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HomeMy WebLinkAboutDisability Advisory Board - Minutes - 10/21/2021 DISABILITY ADVISORY BOARD (formerly COD) REGULAR MEETING – Contact: Carol Thomas, Equal Opportunity & Compliance Manager – 416-4254 Thursday, October 21, 2021 at 5:30-7:30 p.m. Zoom Access via City Hall, 300 LaPorte Avenue 10/21/2021 – MINUTES Page 1 1. CALL TO ORDER Terry Schlicting called to order at 5:38pm on October 21, 2021 2. ROLL CALL Present: Terry Schlicting, Rachel Knox-Stutsman, Mandy Morgan, Davina Lau, Joe Tiner, Anna Fuller, Linda Drees Board Members Absent: Marilee Boylan Staff Members Present: Carol Thomas, Russ Hovland (guest), Kirk Longstein (guest) 3. AGENDA REVIEW 4. APPROVAL OF MINUTES a. Motion from Terry, second from Anna 5. PUBLIC PARTICIPATION 6. GUEST PRESENTATIONS Russ Hovland and Kirk Longstein City Building Services: Building Code a. Presenting the 2021 Building Code Update i. This year they are doing additional public engagement prior to the first presenting to Council ii. International Code Council generates new building codes every 3 years iii. City staff bring forward local amendments to Council iv. Process: ICC Code release - Staff review - Code review committee - 12 boards/commissions - Council Work Session (set for Nov 9, 2021) b. Purpose: safeguard public health, safety, and general welfare by regulating structural strength and stability, sanitation, light and ventilation, and energy conservation i. 9 Local Amendment codes ii. Includes: City Plan, Our Climate Future, Housing Plan c. Benefits i. Building Community- submit codes and build homes DISABILITY ADVISORY BOARD (formerly COD) REGULAR MEETING – Contact: Carol Thomas, Equal Opportunity & Compliance Manager – 416-4254 Thursday, October 21, 2021 at 5:30-7:30 p.m. Zoom Access via City Hall, 300 LaPorte Avenue 10/21/2021 – MINUTES Page 2 ii. Community Members- improves residential energy efficiency, improves weather efficiency iii. Community Benefits 1. Future-proofing to avoid costly retrofits 2. Indoor air quality and resilience planning for days over 90 degrees 3. Leading by example and alignment with Larimer County d. Cost of Construction, Residential and Commercial First year construction cost are less expensive than retrofits e. Cost savings to the Utilities Rate Payer f. Committee Review i. Most changes were supported by committee ii. Local code review had some concerns: Electric Vehicle parts, and improved accessibility in single family homes g. Triple Bottom Line i. Tradeoffs 1. added costs put pressure on a developer’s ability to provide below market rate housing opportunities ii. Mitigations 1. utility cost savings 2. avoided retrofit costs 3. 3-year adoption cycle represents and incremental cost increase rather than larger cost increases iii. Key Alignment 1. our climate future 2. housing strategic plan Questions: h. What areas do they need to spend more time researching? What additional information is needed for DAB to formally support this code update? i. TERRY: More about Housing Strategy - Visitability i. Amendment bringing in requirements for all new homes built so on the first floor with minimal accessible restrooms (32” doorway), wall reinforcements (for future installation of bars), lighting and environmental controls, routes DISABILITY ADVISORY BOARD (formerly COD) REGULAR MEETING – Contact: Carol Thomas, Equal Opportunity & Compliance Manager – 416-4254 Thursday, October 21, 2021 at 5:30-7:30 p.m. Zoom Access via City Hall, 300 LaPorte Avenue 10/21/2021 – MINUTES Page 3 within the house, housing entrances (when raised grade on first floor level a ramp would be required rather than the first step or two at entries) j. CAROL: Electric Vehicles, has there been discussion around accessibility? i. Proposal within ADA Compliance, Not less than 5% of vehicle spaces on the site served by electrical vehicle charging stations, but not fewer than one for each type of electric vehicle charging stations, shall be accessible. k. The DAB (Disability Advisory Board) supports the Visitability Housing Strategies based on the fact that many homes are not accessible to visit; it also opens up the opportunity for accessible rentals and airBnB types for people with mobility issues. This also makes an individual with a disability or family member more likely to buy an accessible home; all of us are aging into homes that need to be accessible. The DAB feels that visitability accessibility will benefit all residents. l. Restrooms are just as necessary as the entryway to a house, with restroom doorway widening being the priority of the two. The size of restrooms, per current building codes, is completely inaccessible in Fort Collins, so providing a future of accessible restrooms in homes is really important. One DAB member noted that they have to use the restroom before they visit friends, due to the inaccessibility of residential restrooms, in general. The DAB feels that upfront costs should not be an argument against accessibility. m. Carol will distribute slides to DAB members for further information. n. First Reading of these ordinances will be in January 2022, first vote on ordinance. Modifications will hopefully happen at November 9th work session. 