HomeMy WebLinkAbout10/07/2008 03C-1 Citizen Service Request Response RE: Code Non-Compliance at City Intersections •
MEMORANDUM
October 7, 2008
To: The Honorable Mayor and Members of City Council
From: Rita DeBord, Finance Direct
Cindy Epperson, Deputy Director Accounting and Budgetinf
Subject: Response to Citizen Mike Hunnel's Comments at the September 16, 2008
Council Business Meeting.
At the last City Council regular business meeting, Mr. Hunnel addressed Council and
made the following statement: "I've heard, if I've heard correctly, that the City has been
investigated for the misuse of City funds." This memorandum is provided to advise and
reassure the City Council and the Citizens of the City of Yakima that Mr. Hunnel is
• mistaken and that neither the City's Finance Director nor the Deputy Director are aware
of any such investigation or pending investigation. We do not know where Mr. Hunnel
could have heard such an accusation. When a fallacious accusation of this nature is made
publicly, we feel it is important that we respond publicly so that our citizens are provided
with accurate information and are not mislead or wrongly alarmed.
Further, please be advised that the State Auditor's have just completed their financial
audit of the City for the year -ended 2007; and we are very pleased to report that the
auditor's gave an "Unqualified Opinion" on the City's Financial Statements — the highest
possible rating." A copy of the Auditor's report was included in your Council packet this
week.
cc: Dick Zais, City Manager
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MEMORANDUM
Date:. October 1, 2008
To: Honorable Mayor and Members of City Council
From: Brett Sheffield, Chief Engineer
Re: Mike Hunnel claim regarding ADA ramps on 3 Avenue
In 2004, the Washington State Department of Transportation (WSDOT) sent out
a directive to revise WSDOT policies addressing Americans with Disabilities Act
(ADA) accessible facilities in all projects; including preservation projects such as
- -- the 3rd Avenue grind and overlay project recently addressed by Mr. Hunnel. The
required ADA improvements include the addition of detectable warning surfaces
(truncated domes) to all sidewalk ramps or trail crossings. The new policy states
that "paving projects that propose resurfacing of Hot Mix Asphalt or Concrete are
required to address ADA issues in accordance with this supplement. In the case
where a city, town, or county preservation (paver) or improvement project abuts
non ADA compliant ramps, the local agency is responsible for updating the
ramps." •
During the design of the 3` Avenue project, we reviewed all of the existing ramps
and street comers with sidewalk that abutted the areas to be resurfaced. At all
street comers with no ramps or ramps that were significantly non - compliant, we
installed new ramps that are ADA compliant to the maximum extent practicable.
In areas where existing ramps were compliant except for the lack of a truncated
dome surface, we will install surface applied truncated domes as part of this
project. When completed, this project will have installed 31 new ramps and 11
surface applied truncated domes.
We did not replace the ramp at the southwest comer of 3 and Stewart, which
was upgraded a couple of years ago. However, the other ramps that Mr. Hunnel
specifically mentioned were replaced due to the fact that they were little more
than curb cuts and were not ADA compliant. This project's cost to remove and
replace the deficient ramps, or to construct new ramps where none previously
existed was approximately $1,400 per each.
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