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HomeMy WebLinkAboutCommission On Disability - Minutes - 11/05/1990COMMISSION ON DISABILITY Minutes November 5, 1990 - 1:00 P.M. - C.I.0 Room MEMBERS PRESENT: MEMBERS ABSENT: Nancy Jackson Gregory Funk Lori Gehricke Heather Heafer Shirley Reichenbach Angela Byrne Arne Andersen Jeanne Morris Mike Wilson (excused) Mark Fetters (excused) Roy Beauchamp (excused) STAFF PRESENT: Debra Kaestner Anne Beauchamp The minutes of the October 8th meeting were unanimously approved with the following changes: Mark Fetters had an excused absence and Page 3, 2nd paragraph change to "Arne questioned the wisdom" of filing for an appeal. OLD BUSINESS City Council Appeal - Shirley spoke about the materials COD members received concerning the City Council appeal. She received notification from the City Attorney that the document was proper in form but Rose Kreston is ruled not to be a party in interest, but a copy of the letter that she wrote (enclosed with the appeal) did go to each council member. Lori, Arne, Nancy and Shirley met with John Huisjen for suggestions on what to present at the appeal. Rose Kreston's office paid the $100 filing fee in order to allow Susan Kirkpatrick to vote on the appeal. Shirley suggested sending Rose's office a thank -you note for this. She also asked all board members to try and attend the council meeting. Nancy mentioned that Disabled Resource Services is picking up the cost for Care -A -Van rides to the meeting if anyone should need that service. Nancy spoke of her concern in getting as many representatives as possible to the meeting and asked if there was some way to recognize the appeal supporters in the audience. Debra suggested that Shirley mention she is "speaking for a number of people in the audience and to please raise their hands". Snow removal sub -committee - Arne received slides from Mark but received them late and didn't have time to prepare a dry run of the seminar. 0 • COD Minutes November 5, 1990 Page 2 Debra passed around some pictures that Roy Beauchamp had taken for members to review and find out what is wrong in each photograph. Jeanne contacted the Chamber concerning service organizations and found out that they have no updated information on this matter. Members suggested contacting the Coloradoan. Jeanne mentioned there has been a lot of interest in their presentation on snow removal but that a lot of groups already have their programs in place for the entire year of 1991. She said that many people are asking for something in print for the groups to take to their membership and suggested doing a simple cover letter; other members thought of attaching a copy of the "Do's & Don'ts" as well. Debra will work on the letter and Jeanne will do the mailing. Debra sent a memo to Michael Gitter, production manager for Cable 27, concerning the snow removal seminar and mentioned that COD would like to have him review the program for possible airing by Cable 27. Arne suggested getting a committee meeting together on this subject, to be held Friday, November 16, 3:00 in the Building Inspection conference room. Senior Advisory Board - Jeanne can not attend meetings because of a time conflict. She mentioned that the information they have been covering recently is not relevant to COD. Debra asked about Jeanne's response on the Senior Citizen Center questionnaire; Jeanne had none returned from COD members, but the Senior Advisory Board got a good amount of input from the community. To conclude, Jeanne felt that COD will need to be more involved at a later time and Debra added that COD will be involved during the review of site and construction plans when they are submitted. Safety Barricade letter - This letter was sent to Syl Mireles, Traffic Technician for Transportation and Marc Engemoen, Engineering Manager with Engineering. The letter asked for help in solving the problems caused by barricades blocking accessibility. Marc said he will give a copy of the letter to his barricade contractors. NOD Award - Shirley received information on the awards program. Changes in the procedure this year included an extension in the deadline (until March 29) and different awards categories. Debra mentioned that in conjunction with the NOD award, that she and Shirley will need to put together the 1991 Workpian to go to City Council by November 30. She suggested meeting with members November 19, 3:00 at Building Inspection conference room. Nametags - after looking in to the matter, Debra found out there is no policy on nametags and Building Inspection's budget will COD Minutes November 5, 1990 Page 3 not allow buying members nametags at $8.00 each. Shirley suggested asking City Council to present commission members a city pin. Debra will send that request to City Clerk's office. Shirley added that maybe a nametag could be issued to new board members with their Boards and Commissions manuals. OTHER BUSINESS Plan review - no report. The next meeting will be November 8, at 1:00. Debra said she does have some site plans to be reviewed and Sherry Albertson -Clark will stop in at the next meeting. Tickler File: Blevins - Jeanne spoke of the accessibility situation at Blevins Jr. High. and officials at the school will be meeting to decide on a plan to make Blevins accessible. Drake & Lemay intersection - Nancy discussed comments that Roy had shared with her concerning his inspection of the accessibility problem at Drake & Lemay that Angela had concerns over. He