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Home My WebLink AboutDisMinutes_2012_02_17Brookings Committee for People who have Disabilities February 17, 2012 A meeting of the Brookings Committee for People who have Disabilities was held at 2:00 p.m. on Friday, February 17, 2012 in the Brookings City Hall with the following members present: Dave Miller, Jessie Kuechenmeister, Nancy Hartenhoff-Crooks, Sylvia Lozada, Alan Davis, Geoff Graff, Jeff Vostad, Kathy Heylens and Matt Simet. Dona Kornbaum and Lonnie Bayer were absent. Shari Thornes was also present. Miller called the meeting to order at 2:05 p.m. The minutes from February 3rd were not available. The Committee did not meet in January. The agenda was adopted as printed. Next meeting – March 23rd @ 2:00 p.m. PLAN REVIEW City Law Enforcement (city hall) Remodeling. The committee has no other concerns regarding the plans. Thornes will complete her review prior to final bidding and will advise the committee of additional changes and concerns. East Fire Station. Jeff Weldon, City Manager, and Darrell Hartmann, Fire Chief, were in attendance. Weldon informed the Committee that he plans to bid the family restroom as an alternate and will only construct this feature if the bids are favorable. He noted the plumbing would be installed for later finishing if not done at time of construction. The City adopted a policy in 2003 requiring the installation of a family or “unisex” restroom in all new construction, remodels, and retrofits of all City owned and/or city funded new facilities. The City Council approved the policy because they recognized all citizens can benefit from a family restroom in city facilities because it provides flexibility by meeting the needs of many people while providing a private environment. However, the policy does allow for an exemption by the city manager with concurrence by the City Council. Miller suggested converting one of the gang bathrooms into a family restroom, similar to the design being used in the public safety building remodel. Thornes didn’t feel that design would meet building code requirements. Tim Fonder, Banner architect, concurred. A motion was made by Davis, seconded by Vostad, to accept the plan for the restroom as proposed by the city manager, which is to bid the family restroom as an alternate and construct if bids are favorable. If bids are not favorable, the space would be allocated and plumbing fixtures roughed in for future installation as funds become available. All present voted yes; motion carried. Other questions and comments: • The kitchen counter height is 34 inches. • A detailed parking plan was not yet available. The west side is the primary entrance with parking provided on the east and west sides. Fonder didn’t know the exact number of spaces, but will provide as soon as possible. • An automatic door opener will be at the west entrance. Brookings Health Systems Nursing Home. Thornes thanked the Committee for holding a special meeting on February 14th to review the plans. She was unable to attend that meeting and asked for clarification on the concerns raised at that time. Notes from that meeting include the following questions and comments: Front ramp height, recess baby changing station in family restroom; consider new design to allow knee space at town center reception desk; lower coat rod to 48” reach range; verify 5’ circle in staff toilet/household, visit with committee when FF&E package becomes available, if tile is installed improperly, it will be removed and replaced. Thornes has not had an opportunity to review the plans yet. PROJECT & ISSUE UPDATES: Sidewalk Snow Removal Ordinance; Public Education Strategy and Assistance Options and Draft ADA Leadership Network Funding Request. The subcommittee plans to meet with representatives of Teen Challenge and My Neighbor program to identify a primary point of contact and assistance plan. In the last ADA Leadership Network Conference call, the Center suggested this would be a good funding imitative and encouraged the Committee to submit a proposal. When originally proposing the revisions to the City’s snow removal ordinance, the Committee recommended and was led to believe the first offense fine for not clearing sidewalks would be $60.00. However, it was recently clarified (after the ordinance was passed) that the fine would really be $120 because the additional court costs would be automatic. See email excerpts from City Attorney Steve Britzman below that provide additional detail. 2/6/12: “I researched the issues several weeks ago and determined we should handle these Complaints the same way we handle any other ordinance violation. Parking tickets are treated differently due to a statute which allows a municipality to keep money from parking meters for “traffic and parking regulation” and this statute apparently “morphed” into a practice over 30 years ago where South Dakota cities kept the parking fines as well. Unfortunately, this does not apply to sidewalk snow removal violations which should be handled like most other ordinance violations which do not need a court appearance. These are referred to by us in the Court system as POA tickets, which can be paid through the Clerk of Courts, though as I mentioned previously, POA tickets are still subject to Court costs which are currently $60 in addition to fines. I would be happy to meet with anyone to walk through the typical Complaint procedure and the Complaint form I prepared will be helpful in informing the violator about the POA procedure, fine, etc. Until State law is changed, the procedure Sioux Falls used remains unresolved, so establishing an “administrative penalty” procedure where this would be handled outside the Court system would require clarification of State law and an administrative multi-page procedural ordinance. I will check my file for further background information and let me know if you have any comments or questions. Steve” 2/6/12: “The fine would be $60, court costs would be $60 (charged for all law violations, State law or city ordinance), for a total of $120, which is consistent with the procedure that has been in place since I arrived in town in ’83. We can set a proposed fine—which we did at $60, we did not set the court costs are set and collected per State law, so the cumulative total ends up being $120. To a person who pays it, they think they are paying a fine of $120, because they don’t care whether it includes court costs or not, they only care about the total amount paid and they will call it all a fine. Steve” The Committee expressed strong concern about the amount and said they would have never supported or proposed such a high fine for the first offense. The fine amount was set by resolution at the same time as the ordinance amendment. They suggested amending the resolution to reduce the fine to $20, which would result in $80 after court costs. Weldon was invited back to the meeting. He agreed and recommended making that change during the summer. In the meantime, he’ll direct the community development to issue warnings and no fines for the remainder of the winter season. State Driver’s License Office; Accessibility Concerns. Miller contacted the property owner and the door weight was lessened. See 2/3/12 minutes for additional details. Governor’s Awards – February 24th deadline – Simet is coordinating the final nomination submittals and will provide Thornes with copies. Training Opportunities • 2010 ADA Standards for Accessible Design – Mar 1st, 1:30-3 pm – Vostad and Hartenhoff-Crooks • ADA Symposium (Orlando) - Mar 11-15 – Miller plans to attend • ADA Symposium (Indianapolis) - May 29-June 2 - Vostad and Hartenhoff-Crooks are registered OTHER BUSINESS: Correspondence/Announcements/ Calendar ∗ Feb 24th Governor’s Award ∗ March 1st 2010 ADA Standards for Accessible Design, 1:30-3 pm ∗ Mar 11-15 ADA Symposium (Orlando) ∗ May 29-June 2 ADA Symposium (Indianapolis) Meeting adjourned at 3:45 pm Submitted by Shari Thornes