Commission for Persons with Disabilities: Tufts Park Redesign - 2026-05-27

AI-generated summary. Written by gemini-3.8-flash from the transcript below, which is the record. It may be incomplete or wrong; it does not report votes. Every item links to the moment it began.

The Commission for Persons with Disabilities reviewed redesign plans and accessibility considerations for Tufts Park and received updates on the city's wayfinding study and ADA transition planning. The commission also reviewed outcomes from the recent disability fair and approved its April meeting minutes.

0:00 Introductions and agenda review — Commission members and staff introduced themselves and outlined the meeting agenda.
2:22 Tufts Park redesign presentation and feedback — City planners and consultants presented early design and survey efforts for Tufts Park, while commissioners provided feedback regarding screen reader accessibility, dog separation, accessible pathways, and restrooms.
35:35 Approval of April minutes — The commission approved the meeting minutes from April.
36:38 Disability fair recap — Commissioners and staff reviewed the recent disability fair, highlighting positive community attendance and entertainment while noting areas to improve such as signage and water availability.
54:01 Wayfinding study update and grant application — Staff reported that feedback from the Institute for Human-Centered Design resulted in adjusted signage designs and noted the city is applying for a state One Stop grant of up to $250,000 for Medford Square rollout.
1:03:35 Disability Commission ordinance and ADA transition plan updates — Staff announced the updated commission ordinance is completing legal review for City Council consideration, and the Institute for Human-Centered Design has begun work on the city's self-evaluation and transition plan.
1:11:00 Other business and community announcements — Commissioners discussed pedestrian signals and voting machine accessibility testing before staff shared announcements for upcoming community events including Pride and Juneteenth.

[Frances Nwajei]: Babs, good evening, everybody. This is the May 2026 meeting for the Commission for Persons with Disabilities. I'm Frances Wangei, the EI Director with City of Medford. Moving it over to Kate.

[Kate Ryan]: Kate Ryan, she, hers. I am a Medford resident member of the Commission with multiple disabilities. Thank you, Kate.

[Susan Bibbins]: Susan? Hi, I'm Susan Gibbons, a commissioner, and I reside in South Medford. I have multiple disabilities also, and my pronouns are she, her, and that's it. Thank you, Susan.

[Andreottola]: Anthony Andreottola. Lawrence Road, Medford. I'm a blind Medford resident and a commissioner.

[qy5_Am-xQ_s_SPEAKER_04]: Excuse me. I'm John Shabe. I'm an amputee, a disabled union organizer. I'm retired now too. And that's all. I'm a commissioner.

[MCM00001818_SPEAKER_06]: Joe Casey, I have a child with a disability and I have minor disabilities, lifelong resident in Medford. Hello, everybody.

[Nicholas Karinge]: Good evening, everyone. This is Nicholas Kadangue, disability specialist for the city of Medford, and it is good to see all of your faces. I look forward to working with you guys.

[Frances Nwajei]: Thank you, Nicholas. Commissioners, as you noticed on the agenda, we're doing things a little bit differently today because we have two guests that are with us to discuss the Tufts Park redesigns. Nicholas, I'm going to turn this portion of the meeting over to you so that you can do the introductions and bring the guests online.

[Nicholas Karinge]: Thank you, Ms. Francis. Tonight we have two guests, neither of whom are strangers to us. We have Amanda and Charlene, and they are here to talk about the work going on at Tufts Park. And so I will let them do their thing. You guys are most welcome as always.

[Amanda Centrella]: Thank you so much, Nicholas. So just a brief introduction. My name is, as Nicholas mentioned, Amanda Centrella. It's so good to see you guys again. And as a little refresher, so I use she her pronouns, and I work in the planning department for the city as an open space and a parks planner. And Shanine, would you like to introduce yourself?

[Chenine Peloquin]: My name is Janine Peloquin. I'm a consultant around outreach to both children and people with disabilities to make sure those often unheard voices are heard when we are thinking about parks. And so it's wonderful to be back here with you. My pronouns are she, her. I am a 40-ish-year-old white woman with long brown hair.

[Amanda Centrella]: Thank you, Shanine. So I thought maybe I would kick us off just by describing a little bit about the project that we're here to talk about. So a little bit of an overview of the site and what we're trying to do. And then we did a public survey, which I believe was shared with you all a couple of weeks ago. And we can go over some of the initial responses. and then open it up to some questions that we have and questions that you all may have and comments you may have. So hopefully that sounds all right. And would it be okay for me to share my screen?

[Amanda Centrella]: Did you try sharing it? Did it let you share it? Oh, I let me see. It looks like I'm going to. Oh, it says it is turned off for this meeting. I can send a request, which I just did.

[Amanda Centrella]: All right. So OK. So I am currently sharing my screen. And pictured right now, we're looking at a bird's eye view of the city of Medford, and specifically kind of the South Medford neighborhood. And in the center of the frame is Tufts Park. Elfs Park is, as I mentioned, a part of South Medford. South Medford is one of the more densely populated parts of the city. It is also one of the hotter parts of the city, so less natural tree canopy. In this area, a little bit more impervious surfacing, streets, sidewalks, and such that make heat retention in this part of the city hotter than other parts of the city.

And so if we zoom in a little bit to the park, right now the park has four-ish softball fields that are in varying states of functionality, if you will. And there's kind of a central, so each of the four softball fields are in the corners. There is kind of an open field. In the center that folks often use there is a pathway that circles the majority of the park. And I'm just moving over a little bit because there is also this kind of odd rear yard behind most of the park that is a part of it and that folks will use. Oftentimes, you'll find folks with off-leash dogs in this area.

[Chenine Peloquin]: That's also where the new forest has been planted by Trees Medford.

[Amanda Centrella]: Correct. Yes, that's a really great update. I think as of this weekend, they had like a community prep day. So plantings aren't in yet, but a lot of awesome work was done by community volunteers to get that site ready for a mini forest. Folks may also be familiar, so the side of the park that's on Main Street is right next to Tufts Pool and there is, I'm going to zoom in a little bit further, kind of a shade pavilion if you like enter from Main Street that you're kind of directed to and next to that is a playground and the playground has engineered wood fiber chips as a plate safety surface over a lot of the playground with a pathway. There's red here, which is like a poured in place rubber pathway that goes to different features in the playground. And this playground has not been meaningfully redone since 1998. So it is at the end of its lifespan as far as playgrounds go. I'm going to move to this tab. OK. So I just shifted to a Street View tab that shows you what the playground looks like from the street. This is from Main Street. And if we kind of, you can see here is like the red is the important place parts of the safety surfacing, and then the kind of brownish is the wood fiber.

