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HomeMy WebLinkAboutCommission On Disability - Minutes - 08/13/2020Thursday, August 13, 2020 at 12:15-2:15 p.m. Zoom Access via City Hall, 300 LaPorte Avenue 08/13/2020 – MINUTES Page 1 COMMISSION ON DISABILITIES (COD) REGULAR MEETING – Contact: Carol Thomas, Equal Opportunity & Compliance Manager – 416-4254 1. CALL TO ORDER Terry Schlicting called to order at 12:15pm 2. ROLL CALL Terry, Mandy, Anna, Davina, Eric, Carol • Present: Terry Schlicting, Mandy Morgan, Davina Lau, Anna Fuller. • Board Members Absent: Marilee Boylan • Staff Members Present: Carol Thomas, Eric Keselburg, Rob Mosbey • Guests: Eric Keselburg and Rob Mosbey 3. APPROVAL OF MINUTES Will be approved when quorum is available 4. PUBLIC PARTICIPATION None 5. NEW BUSINESS • Eric Keselburg – City Parking Services Manager ▪ Parking Services has done no updating since the last update to COD. Covid has had their department locked down since March. No additional code has changed yet. ▪ Update on the Northern disabled parking spots, which are being used for residents of the Northern Hotel, versus being accessible for visitors. ▪ Disabled parking is currently in code without time restrictions, as long as the placard is visible in vehicle. ▪ Researched with other jurisdictions and their time limits. Agrees that downtown parking should be aimed for active use of visitors to downtown. ▪ Terry: looking for middle ground for allowing no time restrictions, making sure that the residents of the Northern don’t lose parking access. Terry: Was there a previous agreement with Old Town parking structures? ▪ Eric: Yes, a previous agreement was in place, but it was outdated. Reached out to the Northern Hotel in March, but has not been able to continue to this point. ▪ Challenge is that if we make a code, it covers city-wide, even if impact is isolated, it would apply everywhere. Right now, parking had a poll and they are looking at changing some signage. Thursday, August 13, 2020 at 12:15-2:15 p.m. Zoom Access via City Hall, 300 LaPorte Avenue 08/13/2020 – MINUTES Page 2 COMMISSION ON DISABILITIES (COD) REGULAR MEETING – Contact: Carol Thomas, Equal Opportunity & Compliance Manager – 416-4254 ▪ If someone parks after a certain time of day, they would be covered (regarding enforcement) overnight by default, with changes in Old Town parking possibilities. ▪ Terry: Would it work to state that cars must be moved every 48 hours, even in disables spaces? ▪ Mandy: 48 hours feels reasonable ▪ Terry: Do we feel like there are an appropriate number of disabled spots in Old Town? ▪ Eric: There are actually three additional spaces going in to Old Town, with wider dimensions as well. ▪ Terry: What about the area of the new Elizabeth Hotel? With all the new businesses, there is a need for more spots on that street as well, towards the intersection of Walnut and Mountain. ▪ Eric: Actively recruiting for a new Traffic Engineer for the city, as a side note. This can be a first task to address with them and looking at compliance. There will be an interim Traffic Engineer assigned. ▪ Eric will follow up with number of spaces back to Carol. ▪ Terry: Please add “van accessible” as a separate number. • Rob Mosbey – City Civil Engineer, PDT • Harmony development and sidewalk access update • Mandy: part of appeal process, and believes the contract was due by May 2020, and has not heard anything. Wheelchairs are currently using bike lanes, and there are questions about if the land will actually be used or if it is a protected land issue. Unsure about the status of the contract. • Rob: reached out to Development Engineer and an extension was approved to Dec 2021 for the project to begin getting infrastructure in. Rob has reached out to learn more about delays that may be taking place. Rob will pass additional communication back with Carol. Thursday, August 13, 2020 at 12:15-2:15 p.m. Zoom Access via City Hall, 300 LaPorte Avenue 08/13/2020 – MINUTES Page 3 COMMISSION ON DISABILITIES (COD) REGULAR MEETING – Contact: Carol Thomas, Equal Opportunity & Compliance Manager – 416-4254 • Due to those concerns, the City is looking at alternative funding sources to do the widening of Harmony and install the sidewalk. Hoping the developer would take care of that. • Mandy: does wildlife preserve not prevent that development? • Rob: will follow up with Morgan to try and get more information on that, as he is unaware. • Rob will assure something, even temporary can help folks with mobility impairments have access. • New big projects: • Prospect, college to Stover, sidewalk widening will take place (similar to the Drake widening), set to being end of August/early