[0:04] [music]
[0:09] » Okay, [music] welcome to the Tuesday,
[0:11] July 14th, 2026 meeting of Grafton Mass
[0:15] Accessibility Advisory Commission. I'm
[0:17] Roger Trahan, the chair, and I call this
[0:19] meeting to order.
[0:21] And first, because we're meeting via
[0:23] Zoom, I will uh
[0:25] make sure everyone is here and
[0:28] can be seen and heard. So, I'm going to
[0:30] call a quick attendance. Christy
[0:32] Proctor.
[0:35] » Here.
[0:36] » Tracy Sharkey.
[0:38] » Here.
[0:39] » Sarah Salbu Young.
[0:41] » Here.
[0:42] » Roger Trahan, here, of course. And um
[0:45] All right, first item on the agenda,
[0:47] welcoming our newest member, Sarah Salbu
[0:50] Young.
[0:50] » Yay.
[0:51] » And uh do you include the uh Salbu in
[0:54] your when being introduced formally?
[0:57] » Yeah, I it really doesn't matter. You
[1:00] can just call me Sarah Young, that's
[1:01] probably easier. But whatever you want
[1:03] to do, I go by Sarah Salbu Young, so.
[1:06] Um but I'm not picky.
[1:08] » [laughter]
[1:09] » Well, welcome aboard, and uh
[1:11] » Thank you.
[1:11] » Uh just by way of introduction, Christy.
[1:16] » Yes, hi.
[1:17] » About yourself.
[1:18] » Yeah, I'm Christy Proctor, and I've
[1:21] lived in Grafton since 1998,
[1:24] and I am a post-secondary
[1:27] disability specialist, which means that
[1:30] I work in the college setting to provide
[1:32] accommodations
[1:34] and access for students, visitors, and
[1:37] faculty
[1:38] at now currently at Quinsigamond
[1:41] Community College.
[1:44] » All right, Tracy.
[1:45] » Hi, Tracy Sharkey. I'm the building
[1:47] commissioner, also the ADA coordinator,
[1:50] and the select board delegate for the
[1:54] commission. I live in Oxford, and I've
[1:57] been working for the town since November
[1:59] 2023.
[2:02] So, welcome and I appreciate you
[2:03] volunteering your time
[2:05] » Sure.
[2:06] » For this good cause. It's
[2:08] very noble of you and we really
[2:10] appreciate you for coming on board.
[2:13] » Of course, yeah, happy to be here.
[2:15] » And Roger Trahan, current chair. I can't
[2:19] seem to shake that.
[2:20] » [laughter]
[2:20] » And um
[2:22] but um it's been great uh
[2:24] the commission was originally formed in
[2:26] 2009, but then had a an 8-year hiatus
[2:29] between 2011 and 2019.
[2:32] And so I I took the initiative to kind
[2:34] of get it back on its feet. So, I've
[2:36] been
[2:37] one of the uh
[2:39] sort of quote-unquote re-founding
[2:41] members as as Christie since that time.
[2:45] And um
[2:47] I just stepped off a board of library
[2:48] trustees, so now I have just one
[2:50] committee.
[2:51] Whereas you, Sarah, tell us about
[2:53] yourself and how busy you are.
[2:56] » Sure.
[2:56] » [laughter]
[2:57] » I mean, you guys are very sound very
[2:59] busy and so cool to meet you. This is
[3:01] why I'm interested in doing this. So, um
[3:04] my husband and I moved to Grafton in
[3:06] 2020. So, we were living in Boston and
[3:08] then we were like, oh, work from home.
[3:10] Let's start driving towards Connecticut
[3:13] cuz that's where my family is and his
[3:15] family's in Ohio. So, we're like, okay,
[3:16] at least we'll be like somewhat close
[3:18] and found Grafton and absolutely love
[3:20] it. This is definitely home. And so, I
[3:23] have two young boys. I'm now a full-time
[3:25] parent and uh 2 years ago got involved
[3:29] in the Affordable Housing Trust, um
[3:31] which I've increasingly really enjoyed.
[3:33] And so, I I just have found it to be so
[3:37] I I just
[3:39] want to contribute to the town, A,
[3:43] because I have young boys here and so
[3:45] that's my goal, but then my second
[3:47] reason is I really want to learn. And
[3:49] so,
[3:50] Roger, I saw you speak at the town
[3:52] meeting and then again on the select
[3:53] board meeting and I know that some
[3:56] committees just aren't that active and
[3:59] so given your enthusiasm, I was like,
[4:02] "Okay, that's a committee I'd like to be
[4:03] a part of." Um and then I do have a
[4:05] friend actually because I joined the
[4:08] affordable housing trust then she lives
[4:11] in Shrewsbury, she joined the
[4:13] accessibility commission for Shrewsbury
[4:14] and so then I've been hearing about that
[4:16] experience cuz she's like, "Oh, well you
[4:17] did it there." So she was inspired to
[4:20] get involved in that and so it kind of
[4:22] then bounced back to me and I'm like,
[4:24] "Okay, now I'm going to get involved in
[4:25] that one." [laughter]
[4:26] Um in Grafton. So that's why I'm here.
[4:28] So just I don't have
[4:31] the accessibility um experience that you
[4:34] all have um
[4:36] but I am here to learn and I just want
[4:39] to contribute and um my background
[4:41] professionally is communications. Um so
[4:43] I feel like that's
[4:45] hopefully where I can maybe help with
[4:47] outreach or um things like that that cuz
[4:50] that's kind of my my area of expertise
[4:52] but yeah, anyway, so just here to learn
[4:54] and contribute as best I can.
[4:56] » All right, thank you Sarah and welcome
[4:58] aboard and without you we wouldn't have
[5:00] a quorum. So
[5:01] » Okay.
[5:01] » [laughter]
[5:02] » There you go.
[5:04] » That works.
[5:05] » No, that is really awesome and um
[5:07] uh our next item on the agenda is uh
[5:10] remembering Paul Letourneau. Uh Paul uh
[5:14] had been on the commission uh Paul
[5:16] passed away back on June 26th
[5:19] and he had been on the commission 2023.
[5:22] So
[5:23] um I will say uh a few words uh about my
[5:27] thoughts regarding Paul but first I I
[5:29] want to offer a moment of silence.
[5:44] Okay.
[5:45] All right, Paul Eterno. He
[5:49] It was
[5:50] It was cool that Paul was able to be on
[5:52] the commission. I know that Paul
[5:54] had um
[5:56] you know, he didn't have his own
[5:58] transportation and
[6:00] uh coming going to and fro from
[6:03] uh in-person meetings really would have
[6:05] been
[6:06] a challenge for him. So, the fact that
[6:08] we met via Zoom really allowed him the
[6:12] accessibility to
[6:14] uh consistently be able to join our
[6:17] meetings and um
[6:18] so I I think Zoom has been um
[6:22] a sort of godsend to a lot of people and
[6:24] I think it was for you know, Paul being
[6:26] part of our commission and and he was uh
[6:29] he brought a unique perspective um
[6:32] uh including his age. He was in his
[6:34] early 80s
[6:36] and he was um
[6:38] he was a real disability advocate who
[6:40] had served with me on the board of
[6:42] Genesis Club in Worcester. For those who
[6:45] uh
[6:46] uh supporting those in recovery from
[6:48] mental illness. And so,
[6:50] you know, I had known Paul for almost 20
[6:52] years and so um
[6:54] it was kind of neat that we reconnected
[6:57] in Grafton and he was living up at
[7:00] at Forest Lane. So, um
[7:02] so I you know, I had visited him a few
[7:06] times in recent months, you know, before
[7:08] he fell ill you know, for the final
[7:11] time. And so um yeah, he was just a all
[7:15] around great guy. So, um
[7:17] uh I'll I'll miss him uh
[7:20] you know, as a member of this commission
[7:21] and as a friend. So.
[7:29] Okay. Um
[7:35] Catherine Dupuis
[7:37] um
[7:39] who had
[7:40] whose term expired back on June 30th,
[7:44] uh did not re-up. She had since moved
[7:46] out of Grafton.
[7:48] And
[7:49] that um
[7:52] kind of blends into the fact that we now
[7:54] have three
[7:56] uh vacancies on the commission.
[7:59] Uh one expiring
[8:02] next June 30th, '27, and two
[8:06] on 6/30 of '28. But before uh
[8:10] making further comments on that, uh
[8:12] Catherine
[8:14] um
[8:15] had been
[8:16] a sort of re-founding member back in
[8:18] 2019 along with Christie and myself.
[8:21] Um
[8:23] and you know, I I really appreciated her
[8:25] input. Uh she was someone who who uh
[8:29] uh was great to work with, a really a
[8:32] really just kind human being, and um
[8:36] uh she in the past had um
[8:40] uh hopped on board uh and you remember
[8:42] this, Christie, with National Night Out
[8:45] when we hosted a table and
[8:47] you know, pause for people and our
[8:49] our accessible Barbie um
[8:52] set up that year. That was That was
[8:54] cool. Um but always uh contributing and
[8:59] um
[9:00] um just a a great person and she's since
[9:03] moved out of Grafton. And what I'd like
[9:06] to do is I'd just um
[9:08] uh
[9:08] have
[9:10] uh
[9:10] I wish to write a letter of of thanks on
[9:13] behalf of the commission for her 7
[9:15] years. So.
[9:17] » Do we need to make a motion?
[9:19] » Uh probably not. I think we can do that
[9:21] by consensus.
[9:23] » Okay.
[9:24] » Anyone object?
[9:25] » [laughter]
[9:26] » All right.
[9:27] Uh
[9:28] We're pretty informal here, Sarah.
[9:31] You know, I
[9:32] we don't get wound up in Robert's Rules,
[9:35] so.
[9:36] » Sounds good to me.
[9:37] » Yeah. And so getting back to the three
[9:39] vacancies uh
[9:41] I had
[9:42] uh come before the select board and and
[9:45] Sarah had
[9:46] I I saw that the meeting where you you
[9:48] applied. So thank you for your kind
[9:50] words, by the way.
[9:52] Um
[9:52] you know um
[9:54] it was good to hear that um
[9:57] you know uh
[9:58] the
[9:59] you know that that
[10:01] it caused you to you know to to come to
[10:04] action, which was neat. And um
[10:07] and so
[10:09] I then put something on All Things Graft
[10:11] and recently
[10:13] um making note of the
[10:15] uh
[10:16] the the three vacancies. I I don't know
[10:19] if I mentioned three vacancies. I I may
[10:21] may have. Um I I'll say tongue-in-cheek
[10:24] that maybe I think I'd get more traction
[10:27] if I sort of offered some
[10:29] random free town trash bags and then
[10:32] you had to read the if you read the post
[10:34] and commented on it, you know,
[10:37] maybe that would would gain some
[10:38] traction, but um
[10:41] it
[10:42] I
[10:43] I don't know really and may maybe Sarah
[10:46] with your communications expertise uh
[10:49] kind of get more word out um
[10:51] regarding um
[10:53] uh trying to advertise and at a high
[10:56] level what we do and what the
[10:58] commitments are. Um so I included that
[11:02] as sort of a placeholder on the agenda,
[11:04] but
[11:05] I
[11:06] getting back Sarah to you and I and we
[11:08] had a uh
[11:10] a chat back and forth uh texting
[11:12] regarding a friend of yours
[11:14] um
[11:16] who who was deaf and we were had chatted
[11:19] about
[11:20] uh close caption capacity and and I
[11:23] doubled back with Christie on this as to
[11:26] and I will ask Christie to to weigh in
[11:28] on
[11:30] um
[11:31] just the close captioning piece, how
[11:33] accurate
[11:35] it has been for you
[11:38] as far as your experience for someone
[11:40] who would need captioning
[11:42] in a live setting and
[11:44] how much of a delay there is just for
[11:47] that versus uh
[11:50] using other assistive means.
