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HomeMy WebLinkAbout2013_0115_Minutes_APPROVED Meeting Minutes Mayor's Advisory Committee For Equal Access ( MACFEA) Tuesday, January 15, 2013 Mo` ikeha Building , Meeting Room 2A-2B 4444 Rice Street, Lihu `e, HI 96766 Members Present: Elena Costales , Consumer, HCIL — Kaua ' i Volunteer; Betty Bell — Kaua' i Federation for the Blind ; El Doi — Kaua' i Developmental Disability Council ; Rita Manriquez — State Traumatic Brain Injury Advisory Board (STBIAB ) ; Roberta Eiben — Consumer; Dr. Lucy Miller — DCAB ( Disability and Communication Access Board ) Board Member; Sharry Glass — Advocate , Teacher/Trainer; Kathy English — Hawai ' i Disability Rights Center. Member Excused : Ana Valdez — Family Advocate Staff members also present: Linda Nuland-Ames — ADA/EEOC Coordinator; Barbara Davis — Commission Support Clerk; Marc Guyot — Deputy County Attorney; Jeremy Lee , Program Specialist Transportation Agency; Captioner: Dodie Weiss — Caption First. Call to Order Chair Elena Costales called the meeting to order at 12 : 31 p . m . with 8 members present. APPROVAL OF MINUTES • Regular Open Session Minutes of November 20 , 2012 Chair Costales requested a correction to Page 9 , 2nd paragraph , 3rd sentence to read paratransit instead of par transit. Action : Dr. Lucy moved to approve the minutes as amended . Ms . English seconded the motion . Motion carried 8 : 0 . BUSINESS • Update on installation of WiFi in County facilities and Internet Bandwidth Upgrades to accommodate expanded use . Ms . Davis reported the latest update from the IT Department is that all of the wireless access points are now installed and working as expected . However, the target date to make the wireless system available to users has been pushed out to February. The extra time is required to address policy issues for access and network security. Along with this , IT will be making some minor configuration changes in accordance with the finalized policies . Ms . Glass applauded the County's IT Department for responding in such a competent and accomplished way . MACFEA brought it to the attention of IT last summer that this is required by Federal Law and IT has responded in a terrific way. • Update regarding status of accessible bus stops and accessible routes to all public libraries and schools on Kaua' i and what action is needed to remedy those that are not accessible Jeremy Lee from the Transportation Agency said he would speak first on the bus stops project that covers the entire island . Mr. Lee said he cannot address the issue of accessibility to the libraries as that falls under the State's jurisdiction and not the County. Overall the bus stop project will cover 49 locations and the Transportation Agency has enlisted the support of an engineering and design firm from Honolulu , SSFM . They are on track with the 22 locations and they are handling the initial design and engineering work, providing the scoping for the layout for larger bus pads for the added amenities of bus shelters with ADA accessible benches and stalls as well as bike racks , and a larger landing pad for the vehicles to deploy their lifts . That project should span the better part of a year. Once that is completed , the Agency will be going to the community with those designs for input on whether or not they approve those engineering designs for their communities and to get input for the design of the shelters . Once that is completed the project will move into the construction phase which will probably take a multi-phase approach to align our resources with the State DOT and other County agencies so that the road is only torn up one time . Ms . Glass stated she was very happy to hear this information because ADA was passed in 1990 and the County is still in non-compliance . Will the company that is doing the engineering designs submit their plans to DCAB for accessibility controls or monitoring ? How can we ensure that these are going to be ADA compliant? Mr. Lee said the Agency has enlisted the support of Linda Nuland-Ames . As part of the work, SSFM is doing a redevelopment of our bus stop development guidelines , which line out the ADA accessibility features that need to be in place for each of the bus stop locations they are developing . That draft document has been supplied to Ms . Nuland- Ames for review and comments , and to make sure all of the bus stop guidelines will be the posts they look to in developing the existing and new bus stops in our future and meet the current ADA standards . The Agency is not only looking at meeting the regular standards but also the unpassed things that they need to address . They are also looking at connectivity, which is not part of the current funding but making sure that the stub-outs for accessible walkways to and from the bus stops are looked at and designed . Ms . Glass agreed saying accessible routes are very much a part of the whole picture . It is inaccessible if there is not an accessible route . The members thanked Mr. Lee for the information he provided . Mr. Lee advised the membership that