to me. I could check in with a traffic engineer and see if that is an active. situation and find out where that is and get a report and report back to the commission. But that's not something that has come through us directly. But it's a perfect example of what you're saying, real life things are going on that require some solutions and solutions from a commission that is designed to help create those solutions. All right, so I will leave it at that for now. It's 607, but as I said, please do feel free to reach out if you think of a project that you will want to work that we should be adding. Don't forget we, you won't see anything on here about the grants that we applied for because we don't have any. We don't have an update beyond the fact that they're saying that awardees will be notified in November. So we're still where we were back in June during our last meeting. I remain hopeful that. That the city will be awarded this it is, it is essential for the, in order for the city to move up if it needs to be an accessible city. It is essential. We cannot do this work without a real transition plan. Not 1 that was written. that one cannot act on, but you must have a real genuine transition plan. So again, and that also includes the website because we must be compliant by April of next year. Go ahead, Commissioner Kate.
[Kate Ryan]: Another thing we could do this year is to talk to the library about accessibility and to do a formal survey of it because it's brand new, but anyone who has used it knows that there is accessibility issues there. And that the staff is not always, when you're one person, I give up.
[Frances Nwajei]: And yeah. I think that that's a great idea. I, you know what I was looking for this document. Let me if I am not mistaken, I think that the library. I've got to double check and see if the library was included in the list of city owned properties for the self evaluation plan. And the reason that I have to double check is because I can't remember if. It was excluded because the library was new, but I think that that's a great idea. Okay. And that is, you know, that could be done in so many ways, right? It could be next.
[Kate Ryan]: like the physical building is very accessible in the bathrooms. The bathrooms is amazing. But like, the mystic maker space is not accessible. And they say, Oh, well, we can we can we can bring in a table for you. But I don't want to be special. And they don't understand that. They don't understand that I don't want to have to ask for I just want to be and I give it up. I give it up.
[Frances Nwajei]: All right, I think that that's a great suggestion. And I actually think that that is something that, you know, that's from the real educational lens, right? What does accessibility mean? And something that you just said, Kate, right? I don't wanna be special, I just wanna be. I just wanna be. So yes, I will definitely, do whatever you guys need Nick and I to do to bring that together. If you think that that is in form of a discussion group if they have a staff meeting or if they have a professional development day, if you think that that is in form of a more formal, great presentations to discuss what accessibility means, you know, let's share and let's build on that.
[Kate Ryan]: But that said, with the caveat that I am an adult and I do not have a kid, and the kid's face is a huge part of the library, so we probably need also people who have kids involved. The little kind of kids.
[SPEAKER_03]: Yes.
[Kate Ryan]: Not the big kind of kids like me. No, not like Susan's kids are like old, you know, like. Right.
[Frances Nwajei]: But you mean like, you know, children, toddlers and yeah. Okay. Okay.
[MCM00001753_SPEAKER_00]: All right. We're going to field trip over there together, a few of us. We don't need everybody.
[Frances Nwajei]: I can't hear you. John, I thought it was me, but you seem somewhat muted, but not on mute. No. How about now? It's a little bit better, but it doesn't sound like usual, John.
[MCM00001753_SPEAKER_00]: My voice carries. OK. What I said was maybe we could do a field trip together. A few of us go over and roll through the library.
[Kate Ryan]: It's actually wicked cool if you haven't seen it yet. The children's room, I bring adults into there because it's so wicked beautiful.
[Frances Nwajei]: I would say, I don't know if there are commissioners that are interested in doing the field trip to the library. If there are, just make sure it's not all of you. Maybe John, if you're interested in doing a field trip, you can arrange with Nick and you can both go down together. I, you know, it's entirely up to you.
[MCM00001753_SPEAKER_00]: I'll be great if he was there. So, if you could point out the issue. I'm sorry say that again. It would be great if Kate was there also. I don't know what's going on with my phone.
