Minutes

Winthrop Commission On Disabilities · from the Town's website · 3 pages · 77 KB
open the file ↗ · original at the source ↗

Winthrop Commission on Disability
MINUTES 
Meeting Date: November 12, 2025 
Commission Members In Attendance: 
John Morgan
Kathleen Kane
Susan Smith
Nancy Tufo
Karla Murphy
Hannah Belcher 
Public Attendees: Karen Chavis, Austin Carr 
GUEST: Meredith Hurley
1. Roll call 
2. Approved minutes from October meeting 
3. Meredith Hurley, Health Department 
 We continued our discussion about the SafetyNet program 
 Karla connected with MOD (Mass. Office on Disability) and Jeff Dougan confirmed
that this is a wonderful us of 22G funds. He added that we could also bring in
additional funding to supplement the funding 
 Cases would be prioritized by the different departments involved: school system.
Housing authority, senior center, health dept. 
 Annual costs? There is a one-year warranty and a one-year guarantee for the
battery 
 Each kit costs $1900 and that includes the receiver, charger, antenna, transmitter 
 Training is 8-16 hours and costs $1500, then subsequent trainings will be Train the
Trainer model 
 They will put the transmitter in 3 cars: fire, police, public health 
 For 10 transmitters: $5700 ($1900 x 3) + $1500 (training) + $5790 (10 sets) =
$12,990 
 There is no GPS in case wi-fi goes out 
 Meredith will send a formal quote 
 Meredith will check with Robbie Powers about transferring funds from 22G to fund
Safety Net 
 Add this to Resource Book — Meredith will provide a short description and will be the
contact person for the resource 
 Hannah will attend the training as a representative of WCOD 
 There will be a press release generated from Meredith ’ s office 
 Question: has Revere done their training? Ask Meredith if any additional trainers

from other towns can be included to save $$ 
 Meredith will send us a formal quote 
4. Special Needs Registry 
 Meredith will be spearheading this initiative 
 She will involve WCOD as well as Fire and Police, and other tow n departments 
5. Speaker Series 
 February 2026: ADA Accommodations by Kathleen and Jon: accommodations at
work and community access; Feb 25 th ? At 1 pm at Senior Center 
 March 2026: Staying in Your Home by BCIL; March 18 th or 25 th ? 
 May 2026: ADUs: revised regulations; an alternative to nursing homes/group
homes; Hannah will present; can Section 8 be used for an ADU 
 Karla will check with Matt Rodes? 
6. Handicapped Parking Spaces 
 Current system: Tony Marino and Denise Quist determine eligibility; much better
than old system which could take a year 
 In June and December, request a summary from Denise 
 Karla will email Denise 
7. Recruitment of New Members 
 Hannah will speak to Jim Letterie about assigning someone to our commission since
Denise is no longer a member sa well as a liaison 
 Hannah will remain on the Commission, which all members agreed would be an
asset to WCOD 
8. 22G Funds 
 John reported that the balance is correct as indicated in Robbie Powers last email. 
 John will continue to monitor the funds 
9. Resource Guide 
 Commission members should review sections of the guide to update them 
 Wait until Safety Net info comes from Meredith so we can include that 
10. Other Business 
 We will be doing the Accessible Adventures event in August or September 2026 
 John spoke about the dedication of the Jerry DiFranza walkway; Karla said $200
check (second one) has still not been cashed by WIHA for the two bricks 
11. Goals for 2025-2026 
 Hold the 2 nd Accessible Adventure event next August 
 Work with Dept of Health and Police to establish a registry 
 SafetyNet

 Speaker Series 
 Resource Guide 
 Handicapped Parking applications 
NEXT MEETING: December 10 at 6 p.m. 
Respectfully submitted,
Karla Murphy