HomeMy WebLinkAboutDisMinutes_2010_10_22Brookings Committee for People who have Disabilities
October 22, 2010 (unapproved)
A meeting of the Brookings Committee for People who have Disabilities was held at 2:00 p.m. on
Friday, October 22, 2010 in the Brookings City Hall with the following member s present: Kathy
Heylens, Nancy Hartenhoff-Crooks, Dave Miller, Kim Lindell, Jeff Vostad, Dona Kornbaum, Lonnie
Bayer and Jessie Kuechenmeister. Absent: Alan Davis, Kurt Cogswell and Dave Bertelson. Shari
Thornes was also present
Miller called the meeting to order at 2:00 p.m. An update on SDSU Frost Arena was added to
the agenda. Next meeting – November 30th @ 2:00 p.m.
New Business:
Community Cultural Center Plan Review. The Committee reviewed proposed hardscape and
landscape schematics for the city-owned Community Cultural Center (former Carnegie Library).
They requested more detailed plans to include slope/grade and additional architectural details
(i.e. handrails). They also strongly recommend integrating a 36” wide path commencing at the
farthest west end that would tie into the primary path.
Annual Renewal with ADA Leadership Network (agreement and work plan). Thornes
submitted the annual renewal to participate in the regional ADA Leadership Network. Next
year’s work plan is due in mid November.
SDSU Frost Arena. Bayer reported SDSU is working on the following improvements to Frost
Arena: resizing bathroom doors to 36”, installing two family restrooms, improved signage and
providing an attendant to direct people to accessible restrooms during the games.
Improvements to the railings are on hold pending engineering results.
Curb Ramp Concern. Kornbaum reported curb ramps overgrown with weeds in her
neighborhood. She will give staff the addresses for further review. The Committee also briefly
discussed snow removal in the downtown area and the need to remind business owners to
keep the sidewalks and curb ramps clear.
Project & Issue Updates:
Governor’s Awards, Nominee Recognition Event. Lindell represented the Committee at the
October 26th City Council meeting and assisted Mayor Reed in recognizing local nominee Jana
Krogman.
McCrory Gardens Visitor Center Update. After the last meeting Cogswell summarized his
concerns in the following narrative.
General Comments
Standards of accessibility
When providing new construction accessibility advice as a committee representative, I have two
standards of accessibility in mind at all times:
• SA1 – “letter of the law”, i.e. minimally meets ADAAG guidelines
• SA2 - accessibility of the new structure’s major functions and programs beyond SA1
SA1 Application
I will never advise less than SA1 under any circumstances.
SA2 Application
If City of Brookings funds are being requested for new construction, I advise SA1 and SA2 assuming
SA2 can be reached via reasonable accommodation. Additionally, I expect the organization
requesting city funds to make a good faith attempt to address any concerns raised by the committee
regarding SA2 by investigating alternative designs subject to the “reasonable accommodation”
qualifier.
Comments specific to the McCrory Garden Education and Visitor Center
Event Lawns
• As described by the SDSU design team, a major function of this new structure will involve weddings
utilizing the event lawns and the large function room immediately to their north. Based on the design
team’s description of this function, these weddings can reasonably be assumed to involve members
of wedding parties moving in a formal way up and down the central event lawn staircase. SA1 access
to the event lawns has been provided via ramps in other locations.
• The committee requested that consideration be given to replacing the central event lawn staircase
with a ramp, an SA2 request. In response, it was stated that no other configuration for the event
lawns was possible. This may well be the case. However, no evidence was offered either for this
statement, or for the fact that a good faith effort to investigate alternative configurations had been
made by the design team in the weeks since the committee first raised the concern. Please refer to
my comments regarding application of SA2 above.
• I’ve proposed the basic idea for one alternative configuration in the attachment
“AlternativeEventLawnConfiguration - ConceptOnly.pdf”. This and other alternatives may be un-
workable for any number of good reasons clear to an architect or engineer, but Friday’s meeting did
not establish this.
