HomeMy WebLinkAboutDisMinutes_2009_06_19
Brookings Committee for People who have Disabilities
June 19, 2009
A meeting of the Brookings Committee for People who have Disabilities was held at 2:00 p.m. on
Friday, June 19, 2009 in the Brookings City Hall with the following members present: Nancy
Hartenhoff-Crooks, Kim Wells, Dave Miller, Lonnie Bayer, Jessie Kuechenmeister, Jeff Vostad,
and Dona Kornbaum. Absent: Kurt Cogswell, Dave Bertelson, and Alan Davis.
Chair Dave Miller called the meeting to order at 2:10 p.m. The next meeting of the committee
was scheduled for July 17, 2009. Frost Arena was added to the agenda and April 17th meeting
minutes were approved.
NEW BUSINESS
Special Needs Subcommittee on the Pandemic Preparedness Group . Bob McGrath, City Solid
Waste Director and co-chair on the PPCC, said the Pandemic Preparedness Coordination
Committee (PPCC) has been developing a county wide response plan in the event of a pandemic
influenza outbreak. The purpose of the plan is to reduce the impact of a pandemic illness and
have contingency plans in place if needed. The county wide response plan has been written
somewhat generically so that portions of the plan can be applied to other emergencies that may
encounter similar problems.
As part of the plan, they are trying to identify special populations, their potential needs and a
contingency plan to provide the services they may need. “Special Populations” so far identified
are: young children at home if school closes that may need supervision, elderly people who live
alone or are homebound, pet owners, people who have disabilities, non English speaking
individuals and the homeless.
A subcommittee of PPCC is being recruited to develop this portion of the plan. The goal would
be to identify the special populations, determine what their needs may be, and then develop
contingency plans to deliver the needed services.
He said the Brookings Committee for People who have Disabilities is recognized as a potential
resource for this endeavor. Therefore, the PPCC is asking if there would be anyone from the
committee that would be interested in joining the subcommittee. Both Bayer and Wells
volunteered.
ABLE Awards. The A.B.L.E. Award (Ability, Belief, Leadership and Equality to Achieve Access For
All) is an annual award program designed to recognize the outstanding commitment of a
business or public entity in fulfilling the goals of the Americans with Disabilities Act. Highlighting
the efforts of an outstanding business or entity may motivate others to provide improved
accessibility to goods and services. It is presented each year in conjunction with the celebration
of the anniversary of the signing of the ADA on July 26 th 1991.
Categories include businesses (retail, commercial, professional office -- any business setting),
public (government related, school, SDSU), and faith-based organizations. The Committee
considers the following criteria when judging: Access to the goods and services and other
amenities including programming. The work can be new construction or remodeled. There is no
time limit on when the work was done.
Past Winners: 2008 - The Shamrock; 2007 - Lowe’s & Capital Card Services; 2006 - Ada Caldwell
Residence Hall, SDSU; 2005 - Fishback Soccer Park & Fergen’s Clothing (for programming), 2004 -
- Holiday Inn Express & Applebee’s Neighborhood Bar & Grill; 2003 - Larson Ice Center & 1st
United Methodist Church; 2002 - SDSU Crothers Engineering Hall; 2001-Brookings HyVee &
United Church of Christ; 2000 - St. Thomas More Catholic Church; 1999 - George S. Mickelson
Middle School; and 1998 - Downtown Subway.
The deadline to submit nominees to the City Clerk will be June 26th. Site visits and selection will
be done at 1:00 p.m. on Monday, June 29th. The award presentation will be done during the 6
p.m. City Council meeting on July 28th. Miller will be out of town. Kuechenmeister agreed to
make the presentation along with Mayor Reed.
Accessible Parking Concerns - 165 Airport Avenue. Bayer noted that the parking lot at this
address does not provide accessible parking spaces for the businesses. Bayer agreed to meet with
the property owners and provide them with one of the new brochures on accessible parking.
Report on National ADA Symposium. Miller, Thornes and Hartenhoff-Crooks met on June 15th to
debrief after the Symposium. One key ‘take-away’ from the event was that emergency
“registries” only work for very, very small communities. Personal evaluation plans are very
important.
DBTAC has provided each member with a copy of the new ADA Quiz Book (Third Edition).
Members were encouraged to spend some time with the materials.