he would be attending all of the MACFEA meetings as a representative of the County Transportation Agency and is interested in being an active participant in this group . MACFEA — January 15 , 2013 2 • Election of Vice Chair for 2013 Action : Ms . English nominated Ms . Eiben for Vice Chair, Ms . Doi seconded the nomination . Motion carried 8 : 0 . • Approval of MACFEA Meeting Schedule for 2013 Action : Ms . Bell moved to accept the 2013 Meeting Schedule . Ms . Manriquez seconded the motion . Motion carried 8 : 0 • Discussion and deliberation with the ADA Coordinator of MACFEA Goals for 2013 Ms . Glass asked if the non-committee members in attendance could sit at the committee meeting table stating it is awkward for her to have these participants speaking from behind her. It was explained that only board or committee members should sit at the table . Unfortunately , to accommodate the captioning and with the makeup of 13 committee members there is not enough room at the table to seat the staff. Ms . Nuland-Ames said she looked at some of the notes and the goals that had previously been agreed upon . Some of them have been accomplished such as more effective communication access to include Wi- Fi , continued ADA awareness training to all County Employees is an on-going project, and reports from the ADA coordinator on updates , which is part of Ms . Nuland-Ames' job description so it is not needed as a goal . It is expected that Keri Russell , the new Director for the Kaua' i Red Cross , will be joining MACFEA at the March meeting . Recently there was an emergency preparedness meeting on island and Ms . Nuland- Ames suggested this become a goal . Everyone whose job is involved in emergency preparedness is very actively trying to find a way to reach more people and have them make more sound emergency plans , as well as back up plans and back up to back up plans , since there is no way to know when a disaster will hit, what it will be , or the timing . We want individuals to be better prepared and perhaps MACFEA could do outreach to their organizations and their communities about this as a potential goal . We know that the Red Cross is very, very understaffed so this might be effective in that way. Also , people with disabilities should be volunteers because they recognize the access difficulties quicker than someone who does not face them every day . Ms . Nuland-Ames also reported she is currently working with some of the parks on the Westside . When people call Ms . Nuland-Ames with a concern about their neighborhood , she is encouraging them to come to the MACFEA meetings and consider joining because we need " boots on the ground" throughout the island . However, unless they work in Lihu'e it is difficult to get here for a meeting which might be cancelled at the last minute for lack of quorum or if they have an employer who does not give them extra MACFEA — January 15 , 2013 3 time off for the meeting . Ms . Nuland-Ames said she would like to see a goal be the effort of the committee members to help locate people with different life challenges and living on different parts of the island to join MACFEA. It would be very helpful to have these communities represented not only by a person 's particular challenge in life but the community in which they physically reside . Transportation has been mentioned every year of MACFEA and in 2012 a goal was to have a more equitable paratransit schedule as well as subsidized bus passes for people with disabilities . Transportation should continue as a goal because we need to stay up to date on what is happening with linking the State properties with the County transportation system , as well as watch what is going on with the new bus shelters and any questions that arise about paratransit and the financial access of people with limited disability income . Ms . Nuland-Ames said she would like to see Committee members take that on as an on- going subcommittee that reports to the Committee as a whole . The neighbor island MACFEA committees have been trying hard for the past two years to have less business at their general meeting and more reports . They have the people who serve on the committee out in the community working on the issues and bringing back their reports to the committee . Besides being a more effective use of the committee it would be more interesting for members and would attract new members who have a particular interest whether it is access to websites , more availability of interpreting services at meetings and events , and keeping an eye on situations arising with transportation . For example , use of public transportation has risen quite a bit since last year when everyone had three weeks free of bus travel . That potentially means there is less room on the bus and might be more difficult for people who have balance and mobility problems and there may be people in the community who are particularly interested in having input because they use the bus a lot. Ms . Nuland-Ames said she understands the County website is fully accessible but it helps when people report back on the