Saugus calls on experts to help survey for ramps

SAUGUS – In his quest to have handicap ramps installed in pertinent areas about town, Town Meeting member Al DiNardo has called in the experts to help – the American with Disabilities Association.DiNardo said officials from the ADA would be on hand Tuesday, Aug. 26 to conduct a survey of the town. The plan is for people from the ADA to visit prominent areas such as Cliftondale Square and Saugus Center, as well as tackling busy streets and municipal buildings. They will then compile a priority list of areas in town that need ramps. He said he would then use that list to prioritize the areas where ramps would be installed.”They are the ones that should know,” DiNardo said. “They will let us know what’s best and where to go first.”DiNardo said his conviction to bring the town into compliance was strengthened this week when he saw a woman in a wheelchair trying to work her way down Essex Street toward the mall.”Can you believe that,” he asked. “I’m also in contact with the state I would like to see the bridges done.”DiNardo has been working on the subject of ADA compliance since early spring. He said it was the number of phone calls he has received about the lack of ramps in town that spurred him to act in the first place. He said it was also the demographic affected that grabbed him. Anyone at anytime could suddenly be in the position to need handicap ramps, he said, and it shouldn’t be a subject taken lightly.”It’s an important issue – I’m just trying to get the town compliant,” DiNardo said. “We also have $150,000 and I want to make sure it’s spent correctly.”DiNardo is also a member of the Sidewalk Committee, which is scheduled to meet in September. He said he would update the committee on the ADA recommendations then.