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Home My WebLink AboutCommission On Disability - Minutes - 02/24/1997j COMMISSION ON DISABILITY MEETING MINUTES February 24,1997 2:00 pm Council Liaison: Alan Apt Staff Liaison: Nancy Stirling Chairperson: Kathy Lassen Phone: (H) 204-0614 (W) 491-5930 Members Present: Frank Blakely Jacque Hyatt Initha Stuckey Angela Byrne Mark Kramer Craig Wallerstein Ray Sanderson Kathy Lassen Shirley Reichenbach Amy Rosenberg Members Absent: Mark Cummings City Staff Present: Tom Frazier, Transportation Services (Multi -Modal Transportation) Susanne Edminster, Transportation Planning & Parking Manager Ralph Powers, Dial -a -Ride Manager David Lilly, Transfort Supervisor Nancy Stirling, COD Liaison Chairperson Kathy Lassen called the meeting to order at 2:07 pm. I. January Meeting Minutes Chairperson asked if any members had any comments or changes for the January 1997 meeting minutes. There were none. Frank Blakely suggested putting it to a vote to accept the minutes as written. Ray Sanderson seconded. Minutes were accepted unanimously. II. 1996 Annual Report Copies of the Commission on Disabilities 1996 Annual Report were mailed out previously to all board members. A copy has already been given to the City Clerk's Office. III. Transportation Services Transportation personnal visited with COD members to give a brief update on Transportation Services, the Transportation Plan, and Dial -a -Ride. Commission on Disability Page 1 Meeting Minutes February 24, 1997 Tom Frazier, Transportation Services Multi -Modal Transportation Manager, introduced the other personnel. Presently involved with "City Plan" which includes transportation issues. Personnel are trying to make sure that any future transportation plans include provisions for ALL people and accessibility. Transportation presently works with and seeks feedback and suggestions from three City Boards: Transportation Board, Commission on Disability, and the Senior Advisory Board. Susanne Edminster, the Transportation Planning and Parking Manager, gave a brief run- down of activities. What are "our" action plans for this year? Parking: downtown and CSU parking plan; increased enforcement; looking into creating additional spaces but need to review costs. Planning: Pedestrian Access Plan. Looking into juggling money around to cover costs needed in other transporation planning and parking areas. Capital Improvement Plan: means more money for Pedestrian Plan. Included in the coming April elections. City Plan: looking at creating "most direct route" to and from areas. CSU: in process of moving CSU into a walking and biking campus. Susanne described the criteria for Pedestrian access and ways: • security • amenities (lighting, benches) • contiguity • directness between areas • connectivity David Lilly, Transfort Supervisor, discussed their newest achievement — transportation between the City of Loveland and Fort Collins. Begins March 1'. About a 25 minute ride from The Square in Fort Collins and the Safeway in Loveland. Hopes this will be the first leg in expanding transportation to other communities. David also described several changes made to Transfort routes: routes lenghthened and hours of operation expanded on a couple of the routes. Expecting some federal funding which would be able to purchase more buses and retire the old ones. Tranfort is participating in a "coalition" to try to access more funds for 1998. If able to get the funds, Transfort will purchase more buses and Dial - a -Ride vans. Ralph Powers discussed Dial -a -Ride: A. Established a Dial -a -Ride Advisory Council (DARAC) on December 19, 1996. To review, provide suggestions, resource for appeals Established a quarterly newsletter All meetings will be available to the public B. Operations Issues / Changes Fare increases ($.90 to $1.80) Added token system for convenience A number of small procedural changes to enhance customer service Commission on Disability Page 2 Meeting Minutes February 24, 1997 E C. Future of Dial -a -Ride Presently researching internal performance and capabilities — to finish in summer Conceptual model of future of DAR There was concern expressed by some Board members over the increased fare. Creates a hardship for some individuals with fixed incomes. Other alternatives to Dial -a -Ride are the low-income fare, use Transfort, use SAINT. Some citizens want to take their concerns to Council. Ray says there is a petition being drawn up requesting that fares be lowered. Tom Frazier suggested that before taking this to Council that the COD get and review specific data from Transportation Services. Ralph will get information to Nancy who will then send out information to members. IV. Discussion: Accessible Housing (Shirley) • Hampshire Pond, new area building up - housing not accessible. • Action: Shirley will contact Felix Lee and/or Mike Gebo of the City's Building and Zoning Department and ask them about their ADA enforcement procedures. Discussion: Commission on Status of Women Survey (Shirley) • Shirley and Angela were contacted by a representative of the Commission on the Status of Women Survey and asked to participate by completing surveys. There is a specific survey for women with disabilities. The result of the survey is determine if the women of Fort Collins are any better off than they were 10 years ago. Data will be presented next month. (When or How???) Discussion: Building Review Code (Shirley) • City is going to be reviewing their Building Review Code within the next couple of years — to bring the Code up to National (?) standards • Shirley suggests that a COD Board member get involved and attend meetings and help review issues. Discussion: Postmaster Response • Nancy mailed out copies of the letter of the Postmaster's response to the concern of the entrance to the Post Office located on Boardwalk. • Board members agree that the "letter of the law" is being followed — but, in this case, would like to see the "spirit of the law" • Shirley described that it's difficult for an individual in a wheelchair, who is carrying a package, to push open the door AND manuever the wheelchair through the doorway. • Action: Shirley will contact the local Postmaster and request a meeting. Initha, Kathy, and Shirley have volunteered to attend this meeting. Commission on Disability Page 3 Meeting Minutes February 24, 1997 V. TimeLine Kathy: began contacting various Boards and Commission to schedule to attend their meetings — wants to meet with them to visit and educate on COD responsibilties and to encourage communication between the COD and other Boards and Commissions. Public Access Survey Review: Frank says he has looked at the results from the latest survey (1992 ?). Recommends possibly doing another survey to get better statiscally accurate data. Frank, Mark K., and Amy will get together to discuss. Mayor's Awards: On the workplan, place parentheses around Tom Branigan's name. Add Initha Stuckey's name Sub -Committee will meet on Tuesday, March 4 at 10:00 am at the City Hall Building to discuss ideas and plans. NewWest Fest• Created sub -committee: Craig, Frank, and Ray Everyone who has participated before needs to write down the steps of how to accomplish what they were responsible for (i.e., renting of tables and chairs and canopy; activities; etc.) Meeting was adjourned at 4:25 pm. Next meeting of the Commission on Disability is scheduled for Monday, March 17 at 2:00 pm. Commission on Disability Page 4 Meeting Minutes February 24, 1997