Architectural Barriers Advisory Committee

Meeting of March 7, 2017

North Campus Building – 1st Floor Public Meeting Room

1106 Clayton Lane, Suite 125E, Austin, Texas

Summary of Minutes

Presiding Officer, Philip Pearce called the meeting to order at 10:08 a.m.

Presiding Officer, Philip Pearce moved to agenda item B. Roll Call, Certification of Quorum, and Introductions. Committee members, Philip Pearce, Jim Durham, Rob Roy Parnell, John Rickard, Kathy-Ann Riley and Brion Sargent were present. Ronald Menard and Michael Olson were absent. A quorum was present.

Presiding Officer, Philip Pearce moved to agenda item C., Approval of Minutes – Meeting of November 9, 2016. Committee member John Rickard, seconded by Kathy-Ann Riley, made a motion to approve the minutes as presented. The motion passed unanimously.

Presiding Officer, Philip Pearce moved to agenda item D. Public Comment. Public comment from Carroll Lee Pruitt with the Accessibility Professionals Association in support of the proposed rules and requesting a rule change to require the department to implement an appeals process. Mr. Pruitt personally requested that the board review Technical Memorandum No. 2014-24 for requirements that are burdensome.

Presiding Officer, Philip Pearce moved to agenda item E. Staff Reports. Nick Voinis, Chief of Staff, provided a report from the Executive Office. Kim Whitt Program Specialist, provided the Education and Examination Division report. Ron Foster, Senior Enforcement Prosecutor, and Dawn Burton, Enforcement Prosecutor, provided the Enforcement Division report. Chloe Whalon, Program Specialist, provided the Licensing Division report.

Presiding Officer, Philip Pearce moved to agenda item F., Report from Workgroup Assignments for Rules and Technical Memoranda. Marcia Godeaux provided an overview of the workgroup meetings for rules and Norman Kieke provided an overview of the Technical Memorandum 25 and presented it for workgroup consideration.

Presiding Officer, Philip Pearce moved to agenda item G., Discussion and possible recommendation regarding proposed rule amendments, new rules and repeals to 16 Texas Administrative Code, Chapter 68, §§68.10, 68.20, 68.30, 68.31, 68.50 - 68.55, 68.60, 68.70, 68.74 - 68.76, 68.80, 68.90, 68.93, 68.102 and 68.103 and the public comments received. The proposed rules clarify inconsistencies; align the rules with state and federal accessibility standards; remove redundant and outdated provisions; provide registered accessibility specialist with the flexibility to submit variance applications; and remove state government from private business decisions. Colleen Tran, Assistant General Counsel outlined changes made in response to the rule comments. The Board discussed the proposed changes and suggested making 4 of the 5 suggested changes from rule comments. Board member John Rickard, seconded by Brion Sargent, made a motion to recommend the rules be approved by the Commission the changes agreed to in the meeting. Motion passed unanimously.

Presiding Officer, Philip Pearce moved to agenda item H., Recommendations for agenda items for next meeting: Discussion of the data base system; General discussion of RAS procedures; PROWAG (Public Right of Way Accessibility Guide) Workgroup and appointed Committee Members, Michael Olson, John Rickard, Brion Sargent, and Rob Roy Parnell; and Discussion of Enforcement outreach and education.

Presiding Officer, Philip Pearce moved to agenda item I., Discussion of date, time and location of next meeting. The next Committee meeting is scheduled for Tuesday, May 2, 2017 at 10:00 a.m.

Presiding Officer, Philip Pearce moved to agenda item J. Adjournment. The meeting was adjourned at 11:06 a.m.

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Philip G. Pearce, Presiding Officer

Architectural Barriers Advisory Committee