Funding may be available from DBTAC for all or part of the committee’s new accessible parking
brochure. Thornes will submit a funding request.
Miller is particularly interested in implementing a Citizen’s Patrol in Brookings and will gather more
information on this topic.
A report in greater detail will be provided via email to the Committee.
Updates & Wrap-ups:
Leadership & Diversity Event – Booth Planning and Meeting Attendance.
Kuechenmeister and Kornbaum staffed the Committee’s booth at the Conference. The
booth featured the Committee’s medical equipment drive, how to become a member on
the Committee, the employment brochure and the new accessible parking brochure.
Unfortunately, the event was not well attended, but the speaker was excellent. DBTAC
sent wonderful freebies, which were a big hit. More use of the committee’s exhibit booth
was suggested including the home show and other local builders’ events.
Durable Medical Equipment Drive Update (SD Cares). The subcommittee of Miller,
Cogswell and Vostad have made all the arrangements for the drive including print and radio
publicity. Miller will also attend the July 14th City Council meeting to promote the drive.
That meeting is broadcast live on the city’s government access channel and live streamed
on the city’s website (www.cityofbrookings.org). Pick-up dates will be July 18-21.
Donated equipment will be provided to the SD Cares organization.
Accessible Parking Brochure Publicity. The new brochures were distributed to the
members! 5,000 were printed for approximately $1,000. The Committee discussed a
special mailing of the brochure to area businesses, architects, engineers, contractors, sign
companies and other interested citizens. Another suggestion was to provide a brochure to
anyone applying for a business or commercial building permit with the city of Brookings.
City Funding Request for 2010 Fiscal Year. Thornes will be submitting a level funding
request (with a 3% increase) to the City Manager for consideration.
Committee Membership. There is currently one vacancy on the Committee and three
people have submitted applications for appointment. Thornes reported that the Mayor
has selected his appointment nomination which has been submitted to the City Council for
review and possible action on July 14th.
Frost Arena. Kornbaum and Bayer met with Mayor Tim Reed to bring the issue of Frost
Arena’s inaccessibility to his attention and ask for suggestions on how to proceed. They said
the meeting was very helpful and they were appreciative of the Mayor’s time and
comments.
Reports:
Transportation Board Report. Hartenhoff-Crooks and Thornes attended the May 19th
meeting. The Board discussed citywide wayfinding signage, the safe routes to school
project, bike to work week events, and the 2010 transportation subsidies.
City ADA Coordinator’s Report.
o Downtown Streetscape (Parking, Flower Baskets) – Thornes is still waiting for a
report from city staff on fixing the non-compliant accessible parking spaces. She
said she’s been verbally assured by city staff members that the issues will be fixed.
On the flower basket height, she and DBTAC reviewers discovered an exemption
that allows for the baskets to be lower than 80” because they don’t protrude farther
than 12” from a free standing pole. She noted that this exemption will be
eliminated when the new ADA guidelines are adopted.
o Swiftel Center Capital Improvement Plan – The Swiftel Center Executive Director
wants to submit a capital improvement plan that addresses all the inaccessibility
problems at the Swiftel Center. In response, Cogswell, Hartenhoff-Crooks and
Thornes recently met and to review old design review notes from 1997-present to
determine what the Committee and city staff had originally recommended on
accessible seating and other accessibility provisions for the Swiftel Center. The
biggest issue is that the used retractable seating purchased from Denver and
installed in the Center did not meet the requirements of the ADA. The City ADA
Coordinator, Committee members and other ADA colleagues provided a plan back
in 1999-2000 to bring the Center into compliance, but the plan was never
implemented by city staff.
o Downtown Brookings Inc. Sidewalk Café Design Guidelines – Thornes reviewed
DBI’s guidelines and provided editing recommendations related to accessibility. She
noted that this was not a city document.
o City Website – Thornes reported that her staff is creating a completely new website
for the City that will be ADA compliant. She has found it will be easier to create a
new website than fix the old one. She hopes to have it completed by early 2010.
Other:
Correspondence/Announcements (Monthly Report Reminder)
Calendar:
July 14th Promote Durable Medical Equipment Drive @ City Council Meeting
July 18-21 Durable Medical Equipment Drive
July 28th Presentation of ABLE Awards
July Agenda Items: ABLE Awards, Durable Medical Equipment Drive
Meeting adjourned at 3:45 p.m.
Submitted by Shari Thornes