September. • Harmony, north side from Advago to Strauss Cabins. Natural areas will be working to get sidewalks connected there. • Harmony, south side, Strauss Cabins north to Banner • McClellen, south of Swallow at MAX stop to Foothills parkway, west side of the street. • Other smaller gaps near McClellen, missing sidewalk gaps will be along with that. No timeline on these. • Rob: North College? • Terry: Noth side of the river, by Whitewater Park. Sidewalk heading west toward college, sidewalk just ends, there is a crosswalk, no ramp. Limited access through feed store, but awkward to cross College safely. • Rob will look into that area. • Terry: a lot of people are accessing that part and the river on the west side of college. You can cross underneath on the bike path, but if you are not coming from the river it doesn’t make sense. • Carol: Notes show west side of north College of Cherry going north. • Terry: East side is easier to navigate than the west side. It is dangerous when a lot of businesses have a lot of traffic, crossing those parking lot access points for pedestrians can be precarious, maybe a stop sign will help. (Near King Soopers on north College.) Thursday, August 13, 2020 at 12:15-2:15 p.m. Zoom Access via City Hall, 300 LaPorte Avenue 08/13/2020 – MINUTES Page 4 COMMISSION ON DISABILITIES (COD) REGULAR MEETING – Contact: Carol Thomas, Equal Opportunity & Compliance Manager – 416-4254 • Terry will revisit the area and send additional specifics to Rob. • Davina: there is a button to cross, but no crosswalk. • Mandy: possibility for Eric to return after further Harmony information? • Rob: will definitely return when they hear back from developer. Current messaging will be that project has received an extension to get infrastructure in by Dec 2021; that the City will be trying to find out what the delays are about. • Terry: With budget cuts due to covid, do you anticipate any delay of any projects or cancellations based on funding? Specifically sidewalks and impacts to the disabled community. • Rob: all sidewalk projects are delayed but the funding is still secure. Projects that have had funding limits are related to other widening and not any of the sidewalk projects. • Rob: working on a transportation asset management plan, looking at bus stops, sidewalks, streets, and signals. Would like to bring the draft to the COD, to assure that they align with different topics before additional strategies are put in to action. 9. OLD BUSINESS • Letter to Council RE: Accessibility of Temporary Outdoor Spaces (businesses) • Terry: Drafting letter for private businesses with Covid, a lot of businesses are doing well, some need to provide lower tables outdoors for people in wheelchairs. A letter may not be fully necessary. Only business where access is an issue, The Social. • Mandy: would appreciate a letter to be available because not all restaurants are in compliance yet and it would be good to have. • Terry suggests a “friendly reminder”, acknowledging that small businesses are really challenged, have made considerate efforts, but to continue being cognizant of the impact of people with disabilities in temporary dining spaces. • Terry will draft a reminder for the COD to approve. • Dial-A-Ride Fares • Carol: Transfort has been fare-free during covid, which would include dial-a-ride. Thursday, August 13, 2020 at 12:15-2:15 p.m. Zoom Access via City Hall, 300 LaPorte Avenue 08/13/2020 – MINUTES Page 5 COMMISSION ON DISABILITIES (COD) REGULAR MEETING – Contact: Carol Thomas, Equal Opportunity & Compliance Manager – 416-4254 • Mandy: the basic dial-a-ride is free, but the voucher program is not. • Carol: Once a fare is reinstated for all routes, the horn and gold routes will continue to be free. • Dial-a-ride will not be free in a normal operating system, and volunteers under the city will not be covered with their ID badge because they do not have a method to track that. • Terry: Under an equity lens, shouldn’t the ADA cover that? • Carol: Federal Transit Administration Regulations do prevent much higher fares, but does not require free fares as an accommodation. • Unsure if the city badge cover Dial-a-ride? • Terry: CSU does offer Dial-a-ride, and so the city should be able to. • Eric suggests following up with Drew in Transportation to learn more. • Terry: is this a city policy for certain members of the city to ride free. • Carol: technically CSU is paying through their student fees, for students to have unlimited rides. Youth rides are free, but are subsidized through a grant through the Bohemian Foundation. The City does ensure that all routes are accessible. • If CSU students use paratransit services and are