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Home My WebLink AboutRE: Visitor Center Accessibility Mike Plane From:Mitch Humble Sent:Monday, June 10, 2024 18:01 To:Bruce Castleton Cc:Gretchen Scott; Travis Rothweiler; Josh Baird; Troy Vitek Subject:RE: Visitor Center Accessibility -----Original Message----- From: Trevor <trevorroot@gmail.com> 1 Sent: Friday, May 31, 2024 2:23 PM To: Mitch Humble <Mhumble@?id.org> Cc: Cherie Vollmer <cvollmer@?id.org>; Chris Reid <CReid@?id.org>; Craig Hawkins <CHawkins@?id.org>; Grayson Stone <gstone@?id.org>; Gretchen Sco? <Gsco?@?id.org>; Jason Brown <jbrown@?id.org>; Ruth Pierce <rpierce@?id.org>; Spencer Cutler <scutler@?id.org>; Travis Rothweiler <trothweiler@?id.org>; Josh Baird <JBaird@?id.org>; Troy Vitek <tvitek@?id.org>; Bruce Castleton <bcastleton@?id.org>; richard.r.rivera@dot.gov; England, Chris?ne (USAID) <Chris?ne.England@usdoj.gov> Subject: Re: Visitor Center Accessibility \[EXTERNAL SENDER\] Mr. Humble, Regarding Accessible Polling Places: I was aware that the County is generally responsible for elec?ons and polling places, which is why I FOIA requested the County's checklists on October 18th of last year. I received a response that they did not have any. However, I was hoping the City would be proac?ve in helping to ensure accessible elec?ons within the City. At a minimum, I would hope that the City would have completed ADA checklists to verify Accessible Access to polling loca?ons from City Right-of-ways or Designated Transit Drop-oﬀ Areas. If the City hasn't already completed checklists and is unwilling to help local churches perform ADA reviews, I will gladly volunteer my ?me to assist any faith-based polling places complete these checklists in prepara?on for accessible elec?ons prior to November. You can provide my contact informa?on to any church leader that would like my assistance. If I iden?fy that cones, signage, or temporary ramp improvements are needed, will the City commit to coordina?ng with the County, or directly helping polling places within the City provide these items? I've iden?ﬁed a number of sidewalks and curb returns adjacent to polling loca?ons that are not currently ADA-compliant. As the ADA Coordinator, can you provide me with the priority scoring list and planned date of implementa?on for all sidewalks and ramps in the City so that I can cross reference the City's current priority list with the polling loca?ons? The 2014 ADA Transi?on Plan iden?ﬁed that all ramps and sidewalks in the City would be compliant by 2024, so I'd like to make sure the polling loca?on ramps I've iden?ﬁed are in the schedule for comple?on this summer. Regarding Parking Signage: Thank you for the clariﬁca?on that the City does not own the Visitor Center. However, that doesn't answer my original ques?on of why such a prominent public facility within the City does not have appropriate ADA signage. The lack of signage at such a focal loca?on as the Visitor Center seems to be a symptom of a systemic failure or complete disregard for accessibility codes throughout the City. 1) Was it a failure in the building permit process? 2) Was it a failure in the building inspec?on process? 3) Is it an unwri?en City policy that State and Federal ADA laws can be disregarded? 4) Would it help to have City Standard Details that depict ADA requirements? 5) Would it help to revise City Codes to add the "immediately adjacent to" requirement of 49-213, Idaho Code? (Boise did) 6) Has the City addressed my concerns regarding these same issues for the recently approved Fire Training Facility? I was wondering if the reason for the lack of State and Federal code compliance at the newly constructed and prominent Visitor Center would explain why there are also no ADA parking signs at the City Library or Shoshone Falls. Is the City responsible for these loca?ons, or are they someone else's problem too? Is the City responsible for the parking at the parking lot at the corner of PoleLine and Eastland? I didn't see any ADA parking, ADA signage, and the restrooms appear to be both unsafe and inaccessible. 2 Was the portable restroom inten?onally placed in a loca?on that is inaccessible when a car is parked in front of it, or worse, impossible to exit if a car parks too close while someone is inside? If that loca?on is someone else's problem too, please coordinate with them on my concerns. Another related request: I was planning to take my grandmother on a picnic to Shoshone Falls last week. I made a trip to look for accessible spots where we might be able to picnic, which is when I no?ced the lack of ADA signage, but didn't see any picnic tables that are accessible to people using wheelchairs. Can you point me to the accessible picnic tables within that park? Thank you, Trevor Root On Thu, May 23, 2024 at 12:03 PM Mitch Humble <Mhumble@?id.org> wrote: > > Mr. Root, > > You had asked me a couple ques?ons in your email below. First, The > City does not operate the Visitor Center, so I cannot speak to why > that facility does not have the correct signage iden?fying their > accessible parking spaces. I did send an email to the Chamber of > Commerce Director to inform him of this deﬁciency, so he now knows. > Second, the City also does not operate elec?ons or polling places. > Rather, that is a Twin Falls County func?on. You will need to contact > Twin Falls County with your ques?ons about polling places. Thank you, > > Mitchel Humble > Deputy City Manager > City of Twin Falls, Idaho > > > -----Original Message----- > From: Trevor <trevorroot@gmail.com> > Sent: Tuesday, May 21, 2024 3:44 PM > To: Mitch Humble <Mhumble@?id.org> > Subject: Visitor Center Accessibility > > \[EXTERNAL SENDER\] > > Mr. Humble, > > A) The City's website lists "Accessible Community" as a core Goal and Objec?ve. > B) I've personally no?ﬁed the Council and City Staﬀ on mul?ple occasions regarding Accessibility Deﬁciencies in the City. > C) Many visitors to the City u?lize mobility devices and u?lize placards for persons with a disability in accordance with Sec?on 49-410, Idaho Code. > D) Parking Space Signage has been required since the 1991 ADA Standards, and explicitly clariﬁed in the 2010 ADA Standards. > E) The Visitor Center was constructed in 2015, 24 years a?er the 1991 Standards and 5 years a?er the 2010 Standards were eﬀec?ve. > 3 > 1) Therefore, as the ADA Coordinator, can you please explain to me why the Visitor Center s?ll does not have Accessible Parking signage as required by both State and Federal laws? > > 2) Addi?onally, Vo?ng was conducted today at many vo?ng centers across the City. Can you please send me your most recent "ADA Checklists for Polling Places" or similar checklists for Visitor Center loca?ons in the City? I would like to ensure that all vo?ng conducted today was accessible to people with disabili?es, and will be accessible in future elec?ons. > > Thank you, > Trevor Root 4