Name: Commission for Persons with Disabilities 09/23/26
Uploaded: 2026-09-28
Duration: 1 h 32 min 40 s
Description: The Medford Commission for Persons with Disabilities reviewed administrative guidelines, voted to adjust its holiday meeting calendar, discussed website and communication accessibility concerns, and prioritized local intersections for a pedestrian signal accessibility grant.

AI-generated summary. Written by gemini-3.5-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 Medford Commission for Persons with Disabilities reviewed administrative guidelines, voted to adjust its holiday meeting calendar, discussed website and communication accessibility concerns, and prioritized local intersections for a pedestrian signal accessibility grant.

0:15 Welcome, Administrative Updates, and Holiday Meeting Calendar — The Commission welcomed attendees, reviewed administrative expectations, and voted to hold a combined November/December meeting on December 9, 2026.
16:07 IHCD Survey and Digital Accessibility Concerns — The Commission received updates on the Institute for Human Centered Design (IHCD) surveys of municipal structures and sidewalks, and discussed concerns regarding the accessibility of IHCD's digital communications.
24:40 Pedestrian Signal Grant and Intersection Prioritization — The Commission reviewed a list of candidate intersections presented by Traffic Director Todd Blake to prioritize for upgrades with ADA-compliant audible pedestrian signals funded by a casino mitigation grant.
1:22:36 Approval of June Minutes — The Commission approved the meeting minutes from June 2026.
1:23:05 Announcements and Community Events — The Commission discussed several upcoming community events, including Fire Prevention Day and Hispanic Heritage Month, and raised questions regarding accessibility features for Run Medford.

[Frances Nwajei]: All right. Thank you, everybody. Welcome back to session 2026 to 2027 for the Commission for Persons with Disabilities. I hope that you all had a lovely summer, as lovely as it could be. And so, yeah, it's nice to have you all back. I'm Frances Wange, DEI director, ADA coordinator. Over to you, Nick, and maybe you can send it along.

[MCM00001753_SPEAKER_02]: All right. Well, good evening, everyone. My name is Nicholas Kaharinge. I am the Disability Specialist for the City of Mespoot, working in the office of DEI alongside Ms. Moses. It is good to be back with all of you, and I am looking forward to seeing what this year or this cycle has in store for all of us. And I will pass it on to Joe.

[MCM00001818_SPEAKER_06]: Hi, I'm Joe Casey, lifelong resident of MedFed. I have some minor disabilities and I have a child that is disabled. Uh, let's see, John.

[qy5_Am-xQ_s_SPEAKER_04]: Hey, I'm John Shea. I'm an amputee. I'm a former union organizer and I'm a disability activist. Kate.

[Kate Ryan]: Kate Ryan, she, hers, disability advocate and multiply disabled myself. Susan?

[Susan Bibbins]: Hi, I'm Susan Bibbins. I live in South Medford and I am disability advocate and activist, and I have multiple disabilities. And I bounce it along to Anthony.

[Andreottola]: Hi, everybody. My name is Anthony Antriada. I'm a blind person. I'm also a licensed mental health Councilor and a longtime resident of Medford.

[Frances Nwajei]: Okay, thank you everyone we have left that's it that's it anthony um, so, um, okay So following i'm going with the welcome and introductions. I wanted to uh, let you all know That cam is currently pursuing. Um joining another commission That is more aligned with his role and scope of work right now um, so And it's just timely because Kim's date of expiry on this commission just came about. So right now, he has decided to pursue that, and I hope that it works out well for him. I don't have jurisdiction over that, so I don't, you know, I think that that's one of the ones where you have to actually be appointed for specific works on it. But that's why Kim is not here. In line with the agenda, I have to start this meeting off with providing feedback that was shared with me for how some of our meetings went over the course of last year. So the first thing that I'm going to say is that whilst we are a commission and we bring our own individual strengths to this commission, we do it on behalf of the people of Medford. And not everybody necessarily joins and watches the Zoom, but they sometimes do watch the meetings when they're posted on MCM. As a result, and not just even as a result, just in general, it is really, really important to remember that when we are speaking, we are speaking under the umbrella of the city of Medford. And we should ensure that we're not using names when we actually don't have concrete facts. Another thing that was brought to my attention was the use of a specific insular to describe people with disabilities. So I just want to make sure that we are all mindful about that. I'm not going to go back and watch 10 sessions of meetings, but it is important. The other thing that is on the list are meeting expectations. I know that Nick and I, you know, do our best to do the agenda. If you're able to send agenda ideas ahead of time instead of waiting, that is helpful as well. They have changed the process here internally. So Nick and I actually don't, the way it worked before was we would do the agenda after we get everything from you, print it, get it stamped, and then send you back the stamped copy. They're no longer doing that. They want us to send them the agenda, and then they will stamp everything. So I did ask that they make sure they sent back a stamped copy because I can't let you guys know that we've made an open meeting law deadline, right? If I don't share that stamped copy with you. So keeping that in mind, just know that sometimes you may not necessarily get it right within the 48 hour period because I'm waiting for it to come back. That's a new system that's happening in the clerk's office. And then the other thing is, as per usual, I think this is the first meeting we tend to review our calendar because we have, I believe it's November and December where we typically have the holiday observances and, you know, the conflicts. So I think it would be good now to look at the November calendar see if we're going to have that conflict again with Thanksgiving, and to make the decision on whether or not we want to do that combined meeting, which we usually do the second week of December. And that also helps to avoid some of the other religious observances.

[Frances Nwajei]: Yeah, it would be good to decide that now. Okay. So our meeting is Thanksgiving Eve because it's the 4th. Yeah, so our meeting would fall November 25th, which is the eve before Thanksgiving. So usually what we've done in the past is we skip the November one and then we combine it with the December one, but we move the December one up because this time it falls on Christmas Eve's Eve. So we usually have it the second week. So would that be the ninth? That would be the ninth, but I have to make sure that there are no other religious observances on here for commissioners that may not necessarily be on my calendar.

[Susan Bibbins]: No, that's okay, as long as it isn't the first night or the last. The last, okay, fantastic. The ninth is okay.

[Andreottola]: I just, I hate to be a kind of stick in the mud, but as of our new ordinance, we are required, I believe, to have 10 meetings, uh, per year. So, uh, it, I don't know if we skip July and August, uh, we'd be a meeting short.

[Frances Nwajei]: I think that we'll be able to make up another meeting. I mean, I can tell you right now that city hall is not going to hear anybody. Kitty here. Anthony now I can now I can I think we'll be able to make up the meeting. I can tell you right now that city hall would not be open until 730 on Thanksgiving Eve.

[Andreottola]: I was just wondering if we could move them both up a week, you know, the November and December meeting, or if people want to skip, that's fine. But we will, you know, by ordinance need to make get up somewhere down the line.

