HomeMy WebLinkAboutDisMinutes_2013_07_25Brookings Committee for People who have Disabilities
July 25, 2013 (amended)
A meeting of the Brookings Committee for People who have Disabilities was held at 2:00 p.m. on
Thursday, July 25, 2013 in the Brookings City & County Government Center with the following members
present: Lonnie Bayer, Jessie Kuechenmeister, Dave Miller, Geoffrey Graff, Nadine Gjerde, Sylvia
Buboltz, Nancy Hartenhoff-Crooks, Kathy Heylens and Jeff Vostad. Alan Davis was absent. Shari
Thornes was also present.
Miller called the meeting to order at 2:00 p.m. The agenda was adopted. The June 26th minutes were
approved. Next meeting – Friday, August 23rd @ 2:00 p.m.
NEW BUSINESS
SD Municipal League Article on Playgrounds. The July issue of the SDML magazine had an article entitled
“The New ADA Standards and Public Playground Safety,” written by Doug Kirkus. In the article, Mr.
Kirkus writes: “In addition to providing a primary means of access, the playground equipment needs to
meet accessibility standards and unitary materials or engineered wood fiber must be installed as the
shock absorbing material to complete the ADA Accessibility.” Thornes noticed inaccuracies in the
statement, so she forwarded the article to the Brookings Committee for People who have Disabilities
and to Geoff Ames at the Rocky Mountain ADA Center. Mr. Ames sent the following response: “This
sentence is almost completely wrong. It is misleading in that it implies 1) that equipment itself must be
“accessible”, 2) that all surfaces within a play area must “comply” with the ADA, and 3) that EWF can
actually provide an accessible surface. The ADA Standards – other than seat heights and reach ranges of
operable parts/handholds of accessible ground level components – do not require play equipment to be
“accessible”; the Standards require specific percentage/numbers of elevated and ground level
components to be on accessible routes. That is, you are not required to provide accessible swings or
accessible slides, you are required to provide an accessible route to at least one of each type of ground
level component and accessible routes to at least half of elevated components. Regarding the surface
material – the 2010 Standards require the use of accessible surface materials (ATM F 1951) to provide
accessible routes to play components; where those routes coincide with Use Zones (ASTM F 1487-01
Standard Consumer Safety Performance Specification for Playground Equipment for Public Use) the
surfaces must also comply with ASTM F 1292 – i.e., the surfaces in these areas must be safe and
accessible. In our opinion, while EWF may meet the testing standards in laboratory conditions, under
normal use conditions, EWF does not provide an accessible surface.” It was noted that Ames has
conducted accessibility audits on over 300 municipal playgrounds and has never seen EWF comply with
the ADA. Thornes advised the League that the Committee and she had recently reviewed these surfaces
and concurred with Mr. Ames.
Thornes requested a correction to the statement as soon as possible before cities make expensive
mistakes. She asked if the SDML would accept an article submission on this matter. Geoff Ames,
Accessibility Implementation Consultant, Rocky Mountain ADA Center, has offered to write an article.
Thornes said this monthly magazine is heavily read by municipal and elected officials and is the “go-to”
organization for answers. She received the following response from the SDML Director of Research and
Training: “This issue is very complex for our cities. I understood that some equipment (possibly based on a
formula?) has to be accessible and we are saying/encouraging our cities to meet accessibility as much as
they possibly can. Doug has mentioned to me before that he talked to DOJ and was told that engineered
wood fiber met the standards. It looks like we have a difference of opinion on this. The rubber matting is
very expensive and would be cost prohibitive for almost all off our cities. I’m sure by my comments you can
tell that I’m certainly no expert in this. But I want to make sure that we minimize confusion for our
members while encouraging them to comply with ADA. Can you write something in layman’s terms and we
will consider running it?”
Thornes will contact Ames regarding the article and will send to the Committee for review. The article will
be submitted from Ames and the Committee.
Public Education Regarding Parking Sign Language. Thornes was contacted by Shari Avery, Summer Arts
Festival Committee Member, regarding appropriate parking sign language. Koss Delfinis, Street
Superintendent, is passionate about appropriate language and advised her that the word “handicapped”
should be eliminated from all signage. She contacted her signage/banner company and they were unaware
of this and she recommended a public education campaign to signage companies. This issue was referred
to the public education subcommittee.
PROJECT & ISSUE UPDATES:
ADA Anniversary Ice Cream Social & Presentation – July 28th. Heylens has made all arrangements for this
year’s ADA Anniversary Ice Cream Social at Pioneer Park on Sunday, July 28th. She recommended members
arrive by 6:45 p.m. Ice cream will be served from 7 pm until it runs out. The Mayor will make a brief
presentation at 7:30 p.m. before the concert starts.
ABLE Awards. The 2013 ABLE Award winners are the Neighborhoods at Brookview and the Camelot
Intermediate School Playground. Both were excellent examples of complete accessibility and seamless
integration. Kuechenmeister attended a planning meeting earlier that day and reported the event will
be held at Camelot Intermediate School on Thursday, September 12th, from 5 to 7 p.m.; program at 6
p.m. Volunteers are needed to prepare the press release write-ups on each winner and obtain pictures.
