The Fall River Commission on Disability convened on Wednesday, April 9th, 2025, with Chairman Dennis Pelli, Vice Chairwoman Debbie Pachico, Commissioner Dan Roblard, and Commissioner Ann O'Neal Souza present. The meeting began with the unanimous approval of the minutes from the March 12th, 2025 meeting. Chairman Pelli provided an update on the accessible trail bill, noting it is being reintroduced this year, and committed to circulating information for a vote of support at the May meeting. Vice Chairwoman Pachico reported no new policy updates but confirmed that a request for a legal opinion, previously discussed, had been formally submitted to the corporation council by Attorney Gary Hoak.
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Okay, this is the meeting of the Fall River Commission on Disability for Wednesday, April 9th, 2025.
0:13Um, pursuant to the open meeting law, any person may make an audio or video recording of this public meeting or may transmit the meeting through any medium.
0:29Attendees are therefore advised that such recordings or transmissions are being made whether perceived or unpersceived by those present and are deemed acknowledged and permissible. Okay. Um I'll entertain a roll call.
0:52Chairman Dennis Pelli here. Vice Chairwoman Debbie Pachico here.
1:00Commissioner Dan Roblard here.
1:03Commissioner Ann O'Neal
1:10Souza. I know she's here.
1:14Here. Sorry. That's okay.
1:18My apology. I I knew you were here.
1:22So, okay. The next item is public input. Is there any public input? Is there any public input? And I'll ask for the last time.
1:41Is there any public input? Okay. Hearing none, we will go on to approval for the minutes of the meeting of March 12th, 2025.
1:57Motion to accept.
2:01Second. Okay. Thank you. Um, is there any discussion?
2:10Okay, I'll entertain a roll call.
2:13Chairman Dennis Pelli. Yes.
2:16Vice Chairwoman W Pico. Yes.
2:20Commissioner Dan Robelard. Yes.
2:23Commissioner Annne O'Neal Souza. Yes.
2:28Okay.
2:30Um, next item is workg groupoup updates um under ADA. I I I don't have any particular update for today, but I will say that um in the main meeting. I will have some information for you about the accessible trail bill because it's being um brought up again this year.
2:53Um and I did attend a meeting yesterday on Zoom um about this bill. Um, but I'll have a lot on it. I'll have stuff for you. And I'll also be sharing some information with all, you know, via email electronically before the May before our May meeting so that we can vote on it in the May meeting. It's it's certainly not a cost item, but it's it's probably going to be to um for the commission to
3:26go on record to support the accessible trail bill. And I just want to update everybody on what's been done last year.
3:33But I need to get everything together in my own head.
3:36So, so I will have that for you at the May meeting. Are there any questions about that?
3:47None at this time. Okay. Next item is policies from Vice Chair Debbie Pico.
3:55Are there any policy updates? Um, at this time there's no policy um updates.
4:01I do can just let the commission know that we did put in the request to um corporation council for some a legal opinion on that matter that we discussed at last month's meeting and we're just waiting for that update. Yep. And I got the same update from uh attorney Gary Hoak that he formally submitted the the u request for an opinion to the corporation council. So that's in progress but that's in process right
4:31now. Um the next issue that next item is finance. You should have received the budget report for March and this leads us to D which is outreach um under scholarship. Um, and I'm going to consolidate. Well, let me let's let's do this first cuz I'm going to consolidate because after speaking with our treasurer last night, I I I found out that usually well, I didn't find out, but it was I was reminded that the
5:05um we usually include the deposit for next year in the bill. So, I'm going to there's going to be two items to vote on. The first item is the actual amount for the scholarship and the second item would be the expenditure for the event for this year which will include the deposit for next year. So let's take one thing at a time, the scholarship. And looking at our account, we have over $132,000 and
5:43change. Last year, we uh awarded uh $1,500 scholarships and for the past three years. Prior to that, it was 3,000.
5:56This year we have a total of six schools participating with one school so far has only so uh one school will only be submitting one candidate. So we'll have a total of 11 recipients. Our work group is recommending that we um that we allocate for each recipient $2,000 scholarship. that would still leave us even with even with um the amount that I'm going to recommend for um that we're going to recommend for the
6:34event itself. That will still leave us in our account $100,000. So, um I will entertain a motion and a discussion to allocate the sum of $2,000 for this year's recipients.
