Commission For Persons with Disabilities Left out of Loop Again

Report on the Meeting of the Commission for Persons with Disabilities, September 9, 2025

This meeting was held over Zoom and was recorded.

Present
Myra Ross (Chair), James Kruidenier, Seren Derin, Cody Rooney, and Pamela Nolan Young (Staff Appointee). Absent: Ian Rhodewalt

Accessibility Improvements to Mount Pollux “Not Money Well Spent”
The Commission was not informed of the accessibility improvements recently made to Mount Pollux by the Conservation Department. Jim Kruidenier said he went to Mount Pollux recently and noted that the parking area was enlarged and repaved with space for a handicapped parking space and that there was now a short paved path to a bench that overlooks the Holyoke Range. There is still no way for someone in a wheelchair to reach the summit via the steep grass path. Kruidenier termed the accessible path “small potatoes.” 

Myra Ross agreed that most people go to Mount Pollux for the 360-degree view from the summit, not to see the Holyoke Range. She thought making an accessible path to the summit would be very involved and is probably not being contemplated. Seren Derin, who uses a wheelchair, admitted that she has “never seen the place.”.

The commission agreed that the money to create the handicapped parking and path was not well spent, in that there are other places that would have been more appropriate. Members again lamented that they were not consulted before the work was done. DEI Director Pamela Nolan Young said she would reach out to the Conservation Department to find out why there was no communication with the commission prior to doing the work. 

Frustration Voiced at Loss of Grant for Accessible Entrance at Munson Library
Ross and Kruidenier met with Town Manager Paul Bockelman last month to express the commission’s frustration about being left out of the loop concerning the $100,000 grant from the Massachusetts Office on Disability (MOD) for an accessible entrance at the south entrance to the Munson Memorial Library. The commission was not notified that the grant had been awarded, and then the town said they were unable to deal with the project in time to utilize the money, so the project was not put out to bid and the money was returned to the state.  The Planning Department has reapplied for the grant this year, but there is no guarantee that it will be awarded again.

Kruidenier said Bockelman told them that the Planning Department had been short-staffed for a long time and that he also was not informed that the grant could not be used until the last minute. Nolan Young commented that all town departments are short-staffed, but that is no excuse not to communicate.

Derin stated that the town shouldn’t apply for grants if there are no people to work on them. Ross said that the application was submitted before Chris Brestrup retired as Planning Director, and the town has yet to replace her. The commissioners agreed to keep track of the status of the resubmitted grant proposal and immediately request that the Planning Department come to a commission meeting if it is awarded to let the commissioners know what is planned for the project, after which the commission should make sure the town uses the money. “if they don’t use it again,” Ross said, “that will be the end of us at MOD.”