Untitled Document

Subject: FW: APS Committee report, January 2012

WSCAAB Members,

Please see report below from the January meeting of the APS (audible pedestrian signals) committee.

Thanks,

Lindsey Mahoney
Sedgwick County ADA Administration

-----Original Message-----
From: Sanford Alexander [mailto:sja3@cox.net]
Sent: Monday, January 16, 2012 3:14 PM
To: David P. Calvert
Cc: Mahoney, Lindsey N.; Brian Coon
Subject: APS Committee report, January 2012

APS Committee report, January 2012

A meeting of the W/SCAAB APS Committee was called to order by Committee Chair, Sanford Alexander, at 10:10 AM on Thursday, January 5, 2012 in the InTrust Community Service Hall at Envision, 610 N. Main Street, Wichita KS 67203.
In attendance were: Sanford Alexander, Brian Coon and Mark Borst.
Absent were: David Waldie OD and Jessica Bowman.
Guest: David Gear for Jessica Bowman

1. Review drawings for the reconstruction of the intersection of Broadway and Pawnee:
Sanford reported that the pre-construction meeting for the project took place on December 15, 2011. About 40 individuals participated in the meeting, representing the city, involved utilities and affected businesses.
Brian introduced Sanford to a couple of the key people and informed them that Jessica Bowman, Envision's Orientation & Mobility Specialist, would be contacting them to work with them to ensure that the temporary crossings for both major streets were placed to be of maximum benefit to all parties including the large number of blind individuals who traverse the route on a daily basis.
Subsequently, several conversations have taken place and progress is being made toward achieving the goal prior to the February 17, 2012 start date for the project. The temporary crossing for Pawnee will be between Main and Market, and the one for Broadway will be in proximity to the driveways into the Wal-Mart. Jessica Bowman has expressed concern with placement of the Broadway walkway and discussions will be required with the engineers who are dealing with other traffic concerns leading them to propose the site. Brian plans to have temporary APS available for use at these crossings. The committee will review the benefits of this project element and consider its implementation on a broader basis for future projects.

2. Review current open projects:
Since the last report, Brian Has not received an individual request for a new location. Sanford stated that this was of concern, as he has heard from two or three people that they were interested in seeing particular intersections considered and wonders what has prevented the individuals from following through on their stated intentions.

3. Review process for requesting installations and for monitoring proper functioning of existing intersections:
Mark Borst reported that all of the County signals that have pedestrian facilities are APS and that a couple of additional locations may be under consideration in the near future. He pointed out that there are more pieces with an APS installation that can go wrong but neither he nor Brian have seen any increase in maintenance problems.
Brian reported that since a very few early instances, there have been no noise complaints. After discussion, we concluded that once APS are installed, they fit into their surroundings and do not cause neighbors any problems.

There being no further business, the meeting was adjourned
at 10:50 AM.

Respectfully submitted,

Sanford Alexander, Chair
APS Committee

Wichita-Sedgwick County Access Advisory Board
November 16, 2011
Meeting Minutes
Envision, 610 N. Main

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Present Voting Members
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Sanford Alexander
David Calvert
Brian A. Coon
David Gear
Jason Gegen
Steve Hinds
Ed Koon
Grady Landrum
Lindsey Mahoney
David Waldie

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Absent
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Glen Davidson
De Eaton
Rick Eberhard
Bob Hamilton
Kenny Hinkle
Lori Lawrence
Sandy Martz
David Moffett
Tiffany Nickel
Craig Perbeck
Valerhy Powers
Susan Robinson
Marty Rothwell
John Sullivan
Nick Taylor
Shawn Walters

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City / County Staff
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Jay Hinkel – City Legal
Rick Shellenbarger – Sedg. Co. Emerg. Mgmt
Shirley Wilson – Wichita Transit

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Guests
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Barbara Alexander

Welcome and Introductions: David Calvert, Chair

It was noted that we have sufficient members in attendance to meet the requirements for quorum.

Meeting Minutes: Deferred until next meeting.

Agenda Building: None.

Consent Agenda to Receive and File Reports / Committee Updates

Reports received: Transportation appeals committee, APS committee.

Brian Coon moved to adopt the committee reports. Lindsey Mahoney seconds. Motion passes.

Committee Updates or Discussion – None.

