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HomeMy WebLinkAboutMN-DAC-2016-10-05Disability Advisory Council Meeting Minutes October 5, 2016 Present: Chair Roberts Vice Chair Scriber DAC Members: Erin Sember-Chase Lisa Monroe CC Liaison Brock Others Present: Information Management Specialist – Myers City Clerk – Julie Conley Holcomb Transportation Engineer – Hathaway Susan Saran – Observer/Member of the Public Excused: DAC Members: Anderson, McElrath, Rappaport Approval of Minutes: Approval of the September 7, 2016 Disability Advisory Council Meeting Minutes - Resolution By Vice Chair Scriber: Seconded by DAC Member Sember-Chase RESOLVED, That the minutes of the September 7, 2016 Disability Advisory Council meeting be approved as published. Carried Unanimously Updates: Chair Roberts reported that Common Council approved the tax abatement policy that was discussed at the September 7, 2016 meeting of the DAC. Chair Roberts followed up with Chief of Staff Cogan about the status of the City’s ADA self-assessment and the possibility of updating it. Chief of Staff Cogan has met with Director of Planning, Building, Zoning and Economic Development Cornish about the assessment. He has developed a list of other staff that he would like to discuss the self- assessment with, but has not been able to actually meet with them yet. He apologized for not being able to provide more information than that right now, but wanted the DAC to know that he is working on it. Chair Roberts further reported that both capital projects that the DAC discussed recently – the lift at the Alex Haley Pool and the Commons Playground accessibility improvements were approved by the Mayor and Common Council for the 2017 budget. Right now, as far as the Commons Playground project goes, the money will be set aside until a plan is prepared by the designer of the playground and presented to staff, the DAC and Common Council for approval. He noted that since the DAC did meet with Planning Department staff about this project, it does have some sense of what changes it would like to see for the playground. Once staff have the information from the designer they will come back to the DAC to present it and discuss it. It was noted that the plans that DAC had discussed for the playground involved the removal of the base material so the structure could be more accessible as well as re-arranging some of the pieces for the same reason. Disability Advisory Council Meeting Minutes October 5, 2016 2 Chair Roberts reminded DAC members that a couple of meetings ago DAC Member Rappaport suggested that there were a number of things that the DAC keeps talking about, but then nothing happens to address the concerns. DAC Member Rappaport would like to find a way to make sure that staff and/or contractor’s make the necessary changes or bring the projects to completion. In some instances, it is a matter of bringing the situation or concern to the attention of the public so everyone is aware of why certain things need to be done to ensure accessibility for everyone. If that does not occur, how can the DAC enforce the requirement and/or determine the responsible person they should be discussing the matter with. Particularly, keeping sidewalks and paths of travel easily accessible in the downtown business district and in Collegetown. Chair Roberts stated that in preparation for today’s meeting with City Clerk Holcomb to discuss the City of Ithaca website and DAC information, he came up with the following list of suggestions that could be publicized to highlight their importance: Snow and ice removal Clear paths of travel during construction No parking across sidewalks, in crosswalks The responsibility of event planners using city property or facilities to submit plans to the city for access, as part of the permitting process Keeping business district sidewalks/paths of travel clear – signage, tables In addition, there are a lot of other ‘smaller’ issues that have been discussed over time; he wondered if DAC members had other ideas or suggestions to add to the list. He said the items in the list are things that the DAC has discussed over the years, the purpose of today’s discussion is how to bring them to the public’s attention, to make sure the rules are enforced consistently, and to add them to the DAC web page on the City’s website. Another suggestion he would have for the DAC page is to have a Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ’s) section that the public and staff could refer to as needed. CC Liaison Brock suggested that with regard to the importance of snow and ice removal from sidewalks, it would be good to include a suggestion that would encourage individuals “Adopt a Curb Cut” in the various neighborhoods and work together to keep the curb free from ice and snow. Discussion Items: Conversation with Julie Holcomb, Department of Public Information and Technology regarding possible updates to the Disability Advisory Council’s page on the City of Ithaca Website: City Clerk Holcomb stated that she really likes the idea of a FAQ’s section. She explained that one of the issues that the City has encountered through the years is information falling through the cracks in communication so then it becomes a question of how do you get the information to people and in what format do they want to receive it. Right now, the City uses its website, social media, and news releases to share information with the public. She expects that through those means of communication the City is reaching probably around 5,000 people in a community of 30,000. Beyond those means to communicate, it is a very challenging population to work with due to its transient nature with both students and community members. She does send information to the Ithaca Times and Ithaca Journal which still print hard copies of the newspaper, but they’re not so popular with the general public; the Ithaca Journal in particular does not cover a lot of local news. She also sends information to the Ithaca Voice which is a local online news source