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Gettysburg making strides in ADA work
Posted: Monday, October 11, 2010 10:31 pm
BY SCOT ANDREW PITZER Times Staff Writer | 1 comment
Built long before disability-access laws existed, Gettysburg and its downtown businesses have struggled to comply with federal mandates under the Americans with Disabilities Act.
But times are changing.
Even though the borough government remains under litigation in state and federal court, the borough’s Public Works Department is working “diligently” on intersection curb cuts and other ADA projects.
“We’re working diligently — we have hundreds of ramps that must be done,” said Gettysburg Borough Council President John Butterfield.
The borough invested thousands of dollars in grant money this past year to upgrade curb cuts and ramps along York Street, just like it did a year ago with Hanover Street. Borough Finance Director Ramona Overton has estimated that it will cost about $1.9 million to modernize the 533 sidewalk ramps that are due for replacement.
“It’s a big, big problem that will cost a lot of money,” said Butterfield. “It’s a long-time project that will cost a lot of money and we’re going to be dealing with this for years to come. It‘s federal law and we‘ve got to comply with it the best we can.”
The nine-member Borough Council floated a $3.8 million bond in May, which includes an $85,000 “transition plan” for ADA curb-cut, intersection and ramp repair. Additionally, the board has also approved a $30,000 contract with local engineer C.S. Davidson to “assess the condition of all borough streets and curbs, for the purpose of developing a capital program for street repaving and reconstruction.”
Former Interim Borough Manager Peter Marshall explained regarding the H.R. Gray survey: “They’re going to be looking at our curb-cuts and ramps, and telling us whether they comply or not.” “Most of them do not,” Marshall said previously. Marshall noted before he left the borough in August that ADA regulations — adopted under President George H.W. Bush in 1992 — have “been the law of the land for quite some time,” and that “a lot of us in communities have been slow to do the right thing.”
“In Gettysburg, we had a wake up call,” Marshall said regarding the litigation. “I would say the vast percentage of communities in the U.S. were sensitive to the need, (but) we didn’t do the right thing. We’re going to get there.”
Butterfield noted that former Highway Department Director and three-year Manager John Lawver formed a partnership with the state’s Deptartment of Transportation “with respect to their resurfacing and repairing the roads in Gettysburg.”
“It’s a partnership in which we pay about half, and they pay about half, so that’s going to be quite a savings to the borough,” Butterfield said regarding ADA improvements.
Lawver, who left the borough in January, had estimated that new ramps on Hanover Street cost $38,000 for the borough’s share, while the York Street ramps cost $45,000. Officials have calculated that each intersection corner is worth about $7,500, in terms of ADA work.
Critics have argued that the ramps are out of place in an historic town, and that the Pa. Human Relations Commission has done little to help the town solve its ADA issues. In fact, the Pennsylvania Human Relations Council — which enforces ADA laws in Pennsylvania — acknowledged earlier this year that there was a delay in processing Gettysburg complaints, because those complaints were filed with overwhelming regularity over the last few years. Maryland-based disabled rights activist Marilynn Phillips was among those filing the complaints.
Business owners have argued that their storefronts were constructed before 1863, when disability-access was not a concern, and that it’s easier to close than fight litigation in court. The litigation, business owners fear, could forever change the complexion of storefronts and the town’s historic streetscape.
“I don’t think any businesses have to be scared,” Marshall said previously.
“I think they have to be prepared to do what’s right, and what’s right under the law is that public facilities and public businesses have to be accessible for folks that use wheelchairs or visual impairment…they want to be able to go to the same places the rest of us do, and that’s really what the law is,” said Marshall.
The American with Disabilities Act was signed into law in 1990, and went into effect in July 1992, guaranteeing that people with disabilities have equal opportunities in state and local government services, accommodations, employment, transportation and commercial facilities. The law is enforced by the PHRC, after complaints of non-compliance are received.