And if we kind of circle around the corner here just to give you another view into this part of the park. And so this park, we have been working at design from a couple of different angles. It's very interesting. So folks may be familiar that the fields in this park flood unfortunately, relatively frequently after we have heavy rainstorms. And so there have been historically some challenges with flooding of the fields, the adjacent streets and walkways get muddy, things like that. And so engineering has been working for a while with the Mystic River Watershed Association on some flood mitigation design that would help to address that issue. And they started, you know, the more they got into some of those conversations, the more it felt like, actually, like this could be an opportunity for, you know, a bigger picture redesign this park. Um, and, you know, thinking about the pathways and things that connect different features in the park to one another. And then. You know, we have this playground that is really at its end of life and in need of, you know, a revamp. And so the city received a.

earmark, a state earmark, to go towards an initial phase of design for the playground. And so what we're planning on doing, I'm going to move out of shared screen so we can look at each other. Okay, there we go. Um, and so, uh, where we are currently at is, you know, we have these two sort of separate but coordinated design efforts, um, with some initial funding for design, and we are doing some sort of first touch, um, community feedback to hear, you know, how folks use this park, what challenges folks see and experience with this park, um, and, you know, some visioning and ideas about what we could change in the future. Shanine and I are specifically part of the team looking at the playground, although if you all have feedback about the overall park or other features in the park, I'd be, you know, we'd be happy to hear them and convey them to the rest of the project team.

But that's the section, the playground is sort of the section that we're working on. And I will add that we have We, as I think I mentioned earlier, we put out a community survey and we actually got a pretty good response rate on that survey over 350 responses and I will happily send to you all one of our. partners in this, the Mystic River Watershed Association is doing some work like organizing all of that feedback and summarizing some of the results. I don't have it ready for you all tonight, although I have some initial things I can show you. But if you're interested, I'd be happy to forward those responses once they are sent to us.

[Chenine Peloquin]: And if any of you have feedback on or resources that you explaining what makes a survey accessible to folks who maybe use screen readers and we can incorporate as much of that as possible. We are working on making sure that our materials are more accessible.

[Andreottola]: If I could answer, it would be helpful when there are pictures and graphics if they would be, you know, if a description would be added. So, you know, just to let somebody who's using a screen reader know what the picture or the graphic is. you know, just, you know, just given a brief description, you know, this is a park with, you know, for softball diamonds and a playground, you know, so at least there's, you know, there's, there's a reference. So someone who's using a screen reader can know what, you know, they're being asked on the survey in regards to, you know, what the graphic or the picture might be showing people.

[Amanda Centrella]: Yes, that makes sense and is definitely something that we can implement, I believe. So alt text was used in this survey, for example, although if folks tried to use the alt text and it didn't work as intended for this survey, would definitely be interested in hearing that.

[Amanda Centrella]: There were a couple. I'm so sorry. Would you mind saying that one more time? I apologize.

[Andreottola]: I did take a look at it and none of the pictures, if there were pictures, I couldn't tell because none of them were cued with a label.

[Amanda Centrella]: Okay, thank you for that. There were supposed to be alt text captions on the images that were incorporated, but it sounds like they weren't functioning as intended. Okay, thank you for that feedback.

[Andreottola]: It just seems a lot, most of the stuff coming out of City Hall is not labeled or it doesn't come across. Maybe it is being done, but it's not kind of, it's not compatible with what I think most people are using today for screen readers.

[Frances Nwajei]: Okay. I'm sorry to interrupt, Anthony. I'm not hearing you at your typical volume.

[Frances Nwajei]: You're a little louder and a little clearer to me. I don't know if it was happening with anybody else, but I was really straining. Okay, wherever you are now, freeze, because I can hear you. Thank you.

[Amanda Centrella]: Thank you so much for that feedback, Anthony. And I apologize that the, you know.

[Andreottola]: No, no apologies. It's just that it's, you know, I think, you know, some of this stuff, somebody could, it probably needs to be like tested before, like it goes out, like someone has to say, oh yeah, you know, there is a label and it does say this, or it is, it is a little bit tricky. And so.

[Amanda Centrella]: Absolutely. Maybe we can partner with Francis or with this commission on testing something out next time around. And we could, if we figure out that that thing works, kind of disperse it to city departments for any outreach that they're doing so that we're all using the same thing that has been tested to work.

[Andreottola]: But I do have one question just in regards to a park. This is not in my area, my neighborhood, but it's a concern that I've heard from other people and I've seen on social media. And that is, especially in the park where the children are and could be kids with disabilities, unleashed dogs, and it's a concern. In any part of design, is there any kind of strategy or plans for keeping the playground area free of animals?

[Kate Ryan]: Can I just speak up for those unleashed dogs? This is Kate. I've had the good fortune to spend time with those unleashed dogs. They are delightful, and I'm not just saying this because one of them is my favorite dog on the planet, but I've never heard of any one of those. Those dogs are well-behaved dogs. They self-police themselves, and not the dogs. The humans police themselves really well, and I've never heard of any going to the playground.

[Chenine Peloquin]: We had a bite at CAR two weeks ago. There have been, and there was at least one. I'm actually scheduled to talk to a national dog behavior expert in the next week or so about how we can think about design and separating those, because we know that people need places to move and run their dogs. But even when we have this off-leash dog area, people still have them elsewhere and then dogs on leash or a whole other thing where they feel restrained, it's tricky. So there is an ordinance about keeping dogs out of tot lots, which we need to rename as well because that's gross because they're not toddlers, they're kids. But one of the challenges of this park is that The climbing structures are within a fenced area, but the swings are not in a fenced area and you walk the main pathway for the park goes between the fence of the playground and the swings. So, any kid who wants to swing has to come out. So, that is that's a tricky thing is how do we keep those things separate? And yes, Anthony, that's a, it's a city wide concern of, like, how do we balance the needs? I mean, as we've all talked about before, all of this is balancing needs.

