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ensuring Town Meetings and elections are readily Report of the accessible to the disabled. The special voting machines Americans with Disabilities enable people with a variety of disabilities to participate Act Committee in the electoral process. Thanks also to the staff in the Selectmen's Office for arranging for the closed captioning capability(CART)that makes it much easier To the Honorable Board of Selectmen and the for Town Meeting attendees to follow the proceedings. Citizens of the Town of Mashpee: In coming months, we plan on meeting with The Mashpee Americans with Disabilities Act various Town officials,boards and committees to seek Committee(the"ADA")continues to strive to improve workable solutions to a number of issues that are access to public and private buildings and facilities in limiting equal access to the disabled. Some of the Mashpee for persons with disabilities and to increase problems that must be addressed are: improving access awareness of ADA requirements on the part of Town for the disabled at South Cape Beach; improving the officials,the Chamber of Commerce,business owners entryway to the Quashnet School to make it easier for and managers. the disabled to enter and exit;smooth out the walkway to the entrance to Town Hall; review ADA and AAB The committee's activities were somewhat regulations and attempt to reconcile differences;review limited in 2015 as illnesses, schedule conflicts and and update appropriate Town Bylaws; identify Town other commitments of members prevented obtaining a officials responsible for enforcing ADA regulations; quorum at all but two scheduled meetings. and continue to work with the Chamber of Commerce Nevertheless, thanks to the conscientious efforts of a to continually educate the business community on the number of Town departments,a number of significant current access requirements and possible corrective improvements have been made. actions. The Department of Public Works routinely Finally, we encourage anyone experiencing or incorporates the needs of the disabled in planning their noticing an impediment to access to a facility or service projects when appropriate. The Mashpee Community to notify a member of the ADA Committee with the Park is but one example of how the DPW efforts details. resulted in easy access for all. DPW also has provided handicapped accessibility features in the playgrounds at Respectively submitted, Heritage Park. Planning for upgrades at the Mashpee Michele Brady boat ramps provides for a number of features that will Michael Mendoza enable many disabled folks to participate in boating Charles Maintanis,Alternate activities. Many thanks to Catherine Laurent and her Kathleen Moore employees for continuing to improve access for the Patricia Parolski disabled throughout Mashpee. Beverly Wooldridge Robert Wooldridge, Chairman The Mashpee Chamber of Commerce has been requesting their membership to self-evaluate the T accessibility of their respective businesses. The initial results of the survey are reflected in the widely ` 1i11 . distributed 2015 Guidebook. This is a continuing = project we hope will encourage business owners/managers to take necessary actions needed to improve accessibility. Thanks to Mary Lou Palumbo, Executive Director, and her "staff' (Katy) for their 4 ' continued attention to the needs of the disabled through the access survey and in planning their events. Thanks also to Town Clerk Debi Dami, along with Meg Santos and the rest her staff,for their work in 28