The Town of Pembroke currently has one member serving on the Commission on Disabilities and that is Bill Chenard, the Town Manager. He is also the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) Coordinator for the Town. According to its charter, this committee should have eight members.
Article II of the Americans with Disabilities Act is meant to ensure that State and local government services do not discriminate against any individual on the basis of a disability. On the ADA website of the federal government, it states that Title II "prohibits discrimination on the basis of disability in all services, programs, and activities provided to the public by State and local governments." The ADA was enacted in 1990, and amended in 2008, to protect the rights of all Americans, regardless of any disability...Disability rights are civil rights."
The Commission on Disabilities has not had active membership to function as a committee since after the start of the pandemic in 2020. At that time, the members dropped off the committee and did not return. Prior to that, they were an active group that oversaw disability projects in town, including, most recently, a $131,000 grant from the Massachusetts Office on Disability’s (MOD) Municipal Americans with Disabilities Act Improvement Grant Program awarded in 2019. This grant was to improve accessibility at the Wampatuck Street Park, also known as the Town Landing. The work was to include projects to improve beach access. Records received from the MOD office show the project was meant "to remove architectural and barriers" from the Town Landing. This would be accomplished by improving parking, creating a new office and bathroom building, and increasing access to the beach area and docks. The grant was partially funded by the MOD, and the Town committed to the project utilizing other funding sources, such as Community Preservation funding.
The project was delayed due to the pandemic and the sourcing and building complications. The Town Manager /ADA Coordinator, Bill Chenard, was responsible for seeing the project through since there was no longer a Commission on Disabilities to assist.
There have been other projects to address the needs of residents of all abilities to access public spaces, including the Herring Run and Veteran's Memorial Park.
There are currently twenty vacancies across Pembroke's boards and commissions, according to the town website. This does not include committee members whose terms expire this year.
Any resident who would like to serve on the Commission on Disabilities, or any town committee, should fill out an application to serve, and could also contact Bill Chenard for more information. If interested in another committee, consider attending that meeting or speaking to the committee chair. After submitting the application, the Select Board will be responsible for the appointment to the committee.