And it is thank you for the for calling that out because it's a it is a big deal. Keeping even very well intentioned stock owners are surprised by their animals at times. And we don't want any kid to the risk to kids is a long future of mental health issues based on the research.

[Frances Nwajei]: So so is. I'm sorry to interject. I just want to be mindful of the time because we're almost at six o'clock. And I want to make sure that Amanda and Shamim get to the full piece of what they wanted to discuss. And then if we have time at the end, maybe we can pick up the conversation. We have some important pieces to discuss. later on in the agenda.

[Kate Ryan]: Kate, go ahead. I just wanted to ask if the whole park, like if the park is only going to, if the space where the playground is, is the only space or if it's going to get bigger or something.

[Amanda Centrella]: So the footprint of where the playground is will roughly be the same as far as that area will be where the next iteration of this playground will be. But the whole park includes much more. So there's the athletic fields, the walking path around, and then that back rear area.

[Amanda Centrella]: Yes, exactly. And so, you know, this first phase of design, we were kind of, because of the nature of the earmark funding that we have, we are looking specifically at the playground and its sort of interaction with the parts of the park that are adjacent to it. But there is a larger project that is looking at all of the park, and including that rear yard area where a lot of folks do informally have off-leash dogs. And the mini forest is going there, as Sinead mentioned. And so I think there'll be a wider discussion about the types of uses at this park.

[Chenine Peloquin]: So we wanted to make sure we came to you at this very early stage because, One of the times that I've come to talk to your group, we've discussed how this parks proximity to public transportation would make it a good candidate for a more inclusive design. All parks should have some aspects of inclusivity. accessible equipment takes up more space. So in little tiny pocket parks, how do we make sure that it's inclusive? So but this was has a little bit more space. It's really close to it's on bus routes, and it's very close to the Broadway T station. So you have identified that as a possible place for Medford's next inclusive focused playground. Sue, I saw your hand up.

[Susan Bibbins]: Actually, that was my question. Is this earmarked for being an inclusive playground? And it would be great if it was.

[Chenine Peloquin]: And so that was 1 of the things we wanted to talk to you about is we have been making an effort. I think the planning department has really made an effort to incorporate additional accessibility features, including companion seating at every bench, different styles of benches with handlebar handles and. seat backs, more choices for accessible seating so that you're not forced to just look one way if you have a mobility device, inclusive play features. They partnered with this wayfinding project with IHCD, the Institute for Human-Centered Design, to get more feedback about accessible wayfinding. But we want to know, what's working?

What else should planning be doing as a rule in our parks? And then if this is to be an inclusive playground, how do we think about like, what features would you like to see that maybe we don't already have? Or pieces that you're like, they were kind of caught, that doesn't have to be a specific piece. We're not at like specific equipment pieces yet. Although if you have those, you can certainly bring them up as well. But what are the features that make a park work for you or your loved one?

[Frances Nwajei]: Can you make it like the McGlynn x 100? Because that is an awesome space. Every person that I have spoken to that has been there talks about it. And that was also going to be a question that I had is would we, you know, given the proximity to public transit, would you consider making it an inclusive park? But you guys, you've already answered that. I do want to share that I will double check and see if it is on the list for our self-evaluation transition, blah, blah, blah, blah, that's going to be happening. Because if it is, it would be important to pull you both in early rather than later.

[Kate Ryan]: I would like to say that the bathrooms there are a huge draw. Because when the pool is open, they don't, in my experience, the front people don't police bathroom usage. And so if you're at the playground or at the park there, you can use the bathroom in the summer. And that is really, really big because they're not fancy, but they're workable, real bathrooms.

[Chenine Peloquin]: Bathrooms are a primary request when we talk about playgrounds, accessible and not.

[Chenine Peloquin]: Yeah. I think grandparents are primary park users, potty training children. people who have recently begun to potty train like pregnant mamas, like all of those things, all those people. So yes, that's a great comment.

[MCM00001818_SPEAKER_06]: Can I add one thing while we're talking about bathrooms?

[MCM00001818_SPEAKER_06]: It was actually two things I was going to say. I frequent car park a lot. It came up beautiful. I know they're still working on it. My grandchildren love playing up there. Um, what I really liked that I saw the, uh, port-a-potty that's extra wide for handicap. And I thought that was a great idea to put it there. And maybe go ahead.

[Chenine Peloquin]: Sorry. The port-a-potties are only funded by Medford youth baseball.

[Chenine Peloquin]: So bathrooms are a big thing. And I'm glad, yes, if you have one, the rule is it has to be accessible. And we actually did in the design make sure that the pad would fit an accessible model. And I think it actually fits two. It looks like that pad has space for two accessible units if the capacity, the need was there.

[MCM00001818_SPEAKER_06]: Yeah, I just want to tell the people it has like a wheelchair sign on it that has that extra wide door.

[Frances Nwajei]: Yeah. Great. Janine and Amanda, do you have all the information you need from the commission? Is there anything else that you need from the commissioners?

[Chenine Peloquin]: Um, I was any any things that we should be thinking about, like, kind of big picture accessibility, we can talk about signage, we will come back to you, we promise about, like, features and what you want to see, you can always email me, I will drop my email in the chat. So any accessible features or precedents of if you're at a park anytime and you see something that either really doesn't work or that you're like, oh my gosh, this is exactly what I have needed it to be, send it to me. We want precedent images and ideas and I will, I have driven to parks just to see something that somebody said, you have to see this thing that works really well. So any other like kind of big picture accessibility things we should be thinking of? Thank you, Amanda.

[Susan Bibbins]: really caution you when you're thinking about the big picture on your pathway surfaces. I've seen a lot of pathway surfaces that seem accessible but are not really. can you give us an example? Like crushed stone, like little pea gravel, crushed stone, which for a cane user is shifts and moves all around. And it makes it very unstable to walk. It may be accessible to people in wheelchairs, but it's not the best for people who use walkers or canes.

