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HomeMy WebLinkAboutMN-DAC-2014-06-04DISABILITY ADVISORY COUNCIL PROCEEDINGS CITY OF ITHACA, NEW YORK Regular Meeting 12:15 p.m. June 4, 2014 PRESENT: DAC Chair — Roberts DAC Members: David McElrath Erin Sember -Chase Andrew Rappaport Alderperson Brock Amy Scott OTHERS PRESENT: Elizabeth Woods — FLIC Intern Information Management Specialist — Myers Sidewalk Program Manager — Hathaway EXCUSED- DAC Vice Chair — Gizewski DAC Members: Anderson, Scriber Introductions of all present were made. Chair Roberts announced a special event that will be held at Finger Lakes Independence Center on June 18, 2014 at 11:30 a.m. entitled "Living with COPD and /or Asthma ". Approval of Minutes: Approval of the May 7, 2014 Disability Advisory Council Meeting Minutes — Resolution By DAC Member Sember- Chase: Seconded by DAC Member Scott RESOLVED, That the minutes of the May 7, 2014 Disability Advisory Council meeting be approved as published. Carried Unanimously Discussion of How to Deliver DAC Survey Results: Chair Roberts stated that he would like to do a presentation of the survey results to Common Council members and City Department Heads. He asked for volunteers to work with him to develop the best plan and approach to facilitate the presentation. DAC Members Sember -Chase and Scott volunteered to assist. Chair Roberts stated that he would coordinate this meeting with Alderperson and DAC Liaison Brock to review and discuss the best approach. He thinks that a 5 -10 minute presentation with plenty advance notice to Common Council and Department Heads would be sufficient. Discussion then followed on the floor about which standing committee of Common Council the presentation should be made; which may be the Planning and Economic Development Committee. This would allow more time for the presentation and a dialog with committee members. It would also depend upon the committee's availability. Alderperson Brock suggested that a presentation be made for the Board of Public Works as well. Chair Roberts would like to schedule a presentation for the Planning and ED Committee and Board of Public work in August, and then do a presentation to Common Council at their September meeting. The next group to share the information with will be the public. He noted that the public can attend the DAC meetings and discuss the results of survey. He wondered what are other ways to get the information out to the general public so they know that the DAC did something with the information they provided by completing the survey. Some suggestions for sharing information with the public included an article in the City's newsletter, information on the City's web /face book page, and eventually the City's television channel. Public Education - Outreach: Chair Roberts stated that now the DAC has a video public service announcement on accessible parking, the DAC should work to put together a list of priority public service announcements that they would like to create. Disability Advisory Council Meeting Minutes June 4, 2014 DAC Member Sember -Chase questioned whether an intern could help with and address media relations and outreach for the City for all boards and committees. Discussion followed on the floor regarding identifying who would work with that student /intern, and the time commitment by staff; which can be a fulltime job in and of it self, and right now there is no grant money or funding for an intern. It was suggested that it would be nice to have a short public service announcement that goes out to the media /webpage on a monthly or quarterly basis — something not very long, a paragraph at most. They should be educational pieces related to topics coming up such as snow /ice removal, reminders about accessibility for everyone, etc. Those pieces could be forwarded to City Clerk Holcomb to post to the city's website -face book page. Alderperson Brock noted that she is also the Common Council Liaison to the Workforce Diversity Advisory Committee, and that group suggested a tag line at the end of city staff e -mail related to cultural /diversity statements. Each month a different quote is sent out by the Human Resources department to all staff to include with their signature on all e -mails sent. She suggested that the DAC consider something similar to that. For example: "The Disability Advisory Council supports the new city sidewalk program because it allows repairs to be made and provides accessibility to everyone ". These "tags" would help remind the public of the DAC, and the things it supports. DAC members thought that suggestion made a lot of sense, and would like to do something like that going forward. DAC Member McElrath reminded everyone that the same information should be made available in hard copy form and distributed around the city for those residents that do not use computers, and that suggestion was fully supported by everyone. Topic for next meeting: work on