[Frances Nwajei]: Yeah, I mean, if Kate is available, I mean, I think that that is great. You would be looking at this from, you know, many different lenses, right? You'd be, you know, you'd be looking at it as an accessibility issue on a very, very broad lens. But, you know, what is, what Kate, Commissioner Kate said, right? I don't want to be treated as special. I just want to be. That's essential. you know, that's essential. Like in my mind, I'm saying, well, why isn't the table there all the time for when they have a special event? But I don't, you know, I don't even know. Again, like I said, in my mind, right, I'm saying this, you know, why isn't it just there? So. But I will say that I, you know, the library has been, is one of the most receptive sides. And they are now my primary users or acquisitionists of like ASL interpreters. I'm always getting like something from them. Can you please get us ASL interpreters for this, for that, the other? So I will take that to say that I believe they are open and learning. On the great point, Kate. All right, Nick, you want to introduce our guests?
[MCM00001753_SPEAKER_02]: All right. Well, we have Amanda Central with us tonight from the Community Development Board. She is an awesome person. I love working with her. And I am excited to see her on this meeting. She is going to be talking to us about the open parks and spaces. I won't tell them all of your details. I'll let you do that by yourself. Welcome to our meeting. We are glad to have you. Amanda, you're on.
[Amanda Centrella]: Nicholas, thank you so much. You are also awesome. Hi, everyone. My name's Amanda. I use she, her pronouns, and I work in the Office of Planning, Development, and Sustainability in the city. Can everybody hear me OK?
[Andreottola]: Yeah.
[Amanda Centrella]: OK, cool. Getting thumbs up. So I'm just going to, if it's OK, I'm going to share my screen. And I have a couple of accompanying slides, but I'll also just be talking through. a few things about our open space and recreation plan. So I'm going to give the share screen a try. Thank you. I see the co-host permission. Share. OK. Do people see my screen? OK, I'm getting a thumbs up.
[Frances Nwajei]: We see something quite jazzy.
[Amanda Centrella]: That's your screen. You'll have to forgive all of my tabs. I collect a lot of them. Do you just see the... We see your desktop. Oh, okay. Then let me... I'm using the wrong... Sorry about that. Let me try once more. There we go. Now I see why you guys were laughing all of my desktop items. Okay, so just a little bit of a summary. So the city has this document called an open space and recreation plan. I'm going to call it an OSRP to save time. everyone the mouthful. But if you need a refresher on that, just let me know at any point. It's a guiding document. It's like a big book that explains the city's vision for its parks and open spaces. And this document was developed in 2018. Um, there was a big team of people on it and it was informed by, um, a lot of public outreach, uh, and varied public outreach. So, you know, the meat of the document is, um, that it's a vision that was, uh, kind of curated or made, um, after talking to lots of community members. Um, it also takes into account sort of like it inventories the city's open spaces and looks at some data around like stormwater and heat. So there's some like resiliency and environmental measures that are kind of incorporated in the document as well. And so we have this document, it's current through 2026, and city staff and other kind of Local stewards of open space and city refer to this document to guide decisions for improvements and changes. So, for me, I'm an open space planner in the planning department, and it's my my bread and butter. We have if in case anybody's curious, there's I'll send this to Francis and Nicholas to just disseminate to you guys afterwards, but there's a link to the existing plan that is available on the city website for folks to peruse. So the existing plan has six main goals, and then it kind of breaks it up into more specific objectives and actions. I'll just quickly go through those goals. So to serve the active recreation needs of all residents throughout Medford by expanding its open space resources and upgrading the conditions of existing facilities, to establish connections to and along the city's natural resources, expand or diversify recreational programming for the city within the existing open space resources, improve the ecological quality of the city, develop a system for park facility management, and strengthen Medford's climate change resilience through park and open space design and preservation. So the reason I'm approaching y'all today is because, as I mentioned, the current plan is current through 2026. And we have an opportunity to extend this plan by three years. Now, the reason we're extending it as opposed to doing a more robust overhaul of the plan is really, unfortunately, comes down to funding. and availability of funding. We did apply to a grant earlier this year, but it was very competitive, and the federal and state funding climate is pretty different than it has been in previous years. A lot of there are like two or three other grant opportunities that I would normally refer to to fund this work and they have been closed this year. So, as an alternative the state is making this other option available, where you can submit an extension and to inform that