[Frances Nwajei]: Thank you, Susan. That was a big piece that was discussed yesterday, as a matter of fact, by the M.O.D. I believe, if I'm not mistaken, it was Andover that raised the question about accessible surface and wood chips. And, you know, two different fractions of M.O.D. themselves, for those who don't know the M.O.D., the Mass Office of Disability, at different interpretations based on the fact that the ADA itself does not have, what did they say, it didn't have like specific language and then the Architectural Access Board was a little bit more loosey-goosey. Somebody said woodchips, and then the other fraction said, no, woodchips aren't accessible. So the long and short of it all is, allegedly, there is some ruling that has been, can't say this word well, promulgated. Did somebody say it for me? It's hard for me to say that word.

[Chenine Peloquin]: There's an advisory opinion on, that's playground surfacing specifically, Frances.

[Frances Nwajei]: There you go. There you go. So if people's ears rang, primarily yours, Amanda, because I was using Logan Park as an example of how we sometimes inherit things and then we do our best to work with them. This did come up yesterday. And like you said, Susan, right, if I'm in a, mobility device, like if I'm in a car that's, I don't even need to be in a device, right? The crash stones work. But if I'm in a bicycle, it's a little bit more different, right? So if I'm, you know, in a mobility device, like a wheelchair or maybe a scooter, right, the crash stones may seem accessible. But if I'm using a cane or pronged walker, it could pose some more challenges. All right, does everybody have Shameen and Amanda's, I got you John, just a second, Amanda's email that is in the chat. I will make sure that Nick and I send that out to everyone, okay.

[qy5_Am-xQ_s_SPEAKER_04]: I have a quick question about the restrooms or the porta-potties up behind the conch shell. I've taken walks by there, but with my wife along the river, it's beautiful. But I'm diabetic, which means I have to urinate frequently. And there's padlocks on both of those. I didn't understand why, so I called the city, and they told me I had to call the state. So then I called the state, and a week later, the guy called me back and said he can't figure out who controls the padlocks on there. He said, I'm not even sure why it's padlocked. If someone's homeless, they should have access to that. They shouldn't be locked out also. And maybe you guys know something about that.

[Frances Nwajei]: So John, that's not us, that's DCR. And were they doing some work? How long ago was this? Like two weeks ago.

[Chenine Peloquin]: It would, my first call, my first question would be, is it farmer's market that puts it there? The city doesn't provide bathrooms.

[Chenine Peloquin]: Farmer's market, even the boating organization, because the boating people would need to use the bathroom at some point during the day. Yes. You're down there, like maybe Thursday night, go to the farmer's market and ask the market manager, or even shoot them an email. That would be my first guess. But I don't know if Amanda knows.

[Amanda Centrella]: I can ask a colleague who sometimes supports the farmer's market staff, helps as a liaison between our office and the farmer's market, who to talk to about that. And I'd be happy to follow up with you, John. Thank you. Yeah.

[Andreottola]: That would be good. John, I have a bolt cutter. I like to borrow.

[Frances Nwajei]: I was hoping it's the other way around. I might need somebody to help pick that lock so that we can crank down the flag and put up the correct flags for June. Nobody can find the key.

[Chenine Peloquin]: Has anybody seen the Portland Loo? I would encourage you to look that up. The Portland Loo is a fully accessible city bathroom that are like really affordable and they have Features that prevent unwanted behavior. They prevent people from camping out in them, but they're publicly available at all hours. And I would love to see more communities around here adopt those. So commission could look at the Portland loo as a model. There's bathrooms for everybody, right? For people who are diabetic, for toddlers, for grandparents, for people who are unhoused, like everybody needs that. Joe, I saw your hand.

[Frances Nwajei]: All right, we are at 609. We have Amanda and Janine here for questions about the Tufts Park redesign. project. If you don't have any at this time, please send them forward. I hope, hope, hope that you have all completed your survey. And as I said before, Nick and I will make sure that the email addresses are shared with you so that you can reach them directly. Are you going to stay on so that you can hear the piece about the grant?

[Chenine Peloquin]: Amanda and Shanine, because it kind of sort of... I want to hear, I'm going to have to watch the recording later, but I would love to sit down with you and hear more about the transition plan.

[Chenine Peloquin]: All right. I'll get a briefing from Amanda and then I'll touch base with Frances and Nick later. All right.

[Frances Nwajei]: Shanine, thank you. Thanks, everybody. Thank you so much. All right. It's 6.10, Nick. I'm giving it back to you. Thank you both. Nick, I'm giving it back to you for the next thing on the agenda.

[Nicholas Karinge]: Alright, well now we have business to do y'all. We need a motion to accept the meeting minutes from April. rather than those from April.

[Frances Nwajei]: Thank you, everybody. Thank you, John. For Joe, I meant, but then I heard another voice as well.

[Frances Nwajei]: And I made an error in the agenda. It says March, but you know it's not March, it's April meeting minutes.

[Nicholas Karinge]: That happens to the best of us, right? All right. And so with that being said, a couple of weeks ago, we had a very big event that I saw everyone at, and I think it went really well, but we are talking about the disability fair next, so. Yeah. I want to say thank you to all of you guys, all of you Americans. commissioners for your work and for your support and for your ideas and just everything that you guys gave.

It was a blast. It was a success in my book. I don't know about you guys, but it was a big success in my book. a good time and really, I think, hold on, I'm sorry, yeah, one second.

[Frances Nwajei]: So what we'd like to do now is try to share as much of the feedback that we got from the different people that attended as possible. We would sort of like to hear from those of you that were in attendance, what do you think works well this year in comparison to last year. And, yeah, and just, you know, your thoughts in terms of how, you know, how things flowed this time around.

[Kate Ryan]: I think that the biggest thing was, we didn't have a big sign out front. So I, encountered people who wandered in and were like, is this the disability fair? And we also did not have a big sign with the agenda on it. So people didn't know what was happening or that anything was happening in the auditorium, you know? There was just a lack of information in general. Like we should have had a map.

[Frances Nwajei]: I think you're forgetting. that we actually sent out the information. It was all part of everything that was sent out to people. It was robocalls to people. We had the big ice cream truck, the auditorium, the performance time was actually one of the set things that was listed, three performance times. So maybe last year, We didn't have everything as identified. But early, a few meetings ago, I want to say like in our December January meeting, we did talk about those errors from last year, which is why we move forward to try to correct them this year.