felt that the S.W. corner crosswalk needs to be widened. The slope of the walk and crown in the road on the alternate route from Swallow along the west side of Lemay is dangerous. He also stated the marking of the crosswalk on the SW corner to the island on the SE side should be changed. It would also be a good idea to post a yield sign at the right turn lane northbound on Lemay, turning East on Drake. His final suggestion was to extend the timing of the light at the intersection. Albertson's - Shirley mentioned the letters that were sent to Albertson's concerning a problem with their limited handicap parking facilities and if they would be making electric wheelchair shopping carts available. As of this time, no reply on the letter has been received. Nates - Shirley determined that they have a problem with their handicapped parking identification. She will send them a letter concerning this. Foothills & College intersection - Greg spoke of a concern he had over a curb cut that was needed in this vicinity. Debra asked that he identify the exact location and then Craig with Engineering can be notified of the problem, or Greg can set up a time for Craig to meet him on site. COD Minutes November 5, 1990 Page 4 Opera Galleria - Nancy mentioned the non-existence of a curb cut next to the handicapped parking space. Shirley stated that it wouldn't do any good to put one at the head of the stall, but that possibly a sign could be placed at the stall stating "wheelchair access available on west side of building". McDonalds's - Shirley mentioned concerns over their ramp for the handicapped parking spaces that is located at the head of a regular parking space at the McDonald's on S. College. Debra asked Shirley to call them at 482-1612 as no action has yet been taken by them. Pizza Hut, S. Mason - Angela stated that they have no access ramp at the entrance although they do have one at the exit. Debra mentioned that they are in compliance, having at least one access ramp. Shirley added that she received a letter from the Colorado Amateur Sports Corp. having to do with the annual National Sports Award Banquet to honor disabled athletes. It will be held in Colorado Springs on November 11, and tickets are $30.00. Contact Shirley if you would like tickets. NEW BUSINESS Compuvox - Debra showed a video tape on "Compuvox", a voice activated computer system designed for the disabled. Shirley suggested that Employee Development may possibly want to view it. Members discussed what the system might cost. John Daggett, Transfort - John Daggett, Transit Administrator with Transfort appeared before COD to discuss Transfort operations and how they work for the disabled. He discussed the restructuring of some routes to make them more direct and to lessen the headways (time in between buses). He added that the City will submit a grant proposal for 9 replacement buses which will all be handicapped accessible, making the Transfort system 100% accessible. It could be several more months before the grant is approved. Heather asked if a handicapped bus was routed on W. Elizabeth. John stated that if a request is made, it would be granted. Debra inquired if certain routes always had an accessible bus. John answered that it depends on the demand; there are always 4 accessible buses on the street, but Ken Sylvester can be contacted to see if there are traditional routes that have accessible buses. John discussed a possible plan for a Transit Center at C.S.U. to provide "first class" service, providing rides directly to the campus, possibly right across from the student center. The purpose of the Transit Center would COD Minutes November 5, 1990 Page 5 be to provide all modes of transportation out of one central area, to include cabs, airport shuttle, and all buses. Shirley asked if there has been any thought to providing Transfort bus service from campus to Hughes Stadium. John replied that it has been tried but wasn't a popular method of transportation and is not currently being used. John directed a question towards COD members concerning a device for the hearing impaired, allowing them to call in requests for transportation and asked if he could get more information on these. Nancy stated that they are "TDD's" or telecommunication devices for the deaf and will get him more information on features, prices, etc. Nancy asked John if he had any information on the use of Caravan on Saturdays. Angela has had some past experiences with Saturday requests on - Caravan and discussed them with John. In the past, Angela has had some difficulty communicating her requests and complaints with the dispatchers. John stated that he would like to set up a more accurate mechanism for solving scheduling problems and handling complaints. Shirley questioned if there were any plans for connecting bus service from Loveland to Ft. Collins. John stated that they proposed a study to assess car pooling and bus transit services but council did not approve it in the budget. A private bus company could possibly run a service between the two communities, and Transfort is trying to focus the car pooling effort. Getting back to the proposed new bus fleet, Shirley requested that COD be involved in the selection process in regards to handicap accessibility. John stated that he would pass that request on. The next regular meeting of COD will be held on Monday, December 10, 1990. Respectfully submitted, - -- ---- --------- ShirleylReichenbach, Chairman Debra Kaestner, Staff Liaison