[Frances Nwajei]: And I'm sure we will. I mean, remember, we at some point, we would have to start planning for the disability fair. which would give good cause for an additional meeting. Also, there will be feedback coming from our surveyors, which would give good cause for another meeting. But moving the meeting around in November gives us only one date, and that's November 18th, which it's just too soon for this office. Because we're already having a short week, the week before that. So anything that's, you know, occurred during the holiday still has to be made up. So the 9th is fine with me. Yep.

[qy5_Am-xQ_s_SPEAKER_04]: I do have a question about our timelines, because you said Cameron, his time period was ending. but I thought we eliminated that.

[Frances Nwajei]: He has the right to renew. I don't understand what you mean by eliminated. His time period, he expires on the end of July. It's listed on your commission page.

[qy5_Am-xQ_s_SPEAKER_04]: So I thought that extended like another couple of years or forever.

[Frances Nwajei]: Yeah, there's no such thing as forever. So you can have the option to renew if you choose to, right? However, he's decided that he's not going to renew. Okay. Yep. Nick, can you take over?

[MCM00001753_SPEAKER_02]: Okay, yeah, sure. I will say as long as, as long as it's not on December 2nd, because that is my birthday. Happy birthday. Thank you. So I think, does anyone have any disagreements with the ninth? I don't.

[MCM00001818_SPEAKER_06]: I know we're supposed to have a list of things for the agenda, but I got a quick maybe two questions. that I know we lost Kim and maybe someday we'll have an answer.

[MCM00001753_SPEAKER_02]: Can we stick to the agenda for now and then you can ask those questions at the end?

[MCM00001818_SPEAKER_06]: Yes. No, it has to do about making up a meeting, that's all. When we have to vote for something, what's the minimum amount of people we need?

[MCM00001753_SPEAKER_02]: Considering that we have 1, 2, 3, 4. Yeah, it should be in the audience, so you can review that. Half plus 1. Yeah.

[MCM00001818_SPEAKER_06]: Yeah. So someday if we don't have enough people for a vote, we might be able to put it off for another week and call that as a meeting and try to get more people together in case we need a vote. You know what I mean? It's only a suggestion. I'll let it go.

[Frances Nwajei]: Okay so that was Todd just confirming he's looking for some information for his time slot so he should be joining us shortly. Everybody said December 9th would be fine? Yep. Okay all right I'm just gonna do a quick roll call vote. Joe?

[Frances Nwajei]: Well, really should have a motion, but somebody want to make a motion to make a combined meeting for December 9th?

[Andreottola]: Yes, but I am having some audio difficulty hearing as well. So just so you know, if I'm in or out, I do agree to anything. If not, I'll start shaking my head vigorously now. Okay. But you're not on camera.

[SPEAKER_09]: But we can't see you, Anthony. So if you shake your head, it will be in vain.

[Frances Nwajei]: Yeah. Do you want to try signing out and jumping back on? Okay, now we can see you.

[Frances Nwajei]: Okay. All right. So, Todd is going to be joining us shortly. So, I'm going to jump to our updates. Nick, can I send it over to you, please, for the IHCD update?

[MCM00001753_SPEAKER_02]: Sure. Well, as we all know, we have been working with the IHCD on the transition plan and the MERS self-evaluation, and they have also been surveying the sidewalks within the city of Medford. We had originally said that it would be within a three-mile radius of City Hall, but we came to realize that that would be extending into multiple other towns and cities. And so we decided just to keep it within the city bounds of Medford. With that, the survey of all of the municipal buildings required have been, as far as I know, completed. And so we are waiting to hear back from them on that. not entirely sure where they are on the side sidewalks, but I know that progress is being made on that. In terms of, and this is why Ms. Ferguson has said that we will be receiving their feedback and therefore that will be just cause to have an to have an additional commission meeting when that time comes. As I think all of you may recall, the feedback that they gave just from City Hall was extremely thorough. And I have no reason to doubt that the full survey will also be equally as thorough. So I am excited to see what comes of that. Thank you, Nick. Yep. Anthony.

[Frances Nwajei]: I know that you had attempted to connect with them for the digital piece on our website. Have they been responsive?

[Andreottola]: No, they haven't. They have not responded. And, you know, there was that communication that you helped with, you know, after the first time that, you know, I got no response from, but I'm not I'm not feeling that, uh, you know, there's an interest in having any, uh, you know. Feedback from the commission, because I reached out 2 times you reached out and, uh, there's been no, no response. And so I'm a little disappointed.

[Frances Nwajei]: I wouldn't phrase it as not having an interest because it's not the same group of people. I'm now wondering if they're doing it in stages. So, Nick, can you do me a favor after this meeting? Send an email to both the project leaders, Nick's and David's, and let them know that we want an update. on what is happening with the digital accessibility piece and why the Commissioner has not received a response yet. Because they're supposed to be doing that actually, Anthony, in conjunction with you. That's something that Nick and David were very happy, so I don't think that they know that that has not occurred, because that's a whole different team.

[Andreottola]: Yes, and it's a very important piece and just, you know, not to kind of publicly voice my frustration, but just the material that was presented to the city and the actual feedback piece was sent out by them in an inaccessible format. So, I have some real concerns about how are they going to make our website and our process for the City of Medford compliant with the ADA when their own communications are not accessible.

[SPEAKER_01]: So I have some concerns and I really like it. It's driving me away.

[Frances Nwajei]: Hold on, Anthony. Did anybody hear Anthony clearly? I'm trying to reestablish a connection. Yeah. Anthony, hold on. Somehow you started to break up. Can you go back a couple more sentences?

[Andreottola]: Okay, yeah, just so I'm, you know, I really am interested in, in helping because the city's website is not in an accessible format and also the communications from that, uh, that organization were also not an accessible format. So I really hope that they have someone that, uh, that, uh, you know, can, uh, can work on this in a meaningful way. uh, if they're receiving funds to do this work, I actually talked to someone from that does this work for the state. And, uh, I asked about, you know, the formatting and they said, you know, it's, uh, you know, they have the, uh, the, uh, the expertise. Uh, they just, he just doesn't understand why we haven't gotten, uh, gotten things, uh, you know,

[Frances Nwajei]: I just want to provide clarification. IHCD is not updating our website. The city is under a different contract for website management, so they have nothing to do with our website. What they're supposed to be doing with the grant is also looking at the website to see if there are any areas. Now, the website update company, that's a different situation. And that's something that I have been working with the comms team to address as far back as last year. So I'll leave it at that. And it's not going great. Because of course, you know, when you're not a part of a creation of a contract, and you come on, you see something different. And then you start asking questions, and then folks start saying that, oh, it's not them, it's you. So that's a whole different ballgame. But I do think, Nick, after the meeting, if you could please send an email, because that's deeply, deeply concerning. That would be good.