If you remember, well, we had hoped that the ice cream truck would be outside because we wanted to use the inclusive playground, but the truck was out front with all the, I want to say apparatus for lack of a better word, you know, the fire engines and police car and stuff like that. So there was visibility.

[MCM00001818_SPEAKER_06]: I want to say that it was really good. I believe, if I pronounce it correctly, the Heckner Center brought in a big group, and they seemed to really enjoy themselves. And that's what the whole thing's about. I noticed the people that were there enjoyed it. The volume in the auditorium was a little loud, but the ice cream truck was fantastic. When I gave out the water, everybody pretty much took one. So I was glad we had plenty of water to give out.

[Frances Nwajei]: Thanks Joe and I think that what we'll do next time round is even if we do have a vendor that's going to be selling refreshments, we'll make sure we bring water because that was one of the reasons why we didn't bring water this year. If you remember last year, we actually had water for everybody. But this year, oh my gosh, I just lost the name of the group. Inspire Cafe. That's right. Inspire Cafe was supposed to bend and they sent the email that there was a family emergency. That's when I asked the chief to come back to my office and get whatever was available in the office. That's something that we should note on our spreadsheet for next time, Nick, to make sure that regardless of whether or not we have a refreshments and snap vendor, that we definitely have water on site.

[Nicholas Karinge]: I was just going to say absolutely because I think it was well needed and well worth it.

[Frances Nwajei]: John, and John, you were there last year, correct? Yes. And Joe, you were there last year as well. What did you think about the participation or the engagement of the attendees this time in comparison to last year?

[qy5_Am-xQ_s_SPEAKER_04]: We had a lot of people in the cafeteria participating and talking to people at the different tables, which I thought was great. I would like to have seen more people in the auditorium, so that's kind of the difference to me. I don't know if people are still in the cafeteria, so they didn't come in the auditorium, but a lot of people there. So I thought there was more people.

[Frances Nwajei]: Yes. You notice the steady increase from the very first one in terms of, you know, how we have more and more people coming, but not just people that may necessarily appear to have a disability, which is good. I think we clocked, I can't remember, I think, believe it or not, about 160. is the number that I was given. But you won't see it all at once because people are filtering in and filtering out.

[qy5_Am-xQ_s_SPEAKER_04]: Francis, I'm glad you brought name tags because people asked for them, people at the different tables. So it was good to have them there. Next year we should definitely have them.

[Frances Nwajei]: Yes, yes, before that final, yeah, the final meeting before this event. Jo, you were going to say something.

[MCM00001818_SPEAKER_06]: Yes, you know what? A lot of people enjoyed the entertainment, but the other thing was group participation. I saw Nick up on the stage. I saw the two firemen up on the stage. I got a couple of small videos still on my phone, but I think people really enjoyed getting up there dancing or doing the line dance. I think that helped people relax. And they enjoyed dancing with the other people up on stage. And so my thing is, compared to last year was the actual group participation.

[Frances Nwajei]: So, that's that's definitely a direction that it sounds like we should keep going in creating more avenues for inclusiveness. You know, I do wonder. about sometimes about switching the program around, because I don't know, for me, I felt like we had more people after the program had formally begun. You know, but again, it could have just been at the time that I was there. How would you say the decorate your device

[qy5_Am-xQ_s_SPEAKER_04]: I'm not sure, but I know the librarians were very enthusiastic about it and I did see people at the table decorating their things, but I don't know much more about it than that.

[Frances Nwajei]: Okay, I only asked because I was not, you know, in that area and I just wanted to make sure that there was like, you know, engagement, you know, as I'm trying to think about the things that we need to like add to our keep list versus our takeoff, you know, our takeoff list.

[Andreottola]: Nobody else has any comments or observations? I have a comment just on, you know, I had reached out to a few people I know about coming, and just the time of year that we have it, that beginning of the spring, you know, on a Saturday, there's so much going on, on like those first couple of weeks in May. I was wondering would a different, like a more dead time of year make for better attendance. You know what I mean? Like, there was so like, everyone had like activities that day. Everybody had some place to be.

[Frances Nwajei]: We talked about that when the previous commission decided that they wanted to go annual. This issue is, Anthony, is that no matter what time of year we have it, we're always going to be in competition with one thing or another. whether it's activities that are happening at the school, the library, external. I'm not so worried about the time of year because I'm seeing a steady increase in the attendance and I think that that's what's important. That's what you want to see when you first start an event is that you want to see each year, an increase in attendance, and not just attendance, but also an increase in the diversity of the attendance, right? I can definitely say that this year, many of the people who attended did not appear, and I intentionally use the word appear because I don't know the people personally, but they did not appear to have a disability, right? They attended the event because they wanted to attend the event and That's important. I also read again about, you know, vendor connections being made, which I think is sometimes a hidden value. Because when vendors network and connect with each other, the experience is memorable for them. And then they are willing and they want to share the information for the next year. I think it was DCF who sent us the email. do you recall the email that DCF sent us? Basically thanking us. They got people interested in being an adoptive family. I think I shared with you during the last meeting that out of the blue I got an email from DCF foster care unit asking if they could be a part of this event.

So I think, again, it's like one of those things, right? You do as much promotion as you want to, but who is able to make it is going to make it. And then I also have to look at the balance of the work for the office as well, and the other things that the office is involved in throughout the year.

[Nicholas Karinge]: Yeah, just to kind of piggyback off of that, I think the time that we would have would be just a good weather day anyway. And you know how rare those days are up here. And so I think it's going to be who comes whatever time of year we make it. Um, yeah, no, like, um, I, I do remember, uh, that email that Vicentis is talking about and they were so thankful, like they were like a whole long email. So, I mean, it's, it's, it's really about DDD, the opportunities and whether makes it has that chance. And so I think that's kind of where we have to stand because just as Mr. Francis also said about the timing of other things in the office as well. So all those things add up. But yeah.

