Reports Attached to Minutes

Chair Report - Cathy McAdam
7/14/05
1. Welcome new commissioners: Ideas for orientation
2. Calendar for 2005/2006 to consider more evening times
3. Committees: request to meet quarterly with written reports and to actively recruit new members. Final announcement re: committee chairs will be made in September.
4. Block grant follow-up: We will want to work closely with the ADA coordinator to implement these grants both through individual consultation and committee input. It will be very important to look at ways to publicize and educate Dearborn citizens about improved access.

ADA Report, July, 2005 – Susan Fitzmaurice

1. Construction. There were minutes of the first Michigan avenue project post-construction meeting distributed to meeting participants for approval, but the final (public) minutes have not been received.
No next meeting date has been decided.
2. Voting. The grants for HAVA funding for the needed changes for polling sites have been submitted. Most of the money requested was for signage and ramps. Money was not requested for the cost of striping parking lots or cutting curb cuts as these are in house expenses that are unlikely to have been funded. A $1,500 permanent ramp was requested for the Ford school front entrance to be an addition to the noncompliant truck delivery ramp going into the cafeteria. Another is for a ramp for a school with a small 2-step entry. The signs are for door bell signs that are places at accessible entrances without automatic doors that are too remote from the polling location to be monitored by the poll workers.
3. Block Grant Funds. The 3 grants have been received. There was a first meeting just before the commission meeting to clarify the procedure to utilize these funds. There are special bidding procedures necessary to follow that are different than using city general funds or transition funds.
4. Showcase Theatre. The theatre provided the fire department with the plan to place the permanent companion seating and felt the space was too constricted to be safe. So the fire department reversed their opinion, and decided in order for the theatre to be ADA compliant folding chairs would be permitted in the wheel chair seating area only.
5. Bailey’s - no more information at this time.
6. Budget. The 2004-2005 fiscal year is over. The special events (276) account was carried forward to the 2005-2006 fiscal year. It currently has $3,700. DPW is contributing $1,000 from its budget to the 276 account. Next Monday I will get an accounting on this past year. I will find out what we have been budgeted this year.
7. Inclusive Home Design bill. I have enclosed a copy of the bill before congress that is looking from community organizations to sign onto.
8. Disability Film festival. The disability film festival is going to be on October 21at the Ford Motor Convention Center across from Greenfield Village.


INCLUSIVE HOME DESIGN ACT OF 2005
WHEREAS, the U.S. 2000 Census indicates that approximately 20 percent of the American population has a disability, and that by 2030 there will be over 70 million seniors; and
WHEREAS, with the population aging and the likelihood of developing a disability or other mobility limitations increasing with age, the growth in the number of people with disabilities can be expected to rise dramatically; and
WHEREAS, only five percent of new single family homes and town homes built with federal assistance require any access features that make it possible for people with disabilities to live or visit; and
WHEREAS, visitability is an inclusive design approach that integrates a limited number of crucial accessibility features, such as no step entries, doorways with 32' clear passage space and at least one accessible bathroom into newly built homes; and
WHEREAS, visitability features would allow seniors to stay in their homes longer and people with disabilities to visit friends and families in their homes, thereby enhancing quality of life and community living; and
WHEREAS, numerous municipalities and states across the country, including Chicago, Naperville, Bolingbrook and Urbana, Illinois; Atlanta, Georgia; Pima County, Arizona, Vermont, Texas and Kansas have adopted visitability standards in their building codes; and
WHEREAS, the Inclusive Home Design Act of 2005 would require all newly constructed single family homes and town houses receiving federal funds to meet basic visitability features; and
NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED that the U.S. Conference of Mayors strongly supports the independence of persons with disabilities and seniors by promoting the concept of including visitability standards to increase access to the homes of friends, family and neighbors; and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, that the U.S. Conference of Mayors supports local and state initiatives to promote visitable housing and urges Congress to enact H.R. 1441, the Inclusive Home Design Act of 2005.
Co-sponsors of the Inclusive Home Design Act in the 109th Congress: Reps. Baldwin, Bordallo, Carson, Christensen, D. Davis, Farr, Grijalva, Gutierrez, Jackson-Lee, Kildee, Lantos, Lee, Moore, Moran, Owens, Pallone, Rangel, Slaughter, Watson, and Woolsey.
Organizations in Support include:
National:
* Concrete Change
* National Council on Disability
* National Fair Housing Alliance
* Paralyzed Veterans of America
* United Spinal Association
* Congress for the New Urbanism
State:
* Center for Independent Living Center of Jasper, Alabama
* Colorado Cross-Disability Coalition
* Homeownership Coalition for People with Disabilities
* Illinois/Iowa Center For Independent Living
* The Illinois Spina Bifida Association
* Maryland ADAPT
Local:
* The Ability Center of Greater Toledo
* Access to Independence, Inc.
* Ann Arbor Center for Independent Living, Michigan
* Chicago Rehab Network
* Center for Disability Rights, Inc
* Central Utah Center for Independent Living
* Citizens' Disability Council
* Disability Resource Center, Michigan
* Finger Lakes Independence Center
* Illinois Valley Center for Independent Living
* Indianapolis Resource Center for Independent Living
* Midstate Independent Living Consultants, Inc.
* New Horizons Advocacy Center for Independent Living
* Northern Nevada Center for Independent Living
* Options Center for Independent Living
* Ozark Independent Living
* Pima Council on Aging
* Progress Center for Independent Living
* Regional Access & Mobilization Project, Inc.
* Three Rivers, Inc.
* Topeka Independent Living Resource Center
* Tri-County Independent Living Center, Inc