HomeMy WebLinkAboutDisMinutes_2011_08_19Brookings Committee for People who have Disabilities
August 19, 2011
A meeting of the Brookings Committee for People who have Disabilities was held at 2:00 p.m. on
Friday, August 19, 2011 in the Brookings City Hall with the following members present: Kathy
Heylens, Sylvia Lozada, Alan Davis, Matt Simet, Lonnie Bayer. Jessie Kuechenmeister, Jeff Vostad
and Nancy Hartenhoff-Crooks. Absent: Dona Kornbaum and Dave Miller. Shari Thornes was also
present.
Kuechenmeister called the meeting to order at 2:00 p.m.
Minutes: The June and July minutes were approved without correction.
Agenda – Additions: 1) Movie Theater, 2) SD Municipal League Inquiry regarding Pools and
future assistance, 3) Lowe’s Parking
Schedule future meetings: - September 23rd @ 2:00 p.m.
New Business:
Governor’s Awards. The Committee reviewed the draft press release. The final release is as
follows: “The Brookings Committee for People who have Disabilities and Brookings NDEAM
(National Disability Employment Awareness Month) Committee are seeking local
nominations for the 2012 Governor’s Awards. The Governor’s Award is a program that
recognizes individuals and employers for their contributions to the rehabilitation and
employment of persons with disabilities in South Dakota.
Award Categories:
OUTSTANDING EMPLOYEE WITH A DISABILITY: This award is given to an employee with a
disability in recognition of outstanding achievements in competitive employment by
overcoming a disability as well as providing inspiration for other individuals with disabilities
(includes individuals who are self-employed).
OUTSTANDING CITIZEN WITH A DISABILITY: This award is given to an individual with a
disability in recognition of outstanding achievements in overcoming a disability and for the
promotion of independent living and employment opportunities for other individuals with
disabilities.
OUTSTANDING EMPLOYER: These awards are offered for outstanding achievement in
improving employment opportunities for persons with disabilities: small private employer
(non-government); large private employer (non-government); or public employer (local,
county, state or federal governmental entity, school district, university) of any size.
DISTINGUISHED SERVICE: This award is given to an individual or organization (public or
private) in recognition of extraordinary contributions to advancing the empowerment and
employment of people with disabilities. Individual or organization should have contributions
spanning 10 or more years.
OUTSTANDING TRANSITION SERVICES: This award is given to an individual or organization
(public or private) in recognition of extraordinary contributions to providing and developing a
transition program to assist students with disabilities as they transition from school to the
adult system. The individual or organization should have contributions spanning five or more
years.
To obtain a nomination form, please contact City Hall, City Clerk’s Office, at 697-8641 or
sthornes@cityofbrookings.org. Deadline to submit completed nominations is September 15,
2011. Nomination forms are available on the City Website – www.cityofbrookings.org.
Local nominees will be recognized at the October 25, 2011 Brookings City Council meeting.
Nominations will then be submitted to the Board of Vocational Rehabilitation for statewide
competition for the Governor’s Awards. Final selection for these awards will be made by the
Board in March 2012.”
Website. The Committee’s page on the new city website (www.cityofbrookings.org) currently
includes committee membership, contact information, enabling ordinance, minutes, agendas,
annual report, links, ADA notices and the parking brochure. Additional content may be added
at any time. No changes were suggested at this time.
Project & Issue Updates:
NDEAM Events & Luncheon (National Employment Awareness Month). Simet updated the
Committee on the NDEAM sponsored October 5th events at the Swiftel Center. Kathy
Hildebrandt, keynote, from 8:30 to 11:45 a.m. Geri Jewell, luncheon speaker, from noon to
1:00 p.m. He will send flyers to the Committee. As a sponsor of the luncheon event, he
suggested a committee representative speak briefly (1-2 minutes) about the committee.
Kuechenmeister volunteered to speak if Miller isn’t available.
Movie Theater. Thornes received a call from a citizen advising the local movie theater does
not provide any hearing / assisted listening devices for its patrons. The individual has spoken
with the business owner regarding the request. Standards pertaining to new private business
construction (ADA Title III) are very straightforward as to assisted listening system (ALS )
requirements; however, this theater was built prior to 1992. Hardwiring ALS devices may be
too cost prohibitive, but it certainly could be argued that a portable device could be easily
provided. Thornes checked with DBTAC and they advised providing assisted listening devices
would fall under readily achievable ** barrier removal for pre ADA buildings. She noted the
portable devices are fairly inexpensive. Bayer volunteered to visit with the business owner.
