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Concord commission to map gaps in town accessibility transition plan, staff to prepare summary for April
Summary
Commission members heard a recap of the town's outdated transition plan, agreed to inventory existing materials, and asked a commissioner to summarize gaps ahead of the next meeting so the commission can plan next steps; commission funds of about $5,000 are available for support.
Commission chair Jean Goldsberry and members discussed the Town of Concord's accessibility transition plan, which Jennifer Brooke said currently covers only public sidewalks and does not address program and service access as required by law.
Brooke said the town's most recent documents trace back to a 2008 third‑party evaluation and a 2016 update that focused primarily on sidewalks and did not fully incorporate later ADA changes. She described the standard process for developing a transition plan — an internal self‑evaluation followed by a documented plan or hiring a third‑party consultant — and said the commission's first step is to inventory existing materials to identify gaps.
"It is a law that each town that has a government has what's called a transition plan or an accessibility plan," Brooke said as she outlined the difference between sidewalk reviews and a full plan covering services and programs.
Commissioners asked for a short, practical summary of gaps to circulate before the next meeting. Goldsberry said the commission has "about $5,000 or just over $5,000" available to support drafting or consultant work if needed.
Next steps: Brooke agreed to read through the 2008 evaluation and draft a summary of gaps and recommended next steps for the commission's April meeting. Commissioners discussed consulting resources such as the New England ADA Center's guidance and noted that updating a transition plan can be staged by priority.
The commission did not take a formal vote but set the April agenda to include the accessibility transition plan review and follow-up on the Thoreau playground work.