[MCM00001753_SPEAKER_02]: Yeah. I am equally as concerned, and so I would do that right after this meeting. All right. Thank you. Thank you.

[Frances Nwajei]: Thank you, Anthony, for letting us know that. Yeah, thank you for letting us know. And the only other piece of the building surveys that was not done was the police department.

[SPEAKER_09]: All right. We have a guest. Are you ready to talk? Yeah. All right. Hey, Todd. Welcoming back our favorite partner.

[MCM00001753_SPEAKER_02]: Welcome back, Todd, the man, the myth, the legend, Todd Blake.

[Frances Nwajei]: We'll send it over to you, Todd, so you can give us some good news.

[Todd Blake]: Yeah, so hi everyone, hope everyone's doing well. So Francis may have told you, we had heard back from Mike Roberts internally in the city saying that we are receiving a grant from the casino supplementary grant. And we had requested, Francis I don't have it in front of me, I believe we requested 40, Approximately $40,000.

[Frances Nwajei]: It came close to about $40,000. We requested money for the physical items and then we factored in labor as well.

[Todd Blake]: Plus, yeah, so it's plus or minus 40. So yeah, as Francis mentioned, it's for a certain number of ADA, APS, audible pedestrian push buttons, and I believe it was comedown pads as well, and then at least the estimate, and then for the labor to install those things. So I don't know if all of you recall or if I had shared this before, but The state MassDOT has a project as well That's already been out to bid and we're just waiting on material now to also upgrade some signals in Medford with the 88 buttons and countdown pads as well and as well as some other things like visors over the lenses to make them more visible so like it doesn't get kind of You know washed out by the Sun things like that. But um, so that's happening this fall whenever the equipment comes in So knowing that MassDOT's upgrading some of the ones that still don't have them in Medford, that leaves us with a list of signals that after that project is complete by MassDOT, that we'll still not have upgraded. So we could use this casino funds on those. So there's signals that already have them, then the signals we know we're gonna get them, and then the remaining is what I'd like all of you to help prioritize which ones should we focus on of the remaining ones. And I have a list. I gave a pdf. I sent one to France and Nick just recently. I showed on the screen too, so you don't have to memorize the one on the screen, but it just highlights which ones currently don't have it and we could select from. France, can I have the ability to share? So the intent would be to change some of the signals that Medford owns.

[Frances Nwajei]: I'm sorry, Todd. I just give you permission to share, but please know that while you're sharing, you'll have to give a description of what you're sharing. Okay.

[Todd Blake]: Is it okay as well? Because if we follow up with the PDF and people could look at it at their own pace as well. Okay. I'll read through it.

[Frances Nwajei]: Yeah, if you could just read through the locations that you really want the commissioners to focus on, that'd be great.

[Todd Blake]: Is this showing, Frances? Is this list showing? Oh, you're muted, Frances. So I'll just run down the list of locations that either don't have them or don't have another project that's going to take care of them. So Boston Ave at Arlington Street in West Medford has pedestrian buttons but not ADA APS style buttons with the audible tone and the audible voice. And it has Partially it has some countdown pedestrian indications and some that don't, so half of them. So the next location is, and you don't have to memorize this. We could talk about it, provide it later. I just want to write it down quick. Boston Ave at Harvard Street does not have ADA buttons. Boston Ave at Winthrop Street. Lawrence Road at Governor's Avenue. Rivers Edge Drive at Cooper Street, which is not a well-known street in Medford, but it's Rivers Edge Drive. It's like the last signal we own going into the city of Malden. So it's kind of, you know, right near an apartment complex. So then Riverside Ave at Commercial Street does not have ADA buttons. Riverside Ave at Locust Street does not have any buttons. Winthrop Street at Lawrence Road does not. And then the signal right near the library, High Street at the Medford Library does not. So that's one, two, three, four, five, six. That's nine locations we have to choose from. And I think The original, so I'll take that view off. And then I just wanted to check something real quick if I may.

[Frances Nwajei]: If I'm not mistaken, I think that what we were hoping for was we would have money for at least eight locations.

[Todd Blake]: That's what I was just going to look at the estimate that we had to see.

[Frances Nwajei]: Commissioners, are you familiar with many of the places that are on the list? I'll still make sure. I don't know, I'm hearing the library and I just think about how many people access the library and all of the concerns that people have about like the, you know, I think it's the Winthrop, the Rotary, the roundabout that comes down. And I'm feeling like that's probably a location

[Todd Blake]: Should be, you know, yeah, that one seems like an obvious one to me too, but this is where I want. You know, I think it's an opportunity to have the input from this commission to help prioritize. So I'm looking at the estimate. And we had assumed 32. buttons and each it's going to depend how many buttons per in section usually it's either four or eight buttons per in section but that for example that one on high street at the library is only two buttons so if there's some like that we may be able to get more intersections right so depending on which ones people want to prioritize you know if it's eight if it's eight per in section we only get four intersections, right? But if there's some like the library that require less buttons, we might be able to stretch that into more locations. So, yeah.

[Frances Nwajei]: Charles, can we have the list up again? And then that will be helpful to commissioners.

[Todd Blake]: So the library stands out as one and that only needs two buttons. Um, then yeah, like the one I mentioned in rivers edge drive that, you know, although it's needed and we should strive to have all of them, that one's kind of separate from community and near one apartment complex. So it doesn't really provide a big benefit to the whole community necessarily as, as compared to the other ones. But that one, I think only requires two buttons as well, but I would say priority in my mind.

[Andreottola]: The ones that would not receive the new ADA buttons, like say, like the Lawrence of Governors app, it has the old fashioned chirping bird buttons. If that intersection were to be skipped, would those continue to be maintained?

[Todd Blake]: Yes, we have no plans to remove anything until they either break or we have funds to upgrade them. So yeah, that's a good point. Lake Park and Salem is one of those that has the old style chirping, but that's one of the locations MassDOT's going to upgrade. So once you upgrade with this style button at all the corners, then the audio component becomes that word message at the audio word message at the button itself versus the chirping. So the chirping would go away if there was 12. But that's a good point because of all the lists, if there is one that already has the chirping, then You know, and we can, we only have enough money to do so many locations. We might want to skip that one because it has some measure of accessibility, right? Is that what your point is? It has some measure right now. Exactly. Some of them have none.

[Todd Blake]: Sorry, that's, it's a very good question. That's, that's the acronym that MassDOT gave that project. It's a, vulnerable road users. So it's a project they're choosing to target vulnerable road users, but then they use that acronym and I just use it in my spreadsheet, but that's how I'm referring to that project. But it involves several things. I have some graphics I could show, but it involves adding 80 buttons, countdown pedestrian heads, and then visors and back plates and things like that to help make the lenses more visible to drivers. Like when the sun's in a certain way or just it makes it more visible. So it improves safety in that way. So it's a combination of these types of equipment that they did an assessment throughout the state of various cities and towns and they chose several in Medford. We were lucky to do that. But yeah, that's a long way of saying VRU is vulnerable road user.