[11:58] » So, to answer this question, I just have
[12:00] to ask Sarah, are you used to closed
[12:02] using closed captioning as a default?
[12:05] » So, I yeah, I I mean, I've just
[12:09] at the last company I worked at when we
[12:11] had like all company meetings, they
[12:13] would turn it on to I don't know the IT
[12:17] about that. I know it's not always
[12:19] accurate, um, but at least you can kind
[12:22] of in get a sense of what's being said.
[12:25] Um, and I just think
[12:26] So, yes, my friend my good friend Laura,
[12:28] she's uh our sons know each other.
[12:30] That's how we became friends. Um, and so
[12:33] actually being on that these meetings
[12:35] are only held on Zoom actually puts us
[12:38] potentially at a you know, at the
[12:40] opportunity to include her um, without
[12:43] having to bring an interpreter.
[12:45] Um,
[12:46] so
[12:48] So, yeah, cuz I don't sign. I actually
[12:50] just um, we just use notes app on our
[12:53] phones.
[12:55] Uh, so that's how we communicate.
[12:57] Um,
[12:58] but yeah, so I don't know if if that's
[13:01] something that we could enable and I'm
[13:02] actually going to see her tomorrow so I
[13:03] can even like talk to her about um, her
[13:06] interest. But in addition to Laura, what
[13:08] I'm thinking is and this is why I I'm
[13:12] excited to get involved and learn more
[13:13] about these different projects. What I
[13:15] would say from a communications
[13:16] perspective is
[13:19] I think it's great to reach out broadly
[13:22] in the selectboard meetings and all
[13:24] things Grafton meetings, but I think we
[13:26] can also think about, you know, who are
[13:28] the populations of people that are
[13:30] affected by the projects
[13:32] that we're involved in. So, is it
[13:35] um you know,
[13:37] student populations and their families.
[13:39] So, maybe a parent or a grandparent that
[13:41] would want to get involved. Um you know,
[13:44] someone related to someone you know, in
[13:46] connection to the senior center or
[13:48] something. So, you know, where where can
[13:50] we be just a little bit more focused and
[13:52] targeted um with our outreach, even if
[13:54] it is like one-on-one conversations.
[13:57] Just thinking about just kind of the the
[14:00] populations that are being affected by
[14:02] the group that we're doing. I think
[14:03] that's going to be kind of lead us to
[14:05] potentially sourcing people. I mean, the
[14:09] broad getting the word out there is
[14:10] needed, is a must, it's useful to get
[14:12] that awareness, but then getting that
[14:15] next level to actually get that
[14:17] engagement for someone to, you know, get
[14:19] really engaged is um kind of breaking
[14:22] that down and then thinking about what
[14:23] groups of people would want to go out,
[14:25] even engaging the library, you know, is
[14:27] there anything
[14:29] Are there any groups that participate in
[14:31] things that use the library space? Maybe
[14:32] we could connect with them. You know,
[14:34] I'm not sure. I'm just kind of throwing
[14:35] ideas out there.
[14:38] » Well, if Laura uses sign language, then
[14:41] we would have an interpreter for our
[14:43] meeting because that's her first
[14:45] language.
[14:46] » Okay. Okay. Yeah.
[14:48] » And whether it's using video remote
[14:50] interpreting, which means that we would
[14:52] have an interpreter join us in the
[14:54] meeting remotely, or if we would have
[14:58] someone um you know, the town might have
[15:00] a contract with interpreting services or
[15:03] an interpreter.
[15:04] You know, that would be set up, I guess,
[15:06] through Tracy or you know, the TA's
[15:09] office, but you know, again, it goes
[15:11] back to if that's her first language,
[15:14] that's what we need to have interpreted,
[15:16] not the captioning cuz the captioning's
[15:18] okay for us who understand a lot of the
[15:21] words as they're spoken. And even though
[15:24] the pronunciation, excuse me,
[15:27] the spelling can be atrocious.
[15:30] » [laughter]
[15:31] » Um
[15:33] um
[15:34] you know, that it's not our first
[15:36] language, so we kind of live with it.
[15:38] But for someone whose first language is
[15:40] sign language, then we would because
[15:43] that's their first language, they need
[15:45] it.
[15:46] And to provide access to her,
[15:50] um now with the new regs for the ADA, we
[15:52] need to be able to provide
[15:55] the chosen communication method in real
[15:58] time.
[15:59] And yes, there is a lag to some
[16:01] captioning.
[16:03] Um I
[16:04] I use captioning all the time, so even
[16:08] in meetings with no deaf people, I I I
[16:10] just always use it now. So,
[16:12] um
[16:13] you know, please let Laura know that um
[16:17] not hold her back
[16:19] or preclude her from from joining the
[16:21] commission.
[16:22] » Yeah, okay. Awesome.
[16:25] Cool.
[16:25] » And and I would I would add um
[16:28] that
[16:29] it would um
[16:31] because we meet predictably on the
[16:34] second Tuesday of each month
[16:36] that that should be um
[16:38] something that
[16:40] be
[16:41] it's not like a last-minute thing. The
[16:43] you know, there would be proper
[16:44] planning.
[16:46] I would simply want to be sure that um
[16:51] if there's ever a last-minute
[16:52] cancellation
[16:54] that we have a backup because I recall
[16:57] one recent time meeting where we were
[16:59] actually planning on having uh an
[17:03] interpreter
[17:04] or interpreters
[17:06] um and one or both couldn't make it.
[17:10] And so we had to on short notice
[17:13] nix that idea, and that should that
[17:16] shouldn't happen.
[17:17] But and that may have been different. I
[17:19] don't know.
[17:21] Um
[17:23] I I I think that for a town meeting that
[17:25] has gone multiple hours, I know that
[17:28] it's preferred uh to have two
[17:31] interpreters and they they
[17:34] do 15, 20 or so minutes and then they
[17:37] trade off.
[17:38] Um I don't know whether our meetings,
[17:41] which typically don't go beyond
[17:44] 60 to 75 minutes, would require two
[17:46] interpreters.
[17:48] Um Christie, would you have uh or Tracy
[17:51] have an um
[17:52] a sense of whether uh
[17:54] a committee meeting such as ours
[17:57] typically doesn't go beyond 75 minutes,
[18:00] whether that would require one or two?
[18:03] » Two.
[18:03] » And Would it Okay.
[18:05] » And then we would also send the meeting
[18:07] agenda in advance for the interpreters
[18:10] to read.
[18:11] » Okay.
[18:12] » And review.
[18:14] » Okay.
[18:16] All right.
[18:17] Yeah, Sarah, I would I would encourage
[18:19] her to to apply and we would arrange for
[18:22] an interpreter services for the select
[18:26] board meeting.
[18:27] » Okay.
[18:27] » Um and um
[18:29] the select board meeting doesn't require
[18:31] in-person attendance. They they are
[18:34] hybrid.
[18:35] So, if however, it would be easiest
[18:39] I I know that some interpreters um
[18:42] are not as close by
[18:44] and so
[18:45] um
[18:47] you know, so however that would work,
[18:49] either in person or both being Zoom for
[18:53] the application um in interview,
[18:56] uh we'll just make it happen.
[18:58] » Okay.
[18:59] » Yeah.
[19:00] » And then
[19:00] the other thing you mentioned, Sarah, to
[19:02] even extend this further,
[19:04] » Yeah.
[19:05] » You know, the populations that we want
[19:08] to touch upon may not only have um
[19:12] you know, a disability, but what if
[19:14] they're second language um users? So, uh
[19:19] you know, I just think of how with
[19:20] Worcester Public Schools, every meeting
[19:22] we have with them, there's always a
[19:24] Spanish language interpreter every time
[19:26] we have parent meetings.
[19:28] And you know, I don't know if we're
[19:30] going that way, but I know that a lot of
[19:33] our websites, when you uh log into them,
[19:36] they or even let's be honest, even if
[19:39] you're on the phone and you're calling
[19:41] Verizon, they say, "What language do you
[19:42] want this to be in?" You know, they have
[19:44] like three choices. Or the hospital has
[19:46] 10 choices.
[19:48] So, um you know, well,
[19:51] that I'm sure will become um something
[19:53] we're going to talk more about in the
[19:54] coming coming year.
[19:58] » All right.
[19:59] All right, yeah, awesome. Uh
[20:02] So, um moving on uh with announcements,
[20:07] Americans with Disabilities Act 36 uh
[20:10] 36th anniversary
[20:12] on July 26th. So, that's right around
[20:15] the corner.
[20:16] I know that um
[20:18] we have typically
[20:20] uh not done a whole lot
[20:22] regarding the recognition other than put
[20:24] something on the uh town webpage
[20:27] or even on the town website.
[20:30] Um Christie, what's the most recent
[20:32] thing we had done as far as advertising?
[20:34] » I'll I'll I'll show you right right now,
[20:36] the ribbon for the Accessibility
[20:38] Advisory Commission just shows the roof
[20:41] of the high school that says Grafton
[20:43] High School.
[20:44] » Okay.
[20:45] » It's okay. Nothing great. But, if you
[20:47] happen to go to the Facebook page for
[20:50] Student Accessibility Services, you'll
[20:52] see we have the 36th anniversary, and we
[20:55] also have
[20:57] um the flags for Disability Pride Month.
[21:00] » Okay.
[21:00] » Have two things going on.
[21:02] » Okay.
[21:03] » So, um you know, and that's in many
[21:05] places. If you're looking at different
[21:07] types of
[21:09] either services or or programs that
[21:12] support people with disabilities, so.
[21:14] » Right.
[21:15] I I know that on social media, I've seen
[21:17] numerous things regarding disability
[21:19] pride and the flag and
[21:22] almost
[21:24] almost um
[21:26] universally, the folks that I've spoken
[21:29] with regarding disability pride month
[21:32] have confused it as a sort of offshoot
[21:35] or an extension of
[21:37] um June's pride month and um
[21:41] I've gotten confused as to what it is um
[21:44] because they both have multi-colored
[21:47] flags and um
[21:49] and so I don't know if anyone else has
[21:51] run into that, but I certainly
[21:54] would uh on my own social media,
[21:57] uh I've always done this
[21:59] uh
[21:59] advertise the um
[22:03] the ADA anniversary on that day.
[22:05] Um
[22:06] and maybe we could also put something on
[22:08] the
[22:10] uh
[22:11] on our webpage ASAP.
[22:15] » Would that be through
[22:19] the existing ADA?
[22:21] » Would that be or yeah, probably William.
[22:23] » William?
[22:24] » I I would think so or I'm sure Amber or
[22:27] Cindy have um sort of equal access to
[22:30] put those logos up.
