CITY of RAPID CITY

Agenda Item Summary

 

Meeting Date: 10/29/14

Commission, Board or Committee: Civic Center Board

Staff Contact: Joel Landeen, City Attorney

PW Committee or L&F Committee: Legal & Finance Committee

Petitioner: N/A

City Council 1st Reading: N/A

Location: Rushmore Plaza Civic Center

City Council 2nd Reading: N/A

Agenda Title:

No. LF102914-24 - Authorize Mayor and Finance Officer to Sign a Settlement Agreement between the United States of America and Rapid City, South Dakota Under the Americans with Disabilities Act

Summary:

The purpose of this settlement is to resolve accessibility issues with the Rushmore Plaza Civic Center under the American’s with Disabilities Act which have been identified by the U.S. Dept. of Justice. This agreement is an attempt to resolve the accessibility issues without the need for litigation. The agreement is fairly standard one for the Department of Justice. Examples of similar agreements with other communities can be found at the following website: http://www.ada.gov/enforce_current.htm#TitleII. Under the agreement, the City has up to 30 months to address the barriers to accessibility which were identified during a site visit which occurred several years ago. The majority of the ADA issues are in the Barnett Arena, but there are other issues throughout the balance of the facility. The issues outside of the Barnett Arena involving things such as parking spaces, bathrooms and entrances. Staff believes the corrections to the balance of the facility are such that they can be corrected through the normal budget process. City staff proposed completing the corrections to the entire facility with the exception of the Barnett Arena within the next 24 months and the DOJ agreed. Due to the fact corrections to the Barnett Arena are much more significant and a there is not yet a final decision on whether to move forward with the proposed expansion, all of the improvements to the Barnett Arena have been scheduled to be completed within the maximum timeframe allowed.   

Funding Source & Fiscal Impact (if applicable):

Civic Center enterprise fund, Vision Fund

Recommendation:

Action: Choose an item. Approve

Notes: Click here to enter text.Failure to approve could result in the Dept. of Justice filing suit against the City to obtain compliance. It could also potentially result in the loss of federal funds.

Options:

There is some language that needs to be corrected and there is also a provision from the original draft that I believe needs to be reinserted. I have contacted the Attorney for the Dept. of Justice, but have not heard back yet. The provision that is missing requires the City to obtain an Independent Licensed Architect to certify the corrections. Without this provision the agreement will not work. I anticipate having the draft revised by the committee meeting, but depending on the Dept. of Justice, this item may need to be continued.

Attachments & Links:

Settlement Agreement

Attachment A

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