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several programs that look at the ramps and crossways. He said this year they set aside funding to improve over 90 accessible ramps in the community. He also provided other examples of how the City has leveraged general projects to improve overall accessibility. In response to questions from Councilmember Bullock, Director Leininger explained that today’s plan only deals with the public realm. He stated there is a whole other realm that deals with regulations for private entities, and the City may get involved with that via permitting and building regulations. He shared that they have had internal conversations about how the City might utilize their store front dollars to encourage local business to invest in accessibility measures. Steve Metzer then went on to address questions asked by Councilmember Bullock regarding the prioritization of the plan recommendations. He explained that each recommendation is classified as low, medium, or high priority according to a number of factors. He said one of the biggest factors that comes to play for the buildings and parks is which ones are the highest use facilities. He also explained another major factor is how big of a barrier an item presents for an individual with a disability. Smaller barriers like a light switch being an inch too high can be addressed as building improvements are made, whereas a barrier like a bathroom door not being wide enough to accommodate a wheelchair would be a high priority. Councilmember Rader asked how the plan will be reflected in the budget and how progress will be communicated to Council. Director Leininger replied that because this is part of an overall community improvement plan, a lot of the progress will be part of how the City does business going forward. He stated when the City starts a new project (road, facility, park, etc.) accessibility improvements will be incorporated into the overall planning process, however there may be some individual line items that are ADA specific. He also shared that Michelle Nochta serves as the ADA Coordinator and at the end of each year she will summarize and report progress made towards the plan. Councilmember Baker asked about staff training and how the City plans to address the culture side of implementation. Director Leininger replied that as part of the process the consultants provided a series of staff training courses on various accessibility topics. He also said that ADA modules have been added to the NEO.gov training system through Human Resources. He said moving forward they will incorporate additional training opportunities like site visits and walk throughs so that staff can think about this issue from a 360-degree perspective. Chairman Litten invited members of the task force to comment on the plan. Tracy Greenberg, 1423 Lauderdale Ave – Ms. Greenberg stated that she is the co-chair of the ADA Transition Plan Task Force and she is very happy about this moment. She shared that a grievance is what they call it when a person with a disability encounters a barrier and they are brave enough to come forward about it. She said that this transition plan eliminates the need for someone to be a “squeaky wheel” and come forwardto improve accessibility. She also stated that since this plan will take at least thirty years to be fully enacted, she thinks we need an ongoing Accessibility Commission to run in tandem with the plan implementation. 2