website and perhaps there is another subcommittee of people who use the website regularly and can report any issues they encounter. Parks and Recreation could also be a subcommittee which could be fun for those who do use the parks . One problem recently had been resolved until heavy rains and flooding created new accessibility problems . After learning of the problems , Ms . Nuland -Ames went with the crew to look at scheduling the repairs but there is a concern because no one person can know what is going on everywhere . Filling the vacancies in the MACFEA membership and being more proactive in the community could be an enormous help to keep problems and upsets from arising . Ms . Glass asked if the maintenance people in the parks alert Ms . Nuland-Ames to situations like that. Ms . Nuland-Ames said that would be ideal and some things do come up that way but it is not the same for someone who is doing their routine maintenance at the park as it is for someone who is helping someone in a wheelchair to access it; it is just different. Ms . Glass asked if that were an appropriate place for training in disability access . Ms . Nuland-Ames said there is more training coming up but it is different for someone who is actually living with a disability. Areas of concern may not be obvious unless you are looking for or dealing with it. That is the importance of getting more feedback from the people who actually use the parks . Things could be taken care of quicker before it gets blown up and becomes a bigger problem . MACFEA — January 15 , 2013 4 Ms . Glass asked if they need to advertise the MACFEA committee better so people will feel free to bring their issues . Ms . Glass asked if there was a phone number (for the committee ) or a listing in the calendar or newspaper with a phone number for the people to call for the committee . Ms . Nuland-Ames said the agenda of the actual meetings do have a contact name , number and email . If the Committee asks the Mayor's Office to do a press release there would also be a contact name and number. Ms . Glass said she was thinking of an on-going release so it is not just once every two months or occasionally. Ms . Nuland-Ames said they need to schedule community meetings in the places that are the holding locations and the emergency shelters and invite everyone in the neighborhood to come . That would be an appropriate time for MACFEA to attend as well and let the public know what the committee does and how it is relevant to their neighborhood as well as assuring that the ADA is fully considered at all of these different shelters and holding areas . Holding stations can be just a parking lot and is not the bigger issue because it is a very temporary thing . It is when people actually have to go to a shelter that issues tend to arise . There was a recent meeting at the Civil Defense with the Department of Health , Developmental Disabilities Division , Centers for Independent Living and the community associations to talk about the problems . We began to see from the last tsunami warning where in despite of everything there were people who were totally unprepared and arrived at shelters and were surprised there were not bunks and food and water. People are also still expecting to be picked up and taken to the shelters . Depending on the time of day and the nature of the emergency, the Transportation Agency will do all it can to help but it also has to secure its vehicles and personnel because they are not first responders . Not only are emergency plans being discussed but also back up plans to those plans so people will be ready under any circumstances . That is a major outreach that we are slowly bringing together and MACFEA can certainly play a role in that. Another opportunity to strongly promote MACFEA is at the community meetings that the Mayor' s Office hosts and there are a series scheduled in February with more to be done later in the year. Ms . Bell asked if Verizon and AT&T have been invited to share some of these things as she did not have phone or cell phone service and it is scary when someone cannot make contact to find out what is wrong . Ms . Nuland-Ames explained that a fiber-optic cable on Oahu was sliced and created a state-wide problem . Ms . Glass thought Ms . Bell 's point was well taken because part of emergency preparedness is to prepare for lack of communication . Ms . Bell asked if it was possible to use the tsunami warning with a different kind of tone to indicate another type of emergency. Ms . Nuland-Ames said the problem with the warning is that it is basically a notice to get more information and you would still need to listen to the radio , get on the phone or the computer to access what the emergency is . Ms . Nuland -Ames said this discussion shows that perhaps MACFEA wants to make disaster preparedness as it relates to the County a sub-committee . MACFEA — January 15 , 2013 5 Dr. Lucy asked how the sub-committees related to the Sunshine Law. Ms . Nuland- Ames said if people want to form a committee it would have to be on the next agenda with the sub-committee empowered