4.19.2023 Commission on Disability

this is a meeting of the Fall River Commission on disability for Wednesday April 19th 2023 um and I will Begin by reading the open meeting law statement pursuant to the open meeting law any person may make an audio or video recording of this public meeting or they transmit the meeting through any medium attendees are therefore advised that such recordings or Transmissions are being made whether perceived or

unperceived by those present and are deemed acknowledged and permissible

I'd like to begin this meeting um I'd like to begin this meeting um by by paying our respects and tribute um a moment of silence to um the father of our vice chair Antonio Silvera Debbie Pacheco is our vice chair I'd like us to have a moment of silence and respect um and tribute to Mr Silvera

thank you thank you all very very much thank you I'd like to be I'd like to have now the roll call Sandy Jim and Dennis paulselli uh president Vice chairman Debbie pachico president commissioner Lisa Silva commissioner Dan robillard Roswell commissioner Antonio Souza present okay um next item is public input so I will ask three times if there's any public input first time is there any public input

is there any public input and then last call is there any public input okay the next item is the approval of the minutes for the meeting of February 8th 2023 emotional accept the minutes of the Fall River disability commission for February 8 2023.

second second okay um any further discussion okay we'll go for a roll call

come in demonselli yes Vice chairman Debbie Pacheco yes commissioner Lisa Silva Dan robellard I'm sorry commissioner Dan robard yes commissioner Antonio Souza yes the next item on our agenda is our guest presenter um sorry guys hang on a second Alexa stop Alexa stop my smart speaker went off without any prompting um okay so our our next presenter there's been a change in the um Fall River police departments um

position of enforcement traffic Commander it was to be Jason pachico as it says on the agenda but we now have a new individual and I'd like to introduce them to you um uh his name is Sergeant Luis duard am I saying that correctly yes sir Louis dual Lewis okay um so I'm going I'm going to turn the floor over to Sergeant Lewis Duart good afternoon everybody uh I'm happy to

be here like um Dennis just said I was recently put um in command of the traffic enforcement unit um this is my inaugural meeting with you fine folks um I look forward to working with you in the future and assisting in any way I can and uh if you're having a good long partnership here okay um so Sergeant Sergeant Dwight has just begun in this area um so we we won't be having a a report at

this meeting um but we do continue to get reports from uh from we haven't from uh from particularly Sergeant Kevin Dolan we get them pretty much on a monthly basis so I'm I'm going to go ahead for purposes of budgetary purposes in the frpd I'm going to go ahead and call for a motion to renew our disability parking enforcement program for another year so I do I can I do I have a motion to that effect

the motion that we continue are the work that we're doing with the form of a commitment with the former police department and that we continue um to renew our agreement with them okay do I hear a second to that she goes I'll second that motion okay is there any discussion do we have and maybe this is I don't know when we have to discuss this do we need to put

an amount on that within our motion or or is that after um I I don't know the exact figure I know the the uh the the the the um the total is 128 000 and I'm not sure of the change part of it but I'm sure with that for accuracy um we can we can look that up okay but I'm just not sure of the change part or suppression of it Mr chairman go

ahead yeah thank you just for purposes of accuracy and uh we can have somebody double check it but uh and there already was a second on the motion correct yes it was uh okay uh basically the motion should just read uh in the prior amount there wasn't okay that what hasn't been there hasn't been a requested change by the Fall River Police Department so I believe I I I'm gonna go out on a whim

and someone can check the accuracy of my statement but I believe it's 128.032 okay that sounds about right but I think to be on the safe side we could say at the current rate does that make sense too absolutely okay is that okay with um with the motion maker who was our vice chair if we just if we add to at the current rate I would agree with that um commissioner

pasulli I just wanted to make sure I don't know if we needed to capture that in the motion so so I make a motion that we continue our agreement with the forever police department at our current um rate that we currently have with them okay now does the second of um and of of Ann O'Neill Souza still stay okay are there any other is there any other discussion Mr chairman very briefly yes

