Travis County Commissioners Court
December 19, 2006
Item 28
Do we have somebody else coming down on 28. The sidewalk item. 28. Consider and take appropriate action on a proposed policy and program for the construction and remediation of sidewalks in conformance with the americans with disabilities act and Texas accessibility standards, including adoption of amendments to ch. 82, Travis County code.
>> this one is also I believe ready to go. It's -- we have -- we have had it on the court agenda several times. It includes not only the change to the -- to the process that we -- that we collect fiscal for the -- for the compliance make sure that the sidewalks are constructed to a.d.a. And
>> [indiscernible] standards. As you may recall, we are transferring the responsibility for sidewalk construction to the builder. Previously we took fiscal from the developer of the subdivision who really only constructs a portion of the sidewalks the larger parts are constructed by the home builders themselves. We are recommending to the court that we split that. Still hold the developer responsible for the common area sidewalks and the sidewalks along the major streets, collectors, arterials, but all of the others will be migrated to the home builders and we will be collecting fiscals from them at the time of -- that they come for a sidewalk driveway permit. We have increased our driveway permit fee from $21 to $40 in order to accommodate the additional tracking that we would need to do to maintain those fiscals. That would also be part of this. By and large we are still advocating for building as many sidewalks as we can to meet a.d.a. Standards, to improve the mobility of our pedestrians. But we have under the current code the ability to waive the requirement for having sidewalks on both sides. If it's not possible to do that. We are going to -- I think our main emphasis is first to get as many sidewalks built as possible. Make sure that they are a.d.a. Compliant so that we are not taking on sidewalks that are -- that are not compliant. The other part of this policy, finally, is for those subdivisions that we have already been built, we have a way for the developer to come and basically pay to have the county accept the roads with the understanding that the county takes on that whatever latent liability there is for non-compliance with a.d.a. And that money would go into a fund, the fund we would use to remediate when requested to do so by the -- by constituent who needs a sidewalk to get from point a to point z. Finally, we have a larger ongoing program to upgrade our sidewalks on the existing county road system to make sure that they all comply with a.d.a. Standards and we have a set of priorities that -- that we would use to -- to go out and remediate currently non-conforming sidewalks that the county already has responsibility for. We would do that on an annual basis pending the -- the allocation of money that the court makes to do that each year. We do have money allocated currently to bring some of the sidewalks up. Every year we work our way through the list of non-compliant sidewalks. Sidewalks. So it really is a comprehensive program. The emphasis is a.d.a. Tas compliance. And to better improve our design process up front so we are -- we are from very get-go we are designing sidewalks that can meet a.d.a. Standards.
>> okay.
>> that's good.
>> I move approval of this policy and program.
>> seconded by Commissioner Sonleitner.
>> > thanks to anyone who has ever existed.
>> [laughter]
>> yes.
>> leslie mccall here? Or matt russ?
>> that was the other item, wasn't it?
>> that was the brodie lane item, judge.
>> I had them here on this. Okay.
>> slaughter lane. Different sidewalk, you are right. Discussion of the motion? All in favor? That passes by unanimous vote.
>> woo-hoo.
>> thank you all very much.
>> ms. Bolin did you get a chance to have your say?
>> then we will take up the legislative item.
The Closed Caption log for this Commissioners Court agenda item is provided by Travis County Internet Services. Since this file is derived from the Closed Captions created during live cablecasts, there are occasional spelling and grammatical errors. This Closed Caption log is not an official record the Commissioners Court Meeting and cannot be relied on for official purposes. For official records please contact the County Clerk at (512) 854-4722.
Last Modified:
Tuesday, December 19, 2006 8:51 PM