 You're right. Okay. This is the June 14th meeting of the disability access advisory committee. We are all present, but Maureen can do a roll call so that all the names are. Okay. Myra. Here. Xander. Here. Ruth. She's muted, but I saw her. Okay, I'm here. I'm sorry. I'm sorry. I'm sorry. I'm sorry. Elise. Here. She said she was coming back. Oh, she's here, but I can't hear her here. Oh, you're here. Sorry. Marty. Here. And also present is Pat. The Angeles. What about Tori? Oh, do I see Tori? Sorry. Tori's not here. Okay. So Tori is missing at the moment. Okay. Tori. And then also present is a town council member of Pat. The Angeles. Yeah. Sustainability coordinator, Stephanie. Chickarello. And we will have. Representative from Aspen Heights and attendance. They're probably just running a couple of minutes. Oh, she's here. Rachel, we will make you a panelist. But first we'll have Stephanie give her presentation to the board. Okay. So this is about the bicycles. Bicycle stations. Correct. Okay. So I'm going to share my screen. So if you just give me one moment. Okay. Can you all see that? Okay. Do you need me to make it bigger? Perfect. Can folks see this? You're going to need to describe it because I can't show it at all. No matter how big you make it. Okay. We'll do. All right. Thanks for letting me know that actually, because that helps. All right. So the first map I'm putting up right now is of all the. Existing locations. Of the bike stations for the valley bike regional bike system. In Amherst. These are just the town. Sponsored or town owned stations. These are not the ones on the UMass campus. They are located in the north of Amherst. Um, because the university of Massachusetts oversees the placement of those stations. So these are the ones in town. The furthest north is outside. There's a, there are dots representing each location. And the one furthest north is at the north Amherst outside of the north village or what was previously the north village apartment complex on North pleasant street. Uh, the most, the southern one below that is at Kendrick park. So that is a circle representing the one in front of town hall. And then to the west. Is a station on East Hadley road. Um, I'm sorry, on university drive. And then there's, um, To the east is a proposed, there's a dot that says proposed. And that is on the intersection of college street and northeast and south east and southeast street. And then further south is a location on. East Hadley road. And then below that the furthest south is a red dot that says proposed. And that one is at the primary village intersection. So the two that are identified as proposed are the two locations that I'll be discussing with you today. So the next image that I'm putting up is an image of the existing station. And this is a map of the station. And this is a map of the station stations. This is one from that's located at the university of Amherst campus. And this doesn't show the way finding station panel, which is the, the panel is the thing that's sort of a vertical. Um, vertical structure that has a map. Um, on it that has a, that has a map of the, um, the network. And where the stations are located. And the one that we're proposing would have one of those as well. And sorry. And the next map I'm going to pull it up here is the proposed southeast street location. So again, it's at the corner of southeast and college street. And there's a, a dot that is just showing this location in reference to the, to like a big overview of that intersection. So it's just showing where the station is proposed. And that's to the, um, South of the south, right? South of the, of the bank. Um, and that's where the proposed station is located or is being proposed to be located. And now I'm showing a map that has the dimensions of the station in that location. So the stations are seven feet in width and, uh, 42 feet in length. So they're pretty long, but they do actually take up that space and there's a concrete pad because this is a lawn area that we're looking at right now. Uh, there would have to be a concrete pad that would be laid down in order to support the bikes being installed in that location. And the docs, the, um, stations come with docking, um, um, units that are each connected to one another. And that is where the bikes are placed when they're, uh, when they're returned or taken from the station, those docs actually provide some electricity to the bike to charge them. These are all electric assist bicycles, meaning that they have a motor and they have, um, they have a unit that will actually be charged that will provide the power to the, to the bicycle when it's in use. And the power source is located for the whole docking system is located within the way finding station. So it's sort of up underneath the way finding station. So it's covered and not exposed. And the next, the next map that I'm showing is just a kind of a property view. It's pretty much the same, um, map that I same configuration that I just showed of the configuration of the, uh, docking station, but it's, it's just a locus so it doesn't really give you much more information. So I'm going to move on from there to the next proposed location, which is on West street, which is just north of, um, of Pomeroy lane on the Pomeroy lane side of the West, uh, West Pomeroy intersection. And that location is before it's, it's north of the Monendove building. So this location, um, there is a building, but it does not appear to be in active use at the moment. So there is a business property there, but it's not really actively in use. It is on a lawn area. Um, and as I say, it's north of the Monendove. The reason why we chose this location is because, uh, in front of the Monendove or some of the other businesses, there was a conflict of vehicle traffic moving in and out of parking spaces. And in this location, we don't contend with that at all. Um, so it's a safer location. I should say that the reason why we've chosen all of these locations is because this funding that we received to install these stations is from a federal grant. It's a congestion mitigation and air quality grant. This is the same grant funding that we received to put in the other stations. And there are requirements that in order to locate these stations that we have to adhere to. So one of them is that they have to all be in the right of way. So the two stations that I'm proposing to you now are both in the right of way at the Pomeroy intersection. There aren't many places that we could adequately, uh, Situate these stations because there wasn't literally wasn't enough space and they weren't in the right of way. So. Do you define right of way as you're using it? Sure. The right of way is, um, the, the way that is in the, the public way that the town oversees. So it's not on private property. Um, and it's within the, the corridor, the travel corridor. Yep. So, um, this, this has to be within the right of way. They also have to be in a densely populated area. So both of these locations were chosen because they are, um, very close in proximity to, um, multi family housing units. Locations. Uh, they also have to be near, um, a public transit stop. So both of these stations are also fairly near to a bus stop. They can be near train stations, you know, and other transit stops, but in our case, uh, bus stops are the most, um, popular and readily available stops. Um, so it's near a public stop. It's in the right of way. It's in a densely populated, populated area. So all of these criteria are met with these two locations. So the next map is just again, um, a closer view of that location that we're proposing that shows the dimensions of the station on that, uh, lawn area in front of the business on West street. So that's pretty much all of the slides that I have to show you. Um, but as I said, the reason why we're, you know, we're proposing these specific locations is because they meet all of the criteria. And these are the ones that have been reviewed by the town manager and the DPW superintendent. And the DPW superintendent believes these to be the, the best locations, um, For these