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Consultant flags multiple ADA gaps; Select Board urged to expand Commission on Disabilities
Summary
Consultant Jim Mazik told the New Marlborough Select Board the town’s ADA self-evaluation found accessibility shortcomings across town properties and recommended increasing the Commission on Disabilities from three to five members and making accommodation forms available to staff.
Jim Mazik, the town’s ADA-transition consultant, presented the ADA self-evaluation and transition plan to the Select Board on July 20, saying the review found “many areas in which town properties are not in compliance,” including door closing speed, door-handle types, walkway incline, counter and bathroom heights, designated parking and playground access. He recommended concrete steps such as enlarging the Commission on Disabilities (now three members) to five, making the Request for Reasonable Accommodation form available to employees, maintaining sound/assistive devices and training staff to use them, and including ADA accommodations in any Emergency Preparedness plan.
Tom Stalker, the town’s ADA coordinator, told the board during public comment that there are currently only two active members on the Commission (John Phenishny and himself) and said he plans to recruit new volunteers. The consultant and Stalker also clarified that accessibility requirements apply to public-facing spaces in leased buildings (for example, public bathrooms and offices) but not necessarily to nonpublic, leased areas of a building. The Select Board did not take formal action on the plan at this meeting; materials were listed among the meeting documents for follow-up.
