OSSIPEE — Selectmen have announced that their meetings will now be held at the Freight House rather than on the upper floor of Town Hall, which has no elevator and is not handicap accessible.
State Rep. Bobbi Boudman (D-Wolfeboro), who is running for state Senate, raised the issue with Jonathan Smith, chair of the Ossipee selectmen, after hearing from constituents.
On Tuesday, Smith said the meetings are open to the public and that accommodations would be made for anyone who cannot access the upstairs room. By that, he means the meeting could be moved to the downstairs gym or nearby Freight House building. He said the town doesn’t need to put in an elevator or stair lifts in the town hall.
Tuesday’s meeting was moved to the Freight House.
“When we accommodate that person, we are compliant,” said Smith. “So we were fully compliant, but based on legal advice, to ensure we don’t get any more frivolous point of contacts or lawsuits, they advise just move it to an accessible location to ensure that there’s no more future complaints. So here we are. So going forward, this is where our meetings are going to be.”
Smith is also the town building inspector and zoning officer as well as the District 5 state representative for Ossipee.
The issue was brought to the Sun’s attention by Frank Licata Jr., a conservative Republican, whose elderly father, Frank Licata Sr. would like to attend meetings but feels he can’t because he can’t climb the stairs to the upstairs meeting room. Licata shared an email Boudman sent to Smith with the Sun.
“I have received numerous concerns by the constituents of Ossipee that the selectmen are holding meetings that are not accessible to all,” the email, dated Sunday, Sept. 6, starts out.
“Having attended your meetings, it has certainly concerned me that there is no ADA access for those whom have the inability to climb a steep flight of stairs.”
She shared a provision of New Hampshire RSA 91-A: 91-A:2 Meetings Open to Public.: “No meeting shall be conducted by electronic mail or any other form of communication that does not permit the public to hear, read, or otherwise discern meeting discussion contemporaneously at the meeting location specified in the meeting notice.”
Boudman was elected to serve District 7, which consists of Ossipee, Tuftonboro and Wolfeboro, in a special election in March. She is now running for the state Senate District 3 seat held by Mark McConkey (R-Freedom), who is running for re-election.
“It was a simple email letting them know that people are very concerned that they cannot participate in the meetings due to ADA problems, and I simply sent an email to the chair,” she told the Sun.
The Sun texted Smith on Monday about this and Smith shared the response he made to Boudman.
“Thank you for reaching out. We have not previously received any inquiries or complaints regarding accessibility to our meetings, so this is the first time this issue has been brought to our attention,” said Smith.
“Our meetings are fully accessible to the public. In the event an individual is unable to access the meeting room, a sign is prominently displayed outside directing them to contact the selectmen’s office for assistance. That office is located directly next to the sign, and immediate accommodations would be made. Please let me know if I can be of further assistance.”
Selectmen have also held meetings in the gym at town hall, which is on the ground floor.
Licata Jr. told the Sun his father is 84 years old and owns six properties in the Deer Cove neighborhood of Ossipee. He and his father began renovating cottages in the 1970s. Licata Jr. said his father suffered a stroke in 2018 and is no longer able to walk and requires a wheelchair to get around.
“He’s constantly interested in local news so I show him town meetings by video after the fact, but he used to enjoy attending them in person, at both at his second home in Ossipee and his primary home in Andover, Mass.,” said Licata Jr.
“Federal ADA laws and state 91A laws require accessibility of public meetings to the public, including the disabled and handicapped. These public meetings have no business being on the second floor of the town hall, where there is no elevator. They need to be shut down promptly until they make other arrangements,” he said.
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