DALTON, Mass. — Town Hall is down a lift because of safety concerns with the current one in the police station, the Americans with Disabilities Act Committee announced during its meeting on Monday night. 

 

The Town Hall has two chairlifts, one in the police station and one in the public library.

 

The Town Planner, Health Agent, Building Inspector offices are inaccessible to those who need a chairlift because the library chairlift does not have access to them. If assistance is needed call Town Hall for accommodations. 

 

Garaventa Lift is in the process of locating parts but due to the age it has been difficult to do so. 

 

The town has a service contract with Garaventa Lift for twice-a-year maintenance or repair. The replacement of the old lift does not fall under the maintenance contract. 

 

Barry Architect provided blueprints of Town Hall that shows a possible location for an elevator as requested by the building inspector for future possible use.  

 

The prospect of adding an elevator was included in one of the Town Hall renovation designs but was removed when the Select Board voted to minimize the project's scope to reduce spending.

 

These prints were provided to Hill-Engineers Architects Planners Inc. to come up with options on how to replace the lift. 

 

"We are going to pay these folks to give us a couple of different options because our lift from 1996 is currently a deathtrap," ADA coordinator Alyssa Maschino said. 

 

Any replacement would need to go out for bid, which triggers several procurement steps. 

 

The public library lift works but is restricted to the library's hours and it lacks an automatic door system on the inside door.

 

Committee members mentioned a possible solution could be investing in an alert system that would inform staff when a wheelchair user needs assistance gaining access to the building. The system would be similar to a Ring camera, former building grounds superintendent and ADA advisor Patrick Pettit said. 

 

The committee has been exploring its options on how to replace the stair lift in Town Hall since early summer. 

 

During its meeting in September, the committee said the chair lift project was delayed because Garaventa Lift informed the town that the new weight limit went from 400 pounds to to 650 pounds. 

 

With the new weight limit requirement, the town needs to determine if the current railings can hold 650 pounds, Maschino said during the previous meeting. 

 

At the time of the meeting Garaventa had not provided an update on this yet, however, the company informed Pettit a while back the rails would likely need to be replaced because a different style is needed for the new lift.  

 

It was also noted that the town should invest in ADA pull chains for the Town Hall restrooms.