Open letter to the Greenwich Board of Estimate and Taxation from the Board of Selectmen’s ADA Advisory and Advocacy Committee – Alan Gunzburg, Chair; Stephanie Cowie, Vice Chair; Veronica Chiavaroli, Secretary
Dear Members of the BET,
We are writing as the members of the Board of Selectmen ADA Advisory and Advocacy committee. We are dedicated to promoting accessibility, inclusion and equal opportunity across Greenwich. We also hope to respectfully educate the community and local officials on the issues that we believe are important to our community and all of those in town with disabilities.
We would like to call your attention to the following list of items in the 2025-2026 budget that we believe are essential for good governance. These are projects that we believe will not only improve accessibility, but are required by law and will continue to demonstrate Greenwich’s commitment to its (disabled) population.
Should you have any questions, please do not hesitate to reach out.
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The Parks and Recreation’s ADA Master Plan ($125,000), which includes ADA improvements for Binney Park, Bruce Park, Cos Cob, Greenwich Point, and Montgomery-Pinetum. The focus is to improve the pathways from the entrance of the park (parking lot, pedestrian entrances) to major points of interest in the facilities.
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The Pomerance Tuchman Master Plan ($100,000), where the scope of work is to do a structural analysis on an elevated boardwalk, but more importantly, to establish an accessibility pathway loop within the park.
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ADA Changes to the Engineering/Project Byram ($600,000), which is to add five accessible boat slips at Byram.
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ADA Sidewalk ($450,000), which is to continue upgrades of existing pedestrian facilities to bring them into compliance with the ADA law. This (ongoing) project will upgrade audible pedestrian signals, sidewalk ramps, sidewalk segments, and crosswalk signage. The asphalt paving program ($3,500,000), will also alleviate potential safety hazards across town reducing problem areas and providing general maintenance, which will include crosswalks.
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Greenwich Avenue ADA Improvements ($450,000), which will include accessibility upgrades along Greenwich Avenue where existing pedestrian ramps do not comply with ADA requirements. Although this project began in 2024 and continued into 2025, improvements have not yet been completed at 4 intersections along Greenwich Avenue. The improvements at these intersections include pedestrian ramps, parking spaces, curb ramps and accessible push buttons for the signaled intersections.
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As a committee, we support the BET in fully finding the entire BOE budget for the 2025-2026 school year. The proposed cuts in the $4,000,000 discrepancy are extremely concerning particularly for the students who receive special education and related services as available to them per the law.
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Additionally, we support three major projects in the BOE Capital Budget requests, which support the advancement of ADA compliance in our schools: Western Middle School ($5.8M), Julian Curtiss School ($2.6M) and Riverside School feasibility study ($2M). These projects are the momentum needed to begin the much needed ADA work to all of the schools in our district.
Thank you for your time and consideration.
Respectfully,
Alan Gunzberg, Chairperson
Stephanie Cowie, Vice Chairperson
Veronica Chiavaroli, Secretary