North Adams Eyes CDBG Funds for Accessibility Survey
 The city is proposing to use $35,000 to begin a study of the public safety building's ADA issues. |
NORTH ADAMS, Mass. — The city is planning to use $35,000 in Community Development Block Grant funds to initiate Americans with Disabilities Act improvements at the public safety building.
A citizen's complaint over the lack of handicapped accessibility at the police station more than four years ago sparked an order by the U.S. Department of Justice to bring the city's public facilities into ADA compliance.
The City Council in 2013 approved $250,000 in borrowing to begin the work on items that could be done in house — bathrooms, signs, ramps and doorknobs. Total cost for compliance is estimated at $1 million.
Director of Community Development Michael Nuvallie on Monday said the public safety building is "the biggest ADA challenge that the city faces."
The aging public safety building on American Legion Drive houses the Police and Fire departments.
The CDBG funds will be used to hire an architect firm well versed in ADA compliance to survey the building, which has no handicap accessibility, said Nuvallie at Monday's public hearing on the use of this year's federal funds.
"We identify CDGB as a smart way to go after and start chipping away at these projects we have to do to make our assets handicapped compliant," he said.
He added that he anticipates that next year’s CDBG grants will focus on the actual improvements of the building.
Mayor Richard Alcombright said that although much work has been done to make the city's buildings compliant, the police and fire station remain the main focus.
"It's been a long road, but we have made some significant progress," the mayor said. "The end of this thing is the big chunk which is the public safety building."
Nuvallie said five social services will also benefit from the CDBG money. He said $65,000 will be split five ways and each agency will receive $13,000.
"Sixty-five thousand dollars doesn't seem to go a long way, but if you give five agencies $13,000 that's S13,000 that they don't have," he said.
He added another $148,000 from the grant funds will be used for general administration to help pay for salaries, overhead costs, and the expenses of the development office. The bulk of the $825,000 grant will be used toward the ongoing Armory renovation.
Last year the city received $900,000; this year, the grant was cut by $75,000.
Tags: ADA, CDBG, public safety buildings,
