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Home My WebLink AboutMN-DAC-2010-08-04DISABILITY ADVISORY COUNCIL PROCEEDINGS CITY OF ITHACA, NEW YORK Regular Meeting 12:15 p.m. August 4, 2010 PRESENT: DAC Chair — Roberts DAC Members: David McElrath George Eberhardt Erin Sember Otis Jackson Jason Anderson Andrew Rappaport Alderperson Rooker Information Management Specialist Myers Ed Swayze, Director, 2 -1 -1, Human Services Coalition of Tompkins County EXCUSED: DAC Vice Chair - Gizewski Allen Walters Siobhan Whalen OTHERS PRESENT: Evan Perrin from Starlight Peer Advocacy (Drop -In) Center for Empowerment (SPACE) Historic Planner /DAC Liaison — Chatterton APPROVAL OF MINUTES: By DAC Member Rappaport: Seconded by DAC Member Jackson RESOLVED, That the minutes on the July 7, 2010 Disability Advisory Council meeting be approved with noted corrections. Carried Unanimously NEW BUSINESS: Clinton Hall: Historic Planner /DAC Liaison — Chatterton explained that Clinton Hall had been vacant for quite a while when in 1987 Joe Ciaschi purchased the building and was able to make renovations through the use of Community Development Block grant funds which complied with the regulations regarding rehabilitation and accessibility rules at the time. She explained that the front of the building is not wheelchair accessible due to the fact that there is a 7 1/2" pad along the front of the building that cannot be removed. In addition, since the building is concrete it is also difficult to widen the front doors to make them accessible as well. She stated that in 1987 the decision was made to build an elevator at grade at the back of the building to be used as the primary entrance to meet code requirements with a lighted marquis. However, the entrance is shared with vehicular traffic, conflicts with the storage of garbage there, and because of it being a rear entry people have to come through storage areas, pantries, offices, etc. to reach the front of the business because these spaces were meant to be entered from the front of the building. Chair Roberts explained the frustration at the time by the disabled community with the City and the property owner for the way in which this issue was addressed. He further stated that at the time he was involved in a group called Access Unlimited that met with the City and the property owner to review codes to meet accessibility requirements but nothing ever got done as both sides kind of dropped the ball because it was too difficult to determine a strategy. He feels that the Access Unlimited group should have worked with property owner to make the front entrance accessible. He stated that recently though, the Ithaca Fire Department has begun to address these issues since the rear entrance never became the main entrance. DAC Member Jackson questioned whether the current owner is aware of the history of the building and the code requirements for accessibility. He stated that if the current owner is not aware of these issues, that they may be interested in working with the DAC and /or the City to see how to meet accessibility needs at the front of the building. August 4, 2010 Chair Roberts stated that he is happy to consider suggestions and input on how to address this issue. DAC Member Rappaport noted that the business must have a certificate of occupancy and asked what the DAC's objective is in pursuing this issue. Chair Roberts asked members if they would like to meet with the property owner to talk about the front entrance to Clinton Hall to explain the history and the purpose of the rear entrance. Should the DAC ask someone from the Building or Planning department to check the rear entrance to see if it meets accessibility requirements? He noted that the path between Clinton Hall and Clinton House is brick and shared by motor vehicles. DAC Member Sember stated that the DAC will need to be prepared with some answers when it meets with the property owner. The suggestion was made to perhaps add signage that would indicate the accessible entrance at the rear of the building. Chair Roberts stated that the DAC should avoid temporary measures and really work on a permanent solution. He would personally like to address this issue to correct a mistake that he was involved with through the Access Unlimited group not working to make the front entrance accessible. Discussion followed on the floor regarding whether or not the building is in compliance with ADA regulations, meeting with interested parties, and researching what grants might be available to help with the costs involved with renovations to the front of the building to make it accessible. Historic Planner /DAC Liaison — Chatterton stated that she would call the current property owner of Clinton Hall on behalf of the DAC to set up a meeting to discuss accessibility concerns. Alderperson Rooker had to leave the meeting at 1:00 p.m. but before he left Chair Roberts asked him to bring information about handicap parking in Collegetown to the September DAC meeting, which he agreed to do. City of Ithaca — Interview Teams: DAC Member Sember reported that the City's Human Resources Director, Schelley Michell -Nunn, has extended an invitation to DAC members to provide representation on behalf of the DAC during interviews with potential candidates for positions at the City of Ithaca. She further explained that participants would have to go through training in order to participate in the interview process and that the training could be done individually or though a group training, perhaps at a DAC meeting. Chair Roberts stated that he thinks this is a great opportunity and asked if there were any DAC members that might be interested in attending the training. DAC members were interested and it was suggested that training be provided during a future DAC meeting to the group as a whole. DAC Member Sember stated that she would contact Leslie Moskowitz in the Human Resources Department of the City to set up training for the DAC. DAC Member Sember also reported that she submitted an application to serve on the City's Work Force Diversity Advisory Committee. Updates: Chair Roberts reported that he would be meeting with City Clerk Holcomb and Vicki Taylor from the Downtown Ithaca Alliance to talk about the accessibility map, which may finally be near completion after more than ten years in the works. Chair Roberts stated that he met with Marcia Lynch to talk about handicap parking education and they are moving forward with plans to e -mail information to incoming students at Cornell, Ithaca College and TC3 to explain handicap parking requirements. DAC Members Sember and Rappaport reported that the Department of Justice recently released new regulations for Title II and Title III and will go into effect in six months. Some of the new regulations relate to service animals and ticket sales for stadium and theatre events. Discussion followed on the floor regarding how these new regulations might impact current constructions projects. 61 August 4, 2010 DAC Member Sember reported that she would be attending a training in September on the new Department of Justice Regulations and as a result will have access to information that their office has never had before, which will be great. Chair Roberts suggested that a presentation on the new regulations be done for the DAC at some point in the future. 2 -1 -1 Tompkins County Human Services Coalition — Ed Swayze reported that last Fall their office received money for the Medicaid Buy -In and asked that DAC members refer people to their office if they need assistance. ADJOURNMENT: On a motion the meeting adjourned at 1:15 p.m. Sarah L. Myers Larry Roberts Information Management Specialist Chair, DAC Q