[Frances Nwajei]: So what we'll definitely add to the list, Nick, make sure you have a way of noting it, is about the increased visibility for onsite presence. I think that, you know, people were pretty masked. The guests, like everybody who attended, was pretty much all set when they came in and stopped to the first floor, which was really important. So I do think that that is important. And so I started cleaning up with the custodian around quarter to two and people, you know, were still milling around and hanging out until about 2.30. I wanted to check in with you. Do you think that the three hour time frame is good, or do you think that it should be longer? I see you nodding, so you think three hours is okay. All right. And I just, you know, just making sure, because literally I was like, let's just leave them, just leave them in the auditorium, you know, it was well after two and people were still on the stage, you know, dancing away and doing whatever. So, okay, so you think that the three hours is good?

okay all right fabs thank you all right And then some of our usual, our typical folks were not there this year because they already had some like major fundraisers and different things that they were doing. So that's, that's why we didn't see them. So we'll continue to grow and we'll continue, you know, to enjoy. You should have already received, whether it's the YouTube reel or the Instagram reel that I shared that one of the, performance groups put together for us and, you know, let the event continue to be a huge success. So.

[Nicholas Karinge]: I am. And so since Amanda has stayed on, I'm going to be doing this with her. But you guys had asked last meeting for the updates on the wayfinding study. And so I reached out and got some news for you guys. Basically, all the work that we did was taken very much into consideration. They have since drawn or written up a master plan to be implemented by the city. It is online. I believe there is a page on the city website for it, and thank you for putting that in the chat. I read through the plan, and it looks very well done and well thought out, but I will let I will let Amanda get into the more details. parts of it. So welcome back, Amanda.

[Amanda Centrella]: Thank you, Nicholas. Yeah, so I guess Nick did a great job summarizing. So basically, after the focus group that we had with the Institute for Human-Centered Design for the wayfinding study, the Institute took all of the information that they heard during that focus group, as well as any notes that city staff had picked up as well. and then organized it into a report, which they provided to us, and which is on the website page that I put in the chat. And it's a really great resource and report, super helpful. And I feel like these are things that we can apply directly to the wayfinding signage and have attempted to do so.

But there may be some takeaways in thinking about like other types of signage throughout the city or like the way that messaging is shown. So grateful to anyone here who participated in that and to all the participants from the focus group. And so when the project team received that report, we kind of put together like a table of sort of all of the points that were made and then attempted to address each of them. And some of the things were, I will be candid and say some of the things that were raised really great suggestions and feedback, but didn't quite fit into the scope of what we had a contract with the designer for. And so like some of those things were flagged for like the implementation phase, for example. So the conversation will be continuing, right? But with that, we made some key adjustments to the signage. Namely, we upped the use of icons when possible to go alongside or to replace some of the extra text. Because icons, and I think this makes a lot of sense for a lot of different types of folks that are viewing these signs, You know, for example, for folks who also like may not speak English as a primary language, are really great visual tool. One of the other bigger changes that we made where we had these actually I'm going to share my screen once more.

Very briefly. Here we go. Okay. So what I have up on the screen is it's a large map type sign that a lot of folks in the study may recall or that were a part of the focus group may recall. So these are sort of like orienting type signs that have a blown up map of the area and then kind of a panel piece that's at the bottom of the map that had another map and some information about amenities and maybe bus routes and things like that. And so one of the big changes we made was that in the original version, the large map that was shown was actually zoomed out further from the area that someone might be situated in. And so it gave a bigger map, but it was One of the things we heard was that it was harder to parse exactly where you were and what all the different features in the immediate area were, unless you were to really blow up the size of the map.

And then the smaller map on there was the area that someone was situated in, so we flipped it. So now the larger map... is more zoomed in and you can get like finer detail as to what's in your immediate vicinity. And then there's a smaller map that will give you kind of like your orientation as compared to other parts of the city. So anyway, there's a lot of examples of adjustments that we made based on the really awesome feedback that we got during this process and just want to express our gratitude and where we are now and I'll stop sharing my screen so that we can. I'll be present together is that we are applying for a grant that would give us so we can apply for up to $250,000. It's a grant that like wayfinding projects are eligible for through the state. And the intent is to work with the designer that we've been working with alongside a fabricator and to roll out signage for Medford Square as like a phase one. Because Medford Square is sort of the most complicated square due to that gnarly intersection that so many of us have survived all these years.

[Frances Nwajei]: But the commission is quite quite familiar. Yes. I think we are in unanimous agreement with that intersection.

[Amanda Centrella]: Yes, yes. So starting with Medford Square, and if we were to get this funding, we would be hitting the ground running. So I think we learn about whether we receive the funding in the fall. We could move forward with putting bid documents and specifications and stuff together in the fall and winter, and then hopefully get to rolling things out on the ground in spring, all dependent on if we receive this grant. So I'll stop yapping.

[Amanda Centrella]: Oh, it's called an eco. Sorry. Nope. It's called a one stop grant. And yeah, it's through. I apologize. No worries.

[Frances Nwajei]: No worries. I just ask because with all the work that we're doing, you know, I just think about how this ties into the self evaluation and transition plan and you know, if the stars could align and everything could sync, yes, all of, you know, all of the city won't be, you know, won't be fixed, but we would have realistic intervention, right? You know, you sort of have like your little big list of every single thing that you've done wrong and you can look at that list and then you can sort of figure out, okay, here's where we need to start. We can take it step by step. So, that's just, you know, that was why I was asking to see if it was something that we could piggyback on.

[Amanda Centrella]: Absolutely. And it's the Community One Stop for Growth grant offered through the State Executive Office of Economic Development. I'll put the link in the chat for everyone.

[Frances Nwajei]: Nice. Nice. Thank you. Does anyone have any questions for Amanda regarding where we are now with the Wayfinding project?

[Frances Nwajei]: All right. Updated ordinance. It continues it continues to move forward. It has gone through legal review as I had mentioned on our end, and I believe it has now being returned back to city council. So. I think they do too. I'm not very good with their terminology, something about free readings. I'm like, okay, you've read it already. Does that count as one? But I think we're close to the end. What I will share is that I don't anticipate any issues or concerns. Legal's review was just to ensure that things were in alignment with state laws and statutes. They changed a couple of words or tweaked a couple of things just in terms of the phraseology, but it doesn't change the ordinance itself. So that's the piece on that. And then I can now formally say that the Institute for Human Centered Design was awarded the grant. So we will be working with them for our self-evaluation and transition plan.