[Frances Nwajei]: Todd, there's a question in the chat about whether or not there is a map, if these locations are on a map.

[Todd Blake]: They're not, but I could place them on a map. No problem. Yeah. If we want to do it that way. Cause then we can see, I was like geographically neighborhood wise, but would, I would ask, would you want a map of the ones we're trying to prioritize or you know, is it helpful to see, there is an existing map of all the signals in Medford. It just doesn't necessarily have this level of detail of what, so, so, so if we looked at the ones we're prioritizing, it could be, maybe they're all in like one section of the city, but that means the other section already has ones that are capable. Yeah.

[Kate Ryan]: I would like to know the, the yellow ones, because I think not much in terms of street names, I think of just

[Frances Nwajei]: Like for me, the high school, I mean, the library one was easy. I don't know where Hillside is, but I know the library location. Um, but I think that would be helpful. Now, Todd, I'm sorry to bring this up, but you're saying Riverside and commercial. I mean, there are already a lot of issues with that light, especially 2 weeks ago, but I thought that was. No, sorry, I'm thinking route 16 side.

[Todd Blake]: The next 1 down fells way or route 16. the other fells way lights or stay.

[Todd Blake]: Got it. Yeah. Yeah. But that one's receiving some improvements because of the redevelopment at the corner.

[Frances Nwajei]: Well, there is something that goes on there and it's it's actually very concerning because when you're coming down route 16 and you're making the turn, you can't see you. You actually have a blind spot. when you're making your legal right turn. So if somebody is in that blind spot, let's say somebody that has a mobility issue, that has a carriage, you could actually run into them.

[Frances Nwajei]: I would say it's now during construction and the reason I'm saying that is because I've noticed it more now. I didn't notice it this before. But that coupled with the fact that that light acts up, I mean, I literally almost ran into somebody the other day.

[Todd Blake]: Yeah, that light just last week, I believe, or maybe even earlier this week, I had to send an email to the state because someone that lives in the apartment buildings nearby, like between Wegmans and that intersection, they noticed a bunch of backups, and the signal wasn't switching like it's supposed to.

[Todd Blake]: I was there for the whole day. I don't know. So I believe they did a they fix it to be able to cycle through. But again, once that development gets on the construction, they're supposed to upgrade something there and it's gonna be a little more efficient. But for the construction, Frances, if that's blocking any views, we could contact them and say, pull your stuff back or make it see-through.

[Frances Nwajei]: They need to do something. And the reason I'm raising it is that if we're going to fix the lights down at that end, We need to pay attention to what's coming off of Route 16. And if they're going to put new housing there, there are going to be people with mobility issues in that housing. So it needs to be safe for them. I mean, I called the state police. It was the week you were on vacation. Three days, 10 minutes of the light, and people getting frustrated and making U-turns, and there's not enough space. Wegmans is just down the road. Do you see what I'm saying? I mean, some people, when the weather gets warmer, would be in the mobility device going to Wegmans.

[Todd Blake]: You're right. And you bring up a lot of good points about that. Whether the apartments that already exist near Wegmans or the new one that's going in, if there are folks that live there that need some of the upgrades we're talking about, then maybe that rises to Riverside. commercial locus locations to hire on the list. That's where I wanted feedback from all of you, like if we had, once we plot on a map, if you want, you're not under the gun to choose right now, but this is the first conversation we're having about it and we'll add them to a map that will help us all understand where these locations are and maybe help prioritize.

[Frances Nwajei]: Thank you. And the yellow ones, I believe, are what Kate said. And maybe if there's a landmark, that would be helpful.

[Kate Ryan]: Yes, I'm still trying. I'm looking, and I'm trying to figure out this spreadsheet. How do we know how much poles each

[Todd Blake]: intersection needs that's a good question i could add a column that would be very helpful you're right because if we're assuming 32 total and like some of them have two we want to run a tally of how many would have left yeah so so like boston and arlington if it's four eight i should have that in a column for all of us to understand because then yeah you may you may want to I, you may be getting at like if, if someone will only have four, you might be able to get more intersections by selecting that one versus, yeah. So that's a good point.

[Kate Ryan]: What does mitigation, migitation for Titan gas mean? Because isn't that by the Catholic? That's like by the muffin place, right?

[Todd Blake]: Boston Ave at Harvard Street is by Lake St. Clemens, yeah, over near Somerville, sort of near Ball Square, a little bit, one block away. So yeah, Titan Gas is at that corner. So that princess there, sorry, it's more of a note for me, but also for you, just like the MassDOT project, I'm trying to know where someone else may pay for something. So then if someone else is going to pay for something, maybe we save our money for a different location. So at that location, there was a project that was approved to become apartments. And as part of that approval process, I think that if it ever gets built, they're supposed to install comedown pets. So if we chose that location, we wouldn't do the countdown because that may, the trouble is it was an approved project, but for whatever reason it hasn't been built yet, whoever owns it may have decided to pause or not do it. So it's kind of in limbo, but there's still a possibility that if they decided to build it, then we'd get free equipment from them.

[Kate Ryan]: So some intersections might need less poles. Would some intersections need more poles?

[Todd Blake]: Yeah, I would say the max would probably be eight buttons at an intersection. It depends on how many poles already exist there. Yeah. And how many carats. Yeah.

[Frances Nwajei]: So, Todd, when you say eight at an intersection, are you thinking like an intersection like Harvard, like where Bocelli is?

[Todd Blake]: like that kind of big intersection would have? That's a great question. So that one, believe it or not, even though it's a larger area wise, that one only has four buttons, one pole per corner. So it depends on if there's like one pole at a corner or two, one for each direction across. So I'll bring up one of these and we can look at the graphic.

[Frances Nwajei]: So like almost sort of what we have going on in Medford Square there.

[Todd Blake]: like where the citizens I'm just trying to picture yeah let's let's bring one up and then we could I could show you that's pictures a thousand words right so um let's do that um which one do you want to bring up the one you're saying Clemens just an example of when you're saying eight so an example of what that would look like Yeah, I don't know off the top of my head which one is eight, so I'm gonna, I'm gonna pick the one that's heightened gas just, just for to see what, what it looks like. Let's see. Oh, that's an example of four, but I'll bring it up anyways. Let me share this.

[Kate Ryan]: But like Medford Square has intersections where there's seems to be like, yeah, more than five.

