HomeMy WebLinkAboutIR 8574 INFORMAL REPORT TO CITY COUNCIL MEMBERS No. 8574
To the Mayor and Members of the City Council DATE: 02-24-04
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SUBJECT: The American's with Disabilities Act (ADA) and CFW Facilities
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During the February 3, 2004 City Council meeting, Mr. David Gober appeared to express
concerns about Will Rogers Memorial Center's (WRMC) American's with Disabilities Act (ADA)
compliance and fire code issues. In response to those concerns, city staff was asked to
investigate the citizen's concems and also to report on the status of ADA compliance issues for
other city facilities.
City Staff Actions
Staff persons from the Public Events Department have met with Mr. Gober, as well as performed
an extensive walk-through at WRMC to assess ADA compliance. Additional reviews will be
forthcoming in the coming months to determine user-friendliness and accessibility of the facility.
The initial review concluded that the WRMC is in compliance with the ADA; however, there are
some additional steps that can be taken to make the facility more user-friendlier. Staff is currently
reviewing the costs to provide power-assisted doors throughout the facility. Below, please find
information on our past and most recent steps to remain in compliance with ADA and to ensure
that all of our facilities are accessible.
History
The American's with Disabilities Act (ADA) became law in 1990 and required municipalities to
prepare a Transition Plan by July 1992 and execute it within 3 years. The City of Fort Worth used
in-house staff to survey all city facilities and identify accessibility barriers. Approximately $4.51VI
of Capital Projects Reserve funds were spent to remove the barriers identified. The Transition
Plan work was completed in 1996 and city facilities are believed to be in compliance with the ADA
as it pertains to public access. It should be noted that some changes to ADA standards were
made in the latter stages of the city's execution of its Transition Plan. It did not require that we
make any changes to work already completed or planned as part of the original Transition Plan.
Consequently, some City facilities are ADA compliant by virtue of "grandfathering" to the
standards applicable at the time.
Ongoing
All new construction is designed in accordance with the Texas Accessibility Standards (the state
specific implementation of the ADA). Facilities renovated or added to are brought up to the
required standards (generally involves improving parking lot and walkway improvements to
provide protected paths of travel as well as restroorn upgrades). Currently, the City allocates
$100,000 a year to upgrade the accessibility of facilities as the need arises. This typically has
involved a need to accommodate disabled employees. City staff will be forwarding this
information to Mr. Gober, along with recent actions taken at WRMC this week. Attached for your
information are recent projects that have been approved for funding from the FY 2004 budget.
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ISSUED BY THE CITY MANAGER FORT WORTH, TEXAS
Americans with Disabilities Act 11"N
FY2003-04 Actual and Anticipated
Expenditure Overview
➢ $50K committed to the renovation project for the Old Modern Art Museum.
Includes construction of handicap parking space and installation of a
passenger cab in the freight elevator to accommodate wheelchairs.
➢ $2K to address issues in the HR area (lowering water fountains, non-skip
tape on stair edges, lowering of HR counter top, and modifications to the
door in the testing room).
➢ TBD - Potential participation to correct the issue at WRIVIC (need for
automatic doors at a couple of locations)
➢ TBD—We are currently investigating possible problems at the Scott
Theatre in the Old Modern (lack of wheelchair seating in the theatre and a
set of stairs without a ramp). If we verify that there is a violation we'll get a
cost estimate to fix the problem.