7. NEW BUSINESS a. Larimer County Unified Efforts for COVID-19 Recovery: Input Requested i. Carol met with Ricardo Perez, with the Larimer County Recovery Collaborative, who provides support with wildfires, natural disasters, and the pandemic (ongoing) recovery. Short and long term planning. ii. Gathering comprehensive input on how to best use American Rescue Plan dollars through the county, they want to hear from community members who have been disproportionately affected by covid 19. b. Resilient Recovery for FoCo - City of Fort Collins https://ourcity.fcgov.com/forfoco i. can respond to a one-question survey, a five minute survey, or share your story DISABILITY ADVISORY BOARD (formerly COD) REGULAR MEETING – Contact: Carol Thomas, Equal Opportunity & Compliance Manager – 416-4254 Thursday, October 21, 2021 at 5:30-7:30 p.m. Zoom Access via City Hall, 300 LaPorte Avenue 10/21/2021 – MINUTES Page 4 c. Larimer Recovery Collaborative https://larimerrecovers.org/ i. News and Updates: weekly resource blog with links for community members, everything from rental assistance, vaccine clinics, and more d. American Rescue Plan federal dollars have been assigned to the City, the County, and other institutions like the school district to be used in assisting with recovery efforts around the Covid-19 pandemic. The City of Fort Collins and Larimer County have been tasked with assuring that they prioritize the needs of individuals in vulnerable communities, including people with disabilities. That is why these surveys are important. Surveys: City of Fort Collins: https://ourcity.fcgov.com/forfoco Larimer County: https://tinyurl.com/LRCCovidRecoveryPlan https://larimerrecovers.org/covid-19-recovery-plan-implementation-strategies/ e. For organizations or folks who want to help share the outreach through themselves personally or their organizations, contact: Sarah Meline (city of Fort Collins) smeline@fcgov.com and Ricardo Perez (Larimer County) perezri@co.larimer.co.us 8. OLD BUSINESS a. 2022 Work Plan (due 11/30/21) i. Marilee provided some updates ii. Neighborhood livability - advocate for accessible, affordable housing 1. have not done much beyond building codes 2. define what improving access would mean for DAB 3. Idea: creating a tip sheet that other planning groups or commissions receive to include disability when doing their planning or work, provide something simple that tells people what they may not know about including people with disabilities 4. How do you find out what accessible housing is available? Beyond just calling landlords, neighbor to neighbor does some, often accessible is not also affordable 5. Need: define accessible (not just ADA) and define affordable 6. What tangible action can be listed on the workplan? Does it fit with the monthly agenda? Strategic objectives need modified iii. Transportation DISABILITY ADVISORY BOARD (formerly COD) REGULAR MEETING – Contact: Carol Thomas, Equal Opportunity & Compliance Manager – 416-4254 Thursday, October 21, 2021 at 5:30-7:30 p.m. Zoom Access via City Hall, 300 LaPorte Avenue 10/21/2021 – MINUTES Page 5 1. Need: Advocate for Busing Initiatives (expanding busing, combining resources with PSD) 2. Bus stops have been updated recently, council will adopt budget in November, funding to continue updating bus stops included in budget 3. Downtown ADA accessible parking, started pre-covid, enforcing a 24 hour limit to those parking at the Northern Hotel, and additional brainstorming. 4. Discussion on if more parking downtown should continue because it seems that there is not enough and the parking structures have limited accessibility other than elevators 5. Linden street changes did not increase number of accessible parking spaces, percentage was maintained and the number of accessible parking spots was reduced Terry would like update on how many will be reduced 6. Improved Regional Connectivity, Poudre Express between Greeley and Fort Collins, Loveland 7. Transfers between paratransit services are unknown (Dial-a-ride around Fort Collins with a transfer to a paratransit in Loveland); connectivity is not a one-seat ride and requires a transfer iv. Safe Community 1. DAB used to meet with Chief of Police on a regular basis, specific to training on working with people with disabilities (specifically intellectual disabilities) 2. Is this part of the Critical Incident Response Team? 3. Other police forces have adopted a procedure that when officers are dispatched they are given available information about what barriers/disabilities may be present when they arrive on scene 4. Mayor Arndt is a strong advocate, Carol will connect to get her on the calendar. Addendum: on 10/27/21, Carol sent a draft invitation to Terry, to send to Mayor Arndt and Sarah Kane (Admin Supervisor), so that the invitation will come from the DAB instead. 5. Carol will connect with Chief Swoboda to get him on the calendar. v. Prioritized using 3 color system, may need to be prioritize based on the unique needs and circumstances of communities of people with disabilities WILL CONTINUE NEXT MONTH DISABILITY ADVISORY BOARD (formerly COD) REGULAR MEETING – Contact: Carol Thomas, Equal Opportunity & Compliance Manager – 416-4254 Thursday, October 21, 2021 at 5:30-7:30 p.m. Zoom Access via City Hall, 300 LaPorte Avenue 10/21/2021 – MINUTES Page 6 b. 2021 Annual Report (due 1/31/22) TABLED FOR NEXT MONTH c. OCT. National Disability Employment Awareness Month i. Marilee was able to get videos edited, City has posted to YouTube internally to city staff and published via social media. ii. Rachel’s 1-pager was posted 9. ADJOURNMENT Terry Schlicting called to adjourn at 7:32pm. Rachel second. Next meeting will be November 18, 2021, on Zoom.