From: ERICKSON Jennifer M

Sent: Thu Mar 17 11:45:01 2022

To: Andy Peters

Cc: SCARLETT Paul; Mac Corthell; Chaunee Seifried; Christie Teets; ODOT_ADA; CHRISTOPHER Basil R; MORRISSEY David N

Subject: RE: City of Molalla ADA parking concern, Office of Civil Rights, requesting R1 response

Importance: Normal

Thank you for your voicemail, Andy, and nice to meet you. I’m answering here so everyone gets the same information at once. Thank you for emailing, too, and including the partners who should be in the loop. I added two ODOT partners as well.

Item #1: I am happy to provide the customer your contact information, or the contact information for someone else at the city. That said, here is some information I can share:

It’s my understanding that the customer contacted the city and ODOT as far back as early 2020, before the signal at Main and Molalla was installed. She shared general safety concerns plus parking-specific concerns and asked about the city’s plans for parking options in the downtown core. Her customers often have mobility issues that make it difficult to travel long distances from parking spots to her door, especially when it requires crossing busy streets, and especially in poor lighting conditions. She hopes the city will be able to expand the available parking options and safety features near that intersection. This is of particular interest now that some nearby parking spots were lost due to the signal project at Main and Molalla.

Item #2: I don’t have any record of a formal complaint on file with Office of Civil Rights.

I believe and hope I’m characterizing her request accurately and completely – but it is very likely best to get the information you need directly from her to ensure nothing is lost in translation.

Item #3: I’ll have to defer to Paul for information related to this item, as I don’t have direct access to agreements and materials between ODOT and the city at my fingertips here in the Office of Civil Rights.

As a side note, I’m adding our ODOT ADA inbox address to this email so my colleagues in the Office of Civil Rights will also see my reply. David Morrissey is our Title VI / EJ / ADA Programs Manager, and he and I typically work through cases like this one together. David and I are happy to speak with you by phone if that would be helpful. Please let me know if I can help coordinate schedules.

Please let us know to whom we should refer this customer. It would be helpful if you could provide a name, title, email, and phone number for that person.

Thank you,

Jennifer (Jenny) Erickson | she/her (any/all pronouns OK)

ODOT Civil Rights Programs Coordinator

(503) 871-2977 (mobile) | Jennifer.M.Erickson@ODOT.Oregon.Gov (new 12/2021)

From: Andy Peters <apeters@cityofmolalla.com>

Sent: Wednesday, March 16, 2022 9:31 AM

To: SCARLETT Paul <Paul.SCARLETT@odot.oregon.gov>; ERICKSON Jennifer M <Jennifer.M.ERICKSON@odot.oregon.gov>

Cc: Mac Corthell <mcorthell@cityofmolalla.com>; Chaunee Seifried <cseifried@cityofmolalla.com>; Christie Teets <cteets@cityofmolalla.com>

Subject: RE: City of Molalla ADA parking concern, Office of Civil Rights, requesting R1 response

Paul, I reached out by phone to Jennifer and will try to connect with her directly. We appreciate the stated mission of ODOTs Office of Civil Rights to connect local agencies (like Molalla) with customer with accessibility concerns.

We are still searching internally for records of communication with the owner of a Physical Therapy Office downtown, which Jennifer mentioned – so far we are unable to find any, but that doesn’t mean it won’t turn up. In any case, we will get to the bottom of it with you. May we please start by:

1. 1. Requesting the contact information for the customer whom you are trying to connect us with, since we have no immediately available records? We may reach out directly.
2. 2. Request copies of the complaints filed with ODOT so that the City may review and determine what it’s involvement and appropriate steps may be.
3. 3. Requesting the final executed agreements that go with the proposed Special Transportation Area that is mentioned in the email chain? The link provided in Jennifer’s email take me only to a Draft, and an old request letter dated 21 years ago by the City to establish one. The City does not have any such record and we will need to understand the rights and responsibilities outlined.

Finally, does Odot Civil Rights have a Case Number for this issue the City can reference for records purposes?

I’m including a wider group of folks here at the City of Molalla who may be able to provide insight – our risk managers and recorders.

Thanks!

Respectfully,

Andy Peters, Public Works Div Manager

315 Kennel Ave. | PO Box 248 |Molalla, OR 97038

Phone – 503.759.0220

Email – apeters@cityofmolalla.com

Website – http://www.cityofmolalla.com

From: SCARLETT Paul <Paul.SCARLETT@odot.oregon.gov>

Sent: Wednesday, March 16, 2022 7:53 AM

To: Andy Peters <apeters@cityofmolalla.com>

Subject: RE: City of Molalla ADA parking concern, Office of Civil Rights, requesting R1 response

Thanks Andy.

