Title
RESOLUTION R-1718-110: A RESOLUTION OF THE COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF NORMAN, OKLAHOMA, ADOPTING THE ADA SELF-EVALUATION AND TRANSITION PLAN THAT UPDATES THE 1993 TRANSITION PLAN IN ORDER TO IMPROVE ACCESSIBILITY FOR CITY PROGRAMS, SERVICES, ACTIVITIES, FACILITIES, PROJECT DECISIONS, AND IMPROVEMENTS THAT ARE PLANNED AND GUIDED BY THE CURRENT AMERICANS WITH DISABILITIES ACT REQUIREMENTS.
Body
BACKGROUND: An Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) Transition Plan was developed for the City of Norman in 1992 by Kaighn Associates Architects, Inc. of Norman, Oklahoma. City Council adopted the Transition Plan, as required by federal law, on May 25, 1993. Council adopted the following policy statement at that time:
The City of Norman embraces the goals and objectives established in the Americans with Disabilities Act, as adopted by the United States Congress through Public Law Number 100-336. It shall be the policy of the City of Norman to make every reasonable effort to ensure that all people have an equal opportunity to participate in and experience all public programs and facilities.
The City’s 1993 Transition Plan focused on accessibility at City-owned facilities and provided a schedule for compliance with sidewalk accessibility. The City’s first ADA Coordinator was the Director of Code Enforcement. In January 2007, the City’s Director of Public Works was appointed by the City Manager as the ADA Coordinator, and he remains in that role today. No updates to the City’s ADA Transition Plan have been made since 1993.
Like hundreds of cities and jurisdictions in the United States, the City of Norman made a reasonable effort to complete the Transition Plan, as specified in January, 1995. However, after nearly 25 years, so much more has been learned about accessibility of public spaces, and more improvements are needed in Norman. For this reason, the City of Norman took the proactive approach of conducting a self-evaluation and an update of the 1993 ADA Transition Plan to address remaining public accessibility needs in Norman, which will help to set the course for those policy and infrastructure improvements in coming years.
The process of development for the comprehensive ADA Self-Evaluation & Transition Plan began with the Request for Proposal 1617-52. Proposals were received from four consulting firms on April 28th, 2017. Each proposal was evaluated and ranked by three (3) staff members from Public Works, including Shawn O’Leary, Director of Public Works and current ADA Coordinator; Scott Sturtz, City Engineer; and Jack Burdett, Engineering Assistant, and two (2) private citizens, including Karleene Smith, Planner and Grants Specialist with Cleveland Area Rapid Transit (CART), and Chris Nanny, local citizen and accessibility advocate. Based on past experience and knowledge of the project team, the team of Kimley-Horn and Associates and Accessology were selected as the consultants for the project. On June 27, 2017, City Council approved a contract with the firm of Kimley-Horn and Associates as the lead consultant in the amount of $200,000.00.
DISCUSSION: The development of the ADA Self-Evaluation & Transition Plan began with a Kick-off meeting in July of 2017. Following the kickoff, the self-evaluation of programs, procedures, policies, and other associated ADA related items in the City of Norman was initiated. This included a review of City policies across most Departments and the City website. To help with the formulation and development of the plan, two committees were created. A Staff Liaison Committee representing each of the thirteen City of Norman departments was formed. In addition, City Council appointed a twelve (12) person ADA Citizen Steering Committee with members representing the disability community throughout Norman. Both committees met quarterly or as needed during the year to help plan the areas to be studied, review findings, and comment on the development of the plan. Public involvement and input were considered key to the formulation of the plan. Two public meetings, one on October 26, 2017, and another on May 9, 2018, took place to collect information and public input regarding barriers that residents have identified. Public input was also sought through an online survey and an online mapping tool that allowed users to identify areas and leave comments attached to the target locations.
Development of the ADA Self-Evaluation & Transition Plan was also considered by Council at two Study Sessions, March 27, 2018, for an update on the evaluation by the project team and on June 12, 2018, for a review of the final draft.
If adopted by Council, the ADA Self-Evaluation & Transition Plan will serve as Norman’s long-term vision for a range of improvements and accommodations in ADA Title I, which affect City of Norman employees, and ADA Title II for public rights-of-way and public access to programs and services. The ADA Self-Evaluation & Transition Plan affecting the Public Rights-of-Way will work in concert with the Norman Comprehensive Transportation Plan (CTP) and other capital projects that provide improvements in compliance with the ADA.
If approved by Council, the priority action items will include:
§ Consideration of a Council-appointed ADA Citizen Advisory Committee.
§ Beginning implementation of improvements based on findings from the evaluated buildings, parks, sidewalks, traffic signals and other public infrastructure.
§ Updates to current ADA compliance and reasonable accommodation policies and procedures.
§ Coordination and training with the City department ADA staff liaisons regarding their responsibilities and implementation of improvements.
§ Coordination of the ADA Self-Evaluation & Transition Plan with the City’s capital budget.
§ Updating human resources, contracts, website and other policy documents with compliant ADA language.
§ Updating the City of Norman Engineering Design Criteria and Construction Standards for improvements to the public infrastructure.
§ Implementation of identified barrier removals based on prioritization and available funds.
§ Performance of ADA assessments of 20 additional City buildings and 20 additional City parks within the next two years.
§ On-going training for ADA compliance with appropriate City staff.
RECOMMENDATION: Staff recommends approval of Resolution R-1718-110, adopting the 2018 ADA Self-Evaluation & Transition Plan which establishes a framework for reducing current barriers and sets priorities for future accessibility improvements in Norman.