[22:34] With whatever we would send to them.
[22:41] Anyone want to volunteer?
[22:43] » [laughter]
[22:43] » Well, do you want me to send along the
[22:46] um
[22:46] disability pride month flag because the
[22:49] one I use
[22:50] um explains what each color means and
[22:53] what the black background means. I mean,
[22:56] it's
[22:56] where did I steal it from?
[23:00] » Super.
[23:00] » Uh
[23:01] Humanware. I think I took it from human
[23:04] wear.
[23:05] But because
[23:07] um
[23:09] it and it's tagged. So, that's good. It
[23:11] has the alt tags on it for anyone who's
[23:14] looking at it.
[23:15] But
[23:16] » Where um
[23:19] There's only so much real estate on our
[23:21] our page. Where would where would we put
[23:25] where and when would we put the Pride
[23:27] Month
[23:29] in where like half we into that right
[23:30] now and then the
[23:33] ADA anniversary logo
[23:36] on those on the page.
[23:39] Because if we're going to contact
[23:40] William or someone else in the TA's
[23:42] office, we would want to give them
[23:45] some specific direction of
[23:48] how prominent and where we want that
[23:51] without bumping the con- without bumping
[23:54] the content. And so, I don't know
[23:56] whether we
[23:59] we take up a lot of real estate with the
[24:01] vacancy ad on our page.
[24:05] » Well, here's my question. You know, not
[24:07] many people go to our commission's
[24:09] website.
[24:10] Let me go home to the home page
[24:14] of
[24:15] um
[24:16] See, I don't think they're going to put
[24:18] anything up. It just says events and
[24:20] spotlights and it has meetings
[24:23] and the floating wheelchair ribbon
[24:25] cutting ceremony and the pay as you
[24:27] throw trash bag increase. You know, I
[24:29] mean, it's not it's not really newsy
[24:32] news.
[24:33] » Are you talking about the town web page
[24:35] or the
[24:35] » That would be a great way to you know,
[24:38] really place it. The banner right now
[24:40] shows, in fact, let me just share my
[24:42] screen because it's just so inspiring.
[24:45] You you need to see this.
[24:49] Let's see. Oh, sharing's not turned on,
[24:51] Roger. So, let me describe this for you.
[24:54] It's a winter scene.
[24:55] » Can I do share How do I do I screen? All
[24:58] right.
[24:59] » Yeah, it's a winter scene of the new
[25:02] » I think you can share now.
[25:04] » Firehouse. Okay, let's see.
[25:08] » Can you share?
[25:09] » Yep, here we go.
[25:11] » It on. Okay.
[25:12] » Unfortunately, this is not uh
[25:17] anything that's
[25:20] I mean, in fact, it's interesting cuz we
[25:23] view this banner there's so many
[25:25] different banners that you
[25:27] actually have a slideshow with different
[25:29] events coming up. Like, you know, for
[25:31] our programming, that's what we do.
[25:34] And instead, they just kind of have a
[25:36] static which, you know, that's their
[25:39] decision. Maybe it doesn't use as much
[25:41] bandwidth, but you know, it's a pretty
[25:45] um
[25:47] pretty bit um pretty long uh scroll here
[25:50] to get to anything that even is timely.
[25:53] You know?
[25:56] So, it it's unfortunate that this just
[25:59] this is what you come up to and
[26:00] nothing's going on here. This would be a
[26:03] great space to put, say, Disability
[26:05] Pride Month,
[26:07] Grafton um Night Out, Grafton celebrates
[26:11] the end of August. You know, it would be
[26:13] interesting, but that's not my
[26:16] » And then the ADA anniversary. So,
[26:19] » Because
[26:20] this is our website, it just has this.
[26:26] You know, so we don't really even get a
[26:27] lot to do um
[26:29] a lot of room to play with. So, anyways,
[26:31] I'm just sharing that.
[26:32] » Do you know do you know one way or the
[26:33] other, and Tracy, maybe you may know
[26:36] being in town hall,
[26:38] um
[26:39] whether those can be interchanged
[26:41] without much fuss?
[26:43] » I believe it's page-by-page, so my
[26:46] landing page is a little different.
[26:49] Um it shows, I think, uh a building in
[26:52] the common.
[26:54] What would ideally you like to see?
[26:57] Would you like it to be scrolling
[26:59] photos?
[27:01] » No, uh scrolling slides, like digital
[27:03] slides, so that there's different things
[27:05] that are coming through.
[27:07] If each slide contained a graphic um or
[27:10] a photo, that would be great, but at
[27:11] some point we're going to have to make
[27:13] sure that's all accessible.
[27:16] Um
[27:16] » So, this is mine. This is my photo. So,
[27:19] you have a different photo than me. On a
[27:21] landing page.
[27:22] » And they all And it looks like they all
[27:24] um
[27:26] Yeah, it looks like whatever time you
[27:28] log in at, that's the photo you get, so
[27:30] it can be very random.
[27:33] » Okay, so you're looking for slides
[27:35] sliding through at the top here.
[27:38] » Yeah.
[27:39] » Okay. And what would you want the slides
[27:43] to show?
[27:46] » Well, it depending on what their what
[27:48] their design is, if they had four
[27:52] you know, the next town meeting is, the
[27:55] Grafton You know, like you know, you
[27:56] just have the upcoming events, but this
[27:58] month is
[27:59] like we could have had the um parade
[28:01] information for
[28:03] the 4th of July. I mean, I I I feel like
[28:06] they're missing an opportunity to use
[28:08] that space
[28:10] um
[28:11] to really promote Grafton instead of
[28:13] these pictures that just
[28:16] um are static and there's not even an
[28:19] explanation. This is Grafton's new
[28:22] uh municipal building or whatever it is,
[28:24] you know.
[28:25] So, Sarah, you're the communications
[28:27] person, you probably know web design
[28:28] much better than I do, but
[28:31] um it's just
[28:34] it it's just hard to see something
[28:36] I'll be honest with you, stay the same
[28:39] since we got the new website. So, this
[28:41] is old in media terms. Like it not
[28:45] rotate and keep things fresh. Um
[28:49] it, you know, but maybe that's their
[28:51] goal. So, I don't want to be too um
[28:55] uh quick
[28:55] » Yeah, and it just depends on um you
[28:58] know, staffing and time and like how
[29:00] many people actually visit the website
[29:02] versus like
[29:03] you know, you got to think about what's
[29:05] the
[29:07] um
[29:08] you know, what's the biggest bang for
[29:10] our buck here and in terms of people's
[29:12] time and and effort and I I totally
[29:15] understand what you're saying um and
[29:17] that's valid, but it's possible that
[29:19] people aren't primarily getting
[29:20] information about town news on the
[29:22] website. It could be mostly on Facebook.
[29:25] Um I don't know. I don't know, but
[29:28] that's a a potential just what I'm
[29:30] gathering from these clues that um
[29:35] Yeah, so tough to say. Yeah, I'm just
[29:37] not, you know, I I can't speak on behalf
[29:39] of who's involved in running it. So.
[29:42] » Yeah, it may be the setup. So, this is
[29:45] Shrewsbury's
[29:46] » Yeah.
[29:46] » Landing page and it may be this
[29:50] um Civic Plus. Yeah. So, this Civic Plus
[29:54] layout
[29:55] may only offer uh
[29:59] » Yeah.
[29:59] » Picture, but I can absolutely
[30:02] double check that.
[30:04] » And so, who would uh and would we want
[30:07] to then are you saying request that um
[30:10] both Disability Pride Month and the ADA
[30:13] Anniversary
[30:15] be superimposed side by side
[30:18] on the town webpage or at the very least
[30:21] our accessibility webpage?
[30:25] » And and technically, you're right,
[30:26] today's the 15th, so
[30:28] » I know.
[30:29] » It's already too late, but
[30:32] something for next year to remember. And
[30:34] as we come
[30:35] » It's it's not too late if we get it done
[30:37] in the next day or two. It may seem like
[30:39] it's being announced later than we would
[30:42] like, but there's still 2 weeks left in
[30:44] the month.
[30:45] » And we can always really strive to get
[30:47] the um National Disability
[30:51] um Awareness Month Employment Awareness
[30:53] Month in October. That can be our next
[30:55] target.
[30:56] » Mhm.
[30:58] So, what would we want to do and where
[31:01] would we want to put it?
[31:03] On and just our web page for starters?
[31:07] » For starters.
[31:09] » And what would we do? Would we
[31:11] I'm I'm of the opinion that if we were
[31:13] to get it done ASAP
[31:16] um
[31:17] that even though Disability Pride Month
[31:19] is half over, that any advertising days
[31:22] are better than none.
[31:24] Um and we are also um we have time
[31:29] in advance of
[31:30] the
[31:32] ADA anniversary.
[31:34] So,
[31:36] do you want to pick a couple logos and
[31:39] then ask that they be put side by side
[31:43] on the top of our web page?
[31:45] » Yep, I say we ask. Now, since you're a
[31:48] communications person, um
[31:50] can you define that a little bit because
[31:52] there's that's pretty broad. Like, can I
[31:55] just throw something at you and you can
[31:57] whip something up in Canva? I don't
[31:58] know.
[31:59] » [laughter]
[32:01] » So, I just want to take a step back. I
[32:02] want to understand Are you so Oh, you
[32:05] were directing that to me. Uh Okay.
[32:07] Okay. Um
[32:09] So,
[32:10] uh okay, just taking a step back, this
[32:12] sounds very tactical to put a logo or an
[32:15] image up on a website and I think we
[32:18] need to think first about what is the
[32:20] strategy, what are the goals, and who is
[32:22] the audience. So, before a tactic
[32:25] happens, what would we even want What's
[32:28] the purpose? What's the goal of having
[32:30] someone read this cuz it it's potential
[32:33] someone wouldn't they might see oh a a
[32:35] picture with colors and then not get any
[32:38] value from it, not take any action, or
[32:39] not learn anything.
[32:41] Um
[32:42] So, I think
[32:44] my communication expertise is this is
[32:46] actually and sorry, I'm jumping right
[32:48] here. I think this is too tactical.
[32:50] Um and I think this is fine I think this
[32:52] is a good direction, but I think we
[32:54] first need to define like what what is
[32:57] the strategy, and what do we want even
[32:59] people to do or learn or understand?
[33:07] » I I I I understand where,
[33:10] you know, exactly what you're saying. I
[33:12] I know that in the past we had discussed
[33:16] having regular
[33:18] sort of a switcher roo each month.
[33:20] Um
[33:22] and and sort of doing some
[33:25] planning
[33:27] of this, not just one-off.
