Public meeting in Pulaski County helps guide priorities for ADA transition plan for county buildings
PULASKI COUNTY, Ind. -- A public meeting was held Monday morning at the Pulaski County Courthouse to get public feedback on accessibility concerns at county owned and leased buildings.
The goal was to help guide the company hired for the project, ADA Consulting of Indiana, before they begin walkthroughs of all the county buildings and drafting a plan for what changes need to be made.
It comes after the County Council and Commissioners voted last Monday to adopt an ADA transition plan for their buildings.
The meeting was a result of years of concerns about ADA accessibility in Pulaski County buildings; everything from heights of bulletin boards, AED locations, and elevator service during a fire emergency were brought up.
It was also a result of the county's ADA coordinator outsourcing professional help to understand how to actually solve those complaints.
"It's a relief for me because I can get an answer when before I didn't have anywhere to go to," says Richel Fox, Pulaski County ADA Coordinator and EMA Director.
Moving forward, Fox will work in tandem with David Meihls from ADA Consulting of Indiana.
"We have our work cut out for us, but we're very thankful and appreciative when a community recognizes the need for help," explains Principal Consultant with ADA Consulting of Indiana David Meihls. "It's not easy to understand the ins and outs of the ADA and the technical requirements."
Meihls explained it's difficult to understand because state law makes it that way.
States like Florida and California have ADA incorporated into building code, but Indiana hasn't taken those steps.
"Unfortunately, sometimes it still takes advocates to hold candles to the fire to make sure we're still doing our due diligence," Meihls says.
In Pulaski County it will be a big, but important undertaking with several buildings to inspect like the courthouse, Sheriff's office and jail, voting centers, and airport, just to name a few.
"If we're lucky, we won't have a whole lot to fix, but if we do, then we have a list that we can promise to continue to work on," says Fox.
Emily Hizer, who took ABC57 on a tour of some of her accessibility problems at the Pulaski County Courthouse last week, says she's happy to see some momentum in her years-long fight.
"After today's meeting, I'm very encouraged about the future of ADA compliance in Pulaski County, so I hope this will go well and hopefully we get this done quicker than they think," says Hizer, a lifelong Pulaski County resident and advocate for ADA rights.
The next steps are for the County Commissioners to approve a proposal for Meihls to do a walkthrough of each county building and closely evaluate what changes need to be made to improve accessibility.
The process won't be quick; it'll likely take upwards of 2-3 years to get reports written up for each building.