I I just want to go on the record and make it crystal clear to both the new traffic commander who I look forward to working with and the two offices that are are currently uh um uh executing this program for the commission uh my vote on this matter is no reflection on the Fall River Police Department whatsoever uh my vote reflects other concerns I have about the program that are outside the scope of

the Fall River Police Department okay um that being said I'm gonna call for a roll call vote foreign yes Vice chairwoman Debbie Pacheco yes commissioner Dan robillard no commissioner Ann O'Neal Souza yes okay motion Pat motion passes um so I will be okay uh go ahead very briefly uh let's let them reckon reflect in that vote that commissioner Louisa Silva was absent okay um I I just want to

um tell everybody that I've been in touch I've already been providing some information some documentation from the memorandum to um previous monthly reports to Sergeant dwark and Sergeant toward I thank you for taking the time to introduce yourself this afternoon and we've been renewed for another year outstanding Dennis um I know I had spoke with you earlier about potentially getting uh information as far as what's

happened lately uh again I I want to apologize to this committee um of of this uh the way this transfer happened um this is very short notice so um I'm still trying to get up to speed with all of my new uh roles and responsibilities but if you all would like I do have some um stats regarding the issuance of parking uh violations for handicap concerns from January February and March obviously we're in

April so those numbers aren't valued if you'd like me to read those off for you all you know what um see is somebody else somebody want to um would it be easier and I'm just going to ask this to the rest of the of the rest of my colleagues um if you email them to me I can get them to the whole commission would that be all right with everybody else

Dennis do you think there'd be any advantage though to have those numbers reported out so we have them in the minutes okay we could do yep that's fine that's fine we apologize if I'm stepping out of order here like I said this is my first time it says a specific way you prefer this done I will I will adjust uh no I actually think the vice chair has a good point too so

um but I also hear commissioner robillard wants to say something so go ahead Dan

I I don't recall them being in the minutes but no I I mean that would be an awful lot of work uh for you know this Quirk and any other one I have no objection to the side than reading them but I I don't think uh uh I mean if we want to put out uh supplement documents with the minutes that's one thing but that the need all these numbers recorded

within the minutes I personally as one member don't think it's necessary so okay is there any other comments like I said I apologize if I overstepped my bounds there I just wasn't sure exactly um how much information I'm required to be providing on these calls but I can definitely put this all together an email for you over the last three months and just blast it off to you Donna I I think

we can have them read for the public notification I mean this meeting will be will be seen on government TV so and on our website okay I need some uh I need some feedback here how does I guess that's basically what I I guess I was looking for since we're in a public meeting that we just report out the numbers whether or not we capture them in the minutes is neither

here or there but I just think it just goes along with what our discussion has been and why um the value of of renewing the um the agreement but that was that was my only thinking with it I just like to hear the numbers since we don't have it in front of us so so thank you okay I completely agree with the vice chat okay I'm I'm going to save Sergeant's work if Sergeant dwar doesn't mind

um let's go ahead and read them so that the puppet gets it the public gets a good Glimpse um of of uh what that what the officers and their hard work and what they do they're okay this is um I'm gonna have this simplified down so it's bearish bone so basically for the month of January um if you're in a weird these officers work uh two different gifts they work in

8 A.M to a 4 P.M and then two days a week they work a 4 pm to a 12 a.m shift so they cover uh the entirety of the day um for the month of January a total of 47 um handicap infraction tickets were issued for a total amount of ninety four hundred dollars in fines um for the month of February just so you guys are made aware um February was the beginning of our

in-service training so officers are taking out of their um initial duties and they have assigned a whole week of In-House training for things that need to be up kept I.E um DPR criminal law updates all those things um so offices were uphold this for the month of February so uh the total for handicap infractions for February was a total of nine for eighteen hundred dollars they were all again just a

normal handicap fractions come March it went up to a total of 23 um handicap infractions were issued uh two of those infractions were actually labeled as misuse which is if you if you don't know is a 700 fine so that was a total net of fifty six hundred dollars um in fines for the month of March and like I said before we are still in April so I have not compiled that data yet