extension staff from our office have been. we've been doing a lot of outreach. Reaching out to commissions to, um and doing tabling events. We developed a public survey. Thank you for everyone who participated in that. Um. And you know, just basically having conversations with folks to understand what some of our priorities ought to be over the next three years. So they felt were kind of the top priority parks for changes. Condon Shell, Barrie Park, Playstead Park, Brooks Estate, and Tufts Park were our top five. I apologize. I feel like the graphic on here for those that are looking at the presentation is a little bit blurry. So if you need me to, if you have any questions about that, let me know. And I'll, again, I'll follow up this meeting with materials to send to you all. Um, our next slide, uh, we asked, uh, participants about what kinds of activities, um, they liked to do at parks and open spaces in the city. And again, our top five activities that, um, we heard from folks were like walking and using paths, hiking, biking, social gathering space and picnicking. But there are a bunch of other responses too. And then lastly, um, We asked about, well, we've asked a bunch of things, but as far as graphs, lastly, we have what types of amenities did participants in the survey use at our parks and open spaces? And our top five amenities were shared use paths, natural scenery and landscaping, playgrounds, seating, and splash pads, or water features in playgrounds. We got a bunch of different responses. So in addition to the survey, we had many, many conversations and met with, we did some different tabling events and joined a couple of different play groups through the Medford Family Network and collected all this and kind of sorted the feedback into categories that were, they like emerged as we were kind of sorting through them. And the broad ones were just about amenities, safety, recreational opportunities, climate resiliency, accessibility, and then public art as well. I won't go over all of this too, too much, but I just wanted to give a little snapshot about kind of things that came out of the feedback, common themes around, you know, an interest in bathrooms, water fountains, parking, access to nature and landscaping, seating, and passive use of spaces, as well as lighting. And from those kind of broader objectives, we're trying to kind of extract more specific actions. So can we incorporate more public water filling stations at parks and open spaces? Should we be planting more native trees? you know, should we be making clear where parking is? Establishing new parking can be tricky and along, you know, can take more time, but we should also be, you know, as in our like medium term and long term planning, thinking about that as well. Um, so we've got a bunch of these for each, uh, uh, broad category. So safety and, um, recreational opportunities, climate resiliency and accessibility. Um, and I, I want to be respectful of everybody's time. So, um, maybe the best way to do that is to focus on, um, the feedback that we did receive specifically around accessibility, which as you all know better than I is, you know, it is a nexus to or connects to many different things. So, you know, things that are accessible are also oftentimes climate resilient, you know, having shade and making sure that there is seating in shaded areas. There's a lot of intersection in these other categories. So I don't want to kind of frame this as like, okay, this is, you know, a separate piece, it's all connected. But in pulling out some of the feedback that we asked, and this was kind of in response to questions about like, what barriers did people experience that, like prevented them from being able to enjoy or use space at the parks? These are some of the things that we heard. I'll read through them and then pause a bit and just want to make sure if folks have questions or want any clarification, we can address that. So some of the things we heard or that were desires. would be to. Perform accessibility audits of playgrounds, and this would allow the city to better understand the existing conditions that we're working with and what needs to be prioritized. Provide information on city website about accessible features at city facilities and allow visitors to make informed choices ahead of time about using the establish better accessible connections to pre existing park amenities. Connect with local groups and institutions that offer diverse perspectives and expertise on accessible public spaces when making improvements. Um, I'm actually going to strike this next one, but I'll read it out for accountability. So balance the use of engineered wood fiber wood chips at playgrounds with more accessible surfacing. I think it's come to my attention since drafting this up that I'm pretty sure wood chips are not considered an ADA-compliant surface at playgrounds anyway. Adopt accessibility guidelines and templates for signage at parks and open spaces. Advocate for inclusion of an accessible viewing pad at the condon shell stage. Support the construction of the access drive to the Brooks Estate. And advocate for more paved pathways for existing trails on state-owned open space. So I know that was kind of a lot. I'm going to pause here and just see if folks have questions or anything they kind of want to hone in on based on what I've talked about. Or if we want to go back to anything, I'm happy to do that. If I can just ask.