to meet on its own and bring back a report to the full committee . Staff stated that the sub-committee (also known as a PIG or permitted interaction group) would not have to be noticed but it would have to bring its report back to the committee for any action needed . Ms . Eiben said she had a concern that should be brought to the attention of the Mayor. Ms . Eiben related that when she is eating lunch at the parks and need to use the restroom , they are never clean and do not have any paper towels for drying the hands . Ms . Nuland -Ames asked to speak with Ms . Eiben afterwards to find out which parks because she is aware of two parks that have particular problems due to major vandalism and yet those facilities are cleaned regularly and supplied . The Mayor' s Office is aware of and working on the problems but some of the parks are more isolated and the facilities just keep getting trashed . Ms . Glass said part of the issue is that accommodations are not sufficient for the usage and that is absolutely true at Ke'e Beach . There are not enough bathrooms for the number of people who are trying to use them and that needs to be addressed . Ms . Bell said in her travels on the mainland there were local ladies who cleaned the bathrooms on the state roads and were very proud of having clean facilities ; it might be something to think about. Ms . Nuland-Ames said there are civil service laws about who you can hire to do some jobs . Attorney Guyot advised the Committee that Ke'e Beach is a State beach and while the State does provide grant money to the County to provide the lifeguard service it is the State who is responsible for the roadway and the facilities . Action : Ms . Glass moved that this discussion be continued at the next meeting at which time they would vote on actual goals . Ms . Bell thought the Committee needed the methodology to accomplish the goals as well . Ms . Nuland-Ames suggested members take the information and think about what their commitment to equal access is in the County, what the areas of interest are and the willingness to work on those areas and put together ideas of how things should be addressed and be prepared for a full discussion at the next meeting . Ms . Bell and Dr. Lucy both seconded the motion . Motion carried 8 : 0 • Accessibility report regarding the construction on Lydqate Pavilion and the replacement of the portable ramp to the stage with a fixed ramp Ms . Nuland-Ames did not have the final information but several months ago it appears that constructing a ramp , while ideal , was not possible due to a long list of construction problems and costs . To use the pavilion with the stage , a permit is required (from Parks and Recreation ) and at that time accessibility and auxiliary aid requests would be made . There is a lift available that would be put on site for the event involving the permit with a person to demonstrate how to use it and to be safely stored after the event. Ms . Glass asked Ms . Nuland-Ames to pursue this further because it was the Committee's understanding from a report Ms . Pilkington made that the lift was not easily used and MACFEA — January 15 , 2013 6 was not something you could put up with a last minute notice if someone needed accommodation and decided to attend an event. It is hard for non-profits having large events to make sure whoever needs accommodation does ask for it in sufficient time for the acquiring of the permit. This needs to be facilitated better because people are not able to participate in performances because of the lack of accommodation . Ms . Nuland- Ames said she could see how that would be a problem . It appears from looking at correspondence the lift that is available is compliant and the Parks and Recreation personnel would get it into place , remove it after and show people how to use it. There is some difficulty with getting it there and it can 't be left at the site ; it has to be stored . It is the permit holder' s responsibility to make sure their event is accessible . Ms . Glass questioned if it could be highlighted in red that a portable lift is available or make some specific reference to physical accommodations rather than just anyone needing accommodations . Ms . Nuland-Ames said she is still putting together the actual agreement and how it will work . Ms . Bell said it seemed the County would have a much greater liability getting someone like her to operate a lift and if it didn 't work or someone fell that would be a much bigger risk than asking the Lions Club to build a ramp . Ms . Nuland-Ames said you can 't just build a ramp ; plans have to go through ADAG for approval . Chair Costales noted the group had lost quorum , with only 6 members present and asked if the meeting needed to be stopped . Attorney Guyot advised the Committee that they would need to stop the meeting , even though there were no further actions to be voted on , due to the lack of participation from others to hear what is going on . Adjournment: Chair Costales announced the meeting was adjourned at 1 :24 p . m . due to loss of quorum . MACFEA — January 15 , 2013 7