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Residents and advocates press Canton boards for plan to fix municipal building accessibility
Summary
Residents, disability advocates and board members urged the town and village to address long-standing accessibility problems at the municipal building and assigned the issue to the joint building committee to develop short- and long-term fixes.
Supervisor (S1) opened the joint meeting of the town and village boards and said members would take public comments first. Multiple residents and disability-rights advocates described persistent barriers to access at the municipal building and asked the boards to take concrete steps.
Jeff Reitman Snyder, executive director of the Independent Living Center, told the boards, "It's a mess," and urged an ADA self-assessment and a barrier survey, offering to provide an architectural assessment free of charge. Several residents described locked doors that required assistance, parking spaces without adequate access aisles and stair lifts that are difficult to operate. Kate Geigerland, a Canton resident, said she had to get someone to let her in through a buzzered back door for that very meeting.
Board members acknowledged the problems and agreed to assign the accessibility work to the joint building committee. The supervisor said the committee will review documents provided by advocates, examine short-term fixes (parking re-striping, door access and improving the existing lift) and evaluate long-term options such as an elevator. A building-committee meeting was scheduled for Aug. 6 to start developing a plan.
The board did not adopt a final plan at the meeting; members said the committee will research costs and bring recommendations back to both boards.
