DLZ Project Manager Sara Huss speaks at the Silver Lake Town Council meeting on Wednesday, Nov. 8, at Silver Lake Town Hall. InkFreeNews photo by Leah Sander.

By Leah Sander
InkFreeNews

SILVER LAKE — Silver Lake has been updated on a plan to improve access at town facilities for those with disabilities.

At its meeting on Wednesday, Nov. 8, the Silver Lake Town Council heard from Project Manager Sara Huss with DLZ. The company handles planning, architecture and engineering among other things.

The process to help meet Americans with Disabilities Act rules involves “self-evaluation,” including collecting data, and a “transition plan phase” of preparing to implement changes, explained Huss.

Huss said DLZ started to collect feedback from the public in the spring.

“The main feedback that we got (was) most people were concerned about the front entry (at the town office in terms of people with disabilities being able to get inside),” she said. “Other than that, there weren’t a whole lot of complaints received through that (online) survey.”

Huss said her company also looked at town sidewalks and curb ramps, parking around town buildings and at parks and counter heights, hallways and more inside town buildings and then prioritized any fixes.

She said estimates to fix all town facility issues totaled $395,000, with $180,000 for sidewalks and a little fewer than $100,000 for curb ramps, though she noted not all parts of the projects are “high priority.”

Huss mentioned the town could address problems gradually over 20-30 years.

She said people may view a draft of the improvement plan by coming into the town office or visiting the post office, with them able to make comments on the plan through Wednesday, Nov. 15.

In other business, the council:

• Approved the salary ordinance for 2024. It states the clerk-treasurer will make $1,840 biweekly; deputy clerk-treasurer $18 per hour; town/utilities superintendent $29.79 per hour; general laborer/assistant utility operator $23.22 per hour; town marshal $2,383.20 biweekly; and chief deputy marshal $1,680 biweekly.
• Approved a $1,600 contract with Shannon McLeod of Priority Project Resources for doing administrative work with a grant for the town’s planned community center.
• OK’d having Santa Claus at the old fire station at 104 N. Jefferson St. on Wednesday, Dec. 20. There will be refreshments and kids may visit with him then. He will travel around on a firetruck starting at 6 p.m., arriving at the station around 7 p.m.
• Approved spending $200 on a match for the fire department’s donation for Toys for Tots.

The council’s next meeting is set for 7 p.m. Wednesday, Dec. 13, at Silver Lake Town Hall.