Macon County Georgia

Board of Commissioners' Office
121 South Sumter Street
Oglethorpe, Georgia 31068

ADA Transition Plan

The Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) of 1990 is a civil rights statute that prohibits discrimination against people who have disabilities. Title II of the ADA specifically addresses the subject of making County services and facilities accessible to those with disabilities. With the advent of the Act, designing and constructing facilities for public use that are not accessible by people with disabilities constitutes discrimination.

The Act applies to all facilities, including both facilities built before and after 1990. As a necessary step to a program access plan to provide accessibility under the ADA, state and local governments, public entities or agencies are required to perform self-evaluations of their current facilities, relative to the accessibility requirements of the ADA. The agencies are then required to develop a Program Access Plan, which can be called a Transition Plan, to address any deficiencies.

The Macon County Commissioners established the official plan as well as an annual review and grievance process. The Plan is intended to achieve the following:

  1. Identify physical obstacles that limit the accessibility of facilities to individuals with disabilities;
  2. Describe the methods to be used to make the facilities accessible;
  3. Provide a schedule for making the access modifications; and,
  4. Identify the public officials responsible for implementation of the Transition Plan.

The Plan is required to be updated periodically until all accessibility barriers are removed.

Purpose

The purpose of this plan is to ensure that the citizens of Macon County are provided full access to County programs and facilities in a timely manner as is reasonably possible. Macon County elected officials and staff believes the ability to accommodate disabled persons is essential to effective government, good customer service and the quality of life Macon County residents should be afforded.

This Plan has been prepared after a thorough review of Macon County’s programs and facilities. The County, in updating this document, will receive input from individuals at public meetings as well as from the Macon County Board of Commissioners and County Personnel.

Responsibilities

The responsibility for the implementation follows:

ADA Coordinator shall:

County Manager shall:

Deputy County Manager shall:

Department Heads/Officials shall:

Public Involvement Process

The County recognizes the need for and value in getting public opinion on its transition plan. To this end, the Board of Commissioners will seek public comments on this plan and future updates through public meetings, public surveys and employee feedback.

This plan is the latest effort to ensure that the County is making progress in addressing ADA accessibility issues. The input of citizens gives them the opportunity to comment on and influence the County’s ADA accessibility direction.

Statement of Accessibility

Macon County shall make reasonable modifications in programs and facilities when the modifications are necessary to avoid discrimination on the basis of disability, unless the County can demonstrate that making the modifications would fundamentally alter the nature of the service, program, or activity. Macon County will not place surcharges on individuals with disabilities to cover the cost involved in making programs accessible.

Identify Physical Obstacles

All county facilities will be reviewed for “baseline” conditions, including:

  1. Access to parking and entry into the facilities;
  2. Access to a clear and distinct path of travel;
  3. Access to programs and services;
  4. Access to public areas and restrooms; and,
  5. Access to related amenities.

Macon County maintains roads and bridges in the unincorporated areas of the county, which are largely rural areas. All intersections and bridges are designed and maintained as governed by the Georgia Department of Transportation’s rules and regulations.

An assessment of each of the County’s physical facilities will be conducted in conjunction with the execution of this Plan. Deficiencies in the County’s physical features of facilities that diminish the ability of disabled persons to benefit from the County’s services and facilities will be identified. A correction plan or other course of action will be noted for each deficiency, along with a schedule for completion of the correction in the attached Activity Log (Attachment 2).

The county-owned or sanctioned* voting precincts in Macon County are listed below:

Ideal Police Department, 606 Tom Watson Ave., Ideal, GA*
Macon County Courthouse, 121 S. Sumter St., Oglethorpe, GA
Marshallville Senior Center, 106 Camellia Blvd., Marshallville, GA*
AM Fields Center, 409 Morse Ave., Montezuma, GA*
Preston Williams Center, 700 Vienna Hwy., Montezuma, GA

All voting precincts will be inspected to ensure basic ADA requirements are met at the time of use.

ADA Plan of Action

Through this transition plan, the following will be addressed:

Title II of the ADA at 28 CFR Section 35.150Id)(2) provides that, if a public entity has responsibility or authority over streets, roads, or walkways, its transition plan shall include a schedule for providing curb ramps or other sloped areas where pedestrian walks cross curbs, giving priority to walkways serving entities covered by the ADA, including State and local government offices and facilities, transportation, places of public accommodation, and employers, followed by walkways serving other areas.