particular stations. Okay. Does anyone have any questions? Go ahead. Yeah. Where, where is the station going to be in relationship to the roundabout that they're going to be putting in over there? So I think, um, on, um, so I mean, you're talking about the West Pomeroy village location or the Pomeroy village location. So that would be north. It would be north of the roundabout. Okay. Thank you. You have two proposed locations, right? For the, for each one of them, you have two. There's, um, there's one proposed location for, so there's one proposed location for a southeastern college street. And there's one proposed location for West street. I was just showing you two different. Um, maps of the same. I was under the impression from the map. You sent us that there were some. Choices A, B, and C or one, two and three. Right. So I apologize. So I revised the, um, I revised the presentation given the input from the town manager. And the DBW superintendent to, to focus on just one of the locations in each, in each place. So the furthest from the most north from the roundabout. And the most south from the. Um, Intersection at route nine. Um, so for the, so for the intersection at route nine, it's the second option, which is, um, in between, it's not the one closest to the intersection, nor is it the one furthest. It's the in between location. It's on the lawn. Uh, just north of the sidewalk. And so, uh, for the proposal for the. Southeast street at the corner of Southeast in route nine. Uh, it would be street, uh, green, um, sort of like a tree belt sidewalk, then the bike station. So there would be a buffer between. Um, The road with the tree belt, the sidewalk, and then the bike station. So it wouldn't be between, I guess I was concerned about, uh, how close these would be exactly to the bus stop. Or where people would be crossing the street so that people wouldn't get tangled up in them. When they were trying to find. Crosswalks and other things. Um, so when I was told about the pictures that you sent, and I wish you had sent us some written material, some pictures, but when I was told about the pictures, my first response, and frankly, my husband's as well as the one by the Palmer, I should be the northern most one that you presented. I don't know what was presented because we don't even know where the roundabout is going to, how big it's going to be yet. Right. So we're, we're looking at existing conditions right now. So this location is north of this. No, this is pretty north. It's north of the bus stop. It's not right next to it. It's not directly adjacent to it. It's further north of it. Right. So is it the northern more, the more northern of the two you sent us in the picture? Yes. And so in that location, they're pretty close together. And I will say that these stations. Are very likely to be field adjusted. When they're actually installed. So even where I'm proposing to you now, they'll be in that general location, but there are, there may be circumstances that may cause the, or necessitate the need to move them. You know, right or left or north or south. So they'll be adjusted in the field by the installation crew. And when you say that you're talking about inches or feet, you're not talking about new locations. They wouldn't be a new, no, they wouldn't be a new and entirely new location, but the two locations that were proposed for West street, those are very close to one another. They really don't differ all that much. It was more a matter of having the bikes installed closer, you know, sort of right adjacent to the street or further back to the property line. So as proposed now, the bike station itself would be closer to the property line. Okay. So what do you need from us? It doesn't seem like we have very much in the way of input to give you. Well, if there are things that you're concerned about, you know, those are certainly things that I would convey. So, okay. Well, there are certainly things I'm concerned about, but how about anybody else? Let's hear what everybody else has to say first. Okay. My concern on. Pomeroy is because it's so far from the roundabout where the parking lot's going to be. Is there any plan for a crosswalk between those, that huge apartment complex across the street from the proposed location? So I can't speak to the, to the roundabout. I don't, I have not even seen proposed plans for that. I know as far as I'm aware, it's still in the planning stages. I can't speak to that. However, what we could say is that. You know, this, this committee would like to see some kind of a crosswalk adjacent to the, the station, which would be a good idea. Yeah, I think that's what we need. Especially because if you've got kids coming from the other areas and they're coming across, they're not going to go all the way down to the roundabout. Okay. Great. Thank you. Anybody else. This is not specific to this particular set of maps, but is there any conversation about potentially having. Hand cycles as part of this program at any point in the near. 10 years. So yeah, so I know that in the past. There have been. Discussions about. I know that there have been, there's been communication about it. I just don't know that it's. They're not being developed as fast as we'd like them to be. And they're not being adopted as fast as we'd like them to be. Okay. Thank you. Anybody else. I have a question. Elise. I don't have a. Raise hand. That's okay. Just go ahead. I'm just thinking as a pedestrian and people who ride bicycles. Is this, are these play? I don't know if my question is going to make sense. But people getting on and off these bicycles. Are they going to like interfere with pedestrian traffic. On sidewalks. Trying to get to and from the bike racks. That's an excellent question. We do currently have. So we currently do have stations that are located adjacent to sidewalks. Yeah. The, so I would say the, the West street location is not likely to really have. Much pedestrian traffic just based on where it is. There's not, you know, there's currently not a sidewalk. And there, I don't know if there's one that's going to be. Installed and connected through. It might lead up to it potentially, but I don't know that it would lead through so that there'd be a continuous. Pathway for pedestrians. The one on Southeast street would be located adjacent to a sidewalk, but typically what we've experienced is there's not enough. Pedestrian, you know, congestion of pedestrians. Typically walking by these that there's been a problem of people just stopping and waiting to pull out the bike or people stop and waiting for someone to do so. So it's really just a. It's a matter of just people, you know, being courteous with one another is there. They normally would be as they're walking along the sidewalk. Taking the bike out. Most, you know, we haven't really had a lot of issues with there being a heavy pedestrian traffic that it's been a problem. I just had experiences where even with a regular bike rack. You know, they go up on the sidewalk and they're like, you know, if you're walking. Right. And if your vision impaired like me, I can't, you know, I can't hear them and I can't see them till I'm being going to be hit. Right. Right. So I have a concern about, you know, people like myself and Myra. You know, getting hit by somebody coming through on one of those to get to one of those racks or from one of those racks. Right. I think, so I'm going to double check, but I know that. You know, there are, there are certainly guidelines and safety guidelines that are when people sign up for this system. There are, you know, there are recommendations and guidelines issued for people's safety. So that's one of the things that I think that's a great point to make. And I, I could make a suggestion too that that's something that's added to the website. That when people are getting or returning bikes, that they'd be especially careful of pedestrians if they're crossing sidewalks. Thank you. Sure. No, that's a great recommendation. Great. I have a question. This is Sarah. Are these two stations you're thinking about close to bus stops? Yes. They're not