Commissioners summarized topics from the recent COTA Commission and Disabilities Alliance meeting, including a documentation project for people with disabilities, efforts to preserve hybrid meeting options, a parking-enforcement campaign called Operation Access, and outreach on adaptive bike-share language for municipal RFPs.

Chair Ralph DeChico relayed that a project labeled by meeting organizers as a documentation effort for people with disabilities is recruiting participants; he said a lengthy report from the State-level commission is available on that commission’s website. He also reported that the MetroWest Independent Living Center (MWILC) is looking for participants for a project about municipal hybrid meeting options and urged commissioners to share the opportunity.

On hybrid meetings, DeChico said the state’s remote-meeting rules could change and that local options would help people participate without disclosing personal reasons for absence. "I am a big proponent of having that," he said, referring to keeping hybrid meeting options available.

Ellie Vargas, who attended the Alliance meeting, described Operation Access, a program some neighboring communities use to enforce handicapped-parking violations during a dedicated period and to publicize enforcement in advance. The commission discussed fines that escalate for repeat offenders and the local practice in some towns of using collected fines for disability programs. DeChico explained that parking-enforcement proceeds can be placed in a municipal fund that a commission can access; he referred to the mechanism discussed in the meeting as "22, 22 gs" and said revenues in that fund have paid overtime for enforcement in other communities.

Commissioners also reviewed an Acton-led effort to include adaptive-bike requirements in a municipal bike-share RFP. DeChico and other members described types of adaptive bikes (trikes, recumbents, front-adapter bikes) and noted docking-space and infrastructure needs. He suggested state land near the bathhouse and DPW could be considered for an adaptive-bike corral if coordination with the Department of Conservation and Recreation (DCR) permits it.

The commission did not take formal votes on these coordination items; members treated them as informational and outreach items and encouraged commissioners and residents to contact MWILC and the state-level commission for participation and more information.