Meeting Minutes 01/22/2016

Westport Commission on Disabilities

Meeting of Jan. 22, 2016

The meeting at the Town Hall Annex was called to order at 3:45 p.m. by Chairman Stanley Cornwall with the following members present: Vice Chair Anders Newcomer, Rose Rego, Robert Alves, and Raymond Phenix. Recording Clerk Robert Barboza was also in attendance.

A motion to accept the minutes of the Dec. 11, 2015 meeting as submitted was made by Mr. Alves, and seconded by Mr. Newcomer. The motion passed unanimously.

Mr. Cornwall led a discussion of invoices for consulting work from CLE Engineering for the Beach Avenue dune crossing project, noting a memorandum sent from the Community Preservation Committee (CPC) requesting a vote to approve payment of a 2014 invoice for $2,208.37. The memo also requested a decision on a potential management plan for the project, urged no further expenditures on the matter until past due amounts are taken care of, and included an invitation for commission members to attend an upcoming CPC meeting to discuss the future of the plans. Mr. Cornwall suggested the memo should be interpreted as a “cease and desist order” from CPC on any further expenditures. Mr. Newcomer made a motion to have the CLE invoice for $2,208.37 paid by the CPC from its administrative account, seconded by Mr. Alves, passed unanimously.

Discussion continued on CLE invoices for $3,264.49 and $148.00 related to Beach Avenue and dune crossing project consulting work. A motion to authorize payment of the $3,264.49 invoice from CPC grant funds was made by Mr. Alves, seconded by Mr. Newcomer, and passed unanimously. Mr. Cornwall indicated that Co-Chair John Pelletier had verbally expressed his approval of both invoice payments. A motion to pay an invoice from the recording clerk for $96.43 was made by Mr. Alves, seconded by Ms. Rego, and was approved unanimously. Discussion regarding future plans for the dune crossing project led to a general agreement that the plan should be abandoned. Mr. Newcomer made a motion that the planning effort be stopped, and the CPC advised that the balance of grant funds awarded should be “returned” to CPC for re-granting; Mr. Phenix seconded the motion, which passed unanimously.

Mr. Cornwall advised the committee that a recent meeting with the Highway Department and the Westport Land Conservation Trust resulted in an agreement that the Highway Department would be responsible for maintenance of the mobi-mat walkway on Beach Avenue. Legal issues regarding road access have been resolved by the town, and the Highway Department cleared to clean and maintain Beach Avenue to the end of the roadway, he reported. Further discussion focused on other potential locations for beach access improvements for people with disabilities, including the end of Acoaxet Avenue and East Beach. It was noted that the Beach Committee is reconsidering options for the installation of a wooden walkway at East Beach.

A discussion of future agenda items included the Westport Land Conservation Trust request for input on ways to make all their local properties as accessible as possible for people with disabilities. Mr. Alves was assigned to contact the Recreation Commission about a meeting to talk about potential accessibility improvements to town-owned playgrounds. Sidewalk improvements and snow-clearing issues were also mentioned as a future agenda item.

The next meeting of the commission was scheduled for 3:45 p.m. on February 26. A motion to adjourn came at 4:30 p.m. from Mr. Newcomer, and was seconded by Mr. Alves. The vote was unanimous.