MAR 27 1996

VIA FACSIMILE AND

FIRST CLASS MAIL

The Honorable Tom Harkin

United States Senate
Washington, D.C. 20510-1502

Dear Senator Harkin:

I am responding to your letter on behalf of your

constituent, W. Fletcher Reel, Mayor of Missouri Valley, Iowa,
regarding the efforts of his municipality to comply with title II
of the Americans with Disabilities Act or 1990 (ADA).

Title II of the ADA prohibits discrimination on the basis of

disability in State and local government services. Sections
35.149 and 35.150 of the Department's title II regulation
(enclosed) require accessibility to programs, services, and
activities in facilities existing on the effective date of the
statute, January 26, 1992. The principal focus of the program
accessibility standard is access to programs, services, and
activities, as opposed to access to physical structures.
Therefore, not every facility nor every area of an existing
facility would have to be made accessible, as long as there is
access to the public entity's programs, services, or activities.

The title II regulation does not require that a government

entity eliminate structural barriers, if it provides access to
its programs through alternative methods such as redesign of
equipment, reassignment of services to accessible buildings,
assignment of aides to beneficiaries, delivery of services at
alternate accessible sites, alteration of existing facilities and
construction of new facilities, or any other methods that result
in making the services, programs, or activities readily
accessible to and usable by individuals with disabilities.

cc: Records, Chrono, Wodatch, McDowney, Blizard, Hill, FOIA.

n:\udd\hille\policylt\harkin.ltr
01-04185

-2-
If structural alterations are necessary to provide program
accessibility, such alterations must be undertaken unless the
public entity can demonstrate that the alterations would cause a
fundamental change in its program or that the cost of the
alterations would result in undue financial and administrative
burdens. 28 C.F.R. S 35.150(a)(3). Where an action would result
in such a change or such burdens, the public entity must take any
other action that would not result in such change or burdens but
would nevertheless ensure that individuals with disabilities
receive the benefits or services provided by the entity. Public
entities may not waive the requirements of the ADA, nor is any
Federal agency or other entity authorized to grant such a waiver.

Because title II applies to over 80,000 units of State and

local government, our limited resources do not permit us to
review and approve self-evaluations and transition plans required
by the title II regulation. We are unable, therefore, to issue a
ruling that Missouri Valley's compliance plan complies with title
II. In general, however, the types of measures listed in the
compliance plan are appropriate ways of meeting the program
accessibility requirement. Where structural changes would result
in undue financial and administrative burdens, it is appropriate
to provide government services and hold meetings at other already
accessible sites or at the home of a person with a disability.
The one-week prior notice requirement for moving a city council
meeting to an accessible location would likely, however, restrict
opportunities for residents with disabilities to attend council
meetings. Access to local legislative bodies is a core principle
of democratic societies and every effort should be made to keep
restrictions to an absolute minimum. Other public entities have
found far shorter time periods to be workable.

I hope this information is helpful to you in responding to

your constituent.
Sincerely,

John L. Wodatch
Chief
Disability Rights Section
Enclosure
01-04102
 CITY OF MISSOURI VALLEY, IOWA
"Welcome Home to the Future"

March 15, 1996

Senator Tom Harkin
United States Senate
Washington, DC 20510-1502

Dear Senator Harkin:

The City of Missouri Valley has actively been
attempting to bring all City services and facilities into
compliance with the American Disabilities Act for some
time. Though it is ultimately our own responsibility, we
have on occasion been mislead. We have been left with some
uncertainty, and hopefully now, a clear plan of action.

We believe our plan is compliant with both the letter

and the spirit of the ADA, and essentially, we would like
to verify its acceptability.

Any assistance you could provide would be greatly

appreciated. If you have any questions or further
requirements, please contact me at my 712/642-4077. Thank
you for your assistance in this matter.

Sincerely,

W. Fletcher Reel
Mayor
01-04103

City of Missouri Valley, Iowa

American Disabilities Act Compliance Plan
March 1996

Objective:
To bring City buildings and services into compliance with
both the letter and the spirit of the American Disabilities
Act.

Background:
 Missouri Valley is a small community with roughly 3,000
residents. We are a people who look-out for one another and
have, with or without relating law, always considered it a
civic duty to address the needs of those who are
physically challenged. In essence, though our plans have
not been formally adopted in the past, we have always made
City services and facilities available to the disabled.

Our major challenges in bringing our facilities into ADA

compliance are our City Hall, built in 1931, and our Public
Library, built during the same era. As much of our
community was built on a hillside with the downtown area
bordering a flood plain, both City Hall and the Public
Library used steps and multiple levels to protect the
building from flooding. These architectural features,
however, are a difficult challenge when attempting to make
these facilities accessible to the handicapped.
Essentially, we have found that making the most basic
changes would cost the City more than the structures are
worth.

When these buildings can no longer serve as useful

facilities for the City, we will build new, fully ADA
compliant buildings. However, building new structures now,
before the old buildings' usefulness have ended, makes
little economic sense, especially when one considers our
limited funds and critical infrastructure priorities.
Currently, all business district curbs are ADA compliant.

Strategy:
Our strategy in meeting immediate compliance with the ADA is
essentially formalizing what we have always done. Our City
Hall presently houses our City Clerk's office which handles
a broad range of city services, the City Police, the
Magistrates office, the Fire Department and the City Council
Chambers.