that is very popular. The City of Ithaca no longer has a local television news channel; although Channel 10 News, from Syracuse, Disability Advisory Council Meeting Minutes October 5, 2016 3 will occasionally run some information about the city. There is a local news radio station, but the local news is broadcast early in the morning so that it does not have a very big listening audience. DAC Member Sember-Chase wondered whether the City had tried sending information to 14850.com which has grown quite a following for a news source, as it might be a good place to send the information as well. City Clerk Holcomb responded that they are on the City’s media list, and they are actually the first news source to respond back to her if there is a mistake in the notice or it the information is not clear. Vice Chair Scriber asked whether the City had considered utilizing Cornell University and Ithaca College’s media/social sites to communicate information. City Clerk Holcomb responded that the City has tried to send information to them; however, they usually politely decline because they have their own information to send that they want students to read. They’re afraid if they add any more to what they already distribute the students won’t read the information. The City continues to work with the Cornell Daily Sun and the Cornell Chronicle to send information out through them. She also works with the office of Cornell Off-Campus Housing to send out information and they have been very engaged and a great resource for the City to utilize in that respect. DAC Member Sember-Chase suggested that the City reach out to the off-campus housing to see if they might have a grad student listserve that the City could tap into for distribution of information. Utilizing listserves like that really helps to get the word out because every person you send that information then forwards it to others. City Clerk Holcomb stated that the offices of Cornell Community Relations and Off- Campus Housing are great resources to use to send information out from the City through e-mail lists. DAC Member Monroe suggested that when the City uses its social media to send out information that it might be good to begin “tagging” the posts because that way they tend to get shared through a domino like effect. Chair Roberts asked whether the City was part of the Human Services listserve group. City Clerk Holcomb responded that it’s not, and there are reasons not to do that, specifically because of the volume of e-mails to the City it would result in. She further noted that the City does utilize an e-mail distribution for neighborhood listserves that are then shared, but even these are not working as they should be. Another tool that the City recently began using, and which Common Council members have been great about promoting is the City website’s “Notify Me” tool. The public can use this tool to self- subscribe to whatever information they might want to receive from the City such as agendas, press releases, construction releases, etc. which seems to be working well to get information out to the public. Vice Chair Scriber questioned whether the problem with the distribution of information and the issue of the public, in particular students, saying that they are unaware of whatever the City may be doing or asking is that they don’t understand why the various concerns regarding accessibility are important. Disability Advisory Council Meeting Minutes October 5, 2016 4 City Clerk Holcomb responded yes, that the students are young, living away from home for the first time or recently living off-campus from dorms and they typically don’t think about mobility and accessibility issues unless they know someone with mobility issues. Vice Chair Scriber stated that it would be good for Chair Roberts or someone to record a video entitled “a day in the life of” which would be a good educational tool. That way the public could be educated about the reasons why certain things need to be done for accessibility reasons. Sometimes a picture is worth a thousand words. Chair Roberts stated that another resource is to have a place on the DAC’s city webpage where there is a FAQ section that then explains the rules about snow and ice removal from sidewalks and paths of travel, and why parking a vehicle across a sidewalk is not allowed, the importance of removing and trimming bushes so those with visual impairments can have clear access on the sidewalk, etc. as a good place to start on the DAC webpage. Alternately, the City of Ithaca could make an announcement that the DAC has a FAQ page and where it can be found on the City’s website. City Clerk Holcomb responded that she would be happy to assist with that and asked if the DAC could highlight relevant or priority type items that they would like to see, as a start, to creating a resource for the public regarding the DAC and accessibility requirements in the City of Ithaca. Chair Roberts suggested that he and any other DAC members that might be interested set up a time, aside from a regular DAC meeting, to meet with City Clerk Holcomb to discuss the DAC’s webpage and the FAQ’s. CC Liaison Brock suggested talking with the Ithaca Police Department and the Community Service Officers regarding enforcement of some of these issues. She further reported that during last weekend’s Apple Harvest Festival, she received information through social media that there were barricades in a cross-walk blocking it entirely for pedestrians and people in wheelchairs, there were also vehicles blocking the cross-walks on streets that were closed for the festival. This meant that people had to go into the street to access the festival activities, which is not something they should have to do. She reported that people did contact Ithaca Police officers to provide assistance in moving the truck and barricades to open up the cross-walk, but the officer seemed reluctant to do so. This resulted in someone in a wheelchair who could not attend the festival because they could not access it because of the