[Andreottola]: Yes. So you're going to extend this and keep this work going for three more years. Is the goal so it's kind of this is just kind of extending the, uh, the timeframe. I'm trying to achieve these goals is that right?
[Amanda Centrella]: That is correct and I'll add that, um. We will be looking for fun, like, seeking out grant opportunities to do a more robust overhaul of. The, um, of the existing plan, uh, in within that 3 years. So if we can. you know, it might be that we find a funding opportunity sometime next year, and we can, you know, redo this a little bit sooner than three years. This is an effort, a stopgap effort because to kind of keep the city, you know, on track and like with, you know, set priorities and goals in the interim. while we wait for or seek out other funding to kind of do a bigger effort change to the plan.
[Unidentified]: Thanks.
[Amanda Centrella]: I'll add one more thing, which is that having an updated plan. So something that's current makes the city eligible for certain state grant opportunities too. So, besides it being the right thing to do, it's an important. you know, lever for allowing the city and to, you know, pursue different funding options and other options, program options in the meantime. So yeah, I wonder if folks have any reactions to some of the feedback that we received particularly around access, but anything or anything that intersects with access to. Yeah, I'll stop talking.
[Kate Ryan]: What is your relationship with the mystic river watershed peoples because I did some meetings with them this spring and they're making, if they can get the money, a new path from like Boston Ave all the way up, all the way up to the beach. And that goes by Duggar Park. But I don't know who owns Duggar Park.
[Amanda Centrella]: So the Mystic River Watershed Association, another mouthful, they are like a regional planning agency, I guess, that does work around the Mystic River Watershed. And the city often, and specifically our office, is often talking to them about different projects. And these projects touch Medford, but also nearby municipalities, just like the one that you're describing. I think it was the Mystic Lower Lakes Path. They were doing some outreach about, yeah, earlier this year, And I think, is it Carl? I don't know if the name Carl sounds familiar. Yeah, he is a familiar figure. Yes, so I guess to answer your question, our office will work sometimes with Myra or consult with them, especially when projects or plans are not necessarily just contained to Medford.
[Kate Ryan]: What I am confused about is that Duggar Park is on your list.
[Amanda Centrella]: Duggar Park is in Medford and it is partially state-owned or it is state-owned. But we have an agreement. The city has an agreement with the state and is allowed to, within that agreement, make certain changes. It is a little bit more cumbersome than for parks or open space that aren't on state land in the city, because there's more, for lack of a better word, there's just more red tape and oversight that needs to happen. And so that can be challenging. but we can make changes.
[Kate Ryan]: So do you have any oversight over the PELs?
[Amanda Centrella]: Not really. So the PELs is more state land. But the city can advocate for certain things. Or we could partner with, I was just talking to, there's a nonprofit called the Friends of the Fells that does a lot of awesome programming and work within the fells. So we could, in theory, partner with them on certain things. But we would need state permission. at the end of the day to do most stuff.
[Kate Ryan]: It's so big, but not a single accessible trail.
[Amanda Centrella]: Yes, I think the Fells, I was chatting with somebody in DCR this week about the Fells. And I think one of the things on their to do list, which is not solving the problem, But this is something, and I wonder how folks here would feel about it, is to be much better and clearer about what types of facilities are on state land and the types of what is and is not accessible. on those facilities or even like just a description of what's available so that folks before getting there can understand and make informed choices about, you know, what works for them and what does not.
