HomeMy WebLinkAboutCommission On Disability - Minutes - 02/09/2006COMMISSION ON DISABILITY
MEETING MINUTES
Thursday, February 9, 2006
• Fort Collins City Hall
Council Information Center
12:15 p.m.
Attendance: City Staff Liaisons
Susan Williams Steve White
Melinda Suits Annie Houston
Joan Cook
Terry Schlicting
Beverly Hageseth
Peggy Graff
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Guests
Ingrid Decker
Jerry Patterson
Call to Order: Susan Williams, Chairperson, called the meeting to order at 12:24 p.m.
2. Nominations Reopened/Vote: Nominations for new officers were as follows:
Susan Williams, Chairperson
Vice Chair, Steve Rierson
Terry Schlicting, Historian
Joan Cook, Secretary:
Motion: Peggy Graff made a motion to approve the list of candidates as new officers of the
Commission on Disability. Susan Williams second. Motion carried.
• 3. Approval of Minutes of the January 12, 2006 Meeting. There were two corrections to the
minutes of the January 2006 meeting. On page one, last paragraph, second sentence should read;
"She had a meeting with Ingrid..." On page two, Subcommittee Reports, Art Show Committee;
the third sentence was stricken and "the Art Show Committee will send out letters seeking
sponsors if they can," was inserted.
Peggy Graff made a motion to approve the minutes of the January 12, 2006 meeting as
amended. Beverly Hageseth second. Motion carried.
4. Introductions: Introductions were made around the table and included Beverly Hageseth and
- — —Ingrid-Deeker-who-is-an-Assistant-City-Attemey-for •l_-u.o roi ,�Fr4-CollinsT WW-reported-there--
are eight attorneys in their office, all of whom work for Steve Roy, the City Attorney. She stated
each attorney is assigned a different service area within the City and based upon which
department services they work with, they also provide legal advice to various boards and
committees. Ingrid stated her main areas are Cultural, Library and Recreation Services and she
advises the Parks & Recreation Board, the Golf Board, Cultural Services, and Senior Center and
also works with the Purchasing Department, does Real Estate work and is one of the Municipal
Court prosecutors. She stated she was assigned to COD because one of her assignments is to
work on issues relating to the American with Disabilities Act. She stated she is available to
answer questions about procedures, meeting protocol, questions regarding the bylaws, questions
about the city code and how it relates to the COD or legal questions related to the work COD
does with the Council. (See New Business section for further discussion.)
Beverly Hageseth gave a brief history of her background and stated she would be attending the
• orientation on March 1. She did not come to the January meeting as she did not have the
meeting schedule at that time.
5. Open Discussion General Public: None:
6. Old Business: Susan stated that at the last meeting she had asked Steve White if the Commission
had any money to cover the cost of certificates of appreciation for builders who participate in
PHA. Steve stated he did not have any information to report at this time. Joanie received a copy
of the budget today from Jerry Patterson and will bring copies to the March meeting for further
discussion. Joanie distributed the new COD brochures and Susan asked Commission members to
take some to distribute throughout the community. If more brochures are needed, please let
Joanie know.
Annie Houston distributed revised copies of the 2006 COD meeting schedule and stated that as of
March 23, all future sub -committee meetings will be held in the Utilities Training Room at 700
Wood Street. She will also make changes to the COD phone/e-mail list and distribute at the
March meeting.
Peggy Graph stated she would like a copy of the work plan and Joanie stated she will make
copies of the work plan and budget for everyone and distribute at the March meeting. It was
noted that Bill Livingston was not in attendance today as he had a doctor's appointment in
Denver. It was also noted that Steve Rierson was absent due to being ill.
Steve White reported he received an e-mail from Ron Uteman, Poudre Fire Authority, stating that
Ron is putting together an emergency preparedness committee. Susan asked if it would be
appropriate to ask Ron if a member of the COD could sit on that committee. Steve stated he
would call Ron to see if that would be a possibility and Peggy Graff volunteered to sit on the
committee if appropriate. Joanie stated the NOD web site has information regarding emergency
preparedness for people with disabilities, their web site is www.nod.org.