[Todd Blake]: You're right. Medford Square is a lot more, but luckily we already upgraded that one. So this one is Boston Ave at Harvard Street, and the St. Clement's Church and School is right there in the corner. I don't know if you can see that. So this one, this pole, there's one pole on this entire corner. So even though there's a crosswalk going across each street, there's one pole, one button. So because the phase, when you press that button, it stops all traffic. So all the crosswalks go at once. So it's not as critical to have a button per direction. But this is an example where there would be four. Let's see. Let's zoom in on the call. Yeah. So there's one button. So this won't be four. I could try to find an example of the eight.

[Todd Blake]: Now I have a better understanding of what... I don't know if I'm still sharing. I apologize, because when I pan over, it might get a little dizzy looking at the screen.

[Todd Blake]: Yeah, I think, I don't, some of these I don't know off the top of my head, so they might be, so this one's.

[Kate Ryan]: No poll there at all. We are looking at pictures of streetscapes at various intersections, and some of them do not appear to have any signals at all on them.

[Todd Blake]: Yeah, my apologies. So let's look, we can look at the library with two. It happens to be a truck driving by, I guess. So here's one old style button here near St. Joseph's. So I'm indicating the pedestrian button on the existing signal pole on one side of the street. And then there's one on the other side of the street, so that would be two. Yeah, three would be unusual. It would usually either be two, four, or eight, or like Medford Square might be many more than that.

[Frances Nwajei]: Yeah, go back to the one that you were showing us at the library.

[Kate Ryan]: I know what I am going to be looking at as I am driving for the next few weeks.

[Todd Blake]: So can you see this? So we're looking at the signal pole on High Street at the library, closest on the library side of the street. And it has a signal head and one push button. And then we And to the other side of the street, the church side of the street, or the west side, there's one signal head and one button there. So this would be two buttons. Yeah, it'd usually be about two, four, eight of the most likely. So when we estimate this, we assumed like eight per intersection, three intersections would be four, intersection would be 32. But if it's more of an average of four, then we might be able to get close to all of them, right? Let's see.

[Frances Nwajei]: I don't know what the mission is. I'm not so familiar with Medford unless like the space is like the library and stuff. from the list that Todd showed, is there any area that you say that it's like well-traveled where there's a lot of traffic and we really should focus, you know, should focus on?

[Frances Nwajei]: The library hillside one. Okay. Yeah. The list went away, Todd.

[qy5_Am-xQ_s_SPEAKER_04]: Oh, well, the Harvard College app can be busy. Very friendly church and also neighborhood kids crossing and people going to school or whatever.

[Frances Nwajei]: Yeah. Hold on Harvard, Harvard Street. I know that area around college. Yeah, we saw the picture, which was what take me to college. Which way does college go? What's the landmark?

[Kate Ryan]: I mix up Harvard Ave and Harvard Street. Oh, wait a minute. Yeah, I'm doing that too. Because I thought it was in West Medford.

[Todd Blake]: Yeah, they could have got a little more creative, right, with the street names.

[Frances Nwajei]: I'm thinking about Harvard Street, not Park Ave. Thank you. Right.

[Todd Blake]: The next street we add, we should just call like Harvard Terrace and Harvard Lane.

[MCM00001753_SPEAKER_02]: I have a question on Get Loose, Tia. And I don't mean to be nitpicky, but yeah. So number 19, Salem Street and Park Street. Yeah. It's reading no there, but it's not highlighted. May I ask why that is?

[Todd Blake]: So that's because a state project is going to take care of that. And I could share a picture of that with you. I don't know if when I switched, did that switch for you?

[Todd Blake]: So can you see this? So this is Salem Street at Park Street, an image with like a drawing on top of it. It's an aerial of the signal heads at the intersection.

[Frances Nwajei]: Todd, that's a bit much, yeah. That's like many different strange things happening all at the same time. Yes. Different layers.

[Todd Blake]: Yeah, so basically the gist of this is just there's a drawing that shows where the signal equipment is at Park Street and Salem Street. And it shows what equipment MassDOT's going to replace at this intersection, which includes countdown pedestrian heads. And it includes eight APS push buttons. So that's an example one where they're adding eight So they're actually adding two buttons per pole in some of these. Yeah, so they have four poles, but they're adding two buttons per pole. So that's something we could consider, too. Do we want to add if maybe there's only one button per pole right now at one of the locations with the yellow, and we want to add two buttons per pole. Even though the same phase comes up, that's something we could consider, too.

[Frances Nwajei]: So basically, that location is not on the list because it's already been taken care of by another group, which is what we're going to do. Those types of images don't actually work well for us as a commission. way too late. So let's look commissioners, let's look at the highlighted piece, right? John, am I understanding correctly? The highlighted piece is where you actually need input from us because all the other pieces are either good to go or they're being taken care of by another person.

[Todd Blake]: So, and if we have 32, the estimate is 32 buttons and we focus, the library is a great one to start off with. So, there's two right there. So, then we have 30 left. And then that was a great suggestion by Susan, I think, to add. It would be helpful to know, or maybe it was Kate. It would be helpful to know how many buttons per location of these yellow ones. That'll help us. There's two. if if they're four each then you know maybe we could get the vast majority of these done right so can we look at number six can you explain number six for us please if there's partial two yes six no oh yeah so so that column is for countdown pedestrian heads so The equipment, the kind of black box that hangs off the pole that has the hand symbol or the man walking symbol or the don't walk text and walk text, that's called a pedestrian signal head. And those, it's nice to upgrade them to the ones that count down backwards to say how much time you have. So that's what countdown peds the top of that column is. So that's another feature that could be upgraded besides the button. I think we were focusing on the button here, but if we had extra funds, it would be great to do that as well. So in that particular location, Francis number six, of the eight heads that have the walk either symbol or text, two of them count down backwards but six of them don't. So for some reason they did partially only some of them and not all of them.

[Kate Ryan]: I'm looking at Google Maps at the same time as here and where does Boston Ave cross Arlington Street?

[Todd Blake]: So, it's down by the noodle place. I think people that like food probably know where the noodle place is.

[Todd Blake]: Oh, okay, so Boston Ave and Arlington Street. Yeah, so for the majority, Arlington Street does run parallel, but then it does a 90 degree turn and then crosses Boston Ave, yeah.

[Kate Ryan]: Oh, I see, it's marked only on one direction on the map, so I didn't realize that it, I guess I thought that was all Mystic River Road.

[Todd Blake]: That would be a trick question to ask someone, which direction is Owens and Street run, east, west, or north, south, both? Because it turns 90 degrees. So this is the ramen place right here, Frances. I haven't been here in a while.

[Todd Blake]: So this one has, see, two poles. So that's two buttons there. Sorry, I'm going to pan.

[Kate Ryan]: I would say that should be on our list because it's the one that people use to get to Tufts. There's two elderly slash disabled housing developments nearby. There's the commuter rail.

[Todd Blake]: Yeah, that's a good one. That's a really good one. So here are the heads I was talking about. Some of these, see some of them have like the hand, some walking person, and then some of them have the text, walk, don't walk. This section is probably an example of a hodgepodge of different types.

