Town isn't compliant with Disabilities Act
Clean Water Act lawsuit dismissed
by JESSICA L. FINCH Associate Editor

Town of Amherst board members are aware the town is not 100 percent compliant with the Americans With Disabilities Act.

Now it's up to them to do something about it.

Council Member Dan Ward presented a resolution at Monday's meeting to hire a consultant at a cost not to exceed $15,000 to ensure the town's compliance with ADA requirements.

"The speaker we had here speaks volumes to the problems we have to approach," Ward said, referring to a man in a wheelchair who spoke during the public comment period and couldn't reach the microphone.

The majority of the board voted against the resolution but acknowledged the town needs to do something. The measure failed 5-2, with Ward and Deborah Bruch Bucki voting yes.

The other board members appeared swayed by Building Commissioner Thomas Ketchum's recommendation that the board use the $15,000 on repairs and renovations.

"We did a survey last year of the town's buildings and found quite a few deficiencies," he said.

Ketchum said the building department still has the list but no follow up was done because a funding source was not identified.

Although he didn't have a cost estimate, Ketchum said it was much more than $15,000, but that amount could be used to start chipping away at the list.

He added that there is a group that will come out and survey the town's buildings and highlight other necessary changes.

Deputy Supervisor Shelly Schratz said the town really needs to step up and make changes, especially as a governing body that tells businesses what they have to do to be up to code in regard to handicapped accessibility.

Board members requested a copy of the list. No action, other than denying Ward's resolution, was taken.

This isn't the first time the issue has been addressed. Residents have alerted the board to concerns that include the women's restroom just down the hall from the council chambers.

In other news, the town was found to be operating in compliance with the Federal Clean Water Act following a lawsuit.

Town Attorney Tom Jones released a statement that the District Court, through the U.S. Second Circuit Court of Appeals, dismissed Michael and Susan Altman's case, which claimed that the town's mosquito spraying program violated the federal Clean Water Act.

Jones said the town was first sued in 2001 on the claim that the town failed to get a federal pollutant discharging permit.

"The flaw in the plaintiff's claim, however, was that neither the federal government nor the state government had ever issued such a permit for such a program anywhere within Environmental Protection Agency Region 2 (the region Amherst is in)," Jones said.

In 2001 a dismissal was granted, and the plaintiffs appealed. Jones said the town was recently notified that it had been dismissed for

second time, and he doesn't expect an appeal from the plaintiffs.

The charges against the town were serious, as violations of the Clean Water Act carry fines up to

25,000 per day.