[Frances Nwajei]: Okay, thank you so much, Amanda. Commissioners, do you have anything else that you would like to ask Amanda? And if no commissioners have any questions for Amanda, I do see one public participant. Raffaello, do you have any questions for Amanda?
[SPEAKER_15]: No, I do not, but thank you.
[Frances Nwajei]: Okay. Thank you so much Amanda. And if commissioners do have questions and they send them to me, is it all right for myself or Nick to forward them to you?
[Amanda Centrella]: So, yes, absolutely. And could I put 1 shameless plug in Francis?
[SPEAKER_03]: Wait a minute. Wait a minute commissioners. Do we charge a fee for shameless plugs? Let me know now.
[Andreottola]: Let's hear the plug 1st.
[Amanda Centrella]: Okay, you can decide. So I'm working on with some staffs, a project at Riverbend Park, which is, it's called a COVID Memorial Grove. It's a project that was kind of raised to the city by a community group called Trees Medford. And basically, we're in the design phase now. And Anyone who is interested, we're having a public workshop on October 5, 1.30 to 3.30 PM. It's a Sunday that will be on site in Riverbend Park. And we'll be talking about the design, planting selections and tree selections, seeding ideas, as well as with the City's Poet Laureate Max Heinig. We'll be thinking. as a group a little bit about what type of maybe poetry engraved we would like as art in the space. So just want to extend the invitation. I'll follow up with Frances and Nicholas with some information about that and about the OSRP stuff. And also just want to thank everybody for your time tonight.
[SPEAKER_06]: Thank you for coming.
[Frances Nwajei]: If you have a flyer, that would be great because we also, I know that on Facebook, there is a Medford Disability Facebook group that may be interested as well. I'm so sorry, I'm not sure what all that noise is that's happening out there. I think somebody dropped a giant pen. But, you know, thank you so much. Now, when you say it will be outside, are there areas to sit? Is it going to, is there like a, there's like a place to sit and stuff like that?
[Amanda Centrella]: There will be so the there's a parking lot in the rear of McLean school, and then from there, there's a paved pathway from the parking lot to the area in question. I'll work on getting some seating. And then there's the path itself and like a lawn area. And we'll have some boards and visuals as well as staff there to kind of help facilitate conversation.
[Frances Nwajei]: There's a very important chat that's just come through that I think you should hear. Rafaela, who's participating, says that he's in connection with a lot of people that are still COVID-19 in the area and would like to pass the information along. as soon as you have something it would be great because I feel like this is very meaningful to people and we should give as many people as possible the opportunity to you know, be involved, so.
[Amanda Centrella]: Absolutely, yes. Thank you, Raffaello. I do have a flyer, and yeah, I guess I'll send it to you, Frances, to share with folks.
[Frances Nwajei]: Yep, send it to me. I'll send it to everybody on here, all the commissioners, and then also send to Raffaello as well. Hopefully, if it's a JPEG, I can drop it in the disability, the Medford Disability Facebook group.
[SPEAKER_03]: Wonderful. Thank you.
[Frances Nwajei]: Thank you for joining us. All right, so the. James was going to join us today, but they have a six o'clock start time for the elections committee meeting. So James isn't here. I had a brief chat with him based on information that I had received. So I'm just going to read this out to you. This is from James, just want to take a minute to address some of the accessible voting machine questions. The machines we have are quite old, so they need to be continuously, continually tested every election. The company that does the repair is quite quick in their response time. So, if there are any problems prior to the election day, those issues can be solved. On election day, myself and the wardens and clerks at the precinct are the most well-versed individuals on the automark machines. Most issues are easy to solve. However, if there was ever a true mechanical problem on election day, we have several spare machines that can be deployed. The biggest problem is most voters slash residents do not know about these machines and their purpose. So they are rarely used at the polling locations. So they sit idle. The largest help the commission could The largest help the commission could help the elections department with is during testing coming in and helping us evaluate these machines capabilities, especially individuals with disabilities that affect their vision or physical ability to hold a pen. Slash cast their vote using a writing instrument. Additionally, if the commission is looking to advocate the secretary of the Commonwealth needs to certify new machines so that we can replace the current accessible voting machine. So if the commission wants to sign a letter asking the secretary to accelerate that process, that would be extremely helpful. Speaking to state senators and representatives about the need for new machines is also helpful, especially when it comes to funding the new machines. I would be happy to attend the next meeting if possible to answer any additional questions I wasn't able to address with this letter. There we go. Yes. Bless you. All right. So does anybody have any other things? Yep.
