City to conduct ADA Assessment

Terry RogersGovernment & Politics

The City of Milford is seeking public input regarding property owned by the city as well as sidewalks that may have ADA compliance issues

As required by the federal government, City of Milford staff began working on an Americans with Disabilities (ADA) Transition Plan. According to Mike Svaby, Public Works Director, the development of the transition plan requires several steps.

“We hired a consultant to do an evaluation of all our programs and facilities,” Svaby said. “They did a field evaluation, looking at city-owned or operated property as well as about 30 or 40 miles of sidewalk to determine if there were locations that needed upgrades or whether they were compliant. The company, Disability Access Consulting, then developed surveys that will be sent to organizations, individuals as well as city staff regarding our ADA compliance.”

The staff survey is to be returned by April 2, 2021 while the individual and organizational surveys are posted online and are due to the city by April 30, 2021. After April 30, the three surveys will be compiled by Disability Access Consulting and, using the field review, the organization will determine what needs to be done to bring the city into full compliance. Those identified will comprise the ADA Transition Plan and, as the plan is written, updates will be provided in a monthly report to council. Eventually, the full plan will be published and made available to the public for a period of 30 days with a public hearing held to entertain comments or questions. Once public comment is gathered and the report is updated/finalized, it will be published on the city website with a timeline goal of Fall 2021 for completion.

“The city already has a degree of compliance in its design and construction standard,” Svaby said when asked if any deficiencies had already been addressed. “If there is a project that comes through the city related to streets or sidewalks, regardless of how it is funded, we comply with ADA standards. In addition, the city’s formal sidewalk program includes ADA standards as well. Compliance not only applies to crosswalks and curbing, but the entire walkable part of the sidewalk as well.”

Councilman Jason James asked if the city was on the right timeline to satisfy ADA requirements and Svaby explained that there has been no timeline established for any area determined to be non-compliant. He explained that the transition plan would identify the issue and provide the timeline and that some could take as long as 15 to 25 years. However, federal guidelines state that as long as there is a plan to address non-compliant areas, the city would be considered in compliance.

Non-police city staff have already received the survey for submission. Organizations may access the survey on the city website by clicking this link while the individual survey can be accessed by clicking here. Both surveys can also be found by visiting the City of Milford website and clicking on the “City of Milford Begins Writing ADA Transition Plan – See How You Can Help” link on the main page.

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