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HomeMy WebLinkAboutMN-DAC-2009-03-04DISABILITY ADVISORY COUNCIL PROCEEDINGS CITY OF ITHACA, NEW YORK Regular Meeting 12:15 p.m. March 4, 2009 PRESENT: Acting Chair - Gizewski DAC Members: Wendy Skinner Kendrick Kemp George Eberhardt Otis Jackson Jason Anderson OTHERS PRESENT: Information Management Specialist — Myers Historical Planner /ADA Liaison — Chatterton Assistant Civil Engineer — Yost Traffic Engineer - Logue EXCUSED: DAC Chair — Roberts David McElrath Charlie Dorsey Erin Sember APPROVAL OF MINUTES: Approval of the February 4, 2009 Disability Advisory Council Meeting Minutes — Resolution By DAC Member Jackson: Seconded by DAC Member Skinner RESOLVED, That the minutes of the February 4, 2009 Disability Advisory Council meeting be approved with noted corrections. Carried Unanimously DISCUSSION RELATED TO FEDERAL STIMULUS MONEY Traffic Engineer Logue addressed the Council to update them on the status of the stimulus money. It appears that there will not be that much funding left over for the projects that the DAC discussed last month. He stated that most of the funding would go towards the larger projects that would be ready to start construction within 180 days. He explained that the DAC could recommend that Common Council establish a capital project to pay for a consultant to do design work for specific locations and types of work relating to ADA projects and for staff in the Engineering Office to manage it if they wanted to, but indicated that it might not receive support. He also explained that ADA projects include three components: curb ramps at various locations throughout the city, traffic signal improvements to meet ADA requirements, and sidewalk work at various locations throughout the city. Extensive discussion followed on the floor regarding what sidewalk projects are included in the 2009 work plan for the City sidewalk crew and how the money from the stimulus program would affect that plan. Further discussion followed on the floor regarding how sidewalks, curb ramps, and other ADA related projects are determined, mapped out, prioritized, and funded. Discussion also took place regarding what, if any, recommendations the DAC should be making to the Board of Public Works and /or Common Council regarding their support for using stimulus funding for sidewalk projects throughout the city. There was also concern about pulling curb ramp projects out of the 2009 work plan for which there is a budget to place on the list for any stimulus money that the city could receive in order to do more work on just sidewalks. The DAC requested that not be done. Vice Chair Gizewski stated that he and Larry Roberts had meet with Traffic Engineer Logue and Asst. Civil Engineer Yost last week to talk about what sidewalks and /or ramp projects should be included on the work plan for the City's sidewalk crew. They also mapped out the various sidewalks and ramps that require work. He asked if staff could provide this map to the DAC for their next meeting because he felt that having that visual aid would help them in their review, discussion, and recommendations. Discussion followed on the floor regarding whether the City would have to share any stimulus money with Tompkins County. Traffic Engineer Logue explained that there are fifty different types of potential projects in the stimulus package and that each type has its own formula for distributing the funding and that there are very few projects that would be eligible for funding under the 120 day construction ready list because of the design work requirement that has to be met before projects are considered for funding. Discussion followed on the floor regarding whether there was any urgency in the DAC making recommendations to the Board of Public Works and /or Common Council concerning the ADA projects they would like to see added to the stimulus package list. Further discussion followed on the floor regarding what if any other actions DAC members needed to take or whether there was a need for them to "lobby" Common Council members or Board of Public Works members for support of their recommendations. City Historic Planner Chatterton stated that there are a lot of competing projects. The City currently has a hiring /purchasing freeze and because of the economy and competing interests it is hard to get funding for any project. There are a lot of projects that have just as much merit as the ADA ones being suggested by the Disability Advisory Council. She further stated that the resolution the DAC passed in February that was sent to Common Council does state the DAC's position and should be sufficient. Vice Chair Gizewski requested that staff provide clarification on what a capital project looks like, costs for ADA projects, and the map that was developed that shows all the sidewalk and ramp work that is on the 2009 -2010 sidewalk crew work plan. DAC members stated that it would be good for them to have a goal in mind and that an analysis of the pros and cons of various project requests would be useful as well as more in -depth advice from staff as to what would be appropriate for DAC to recommend to the Board of Public Works and Common Council. HANDICAPPED PARKING PROGRAM DAC Member Skinner updated the Council on the status of the handicap parking educational program. She stated that she met with Marcia Lynch from the County and they are working on designing three different pamphlets for the DAC to choose from for use in public service announcements. They have decided on a title for the program which is "Protect Handicap Parking ". She will bring the three sample pamphlets to the April DAC meeting in order to determine which one to use. She will also e -mail the pamphlets to Larry Roberts so that he can distribute them to DAC members electronically before the next meeting. DAC Member Jackson reported that he has been finding fewer violators of handicap parking in areas where he normally would. He has also found that other agencies are also enforcing handicap parking violations as well. UPDATE ABOUT TCAT ROUTE 15 RELATING TO TITUS TOWERS: DAC Member Eberhardt reported that representatives from TCAT met with residents of Titus Towers on March 3, 2009 regarding proposed changes to Route 15. He explained how the proposed changes would negatively affect the residents of Titus Towers and that they expressed that in the meeting. Residents have also written letters to TCAT in opposition to the suggested changes. TCAT representatives have indicated that they would take into consideration all the comments they have received and that implementation of the new changes might be post -poned from August 2009 to September 2009. He further stated that he would keep the DAC updated. Vice Chair Gizewski recommended that as many people as possible should write letters to TCAT opposing this change. He reported that he had attended a meeting with TCAT representatives about this and was disappointed that they were not taking minutes to reflect comments received. The DAC agreed to consider writing a letter to TCAT to express its concern with the proposed change to Route 15 and its negative effect on the residents of Titus Towers, McGraw House, and Oak Hill Manor to name a few. ADJOURNMENT: On a motion the meeting adjourned at 1:45 p.m. Sarah L. Myers Greg Gizewski Information Management Specialist Vice Chair, DAC