[33:33] » So, it sounds like you we want to do a
[33:34] content calendar. So, we want to have a
[33:37] plan, like a a document that we can look
[33:40] ahead. So, for example, October is the
[33:43] employment um
[33:45] Oh, so thinking about, okay, in support
[33:48] of that, what would we want employers to
[33:51] know? What would we want employees to
[33:53] know? Yeah, it sounds like it's all
[33:55] education based. Um
[33:59] And so, that would be an opportunity for
[34:01] us to maybe pull in articles, videos,
[34:04] literature, and kind of provide
[34:06] supporting materials, whether that's
[34:08] linked to on the site. Um
[34:12] But yes, I think that's
[34:14] maybe I mean, this is fine. I think
[34:16] given the timing and wanting to support
[34:18] and acknowledge the anniversary and this
[34:21] month. I think there's nothing wrong
[34:23] with that, but I think um
[34:27] just my perspective
[34:29] uh Uh, my experience doing
[34:31] kind of campaigns or anything like that
[34:34] is you you definitely plan ahead and
[34:36] think of, you know, what are supporting
[34:38] materials, what do you want your
[34:39] audiences to do,
[34:41] um,
[34:42] what do you want them to understand,
[34:43] that type of thing. So, I think we need
[34:45] to like answer those questions before we
[34:46] start jumping to,
[34:48] um,
[34:49] yeah.
[34:50] So,
[34:51] I don't want to take anything away from
[34:53] the momentum or anything. I don't, but
[34:55] » That's
[34:56] » Yeah.
[34:58] » And and I know that we have discussed
[35:00] this where on under the announcements
[35:03] section of the
[35:05] top of the meeting,
[35:07] I've tried to sort of cherry-pick some
[35:09] of the {quote} {unquote} uh, important
[35:12] or more prominent, um, type of, um,
[35:16] recognitions throughout the year.
[35:18] But, when you really look at it, there's
[35:20] probably a dozen. January is
[35:24] And there's a a list of a dozen. It's
[35:26] it's
[35:28] name, um,
[35:29] uh, a condition, um, an illness, or
[35:33] whatnot, where it's this month and
[35:36] there's a dozen or more. In every single
[35:38] month throughout the year,
[35:40] a different color for a wristband.
[35:42] And so,
[35:44] you know, it
[35:46] I found myself sort of
[35:48] in an attempt to be inclusive,
[35:51] the list gets so long, you know what I
[35:53] mean, that it's like, okay, it it became
[35:56] almost too expansive. That it isn't just
[35:58] one thing in January, one thing in
[36:00] February, one thing in March. There
[36:02] could be 10, there could be 20.
[36:06] So,
[36:08] » Well, wait, I believe we did have this
[36:10] discussion a couple
[36:13] months ago and we were going to have
[36:15] kind of a main highlight, you know,
[36:18] we're highlighting this, but there's
[36:20] others and
[36:25] I just think we
[36:27] didn't quite get to it.
[36:29] And I think it's mostly public outreach,
[36:31] public awareness,
[36:33] not really much more than
[36:36] um
[36:37] kind of doing the best we can to
[36:40] increase our awareness. If someone calls
[36:43] me, I can just point them
[36:46] to
[36:47] whatever
[36:48] whatever is on our website. I think
[36:50] that's really great if it's already set
[36:52] up and then they can they can you know,
[36:56] if somebody calls me and says, "Oh, I'm
[36:58] interested in what's going on?" And then
[37:00] I can just send them the link. Let me
[37:02] email you the link and then they go and
[37:04] they can they can poke around
[37:06] themselves. But if there's not even any
[37:08] information at all
[37:10] on the website,
[37:12] I think just participating, community
[37:14] participation, and increasing
[37:17] um
[37:18] you know, the availability
[37:20] to the public.
[37:22] For us, um
[37:24] I did get a copy of a survey that
[37:27] Shrewsbury did.
[37:28] I don't know if you guys took a look at
[37:30] that. I did send that to the commission
[37:32] a little while ago.
[37:34] Um so, I can send it again and I'll
[37:38] include you, Sarah, but you know, kind
[37:40] of um
[37:42] what is our I guess what's our mission
[37:44] statement? And for me, it would be if
[37:48] there's an issue, we're here. We there's
[37:51] available avenues to have your issue
[37:54] addressed and then for educational um
[37:58] and just
[37:59] general knowledge. Say, "Oh, wow, I
[38:02] can't believe, you know, I have this
[38:03] disability and it's this disability's
[38:06] month." Type of thing, the camaraderie
[38:08] and finding common ground and um
[38:11] recognition for the people that it's you
[38:15] know, their disability month. I suppose
[38:17] that's why right you use flags, you use
[38:19] this.
[38:20] Um
[38:21] I think that's the only it's as far as
[38:23] that and maybe somebody would reach out
[38:27] to us and say, "Hey, there's this really
[38:29] cool event or can I present, you know,
[38:32] to your commission about this? I think
[38:34] this would be helpful for
[38:36] whatever disability, you know, other
[38:39] people going through it.
[38:41] You know,
[38:42] um, I think that's
[38:43] for me, I think that would be useful.
[38:47] » Mhm.
[38:49] » How about um, then maybe it maybe
[38:52] beneficial to
[38:54] this table this for more long-term
[38:56] planning that then could be
[39:00] an extension of, you know, not
[39:02] necessarily a subcommittee but um, uh,
[39:05] Sarah, uh, couple three years ago we did
[39:08] have a subcommittee where
[39:10] uh, we got together and we the
[39:13] commission eventually voted on it that
[39:16] if you go on the accessibility advisory
[39:19] commission's web this is whole um,
[39:23] column of items that have hyperlinks
[39:26] behind them. That was all the result of
[39:28] subcommittee work. Um, all these
[39:31] resources that are available and and
[39:33] such and perhaps it may be as simple as
[39:37] adding one more that happens to coincide
[39:41] with monthly recognitions. So, we
[39:43] wouldn't necessarily have to prominently
[39:46] put it on the web page but it could we
[39:49] could consider it as part of other, you
[39:52] know, part of the resources that already
[39:54] exist.
[39:59] So, are we in agreement then to just
[40:01] table any action on this?
[40:05] Okay.
[40:06] » Yeah, I think so. I mean if if if I just
[40:09] want to go I don't want to quash the
[40:11] idea of of putting that um, you know,
[40:14] July awareness month on the
[40:18] accessibility page. I think if I think
[40:20] that is a great idea. I just think it
[40:22] also prompts me to think about more of
[40:24] kind of stepping back and um and I'm
[40:27] happy to Is it okay if I Like I can put
[40:31] together like an outline um that's
[40:34] it's kind of a communications outline um
[40:36] and then it would lead to us building a
[40:38] content calendar, but I think it it it
[40:40] gets back to kind of back to our mission
[40:43] statement, our kind of our goals. Um Is
[40:47] that a Is that something like Would it
[40:48] be okay if I put a draft together and it
[40:50] would just be like and I can email it to
[40:52] you guys and then it would be prompts
[40:54] for us to discuss.
[40:55] » Right. Yeah, that would be great. The
[40:57] only thing we couldn't do is
[40:59] um
[41:00] a while a quorum of us equals four and
[41:02] we have right now three vacancies, but
[41:05] what we couldn't do is
[41:07] um have a seri- a concurrent or a serial
[41:11] conversation
[41:13] outside of a posted meeting that
[41:14] included all four of us.
[41:16] So, it would be permissible for
[41:18] any up to three of us to sort of go back
[41:21] and forth on this, you know, um
[41:24] you know, in between in between
[41:26] meetings. It just couldn't
[41:28] entail what eventually would be a quorum
[41:30] of us
[41:32] quote unquote deliberating through a
[41:34] serial conversation.
[41:36] » Sure. Okay, I think we would Yeah, so
[41:38] this wouldn't I would maybe just send it
[41:40] to you, Roger, and then we could like
[41:42] post it on the agenda and then we could
[41:44] just review it a day or two in advance
[41:46] and then discuss it.
[41:47] » That would be great That would be great.
[41:49] Oh, she's She's up and running. I love
[41:51] [laughter] it.
[41:52] » I just did this for the Affordable
[41:54] Housing Trust, so I'm already I'm like,
[41:55] "Oh, yeah, my outline." I I I just I got
[41:57] it out It's different topic, but I'm in
[42:00] the zone.
[42:01] » Mom- momentum. Thank you for doing that,
[42:03] Sharon. So, yeah, [clears throat] just
[42:05] send that over and I'll include it
[42:07] on the next agenda. So, I'm just
[42:10] July agenda.
[42:12] And it's funny. I have I'm a visual guy
[42:14] and my to-do or I have my blue highlight
[42:19] and I highlight things in blue as action
[42:22] items, so
[42:22] » Mhm.
[42:23] » Um
[42:25] I'll include that on July's agenda.
[42:28] Uh
[42:28] we have a couple uh more announce two
[42:31] more announcements
[42:32] under uh item F, the floating wheelchair
[42:35] ribbon cutting ceremony
[42:37] which is Tuesday
[42:39] August 4th at 11:00 a.m. on Silver Lake
[42:42] Beach. So, Grafton Rec Department
[42:46] um
[42:47] was uh accepted as a grant recipient
[42:50] through Smile Mass.
[42:52] And so, there's going to be a ribbon
[42:54] cutting ceremony on Tuesday, August 4th
[42:57] at 11:00.
[42:58] And I actually have that on my calendar
[43:00] to attend.
[43:01] So, um
[43:04] it was interesting when you uh
[43:06] put the town website on there, it was
[43:08] prominently
[43:09] displayed in that
[43:11] you know, this I don't know if you can
[43:15] My camera's just kind of blurry.
[43:17] » That's good.
[43:18] » Oh, yeah. Yeah, yeah.
[43:21] Anyway, but um
[43:22] so, that was really cool that uh we got
[43:24] the grant and Adam LaPoint really did a
[43:27] great job and
[43:29] this was I think the third attempt at
[43:32] securing this grant and so, it's been a
[43:35] few years and um
[43:37] so, one more piece of accessibility
[43:39] within the recreation
[43:41] uh s- uh space, so.
[43:48] And the final
[43:52] announcement Families Recover Together
[43:55] 26 and Wiffle Ball Tournament
[43:58] which is uh not for a couple of months,
[44:00] Saturday, September 12th from 11:00
[44:04] a.m. to 3:00 p.m. at Nelson Park.
[44:08] And it's hosted in partnership with
[44:11] This is an acronym Miracle Mama's Inc.
[44:13] and Gap Recovery
[44:15] in recognition of National Recovery
[44:17] Month.
[44:18] And
[44:20] the day is focusing on connection
[44:22] awareness recovery support
[44:24] and celebrating the strength of
[44:26] individuals and families impacted by
[44:28] substance abuse recovery. So
[44:31] this going to be a ton of activities um
[44:34] bouncy house face painting tie dye
[44:37] ice cream
[44:39] um
[44:40] And so the it's all centered around a
[44:42] whiffle ball tournament and there will
[44:44] be music
[44:46] uh recovery speakers and information
[44:49] that will be handed out. So
[44:51] uh
[44:52] I think that's a block party I will not
[44:54] be missing. So
[44:56] uh
[44:59] And I included in the meeting packet
[45:02] a couple of the uh
[45:05] flyers
[45:08] uh
[45:08] for that
[45:09] particular event.
[45:12] So anyone else have any community
[45:14] announcements that I
[45:16] didn't include in the agenda?
[45:19] Okay.
[45:21] And moving on external correspondence
[45:26] there wasn't any external correspondence
[45:28] and
[45:30] sometimes that has been sent to me
[45:33] but other times
[45:35] it's been to the accessibility at
[45:37] grafton-ma.gov.