right next to them, but they are fairly near to them. And when you say fairly near, we're talking about, you know, 100 to 100. Yeah. So that's very close. Yeah, that's needed. They're, they're easily. Yeah, they're easily accessed. The bikes are easily accessed from the. From the getting off of us, but they're not necessarily. Right next to them so that they're going to be infringing upon people getting on and off the bus. Okay. Can you describe how this system works? I don't know that I've heard about trouble here, but I know that in the blindness world, these e-bikes are a major problem in cities where people are writing them all over the sidewalks and leaving them all over the sidewalks. They just, you know, they just, you know, they take the bike, they go where they want to go and they deposit the bike, whether they put it in the rack or not, you know, there are people that are hired to go around and pick up bikes and put them in the racks. And so I need to know a lot more about how this whole system works because even when a bike is not in motion, if it's lying in the middle of the sidewalk, it's a real problem. So can you tell us what, you know, how this whole thing works? How much do people pay for these things? When do they pay? Is it really possible for them to use a bike and not put it away and still, you know, because I know, I, as I said, I have no personal experience with this and I've not heard about it and issue here, but it is a major problem in big cities. So there are different, right? So there are different companies that have different rules and guidelines for using their bikes and using their systems. And one of the reasons we went with the company that we did was because there was more assurance that. That they monitor more closely and that people aren't allowed to necessarily leave their bikes just laying in the middle of the city. That being said, people can't, people can't just leave a bike laying somewhere they would be fined. So there is a finding mechanism or they wouldn't be allowed. You know, if they, if there was a continued abuse of that. Of the bicycles, they wouldn't be allowed to continue to use the system. So there are some guidelines and protocols for people using the system. People are encouraged to return them to stations. Very rarely have bikes been left. Somewhere other than. A designated station. Again, there's incentive, you know, there's a, there's a higher fee if people leave them elsewhere and they have to go to the station. So there are some guidelines and protocols for people using the system. People are encouraged to return them to stations. They're not allowed to leave the system. So there's a higher fee if people leave them elsewhere and they have to go be retrieved. There's a higher fee. That people would have to pay and to do that. But again, they're, they're meant to be left and. Locked somewhere. They're not meant to be just left on the sidewalk or left in the middle of somewhere. We haven't, we haven't had any issues with that at all. Since we've had the system. No, not at all, not even. Seriously, not even once. That's not an issue. That's not an issue. That's not an issue. That's not an issue. That's not an issue locally. But I know that there is a problem. For people with mobility issues, you know, even on sidewalks. If you can't see where they are, that's one thing, but they do people drive them on sidewalks. Oh, that's not good. Yeah. What are the rules? So I mean, because I think whether you place the. The, you know, the dock here or there really isn't the issue for me. I think it's a good thing to do. I mean, I think it's a good thing to do is to do with what happens with the bikes when they're not in the dock. Either lying on the sidewalk or. Being ridden by people who don't follow rules. And we all know there are a few of those people. So. Yes. Well, so, you know, the, the guidance says to where. Bikes can be written. Is not the control of the. Of the company. I mean, I think that's a good thing to do. And those are the rules and regulations that people need to follow. So that's not, you know, that's not something that we necessarily have control over. So you work for the company. I work for the town. No, I'm the town sustainability. So we do have control over. Well, we. The town, the town has rules and regulations for people when they're using this bicycle or any bicycle. So that's a good thing to do. I think that's a good thing to do. I think that's a good thing as to where, whether or not they can ride on sidewalks or not. The enforcement mechanism of that is, is what I'm saying is kind of beyond. The control of the. The operator of the, of the system. Right. No, I understand that. So, I mean, we can have a motion to. Approve these locations. I mean, I don't know that anybody would object to this. But I guess I'm, I'm, I'm very glad that you brought this whole topic to this committee. But I really do. I don't know the regulations. And I don't know how they're being enforced. And I don't know a lot of other things that doesn't have anything to do with the question of the day, but it may have something to do with the safety of pedestrians with disabilities. I don't know. I don't know. I don't know. I don't know. I don't know. I don't know. I don't know. Maybe that has to be a different conversation with different people. But, um, You know, I, anyway, does anybody else feel the need to have that conversation? I do. Yeah. Because you bring a very good. A perspective into this. From the, from the point of view of visual impairment. You know, I don't know. I don't know. I don't know. I don't know how to review the. Procedures they have the rules they have. I have a concern that it's just adding more bicycles to an already existing problem where. I can't tell you how many times I've nearly gotten run over. From people who don't follow the rules and to add more of these vehicles. To that. Scares me. Yeah. I don't know. I don't know. I don't know. I don't know. I don't know. I don't know. I haven't presented as an alternative transportation option to. More cars. So the idea is that, you know, when folks are using these, they're not using them for. A leisurely afternoon ride. They're really specifically using them to get from a point A to point B. And I know that's not directly. They're not really meant to be just taken out for a quick ride. They're meant to be taken, you know, from. From a bus stop to maybe a store and maybe back again. If someone's running an errand or. To a destination and then back again to be returned. They're not really. They're not really used for pleasure riding. I don't know. I think people on regular bikes also do the same kind of type of writing. You know, if you're on a sidewalk, it's not a leisurely ride. It's to get somewhere and they just don't want to ride in the street. Right. Well, I think what you're, what you all are bringing up really speaks to the need for more dedicated bike lanes. Also more enforcement to people who are breaking the rule. Yeah. But, you know, it's very hard to regulate individual behavior. I mean, we have rules and regulations when people are driving and they ignore them all the time. So unless you're going to have a police officer in every corner to enforce the regulation, you know, it's problematic. And it's always going to continue to be problematic for people who are not, you know, who are not as law abiding as we would like them to be. I was wondering if I could ask a question. Yeah, sure. Yeah. Can you hear me? Yes, I can. Thank you. Okay. Cause I had to unmute. I had to mute myself. Okay. I, Stephanie, you said there are town regulations. I don't know of them written into the bylaws. So can you tell me where they are so I can look them up? There wasn't. And so when the. General bylaws were crafted, there had been a non motorized. Vehicle. Bylaw. So. Okay. Because I had gone to the, the transportation advisory committee. This is during the select board days prior to town council. So, and I had spoken to them about it. So. And I don't, and I, I apologize. I haven't looked at where that ended up in the general bylaws, but