Advisory Commission on Disabilities

400 S. Eagle Street City of Naperville Naperville, IL 60540 Meeting Minutes - Final Advisory Commission on Disabilities Wednesday, November 6, 2019 6:30 PM Meeting Room A A. CALL TO ORDER: B. ROLL CALL: The two new student representatives, Delaney Chitwood and Abby Granato, introduced themselves and provided a brief overview of their backgrounds and why they have an interest in serving on the ACD. Each of the commission members also spoke a bit about their own backgrounds. Present 8- A. Rae Elegant, Daniel Fumagalli, Michael Heyden, Paul Hinterlong, Suhel Siddiqui, Barbara Ann Stark, Abigail Granato, and Delaney Chitwood Absent 2- Sheri Baumgartner, and Mikel Briggs C. PUBLIC FORUM: There were no speakers for Public Forum. D. REPORTS & RECOMMENDATIONS: 1. Approve the minutes of the May 1, 2019 ACD meeting. A motion was made by Siddiqui, seconded by Elegant, to approve the regular minutes of the May 1, 2019 meeting of the ACD. The motion carried by a unanimous vote. Absent: 1- Baumgartner, and Briggs 2. Receive a staff report from the ADA Compliance Team Peter Zibble, staff liaison to the commission, reported to the commission on various topics of interest. Mr. Zibble reported that the city web site had been updated at the request of the Accessible Communities Task Force. Through a great deal of work by the task force members and the city's Community Relations team, a new page titled "Services and Resources for People with Disabilities" was launched containing nineteen sub-pages of contact information that may be of use to the public. Mr. Zibble provided an update on the work being done by the Department of Public Works. DPW has remodeled portions of the downtown train station to install power openers for doors on the north and south sides of the building. Work was also done along the south side of the building to improve the City of Naperville Page 1 Printed on 2/7/2020 Advisory Commission on Disabilities Meeting Minutes - Final November 6, 2019 sidewalks and better define the accessible route into the building. A follow-up to previous discussions about downtown parking was also presented. Mr. Zibble indicated that the Transportation Team reviewed the locations of concern and responded with data on the proximity of available ADA spaces. For Jefferson Avenue between Main and Washington, it was noted that there are 17 ADA spaces within 750 feet, 10 within 600 feet, and 7 within 500 feet. For the Charles Schwab building, there are five permanent and one part-time ADA spaces with 400 feet of the north doors. There are four spaces within 400 feet of the south doors. Staff would not consider these underserved locations based on the overall parking distribution in the downtown area. The commissioners disagreed with this assessment and asked to review the parking situation in greater detail at a subsequent meeting. Jim Pacetti of the Naperville Police Department presented information on the city's new community outreach program named Caring Hands. The Caring Hands program allows residents to voluntarily provide Naperville’s first responders with critical information about themselves or loved ones with developmental, cognitive, mental, medical and/or physical disabilities who may require special assistance during an emergency or non-emergency situation. Information provided could include methods of communication, sensory and medical issues as well as approach and de-escalation techniques. Mr. Pacetti indicated that information and applications are available on the city web site. 3. Accessible Community Task Force Update Commissioner Stark provided the following update for the ACTF: Revisions to the City of Naperville webpage for the ACTF have been completed and are now available on the website for public consumption. The services listed are : Advocacy/Support Services/Agencies; Education; Emergency and Preparedness; Employment; Financial; Government; Health Department and Services; Hearing and Vision; Housing; Legal Assistance and Information; Life Safety; Mental Health; Parking; Recreation Cultural Programs and Day Services; Special Events Information; Transition Services; Transportation; and Voting. A big thank you to ACTF task force member Mary Hamill who spearheaded this project with background help from Chairman Gary Smith and Barb Stark. “The City acknowledges the unique needs of people with disabilities living in, working in, or visiting Naperville and wants to help connect you with information about available resources to fill those needs. This is not intended to be an all-inclusive listing of all services and the City does not recommend any one service. The information, services offered and qualifications for those services may change at any time. Agencies and organizations may have eligibility criteria that must be met in order to receive certain services, for example: geographic location, age, income guidelines, type of disability or other criteria.“ The ACTF, along with Chairman Gary Smith, was quoted in a front page article in the Naperville Sun on the Senior Task Force’s quest to have bollards placed in parking lots in lieu of concrete wheel stops. City of Naperville Page 2 Printed on 2/7/2020 Advisory Commission on Disabilities Meeting Minutes - Final November 6, 2019 The City presented the ACTF with a proclamation at the at the October Council meeting proclaiming October to be National Disability Employment Awareness Month in the City of Naperville. The 2019 theme is “The Right Talent, Right Now.” The proclamation read in part “the ACTF specifically seeks to promote employment opportunities and business collaboration through education, training and recognition efforts.” On September 29, ACTF members Mary Hamill and Barbara Stark acted as panel members for a forum on affordable housing sponsored by and held at DuPage UU Church. In October, ACTF member Lindsay Robinson (employee of AIM-CIL) gave a presentation to students in the School District 203 Transition Program. The presentation gave students an oversight as to available resources and supports they may need for living, transportation, school, etc. and she was a part of their weekly vocational skills class. The ACTF will be making plans (possibly with the League of Women Voters) to have an event to assist people with disabilities get registered to vote. The plan is to hold the event during the week of July 13-July 17 to coincide with National Disability Voter Registration Week. The Americans With Disability (ADA) was signed into law in July of 1990 and will therefore be celebrating its 30th anniversary in July of 2020. The ACTF has found literature offering monthly ideas for action leading up to July 2020. The ACTF would love to partner with the ACD in planning and carrying out a July 2020 event for Naperville to celebrate the 30th anniversary of this milestone legislation. The ACTF had a follow-up discussion on Chris Cook’s presentation to the ACTF and challenged ourselves to use Chris’ ideas to be more visible and proactive in the community in support of people with disabilities. (Chris is a teacher at May Watts School. He uses his disability (cerebral palsy) to teach his students to be more inclusive, understanding and accepting of those with a disability. Chris is very forward-thinking and has given many speeches on this topic, even in Washington D.C.!) The ACTF has met several times with Jim Pacetti, Crime Prevention Specialist with the Naperville Police Department, to advise on the new program named “Caring Hands: A Naperville Public Safety Program”. The program is scheduled to go live in early November and should be on the City webpage with a media blitz coming soon. The ACTF continues to have representatives attend many of the City meetings of commissions etc. to advocate for people with disabilities. E. OLD BUSINESS: There were no items discussed. F. NEW BUSINESS: City of Naperville Page 3 Printed on 2/7/2020 Advisory Commission on Disabilities Meeting Minutes - Final November 6, 2019 There were no items discussed. G. ADJOURNMENT: A motion was made by Elegant, seconded by Fumagalli, to adjourn the meeting. The motion carried by a unanimous vote. City of Naperville Page 4 Printed on 2/7/2020