7. New Business: Ingrid Decker stated she was asked by Susan Williams for advice regarding fund
raising by the COD for the Art Show and a request by Steve White to review the bylaws. In
regards to the fund raising issue, Ingrid stated that fund-raising is not specifically authorized by
any of the Board or Commissions within their functions and it's debatable whether the City
Council or City Manager would agree that fund raising is an appropriate activity for the Boards or
Commission to be directly engaged in. The main concern is that if we were doing something that
we aren't specifically authorized to do as a Board or Commission and some problem arises such
as someone trying to sue us because of something we did as part of the fund raising activity, the
City would not be able to provide us with a legal defense. The other issue relating to fund raising
concerns how the money should be collected, received by the City, how it should be
apprepriat,e and -how -it -should -be -expended �vhich�smor�f � �� + 'stsltedissue which
would need to be worked out between the City Manager's office and the finance department.
Ingrid did offer several suggestions relating to fundraising. She stated we could ask City Council
to amend the code to specifically allow fund raising by specific Boards and Commissions or
make recommendations to the City Manager's office or the service area directors about projects
that we think need funding and give suggestions on how that funding could be acquired, having
the actual fund raising be done by city staff rather than by the Boards or Commission members.
In summary, Ingrid stated she did not think the COD should send out a fund raising letter but
recommended working through our liaison to come up with a process to raise additional funds.
Susan asked if it would be appropriate for Barb Schoenberger to send a letter to her contacts
requesting sponsorship for the Art Show as she is not a member of the COD. Ingrid stated that if
Barb's supervisors feel it is appropriate and within her job responsibilities, then it may be
appropriate to send out a letter on behalf of the Senior Center saying the City of Ft. Collins is
looking for sponsors for the Art Show event. Ingrid reiterated that Bard needs to get
management's approval before any letter is sent out and management needs to decide, if
donations are received, what account the money would go into and who would have authority to
disperse it. Susan will talk to Barb at the Senior Center.
Regarding the bylaws, Ingrid stated she reviewed the bylaws to see if they were consistent with
city codes and that she did identify a few minor items but they were not significant enough to
• warrant revising the bylaws at this point. She stated that if the Commission has the need to redo
the bylaws in the next few years, those issues can be addressed at that time.
Melinda ask why the overdue book fees go to the general fund and not to the library
directly. Ingrid stated she did not know the reason and said she would look into it.
Ingrid's contact information is: 416-2553 and idecker(),fcaov.com.
Susan Williams stated she talked to Carolyn Harms of Dial -a -Ride regarding COD's letter to
City Council asking City Council to keep the night service, which they did. She stated that
after talking with Carolyn, she is worried that things are slowly moving toward privatization and
she wondered if it would be appropriate to write a letter to the City demanding they never let
go of having a Dial -a -Ride service supported and funded by the City. Melinda suggested writing
a letter thanking for them for what they have done and then add a paragraph suggesting they keep
the valuable service to the community.
Motion: Melinda Suits made a motion that COD write a letter to the City Council
thanking them for keeping Dial -a -Ride night services. Terry second. Motion Carried.
Susan volunteered to write the letter.
6. Subcommittee Reports
• Budget: No report. Joanie will have copies of the budget and work plan to
distribute at the March COD meeting.
• • Practical Housing for All: No report.
• Heavy Doors Employment: No report.
• Mayor's Awards: No report. Need to schedule a meeting
• NOD Award: No winners have been announced as yet.
• Public Outreach: No report.
• COD Web Site: No report.
• Media Relations: Susan still has heard nothing from the Coloradoan.
Terry suggested asking them to put something in the paper every 3 months or
SO.
7. Community News and Updates: None.
Susan reminded the COD of the February 23 Art Show Committee meeting.
8. Adjourn: The meeting was adjourned at 1:30 p.m.
Respectfully submitted by
Joanie Cook
COD Secretary