I would think that there, that should be. In the general bylaws somewhere. I'd be happy to send it to them. I'll see if I can track it down. Cause I don't know it either. And I, yeah. And then I can share that with the committee. If my row would like. Sure. But these are, these are not motorized vehicles, but they are not entirely manually run vehicles. They're sort of in the middle. And there might not be regulations from, from yesteryear that pertain to this kind of vehicle. Yeah. They do go fast. You know, how fast they can go like 20, 30 miles an hour. No, they are not a lot. No. I mean, any bicycle can go that fast as someone who has been a bike rider in the past, a cyclist in the past, any bike can go that fast, but these are actually. The speed limit is about 15 miles an hour. That's the maximum. Yeah, I can go that fast on my tandem and tell you the truth. It's fast. I mean, if you get hit by a bike going 15 miles an hour and you, you happen to be in mid stride, you're on the ground. And, and, and it's not, and it's, it's an electric vehicle. So it's, you know, it's a power assist vehicle. So it's not like the person who is riding it is going to, you know, there's, there's resistance on the other end. It's not just like somebody's going to fall and stop. They're going to be able to continue to go. So there are reasons for pedestrians. Of all stripes to be nervous about this, particularly pedestrians with any kinds of disabilities. And I do think that it's worth looking into the bylaw. Whoever asked that question, Pat, you did. Right. Yeah. Yeah. You know, I think it's worth looking into the bylaw as it pertains to this kind of vehicle. This is not a normal bicycle. This is a bicycle that doesn't have only manual control. You know, the person who, who's riding it, who hits you isn't going to stop and, you know, isn't, it isn't going to impact them because they're, they have electric power. Right. So I, I think that we do need to have some real discussions about this before it becomes a problem here. As I said a few times, I have not heard about it being a problem here, but I know that it is one in lots of places. And it might be that this particular company is better than most. And it might be that the people here are more interested in putting the bikes away. And, you know, but I just want to make sure we have regulations and that people know the regulations. Maybe we need banners across the street that, you know, that tell people or well placed to tell people who have these bikes, what the rules are. And maybe I'm looking for trouble where there isn't any, but I'm afraid that that's not true. So if, if I may, um, so in, in, um, throughout the Commonwealth, um, there are, um, a boilerplate, uh, bylaw about, uh, cyclists in downtown, uh, zoning districts. Um, and so in our general bylaw, um, there is a provision, um, under section 3.13 conduct on public ways. Um, says under, uh, C, it says, no person shall operate a personal transportation vehicle upon any public sidewalk or public progestery and easement within the downtown general business district or urban renewal project area, except within areas at times or under conditions as may be designated by the town council. So what this is saying is that no one should be riding their bike on sidewalks in the downtown, um, BL, the, uh, BL in the BG zoning districts in particular, um, or that's prohibited. And, you know, I think there is an enforcement of $50 for a fine. And it is, you know, under the enforcement of the police department. Um, so I don't know how, you know, if, if this is a problem here in Amherst or if it's not, um, but that would be something for the police department to, um, Okay. Well, it's a different, it's a different topic. It's an associated topic. It's an associate. Right. And I would say that the system has been operating for two years now already. Um, and you know, I would say that we, um, have gone without incident. I don't. Certainly don't want to say that doesn't mean it's never possible. Just that, you know, just that I think, I think some of the issues that have arisen also tend to be in more urban areas that are more densely populated with more traffic, more people, you know, I think part of the reason why this works here well is because it isn't that densely populated and we don't have as much, uh, vehicle traffic as you would in, in the, you know, in the bigger urban centers like New York or Boston. And even, and I would say even to some of the problems about bikes being left around everywhere, I don't even hear about that happening in, um, You know, in, uh, in Boston or, or Somerville or Cambridge as much. I mean, I know those are places that have these bike systems and I haven't really heard of, of many problems recently. I just want to point out that in the last 15 months, there hasn't a bit of, haven't been a lot of people out. Right. Well, exactly. That's true. Not a good point. Very good point. I've seen, though, I live next, I live next to the North village one and it is often empty. And there are, I see people on those bikes all of the time. So that it is still no matter. And even through the worst of. COVID, I think that that was, it was used. Not for its intended purpose of getting you from point A to point B for a quick area. And I think it was honestly used by people who didn't have access, financial access to buying bicycles and used it as an exercise or just to get me out of the house kind of thing. Cause I saw people using it constantly. They were used a lot. And I think the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the issues, the, the issues, the issues that have been exposed to the public. And also it was an alternative to, to taking the bus to, for some folks, really more just as a, a public safety health safety issue. So I just want to check in. To approve. Yeah. We need a, to a question. I have a question. Very quick question. Excuse me for my ignorance. or license like saying no no no well you know like it how do we expect them to know the rules of the road if there is not really required for them to go in through some certificate they actually do when they sign up to be part of the program they actually do have to read through some some rules and guidelines of using bicycles on the road and bicycle safety so they actually do have to read that and sign off when they become a member of the system it's not a certification but it is they do have to actually read it and sign off on it okay does anyone have a motion or do we have to approve this I mean it doesn't seem like we do but was you did you come looking for approval or just for giving us information some giving you information getting some feedback I think you brought up some good points that I would like to share you know both in the presentation to the council but also to the company you know for itself for the bigger network I thought there were some good really great points that you all brought up and just to just to review some of those comments I heard that someone suggested that a crosswalk be provided adjacent to the bike share location on West Street route 116 I heard another member suggest that the company itself look into hand cycles for for future installation in Amherst and other communities I think that was oh and then Stephanie had suggested that that on the website there could be a reminder to folks that when they're getting on and off the bike as they're approaching the station that they should be you know respectful of their you know this their surroundings and and not be disruptive to the pedestrians passing by was there anything else pertinent to this discussion probably not just a quick Maureen could you send me the general law bylaw now ordinance number that you quoted I just looked at our bylaws and I didn't see oh it's actually I reference the Amherst bylaw you did which what's the number it's the revised June 4th 2021 yeah section 3.13 conduct on public ways it's it's a letter section C June 1st 2021 bylaws yep I'll leave for June 4th yeah if you could I'm sorry to interrupt but I couldn't find it when I just went into the bylaws so but I have