Buboltz volunteered to prepare the Brookview write-up and will check with the Hospital public relations
director for pictures. Kuechenmeister volunteered for Camelot School. Deadline for submittal is
August 15th.
Durable Medical Equipment Drive. Miller thanked Kuechenmeister for her publicity efforts on the event.
The Brookings Register had fantastic coverage with a front page feature article. Miller said the Drive is going
very well with a number of donations. Miller suggested a thank you letter to the paper.
The next step is to advertise what is available and get the equipment into the hands of people who need it.
Thornes will review the liability issues. The Town and Country Shopper and Brookings Register might be
willing to run a public service announcement advertisement regarding available equipment. There are
number of families that don’t know what to do with equipment after a family member passes away. The
group discussed how to get the word out. A brochure located at the hospital, nursing homes, assisted living
centers, funeral homes and Department of Social Services. Miller will work on a draft brochure. Design
and print funding might be available through the ADA Leadership Network.
Public Education Subcommittee Report. Gjerde reported her subcommittee had met and were planning
to distribute materials to daycare and child care centers. They have contacted Maggie Sims, ADA
Leadership Network, for sample materials including posters, pocket guides and etiquette tips. Materials
are available to Network members for free or a reduced cost.
Statewide Conference Call Report. Kuechenmeister and Thornes participated in a statewide conference
call July 18. Kuechenmeister reported on the Symposium and the Train the Trainer conference. The group
is interested in meeting in person once per year. Sioux Falls has offered to host a meeting and luncheon this
fall. The next conference call is August 15th at 9 a.m.
City ADA Coordinator’s Report.
Summer Arts Festival. Hartenhoff-Crooks said the Arts Festival Shuttle service did a poor job of
communicating the schedule. It was confusing and frustrating to the users. They also didn’t provide an
accessible shuttle. Brookings Area Transit Authority (BATA) has tried to communicate with the Arts
Festival in the past and has been unsuccessful. This may be a good time to try again.
Curb Ramp Schedule. The City will have an online citizen engagement tool called Mind Mixer. It will
enable city departments and committees to solicit input from citizens. Thornes anticipates the system
in place by this September. The Committee suggested soliciting input on curb ramp replacement by
Mind Mixer and then hold a traditional public hearing next spring.
Playground surface recommendation. Thornes met with the Park and Recreation Director regarding
the Committee’s playground surface recommendations.
Webinars. The Network sponsors a number of educational webinars. Costs are typically waived for
Network members. If not, the Network will reimburse expenses. Members are asked to check with
staff for details.
Bike Trail. A citizen mentioned an accessibility concern on the bike trail near Daktronics. No members
have checked on it yet. Thornes will notify Park and Recreation.
18” vertical grab bar. A local architect asked what the requirement is within the State of South
Dakota for the vertical 18" grab bar at the toilet. He said the 2010 ADA Standards don’t require it
but the City of Sioux Falls does. They also designed a project for Dakota State University and the
supplier is stating that we need to provide them.
The City of Sioux Falls provided the following answer: The vertical grab bars provision first came
into the ICC ANSI A117.1 in the 2003 Edition and is also in the current edition of the 2010 ICC ANSI
A117.1 Accessibility Standards. Yes it is true that the ADA and ABA guidelines do not require the 18
inch minimum height vertical grab bar. If the jurisdiction that the design and work is intended for
has the 2006 IBC adopted or prior editions adopted, the vertical grab bar is not required. The 2003
ICC ANSI 117.1 Standard was put into effect in the 2009 IBC; and the 2010 ICC ANSI 117.1 is
applicable for the 2012 IBC. So, if the jurisdiction has the 2009 or the 2012 IBC adopted, the vertical
grab bar is required. If the design is for a state building, the State Engineer has the 2012 IBC as the
design standard, and again the vertical grab bar would be required. If the design is in a locality that
does not have a code adopted, State law also requires the use of the 2012 IBC.
OTHER BUSINESS:
Correspondence/Announcements/ Calendar
∗ July 21-27 Durable Medical Equipment Drive
∗ July 25th Webinar: Update on Accessible Information & Community Tech Plan, 1-2:30 pm
∗ July 28th Ice Cream Social, Pioneer Park
∗ Aug 1st Webinar: Accessible Transportation Facilities
∗ Aug 20th Audio Conf: Athletic Opportunities for students with disabilities: Focus on colleges and
universities
∗ Sept 12 ABLE Awards
∗ Sept 18th The Litigation Landscape 5 years after passage of ADA Amendments Act
∗ Sept 19th Webinar: Creating Accessible PDFs, 1-2:30 pm
∗ Sept. 30-Oct 1 ADA Coordinator Training – St. Pete Beach, FL
∗ June 15-18, 2014 – ADA Symposium in Denver
Draft August Agenda: Final reports on ADA Anniversary Event, final report Durable Medical Equipment
Drive, ABLE Award event update, Emergency Response and Preparedness Subcommittee report.
Meeting adjourned at 3:20 p.m.
Submitted by Shari Thornes