any questions on these last three months Mr chairman is very very briefly Mr Simmons thank you uh thank you Sergeant duat for reading the numbers and I just have one question uh not nothing to do with the numbers themselves but rather something you said about the uh about the shifts the offices are working sir am I to understand that uh five days a week they work uh a uh eight hour shift

from approximately 8 A.M to 4 P.M and then uh two two days a week they work a second shift is that correct sir no sir I'll explain that real quick so this department works on a full uh four on two off schedule the officers will come in and they will work four days in a row they will have two days off and then the cycle continues with another

four on two off so the way this unit is broken down our first two days on would be the 4 P.M to 12 a.m shift the the midnight shift and then our last two days on um they typically work 8 A.M to 4 P.M and then they would go on their two days off and then it's rinse and repeat I will say um as things pop up if special attention is needed in a certain area at

a certain time these officers all know that this schedule is subject to change but if you were to look at it for for the way it is normally scheduled it would be two shifts day one and two four to midnight and then days three and four would be the eight a.m to four okay um when you put when you send the reports to the gym uh yes would you would you

would you make a notation in there about the the breakdown of of the shift for say a current weekly I do have that provided like just for instance real quickly January it was a total of 47 tickets but I have it broken down the 8 A.M to 4 P.M p.m shift netted 35 of those tickets whereas the 4 pm to 12 a.m netted 12 citations okay as I fell out it'll be broken down as such

yeah and uh I I I I wonder if uh I I wonder and this is not directed toward toward you Sergeant I'm just thinking out loud I wonder if that is the same um the same uh level of service as is in our current uh mou uh I I I would eventually like to sing a copy of the current mou that we're using uh with the Fall River Police Department and I'd

like uh I I I I why concerning how we act to review uh the current mou and within 90 days I I I'd like to see uh a a uh revised or update in mou and just to make sure uh that if there's been any changes in how the shifts are broken down uh through contractual uh obligations with the police department that's fine I don't know whether that's the case or not but however however the

shifts are I believe uh that it should be spelled out in the mou between this commission and the Fall River Police Department and thank you Mr chairman I yield okay um is there any further comments from anyone out in the commission okay hearing none thank you so much Sergeant for your time Julie I'm here to help anything I could do Dennis you have my uh contact info uh again I look forward to working with you

all and thank you for your time thank you okay the next item is our scholarship program um in the past we have allocated thirty thousand three thousand for each student we've had 10 students in the past uh past couple of years and we've allocated three thousand dollars this year we received a one thousand dollar donation from the bay Coast Bank this is one thousand all total um what I'm suggesting before we make the

motion and of course will make the motion and discuss and well before we vote but what I'm suggesting with the extra thousand as we divide that amongst the 10 students so that the total allocation this year would be 31 000 with each student getting a 3 100 scholarship the 100 is um is important because books are are not are not cheap anymore um so it's it's it it's a it's a little extra money anyway so

um does anyone do we do we want to make a motion first before we discuss it or I I just have a general question before before any motions are made Dennis and this is just uh a thought a point of clarity I'm not married to how this goes as far as the format I wonder if we should make two motions and give them the fact that they close bank has offered a thousand dollars uh

should we accept that as a separate motion we could so let's let's go for the we could do a motion on the commission's allocation of of thirty thousand or three thousand per student that's directly from the commission do we want to make that emotion folks I I will make a motion that uh the the form of a disability commission allocate thirty thousand dollars for the year 2023 for scholarships uh uh for Fall