an older copy yeah it's probably I know it was there previously you probably just has a new section number yeah awesome that all right okay cool thank you Stephanie this was enlightening great thank you very much thanks right oh and and do we have the people from Aspen Heights we do Rachel heart is joining us from Aspen Heights thanks so much Rachel for being able to meet with us and and then and then be flexible with rearranging we were supposed to meet tomorrow but we decided to meet today instead so thanks so much for your flexibility so if you could just introduce yourself and before you do that so the at the last DAAC meeting there was a discussion about well what does an ADA unit look like and feel like and they we're aware that you know Aspen Heights is ready to have ready to have occupants and so the thought was oh that's a brand new building maybe we could reach out to them and see what what you know a brand new ADA unit looks like as and as a sort of learning experience we have at least three people on this committee who would need accessible apartments so they know what's required by them and we would love to know what your apartment's actually have it's also worth pointing out that we have three people on this committee who would need accessible housing who have very different understanding needs and ideas of what that means to them because of their own independence levels and etc okay all right well um did you guys want me to just get started with kind of a walkthrough of one of our ADA units sure can you tell us which floor plan we're looking at yep so we're in a one bedroom it would be considered if you were to go to our website if you considered a steamboat a floor plan which is about 500 square feet obviously this is going to be laid out a bit differently but size-wise it's the same and i'm sharing my screen and so rachel is this the floor plan that you're right so that's the the usual floor plan of a steamboat a of how it's laid out in a usual um steamboat a unit um however i sent you that uh snapshot of the blueprint of the actual this is unit 239 just so you can kind of see it how it is laid out a little bit differently but size-wise it's the same got it okay so this is the exact unit unit 239 is is what you're standing in right now and you were going to show us walk us through what what that looks like okay so i'll stop the share here so then you you can show okay all right and then i brought brought my associate blade so he can kind of hold the phone for me while while i walk that'd be a little bit easier team effort all right so i'm just gonna start with the front coming through the front door here so we have the two different size vehicles at two different levels here which would be useful obviously depending on you know what the the disability might be so that's to start there look over here everything's a little bit with white switches for just a little bit lower and then the outlets are a little bit higher just to make it i guess a little bit easier for bending over if you had to plug something in um and then if you go over here we do have our watcher and fryer right here and this is different from every other unit we have you know the other units are stackable watchers and drivers um but in this unit we have that um next to each other and and they're the front lovely um just a lot for things to be here um the shelf was a little bit lower as well um the what could you say that one time the shelf above there's a shelf above the washer and dryer and that shelf is lower okay yep sorry and then it still looks like it would be kind of hard to reach because it's above the washer and dryer but it's lower than what it would be yeah it might be you know i'd like to you know depending on obviously what the the circumstances are for the individual in the apartment um i'm sure obviously depending on whatever we did here our maintenance team would be more than happy to adjust things for them to make it easier um this was just the standard that they put it at rachel i hate to ask you this yeah how tall are you just but it's purely from perspective i promise how tall are you i'm only five feet tall so that gives me a really good understanding of of it thank you i appreciate it no problem all right and then just over here we even have the electrical panel was made lower just in case there was ever like a power outage or something usually these panels are up here you can see usually it's located like way up here but for these units they are lower just in case like i said if there's ever a power outage or something you can still easily pull this open um no matter what height level you're at so um if you go over here then here's like the common area closet and again the shelf is as you see it's a lot lower they're normally probably up here um so and then if you go into the kitchen area um just go over here put the sink area normally there's a cabinet under here so this has been left open you know in case i see someone is a wheelchair around you know it's easier to roll up here you get to the sink area the dishwasher is a little different too so it's a little bit easier to grab and pull down um and then the microwave is um on the counter pot versus like an overhead microwave that are in most of our units um so often a little bit easier access there and then over here the stove um stove top is a little different as well um so normally it's a stove and oven that are connected here we have the open stove top again to um like if you needed to roll up um it's easier to get in and out of and then there's also here this pulls out to allow for you could probably use this as a cutting board if needed um but it's also if you're trying to pull something out of the oven so that you could easily place it down somewhere if you're pulling out you know something hot i mean i'm going to put it down easily um and then the same thing so like this uh benton you know obviously the switches there are switches up here but it's um hooked up to be used down here so that you don't need to be you know need to reach this you can reach it from here and turn it on and then obviously the cabinets are all a bit lower as well um they're honestly like my perfect height cabinet so um and then the fridge is different as well um most of our units have the refrigerator freezer that's you know separated with the freezer doors on top and refrigerator floors on the bottom but this is the dual side we wanted instead um so again it's a little bit easier to open any questions so far before we go on hanging out can you open a refrigerator door to see how far it can open sort of side by side how did you yeah what kind of it's a side by side yeah that challenges it creates a challenge because i have a similar situation and it's very difficult for me to reach out for something from the refrigerator when when it doesn't flush open with the door i with the wall okay just limits the space you can go okay oh so it doesn't fully open no uh-huh not enough space i mean it opens i mean this one can't go like this oh it can okay oh that's good this one you're there we go that that's all the way back oh that's not bad okay good okay that's good and then let's see if you move on here um what else is out so this is off the thermostat is also lower um easier access these are also usually a little bit higher off the wall but the thermostat hasn't placed lower um for easier access i think that's really it for this is the living room area again i'm pointing out the you know place um or a little bit higher to make it a little bit easier to get to all right now moving into the bedroom here um okay so over here this is the bedroom closet again the shelf is a little bit lower in here um to allow for easier access um i don't know if i pointed out in the other room but the the blinds are nice and long so you can reach them no matter what and then if we move into the bathroom um there is a sink over here that again there's no cabinet underneath it um to allow easier access and tout up um and then if you move over to the toilet area there are grab bars and there is enough space in between here too um