putting together some short public service announcements to send to City Clerk Holcomb to post to the City's website /face book page. Presentation of survey information and results — Chair Roberts, and DAC members Sember -Chase and Scott will work together to determine what makes sense to include in the presentation to the Planning and Economic Development Committee, the Board of Public Works, and Common Council, which won't differ drastically from one another. DAC Member Rappaport questioned whether it would be a good time, during those presentations, to bring up items not included in the survey. The survey focused mostly on sidewalks /accessibility. There were other concerns raised in the survey regarding building code violations related to ADA requirements (i.e. access to stores on the Commons). Chair Roberts responded that he thought it would be the best time to do that, and asked DAC members to let him know what items need to be addressed, and were not included in survey so that information could be shared during the presentation. Discussion of Next Survey, the best way to get public input, and review of Fort Collins, Colorado Survey Tool: Alderperson Brock stated that what she liked about this model survey was the fact that imbedded in the question itself was an educational comment as well. For example, "did you know the city did such and such, and what are your thoughts as to whether it is enough or what else could be done - i.e. if laws already there, then is enforcement the issue ?" DAC Member Rappaport explained that the ADA rules are enforced by the Department of Justice (DOJ), so complaints related to ADA should go to the DOJ, which can be a lengthy process. Chair Roberts stated that what he liked about the survey was there was a lot about the educational campaigns that had been used by Fort Collins, Colorado so questions were related to "have you seen the information in the campaign ?" The other addresses the question about how problems should be addressed, i.e. "would making small changes in your life make a difference ?" Alderperson Brock noted that by turning the question around in the right way, can make the public alter a behavior which will result in positive changes for the community as a whole. Phrasing questions in a certain way can trigger positive responses; i.e. less use of the negatives and more focus on the positives. Disability Advisory Council Meeting Minutes June 4, 2014 For example: "The City has a complaint process for x, y and z and this is how that's done - did you know that ?" He further noted that by doing these kinds of surveys in a planned way makes a lot of sense to increase knowledge about the work of the DAC by the public. Alderperson Brock stated that another great idea is when Fort Collins crafted the survey, a core set of questions were included that are timeless so they can be repeated in each survey to see if there have been any changes. It is interesting to see what differences or changes the public has done /made as a result of the survey. Chair Roberts stated that the current survey needs to be reviewed, results evaluated and presented to Common Council and Department Heads before thinking about doing a new survey. Updates: Front Access to Stores on The Commons Chair Roberts further reported that in January he and DAC Member Sember -Chase attended the Downtown Ithaca Alliance Government Relations Committee meeting to share DAC's desire to improve front access to stores on the Commons. The reason for the request is that some slopes or steps into the store prevent people with mobility issues from entering them. What they talked about was the idea of identifying a few places that might be receptive to a discussion that while the reconstruction work is underway on the Commons whether it would be feasible, in a couple places, to resolve steep slope or step issues. In addition, Gary Ferguson, Downtown Ithaca Alliance Director, reviewed the material DAC Member Sember -Chase prepared and made a suggestion that one of the ways to proceed might be to conduct a workshop about the concerns. He doesn't particularly support that idea because of the probable lack of attendance. The other option would be to promote a webinar with the information that could be watched anytime by interested parties. In addition, Chair Roberts and a few DAC members need to meet with Mr. Ferguson to evaluate the front entrances that are not ADA compliant before it gets too late, which it may already be. Chair Roberts reported that the reconstruction of the Commons would have been an opportune time to make the changes. Extensive discussion followed on the floor regarding the topic of front access to stores on the Commons, including the fact that Chair Roberts attended all the preconstruction and design meetings by the developer (Sasaki) and spoke to the need of making all stores accessible on the Commons. Additional meetings were held with staff, the Downtown Ithaca Alliance, and