CAPE MAY – Returning to a campaign issue he pushed before his November 2014 election to Cape May City Council, Shane Meier has been calling for the Cape May Post Office to be compliant with the federal Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA).
Meier believes that efforts should be made to make the post office building ADA accessible so that it can be fully used by the physically challenged and many of the city’s elderly who find its steps a barrier.
The issue became a subject of debate at the June 20 city council meeting where the council, by a 4-1 vote, passed a resolution stating that the city “does not support or endorse the efforts of any individual who is seeking alterations to the United States Post Office building in Cape May.”
Postal officials have stated that the building is not subject to ADA rules. The building predates the establishment of the rules.
One concern is that any attempt to make a change in one area of ADA compliance might open the building to an obligation to become fully compliant at a cost that would far exceed the expense of a ramp.
At issue, as well is Meier’s pursuit of his goal, although Meier claims that he is careful to pursue the matter as a private individual, concern has mounted that his participation in the effort and his service on the council have led many to assume he is acting on behalf of the council.
The real concern is that the Postal Service, if forced to expend funds to comply with the ADA regulations in the old building, would elect to close it instead.
“We need a post office, a supermarket, and our churches,” said Mayor Edward Mahaney. “They are what make this community,” he added.
Meier discounted concerns that the post office would close rather than comply. He views it has an empty threat but has in no way convinced his fellow council members on that point.
Mahaney has noted that there was an earlier movement 10 years ago to move the post office services to Rio Grande. He does not want Meier’s agitation of the ADA compliance issue to resurface such an effort.
The resolution disavowing support for Meier’s campaign also said that the city does not agree “with any assertions that the United States Post Office building in Cape May is not compliant with the Americas with Disabilities Act.”
While expressing sympathy with Meier’s aims, council members each urged him to work with the federal government on improving service for those who find the access to the building a problem.
Meier expressed outrage that his fellow council members would adopt a resolution that boldly states a lack of support for his efforts.
Mahaney, speaking for the others, said that it was Meier’s actions that led to the resolution. According to Mahaney, Meier has conducted his campaign in such a manner as to produce confusion over the city’s formal position on the matter necessitating a resolution that clarifies the fact that Meier is not speaking for the rest of council.
Related Issue – Supermarket
Mahaney’s comments on the community’s need for both a post office and a supermarket led one member of the public to question if the city’s only supermarket was going to close.
Mahaney said that the Acme supermarket in The Commons recently signed a temporary extension of its lease. The hope, he said, is that vacant space adjacent to the store could be incorporated into the market allowing it to expand.
Mahaney said store officials would like to add a pharmacy and expand their product offerings if they had the space to do so.
Mahaney appeared confident that good rather than bad news was in the near future for the supermarket that began in its current space in 1966. “Then it was a super store,” he said.
Cape to Cape Paddle
The second annual Cape to Cape paddle will be held June 26. The event will benefit the DeSatnick Foundation, a non-profit aimed at helping those living with spinal cord injuries in Cape May, Cumberland, Atlantic, and Ocean counties.
The event requires competitors to paddle across the bay from Lewes, Del. to Cape May, a 17-mile span.
Last year 34 individuals participated, and Anita DeSatnick told council that the same number is expected this year.
There is a flotilla of support vessels to provide needed assistance and overall safety during the event.
To contact Vince Conti, email vconti@cmcherald.com.
Villas – I guess Kamala Harris was just too honest, too intelligent and too sane of a person to win an election in a racist, sexist, backward country like America.