again your wheelchair around there you know there's enough room to put the wheelchair there and then if you over here the shower is a walking shower here you do have the seat in here and the grab bars as well as well you can use you know the the movable shower head um or use the standard one um but it does have a few options in there and then over here you have some a living closet that's a little bit lower that's a little bit easier to get to versus the ones we have at some of the other units because Rachel I have another question yeah is the uh the seat in the shower could be rolled up so the person which is that with all right very good yeah any other questions um I have just one about the kitchen is the stove is that a flat top it is okay I was just curious about that yeah okay okay I have a question um so it seems like this apartment is really checking all the boxes about about accessibility for people who use wheelchairs um and maybe scooters the question is is it checking any of the boxes for blind people who can't operate digital washing machines um digital dishwashers stove tops or ovens that are just completely touch screen that um are you know that if you touch it it turns on without even so you could if you could be feeling your way to find the little the little markers you've put on but if you touch the thing it turns on so there is such there is such a thing as accessibility of appliances and it's a really big issue some appliances right now work on smartphones um and some appliances you know there are like you can buy an induction an induction stove top such that the heat from the cook top doesn't come out around the pot it just is where the pot is so that's a lot safer it's more expensive but it's a lot safer and for I know a person who is blind who actually has to hire someone to come in and do her laundry there's a completely independent person but because the apartment house that she lives in which is not a low-income apartment house it is the apartment house she lives in has washers and dryers that cannot be used by somebody who can't see and operate the touch screens and um so it didn't use to be an issue but is it has become an issue that you can rent an apartment even a high end probably even the highest end are most inaccessible because of all the touch screens so I wonder if you've thought about that and if you did have a blind or seriously visually impaired person who couldn't operate the washing machine what could be done about it that's why I asked about the stove because that stove looks like a danger zone for a blind person yeah apparently there are blind people who use cook tops like that but they use induction cook tops they look the same but they aren't the same you know what I mean by an induction stove yeah why don't we move back over to the kitchen so I can see what you mean yeah if you were you know visually impaired there is no any you know I guess a lot of guidance here um so I mean I don't again these appliances were chosen well before I was hired back here so this is already you know yeah well nobody would think about this yeah unless it became an issue for you this is you know I've been in appliance stores and the guys in the appliance store go oh yeah look at that you couldn't possibly use this and you know they're not happy about it they sell the stuff but there are some that work with a smartphone right you know you can turn everything on with a smartphone and that that is becoming it is an issue so let's say you had an applicant for living there who didn't need wheelchair accessible apartment but would not be able to rent an apartment in which they couldn't use the stove or the dishwasher or the washer and dryer can you make accommodations for those people by changing out appliances how would that work I'm sure that would have to be able to probably be a reasonable accommodation request um that they would have to submit um which then you know we would have to look over obviously and there needs to be you know obviously evidence that it's a medical need um and there and then from there we would make a decision you know if it was something that we could do and if it was necessary but I don't see yeah but that is something you know I mean you obviously are going to be you know open to reasonable accommodations um you know for people who need them well sometimes it's an extra expense for sure um but you know it there is there are other levels of accessibility not just can you get in and can you reach the cabinets but it recently there there is this new area of inaccessibility did not use to be a problem but it is now no I yeah no I appreciate that feedback I mean it's good to it's good to think about and something to know that you know maybe we didn't think of you know beforehand so I mean it's definitely I think an important aspect to think about okay well that's good do um does anybody have any questions about um or any comments or any suggestions that or how many of these are completely built is this like ready to go no changes or yep yeah we're set for August 1st for movements um so they're pretty much all done and we're in like the final phases of just kind of doing the final touches of everything here um they're mostly working on common space areas at this point oh somebody had a question um our um now some of your apartments are low income and some of your apartments are handicapped uh accessible um but there are a lot of people who need handicapped accessible apartments who don't need low income apartments so how does that work do you have specific apartments for low income people or they just you have a certain number of spaces and when they're filled they're filled how does that work so in total we have 11 affordable units and two of them um are the ADA units we have two affordable ADA units and then we have three just regular market rate ADA units uh huh and are there any how many how many uh that are uh at market price uh that are ADA there's three three okay and are they all one bedrooms or are they all much larger how what size are they are not let me just double check my nose because i think this question is going to come up um so we have for market rate we have a one bedroom with two bedroom and three bedroom that are that are ADA okay thank you yep and then for the affordable we have a one bedroom and a two bedroom what is the market rate on a two bedroom so um they do for these for the the ADA ones just because we do have five different styles of technically of two bedrooms so we're specifically asking about these units um let me see here so this unit that I'm in right now which is a C vote A um was for 2150 and how about if a two bedroom that wasn't ADA accessible um that's just the price that you change because of ADA um that's just based on four planets so this one's considered a steamboat A one bedroom so it's 2150 the price is the same market rate you know whether you've got an ADA steamboat A or a non ADA steamboat A oh so you have like one bedrooms that are more than 500 square feet yes uh okay yeah okay anybody have wait say that again so they also have studios they have studios uh huh we have one studio in the whole building sorry one studio okay so the market rate is 2150 for the 500 square foot yep wow we do that's Brooklyn kind of numbers uh that is that is Brooklyn kind of numbers like that what was that does it include all utilities it does it includes all the utilities so it is going to cover the heat the hot water there's central air covers the electric plus they all come in unit washers and dryers um and high speed internet is included so the only separate utility you would have to worry about which is if you wanted it with the table would be what table if you wanted table okay okay okay I heard you okay what did you say the two bedroom was we didn't get a number for that one yep so our two bedrooms right now are serving at 2900 how much 2900 that's I mean I can tell you my son who lives in Brooklyn pays the same rent for a one bedroom that you are charging in Amherst I live on the other side of town from where Avisman Heights Heights is in a two bedroom that is