According to 28 C.F.R. Sec. 35.150(a)(1); (b)(1) of Title II

of the ADA, the City may reassign services to an accessible

01-04104

Page Two.
 location if the facility is not accessible or a City worker
may meet a disabled person at his or her home to provide
whatever service is required or mail service may be
permitted.

Plan:

* Any individual who meets the standard criteria to be

classified as disabled may make a phone call to the
Missouri Valley City Clerk's office and ask to be
provided with home service. The City Clerk would then
initiate whatever procedures are necessary to deliver
that service. These could include but would not be
limited to collecting payment of Water bills, making
out police reports, filing complaints and the delivery
of library books.

* The City Clerk's office could also coordinate special

arrangements which may need to be made with the
Magistrate's office.

* In order to make City Council meetings accessible, with

one week's prior notification, we will move these
meetings to an ADA compliant facility within the City
Limits of Missouri Valley.

* The City will place signs in front of City Hall and the
Library informing people where they may call for
assistance.

* The City will publish the ADA compliant meeting

locations in advance of the City Council meetings.
01-04186

The intent of
regulation can
sometimes be
achieved more
easily through
local
innovation.

town doesn't
oversee P.O.
accessibility
Fed. gov. has
to ensure
P.O. accessibility
Law very
flexible
ILLEGIBLE burden
ESSAY/COM
Bill Leonard
When rules overstep com
Missouri Valley, nestled com-
fortably in the low folds of
the Loess Hills, is the sort of
place you'd pick to show a visitor
what small-town Iowa is all about -
neat, homey, relaxed. It's home to
businesses geared to the farming com-
munity, commuters, retired farmers,
and small shops and services. Its may-
or runs a child-care center.
But the town of 3,000 has a problem.
It's out of compliance with the Ameri-
cans with Disabilities Act. It needs
more ramps and elevators - now.
Congress left the town no alternatives.
Fletcher Reel, named mayor in a spe-
cial election last June and re-elected in
November, has no quarrel with the
intent of the ADA. "I'm not saying
ADA is unreasonable in looking out for
the needs of the handicapped," he
said. But it should cut the town some
slack.
The main floor of the town's post of-
fice is about 12 feet above ground
level. That meant a ramp was re-
quired. It cost about $100,000.
"It's a beautiful building," reflecting
the architectural nuances of the 1940s,
Reel said, "and we absolutely trashed
it with a ramp that winds back and
forth."
Further, the mayor said, almost no
one uses the ramp (although "the
skateboarders kind of like it.") His 95-
year-old grandmother prefers the
steps; the long, winding ramp made
her dizzy, Reel said.
The post office ramp was just for
starters. City hall, the town library
and the middle school are all out of
compliance. Fixing them to satisfy the
ADA would cost more than rebuilding.
That means that some durable build-
ings with 20 or 30 or more years of
useful life must be abandoned, and
Missouri Valley abruptly faces some
industrial-strength debt.
Again, Reel isn't critical of the intent
of the law; his roommate, a lifelong
friend, has been handicapped from
birth ILLEGIBLE
other out," Reel said. But the ADA de-
mands ramps and elevators, not help-
ing hands or helpful neighbors.
A bond issue for a new middle
school has been approved, and the city
council has voted to rebuild city hall.
The $6.6 million estimated as needed
to satisfy ADA - more than $2,000
for each resident - would push the
city and school district bonded indebt-
edness close to the limits. And then,
what happens in an emergency? Reel
asks.
Missouri Valley's sewer and water
lines were buried before 1930; they
could be getting weak. Woe be unto the
little town if they collapse just a few
years down the road, when the town is
already up to here in debt.
*
Missouri Valley's mayor was one of
a long parade of Iowans who testified
in Des Moines last month before Iowa
Congressman Greg Ganske and his
ILLEGIBLE
eral water-pollution and commercial
driver's license laws. The hearing
drew more than 100 Iowans with com-
plaints dealing with federal regula-
tions.
Targets varied. Favorites were
farm, health care, environmental and
transportation policies. The concept of
metric conversion even took a hit.
It would be nonsense to suggest that

all the gripes mean all the regulations

represent unreasonable and unwar-
ranted interference with free enter-
prise or local self-government. But it
would be equal folly to deny that
excesses exist. Some are simply built
into the law by Congress.
L.D. McMullen, general manager of
the Des Moines Water Works, was
brief and to the point: Water-quality
monitoring has become wasteful and
burdensome. The Safe Drinking Water
Act of 1974, as amended in 1986, re-
quired that the EPA set standards for
83 contaminants. It must add another
25 in a couple of years, and 25 more
every three years thereafter.
As a result, Des Moines is forced to
check for 83 chemicals although only
ILLEGIBLE
mon sense, it provides ammunition to
those who profit by maligning all regu-
lation. If they succeed in dismantling
needed controls, the nation's forests,
lakes and streams will soon be indistin-
guishable from the landfills. Russia
and the former Soviet bloc in Eastern
Europe offer examples. In a huge
share of that forsaken territory, it's
not even safe to breathe the air.
Avoiding a breakdown in orderly
regulation here puts a special respon-
sibility on the regulators. At all levels,
controls must be applied in such a way
that they retain the public's respect.
BILL LEONARD is a Register editorial
writer.
01-04188
​flexibility. Missouri Valley, given some
options, could serve its handicapped
ILLEGIBLE
ILLEGIBLE subcommittee on Na-
tional Economic Growth, chaired by
ILLEGIBLE
83 contaminants. It must add another
25 in ILLEGIBLE