County council, commissioners approve ADA and Title VI plans

Richel Fox, Pulaski County Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) Coordinator and EMA Director and David Meihls, from ADA Consulting of Indiana, spoke to the Pulaski County Council and Commissioners during their joint meeting on Dec. 8 about a ADA Transition Plan and the Title VI Implementation Plan. It was clarified that the ADA Transition Plan would be approved by the county council and the commissioners will approve the Title VI Implementation Plan. Meihls said this is by design, so both boards are on the same page. Meihls said that the ADA plan requires that all programs, services and activities that the county provides are all accessible to people with disabilities. On the other hand, the Title VI plan deals with contract administration. He said that the federal government requires that they do not discriminate in the contract administration when they build things. It also has some checks and balances put in place to make sure that when they do contract with someone, that they have in writing that they understand that everything has to comply with the ADA and the accessibility laws. He added that both plans have record keeping and both plans have tasks that are required by each and every department. Meihls mentioned that the compliance deadline was Jan. 26, 1993 for several key provisions of the Americans with Disabilities Act. However, most people in Indiana did not meet this deadline.