not as accessible as that and we pay if all of our things are included we pay about 2200 in a two bedroom that is market rate as appalling because that sounds it is and it's very high well this is 29 yeah this is yeah okay newer right okay ours is still only six years old it's still what is the address of the property it's 408 North Hampton Road so it's right on group nine well this has been really helpful um and educational for uh myself and I and and and perhaps all the DAC members um and so if there are any other questions or comments related to the ADA units um we could let Rachel get back to work um were there any thank you that was it okay well thank you so much Rachel and to your camera person thank you so much yeah thank you thank you they did a lot of things right thanks okay it was good to see this I've never seen apartment like that yeah that's pretty unbelievable 2150 in Amherst that's high for 500 square feet which isn't huge my god okay yeah we have 800 so we also have ours is smaller ours is a two bedroom that's 850 square feet that we pay $1,700 a month in rent but that doesn't include anything and they were saying that it had that those had central air ours doesn't even have central air right so ours include you know so we have to pay heat and electric and internet above yeah so it adds up it adds up about the same as the one bedroom in this one yeah wow that's pretty amazing yeah okay thank you for arranging the Maureen yeah absolutely that was really interesting and I do know that that blind woman who has to literally pay someone to do her laundry because in her luxury building she cannot operate any of the machines isn't that awful anyway so I luckily remembered that I if you know if if this worked on everyone's camera I made Rachel's camera spotlight spotlighted so the the whole screen was put on Rachel's camera but I can't seem to stop that so we're not in gallery view not a big deal but okay all right so we had a couple things one you what about the grants um yeah so the mod grant home yeah so yeah the mod grant it um they've started construction um and I oh this is the one from two years ago yeah so they are um finishing up redoing the sidewalk on pleasant walk uh which connects uh the east pleasant street to um the boltwood garage uh it's that sort of walk way that connects the two it's along where the old starbucks used to be located and um they're also starting um I noticed a work at the crosswalk adjacent to that walkway the crosswalk that's in front of CVS and then they'll be redoing the crosswalk on coals lane I think it's called at coals lane in east pleasant street which is located next to the brewers bagel location so that's pretty exciting to see that you know those are being read um being uh reconstructed um and it will be yep question and that's the one on coals lane um what's that going to do to the bus stop there nothing nothing you can still get on and off the bus correct yeah it won't be impacting that that bus stop at all oh okay thanks sure yeah and do you have any word on the new grant that you applied for for this year uh no word yet we should be finding out by the end of june uh june 30th is um when plus or minus is when they'll be making the announcements and um you know the this board's recommendations were really pivotal um about um providing um crosswalk improvements at the corner of prey and east pleasant street that wasn't originally as part of the application but once I pass that information along the staff immediately said oh that's a great idea and yeah and so the proposal includes a rapid rectangular rapid flashing beacons which will be powered um by uh will be solar powered and um the solar energy actually can accommodate for audio um signals as well oh cool so conduit that isn't needed um for um that so you know that will be the crosswalk enhancement as well as just you know redoing the crosswalk itself and then and then um doing the same at the um prey triangle cottage street intersection will be the same improvements so hopefully we get the the grant money to do that work everyone feels that that's a great project and you know if we don't we have all that material gathered so if it's not this grant it'll be hopefully a future grant so and which would be just ready to just to go so so well done all right and what what is the next um the other item I turned off my speech there was another old business um it was just those two um and then approval meeting minutes oh okay I had a question I know that um we talked at the last meeting about requesting the operational status of the accessible signals all over town and Guilford wrote to you um the reason that I never contacted Marty about a letter that we were going to write to the town manager was that you sent us a letter very shortly after our meeting that said Guilford said he would give us the information we requested about the accessible of the operational status of the accessible signals um by the end of June in late June he said right yeah so um after speaking with uh staff we're working with dpw to get the list of existing audible signals in town and the um the current conditions of them and we hope um that you know we believe that dpw can provide that by the end of June so um yeah so I would expect in the July the the next meeting in July we should be able to um review the that list okay I did write the letter Marty just to let you know but I never contacted you I trust you because because I didn't send it because and I didn't send it to you because I wanted to give him a chance to make good on his promise but if we don't have it by the end of June so what I'd like from Maureen is you get in touch with us please on the 30th and let us know if you've got it because I have this ready letter ready to go for Marty's approval and then we can send it um if we don't get cooperation by the end of June because we need to have those signals operational and I guess I'm I'm unhappy because he dragged this out so long that there's no way to budget anything extra to fix them now because the new budget starts July 1st um so I'm afraid that there may be unless he has some money budgeted that he never spent um I don't know where he's going to get money to fix them but that needs to happen so um I'm interested to know what we find out and hopefully the information that we get um although we didn't request it specifically but hopefully the information we get about these signals will be the operational status and um what's involved in fixing them you think we could get that um I can certainly ask okay because I don't think there's anything budgeted to fix them it's not been a high priority so um anyway I wonder if the town manager should be aware of our request well this is the letter that I wrote um but I didn't send it because Guilford responded to Maureen quickly that we would have the information we requested by the end of June which didn't have to do with how much it would cost to fix them so I guess we'll just wait for the other information but I I will send the letter on July 1st if we don't have I'll send it to you Marty on July 1st if you haven't heard from him on June 30th because I don't think we should give him any more time it's been three months March 23rd was the original contact between Maureen and him about this topic in writing and they had already discussed it without having it in writing so that's a long time yeah good for following up on it okay anybody have anything else for new business before we do the minutes or old business or whatever kind of business monkey business I don't know no everybody's good okay um the minutes from May 11th does anybody have suggestions corrections or emotion I motion we accept second the motion okay Marty and Xander does anybody have any corrections or additions I don't either you take great notes Maureen yeah really outstanding notes I couldn't take notes that are one tenth is good so thank you thank you really um okay roll call on the minutes um Marty approved Xander approved there seren approved police approved Ruth that's it approved and I would approve too so six nothing all right do we