** (a) General. A public accommodation shall remove architectural barriers in existing facilities, including
communication barriers that are structural in nature, where such removal is readily achievable, i.e., easily
accomplishable and able to be carried out without much difficulty or expense.
Lowe’s. The manager of the Brookings Lowe’s Home Improvement store contacted Thornes on
August 17th with questions on their accessible parking design. A local citizen contacted him
complaining the van spaces were non-compliant. Thornes looked at the spaces and found all
compliant, including the four van spaces. She noted that left deploying 8 foot wide access
aisles in a parking lot can still be considered van accessible because the vehicle can back into
the space to allow for right deployment.
ABLE Awards Presentation Event – September 29th. This year’s two ABLE Award winners will
be recognized by the Mayor and City Council at a special reception at the Children’s Museum on
Thursday, September 29th from 4:30 to 6:00 p.m. In addition to the ABLE Awards, the Historic
Preservation awards are being recognized at this event. Additional details:
o Food – Heylens volunteered to help with catering
o Awards – Staff is ordering the clocks
o Program – Kuechenmeister volunteered as a backup if Miller isn’t available
o Someone needs to check on sound system availability
o Music by Dennis Bielfeldt was suggested
Snow Removal Ordinance. The Committee has received complaints that many sidewalks are
inaccessible in the winter, particularly around campus. Individuals with mobility difficulties are
forced to go into streets or stay indoors. In response, Hartenhoff-Crooks volunteered to
research snow removal ordinances from a number of Midwestern cities to compare to the
Brookings ordinance. The Committee was provided with a comparison summary.
Based on the research, the Committee recommended the following changes to the Brookings
snow removal ordinance:
1) Increase notification methods by City and University through use of text alerts, student alert
system, off campus housing involvement, website/rss feeds, social media, and traditional
media.
2) Reduce deadline to remove snow from 48 hours to 24 hours, which is similar to many other
cities.
3) Include a specific requirement to maintain 4 foot path of travel.
4) Include more specificity in defining the time of the event (Madison, WI as an example).
5) Include fines for violations. Madison doesn’t give warnings. How are the fines levied?
6) More enforcement. Can the ticketing officer on parking also issue tickets for sidewalks?
7) Include information on assistance options for the elderly and people with disabilities.
Coordinating with university student organizations, local faith organizations and other
entities was suggested.
8) In addition to the city manager, identify who else should be involved in this ordinance
rewrite (city attorney, code enforcement, police, finance).
Miller volunteered to present the proposal to the City Manager.
Proposed PSA on Van Spaces. Thornes spoke to Sioux Falls city officials and they were very
interested in partnering on a public education piece. They also suggested PVA. She contacted
Ken at the Sioux Falls PVA and they would also be very interested in a collaborative project.
Tabled until Miller could be present.
Thornes also reported the SD PVA is also promoting changes in state law regarding accessible
vehicle ‘hang-tags’. Expiration dates for temporary hang tags are hand written and fade or can
be altered. PVA is proposing a bill that would require “punch” style that can’t be altered.
Another legislative measure would modify parking eligibility for Veteran’s “K-Award” license
holders..
Accessible Temporary Events Research and Proposed Policy Revisions. Kuechenmeister was
unsuccessful in her search for Minnesota Renaissance Festival vendor requirements. The
Renaissance Festival was the subject of a Dept. of Justice complaint and was subsequently
required to modify its practices and procedures to comply with the ADA. Therefore, its
application and requirements should be a good tool to use.
Other examples might be available through VenuWorks (Swiftel Center’s management
company), Yankton’s Riverboat Days, Sioux Falls Blues and Jazz Festival and the Iowa State Fair.
During the meeting Simet found a copy of the Alaska State Fair Vendor Accessibility Checklist
Tool.
Member Applications. The Mayor has received two applications for the committee vacancy –
Geoffrey Graff, architect, and Mellissa Heermann, Daktronics Sports Operations.
Additional Reports:
City ADA Coordinator’s Report
Brookings High School Parking Lot – Thornes was contacted by School District officials to review
the final high school parking plans prior to striping. After clarification with the architect, she
found the plans met requirements. However, school officials called after striping was
completed with additional questions. Thornes did an onsite visit and found no van access aisles
were installed in the new west lot and the roll-over curb, which was included in the final plans,
were not done.
2 hour parking downtown – Mike Struck, Community Development Director for the City, also
serves as the city’s liaison to Downtown Brookings Inc. He told Thornes that some business
owners wanted to enforce two parking for the accessible parking spaces. However, there is
concern if a business owner or employee needs an accessible space, the closest parking lot
could be two blocks away.