[45:40] There's also disability commission at
[45:42] grafton-ma.gov which is no longer in use
[45:45] it flows into the accessibility web
[45:48] distribution list.
[45:50] um
[45:52] Sarah did you
[45:55] um
[45:56] I actually sent
[45:59] the meeting packet link out to you both
[46:02] through
[46:04] the accessibility
[46:07] and your personal email.
[46:10] Did you receive it twice, which would
[46:11] tell me that you are now part of the
[46:14] distribution list?
[46:16] » I did get it twice. Mhm.
[46:18] » Oh, good. All right, good. All right.
[46:20] So, um we didn't receive anything
[46:23] collectively, but what I end up doing is
[46:25] outside of the town clerk's office in
[46:26] that little room
[46:28] the mail room with a photocopier
[46:30] » If I'm in the neighborhood, I will pop
[46:32] into town hall and see if we've gotten
[46:35] something uh
[46:38] you know, paper versus electronic
[46:40] communications, and there hasn't been
[46:42] any for months, so.
[46:44] And I went there just a couple of days
[46:45] ago.
[46:47] Uh
[46:48] All right, agenda item three, meeting
[46:50] minutes, April
[46:52] 28th regular meeting.
[46:55] And
[46:57] I will accept a motion to approve the
[46:58] draft minutes of our meeting of April
[47:01] 28th, 2026.
[47:04] » I'll make the motion.
[47:06] » All right, do I have a second?
[47:08] » Second.
[47:09] » All right, motion made by Chrissy,
[47:11] seconded by Tracy. Any discussion on the
[47:13] motion?
[47:17] All right. I have
[47:20] one item
[47:22] and I don't know, Chrissy, if you need
[47:24] to
[47:25] share the screen or
[47:26] » Share them right now if you don't mind.
[47:28] That way everybody can see.
[47:30] » Okay. All right.
[47:32] » Okay.
[47:39] » Okay.
[47:42] My only comment was um
[47:45] a grammatical
[47:46] correction on the second page
[47:50] 1D
[47:53] under announcements
[47:56] um it
[47:57] is it's um, transposing the C and the L
[48:02] after the word park.
[48:04] » Yep.
[48:05] I thought you were going to ding me for
[48:07] the spelling of the word Engvall.
[48:12] » Uh, no. I think Engvall No, I think that
[48:14] is correct. Engvall, yeah.
[48:17] Yeah, so that that was the only
[48:20] item I had.
[48:22] And uh,
[48:23] thank you once again, Christie, for
[48:26] unbelievable minutes.
[48:29] » I'm just looking for anything else
[48:31] that's red.
[48:33] And
[48:35] C-C-ing. Let me just
[48:38] Okay.
[48:40] Okay.
[48:44] » Awesome.
[48:45] And the
[48:47] other thing is um,
[48:51] So So,
[48:53] sorry, you
[48:55] may not be aware of how efficient,
[48:57] organized, and resourceful Christie is,
[49:00] but um, like literally after this
[49:02] meeting is over, very shortly after,
[49:06] you'll get the draft minutes from
[49:07] tonight.
[49:09] And then what, you'll be on the copy end
[49:12] of Christie's email to the town clerk of
[49:15] the approved minutes from April. So,
[49:19] So, Christie
[49:20] » Amazing.
[49:21] » Christie never let
[49:23] » To get it over with.
[49:25] » Okay. [laughter]
[49:26] » Yep, good for you.
[49:27] » I do not let it sit.
[49:29] » You not ever leave us. Do not ever leave
[49:31] us.
[49:32] Um,
[49:32] » [laughter]
[49:32] » And uh, I I just wanted to
[49:35] They used to be part of the open meeting
[49:37] law, which is no longer.
[49:39] Uh, Sarah, that um,
[49:42] you can choose to abstain, but you don't
[49:44] have to.
[49:45] Um,
[49:46] you are allowed to actually vote on the
[49:49] on any minutes of
[49:51] any draft minutes for which you weren't
[49:54] present.
[49:55] Uh that used to be a no-no, but um
[49:58] it was preventing
[50:00] as committees change, it prevented
[50:04] a quorum from ever approving some older
[50:07] minutes. So, they realized that that was
[50:09] probably not the greatest idea.
[50:12] Um and so, it just to let you know, you
[50:14] can either abstain or vote yay or nay on
[50:16] those.
[50:17] So, um any other discussion on the
[50:21] motion to approve the draft minutes of
[50:22] April 28th?
[50:25] All right, hearing none, all those in
[50:27] favor by roll call.
[50:30] Um
[50:32] Christie.
[50:33] » Yes.
[50:35] » Tracy.
[50:35] » I.
[50:37] » Sarah.
[50:38] » I.
[50:39] » Roger, I declare the motion carried
[50:41] unanimously 4-0.
[50:43] Awesome. Our first vote. Yeah.
[50:46] All right.
[50:47] » [clears throat]
[50:48] » You are now officially in.
[50:51] » [laughter]
[50:52] » That that that's that's the hazing.
[50:54] That's it.
[50:54] » We're making things happen.
[50:56] » Yep.
[50:57] So, um
[50:58] All right, moving forward, um
[51:01] US Department of Justice memorandum, how
[51:04] is Roger or why is Roger included
[51:09] national
[51:10] US Department of Justice items into a
[51:12] local
[51:14] advisory committee meeting. Here's why.
[51:17] And I actually had
[51:20] made note of this, and it it
[51:22] kind of snuck by
[51:24] all things Grafton
[51:25] because I was announcing basically an
[51:27] agenda item.
[51:29] And
[51:31] within this a
[51:34] I put on the agenda the scope of
[51:36] Olmstead versus L.C. decision
[51:39] regarding individuals with mental
[51:41] disabilities having a right to live in
[51:43] the community rather than in
[51:44] institutions.
[51:46] And
[51:48] what I ended up doing is and and this
[51:51] maybe was a bit random
[51:53] in the meeting packet
[51:55] the the Arc Massachusetts nonprofit
[51:59] had a uh
[52:01] it's the Arc of Mass.org
[52:04] had a
[52:05] three-page summary
[52:07] of
[52:08] what you know, how this all came about.
[52:12] Uh
[52:13] there was a Supreme Court ruling
[52:16] um
[52:19] should know what year it was.
[52:23] 1999
[52:26] and that ruled that unnecessary
[52:28] institutionalization is discrimination
[52:30] under ADA.
[52:33] And the court at that time held that
[52:34] people with disabilities had the right
[52:36] to receive services in the most
[52:38] integrated setting appropriate
[52:41] to their individual needs and there were
[52:43] three things uh when community-based
[52:45] services were appropriate
[52:48] that the person wants to receive
[52:50] services in the community and that the
[52:52] community placement can be reasonably
[52:54] accommodated.
[52:56] And
[53:00] what happened in June of 26, just last
[53:04] month
[53:05] is that the DOJ uh
[53:07] DOJ Department of Justice Office of
[53:09] Legal Counsel
[53:11] issued a legal opinion that actually
[53:13] narrowed how the federal government
[53:15] interpreted and enforced
[53:18] Olmstead and the ADA.
[53:20] And
[53:22] the DOJ basically argued that the ADA
[53:25] did not broadly require states
[53:27] to provide community-based services
[53:30] through an integration mandate
[53:33] and suggested that states have greater
[53:35] flexibility to determine when
[53:36] institutional settings are appropriate.
[53:39] Um
[53:42] leading to my final point, which all of
[53:45] these points I lifted from the ARC
[53:46] summary,
[53:48] that
[53:49] the Olmstead decision remained a binding
[53:52] uh law. However, the DOJ opinion may
[53:54] change how aggressively the federal
[53:57] government investigates and enforces
[53:59] integration requirements.
[54:01] And that there was a concern that this
[54:03] could make it more difficult to uh
[54:05] to protect community living rights. And
[54:08] and so
[54:09] um
[54:11] the extent to which we're an advisory
[54:14] commission to the select board,
[54:16] and we are in that capacity focusing on
[54:22] the greater community, which includes
[54:24] um
[54:25] community living environments, including
[54:27] group homes,
[54:29] that uh or public housing or other
[54:31] settings
[54:33] that in yesteryear
[54:35] would have been
[54:37] um
[54:38] maybe even a forced institution
[54:39] institutionalization.
[54:42] Um
[54:43] I I think we've come too far,
[54:46] and that there could be if if we
[54:50] if we were to slip back to the sort of
[54:52] old model,
[54:53] there could be people uh numerous people
[54:56] within the Grafton community in
[54:57] different uh housing settings
[55:00] uh that could be impacted. And so
[55:03] I wanted to
[55:05] at least bring it to the attention of
[55:08] the
[55:08] commission and to the public through our
[55:11] meeting
[55:12] that this national issue
[55:15] and you know, this 19 1999
[55:20] uh Supreme Court decision
[55:22] now 27 years later gets kind of turned
[55:25] on its ear
[55:27] through a DOJ
[55:29] ruling that says, "Well, yeah, that's
[55:31] not really how it should be
[55:33] interpreted."
[55:35] And then we go back to this model where
[55:39] somehow institutionalization is the
[55:41] default versus
[55:43] community housing when appropriate.
[55:46] So,
[55:47] that's my spiel. So,
[55:50] I'll sort of open open it up to any
[55:52] comments or impressions regarding um
[55:56] this particular agenda item and the the
[55:58] meeting packet.
[56:09] Don't all jump in at once.
[56:10] » [laughter]
[56:12] » Um
[56:13] » Thank you for the information. I think
[56:16] we'll have to kind of digest that and
[56:18] see
[56:18] » Yeah. I know.
[56:19] » Opinions.
[56:20] Um
[56:21] » Yeah.
[56:23] » Yeah, it's
[56:24] » No, that's fine.
[56:25] » It's a challenging topic.
[56:28] » It it really is because um and it can be
[56:31] an emotionally charged topic, you know,
[56:33] um as well. Um
[56:36] So, I just wanted to at least throw it
[56:39] out there that
[56:41] that um maybe to be a little bit
[56:44] provocative, too, that we also in in
[56:47] expansive of what some people may
[56:50] consider our role as a commission.
[56:52] I know that I had thrown um
[56:55] on the agenda various housing issues in
[56:57] the past regarding
[57:00] you know, accessible and adaptable uh
[57:02] apartments within multi-family housing.
[57:05] Um
[57:06] You know, when when are elevators
[57:08] required, you know, uh
[57:11] you know, four stories and above, those
[57:13] types of things. So,
[57:15] um
[57:16] I'm kind of
[57:19] bringing in sort of um
[57:23] more items than maybe
[57:26] other accessibility advisory commissions
[57:28] may consider to be sort of local issues.
[57:31] Um
[57:32] but in the end even Supreme Court
[57:34] decisions have
[57:36] by and large risen out of local issues.
[57:39] Like almost every single one of them is
[57:41] some impacted individual who says, "Wait
[57:43] a minute. I think I've been wronged, you
[57:45] know?" It goes all the way to the top.
[57:48] And um
[57:50] and so
[57:51] I figured I'd throw it out there
[57:53] uh for everyone to to digest. Um
[57:57] It's I certainly don't expect this to be
[58:00] an action item tonight.
[58:02] But I wanted to at least call it to
[58:05] everyone's attention.