cross-walk being blocked. She wondered what training the City could provide officers about accessibility requirements. She realizes that with special events barriers are often put up by volunteers who need training on the importance of keeping crosswalks and curbs clear and accessible at all times. People should not have to go into the street and put themselves at risk of being hit by a car in order to attend the event. Chair Roberts stated that if there is some kind of special policy that the City has to allow for crosswalks to be blocked for an event, then the DAC should know the reason for the policy. City Clerk Holcomb responded that the Apple Harvest Festival is a special event. All special event applications require the submission of an accessibility plan for the event and its activities. She would like to know more specifics about the problem with the recent Apple Harvest Festival so she can address it with the event organizer. Chair Roberts stated that is will be great to have a FAQ page for these general questions; it would also be nice to have a link for FAQ’s related to special events and for Disability Advisory Council Meeting Minutes October 5, 2016 5 contractors. He noted that the contractors doing work on the hotel on South Cayuga Street did a good job of providing an alternate sidewalk that is wide enough to accommodate all users as work is being done in and around the sidewalk of the hotel. DAC Member Sember-Chase stated that the Department of Justice guidelines have a good guide for accessibility related to special events that event organizers could find as a helpful resource; perhaps the City could provide a link to that website for ease of access. City Clerk Holcomb responded that all special event organizers are required to provide an accessibility plan for their event. She stated that things may have gotten a little lax about accessibility requirements because so many of the special events use city facilities that are accessible. For example, the Commons, City Parks, the Cayuga Waterfront Trail; however, she agrees that by pointing out particular areas that event organizers need to pay attention to like making sure crosswalks are kept open and completely accessible that it helps organizers become more cognizant of these important areas to make sure everyone can attend their event. She further stated, that most of the special events are getting very large as they become more and more popular so that they are outgrowing the original footprints for the event, and the City needs to be very vigilant regarding accessibility needs as they work with organizers to grow the events. DAC Member Sember-Chase asked if the DAC could see what a special event accessibility plan looked like to review it. City Clerk Holcomb responded that she would e-mail the special event application to DAC members and explained that the application for a special event permit is a two phased process. The first phase involves just the basics of the event – i.e. who, what, when, where, etc. and the second phase is more involved as far as providing an accessibility plan, trash removal plans; it is an extensive application process. DAC Member Sember-Chase wondered if whoever is reviewing the accessibility plan would catch something that was not meeting the ADA requirements for accessibility. City Clerk Holcomb responded that was a good point, and that there is a special event team that meets once a month. That team would love to have someone from the DAC sit on the committee and attend meetings for that purpose. Discussion followed on the floor regarding the different pieces to the DAC’s goal of making sure that everyone has access to anything they need within the City of Ithaca. It will involve education, working with local colleges to engage and educate students about ADA, whether pictures that would clearly show examples of what accessibility should look like, as well as the resources that the Department of Justice has that could be used in this project. The DAC should work to put the FAQ’s together at a separate meeting, and then determine what its role should be as far as making sure large events comply with ADA requirements. Another resource that should be made available to the public is information about where to go to make a complaint about lack of accessibility at an event – be it an event organizer of the City of Ithaca. It may be that some people don’t know that they can complain and so that information should be shared as well in an ongoing effort to meet everyone’s needs. CC Liaison Brock suggested that the DAC keep in mind the need for additional education for IPD officers about why preserving an accessibility route is important. In this case, during the Apple Harvest Festival, no one could get to church because the crosswalk and curb were blocked at West State/Martin Luther King, Jr. Street and Geneva Street that affected access for church members. Disability Advisory Council Meeting Minutes October 5, 2016 6 City Clerk Holcomb agreed that making sure event organizers’ are aware of activities and events taking place outside their own event at all times is very important. She noted that working on the education piece for IPD officers might be more difficult because of the number of officers that would need training; training of Community Service Officers may be less difficult because there are fewer of them. She knows that Director of Parking Nagy, who supervisors the Community Service Officers, is happy to work with the DAC as well. City Clerk Holcomb further stated that enforcement is a problem. For example, the recent “pop-up park” in Collegetown during construction was a problem as far as accessibility was concerned. The discussions and plans leading up to the park involved a lot of staff time, and she was in those meetings and there were specific discussions about access to sidewalks and the need to provide ramps. Once the City was made aware of the lack of accessibility, it reached out to the organizer about it. The City relies heavily on the public