[Kate Ryan]: That letter is his experience. It is not my experience as somebody who actually uses.
[Frances Nwajei]: Actually, yeah, he's just issuing a response that I'm sharing with you. So now you. get like everybody's experience is going to be different, right? But it's not the end zone. Like this really falls into that large project that you want to do, right? The overhaul. So now it's like, okay, we're kind of like all on the same page, but we've got to move from the, it's not working, it's broken. Unfortunately, November is literally a month and a half, a month, away. What can we do now? Long range, yes, we want new machines, not in the state's hands. That's Secretary Galvin. What can we do now to start spreading the word, to start ensuring that whatever supply of machines we have can work? So I see your project, Kate, that you mentioned as ongoing. I don't see it as having an end of life. I feel like this is really ongoing. We haven't even started to think about new technology that could be coming down the pike. But I think it's just a response to, okay, do folks know about this? What's the process of dealing with broken machines? I actually didn't know. I thought it was each town or city buys their own machines. No, I didn't know that this was something that the Secretary of State needs to certify. And I guess most of Massachusetts has been waiting for quite some time.
[Kate Ryan]: Go ahead. I know that neurotypicals would say that he is not lying, but it feels like he is lying to me because what he is saying happens at elections does not happen. I have had problems with those machines for years. The clerks like. Yeah. I'm going to stop talking because I don't want to be on public.
[Frances Nwajei]: Oopsie hold on. Thank you so much. I didn't even realize that my camera was off. I thought I'm so sorry commissioners. I thought my camera was back on after I returned back. So thank you, Nicholas for pointing that out to me. Okay. So, I see this like this is an ongoing issue. This is not going to be a, we're going to be a one and done. I think that we have a, you know, a few problems that I'm really hearing, right? So, if these things, like when you tell me that they need to be used frequently, I imagine something like a wheel that if it doesn't get greased, it's going to get stuck. So I think. Yeah, go ahead, Anthony.
[Andreottola]: I just want to say I was able to use the accessible voting machine this year and it worked. You know, the only issue that I have that he didn't address in the letter is that last year when I went to use the machine, nobody knew where it was out to. how how to use it. The poll workers this year whoever was there we we took the time to you know to figure it out. I was able to figure out how to use the machine and vote with the know the audio described you know features and it they do work. You know, I could speak for blind people, can't use the current machines. Should we have new updated ones? Yeah, probably someday. But I just wanted to add that if people know how to use them, and if there's someone at the polling place that's trained and able to assist the person. No, the only issue that I had is that I had somebody look at my, you know, my sheet before I went in the machine to make sure that it worked correctly, you know, so I didn't really have a secret ballot. Someone else verified the punches just because I didn't have confidence after hearing some of the things I've heard, but it worked fine. I just wanted to add that but people at the polling places need to know how to help a disabled person who may want to use one of these machines who doesn't have the time like I did to kind of you know teach myself.