[58:07] So.
[58:10] » Yeah, I I think this is great. I don't
[58:12] have um I mean, yes, it's a complicated
[58:15] topic and um
[58:18] it's something
[58:19] I definitely need to learn more about
[58:20] specifically. But I appreciate and I
[58:24] understand what you're doing is as an
[58:27] accessibility commission, we should be
[58:29] aware of larger things happening because
[58:32] yes, it feels like, "Oh, it's a Supreme
[58:34] Court decision." But that ultimately
[58:36] impacts everyone. Um or you know, it it
[58:40] it will have an have an impact. So, it's
[58:43] I think it's
[58:44] it's nice for us. It's a good motivation
[58:48] or like a good push for us to be in the
[58:51] know and aware of what are these things
[58:54] happening nationally, even potentially
[58:57] globally, even for inspiration. You
[58:58] know, what are some cool things
[59:00] happening all around the world um
[59:02] that could potentially influence or just
[59:07] help us feel more informed as kind of
[59:09] accessibility experts as we're you know,
[59:12] growing into that. Mhm.
[59:14] » Right.
[59:15] Right, cool.
[59:16] All right. Um
[59:19] Yeah, there's a lot of reading to do.
[59:21] So, I I you know, we we never know
[59:23] everything, but I try to
[59:27] sort of do as much reading as possible
[59:29] on pertinent things.
[59:31] Kind of I'm that nerd that will go on
[59:33] and start browsing through the
[59:34] Massachusetts Office on Disabilities,
[59:36] you know, website.
[59:38] See what's going on because there are
[59:39] things that are pertinent to what we do
[59:41] in the greater community, so
[59:43] um
[59:44] All right, moving forward to old
[59:46] business. Um
[59:49] Annual town meeting.
[59:50] Um
[59:52] Yeah, back on May 11th,
[59:54] town meeting voted to appropriate 90,000
[59:56] in community preservation funds for the
[59:58] feasibility and concept study
[1:00:00] regarding the Blackstone Valley
[1:00:02] Walkway/Bikeway.
[1:00:04] And I spoke in favor of that as we had
[1:00:07] done um
[1:00:09] in advance, we had talked about uh
[1:00:12] and I had included, after the fact,
[1:00:15] the letter that I wrote
[1:00:17] on behalf of um
[1:00:20] Accessibility Advisory Commission to uh
[1:00:23] Community Preservation Committee.
[1:00:25] Um so, that was formalized and then I
[1:00:28] spoke in front of town meeting
[1:00:30] in favor of that and it passed
[1:00:32] overwhelmingly and so
[1:00:34] uh
[1:00:35] I actually look forward to any expansion
[1:00:37] of that uh walkway/bikeway because it's
[1:00:42] as we discussed previously, it adds more
[1:00:44] accessible space, so.
[1:00:46] Um
[1:00:48] All right, under old business, um oh
[1:00:51] god, this one. 5B outstanding meeting
[1:00:53] minutes, we we had started to chip away.
[1:00:56] Thank you, Kristy, for the ones you got
[1:00:57] to the town clerk.
[1:00:59] I'm going to have to look at these.
[1:01:01] These were all during 2020.
[1:01:04] And I'm pretty sure that there weren't
[1:01:06] any meeting minutes that we didn't
[1:01:08] approve.
[1:01:09] And I think out of these six dates that
[1:01:12] I had listed for 2020,
[1:01:15] the under the town clerk's webpage, five
[1:01:17] of those six dates have little uh
[1:01:19] television icon,
[1:01:21] which means that those were televised.
[1:01:24] So,
[1:01:25] um I'm going to have to I I I've put
[1:01:29] this as a placeholder so I wouldn't
[1:01:30] forget it. So, I'm going to have to go
[1:01:32] back and and check it out because
[1:01:36] the Attorney General's office routinely
[1:01:39] um
[1:01:39] reminds, and I'll use that term gently
[1:01:42] reminds, town clerks to
[1:01:45] be up to speed on all committees that
[1:01:48] have posted an agenda
[1:01:50] did they meet? And if you did, where are
[1:01:51] the minutes? So,
[1:01:54] uh
[1:01:55] All right, town survey, old business 5c.
[1:01:59] Um
[1:02:01] I don't know.
[1:02:04] I don't recall where we left off on
[1:02:06] this. I know Tracy, you had um been in
[1:02:08] touch with Shrewsbury.
[1:02:11] I know that
[1:02:13] um without getting into details yet
[1:02:16] about what a survey would look like, at
[1:02:19] the last
[1:02:21] select board meeting,
[1:02:24] it was mentioned that what's this, a
[1:02:25] SurveyMonkey or one of those
[1:02:28] sites
[1:02:30] is
[1:02:31] set up to do those types of things.
[1:02:34] Where did we leave that
[1:02:36] as an action item?
[1:02:38] Anyone recall?
[1:02:42] Was I supposed to do something? Tracy,
[1:02:44] you had
[1:02:45] you had contacted Shrewsbury. How did we
[1:02:47] leave it? Because we
[1:02:48] there was a few meetings where we didn't
[1:02:50] have quorum, so we haven't discussed
[1:02:52] this in a few months.
[1:02:54] » I emailed the survey questions. I
[1:02:57] received the copy, and I think it was
[1:03:02] Google. Let me just take a peek.
[1:03:05] I sent it over.
[1:03:07] Um
[1:03:10] And I sent it to the commission's
[1:03:12] email. I believe
[1:03:14] » One a point.
[1:03:17] » I'll tell you the date.
[1:03:18] » Sorry, yeah, please.
[1:03:26] Get out my blue marker again and
[1:03:28] put it as an action item to
[1:03:31] » It was just kind of like, okay, what did
[1:03:33] they ask?
[1:03:41] » Was it um short and sweet? Is that the
[1:03:44] sort of um
[1:03:47] uh approach that works? Don't overload
[1:03:50] people with too much.
[1:03:55] » Uh 5:27:26,
[1:03:58] I said below are the questions from
[1:03:59] Shrewsbury. Let's review for the next
[1:04:01] meeting. So, I sent it to you personally
[1:04:03] plus the commission.
[1:04:05] And um
[1:04:08] if you wanted, I can share it right now
[1:04:10] on my screen.
[1:04:12] » Yeah, could you?
[1:04:13] » Yeah.
[1:04:13] » Yeah, I that slipped me to include in
[1:04:15] the meeting packet.
[1:04:16] » It's okay.
[1:04:26] Okay.
[1:04:28] Um
[1:04:31] So,
[1:04:39] I'm trying to
[1:04:40] move this
[1:04:42] so I can see.
[1:04:49] » All right,
[1:04:50] it's now.
[1:04:50] » Can you see?
[1:04:51] » This. Yeah.
[1:04:52] » Okay.
[1:04:56] And I
[1:04:57] and he actually I think changed all the
[1:05:00] words for me
[1:05:02] he
[1:05:03] to town of Grafton.
[1:05:08] » How many questions are there total?
[1:05:11] » Uh and he used Google Suite.
[1:05:14] Um, there are 10 questions.
[1:05:18] » Okay.
[1:05:21] » About you.
[1:05:26] Accessibility of town services. How
[1:05:28] accessible do you find the following in
[1:05:30] Grafton?
[1:05:32] That could be interesting.
[1:05:35] Sidewalks, public buildings, park
[1:05:37] wrecks, town website.
[1:05:43] Public restrooms.
[1:05:46] And then if there's a challenge, kind of
[1:05:48] identifying the shortfalls of
[1:05:51] accessibility within the town, and maybe
[1:05:53] getting feedback from people going
[1:05:56] through it, you know, having the
[1:05:58] challenge.
[1:05:59] » Okay.
[1:06:03] » Which of the following services or
[1:06:04] supports would be helpful to you or your
[1:06:06] family?
[1:06:15] Do you feel informed about
[1:06:16] disability-related resources available
[1:06:18] through the town?
[1:06:22] And how would you prefer to receive
[1:06:23] updates or information?
[1:06:26] Sarah must be loving this.
[1:06:28] All the communication.
[1:06:33] One thing the town could do better. I
[1:06:35] mean, even if
[1:06:37] a person answered one of the questions
[1:06:39] or one and set of questions,
[1:06:42] I think it would be helpful.
[1:06:44] » Awesome. So, how many did they When When
[1:06:46] did they do the survey and how many
[1:06:48] responses did they get?
[1:06:50] Like, how in what manner was it, um,
[1:06:53] put forth to the community? And are
[1:06:55] these like editable docs? Like, and then
[1:06:58] you go next, next, next, and then fill
[1:06:59] them in, and then submit. Is that how it
[1:07:01] works?
[1:07:03] » So, it was
[1:07:06] we could use Google Suite. That's what
[1:07:09] Shrewsbury uses.
[1:07:12] You can paste this in the prompt box
[1:07:14] when creating a new Google form. It
[1:07:16] should format it perfectly for you.
[1:07:20] And then what we had seen at a previous
[1:07:23] meeting maybe last year,
[1:07:26] um they actually had it on their
[1:07:28] homepage
[1:07:30] and click for the survey
[1:07:32] to take the survey.
[1:07:34] And I cannot remember, I believe they
[1:07:37] did publish their numbers.
[1:07:43] Let me see if I can
[1:07:45] find it.
[1:07:47] And the results of the survey.
[1:07:58] » And this was Shrewsbury's Yes.
[1:08:01] Commission that initiated this and ran
[1:08:03] it?
[1:08:04] » Mhm.
[1:08:04] » Mhm.
[1:08:05] » They have
[1:08:06] » Last last spring they did this.
[1:08:09] » Okay.
[1:08:10] » I lost April.
[1:08:12] » I have lost track of time.
[1:08:16] » Well, that's okay. We kept kicking the
[1:08:18] can down
[1:08:18] » You're you're saying 2025?
[1:08:21] » Yeah.
[1:08:22] » Okay.
[1:08:22] » They they did it I want to say they did
[1:08:24] it in the spring, so it must have been
[1:08:26] spring of 2025.
[1:08:33] » That's fantastic. I mean, some of the
[1:08:34] find not directly, but some of those
[1:08:36] findings would be relevant for us, too.
[1:08:38] I've just kind of general concerns and
[1:08:41] » Mhm.
[1:08:42] » They would just be actually really
[1:08:43] helpful for us to have that info if we
[1:08:45] could get like a summary of the survey
[1:08:47] results.
[1:08:48] Um and then the specific stuff for
[1:08:50] Grafton and town website, etc.
[1:08:53] » I wish we there was some way to reach
[1:08:56] people who are younger to do it, too.
[1:08:58] Like those in school school-aged because
[1:09:01] they're still using the town and they
[1:09:03] have disabilities like
[1:09:05] you know, even if we can make the
[1:09:07] language as simple as possible and have
[1:09:09] it go out in a variety of places.
[1:09:14] » They do not have any of their minutes
[1:09:17] posted, but I'm seeing on the June 2nd
[1:09:19] they did go over the community survey
[1:09:21] results.
[1:09:22] » Okay.
[1:09:23] » So, they might still be going over them,
[1:09:25] but I don't they do not have their
[1:09:28] meeting minutes posted.
[1:09:31] At least for this year.
