City OKs ADA committee

SANDPOINT — City Council approved an ordinance last Wednesday to establish an Americans with Disabilities Act Advisory Committee.

The idea for the committee surfaced after city Clerk Maree Peck forwarded a draft of the city's 2017-2022 ADA Transition Plan in October to several special needs organizations in the area for the purpose of obtaining any input they might have, including Community Action Partnership, SL Start, Sandpoint Senior Center, Panhandle Special Needs, Idaho Commission on Aging, as well as several others.

While Peck said she did not receive any input on the plan from any of the organizations, some members of the different organizations expressed an interest in becoming members of a committee to address ADA needs in the city.

The ADA Transition Plan was originally developed in 2011 with revisions periodically made over the past five years. The purpose of the plan is to ensure the public has full access to city programs, services and activities. The plan identifies two forms of barriers: physical, which includes parking, paths of entry, doorways, restrooms, service counters, stairways, curb rams and sidewalks; and programmatic barriers, including building signage, customer communications and interaction, emergency notifications and communications via the Internet, public meeting and telephone.

During Wednesday's meeting, council members also approved the updated 2017-2022 ADA Transition Plan. The updated plan contained a few changes Peck went over with City Council, including a change to wording to be more specific regarding curb ramps as part of "street alterations and sidewalk construction or resurfacing as defined by the United States Department of Transportation."

The committee will be made up of individuals with disabilities or those with a demonstrated interest, competence or knowledge of the ADA and the needs of the disabled. Those individuals will be tasked with identifying and evaluating priorities and modification of accessibility to city facilities and programs, as well as reviewing ADA complaints and grievances.

Some of the duties of the committee include meeting at least four times per year; consider and address priorities introduced by council members and city administration; advise the mayor and council in regards to the identification, evaluations, designation, priority and modification of accessibility to city facilities and programs; provide a forum for dialogue and public input; provide mechanisms appropriate to ascertain facts and discern view; broaden citizen participation in self-government; promote and conduct educational programs for city staff regarding ADA accessibility; and review complaints and issues that have been submitted to the city or to the designated ADA coordinator.

Councilman Bob Camp asked whether there was any thought given to tasking the city's sidewalk committee with the duties rather than creating a new committee.

"I think we might be getting committeed-out in Sandpoint," Camp said, but voted yes nonetheless, with a comment of appreciation for Peck's hard work.

City Administrator Jennifer Stapleton said she and Peck did extensive research regarding the new committee, looking at existing committees as well as ADA committees in other jurisdictions.

"In looking at the different committees ... what we felt was the best practice model was the ADA Advisory Committee being a standalone separate committee," Stapleton said.