[Frances Nwajei]: So commissioners, are you in agreement with Kate's suggestion? Like this is a location?

[Todd Blake]: um to look at all right George are you making you are you making your own lists yeah let's see yeah i'm gonna yeah so so far the obvious one yeah i think library which is two go ahead sorry i think also um boston ave and winthrop

[Frances Nwajei]: Is that the Boston Ave? Where does Boston Ave connect with Winthrop Street? I keep thinking the roundabout like I'm going to the high school.

[Susan Bibbins]: It's by Tufts on the other side of Tufts. It's a heavily traveled avenue down Boston. It's by Tufts. It's by the coffee place and the pizza place. yeah and several dry cleaners and okay uh the danish coffee house okay yep yes yes

[Frances Nwajei]: yes that yes please you see when you say the danish pastry house i knew exactly where you meant because that is that's a that's um that's got a hill there or some sort of slope there and when you take a look it's scary that's a scary sidewalks right that corner is a hard corner yes

[Susan Bibbins]: It's got lots of Tufts students living around there. It's got lots of community living there and crossing there.

[Kate Ryan]: And Tufts does events in that big hall that's like in that black car.

[Frances Nwajei]: all the time yeah yeah that's this this sort of like ability to see the location visually is so helpful because if you say to me boston ave and in blah blah blah i have no idea what you're talking about When we start mentioning the locations that I'm able to see the stores, I'm like, yes, I know where that road is. Right. So I think that that's another one to be added to the list. Is definite.

[Susan Bibbins]: Yeah, and there the green line stop is. Is on the way and the bus stops.

[Todd Blake]: Here's another that's on the list of yellow. This is a winter at Lawrence road. Not as dense of an area, so I don't know how many people actually use this, but this.

[Kate Ryan]: That's near me and I drive through there all the time and there's always people crossing because they go. Yeah. There's the hospital health center in one direction, high school in the other, and town in the other, and West Medford in another.

[Andreottola]: Hi, am I unmuted? No, you're unmuted. Oh, I'm sorry. That's okay. I don't mean to interrupt, but I've been trying to ask a couple of questions if I could.

[Andreottola]: Yeah, okay. Just on the things that were just mentioned about like Boston and Winthrop Street, that's in that new rezoning project where there's going to be a lot of building and especially on that corner. Is it in the purview of the Community Development Board to require this kind of infrastructure updates for the people building these buildings, and I think most of them will be built by Tufts or by private people building dormitories. Should we be investing in the buttons there or should it be part of, you know, that rezoning and development for that particular area? That's one question. But my other question is with the county.

[Frances Nwajei]: Let me answer that one first. It's my understanding, and what I have been a part of, is sometimes when people come in to develop, let's say they come in to build something on City Hall property, they will sometimes say that in addition to that, they're going to repave the parking lot. So it's not something that you can require. Sometimes developers use that as part of an additional thing to, you know, to help with their approach. But it's not something, like you can't say to a developer, well, if you're gonna build this, then you have to do this, that and that.

[Todd Blake]: I would say, well, in addition to what Francis is saying, there may be cases where some developments, if it's found that there'll be impacts to the community, like say, say like, so the local street apartments opposite Wegmans, we did get them to improve some things. So if, if they, if they have impacts, There could be sometimes through redevelopment ways to get improvements from them for things like this, yes. But I would follow that by saying, even though the rezoning or developments may be coming, it may be quite some time in the future. So, and I'm looking at this more and more. It was a great suggestion by someone to come up with the number of buttons per, because we may be able to get a good chunk of these. And yeah, so it is good to be cognizant of other projects or other potential by a private entity. That's what I'm always doing as well. But some of them may be far off in the distant future. The Winter Street one, I will say, there may be another funding source I could use for that one. And if so, then we could still get it off the list like improve it but using different money than the money for instance I just got so we could try to do like the shell game with the money and maybe maybe get find a way to get almost all of these hopefully but um okay

[Andreottola]: That answers my question. I know they're putting hundreds and hundreds of students on that corner where that button would go. They're building a new building there. So I was just wondering if there was a way to kind of leverage any of the improvements that they have to do I forget what they have a word for it. I forget what it's actually called when a development is required to make a difference, structure improvements. Mitigation. Mitigation, yeah. You know, I think it's warranted there, but, you know, I understand what you're saying, but just enough to, you know, take up a lot of time. But on the countdown buttons, like, is, you know, on the, would, you know, which is really something that, you know, it's one of my pet projects and peeves, right in Method Square where we had, you know, the big long intersection, would that qualify for having a countdown for crossing? Would that change? Can you tell me how the countdown works, first of all?

[Todd Blake]: Yes, so the countdown pedestrian indication, it's usually involved at an intersection that has a full signal and that has a signal phase. So any traffic signal that has a pedestrian phase in it, there's a clock internal to the cabinet that, you know, counts how many seconds the walk and don't walk should get. So the countdowns just kind of Peel back the curtain on the cabinet and the public that's using it could see that clock counting backwards to see how much time they have left to cross. But it's... What clock?

[Frances Nwajei]: Sometimes the digital, some intersections have the digital hands that say stop. and then some of them will have a digital number instead that go backwards.

[Todd Blake]: Sorry. Sorry. Yeah, I shouldn't have used that term. It's a white walk symbol with no numbers. And then once it transitions to the flashing hand or flashing don't walk, there's a number next to that that comes down backwards to let you know when it reaches zero, that's when the traffic may get a green light. So it's only on signalized intersections. Sorry. So it's not used on like RRFB locations because RRFBs are where like the flashing yellow is only and not a regular signal. And that button is just meant to an extra alert to drivers that they should yield to someone in a crosswalk. So there's no actual time because It's the vehicles yielding to you as if you were in any crosswalk that doesn't have any lights at all. So the state law, they have to yield to anyone in a crosswalk. But if it's someone that walks by fast, that driver could move on once they're passed, right? They're just yielding. So there's no set time in those cases. Does that help explain it?

[Andreottola]: Yes, no, but I'm saying just in the event, Let's just use Medford Square for an example at the main intersection in Medford Square. Would there be, could there be, will there be a countdown, an audio countdown for that cross or not?

[Todd Blake]: In Medford Square, there should be on all the approaches that have signals now, there should be a countdown now, yeah. It should already be out there, we just did that one. So if it doesn't include it, it's on a segment that's not signalized, like the segment closest to Dunkin' Donuts is not signalized.

[Todd Blake]: Yeah, all the buttons that we would purchase would have the auto-point. So they have a locator tone that constantly kind of beeps to let you know where, for someone with low vision, where the button is. Then when you press the button, it's a tactile button that has like raised elements to it and not just like a picture of an arrow. And then when it becomes active, at first it'll tell you to wait, And then when it becomes active, it'll say, the walk light is on to cross. OK. So the volume is like right at where you're standing versus the old style with the chirping was meant to be heard like from all sides, like each corner diagonally across, whereas now there's like a speaker in the button itself at each location.

