LHC Americans with Disabilities (ADA) Advisory Board

City Municipal Office, 2330 McCulloch Blvd N, Room 109

Thursday, December 20, 2007, 3:00 p.m.

Call to Order

Vice Chairman Tiffany Calahan called the meeting to order at 3:05 p.m.

Roll Call

Present: Members Tiffany Calahan, Bruce Hinman, Christine Bergen, Charles Vaughn,

Angelina Ortiz, John Johnston, and Ralph Avila

City Staff members Bart Wagner, Park Division Manager; Luke Morris, City Planner; Janice Sorenson, Code Enforcement; Dan Kassik, City Planner; Kelly Garry, Assistant City Attorney

Approval of Minutes

Mr. Hinman moved to approve the November 8, 2007 meeting minutes. Mr. Vaughn seconded, motion unanimously carried.

Election of Board Chairman

Mr. Vaughn nominated Bruce Hinman, Ms. Bergen seconded. Upon a roll call vote, Mr. Hinman was unanimously elected as Board Chairman, and Ms. Calahan will remain Vice Chairman.

Call to Public

There were no requests to address the board.

City ADA Project Update

Mr. Wagner updated the board on the progress of some of the city ADA compliance projects. Mr. Wagner advised that the main web page on the city website has ADA grievance forms. Lieutenant Reese has one person working on Mondays for parking enforcement. The City is still looking for signatures from associated architects to finalize the contract for ADA improvements.

An ADA Transition Plan Schedule was handed out to all board members. Mr. Wagner stated there were 163 original ADA issues with 74 completed, 16 in progress, and 401 staff hours were used to complete those projects totaling $7,600 in wages.

The transition project at Jack Hardie Park is almost complete. The restrooms were finished early in December and about a week after opening them they were vandalized. Only project left at Jack Hardie is the playground.

A welder will begin at Site 6 repairing the railing after the holiday. Working on having someone do some concrete work for some of the ramps. London Bridge Beach is not in the plan but doing some concrete work on some of the sidewalks, taking care of some things known to need repairs for access. Plan on renovating restrooms at Rotary Park. State Lake Improvement Fund (SLIF) money will pay for Lake Havasu Police Department and Lake Havasu City Fire Department operation room with restroom at London Bridge Beach.

Presentation from CERT on their duties and responsibilities

Mr. MacMillan informed the board that the Community Emergency Response Team (CERT), has four teams in Mohave County and 30-50 in the state of Arizona. CERT teams are on the bottom of the ladder of FEMA, although if the fire department needs emergency assistance, CERT comes in to help. All CERT members are trained under FEMA standards to look for hazards, secure utilities in the homes, use fire extinguishers, perform first aid, assist with setting up a command post, and do welfare checks. CERT has an emergency response trailer and all equipment has been donated. Mr. MacMillan said CERT is protected from liability by the Volunteer Act. He added that during emergencies, CERT staffs the fire departments rehab division and provides drinks, towels, fans, etc. CERT members must maintain the standards or the person is dropped from the program. He advised that if anyone was interested in being part of the CERT team, they just need to attend one of their meetings, which are held on the first Thursday of the month at 6:30 p.m., at Fire Station #2.

Presentation on Mental Health

The Carpenter family made a presentation on the facts and myths of mental illness. They noted that mental illness is not contagious, and heredity can be, and often is a factor in the disease. With time and understanding people will realize mental illness is an illness and not a sickness. Most mental illness begins in the adolescence stage. The first episode of mental illness usually occurs between 15-20 years old. They advised that bad parenting doesn’t cause mental illness; however, it may contribute to the illness. A person’s diet, or race, or certain sounds or smells may contribute to a person’s ability to cope with their illness. Alcohol and drug abuse do not cause mental illness, however studies show over 70 percent of drug users suffer from mental illness. Most of those who suffer from mental illness can recover and live productive lives.

Review and Recommendation on ADA project designs

Mr. Hinman requested that this item be postponed until the next meeting.

Presentation of Mainstreet Parking Plan

Mr. Hinman requested that this item be postponed until the next meeting.

Adoption of Community Development’s Universal Parking Compliance

Mr. Luke Morris presented the board with the results of the survey done of business parking lots:

§ 512 sites visited

§ 124 met current ADA standards

§ 74 had minor deficiencies

§ 38 met current space sizes but had other major issues

§ 273 did not meet standards.