[1:09:33] Oh, they have October 7th was the last.
[1:09:37] Uh-oh, they might need you, Christie.
[1:09:40] » Yeah.
[1:09:40] » [laughter]
[1:09:41] » Nope, she's taken.
[1:09:44] » Christie has a new gig, right?
[1:09:46] » Really.
[1:09:48] » Yeah, they're
[1:09:50] they're a little behind.
[1:09:56] » Some of that survey though, I feel it's
[1:09:59] too open-ended.
[1:10:01] And I don't think we're going to get
[1:10:03] what we really want. Um
[1:10:05] » Too much too many options for writing
[1:10:09] it?
[1:10:09] » No, it's too it's too general. So, what
[1:10:11] do you think the challenges are? Like
[1:10:15] you know
[1:10:17] like what are the challenges that you
[1:10:19] encounter in communication?
[1:10:22] What are the challenges you um
[1:10:24] encounter in um traveling around
[1:10:28] Grafton?
[1:10:29] You know, just
[1:10:30] » Uh
[1:10:30] » Keeping it general, but let's give it
[1:10:32] some context.
[1:10:34] » Yeah.
[1:10:35] So, I will I will share with you the
[1:10:38] meeting minutes from the October.
[1:10:41] And
[1:10:44] can everyone see my screen?
[1:10:46] » Yes, now we
[1:10:47] » 34 people responded.
[1:10:50] » And they're a city.
[1:10:53] » Yep.
[1:10:54] » No, they're not a city.
[1:10:56] » Yeah, it's city well, it's town of
[1:10:57] Shrewsbury, but they're considered a
[1:10:59] city in terms of their population.
[1:11:01] » Oh, okay. Yeah, 40,000 or so, 30,000.
[1:11:04] » Yeah.
[1:11:04] » They still They still have the
[1:11:05] government of an admin. They have and a
[1:11:08] select board.
[1:11:10] » Yeah, but we I mean, when you compare
[1:11:12] them to us
[1:11:14] » 34 of them. Terrible.
[1:11:17] » So, that's that in a nutshell.
[1:11:22] I think we'd have to do some sort of So,
[1:11:25] seven emailed stating they'd like more
[1:11:27] information.
[1:11:29] Um
[1:11:32] You know,
[1:11:33] Ooh. I think
[1:11:36] the person that is upset or negatively
[1:11:40] affected, I think to have these things
[1:11:42] available to them to speak their mind
[1:11:45] and to have an a way to get answers.
[1:11:49] Um I think that's what the goal is, not
[1:11:52] necessarily trying to improve the entire
[1:11:54] town. I think it's that person that ran
[1:11:58] into this odd thing that we don't know
[1:12:01] anything about, and then it's brought to
[1:12:03] our attention, and we can address it,
[1:12:05] and that makes a big difference in their
[1:12:06] life.
[1:12:08] Um you know,
[1:12:09] a lot of things I I deal with a lot of
[1:12:12] complaints, and
[1:12:15] I would never know about them until
[1:12:16] somebody actually called me and said,
[1:12:18] "Hey, there's this
[1:12:20] thing happening over here." And then I
[1:12:22] I'm able to address it if I can.
[1:12:26] So, it brings attention to whatever
[1:12:29] shortfall that we have,
[1:12:32] and it makes the person, instead of
[1:12:34] feeling like they're not heard or that
[1:12:37] it doesn't matter, at least there's
[1:12:39] something like this, maybe even if it
[1:12:41] makes one person's life
[1:12:44] different, you know, and and better, and
[1:12:46] it they've been living with it for
[1:12:48] years, and no one's ever asked them,
[1:12:50] "Hey, can I do anything for you?"
[1:12:53] If even there was, you know, 10 people
[1:12:56] saying, "Oh, this is this sidewalk is
[1:12:59] broken and every time I do this and, you
[1:13:02] know, I fall almost fall over." What
[1:13:05] whatever it is.
[1:13:09] » Let me ask you this, Tracy and and and
[1:13:12] um
[1:13:13] well, and Christie and Sarah as well.
[1:13:16] Um
[1:13:16] however we do a survey,
[1:13:20] um
[1:13:21] I'm thinking that it's standard that
[1:13:24] at the top of the survey,
[1:13:27] um it's advertised what the running time
[1:13:30] is. So, people know that, okay, what's
[1:13:33] the expiration date of this survey?
[1:13:35] And whether we put some of these in hard
[1:13:38] print as well for various areas of town.
[1:13:42] Um not everyone uses computers.
[1:13:44] And
[1:13:47] is there a typical window
[1:13:51] of number of weeks
[1:13:53] that is sort of standard
[1:13:55] um
[1:13:56] for these types of surveys? 3 weeks? A
[1:13:58] month? What what
[1:13:59] » I think it should be rolling. I think
[1:14:02] you should just leave it up there.
[1:14:04] » All right.
[1:14:04] » You know,
[1:14:05] you want to send us some feedback. These
[1:14:08] are kind of inquisitive and
[1:14:09] thought-provoking questions.
[1:14:12] And maybe we have a clipboard with a,
[1:14:14] you know, hard copies and we go to the
[1:14:17] senior center or we do our the big truck
[1:14:20] night and we Would you like to
[1:14:22] participate in the survey? It's
[1:14:24] anonymous and then, you know,
[1:14:27] maybe we do it that way. Maybe we don't
[1:14:29] call it a survey. Maybe we just say
[1:14:31] questionnaire or
[1:14:33] » Get your opinion on some things.
[1:14:34] » Yeah.
[1:14:35] » Yeah, maybe yeah.
[1:14:37] » Counts.
[1:14:39] » I saw a paradigm shift then because I'm
[1:14:41] thinking that,
[1:14:42] you know, this whole boxing myself into
[1:14:46] this window and then we have to gather
[1:14:48] the results, but really it it's it's
[1:14:52] more just
[1:14:53] feedback. Like I don't I don't Like for
[1:14:56] me, I don't need the formality of
[1:15:00] you know, {quote} {unquote} results
[1:15:02] other than
[1:15:04] what are what's being brought to our
[1:15:05] attention, and what's being done to
[1:15:08] address it.
[1:15:10] » Well, I think it could be possibly very
[1:15:12] productive for this commission to
[1:15:15] actually work towards addressing the
[1:15:17] concerns from
[1:15:20] these pieces of paper or these
[1:15:21] questions.
[1:15:23] » Right.
[1:15:24] » You know, we want to have more community
[1:15:26] involvement and make a difference not
[1:15:28] only with just putting information
[1:15:31] on the website and having these meetings
[1:15:34] and hoping somebody will call us and
[1:15:36] tell us, "Hey, this you know, I'm having
[1:15:39] an issue with this." But
[1:15:41] you know, life is very busy. So, if
[1:15:44] we're at the senior center, if we're at
[1:15:46] the various
[1:15:48] um events,
[1:15:50] and just have it available, have it on a
[1:15:54] a table,
[1:15:56] you know, you could get creative where
[1:15:58] because you know that when you have an
[1:16:00] issue, you want to tell somebody. You
[1:16:02] want to tell the right person. So, if
[1:16:04] this is a just an available form,
[1:16:08] you know, you might be able to get your
[1:16:10] concern to the correct person.
[1:16:12] » Right.
[1:16:15] » And these people have good ideas that
[1:16:17] are living it. They have good ideas on
[1:16:19] how to fix things. They have good ideas
[1:16:21] on you know, so no one else can
[1:16:24] have the challenge, whatever it may be.
[1:16:27] » Right. And even absent someone tackling
[1:16:30] one or more of these questions, uh I
[1:16:32] guess also
[1:16:34] uh
[1:16:35] more prominently and frequently
[1:16:37] advertising our own commission's uh
[1:16:40] email.
[1:16:42] » Yeah.
[1:16:42] » The people may just want to sh-
[1:16:45] one-off shoot us a question or a
[1:16:47] or a uh some feedback or opinion or
[1:16:51] an area of improvement or something.
[1:16:54] compliment Hey, those are always good.
[1:16:57] You know.
[1:16:59] » Yeah, we can we can hope.
[1:17:02] » Yeah. I'll tell you when I was on
[1:17:03] library trustees, there when I first
[1:17:06] that was on from '23 to '26.
[1:17:09] And for the first year, there was this
[1:17:11] awesome part of the agenda where the
[1:17:16] um library I think they still
[1:17:19] keep track of these opinions where
[1:17:22] someone will either send an email or
[1:17:24] write a little note on a uh uh uh uh a
[1:17:27] little piece of paper and it's all these
[1:17:29] positive comments and they're like pages
[1:17:31] of them. So-and-so So-and-so helped my
[1:17:33] child do this or so-and-so was really
[1:17:36] gracious in addressing my frustration
[1:17:38] regarding
[1:17:40] log- logging on to genealogy and there's
[1:17:42] like they'd usually be a few pages of
[1:17:44] these um
[1:17:46] sort of kudos um and and
[1:17:50] it's it's refreshing
[1:17:52] compared to just hearing when people are
[1:17:54] dissatisfied.
[1:17:56] » Yeah.
[1:17:57] » So.
[1:17:57] » That's like. No, I'm just kidding.
[1:18:00] » Yeah, but that's why they pay you the
[1:18:02] big bucks, Tracy, right?
[1:18:03] » Yeah.
[1:18:03] » Yeah. All right.
[1:18:04] » Yeah, exactly. I can take it. I can take
[1:18:07] it.
[1:18:07] » There you go. So what what do you
[1:18:09] » Yeah, I think um
[1:18:12] through my experience of dealing with
[1:18:15] the challenges
[1:18:18] having an avenue for someone to
[1:18:21] communicate with us what it is is just
[1:18:25] everything.
[1:18:26] So even if we put it out there forever
[1:18:28] and we get two people a year
[1:18:31] you made that person's year.
[1:18:33] If you could fix what their concern is.
[1:18:35] » Right. All right, so let me ask you this
[1:18:37] then uh
[1:18:40] time frame All right, what are the next
[1:18:42] steps, action items, time frame,
[1:18:45] the scope of what we'll do and and and
[1:18:48] » We could reduce the We could reduce the
[1:18:51] questions
[1:18:52] if we think it's too long.
[1:18:54] Um you know, take a 30-second
[1:18:59] questionnaire.
[1:19:00] » Mhm.
[1:19:01] » Leave your comments in 30 seconds.
[1:19:04] People will do that.
[1:19:06] I don't even think they would do 2
[1:19:07] minutes.
[1:19:08] But they do 30 seconds.
[1:19:10] » I think to ask people for their specific
[1:19:12] disability information,
[1:19:15] I mean, we don't need to know there
[1:19:17] this, that, or the other thing. Just say
[1:19:20] Um do you have a physical,
[1:19:21] psychological, learning I mean, just
[1:19:23] keep it again broad, four categories or
[1:19:26] and another.
[1:19:28] You know, we don't need to say, are you
[1:19:30] deaf? Are you blind? Are you
[1:19:33] um
[1:19:33] chronic health? Are you medically I
[1:19:36] mean, you know, we don't need to know
[1:19:37] that information.
[1:19:39] Just some
[1:19:40] » Right.
[1:19:40] » Just some broad brush
[1:19:42] categories, not the specifics, you know.