[Andreottola]: I know Emboss has some of those. So would it read out the number audio, like 10, 9, 8,

[Frances Nwajei]: I think that it has to, Todd, because it just, it wouldn't make sense to have a countdown. Yeah, I think it has to do something. It would be nice if there was a place that we could go to that has these things for us to actually test out.

[Todd Blake]: That's a fantastic point. These are the same The APS is an acronym for the ADA buttons that are kind of approved at the state level to meet all the requirements. So they claim that these buttons meet all the requirements, but that's a great point that you just raised. So if that's something the disability community wanted to impress upon the state and others of what equipment they're accepting as accessible, Then that's a great point to bring up, but right now, the ones that we would be purchasing would be the ones that the state now there's a saying meet all the accessibility standards that the state has. So, but I'm not, I'm not justifying. I'm just saying right now, those are the buttons we have to choose from that they claim are. accessible, but that's a great point if they don't also count down backwards if there's a countdown. See, the button itself wouldn't know if there's a countdown pedestrian head or not, but there should be some sort of option. That's a great point. It could influence the state and the technology folks to incorporate that.

[Frances Nwajei]: Okay, Tom, that's more of an offline question than to do some more research to see, is there, like, I don't know who the manufacturers are and this is not the place for that discussion, but it would be nice, is there a place to go and test some of these out or is there a place where members of the disability community can actually be the beta users because they're the ones that would be the most impacted? Throwing that out there, Nick, I know you've got your hands up, Kate, that area where you said that you drove often, the hillside of, I think it was called, it looked to me just from the Google, the Google map that Todd shared, as though those intersections were pretty long, that looked like a really long crosswalk. Is it really long or is it just the way the mapping is?

[Kate Ryan]: Well, it's weird because like, two streets come together like and then but they only come together for like a very like one street meets another and then it's the same street okay i i know what it looks like but describing it is really hard That would be like an upside down Y. Yeah. And it's like, there's actually five streets at that intersection. It's just that two of them are smushed together.

[Todd Blake]: Okay. Okay. Yeah. Right there. Yeah. So Wyman comes into, as Kate's saying, Wyman comes into Suffolk just like just before the intersection. So it's really like Kate said, it's kind of like five all together. Yeah.

[Andreottola]: It's a pretty small area. And Wyman is not like a heavily accessed road. Yeah, good point. Good point.

[Frances Nwajei]: All right, Nick, over to you for your question. Sorry about that. I had to get my bearings.

[MCM00001753_SPEAKER_02]: It's hard to hear you now. Hello. Can you hear me now?

[MCM00001753_SPEAKER_02]: Sorry about that. So, quick question, and this came to my mind as we were looking at all the Google map photos, especially because the one by the library was showing a winter picture. Will the new buttons have the extension or not? Because sometimes, as we see in that winter picture, when they shovel, they pack it around the pole. So sometimes, if let's say there's someone in a wheelchair, you can't reach the button because of this. because they have shoveled and packed it around there. So will these buttons also have the extension that reaches out or no?

[Todd Blake]: That's a great question. I'm glad we're having this meeting because that's a point that could be overlooked. So right now, I would say the assumption would be If there's not a bracket or an extension already, then the assumption would have been to just replace the button as is without an extension. But I would say, I would add based on your comment that If there are ones that we are prioritizing that you think need an extension, then now would be the time. And that would just cost a little more money of equipment and labor, but it's an important thing to do. But now would be the time to catch that. So if we prioritize five locations and one of them had issues like that, Nick, then we'd say, all right, if we're going to include this one, it should also include the extensions. And then whoever we hire will know to purchase that equipment and do that that way. So usually we wouldn't, the operating assumption would usually be if we wouldn't do the extension, unless say it was in a median pass through where like the pole was like a couple of feet off the walking path and not like in the sidewalk itself. That's usually where we'd do the extension. But you bring up a great point that there may be other cases where an extension would be useful or needed. It is a great point. Yeah.

[MCM00001753_SPEAKER_02]: Yeah, because I saw that picture, and I was like, I couldn't even reach that if I wanted to in the wintertime.

[Frances Nwajei]: I think also better communication for our city-owned roads with our internal team as well in terms of snow removal. Yeah, definitely. That's a great point. State-owned ones we can't do much about, but okay. All right, so I think, Todd, we've got about nine minutes left on the clock for this meeting. If you are able to, I think it would be great to insert that column so that commissioners know how many are needed per those locations. And then if you send it to Nick and I, one of us can get that list out to the commissioners.

[Todd Blake]: Yeah, that would be great. And the map, right? I got to put these yellow locations on a map will help as well.

[Frances Nwajei]: Yes, it would help, but it would also be even more helpful if the map only included, like, really what's relevant.

[Todd Blake]: Yeah. Oh, definitely, definitely. So the map and the column. The column is very helpful of how many buttons because you only get a majority of the remaining ones, you know, and then Yeah, so then maybe we get creative with funding sources and hopefully, yeah, so this is encouraging because we had assumed, like I said, kind of the max eight buttons per location. So if we could stretch this out because of locations need, like one of them I saw, one of the ones we discussed, Lawrence wrote a governors. I looked quickly. It looks like it has six buttons because there's one in each corner plus one in the median on each side of governors. So that particular one has six. So it's usually still an even number. So yeah, I could get you a map and add that column. And then I could even On a new list, just include the ones we're talking about and kind of prioritize in order that I think I heard tonight and you guys tell me if I'm wrong. Yeah.

[Frances Nwajei]: Okay. And then I think that, you know, I know that you mentioned the state purchases or we purchase what the state has approved. if you i'm sure the commissioners would appreciate it if you during your whatever if there is any an opportunity just like nick and yourself went to go see the what's my friend's name again what was his name the robot i forget the name of the robot There's the movie Seamus, which was supposed to be having a demonstration of Seamus, which I just remembered. But if there is an opportunity for something like that, like a live demonstration, like tested with people that live in the disability community, that would be super, super helpful. Because I think a lot of times people, you know, do all these things. And while it's a lot better than it was, here's the thing, not everybody's gonna be able to see the countdown. And so if the countdown doesn't verbalize, that's not really accessible.