[Frances Nwajei]: the better education for poor workers is one of the things I'm hearing. The other thing that I was made aware of, thank you so much, Anthony, is because I remember last year there was a group that tested the machines. It was crazy because the machines were tested and they worked. Then when a couple of commissioners came in on the test today, The accessible 1 decided it wasn't going to work and we had, and it was the 1 that was on loan from the state and we had to call the state and say. What's going on with this? It's clunked out. It's now my understanding that much of this stuff deals with calibration. So I say this because I want it to be known. So, so the machines are calibrated so there's a little thing and that you can barely see. And once that thing gets knocked off, which can happen, I could bump into it, somebody could carry it the wrong way. It could occur during being transported. it can cause the machine to default and basically not function, which is insane. So these, and it was something in the- I'm sorry, I'm sorry, Frances.
[Kate Ryan]: You do not have to use that word. Please use a different word that's a slur. How?
[Frances Nwajei]: Use a different word that's a slur? Yes. For calibration?
[Kate Ryan]: Or insane, you just used insane as a slur.
[Frances Nwajei]: okay all right understand it is it's just it's incredibly annoying because when you take a look at what it was that was knocked off it is a very very fine almost like a hairline Thing in the back and so this, I found out this year, but I would, I would not have known that for last year. So there are many of these other things that can be really, really disturbing. And then you ask yourself, well, how much. How much education, right? Does 1 provides to folks that are working the elections and. are they going to remember? Because it's not, elections are not happening every day and all the time. So I think that this is where we come in. I think that we have, there are many great ways to keep this going during elections and non-election time, you know. But John, I noticed that you're off mute. Go right ahead, please. Can you hear me? It's a bit better, but it's still not John-like.
[MCM00001753_SPEAKER_00]: Okay. One of my, concerns was people not knowing that the machines exist. And this is like our fair last year. How do we let people know that it exists? So that would mean being targeting people who are disabled, which means a HIPAA violation. But is there a way to reach out to the state people who have the contacts to let people know these machines are there? There's a problem if nobody knows the exists.
[Frances Nwajei]: Yeah, to be honest with you, John, I don't, you know, I don't know. It's, you know, it's not a. Situation that I faced before in terms of. Folks not knowing that a, a function or an item that is. supposed to assist, right, is available to them. You know, I mean, yeah, I mean, I don't know. We could always ask James, is this something that one would reach out to the state for? But then I also think, do we just make sure that we create a little, a little info, I don't know what it's called, an info flyer or something that just informs on, what do you call it? That just informs on, hey, did you know that, you know, There are accessible voting machines. Did you know that you can vote via email? That was something else that was new for me this year. Yeah, you get a link sent to you so you can actually, you know, for folks that really don't Unable to leave the house or who are really, really compromised for whatever reason, if they're comfortable, they can do it that way. It may be something like that. Right? And then we make sure that that stuff, you know, how Medford community media has programming and stuff. It gets run as an advert in between. Do we do that?
[Kate Ryan]: I voted via email this year because it got, it was too hard. Oh, it was hard? It was too hard to go in. I didn't want to deal with another machine and the city clerk office was very nice and they walked me through how to register and stuff over the phone and exactly like, even like how to vote over the phone. They were wicked helpful. Wait, you can vote over the phone too? Not over the phone but like, I pre-vote, what's the word? I voted in advance and I was able to call them and when I was confused about stuff, they could, obviously without them seeing my vote, which I don't know how it integrates with Dragon or anything because my Dragon is broken right now.
[Frances Nwajei]: I think that that is, you know, I think that that's amazing, right? We could, I mean, I feel like there's something that can be done between now and November. And maybe like, do I talk to comms and say, hey, can you come up with a quick thing for us that we can put on our, well, it's not ours, but the Medford Disability Facebook page, right? Put on the, DEI webpage, put on the commission's webpage, and then figure out how to turn that into something that Medford Community Media can show as an advert in between their programming. I can make flyers here for City Hall. I can get those flyers out to the senior center, some of our housing. locations. Agreed. I mean, what are you?
[Andreottola]: I think the election department already does it because I've used that. I've done that a couple of years ago. I think that started right after during the pandemic. Once they started the, you know, the, you know, for early voting, that that's been something that they they push out because I, I learned about it and I didn't go looking for it. It's something that came to me. So, yeah, it is a lot. It is a lot easier. And it allows people, you know, the same access as people that do mail voting. You know, they vote by mail. know, especially blind folks.