Action Steps for Transition Plan

The action plan shall be executed as follows:

  1. The County Manager will establish an ADA committee and guide the development of the plan. The ADA Coordinator will direct the implementation of the transition plan so that efforts to achieve and maintain accessibility can be effectively coordinated and balanced between programs and services, buildings and facilities. An advisory group will assist in the implementation and updates of the transition plan.
  2. The ADA committee made up of administration, department heads, and employees will assist in the review each facility for compliance.
  3. Identify all facilities used by each of Macon County’s programs and services. With respect to pedestrian right-of-way facilities in particular, include an inventory and/or map of roads/streets, sidewalks, intersections that would need to be made accessible.
  4. Map out the usage and specialized features of each county facility. This includes walkways and approaches to each facility from parking lots, bus stops and other transportation, doors and entrances, restrooms, vertical access (elevators and stairways), drinking fountains, play and picnic areas in parks, etc.
  5. Choose a survey “instrument” or list of standards. This must include evaluating for access by wheelchair users and other mobility-impaired people who would require the use of curb ramps. The recipient can also evaluate for access for visually, hearing and cognitively impaired people, if the transition plan also incorporates sidewalks, accessible pedestrian signals or other pedestrian facilities besides curb ramps.
  6. Establish the public involvement process by which the disability community and others will participate. The advisory group will solicit input from private citizens or representatives of other agencies with various forms of disabilities, or who will be impacted by the transition plan to make sure all needs are considered.
  7. Incorporate the Macon County’s capital improvement plans since new construction and planned alternations to pedestrian facilities may result in the incorporation of accessible features more easily and less expensively.
  8. Identify funding and time frames.

Elements of the Transition Plan

Name, title, office address, phone number, and email address of Macon County official responsible for the coordination and implementation of the Transition Plan:

David Parrott, Building & Zoning Official, ADA Coordinator            
P.O. Box 297, Oglethorpe, GA 31068
Contact by Email
478-472-7023                

ADA committee members’ names, titles, and addresses:

Annual Review

The County Manager is responsible for the annual review of the ADA Transition Plan and any changes or correction will be submitted for approval to the Board of County Commissioners.

Grievance Procedure Under the Americans with Disabiities Act

This Grievance Procedure is established to meet the requirements of the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 (“ADA”). It may be used by anyone who wishes to file a complaint alleging discrimination on the basis of disability in the provision of service, activities, programs, or benefits by the Macon County Board of Commissioners.

The complaint should be in writing and contain information about the alleged discrimination such as name, address, phone number of complainant and location, date, and description of the problem. Alternative means of filing complaints, such as personal interviews or a tape recording of the complaint will be made available for persons with disabilities, upon request.

The complaint should be submitted by the grievant and/or his/her designee as soon as possible, but no later than 60 calendar days after the alleged violation to:

David Parrott, Building Official
ADA Coordinator
P.O. Box 297
Oglethorpe, GA 31068

Within 15 calendar days after receipt of the complaint, the ADA Coordinator of Macon County or his/her designee will meet with the complainant to discuss the complaint and the possible resolution(s). Within 15 calendar days of the meeting, the ADA Coordinator or his/her designee will respond in writing, and where appropriate, in a format accessible to the complainant, such as large print, or audio tape. The response will explain the position of the Macon County Board of Commissioners and offer options for substantive resolution of the complaint.

If the response by the ADA Coordinator does not satisfactorily resolve the issue, the complainant and/or his/her designee may appeal the decision within 15 calendar days after receipt of the response to the County Manager or his/her designee.

Within 15 calendar days after receipt of the appeal, the County Manager or his/her designee will meet with the complainant to discuss the complaint and possible resolutions. Within 15 calendar days after the meeting, the County Manager or his/her designee will respond in writing, and where appropriate, in a format accessible to the complainant, with a final resolution of the complaint.

All written complaints received by the ADA Coordinator or his/her designee, appeals to the County Manager or his/her designee, and responses from these two offices will be retained by Macon County for at least three (3) years. The written complaint and responses will be retained in the County Commissioners Office.