paying, then are they paying twice (once through their student fees and then per ride as well)? Is there a program to get that ongoing use of Dial-a-Ride to get that worked out? • Carol will follow up with Dial-a-Ride. • Terry: not comfortable with the rebuttal that it would create a tracking domino effect, if they were to offer ongoing fare-free rides. Looking for additional rationale. • Mandy: Domino effect and “meeting minimal responsibilities” is often used to minimize the needs of the community of disabilities. • Terry: a policy change would highly impact a small amount of people and their ability to live independently, it does not seem to affect a large number of people. • Mandy: would like to see if the City can take this contract with z-trip back, to ensure that local eyes can see what the impact really looks like. The outsourcing has impacted her use. • Terry: irrelevant that the contracts are outsourced, but the City should have the responsibility of ensuring access. Thursday, August 13, 2020 at 12:15-2:15 p.m. Zoom Access via City Hall, 300 LaPorte Avenue 08/13/2020 – MINUTES Page 6 COMMISSION ON DISABILITIES (COD) REGULAR MEETING – Contact: Carol Thomas, Equal Opportunity & Compliance Manager – 416-4254 • Carol: quality of service is always a conversation to continue having between the City and their contracts. The City brought Dial-a-Ride back into city hands, through a budgeting cycle it was decided by Council to contract it out to z-trip. There is accountability in place through surveys, customer service, and auditing. Contractors are required to serve the contract as it is written. • Carol will follow up with current FTA regulations for COD to continue discussions with. • Workplan • Carol: City has key strategic outcome areas that are linked to budgets and ensures the City is putting resources where they are most needed. • COD is linked to three areas on the Workplan: neighborhood livability and social health, transportation, and safe community. Guides work to focus in on areas that COD can bring lived experiences to these topics. • Key actions: Address affordable housing, accessible parking in downtown, improve regional transportation activity, winter snow removal to increase accessibility, current emergency preparedness systems and suggest improvements, meet with Police Chief. • Nick from emergency preparedness has met with us already and is making changes. • Carol: these Workplan items can be adjusted if priorities have adjusted. • Additional Note • Terry: acknowledging that we are a marginalized community, would it be appropriate for the COD to put out a statement of support for communities of color, given the current climate in the City of Fort Collins? Recognizing that our experiences are not in a vacuum. • Anna: many folks with disabilities are exposed and vulnerable and be perceived similar to how Black community members are being perceived and sometimes thought of as dangerous. Supports a public stance in support, from COD. • Terry: many barriers of how we are perceived are barriers around attitudes about identity, and it is the COD responsibility to stay it out loud through a social justice lens. We can’t-not say anything, unless there is a legal reason not to. Thursday, August 13, 2020 at 12:15-2:15 p.m. Zoom Access via City Hall, 300 LaPorte Avenue 08/13/2020 – MINUTES Page 7 COMMISSION ON DISABILITIES (COD) REGULAR MEETING – Contact: Carol Thomas, Equal Opportunity & Compliance Manager – 416-4254 • Carol: City leadership will also see this stance in support as it impacts its residents. The City provides internal training to employees about race and there were ADA and federal regulations added, that specifically acknowledge the intersection between people of color and the larger number who are disabled. • Davina: it is important that we use person-first language in this stance of support. • Terry will draft a statement showing the COD’s stance on recognizing intersecting diverse identities, pointing out shared experiences and serve as a reminder that marginalization crosses identities. Will provide that for the COD to further dissect. • School Changes • Conversations about how parents of students who will not be in school in person, will have minimal respite while having their kids at home. Can COD make any impact on that or help create awareness about services or programs that may be available during covid to families or adults with disabilities in the community. • Davina and Anna can look at what resources might be out there and bring back anything to find. • Terry wondering where Community Resource List from Sherrie is, Carol will see what existed and will follow up. 10. ADJOURNMENT 1:59pm