It is really critical that every yes, Susan. Yes, it is really critical that everybody understands that this is a step by step process with many, many different layers. I had an informal meeting with them yesterday and already we're on the phone with them today and on Monday two members will be here to begin surveying City Hall. I cannot have everybody join in and participate because we want to make sure that we don't inadvertently violate open meeting law, you know, that whole thing of all of us being in the same space at the same time discussing the same thing. Unfortunately, the law is the law. So for certain aspects of the project, as we get there, if it is something that I think that would be better to have like our CAM certified people involved, I will reach out directly to those folks. So that way, we're utilizing the best of all of our abilities. But, oof, it's a lot. As soon as I'm done with this meeting, I'm going to have to, you know, find some friends who can send me some plans of city buildings and stuff because, you know, they need that information.

But it is nice to know that they are already familiar with us as a city, and the two project managers, David and Nix, are also familiar with Medford. They don't live too far away. That is, that's what I have for updates on that end. And every, you know, every once in a while, I'll give you, you know, a little blurb of where we are, but it's not realistic for me to say that, oh, you know, you'd get a summary each time, each time they're around. I might be stuck in a basement somewhere looking for building plans.

[Nicholas Karinge]: I'll just add that, yes, it is a layered process. I have a lot to do with Google, but we are making good use of it, and I'm excited to see what comes of it. So, let's go. You have an echo, Nick.

[Andreottola]: Do you know when the second reading or if they're just going to, I guess with the ordinance, since Matt Leming has been deployed to the Middle East, and he was actually the person who brought it forward in the city council, do you know who will be getting it?

[Frances Nwajei]: It might have been yesterday, it might be today. I know that they had a meeting yesterday and they have one going on today as well, but I think today's meeting is the budget. I don't think that necessarily has to be on hand for the ordinance to keep moving forward. Business will continue. Yeah, there's no hold up. I mean, if there were concerns about the ordinance, it wouldn't even have gone out to legal review. So I think it's just a question of whatever their procedure is. Matt joined us, what, like 3, 4 months ago? I don't remember. It was a very technical explanation, and I don't want to misinform.

[Andreottola]: No, no, no, the reason I'm just asking is that, you know, I would like to. Well, I guess it will go on the agenda when they're going to. I can just follow up on the city website because I do want to kind of make sure that.

[Frances Nwajei]: Yeah, I mean, I mean, it's it's definitely something that has to be on the agenda. I can double check right now.

[Frances Nwajei]: I'll, I can follow up on my own. I just didn't know if it went to any particular Councilor, you know, like it would, it would be sent to all city Councilors from legal. It wouldn't be sent to one.

[Andreottola]: Okay. I can't hear anybody anymore, so I don't know if anyone can hear me.

[Frances Nwajei]: I can hear you. Yeah, I don't, and I don't believe that, you know, if one council is unavailable, then everything, you know, everything pops. You know what I'm saying?

[Andreottola]: It was kind of like the sponsor of it. I didn't know if it got like turned over to someone else because I would have just followed up with them, but that's okay. I'll follow. I'll look on the agenda myself. Thanks.

[Frances Nwajei]: Okay, and don't forget too, they're in budget season too, so that's eaten up a good chink of... Yeah, a good chunk of time. All right, does anybody have anything for the other section, which I had left just in case there was something that we needed to discuss and we couldn't get it onto our public notice?

[Andreottola]: There's only one thing I want to follow up before we break for this summer. I know the traffic fellow came out and told us about that they were implementing changes with the traffic lights and the timing and stuff. Did we ever find out or will we find out when and if those changes are made? take, take it upon myself to check and see if there's any kind of improvement, if any changes.

[Frances Nwajei]: So basically invite Todd back so that he can give us an update.

[Andreottola]: Yeah. Yeah, I guess. It's something I just want to make sure that it does kind of finally get addressed. And I know it's something very difficult, and there might be a lot of engineering and changes that might have to happen. But I'd like to see something at least kind of happen to make it a little bit more accessible for people to cross the screen.

[Frances Nwajei]: Why don't we add, you know, why don't we add Todd, hopefully his schedule will align and to the, as a guest for, you know, for the next meeting. And then that way, you know, that way there can be discussion instead of like a back and forth me bringing information. I think it's simple. It's easier for this office if we're just sort of like passing information on. But, you know, we can't necessarily answer questions because we rely on somebody else. So bringing Todd, I think, is helpful. And who knows, we might also hear by then if we got the casino grant to replace the pedestrian signals, so.

[Andreottola]: Oh, I thought they already did. Oh, they haven't received that yet. No, we haven't received that yet. Oh, so I'm waiting for something to happen that isn't even approved, that hasn't even been received yet. Okay, I get it.

[Frances Nwajei]: Oh, no, I'm talking about a different grant. So I'm talking about the casino mitigation funds. That's a whole different grant. I think we're requested. Nick, is it 24K, 28K, or 32K? One of those figures are requested because that is the total cost for parts of labor to replace the pedestrian signals in the city. It was rolled in with other departments. It was part of one big request, and other departments got follow-up questions, but there were no follow-up questions for us, so we kind of take that as a good sign.

[Andreottola]: Okay. And that's the change from the chirping birds to the walk and don't walk, the talking signals and stuff. Okay.

[Frances Nwajei]: The chirping birds, you know, the talking signals, you name it. All right. Anybody have anything else for the other section before I run through the list of announcements?

[qy5_Am-xQ_s_SPEAKER_04]: Frances? Yes, go ahead, John. The season for us is ending and election time is coming up. I'd be willing to help again, checking out the voting machines if necessary.

[Frances Nwajei]: Oh, certainly. I mean, please feel free to send an email to James. You have James's contact information. Let him know that you'd like to be on hand for that again.

[Frances Nwajei]: Yeah. Yeah. Yeah, Nick, can you. All right, Nick had to step away for a minute. Let me make a note. Just making a note. Nick should email James about checking voting machines. And James also shared with us that next year he would like to be involved in the Disability Fair to, you know, to be able to showcase the different ways that one can vote. There was a conflict with the schedule this year, so. All right, so John and Susan. Anybody else want to check out the accessible machines?

All right, so I'll put just you two down. Okay, so there's a long list of announcements. It's all events. So this weekend, Saturday and Sunday from 12 to 7, it's the Italian Festival at the Condon Show. You can go one day, you can go both days, you can go no days. If you do want to go, you can park here at City Hall. And the organizers have shuttles that can drive you to the content shop because it's not exactly, it's not always the easiest place to park at. So just wanted to share that.