[Frances Nwajei]: Definitely. And I'm so sorry, I should have added this, Kate, when you first brought this up. Just remembered now last week, I attended my monthly ADA group, and Mass Office on Disability actually has updated the voting They're voting educational, educational materials for voting. My gosh, why could that not come out? Right? So that was something that had been mentioned in our group. So I could take a peek at that website, but I do feel that a simple 1 hit wonder is probably going to be the best than a lot of different materials. What I notice, I don't know what you mean by that. What's a 1 hit wonder? like one, like one, like one flyer, one item that contains the information. And then you put some, you know, you put some of it in the visual so that it's, it's sort of, it's intuitive. Because I keep hearing people are just overwhelmed with getting like five different things about the same, five different designs about the same thing, you know. but if we can get something about how you, the traditional voting style or the initial voting style, and then the accessible voting style, and then the email link voting style, I think that that's going to be very, very helpful. And that would be a great start in the educational campaign, I guess, is really what we're talking about. How do you feel, again, this is just the thought about reaching out at some point in time to state reps. I think it was one of the things that were mentioned, your state reps as a commission. That's another option as well. All right, so there's the voting. Now we have other and correspondence. I don't have anything else to share. I think I've shared everything. Nick, anybody else? We're in the other and correspondence section. Joe, are you speaking? If you're speaking, you're on mute. If you were saying something. Oh, no. Okay. Okay, I don't see anything from anybody else and we have public participation. Rafael, do you have anything to share with us that, um. Yeah, we make an emotion.
[SPEAKER_15]: I actually think I had sent this, Francis, to you a little while back, but I have a friend on the Somerville Commission for Persons with Disabilities who said that they were able to, a couple of years ago, reach a deal with their city so that So that any parking violations, specifically for handicapped parking spot violations, any fines from that now go to the commission instead of going to the general whatever city fund that is. And they said that they've been doing that for a couple of years and I was in Somerville that they the commission rate we're getting something like $10,000 a year, which goes to outreach activities, you know community resources and such. I don't think that Medford has such a thing. And if not, the chair of the Somerville Commission, Holly Simone, offered to pass along the information of how she petitioned it, how she brought it up, what arguments they made, and what was successful there. And I thought that might be something that Medford might want to try.
[Frances Nwajei]: Thank you, Raphael. I think that that's a great idea. I just asked that before we move forward, allow me to 1st of all, a find out our, our, our ordinances the same rate. Is this anything that's governed by ordinance or charter? Just because I don't know how to answer that. And then do we have anything like that? I do remember. Isn't this what, like, the water sewer, something or rather. I remember watching a city council meeting once and somebody saying something about receiving their water bill and they get to check and elect. Like, if they want to make an extra donation granted is different from what we're discussing, but it shows me that if we're able to do that, then the infrastructure is partially in place. Then I have to. find out from either the chief of staff or our mayor, is there a reason why we're not doing this? Then I think we can move from there, but that's such a great idea. I certainly would prefer all the $300 tickets that I've called on behalf of people who can't park because somebody felt that it was okay to park in the graded area. or to use the accessible parking spot because there were only going to be five minutes. Yeah, so I would prefer knowing that those $300 tickets have gone to the Commission on Persons with Disabilities. And, um, Raphael, I just wanted to be sure there was soul commission, right? They're not a nonprofit, right? This is the city. This is the person's disabilities. Yeah. Okay. Lovely. Wonderful. Thank you so much for that. All right. Anybody else? And if not, it's up to you commissioners, Nick and I can't do this part.
[Andreottola]: Motion to adjourn.
[Frances Nwajei]: I second. Okay. Thank you so much and we'll see you next month.
[MCM00001753_SPEAKER_08]: Thank you. See you next month. Okay. Good night everybody. Thank you for everybody.