Similar to 2009, Gettysburg Borough Council devoted about 75 percent of its annual allocation of state Community Development Block Grant funds this year to ADA compliance projects, such as the York Street curb cuts.
http://www.gettysburgtimes.com/news/local/article_29ba71cc-d5a9-11df-9d9b-001cc4c002e0.html
Posted: Monday, October 11, 2010 10:31 pm
BY SCOT ANDREW PITZER Times Staff Writer | 1 comment
Built long before disability-access laws existed, Gettysburg and its downtown businesses have struggled to comply with federal mandates under the Americans with Disabilities Act.
But times are changing.
Even though the borough government remains under litigation in state and federal court, the borough’s Public Works Department is working “diligently” on intersection curb cuts and other ADA projects.
“We’re working diligently — we have hundreds of ramps that must be done,” said Gettysburg Borough Council President John Butterfield.
The borough invested thousands of dollars in grant money this past year to upgrade curb cuts and ramps along York Street, just like it did a year ago with Hanover Street. Borough Finance Director Ramona Overton has estimated that it will cost about $1.9 million to modernize the 533 sidewalk ramps that are due for replacement.
“It’s a big, big problem that will cost a lot of money,” said Butterfield. “It’s a long-time project that will cost a lot of money and we’re going to be dealing with this for years to come. It‘s federal law and we‘ve got to comply with it the best we can.”
The nine-member Borough Council floated a $3.8 million bond in May, which includes an $85,000 “transition plan” for ADA curb-cut, intersection and ramp repair. Additionally, the board has also approved a $30,000 contract with local engineer C.S. Davidson to “assess the condition of all borough streets and curbs, for the purpose of developing a capital program for street repaving and reconstruction.”
Former Interim Borough Manager Peter Marshall explained regarding the H.R. Gray survey: “They’re going to be looking at our curb-cuts and ramps, and telling us whether they comply or not.” “Most of them do not,” Marshall said previously. Marshall noted before he left the borough in August that ADA regulations — adopted under President George H.W. Bush in 1992 — have “been the law of the land for quite some time,” and that “a lot of us in communities have been slow to do the right thing.”
“In Gettysburg, we had a wake up call,” Marshall said regarding the litigation. “I would say the vast percentage of communities in the U.S. were sensitive to the need, (but) we didn’t do the right thing. We’re going to get there.”
Butterfield noted that former Highway Department Director and three-year Manager John Lawver formed a partnership with the state’s Deptartment of Transportation “with respect to their resurfacing and repairing the roads in Gettysburg.”
“It’s a partnership in which we pay about half, and they pay about half, so that’s going to be quite a savings to the borough,” Butterfield said regarding ADA improvements.
Lawver, who left the borough in January, had estimated that new ramps on Hanover Street cost $38,000 for the borough’s share, while the York Street ramps cost $45,000. Officials have calculated that each intersection corner is worth about $7,500, in terms of ADA work.
Critics have argued that the ramps are out of place in an historic town, and that the Pa. Human Relations Commission has done little to help the town solve its ADA issues. In fact, the Pennsylvania Human Relations Council — which enforces ADA laws in Pennsylvania — acknowledged earlier this year that there was a delay in processing Gettysburg complaints, because those complaints were filed with overwhelming regularity over the last few years. Maryland-based disabled rights activist Marilynn Phillips was among those filing the complaints.
Business owners have argued that their storefronts were constructed before 1863, when disability-access was not a concern, and that it’s easier to close than fight litigation in court. The litigation, business owners fear, could forever change the complexion of storefronts and the town’s historic streetscape.
“I don’t think any businesses have to be scared,” Marshall said previously.
“I think they have to be prepared to do what’s right, and what’s right under the law is that public facilities and public businesses have to be accessible for folks that use wheelchairs or visual impairment…they want to be able to go to the same places the rest of us do, and that’s really what the law is,” said Marshall.
The American with Disabilities Act was signed into law in 1990, and went into effect in July 1992, guaranteeing that people with disabilities have equal opportunities in state and local government services, accommodations, employment, transportation and commercial facilities. The law is enforced by the PHRC, after complaints of non-compliance are received.
Similar to 2009, Gettysburg Borough Council devoted about 75 percent of its annual allocation of state Community Development Block Grant funds this year to ADA compliance projects, such as the York Street curb cuts.
http://www.gettysburgtimes.com/news/local/article_29ba71cc-d5a9-11df-9d9b-001cc4c002e0.html