have anything else to discuss you do have a general public comment period oh I'm sorry is there anyone here so if anyone from the public wishes to speak um you would press nine I think if you're calling in or is it six uh I always forget I think star nine star nine um if if you're interested in speaking okay I don't see anyone raising their hand is there anyone there there is a person calling who is calling in from a phone uh huh okay they're a listener okay um okay so um the next meeting July 13 actually uh we meet oh we meet on the second Tuesday yeah it would be the 13th yep thank you any any reason we can't plan to do that because we can't get away with this yeah well we'll let you I'll have to let you know if well so we might have to meet in person that's the only problem yeah so I'll know by tomorrow well I will know by the perhaps by the end of the week whether um the state passes the legislation uh about virtual meetings and so I guess we'll just take it uh take it from there and um if it is in person I need to contact the star row center to see if um they're still willing to host our meetings there physically I don't know if they're open to the public uh sarin I I have a case going on with star row so I will not be able to participate our meetings if it is held at star rows oh okay so um we only have elite I mean Tori's the only employee of star rows anymore it used to be that there were three now there's just Tori um so well so you know the town hall we're happy to host uh meetings in the town hall or you know I could reach I'm sure there is a space in the bank center um so we can look at different options but let's just hold off until the end of this week and hope that the state passes legislation so we can sort of avoid dealing with this at least for the summer um and so I I'll email everyone um if and when the state passes legislation and we'll take it from there but if it is in person do you folks have a preference if it's in town hall versus the bank center versus another town building that I'm not thinking of as long as it's walkable um you know accessible for everybody the parking is an issue too banks is terrible parking I don't know town hall parking not so good middle school has lots of parking it's a town building I would prefer as we get closer to when staff UMass staff have to be on campus the closer we are to campus the easier time I'm gonna have okay Xander do you take a vehicle or do you take public transportation I have a vehicle you have a vehicle I have a vehicle so for Xander it would down like middle school would be okay for Xander too yeah well the middle school is actually um through the regional school system is not use it only the elementary schools are our town of Amherst yeah but isn't lsse using the middle school ewoo loophole yeah um I well okay well I'll look into it yeah I don't really know I don't know this is beyond my yeah they have parking so I want to ask the that's right can I ask you play I did it was definitely certainly walkable for me um probably a lot less walkable for you but definitely walkable for you is it it's close to Clark how it's uh it's okay I guess it is chest and street um it's probably a half it's a half mile yeah all right well I'll look into it I just I honestly don't know I just wonder um I mean it just hit me when she said parking I was trying to think of any any building that might have parking and certainly schools have parking and it's not used in the summer so um during the school year it's a different story yeah but the state the legislature might figure it out by then um hopefully um the middle school could work um lsse lsse is using it yeah all right I think uh I didn't get a chance to read all the regulations that's being considered I wonder if a hybrid model is involved with it I think yeah yeah I think so they might be looking at stuff like that yeah I mean for those of us with uh transportation issues that would be perfect yeah we might need to rotate who has to be there did you have something yeah I was just gonna say if the there's a quorum of the committee that meets uh in person other members can well participate remotely but there may be a limit on the number of times you can participate remotely so I'll try to find or Maureen you're even better at finding things in me uh but that might be helpful in addressing Sarin's concern so that's the current that's what the current law but there is um there are proposals for alternative legislation so yes no I know yeah we don't know what they're going to do and um yeah so it'd be really interesting to see what the legislature does yeah I'll certainly let everyone know as it becomes available because we you know on this committee every every person on this committee has a transportation issue except maybe well Marty maybe doesn't and Zana maybe doesn't you do stuff partial me ah okay depending on the parking place that's my issue right but some of us have you know some of us have more I know Tori has definite transportation issues but she has been able to get a van from Stavros in the past sometimes so I probably have the least transportation issues okay I have a car and we might need to rotate the chairmanship about you know who's entitled to run the meeting based on what Pat said about how many meetings you're allowed to attend remotely and you know we might have to figure that out but with this particular committee the uh you know everybody has a good reason to not be on site so um I'll take a closer although I forwarded everyone the email from earlier about about this I didn't take a close look at reading the attachments um so I'll take a look at that and see if there could be a reasonable accommodation that could be made for this committee um that the town could entertain I mean it does seem like oh my goodness I was wondering what was oh my goodness I don't actually after this pandemic we all became experts on zoom yeah sorry I just laughed because Pat's cat suddenly walked by oh that's funny yeah I mean it would make sense that if a committee is going to get permission to do this it would make sense that it would be this committee that would start that process yeah I mean obviously the town needs to follow the open meeting law which is right regulated by the state um so that's yes I understand but if there's something that the town can do maybe maybe there could be a reasonable accommodation provided for this committee at least right Alisa Brewer was one of the people who testified at that hearing Ruth did you have something certainly be ironic if this committee couldn't have accessibility you know with a hybrid model you know yeah when is that decision going to be made at that state level they don't understand that but it still doesn't take away from the irony yes you're absolutely right yeah rumor has it that they may pass something tonight but I don't know if that's true or not but hopefully Pat if you know the town council has these discussions perhaps Pat could chime in about you know if possible if a reasonable accommodation could be provided for members of this committee to I don't I don't know what what that would look like or the yeah I don't know um provide transportation to all the members there you go that's required that's a simple reasonable accommodation not just transportation but transportation that doesn't involve a one hour wait on either end oh yeah yeah yeah that's what transportation we need that's get on the bus beep beep yeah well we'll look at I mean and Pat will certainly I'm looking to bring that up yeah I counselor comments on the Monday and if I can get some information before then I will share it with Maureen and and the rest of you sure and I'll talk to I'll talk to staff tomorrow about this um to see if some sort of creative solution if if allowed could be provided Pat what is coming up about Pomeray Lane tonight anything uh there's no meeting tonight oh there isn't meeting and and zooming with my son and his wife well if there isn't anything else uh do we want to make a motion we can adjourn yep make a motion to adjourn second all very much okay thank you thank you bye bye bye