Thornes found correspondence about a similar proposal in Sioux Falls in 2009, which was
opposed by the North Central Chapter of PVA and the SD Coalition for Citizens who have
Disabilities. She checked with the City of Sioux Falls Community Development/Public Parking
Department to see if the change was ever made and it was not. Sioux Falls officials were also
concerned about business owners and employees who may need accessible parking near their
businesses. All accessible spaces are free and anyone with a valid hang-tag can park in a
metered space for free.
Van Only Proposal – Mayor Tim Reed was contacted by a citizen asking the city impose more
restrictive accessible parking requirements that would change “Van Accessible” spaces to “Van
Only.”
In response, Thornes contacted the South Dakota Coalition of Citizens with Disabilities (SDCCD),
the SD PVA, DBTAC and the City of Sioux Falls and all understood the issue, but cited inherent
problems with the proposal.
o Only one parking space is required in lots consisting of 25 spaces or less and that space must
be van-accessible. If those spaces were made ‘van-only’, no vehicles other than vans would
be allowed to park.
o DBTAC said some Colorado Wal-Marts provide van-only spaces, but there are many other
spaces in the lot and the van-only are not enforced.
o The North Central Chapter of PVA sympathized, noting similar problems, but felt a public
education campaign was better approach.
o Shelly Pfaff, SDCCD Director, agreed that public education was a better approach. She was
supportive of additional laws that went beyond the ADA and benefited everyone, but this
proposal goes beyond and limits the rights of some people with disabilities. It makes a van
driver’s rights more important than others.
o Sioux Falls officials also opposed the proposal for the same reasons. They are encouraging
use of “Universal spaces” in all new city projects. A universal space is 132 inches in total
width with a 60 inch access aisle and 11 foot parking stall, which allows for any vehicle.
o Vostad forwarded the following recommendation from vanaccessibleparking.org: “If a
building or facility requires only one accessible parking spot it must be a van accessible
parking spot with the wider 8ft. access aisle. If more than two spots in a row are required
the van accessible spot does not need to be located closest to the accessible route - the
best practice is to put the van accessible spots furthest away in the row. This increases the
probability of the van accessible spots are available for a side lift van rather than being
taken up by a person with limited walking distance ability. People with limited walking
ability will always take the parking spot closest to the building entrance. Van accessible
parking stalls are not restricted to side lift vans only.
The Committee concurred that a public education campaign was a better solution to the issue.
Thornes will update the Mayor with the Committee’s recommendations.
City Sidewalk Policy - A number of properties in Brookings never installed sidewalks. The
Brookings City Council held a hearing on May 24th regarding a proposed project to require
owners install sidewalks. A number of individuals objected and the City Council voted down the
proposal and asked city staff to review the project again. The Committee was asked to provide
input on the city’s sidewalk policies and the specific areas without sidewalks. The Committee
provided a general policy position on the issue on July 5th without commenting on specific
residential and commercial properties and areas.
On August 23rd, the City Council revisited the issue and was provided the Committee’s letter.
Action was taken to proceed with initiating a resolution of necessity requiring sidewalks in 1)
Developed properties (sidewalks per city specification will be installed on each lot at the time of
construction), and 2) Areas where, after two years after sidewalks have been constructed on 70
percent or more of the frontage along a hard-surfaced street between two street intersections,
the remaining sidewalk along said street shall be installed. However, staff anticipated the
Council will consider exceptions on a case-by-case basis.
Municipal Liquor Store/Brookings Mall – The new curb ramp and access aisle have been
installed. The accessible parking spaces have not been redesigned yet. Thornes will remain in
contact with the property manager.
City Hall/Police Station Remodel – No plans are available yet.
South Dakota Municipal League Inquiry – Thornes received an email from SDML stating they
were sending out information regarding ADA guidelines pertaining to pools. Thornes to
contacted the League inquiring the source of their information. She recommended DBTAC for
details on the standards and offered to coordinate the information. She also suggested
utilizing the network members/DBTAC as speakers at future League conferences.
ADA Leadership Network Updates:
Letter of Support – Thanks to Kuechenmeister for preparing the letter of support for
continued Federal funding of our regional DBTAC!
Certification – Congratulation to Vostad for completing the official DBTAC/ADA Leadership
Network certification! Anyone receiving certification is eligible for the $1000 travel stipend
from DBTAC.
July 28th ADA conference call highlights were distributed by email.
Correspondence/Announcements/ Calendar:
Committee Vacancy– August 15th deadline
October 5th NDEAM Events & Luncheon (National Employment Awareness Month)
Meeting adjourned at 3:40 p.m.
Submitted by Shari Thornes