Holyoke commission reports ordinance on sign removal, individual sign request and accessibility training; council chambers renovation flagged for review

The Holyoke Commission on Disability on June 27 reported several administrative and outreach developments: an ordinance enabling removal of obsolete handicapped parking signs cleared the city's ordinance committee, the commission has advanced one individual sign request, members recapped accessibility trainings and urged outreach for a planned disability survey.

Lynn Horan, chair of the Holyoke Commission on Disability, told members she attended the ordinance committee meeting in May and sent the commission the final order that was written and cleared by legal staff. The ordinance addresses removal of a handicapped sign when the resident who required it no longer needs it; Horan said “everybody seemed to be satisfied and that order passed.” The meeting did not record a local vote by the commission on that ordinance, which was handled by the ordinance committee and legal staff at the city level.

The commission also reviewed a pending application for a handicap parking sign for Elijah Santos, age 15, who lives at 330 Jarvis Avenue. Horan said she completed a site visit and concluded the applicant had a need because the parking lot for the building is “fairly far away” and the applicant's caregiver must carry him from parking to the apartment. Horan said she and ADA officer Kelly Curran contacted the Department of Public Works official John Mokun, who advised that an order from the city councilor for the ward would be needed to address a nearby no-parking restriction. Horan said Councilor Juan Burgos agreed to investigate and report back to the commission.

Kelly Curran, the city's ADA officer, reported attending multiple accessibility trainings and said recordings are available for commission members. Curran flagged a session on sign-language access and said it highlighted differences in how people for whom English is a second language may access sign-language services or rely on lip-reading. "There is a recording, so I can share it with you all and you could watch at your leisure," Curran said.

Commissioners discussed upcoming local events, including an accessible-trails walk in July organized by state advocates, and a film festival hosted by the Northampton Commission on Disability to mark Disability Rights Month. Horan asked the commission to plan summer outreach for a community survey intended to gather data on local needs; she cited a 15.7 percent disability rate for Holyoke drawn from the most recent census as motivation for broad outreach.

Members also received an update on renovations planned for the city council chambers. Horan said the ward councilor leading outreach had pledged to keep the commission informed and that the commission should be included in design discussions to ensure accessibility needs are addressed. One commissioner who attended the subcommittee meeting on chamber redesign said designers presented sketches and the subcommittee selected two preferred layouts for refinement; most design changes discussed involve rearranging the dais and desk so no one has their back to the audience.

The commission approved minutes from the May meeting with minor corrections (a fiscal-year notation and a misspelled name) and closed the meeting with no further formal action on outreach items.