CROTHERSVILLE
Long-overdue changes to Crothersville Town Hall will bring it into compliance with the Americans with Disabilities Act.
The front entrance door will be changed, and the meeting room entrance on the back side of the building also will redone to fix threshold, slope and turning radius issues. The public uses that entrance to attend meetings.
The town council recently approved paying Goecker Construction Inc. of Seymour $18,531 for the work.
Brad Bender with FPBH Inc., the town’s engineering consultant, shared good news with the town council. Going with a custom-made steel-framed door with glass for the front entrance instead of aluminum will result in a nearly $2,000 savings.
Bender said construction should begin within 30 days.
The counter inside the town hall also will be lowered and turned to face Howard Street, allowing more room for people coming into the building to pay bills or conduct other business. That will be a separate cost.
Several times in the past four years, Crothersville officials have talked about the building’s entrances not being compliant with the Americans with Disabilities Act.
The law, which went into effect in 1990, is a civil rights law that prohibits discrimination against individuals with disabilities in all areas of public life, including jobs, schools, transportation and all public and private places that are open to the public.
The law’s purpose is to ensure people with disabilities have the same rights and opportunities as everyone. It guarantees equal opportunity for individuals with disabilities in public accommodations, employment, transportation, state and local government services and telecommunications.
Title II of the law requires state and local governments to give people with disabilities an equal opportunity to benefit from all of their programs, services and activities, including public education, employment, transportation, recreation, health care, social services, courts, voting and town meetings.
State and local governments are required to follow specific architectural standards in the construction and alteration of their buildings. They also must relocate programs or otherwise provide access in inaccessible older buildings and communicate effectively with people who have hearing, vision or speech disabilities.
Public entities are not required to take actions that would result in undue financial and administrative burdens. They are required to make reasonable modifications to policies, practices and procedures where necessary to avoid discrimination unless they can demonstrate that doing so would fundamentally alter the nature of the service, program or activity being provided.
More than a year ago, the council put the wheels in motion again to make changes to the town hall, which has been at its current location since May 2012.
At that time, Bender said the noncompliance wasn’t affecting the town from applying for any type of federal funding, but there was a possibility it could sometime in the future.
The front entrance is a problem because of its proximity to a street, and it doesn’t have a proper door swing, Bender said.
The council thought the best option would be to construct an entrance on the west side of the building.
After further discussions, the council agreed it would be best to redo the current entrances.
“If somebody handicapped comes in here and gets hurt, we’re in trouble,” Councilman Bob Lyttle said.
Renovations to the police department building at 404 Moore St. also have been discussed by the council.
Council President Danieta Foster said the proposed changes are costly, but the floors and restrooms are the priorities.
The council agreed to make contact with a contractor to determine what could be done and the cost.
The police department has been in that location since late 2009.