to inform it when there are accessibility issues. She further reminded the DAC of the brochure that her office worked to create with them about accessibility which is available for the public. She has a supply of the brochures displayed at the City Clerk’s office for the taking, and she took them to Cornell University’s BEAR walk (a meet and greet between city and Cornell officials with students at the end of August). She asked DAC members to let her know of other locations where they would like the brochure to be displayed and available for the taking by the public. The brochure is also on the City’s website for people to refer to. Accessible Parking Discussion with Transportation Engineer Hathaway: Chair Roberts stated that DAC Member Rappaport, Director of Engineering Logue, Transportation Engineer Hathaway had e-mailed one another about a concern that was raised at the September 7, 2016 DAC meeting by DAC Member Rappaport. The following is information that has been shared regarding on-street accessible parking concerns of the DAC: At the City of Ithaca Disability Advisory Council meeting on September 7, the DAC noted that adding accessible parking spaces throughout the city has been under discussion since the four or six accessible spaces that were in the City lot adjacent to the Carey building were closed. As the lot has been closed for at least 18 months, DAC Member Rappaport asked, on behalf of the DAC, that the processes of adding accessible spaces comprehensively throughout the City in metered parking areas be prioritized. Chair Roberts suggested that a task force could be established to assist in locating these spaces to comply with the guidelines if required. Transportation Engineer Logue, through e-mail, provided a copy of the current policy for reserved parking spaces that was approved by the Board of Public Works (BPW) (and amended with the input of the DAC). If anyone would like to propose new spaces, she or he can do so according to the policy and it's a staff level decision. If anyone would like to change the policy, it needs to go back to the BPW for approval. Either way, it's a good place to start. Chair Roberts responded to that e-mail to explain that he thought that DAC Member Rappaport’s e-mail had been misunderstood. Chair Roberts went on then to explain that the DAC believes that there is not enough designated accessible parking on The street. The DAC would like to work with whomever it makes sense to involve to determine what would be a good number of such spaces, and on which blocks. What Disability Advisory Council Meeting Minutes October 5, 2016 7 the DAC wants can't be addressed by individual requests for spots in specific locations, such as in front of a home or apartment building. The response back from Director of Engineering Logue was to say “doesn't the policy say that in metered areas, since there is no requirement for reserved spaces on street, the City will consider public requests (could include the DAC), use some of the criteria of off-street requirements, and try to have a reasonable balance”? If there are locations where the DAC or anyone thinks the City should have a reserved space, then ask. If the DAC wants to put together a working group to evaluate these, that's no problem either. Or, maybe what was being said is that we should have a number or percentage set aside, like there is for off-street facilities that would automatically be applied to all City streets (or some portion of them, like the (Commercial Business District) (CBD)), regardless of whether someone or the DAC asks. He understands that the Access Board may be considering something along these lines, but until that becomes law, he thinks the City's policy would still be the guide. So, if this is more in line with what the DAC is thinking, his perspective is that that should be recommended to the BPW to change the policy. It would have some far reaching implications. Does that make sense? DAC Rappaport, since he could not be at today’s meeting, provided the following response back to the question above. He understands that this on street accessible parking is not yet required by the DOJ, but he’s heard for a few years it is forthcoming. Similar to the 2003 Barden v. City of Sacramento decision that the ADA does apply to sidewalks, a case for accessible on-street parking was settled in 2014. The comment stating that adding accessible on-street parking will have “far reaching implications" for the City, he would like to see this conversation started and possibly a selective implementation. The DAC started this discussion after accessible spaces near the Commons were lost when the City lot adjacent to the Carey building was closed, so targeting retail and public assembly areas would be a good first step towards future compliance. Transportation Engineer Hathaway explained that Director of Parking Nagy should also be included in discussions regarding parking. He makes the decisions on where to place new meters or signs for direction. However, prior to Mr. Hathaway’s current position, he did manage sidewalks and has a lot of experience about accessibility. He agrees with Director of Engineering Logue that it will be an effort and have impacts if the City puts an accessible space every 25 feet all over the city. What he would propose is that the project start by having the City’s GIS department provide a map to see where current accessible spaces are located. This would be a good job for an intern who could do a physical evaluation and check what there is now as a start to determine where and how many additional spaces are needed. This is not an overly technical project, but it would take some time to do. Chair Roberts responded that the DAC has always felt that there needs to be more accessible parking. DAC Member Rappaport’s suggestion was that we need to start somewhere, but eventually DOJ will weigh in when necessary on what is required. Transportation Engineer Hathaway explained that as far as public right-of-way and accessibility guidelines go that