the Project Manager and Coordinator (Michael Kuo /Tammy Baker) about the same issue. The reconstruction project is almost complete (November 2014) and it does not appear that, at this point, any changes will be made to those affected stores on the Commons to make them fully accessible to everyone. The DAC wanted to work with the business owners, city, and Downtown Ithaca Alliance to help storeowners comply with the request in a voluntary manner. The City cannot force the storeowners to make the necessary changes either. It's a complicated issue because of the private /public properties on the Commons, and what owner responsibilities are. This is a complicated issue, because the City owns up to the property line, but beyond that it can't make property owners make changes. In addition, there are other issues to consider such as the slopes in place now may be needed for drainage. However, building /store owners need to step up to the plate and make whole changes that will result in full accessibility as well as keeping their building protected from water damage or other architectural barriers that redoing the front access might cause. In some cases, making the changes will result in significant financial implications as well. V Disability Advisory Council Meeting Minutes June 4, 2014 Chair Roberts will talk with Michael Kuo and Gary Ferguson to get a status update. He will let them know that the DAC is disappointed about the non - compliance by building /store owners on this request. The DAC did what it was supposed to do — advise the city on issues related to ADA and accessibility, but it has not happened in this instance. He further noted that if push came to shove, the City /DAC could file a complaint on each individual store /property owner that is not compliant with the DOJ, which would probably come in and force the property owners to make the changes - but the City and the DAC would prefer not to work that way. At this point, the DAC has made property owners aware of the situation and the need to make their stores accessible to everyone. At some point these accessibility issues will need to be addressed, and the DAC can make a commitment to pursue that. Chair Roberts left the meeting at 1:25 p.m. New Business: New Sidewalk Program Update: Sidewalk Program Manager Hathaway explained he wanted to check back in with the DAC about the proposed construction /design of the new sidewalk program schedule. He stated that right now he is in the process of getting bid documents out for 2014 work. In addition, he is working on obtaining design proposals for public review /input for 2015 sidewalk work. He further noted that ADA compliance is a priority for the program and there are standards to guide in that work. He wanted to get some practical advice from the DAC concerning physical barriers around the City as far as what and where they are. He would like to get a feel for the day -to -day sidewalk problems that should be addressed, and to find a way to prioritize the most important ones for immediate work and attention both this year and next year. Some suggestions for areas to focus on for work are sidewalks with heaves, cracked sidewalks with multiple holes, or broken sidewalk, the building up of ice and snow, the sidewalk on Green Street near City Hall that is getting worse and worse, and crumbling sidewalks on number streets. Sidewalk Program Manager Hathaway stated that it would be helpful, at some point, for DAC members to meet him at some point in the City and look at specific examples of sidewalks that would help him prioritize the work. He will work to coordinate a time with Chair Roberts and any DAC members that are interested. Next Agenda: Need to set up a group of DAC members to look at sidewalks and what issues need to be addressed for the Sidewalk Program Manager, and then make up a list. In addition, set a location to meet Sidewalk Program Manager Hathaway to look at various sidewalks in the City to help prioritize the work schedule. Sidewalk Program Manager Hathaway stated that if he could get priorities from the DAC about locations they want addressed for sidewalk work, it would help him justify why the priorities are established the way they are as the list is developed for 2015 sidewalk work. He is also working with the City's GIS department on mapping out some of the already noted sidewalks that need work and plans to continue work with them on developing the map to go with the 2014 sidewalk repair /replacement schedule. He has also been working with City Forester, Jeanne Grace, looking at tree damaged sidewalks, and trying to determine where /if trees need to be removed and she has been very helpful; as the program moves forward it will be a balancing act to keep sidewalks safe as well as maintaining as many city trees as possible. ADJOURNMENT: On a motion the meeting adjourned at 1:40 p.m. Sarah L. Myers Larry Roberts Information Management Specialist Chair, DAC El