[Todd Blake]: Yeah, no, that's a great point. I'll show you what I'm looking at as I'm listening, because I'm looking at the MassDOT project, the Vulnerable Road User project, and I'm looking at the language on their sheet, and they say, the APS speech messages are reprogrammed as follows quote wait message when push button is pressed and then quote walk sign is on for all crossings quote when the exclusive pedestrian phase is on and it does not include what you're suggesting which is a good idea it does not include quote you know and then counting backwards when it's in the flashing don't walk mode which people with people that don't have visual impairments could see. Yeah, so you're right. That's a great point that I could share with MassDOT as well. I mean, they don't create the equipment either, but they're the ones that kind of, you know, any city or town is going to purchase equipment that the federal government or state government kind of approved as accessible, and we're not going to create them on our own. But this is you know, this is how things get changed, like Francis was saying, kind of. It could be better than what it was before by adding this, but it could be so much better by doing what you just said. So if we could somehow influence that, I don't think it would happen for this project because I don't think that technology would change that quickly, but yeah, it's a very good point, though. But not all locations have the countdown, but as you said, if the technology existed to include that, then if it does have a countdown, then it should be equal for others. If it doesn't have a countdown, then yeah, it's equal already, yeah, so. Right, right. Cool.

[Frances Nwajei]: All right, commissioners, do you have any other questions for Todd, who has some homework to do on our behalf?

[qy5_Am-xQ_s_SPEAKER_04]: But it's good, happy homework. Yeah, I appreciate your time. We appreciate your time. Thank you, Todd.

[Frances Nwajei]: Todd, thank you so much. Once you get those out, we'll make sure to get it into the hands of the commissioners. And then if you hear anything about beta testing for accessible pedestrian signals, let us know so that I can send the information out.

[Frances Nwajei]: All right. Okay. Um, before we got four minutes, I need somebody to make a motion to approve, uh, June's, uh, meeting minutes, please. Thank you. Thank you, Joe, for making the motion. Thank you. Susan seconds. Okay. There are a variety of different things that are happening. There's a community care van that is coming to Clippership Drive on a monthly basis where you can go for your health screening, whether it's you want your blood pressure checked or your A1C levels, you don't have to worry about insurance. I don't know what that site is. It's not the Clippership Drive site of the senior center.

[Frances Nwajei]: Thank you. Perfect. Yes, that's it. It's the pop-up park location. There was a housing resource fair that was yesterday. Feedback that I received from people who went say that it was really, really informative. You went?

[Kate Ryan]: What did you think? I thought it was very well done and there was a variety of people there. But it was hard to understand a conversation because it got really, really, really, really loud.

[Frances Nwajei]: Okay. Okay. Okay. That's good feedback to share. Okay. And then we here are celebrating, when I say we here, I mean City Hall, the events happening here, Hispanic Heritage Month, that will be next Wednesday, 530, sort of the same time as our commission meeting. So we're picking this one up because there's a vacancy for the Spanish language connector that works out of the Office of Prevention and Outreach. So we sort of just joined and are supporting them and lifting up this event because they offer Nick and I a lot of support for our events. So feel free to stop by. Oktoberfest, I don't remember the day, that's an event that's being put on by the Chamber of Commerce. I want to say it's the 4th of October, but it's not sounding right. It's on the city calendar, Oktoberfest, so annual event by the Chamber of Commerce. But a really big event is Fire Prevention Day. As you know, fire prevention week happens in October. It's sort of like from the 4th to like the 10th or the 11th. And Medford Fire Department received a wonderful grant from Cummings and they are using that grant for education and awareness. So on Saturday, September 10th, there'll be an event here at City Hall. It will be outside. It is, you know, think about a touchy truck, think about if you've ever wondered, well, what happens, you know, what, what, what if, you know, they come and they grab you and you use a mobility device, but they don't take it. They will be here to answer that, but also to create some fun, to provide some guidance and advice on the best way that you can help them. and other first responders keep you safe in the event of an emergency. So it will be interactive. There'll be a DJ. Of course, I asked for lots of fire songs like burn baby, burn disco inferno because it is a fire department defense. Why not? But yeah, so that's happening here. There's time, not the front lot because the fire trucks cannot fit in the front. They'll be in the back, the different kinds of trucks, and there'll be an educational tent. And if you've ever wanted to be a firefighter for a few moments, you will have your opportunity, because there's a prop that's being built, and there'll be a hose.

[Kate Ryan]: What's the date and time, please? I'm sorry, it's Saturday, October 10th.

[Frances Nwajei]: OK, not this weekend, because this weekend is rain. Yes, no, no, not this weekend. Yeah, I don't know. I think this weekend, I think it's run Medford.

[Kate Ryan]: And it is the Mystic River Festival. But maybe, maybe not because, because of something Anur... Yes, Norista, Nora, Norista.

[Frances Nwajei]: Yeah. So for the first time, I got a call from my resident, like where I, the town where I live, from their fire department. advising about the nor'easter. So I don't know. I've not heard anything about cancellations, but if I'm getting a call about hurricanes and things of that nature, I am sure it will be cancelled.

[Andreottola]: I have a question. Yeah, it's just on the run Medford, which is something I just saw her on social media. There was someone asking if there would be wheelchairs able to participate. Was that ever answered for that? I don't know if you guys follow the Medford social media, but I know that was a question asked. Do we know if Ron Medford does anyway kind of have anything for that?

[Frances Nwajei]: I'm sorry, Anthony. I don't have anything to do with Ron Medford, and I don't want to guess I think it's something that's done, and I'm saying I think it's something that's done in collaboration with the mayor's office. I don't know if you give me one second, let me go on our events calendar and see if

[Andreottola]: No, I was just curious. I didn't know if that person ever got their question answered. And I didn't know if it was something that the city did or not. So that's kind of why I wanted to kind of provide information, but I didn't have any to give.

[Frances Nwajei]: Well, on the city websites, they There's a section that says, click for more details. I mean, again, we promote a lot of events. Yeah, it looks like Run Medford has its own website, and I feel like that's where that question should go. OK. Yeah, maybe using Run Medford's website, because there's no guarantee that whoever put that question in, you know what I'm saying? Like, who's going to see it? Yeah, so they have their own website and I do think that that's a great place for that question to be dropped in. And right now it looks like they're still, kids are running on Friday. Right now, from their website, right now it looks like it's still happening. So, we'll see. Okay, thanks. I see discounts for different ages, but I don't see a thing. Yeah. OK. So there's that. So yeah. So please come out and support Fire Prevention Day. It's the first one. Share your ideas about it. But the focus on this, I think it's about charging and what you do with all these lithium batteries and safety and potential risks around certain devices. And those are all the events that I can think of. That is it. Does anybody have any questions? There's another section. We are at 7.05. Does anybody have anything else that they want to add? All right. The next meeting is on the 28th. That is the fourth Wednesday, I hope. Hold on one second. Yep, that's the fourth Wednesday. Same time, 5.30, hybrid meeting. And I think that by that time, we should have started to get more information from IHCD. So... Okay. Go on. Kate, did you put your hand up? Oh, no, I was waving goodbye. Oh, yeah, somebody needs to make the make a motion to adjourn the meeting. Thank you. Somebody needs to second.