Marion Town Planner Gil Hilario informed the Planning Board on November 4 that he has submitted an application for an Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) grant to fund a self-evaluation of town facilities and an accompanying transition plan to move Marion closer to ADA compliance and handicap accessibility.
October was a busy month for Hilario when it came to applying for grants, but he hopes the October 16 ADA grant application he filed with the state will be awarded to the town so it can hire a consultant to undertake the evaluation of all town-owned buildings and parks for ADA compliance, make a list, and formulate a plan of action in order to apply for further ADA grants to fund potential accessibility projects.
The state allows municipalities to apply for up to $250,000 a year in grant funding from the Massachusetts Office on Disability. The state has made $2 million available for such grants annually.
For now, Hilario said, “Forget about the buildings being compliant to ADA code. We’re required to have a plan and we’re not even there yet.”
Once the evaluation and plan are completed, only then can the real work begin.
“This grant would hopefully at least get us that far,” said Hilario. “A lot of people think that it’s just having your buildings up to code; but, no. You’re required by federal law to have a plan – it’s called an ADA transition plan, so, hopefully, this grant would allow us to get one paid for us.”
Hilario said the evaluation will also assess the town’s website for accessibility, ease of use, and “how easy it is to find information and things like that,” he said.
Also during the meeting, the board accepted the Approval Not Required application filed by Laura McCord Grauer, 23 Water Street.
The public hearing for the Definitive Subdivision off Beach Street filed by 22 Cove Street, LLC was discussed and then continued again until November 18 in order to allow time for the board’s peer-review engineer to provide further input and give the applicant’s engineer, David Davignon, time to make the necessary adjustments to the plan.
The next meeting of the Marion Planning Board is scheduled for November 18 at 7:00 pm at the Marion Town House.
Marion Planning Board
By Jean Perry