Code Enforcement will be used to educate the property owners of how to be ADA compliant. Ms. Sorenson explained the educational and friendly letter that will be sent to the 74 minor deficiencies and each letter will specifically indicate what the business needs to fix, such as fixing the easy ones first and then go on to the more difficult issues. She said she will keep the Board informed on a meeting by meeting basis during the different phases. She also mentioned that business owners will have 30 days to comply, and if they choose not to comply, then more aggressive measures will be taken. Ms. Calahan suggested the letter should indicate the timeframe the business owner has for compliance. All board members expressed their thanks to the Community Development Services department.

Approval of changes to Universal Parking Code

Mr. Kassik presented the board with the revised Universal Parking Code. He also took all the information given at the last ADA meeting and reformatted it to be easier to follow. All the verbiage was redone per Board suggestions.

Mr. Johnston moved to accept the proposed illustration and present to city council for approval, Mr. Vaughn seconded, and unanimously carried.

Discussion on Edguardo Jewelers Handicapped Parking Spaces

Mr. Kassik presented each board member with a photo of the parking lot, and he questioned the way the parking lot was currently stripped. He said they did a patterned parking lot, where the spaces are different colors. He added that all the spaces and slopes were correct. It was decided the line between the regular parking space and the handicapped parking space needs to be painted white.

Presentation and approval of a new ADA Parking Plan for Police Department

Plans were presented by the public works department to remove the two parking spaces at the north end of the parking lot, and four spaces would then be placed at the east end of the parking lot closer to the door. Some of the concrete would be removed and two ramps would be installed for access at the proper slope. The expected cost is $25,000 to $30,000.

Mr. Vaughn moved to accept the plans as stated through the public works department of the designing of the police facility handicapped remodel and put our seal of approval on it. Ms. Calahan seconded, motion unanimously carried.

Discussion of Hotline Flow Chart

Ms. Calahan presented the board with the Hotline Flow Chart. The idea is to provide an avenue for disabled persons to pick up the phone and complain. Anyone with any kind of concern would call Code Enforcement. All calls are recorded and directed to the correct department. A log of the calls will be given to the board each month. If the complaint is about a city establishment, the call goes to Jamie Schulenberg, ADA compliance coordinator. If the call is about a business establishment, the call stays with code enforcement. An initial procedure is already in place. Inform the business what the issue is. The business will have the option to mediate with the city hopefully the business will comply. Last option is a mandatory mediation. It was suggested by Larry Didion to hold a work session with the city council to discuss and get their ideas on how to make this work. Mr. Didion also informed the board complains will not always come to them. If it’s a violation then it would go through the procedures Code Enforcement already has set up. Mr. Vaughn motioned to postpone accepting this to see what the city staff tinker with it a little bit and bring it back to us with what want at the next meeting. Mr. Johnston seconded, motion unanimously carried.

Designation of New Outreach Committee Chairman

Mr. Vaughn resigned last meeting due to some conflicts. Since then the conflicts and gone away. Mr. Vaughn would like to withdraw his resignation. Mr. Hinman accepted Mr. Vaughn’s withdrawal.

ADA Subcommittee Reports

Mr. Hinman has talked with police department are down to one volunteer however that one person is actively in the field. What the frequency is he is unsure. Will have an update on parking enforcement at the next meeting.

Ms. Ortiz has been in touch with Charlie Cassens, ICA Manager regarding closed captioning. The estimated cost was $25,000 to $30,000 for the equipment to translate the material. Mr. Cassens also advised that the city was not ready to begin broadcasting yet.

Mr. Vaughn reported that he spoke with Mr. Cassens, and advised that the cable channel would be operating in 11-12 weeks. After the first of the year, Mr. Vaughn would aggressively advise of ADA issues on the radio, in print, and on TV45. He said that once a month, he would begin handing out certificates to local businesses that were ADA compliant. He would also try to put a couple articles in the newspaper every month regarding the ADA meetings, and being ADA compliant.

Mr. Avila asked if Mr. Vaughn could endorse the C2HC Association meeting at the end of January to help those with special needs.

Call to Public

There were no requests to address the board.

Future Meeting

The next regular meeting will be on January 10, 2008 at 3 p.m.

Adjournment

The meeting adjourned at 6:00 p.m.