[1:19:45] » Yeah, because if people are leaving any
[1:19:48] if they come from a It becomes actually
[1:19:50] technically anything is a public
[1:19:52] document if it's electronically
[1:19:54] transmitted.
[1:19:56] Um with an identifiable email uh no less
[1:20:00] that I would not want to
[1:20:04] elicit private information,
[1:20:07] but we certainly
[1:20:09] There's ways to sort of tap dance around
[1:20:11] that to get useful information of how
[1:20:15] certain
[1:20:17] facilities or services are impactful
[1:20:20] either positively or negatively.
[1:20:22] » I think it's fine to remove
[1:20:26] the uh the question.
[1:20:28] » Mhm.
[1:20:31] » Or is there an option to have some
[1:20:33] questions required and some not? Like
[1:20:34] maybe we have like the what is the
[1:20:37] challenge or comment as the only
[1:20:39] required question or something I don't
[1:20:41] know. Um
[1:20:43] and that way someone can still
[1:20:45] go through and fill out as much as they
[1:20:47] want.
[1:20:48] I agree with simplifying and even taking
[1:20:50] out some of those questions, but we
[1:20:52] could just even do that so that way you
[1:20:53] can participate in the survey to the
[1:20:55] extent that you want to.
[1:21:01] » Do you want to re- Do you want to uh
[1:21:03] Tracy resend what you sent us back on
[1:21:07] the 27th of May?
[1:21:08] And then we can
[1:21:10] maybe have some I bring some ideas to
[1:21:12] how to
[1:21:14] truncate it.
[1:21:15] » Yes, are you mind reader?
[1:21:20] That's exactly what I was doing.
[1:21:21] » Oh, why I am a mind reader.
[1:21:23] » Oh, good. That's a good skill to have.
[1:21:26] » There you go.
[1:21:27] » Yeah.
[1:21:29] So everybody should have that fresh
[1:21:31] right now.
[1:21:32] » Okay.
[1:21:34] » And we can
[1:21:36] I'm okay with keeping it casual, too.
[1:21:40] And if you know, you never know which
[1:21:42] direction this could take off in.
[1:21:45] » Mhm.
[1:21:46] » Okay.
[1:21:49] All right. So
[1:21:53] So let let's um
[1:21:56] think about some of these things and
[1:21:57] then we can
[1:21:58] maybe
[1:21:59] bounce things around in our August
[1:22:01] meeting.
[1:22:02] » Sure.
[1:22:03] » All right.
[1:22:05] All right. Thank you. Awesome.
[1:22:08] All right, moving on.
[1:22:11] Um any other old business I threw on
[1:22:13] there. I I can't think of anything.
[1:22:17] Um
[1:22:19] then new business which
[1:22:23] could have been old business now that I
[1:22:25] think about we spoke about it at our
[1:22:27] last meeting, but new business.
[1:22:29] Uh National Night Out is Tuesday, August
[1:22:31] 4th. So, in the morning, I get to go to
[1:22:33] Silver Lake Beach, and then in the
[1:22:35] afternoon,
[1:22:36] uh we are hosting South Coast Wheelchair
[1:22:40] Tennis Foundation again
[1:22:43] at the Grafton High School tennis courts
[1:22:45] as part of National Night Out.
[1:22:47] I think that National Night Out,
[1:22:49] technically, the window is 5:00 to 8:00
[1:22:51] p.m.
[1:22:52] And I have been in touch Everything's in
[1:22:55] place. Uh Tom Dodd at the found tennis
[1:22:58] foundation,
[1:23:00] he and I connected.
[1:23:02] Uh
[1:23:03] He's up and ready to go.
[1:23:06] And I obtained I booked the courts.
[1:23:10] Funny
[1:23:12] thing is that
[1:23:13] we really only needed one set of courts,
[1:23:15] but there's no way to book just one set
[1:23:17] on the school website. So, we have the
[1:23:20] tennis courts between 5:00 and 8:00 p.m.
[1:23:24] And I obtained the insurance certificate
[1:23:26] that the school needed, the general
[1:23:28] liability certificate.
[1:23:30] And um
[1:23:32] So, everything's in place for the
[1:23:33] facilities and the insurance uh
[1:23:35] certificate
[1:23:37] to move forward with this. So,
[1:23:41] we will not be and we discussed this uh
[1:23:43] where we had the pause for people
[1:23:46] uh
[1:23:47] last year and in prior years, and
[1:23:50] we will not be doing that again this
[1:23:52] year. So, the only thing we'll be uh
[1:23:54] doing is
[1:23:56] the hosting the tennis.
[1:23:59] So,
[1:24:01] I will be there.
[1:24:03] Anyone else planning on being there
[1:24:06] that would want to represent uh
[1:24:10] us?
[1:24:12] » I'll be around.
[1:24:13] » Yeah, but I'll be out of town that week.
[1:24:15] I'm so bummed.
[1:24:15] » Maine.
[1:24:17] » I'm in Maine that week.
[1:24:19] » Oh, okay. Well, I will definitely be
[1:24:21] there.
[1:24:22] I was able to make it last year. I was
[1:24:24] in Nova Scotia.
[1:24:26] And I heard it went I heard it went over
[1:24:28] very well.
[1:24:30] And um
[1:24:32] I guess
[1:24:33] uh
[1:24:35] they also invited um
[1:24:39] folks to either play against them on
[1:24:41] foot or in wheelchairs.
[1:24:44] And so, I know they'll be bringing extra
[1:24:46] chairs.
[1:24:47] And
[1:24:49] so, just as a reminder, the only
[1:24:51] difference between
[1:24:53] uh wheelchair tennis and non-wheelchair
[1:24:56] tennis is
[1:24:57] um
[1:24:59] using the entire court
[1:25:01] the doubles perimeter
[1:25:04] uh for singles and
[1:25:07] being allowed two bounces of the ball
[1:25:10] versus one.
[1:25:12] And that that's basically it as far as I
[1:25:14] understand.
[1:25:15] So, so
[1:25:18] uh and then what they have is what's
[1:25:19] called one up, one down.
[1:25:21] Where if I'm not in a wheelchair and I'm
[1:25:24] standing and playing against someone
[1:25:26] from the foundation
[1:25:28] um I'm only allowed one bounce, but
[1:25:30] they're allowed two.
[1:25:31] So.
[1:25:32] Yep.
[1:25:34] And that that's advertised on their
[1:25:35] website. They call it one up, one down.
[1:25:38] So.
[1:25:39] Um
[1:25:40] So, Sarah, you've been to National Night
[1:25:42] Out, right?
[1:25:43] » I actually haven't.
[1:25:46] » It's like the biggest, hugest block
[1:25:48] party on the planet. It's um
[1:25:50] it it's held on the police station
[1:25:54] grounds and and it extends into the high
[1:25:57] school. Um
[1:25:59] uh just it's a it's a um
[1:26:03] it's really primarily advertised as a
[1:26:05] public safety event, but it's really
[1:26:07] more of a community block party where
[1:26:10] all the committees in in in town have
[1:26:12] tables set up.
[1:26:14] Uh the sheriff's department has tables
[1:26:16] set up. They have the SWAT team there.
[1:26:18] They state police have come in with
[1:26:20] their
[1:26:21] with their dogs and in the past and
[1:26:24] they have games and prizes and helmet
[1:26:27] bicycle helmet giveaways and
[1:26:30] all sorts of swag and
[1:26:31] » Oh, yeah. It's
[1:26:33] and it's a 3-hour event that um
[1:26:37] Yeah, it's it's on
[1:26:39] Yeah, it's on the police station uh
[1:26:42] uh
[1:26:43] grounds.
[1:26:44] So.
[1:26:46] So, it's a it's a Yeah, how did you miss
[1:26:49] that? Yeah, that was
[1:26:50] » I don't know.
[1:26:51] » Yes, so that's that's so that yeah
[1:26:55] told anyone with kids, it's like you got
[1:26:58] to you got to go there, you know? And so
[1:27:01] um
[1:27:02] so I don't know if if now that you'll be
[1:27:04] there, whether you want to get bogged
[1:27:06] down as as trying to
[1:27:08] you know, hold down a place as part of
[1:27:10] the accessibility advisory commission,
[1:27:12] but versus going there as a mom.
[1:27:16] Um
[1:27:17] but I will definitely be there um
[1:27:20] the entirety.
[1:27:22] And I think last year they
[1:27:25] We did Christie on the front end of
[1:27:27] things last year.
[1:27:28] » One there last year.
[1:27:30] » Was it 4:30 from 4:30 on?
[1:27:34] Or
[1:27:34] » I was there from 4:30 on.
[1:27:36] » Okay.
[1:27:37] » A long night, but you know, it was fun.
[1:27:40] » It was. And they the year before they
[1:27:43] couldn't even though it stopped raining,
[1:27:45] unless the court is completely dry, it
[1:27:48] it stopped raining in the morning,
[1:27:50] but the court
[1:27:51] was not completely dry and that was a a
[1:27:54] slip hazard. So, we had to like
[1:27:57] cancel it literally last minute. So.
[1:28:01] Anyway. Um
[1:28:03] so all right, then I will I will take
[1:28:06] charge of this and I will take plenty of
[1:28:08] pictures. And I'm wondering um
[1:28:11] you know what I'll do? I'll call a
[1:28:13] community advocate.
[1:28:15] If everyone's okay with that, maybe they
[1:28:18] could, uh, cover that and the Graph the
[1:28:20] News
[1:28:21] as well as the Graph the News.
[1:28:29] All right.
[1:28:30] I'm just going to highlight that in
[1:28:31] blue. All right.
[1:28:36] Any type of, um,
[1:28:39] advert tising of those types of events
[1:28:41] is awesome.
[1:28:43] And, um,
[1:28:45] any other new business?
[1:28:47] Um,
[1:28:49] are we premature in discussing Graph the
[1:28:51] Celebratory Holidays?
[1:28:53] I think we may be.
[1:28:58] » But, I think we did a lot of great work
[1:28:59] tonight.
[1:29:01] » Cool. All right.
[1:29:03] » Off.
[1:29:04] » Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Right. Right. Yeah,
[1:29:07] it's already We're already 8:00. All
[1:29:10] right. Any other new business? I just
[1:29:11] put that in as a placeholder. Um,
[1:29:14] so, uh, does anyone else have any new
[1:29:17] business?
[1:29:21] Okay. Our next meeting
[1:29:23] will be, um, Tuesday, August 11th at
[1:29:26] 6:30.
[1:29:28] And via Zoom. And on that note, I'll
[1:29:32] certainly entertain a motion to adjourn.
[1:29:38] » So moved.
[1:29:41] » All right.
[1:29:42] And do I have a second?
[1:29:45] » Second.
[1:29:46] » All right, Sarah. Second.
[1:29:48] All right.
[1:29:50] All right. Um, motion made and seconded.
[1:29:52] All those in favor by roll call.
[1:29:54] Christie.
[1:29:56] » Yes. I.
[1:29:57] » Sarah.
[1:29:59] » I.
[1:29:59] » Tracy.
[1:30:00] » I.
[1:30:02] » Roger, I declare the motion carried.
[1:30:04] This meeting is adjourned at 8:03 p.m.