Review Draft City of Ramsey Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) Transition Plan

Purpose:
The purpose of this case is to review the City of Ramsey’s Draft Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) Transition Plan.

Background:
The Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) was enacted on July 26, 1990.  Title II of ADA requires the City of Ramsey to meet the following general requirements:

• Must operate their programs so that, when viewed in their entirety, the programs are accessible to and useable by individuals with disabilities (28 C.F.R. Sec. 35.150).
• May not refuse to allow a person with a disability to participate in a service, program or activity simply because the person has a disability (28 C.F.R. Sec. 35.130 (a).
• Must make reasonable modifications in policies, practices and procedures that deny equal access to individuals with disabilities unless a fundamental alteration in the program would result (28 C.F.R. Sec. 35.130(b) (7).
• May not provide services or benefits to individuals with disabilities through programs that are separate or different unless the separate or different measures are necessary to ensure that benefits and services are equally effective (28 C.F.R. Sec. 35.130(b)(iv) & (d).
• Must take appropriate steps to ensure that communications with applicants, participants and members of the public with disabilities are as effective as communications with others (29 C.F.R. Sec. 35.160(a).
• Must designate at least one responsible employee to coordinate ADA compliance [28 CFR Sec. 35.107(a)]. This person is often referred to as the "ADA Coordinator." The public entity must provide the ADA coordinator's name, office address, and telephone number to all interested individuals [28 CFR Sec. 35.107(a)].
• Must provide notice of ADA requirements. All public entities, regardless of size, must provide information about the rights and protections of Title II to applicants, participants, beneficiaries, employees, and other interested persons [28 CFR Sec. 35,106]. The notice must include the identification of the employee serving as the ADA coordinator and must provide this information on an ongoing basis [28 CFR Sec. 104.8(a)].
• Must establish a grievance procedure. Public entities must adopt and publish grievance procedures providing for prompt and equitable resolution of complaints [28 CFR Sec. 35.107(b)]. This requirement provides for a timely resolution of all problems or conflicts related to ADA compliance before they escalate to litigation and/or the federal complaint process.

 
Attached is a draft copy of the City of Ramsey’s Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) Transition Plan, which addresses the City of Ramsey’s plan for meeting these requirements over time.  Staff will review the draft Plan with the Committee, and will request Committee input on several items within the plan, including ADA Compliance Goals (see page 6) and Public Outreach (see page 7).

Staff estimates this case will take 20 minutes to present and respond to questions.

Observations:
It is important to note that the City must have an adopted ADA Transition Plan before accepting any new federal funds.  This plan must therefore be adopted by City Council before any federal grants can be accepted for projects such as the Mississippi Skyway, or any of the proposed Highway 10 improvements.
 
Alternatives:
N/A

Staff is completing this work as part of its normal duties.

Staff recommends providing input on requested items to allow Staff to present a final draft to City Council for approval on August 6th.

No action required.