Fall River disability commission refers $10,000 cap question to city law department, tables ramp request

The Fall River Commission on Disability voted on Feb. 12 to request a legal opinion from the city law department about a policy that would cap personal funding requests for residents with disabilities at $10,000, and then tabled a pending private ramp request until the commission’s March meeting.

The discussion centered on a policy originally adopted in 2021 that allows the commission to consider “proposals on an individual basis to residents of Fall River,” and on a proposed amendment that would cap those personal requests at $10,000. Vice Chair Debbie Pacheco read the proposed text aloud, saying the policy requires that “once funding has been approved by the commission, the allocation will be sent directly to the service provider and not the individual requesting services,” and that funds for renovations “will not be released until an inspection by the building inspector has determined that the rules and regulations of the Massachusetts Architectural Access Board has been complied with.”

The commission debated whether state law permits using handicap-parking revenue for improvements to private property. Chairman Dennis Paul Celi, who…