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HomeMy WebLinkAboutCommission On Disability - Minutes - 01/29/1996COMMISSION ON DISABILITY MEETING MINUTES January 29,1996 Council Liaison: Alan Apt Staff Liaison: Blair Leist 11 Nancy Stirling Chairperson: Ray Sanderson Home Phone: 493-9340 Work Phone: 482-2700 Members Present: Roy Beauchamp Peggy Irish Ray Sanderson Tom Brannigan Mark Kramer Chris Rock Angela Byme Kathy Lassen Jackie Hyatt Shirley Reichenbach Members Absent: None City Staff Present: Blair Leist, Administrative Services, Commission Liaison Nancy Stirling, Administrative Services, Commission Liaison Tom Frazier, Transportation Dept. Gaylene Rossiter, TransFort Michelle Johnson, Dial -a -Ride Visitors: Frank Blakely Carl Leader (spelling?) Introduction: The meeting began at 2:35 pm. (Monthly meetings are usually on the third Monday of each month. Due to a holiday on January 15th and difficult weather conditions on January 22nd, the meeting was held on January 29th.) Chris Rock was introduced to the Commission as the newest member. She is currently employed with Poudre R-1 and is very interested in issues concerning the disabled. She has some family members with disabilities which "as they affect her family, they also affect her." All those present also gave a brief introduction of themselves. Commission on Disability Meeting Minutes January 29, 1996 Page Two Dial -a -Ride update (presented by Tom Frazier and Michelle Johnson) Tom Frazier, of the City of Fort Collins Transportation Department, gave a brief synopsis of the change over from Care -a -Van to Dial -a -Ride. As of January 2, 1996, Dial -a -Ride is handling all transportation requests for senior citizens and disabled individuals. A main objective for Dial -a -Ride at this time is to reduce costs by: 1) use of Vans and Buses; 2) use of Shamrock taxi drivers; 3) and scheduling "group" rides for individuals with same (or close to ) pick-up and destination sites. Some problems they have encountered during the first month of full operation were: scheduled people too tightly; bad weather (snow storms) gets them behind; no back-up plan in place to cover when a schedule gets off (driver doesn't show up); some customers were "resistant" to being picked up in a van (versus a taxi). Dial -a -Ride and Transportation personnel are working to resolve these issues: The Dispatch office has been working on the scheduling; drivers receive next days' schedule the night before so they can plan their trips/routes; and computers are running better. Michelle Johnson is the supervisor for the Dial -a -Ride program. She added another problem in that the Dial -a -Ride personnel are not familiar with the clientele -- there were some communication problems in trying to understand what exactly the customer needed (exact pick-up time or time of appointment). In order to resolve this problem, Michelle and the Dial -a -Ride staff will "work" with each individual to determine their needs. Michelle explained a reason that some of the costs are unnecessarily high is due to individuals who use the Dial -a -Ride system who really do not qualify for these services. Costs and service could be better managed if those individuals would utilize other services like Transfort and the SAINT program. Some concerns voiced by Commission members were: - Hours of operation: No Sunday service. No evening service. - Concern that transportation limitations pigeon -hole [disabled] people; by having to ride with a group it infringes on individuals' rights (to be able to ride alone) - lateness of delivery to appointments or to work - problem with dispatch Commission on Disability Meeting Minutes January 29, 1996 Page Three - not enough drivers; schedules too tight - drivers working long hours, unsafe for them and their customers - emergencies: Dial -a -Ride requires 24 hours notice. What happens if you are sick and need to get in to see a Doctor? Michelle explained that Dial -a -Ride will do everything possible to make arrangements for emergencies. Tom Frazier brought up that at the upcoming February 20 City Council Meeting an Executive Summary of the Transit Development Plan will be presented to the Council for review. The COD was encouraged to support this effort and stress the importance of quality and available transportation for the disabled. Since there were so many concerns and ideas regarding Dial -a -Ride and transportation, it was suggested and agreed that Commission members would write down their issues and concerns and forward them to Blair or Nancy. These concerns will then be compiled and forwarded to Michelle at Dial -a -Ride. Michelle will be invited to attend a future COD meeting to discuss the concerns. Transfort and Disabled Rider Support (presented by Kathy Lassen) Kathy brought up to the Commission a situation of a disabled individual. This individual uses a wheelchair and enjoys utilizing Transfort services to meet people. To be able to ride the bus, it requires time for the individual to be able to board and disembark the bus (he prefers to do this on his own, which takes some time) as well as someone to strap him in and unstrap him from the bus. This individual has received some flack and feels intimidated to the point that he does not enjoy riding the bus anymore. Some drivers have been unwilling to take the time to wait for him to board and disembark as well as strap him in. What can be done so this does not happen? What kind of training do drivers get in regards to disabled passengers? How can drivers become more sensitive to the needs and wishes of disabled passengers? Recommendation: Sensitivity training. Drivers should receive some sensitivity training. They should also receive "disability training." Need to make this issue important to the drivers. Michelle informed that drivers do get sensitivity training when obtaining their "PAT" certification. (Michelle will try to get a copy of a summary of the PAT certification training for the COD to look at.) Commission on Disability meeting Minutes January 29, 1996 Page Four Disabilfty Awareness Day/Week/Month (presented by Frank Blakely) The Hewlett-Packard (HP) branch in Fort Collins puts on an annual "Disability Day" to encourage their employees to become more sensitive towards the needs and limitations of disabled persons. Some activities pertain to coping skills, disability awareness, etc. A planning team, "Physical, Informational, Emotional (PIE)," at HP is spear -heading this event. HP would like to include other Fort Collins businesses, as well as the City of Fort Collins, in this event - to make it city-wide. HP usually holds their event in June or July. A definite date has, as yet, not been named. Frank proposed this idea to the Commission. The overall response to this idea was very positive. Suggestions to declare a "Disability Day" in Fort Collins and promote the idea to businesses to get involved. There was concern that "we" would not be able to implement such a grand -scale plan, to do it justice, in such a short time. It was suggested that HP do their event on a smaller scale this year and the event can build up to a larger scale in the fixture. Frank will take our suggestion to the next PIE meeting (February 21st). Kathy Lassen was volunteered (and graciously accepted) to attend the next PIE meeting to offer support and suggestions. 1995 Annual Report Blair submitted a draft of the 1995 Annual Report for the Commission to review. Additional comments and corrections given by the Commission members will be included in the report before it is turned in to the City Clerk's Office this week. 1996 Workplan Will be discussed and put together at the next Commission meeting. The meeting adjourned at 5:05 pm. The next Commission on Disability meeting will be Monday, February 12 at 2:00 pm in the CIC Room, City Hall West Building.