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Flagstaff commission begins work on ADA transition plan; seeks timeline, team and public input
Summary
City ADA coordinator told the commission no recent municipal ADA transition plan was found; he outlined required elements (self-audit, barrier removal methods, schedule, implementing official, public involvement) and commissioners recommended forming a transition team, gathering sample plans, and pursuing training/scholarships.
The city's ADA coordinator told the Flagstaff Commission on Inclusion and Adaptive Living that the municipality either lacks a current ADA transition plan or the existing plan needs recreation, and the commission began discussing how to build a comprehensive plan.
Aaron Kaminsky, the city's risk manager and ADA coordinator, described the five required elements of an ADA transition plan for public entities with 50 or more employees: identify physical barriers; describe methods to remove or mitigate barriers; set a prioritized schedule or timeline; designate an official to implement and monitor the plan; and provide meaningful public involvement and a grievance process. "Part of that plan...is to identify physical barriers," Kaminsky said, and noted a typical municipal self-survey often reveals thousands of deficiencies that must be prioritized.
Kaminsky urged broad public participation and said the commission is a useful starting point but the plan must be wider, involving streets, parks, facilities and other departments. Commissioners and attendees pressed on specific issues including sidewalk ownership and maintenance, limitations on compelling private businesses to retrofit entrances, and examples where accessible features (such as restrooms) may be available but not located within specific program spaces.
Commissioners proposed a practical approach: assemble an ADA transition team with representatives from relevant departments (streets, facilities, parks, code compliance), gather sample plans from peer cities, and break the work into manageable chunks (identify barriers, draft methods, score priorities, assign a coordinator, seek public input). Several commissioners suggested a one-year target to produce the plan skeleton with ongoing refinement thereafter. The commission also discussed funding approaches and suggested identifying low-cost, high-impact early actions as "low-hanging fruit."
Kaminsky and commissioners recommended training and networking to accelerate work; staff noted scholarship opportunities for ADA coordinators at regional conferences and asked commissioners to consider writing a supportive letter if scholarships are needed. Commissioners agreed to gather sample ADA plans and examples for the next meeting and to consider forming a transition team to coordinate surveys and public outreach.
Next procedural steps identified in the meeting included compiling example plans, mapping priority neighborhoods or facilities for surveys, and returning with a proposed first step at the next meeting.