Second Floor Accessibility Plan
It was my understanding from Friday’s meeting that the 827 square feet of storage space on the
second floor would store material for several different programs and organizations, and from a
previous meeting that there may be one or more SDSU employees hired whose primary job
responsibilities will be based at the McCrory Garden Education and Visitor Center. Thus, there will
likely be several individuals at any given time that might need to access the second floor. The current
design provides access to the second floor only via staircase. Presumably, SDSU has a well-defined,
non-structural plan to address this lack of accessibility both today and in the future when different
facility and university management might be in place. It would be legally advantageous for SDSU to
have this plan in writing and well-publicized to all those directly involved with the facility.
Second Floor Repurposing
It was stated by the design team that the second floor storage space would never be re-purposed,
and that storage space is the primary space need existing on the SDSU campus. I believe both of
these statements run counter to recent experience on the SDSU campus, and would produce as my
evidence the construction, remodeling, and repurposing of tens of thousands of square feet of space
on the SDSU campus over the last five years, all haven been driven by program growth and
modification as opposed to the need for storage space. Examples include but are not limited to the
new EECS building, Avera Health Science Building, Wellness Center, three new dorms, two additions
to the Student Union, multiple repurposings of the Intramural Building, and substantial remodeling
and repurposing in Admin Building, Harding Hall, and Ag Hall. It is surprising to me that SDSU would
intentionally decide to build a structure in which a major portion is incapable of being re-modeled/re-
purposed in the same way without the all-too-common expensive and sub-optimal retrofit of
accessibility features. However, this is not an immediate accessibility concern.
Alternative event lawn configuration – concept only
Proposed alternative configuration
• Move drain inlets to south lawn
• Regrade as indicated by red numbers beside original numbers
• I did not re-do all the numbers, just enough to establish feasibility.
• Replace stairs with ramp as indicated
Configuration advantages
• Replaces stairs with ramp
• Moves drain inlets further away from heavily traveled area near building
• Retains all architectural features that define the event lawn space as viewed from the building
except the stairs.
The Committee reviewed and concurred with his recommendations. A motion was made by
Kornbaum, seconded by Bayer, to concur with the following recommendation and provide a hard
copy to the donor at the earliest opportunity. All present voted yes; motion carried.
City City/County Administrative Building Update. No changes to report.
National Employment of People with Disabilities – 10/6 Event/Luncheon Report. Hartenhoff-
Crooks attended on behalf of the Committee. The Committee committed $300 to co-sponsor
the event. Thornes asked if the NEDEAM group had sent a bill.
Downtown Parking Request. Miller, Bayer and Thornes reviewed the proposed parking
location and all concurred the space appeared to narrow to provide compliant curb ramp
with slopes meeting 2% or less requirements. They evaluated end space north side of Nick’s
for a space, noting it was fairly close to the requested location. The space east side of Nick’s
was also evaluated and all agreed it was better location. The City Engineer will remove the
non-compliant space midblock and install at this new location.
ADA Training. A number of members participated in the day-long ADA facility audit training
session conducted by Rob Gilkerson of the ADA Technical Assistance Center. After classroom
sessions in the morning, the group did a spot check of the Swiftel Center.
University Mall Update. Miller, Bayer and Thornes toured the University Mall area and
concurred there are a number of problems. Miller will send a letter to the property owner
requesting a meeting to discuss options for improvement.
Additional Reports:
Special Needs Population Report. Kuechenmeister said the group continues to meet on the
plan. They have identified special needs population “stakeholders” and additional meetin gs
are planned.
Correspondence/Announcements/Calendar
Monthly Reports
Oct. 26th – Governor’s Awards Recognition – City Council meeting
Nov. 3rd – Three Cups of Tea Author Greg Mortenson speaking at Frost Arena
Dec. 9th – Mayor’s Holiday Party, Brookings Children’s Museum, 5-7 pm
Meeting adjourned at 3:45 p.m.
Submitted by Shari Thornes