the guidelines from the DOJ are still in draft form, and will probably be finalized next year. The DOJ still has some issues they are working through. DAC Member Sember-Chase asked if the draft guidelines are accepted standards, and just not enforceable without the DOJ’s sign off at this time? Disability Advisory Council Meeting Minutes October 5, 2016 8 Transportation Engineer Hathaway responded that there is no reason for the City not to be proactive in this project. He would start with the GIS information to see how far from the goal we are. After that the DAC and staff could discuss with Director of Parking Nagy, and the City’s GIS Specialist, Ruth Aslanis where designated spaces might be located. He believes that designed on-street parking spaces would be located near the end of the block so that they are near a ramp for accessibility; at least that would be his suggestion. As far as implementation, as noted above, he would suggest the use of an intern for the project. This is an important project; however, he does have other projects he is working on that take priority right now, and it would be a good project for an intern to do an inventory of current on-street accessible parking spaces as a start to determining where the City needs to go from there. DAC Member Monroe, from Tompkins County Office of the Aging, suggested that there might be some occupational therapy students that could assist in the inventory project. Transportation Engineer Hathaway responded that would be great because traditionally he would go to Cornell University for their engineering students. He noted that if the occupational therapy students took on the project during a semester, the scope would have to be very limited due to their busy school schedules. For this project, of inventorying the number of accessible on-street parking spaces he would prefer one intern that could complete the project in two months; rather than three people, during school, working on the project for two months. He just feels it would be a better way to begin the work on the project. Chair Roberts asked that the project would involve – would it be data related to how many, where, and what type of designation is for the on-street parking spaces. It was also noted that having a GIS map of the current locations is a good start, but you really need someone to do a physical inventory as well because there may be other factors in the area that would either prevent or support such a space physically. DAC Member Sember-Chase asked if the City might have some sort of map already that shows all the parking and where the accessible parking is. Transportation Engineer Hathaway responded that he could check with the City’s GIS department to see, and that might be a good place to start to review the information together with the DAC. Chair Roberts stated that another small, but important detail to consider is what would the signs look like. In some cases it’s just a sign with a picture of a person in a wheelchair, is that what the DAC wants? Another question is should the meters be left or not - now that the City has the new scratch-off cards to pay for parking; all these questions will need to be discussed and solutions determined. Chair Roberts stated that another topic he wanted to discuss with Transportation Engineer Hathaway is an issue brought to his attention by a member of the City’s Bicycle Pedestrian and Advisory Council. It concerns some a curb ramp on East Buffalo Street that does not have a ramp and so people just come right out into the intersection. Another such curb is at an intersection on Hector Street. Transportation Engineer Hathaway explained that East Buffalo and North Tioga Streets recently underwent a street re-surfacing project to upgrade curbs and ramps. He has responded to the person who had the concern about the type of curb at the intersection there. He explained that there are different kinds of approved curb ramps since all intersections are not the same physically and so this particular curb ramp does not allow for a blended transition from the sidewalk to the street due to lack of space. Disability Advisory Council Meeting Minutes October 5, 2016 9 Transportation Engineer Hathaway reported that through the City’s Sidewalk Improvement District funding that Hector Street will have a sidewalk designed from Vinegar Hill to Fall View Terrace that should help to address the above curb. The City is going to apply for a grant through the Federal Government for this project which will result in improved accessibility as well as improved access to public transportation. The grant will fund 80% of the cost of the project and the City will pay the 20% difference out of that area’s sidewalk improvement district assessments for a couple years. The application is being put together by Sidewalk Program Manager Licitra, and the City is considering extending the project to the City line in the application. The City needs to provide the design and cost estimate for the application. The deadline for submission of the grant application is October 21, 2016; notification would then be made in early 2017. CC Liaison Brock noted that Tompkins County conducts a traffic analysis of dangerous areas and most expensive areas for accidents and one of the most expensive is the curve on Hector Street. If the City can keep people from walking in the street by installing these sidewalks it will make the area so much better. DAC Member Sember-Chase left the meeting at 1:15 p.m. A brief discussion followed on the floor regarding safety concerns on Spencer Road and the Stone Quarry intersection. The Board of Public Works discussed the project at their October 3rd meeting and approved the proposal to dead-end Spencer Street at the Stone Quarry Road intersection. This is one of the capital projects included in the 2017 budget. Adjournment: On a motion the meeting adjourned at 1:20 p.m. _______________________________ ______________________________ Sarah L. Myers, Larry Roberts, Information Management Specialist Chair