6:52Uh motion. motion to uh award $2,000 uh per scholarship recipient.
7:03Okay. And just just to um just to clarify one thing, I left it out. There will be a total of 11 recipients this year. Um one school only submitted one applicant. So um so there'll be 11 recipients. So the motion is on the floor.
7:22Um, I will now open up for discussion or questions or anything like that. Uh, we need I need a second before we can I'm sorry. I need Debbie Pico. Debbie Pico will second that motion.
7:37Okay. Now, will I'll entertain discussion.
7:45Um, I do have to give you guys some information because there's been a change in date and I didn't mean to leave that out. So, I just want to, you know, for the in for, you know, complete transparency and all of that. There was a mixup, which can happen when you're dealing with a lot of banquetss and weddings and graduations and all of that stuff that McGovern's restaurant has to
8:10deal with. But um there was a a mixup and because of that we had to change the date from May 3rd to May 24th 2025 and we have already been okayed um not formally in the book yet but we've been verbally okayed for May 2nd which is a Saturday 2026. So you have all the pieces now. So are there any questions or discussion on this motion?
8:48If if the treasurer and if we're comfortable with the amount based on what we currently have and knowing that no other apprentices, we are not doing the the the police detail, then I'm pretty comfortable with that. I don't know if anyone else has any any further thoughts.
9:08Okay. Hearing none other, I'm going to go for a I'm going to request a roll call vote.
9:17Chairman Dennis Palscelli, yes. Vice Chairwoman Debbie Pico, yes.
9:24Commissioner Dan Robelard, yes.
9:27Commissioner Ann O'Neal Souza, yes.
9:30Okay, thank you. That's unanimous. Okay. So, the next item is for the event itself, which includes food, cake decorating, and all of that.
9:41Um, and we're um um we're recommending that we allocate uh a sum of an allocation of $8,000, which should cover um and that doesn't mean that that's what we're going to spend. That's just an allocation that we have on hand. Um, so that would cover the event itself, the food, the any decorations that we use, that kind of thing.
10:10And we have never motion to allocate $8,000 for the general scholarship event.
10:19Do I hear a second to that?
10:22Okay. Um, Debbie Pico will second that.
10:26We we have never spent that amount in the past. um just to just so you have a you know again just so you have um complete information and at that point I'll open this for discussion and
10:46questions. Okay. Um hearing none I will call for a roll call vote.
10:54Chairman Dennis Paulelli. Yes. Mhm. Vice Chairwoman Debbie Pacho. Yes.
11:00Commissioner Dan Roblard. Yes.
11:03Commissioner Ann O'Neal Souza. Yes.
11:08Okay. Thank you. Um that takes us to the next item which is old business. Is there any old business?
11:20No. Okay. Hearing none. Is there any new business? Our next meeting will be Wednesday, May 14th, 2025.
11:36Um, and we don't have any guest schedule, but I will have some information on accessible trails and stuff like that.
11:45Um uh uh I did I did ask if she would be interested in dialing in and she told me to listen to the meeting first to see what I thought and because she didn't she thought that a lot of material was self-explanatory but um if you guys would like her to dial in um I could ask her to do that um and we don't have to decide that today but if you want to
12:12give me some feedback um offline. That's okay. Who's that, Mr.
12:18Chairman? The um I think her name her name is her last name is Vandera. Um I forget her first name.
12:26She's from Western Massachusetts and she's been leading the whole campaign for an accessible trails in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts.
12:36The legislation was um not taken up last year, but what the governor did was she implemented um the spirit of the regulation, which is she did she did appoint a work group to study the trail, accessible trail, which was part of the legislation. But what they really want is um a standalone legislation to make sure it all happens.
13:04So that's really what they want. So, they refiled the bill. I I'll have I'll have the Senate number and I'll have the House number and that will all be in the the material that I will be circulating with everybody when she sent it to us. So, is there any other new business? Okay, I will entertain a motion for adjournment.
13:35Second.
13:37Do I I I can't do that. I need somebody to to make the motion.
13:41Motion to do I hear a second. Debbie Pico. Second.
13:48Okay. I will roll call. Chairman Dennis Pauli. Yes. Vice Chairwoman Debbie Pico.
13:57Yes. Commissioner Dan Roblard. Yes.
14:02Commissioner Ann O'Neal Soua. Yes.
14:05Okay, thank you. We're adjourned. Have a good day.