Old Business:

Accessible Parking Volunteer Program – Lt. Nolte and an APP volunteer will plan on coming to the January meeting to provide more information on how the program has been working. The program is currently short on volunteers. These volunteers work many hours with no pay. The program is part of the City’s settlement agreement.

New Business

Joint City/County training for Contractors/Architects on new ADA Standards:

City and County are currently developing a training for architects and contractors on the new standards. A tentative date has been set for January, but is not yet confirmed. It was suggested that WSCAAB members let Lindsey or Brian know of any re-occurring problems so that these can be pointed out during the training. More information to follow as training is further developed.

Discuss Publicity

Our Operating Procedures include: Advise other public or private entities on access issues where it appears the board can make a positive contribution to resolve such problems.
David Calvert described some “drive by lawsuits” that are often instigated by out of state lawyers with a local client who has a disability. There have been some here in Wichita. Often these begin with the client who drives by, looking for obvious “red flags,” such as inaccessible parking or entrances. A lawsuit can then be filed without any prior notice to the property owner or business, with costly legal fees involved.
Since the goal of this board is promoting accessibility, one idea may be to host some seminars or talk with businesses. By making ADA improvements, they can both improve accessibility, and reduce the risk of a lawsuit.
Sanford Alexander commented that this board has talked a lot about promoting educations, and has a history of expressing concern about improving public education.
Sanford added that another area of publicity/education may be related to transportation. At a recent meeting of the Transportation Advisory Board, that he and Shawn attend, he learned that 19 out of 21 members haven’t ridden the busses. One idea was to issue day passes so that board members could ride, which seemed like a good step. It was also discussed that busses didn’t run on Veteran’s Day, Thanksgiving, or the day after Thanksgiving. Many people don’t get these days off and need to report to work via bus; however, if the busses operate then the City has to pay 1-1/2 pay to employees for the holiday, resulting in extra costs.
Education to the local malls and merchant groups was also discussed, including the Simon malls (Towne East and West), Bradley Fair, Old Town Assoc., New Market Square, WIBA, WDDC, and the non-profit Chamber. The local realtors group was another possibility.

One issue discussed was that at Towne East, the busses can’t come into the mall parking lot, so this makes it difficult for people with disabilities to reach the mall entrance from the bus shelter. In the past, it had been understood that Simon doesn’t want busses damaging the parking lot. However, some parking and roadway construction is currently underway, so there may be an opportunity to identify a path that the bus will travel, and design this paving to accommodate a bus, along with a concrete pad where the bus starts/stops. Brian Coon reported that a project related to a City bus shelter near the mall is in development, and there may be an opportunity to coordinate these two projects/issues. It was also reported that there has been a change in management at the mall. Jay Hinkel reported that complaints due to City bus damage are real, as he has experience with them.
Another problem area described was department stores that have clothing racks close together, preventing an accessible route for shoppers who use wheelchairs or other mobility devices.

Three areas for education for businesses were identified related to access. Physical access, how to address customers who are deaf or hard of hearing, and how to address customers who are blind or visually impaired. Rick Shellenbarger added that another area of education is how to work with customers who have developmental disabilities. Sensitivity training could be another area.
ILRC has been offering free training for 13 years.
The new 2010 ADA Standards, and recently changed ADA regulations, could be another avenue to get public attention. For example, there are new regulations related to service animals.
The WSCAAB has a public education committee that could perhaps start work on developing strategies for education. It was suggested that the education committee might come up with 8 topics and prioritize them. Then the board could perhaps focus on one topic per year, with a seminar, training, or position paper (used for education or provided to media).
Dr. Waldie made a motion that David Calvert write a letter to Simon malls, on behalf of the WSCAAB, offering to provide feedback/guidance on access issues, including the above issue related to bus traffic at the mall. Sanford seconds the motion. Motion passes. Brian Coon added that he will also talk with Mike Vincent today related to the bus stop project he mentioned above.
The issue of education/publicity will be included on the next meeting agenda for further discussions and brainstorming.

Updates

County ADA Update: Defer due to limited time remaining.
City ADA Update: Defer due to limited time remaining.
Other Updates: Sanford Alexander updated that the paratransit 5-minute “window” of time for a ride to arrive has been better defined. This makes it clearer for the riders to understand.

Public Comment – None.

Adjourn at 11:23am.

The next meeting will be:
Wednesday, January 25, 2012
10:00-11:30 a.m. at Envision

Meeting minutes prepared by:
Lindsey Mahoney, Sedgwick County ADA Coordinator