Starke County Highway Superintendent Rik Ritzler reported to the Starke County Commissioners Monday night that the county buildings fared pretty well during a recent ADA audit.
Ritzler said only minor issues were found.
“I did an initial ADA audit of the courthouse, annex building, annex 2 with Jim Coad, I did the highway garage myself, and did the justice center with Tony Mildice,” explained Ritzler. “There were no deficiencies found at the justice center. Three were found in the new annex building, four in the courthouse, three in the annex and two at the garage. Most of those were just minor things like signage and counter height. The only major one that we had there was no curb cut at the new annex building in the front.”
He added that this was only an initial audit. This year’s 20-page audit will turn into an 80-page requirement with photos in 2018.
Ritzler will talk to Knox Mayor Dennis Estok to see if the county can apply for the city’s 50/50 sidewalk program to save a little money on the needed adjustments to the curb at the new annex building to satisfy ADA requirements.
He mentioned that Clerk Vicki Cooley provided him with paperwork to show that all election sites are deemed ADA compliant.
This month Ritzler will be performing an ADA assessment at the Starke County Public Library in Knox and all of the county branches.