River students with disabilities that are glad you're waiting seniors and we'll be attending college uh okay the motion was seconded by Anne O'Neal Souza um is there any further discussion okay hearing none I'll entertain a roll call vote see all these books of roll calls so Tim and Dennis Paul Sally yes Vice chairwoman Debbie Pacheco so I had just stepped aside for a minute I had texted Ian O'Neill so I don't know

what the vote is for right now okay the vote the vote is for the commission to allocate thirty thousand dollars um see if I can remember all of that for Fall River students with disabilities the rest of that Dan going into college yeah yeah basically like we've always done as a matter of fact Mr chairman if you don't mind to make it less confusing I'd like to withdraw that motion and simply say that we allocate uh

thirty thousand dollars I'd like to make a new motion allocating thirty thousand dollars for the year 2023 uh for scholarships for uh students with disabilities okay um do I hear a second to that oh second Chico okay I seconded by Debbie pachico any further discussion um could you guys mind if I make a little clarification and say Fall River students with disabilities yes absolutely I I love these students

should be forward of a residents that needs to be underscored uh very clearly okay so that's my friendly yeah that that's my error and I accept that as as a friendly Amendment because I should have put it in the original motion okay um with that I will entertain a row called vote Tim and Dennis paulselli yes Vice chairwoman Debbie Chico yes commissioner Dan robelard yes commissioner Ann O'Neill Souza yeah

okay motion passes unanimously and now separate motion for Bay Coast Bank yep the way to make a motion with the floor of a disability Commission accept the donation of one thousand dollars from Bay Coast Bank to be used for scholarships uh for individuals with disabilities that are Fall River residents okay is there a second to that motion thank you all right is there any further discussion on that motion

okay I'll entertain a roll call vote Jim and Dennis paulselli yes Vice chairwoman Debbie pachico yeah commissioner Dan robard yes commissioner Ann O'Neal Souza yeah thank you next item uh work group updates and I can tell you from an ada we are still a work in progress on a number of of ADA issues from the audible pedestrian signals to other progress to other projects we will be meeting with the um

assistant superintendent for special education on April 26th as a work group to see what is going on in the Fall River School System with respect to um Ada and special education issues so we'll be working with them um I've also invited the assistant superintendent of special education to um obviously to the scholarship event uh on June 3rd so um she is relatively new she started in

November but we'll be meeting with her in in April next is policies from Vice chair Debbie pachico no updates at this time thank you um you've all you should all have um you should all have the the uh from under Finance you should all have the the budget report it was combined February was it no was it March and April no I forget it was March and April uh no February and March okay February

and March I apologize so that that's that has already been sent to you so um and the last item under work groups is Outreach and um we're all set with um schools have all reported and um we will now go about the task of making sure that we find out guests and things like that and we have to have that no later than around May 8th because we have to have the the bills in all paid

by um two weeks before the event was just June 3rd so roughly by May 15th um is there anything else under this item am I missing anything Dan or not that I can see I don't know I don't have the agenda in front of me but okay I I don't see anything okay um okay so next is old business is there anything on their old business okay new business then um the next meeting

excuse me in the next meeting will be Wednesday May 10th um 2023 but before I entertain a motion to adjourn I have two things that might be of interest to people these are virtual these are Workshop opportunities provided by the Massachusetts office on disability they're virtual they're of no cost and they are of one hour the first is reasonable accommodations and requests for modification for housing

and that Workshop is going to be on May 3rd Wednesday May 3rd and it's for I think it's from noon to 1 pm but I can I can definitely resend the um the information and so that's Wednesday May 3rd bless you this is all on Zoom and um the next thing is about service animals let me um I'm trying to get the exact the exact thing here um service animals serviced animals in

public places and that's not until Wednesday June 7th uh and that's also that's a 1 pm to 2 p.m so these are good these are good workshops I can resend them but they're virtual you don't have to leave your your um places of residence or offices um and they're put on by the Massachusetts office on disability and I just thought I would um I would tell you that those are available those are made available when

they're they're rather interesting because service animals there's always a lot of misunderstanding of what constitutes a service animal where they can be um what rules govern them and that um that kind of thing so that's always an interesting topic and of course housing is always an interesting topic so um I thought I'd make those those two opportunities available so with that I can entertain a motion to adjourn

Arsenal and John okay second second okay um I'll entertain a roll call vote Jim and Dennis paulselli yes Vice chairman Debbie pachico yes commissioner Dan robillard yes commissioner Ann O'Neill Souza yeah we're adjourned thank you thank you have a good day