June 3rd, next week Wednesday, is the City's Pride Festival. So if you have business to do, try to do all your City Hall related business before two o'clock so that you don't end up being stuck trying to look for parking and things of that nature. As you know, that event takes place out at City Hall in the front lawn area. Entrance to City Hall front parking is closed and coming in through the back is closed as well. So keep that in mind. The event starts at 5.30 and runs until 8.00.

I invited Dance Latin Boston back to help lead us in movement, since everybody, you know, seemed to have such a great time. It was originally 617 Queer Country, but they actually have an event in Alston that same day, so the timing isn't going to work. So maybe we'll bring them back for something else. On June 10th, opportunity to do some, I don't want to say crafting, because it's not quite crafting, but it kind of is within the crafting family, like just help to design a community mural. Mural. I think that's a mural. Design one of those using mosaics with a wonderful artist, Susan Altman, who is donating her time for the Juneteenth theme. So this will take place over at the West Medford Community Center outside, like Duggar Park, but not in the, we don't have to go to the park itself because they have such great space in the back of the community center. But that's, you know, sort of like a nice intromptu, you know, plot lock. We play some music and we, you know, work with the designs and stuff. So that should start at about five o'clock.

If you're interested, it should be on the city calendar or you can just send an email. Then on Thursday, June 18th, because City Hall is closed on Friday, June 19th, we have the City's Juneteenth celebration here at City Hall. Another one where no access to City Hall from Salem Street or the back after a certain time. That event is from 4.30 PM to 7. There is a live band on just like there was last year. Then Juneteenth celebration is on June 19th at the West Medford Community Center at 7.

Then on June 20th, it is Medford Open Studios. Across Medford, variety, you can support or engage in different styles of art. You can go over to Arts Collaborative, or you can go to the library. The library has programming, and they also have a specific program happening at the Bonsignor Center with a quilter to talk about the history of quilting and how that ties in and relates to Juneteenth. And then I think that's about it for now.

I don't know if anybody has any events or activities that they would like to share. Yeah, it's a lot. It's a lot. So once this meeting is over, I will begin the first order of business with this grant by forwarding you a questionnaire that IHCD would like to have you complete if it is easier to tell somebody else and have somebody else complete it on your behalf, let me know. I can, you know, I can set up times and just, you know, as you tell me, just, you know, type the thing and be done. But I do need to send the information over as a group in short, you know, like by Monday. And if, yeah, and, you know, again, If it is something that you don't, you don't want to complete, just tell me for instance, not completing something. I'm not like hounding you for it, but I will get that out to you as soon as, as soon as we're done. And Nick just returned. Nick, I'm just about to close off with the group. Is there anything that you would like to add to it?

[Nicholas Karinge]: for all that you guys do, for all the work that you guys put in to turn it into a better place.

[Nicholas Karinge]: Hello. Sorry about that. My mic was not down. My fault. I just wanted to say, I don't have much else to add, but just thank you guys for all the work that you guys do to make Medford a better place. I love working with you guys, and I can't wait to see what comes of the work that we have in front of us.

[Frances Nwajei]: All right, thank you so much, Nick. John, you don't recall who you spoke to? You don't recall what day you went by the, I'm sorry, the condom shell?

[qy5_Am-xQ_s_SPEAKER_04]: Okay, it was a weekend, maybe two weekends ago, and then the week before that also.

[Frances Nwajei]: When you say weekend, if I'm not mistaken, I thought the farmer's market was on Thursday. I'm wondering if it's not for the kayak folks, but if it's for them, they wouldn't have to leave it open for us. That property is controlled by DCR. That's not state-related property.

[qy5_Am-xQ_s_SPEAKER_04]: Yeah, I know that when, when I was new in Medford, I organized a concert at the Condon Shell and I had to go through the mayor's office. So it seems like the city has some control of what goes on there.

[Frances Nwajei]: No, you went through the mayor's office for use of the space. The Condon Shell is books like you like through the rec department. Okay, yeah, but the city does not put so the city does not put the actual, you know, devices on there. So say, for example, say, we were going to move tried over to the content shell. then I would like bring Porta Potties over there. But just like, let's say the Italian festival that's happening for the weekend, I'm sure that they're going to have more than those two Porta Potties, right? But that's not the city. Okay.

But I'm trying to think, I know that there was work that was being done over in that area, but I think that that was last year. I don't think that that was recent. So it's not like it's quarter parties for people who are working, like the DCR forestry crew.

[qy5_Am-xQ_s_SPEAKER_04]: No. No, I just assumed it was for the farmers market or people out enjoying the area, taking a walk, taking a bike ride.

[Frances Nwajei]: Yeah, now I'm thinking now that Shamim mentioned it, that it might be tied in to the kayak folks, because they're there all day. Oh. Yeah.

[Frances Nwajei]: I'm planning on going to the Italian festival, hopefully. And if I do, and I see the kayak place open, I'll try to, you know, I'll try to indirectly ask. Thank you. You know, so that we'll know.

[Andreottola]: I know, but you have to try to speak Italian at the Italian Festival.

[Frances Nwajei]: Oh yes, I've had to brush up for many decades. But yeah, no, I usually go, you know, as you may recall, I was on leave last year so I didn't go and then this year since it's two days, You know, I will try. I will try to go. It's always a great time. I usually bring my youngest, my younger God children with me because I think it's just another way to introduce them to culture. But they live so far away, and I don't know if I have it in me to do the drive this time. Because it's, you know, Holbrook, you know, from where I live to Holbrook to Medford, back to Holbrook, back to where I live. But we'll see. But either way, I plan on being there. I have my, I've got my flag ready to go, Anthony.

[Frances Nwajei]: Oh, that would be wonderful. That would be wonderful. I'm leaning more towards Sunday. So if I do see you before you see me, I'll stop. I'll come over and say hello.

[Frances Nwajei]: All right. So if nobody else has anything else to add. I'd like to make a motion to close the meeting. I second it. Thank you. Thank you so much, Anthony, Susan, Joe. Bye, everyone. Bye.