Paul

From: Andy Peters <apeters@cityofmolalla.com>

Sent: Tuesday, March 15, 2022 5:59 PM

To: SCARLETT Paul <Paul.SCARLETT@odot.oregon.gov>

Subject: Re: City of Molalla ADA parking concern, Office of Civil Rights, requesting R1 response

Paul let me give this a more careful read tomorrow and I'll get back to you, thanks!

Andy

Sent from my Verizon, Samsung Galaxy smartphone

Get Outlook for Android

From: SCARLETT Paul <Paul.SCARLETT@odot.oregon.gov>

Sent: Tuesday, March 15, 2022 2:51:59 PM

To: Andy Peters <apeters@cityofmolalla.com>

Subject: FW: City of Molalla ADA parking concern, Office of Civil Rights, requesting R1 response

Hi Andy, I’ve been meaning to bring this up with you and Dan but since we are not meeting on Thursday, would you please take a look at the information below. It is an ADA complaint about the recent on-parking that was removed as part of the installation of the new signal light at OR211/Main and Molalla Ave. I should have passed this along before but kept forgetting. I am available to talk more because I think this may be a combination of ODOT and the City in terms of either the response or the solution. Thanks.

Paul

From: CHRISTOPHER Basil R <Basil.R.CHRISTOPHER@odot.oregon.gov>

Sent: Tuesday, March 15, 2022 11:20 AM

To: SCARLETT Paul <Paul.SCARLETT@odot.oregon.gov>

Cc: ODOT_ADA <ODOT_ADA@odot.oregon.gov>; ERICKSON Jennifer M <Jennifer.M.ERICKSON@odot.oregon.gov>

Subject: RE: City of Molalla ADA parking concern, Office of Civil Rights, requesting R1 response

Hi Paul. I’m just following up on the email from Jennifer and on-street or highway parking concern in Molalla. When you and I discussed the issue last month by phone, I believe you mentioned a monthly check-in meeting with the Molalla city manager. Is the March meeting still pending or has this already happened where there is an update regarding the on-street parking concern? I would like to clarify that our plan is to get city of Molalla to address the issue and also agree to be the point of contact for anyone asking about parking on highway.

Please let me know if additional information is needed or if I can help here in some small way.

Basil Christopher

Bicycle and Pedestrian Coordinator

ODOT Region 1

503-731-3261

*From 3/30, I will be teleworking from home.

** Work hours are 8am – 4:30pm on Monday – Friday

From: ERICKSON Jennifer M <Jennifer.M.ERICKSON@odot.oregon.gov>

Sent: Friday, February 18, 2022 11:05 AM

To: SCARLETT Paul <Paul.SCARLETT@odot.oregon.gov>; CHRISTOPHER Basil R <Basil.R.CHRISTOPHER@odot.oregon.gov>

Cc: MORRISSEY David N <David.N.MORRISSEY@odot.oregon.gov>

Subject: City of Molalla ADA parking concern, Office of Civil Rights, requesting R1 response

Greetings, Paul and Basil,

A physical therapy business owner in Molalla contacted ODOT Office of Civil Rights (OCR) for assistance. OCR is requesting that you (Paul, or Basil, or an appropriate Region 1 contact) assist by engaging City of Molalla staff about this matter. Following are background details, links to pertinent materials, and two specific requested actions.

The customer’s core concern pertains to the recent project to add a traffic signal at the OR 211/Main Street and Molalla Avenue intersection. The project eliminated some parking along OR 211/Main Street. The remaining parking available near her business is often full, making it hard for her patients to find parking nearby. She would like to see an increase in public access ADA parking spaces in her business area near this intersection.

Key to her inquiry is identifying who holds responsibility for this issue. Here in the OCR ADA program, when a case is not within ODOT’s authority, we are committed to connecting customers with the appropriate contact people in each jurisdiction as promptly as possible in alignment with ODOT’s ADA Settlement Agreement.

Unfortunately, over the past two years, this customer was referred back and forth between ODOT and city teams, as was the owner of the building where she works. Therefore, I believe that both ODOT and the city must respond directly to the customer to clarify who holds responsibility. In order to help us find a shared understanding, I did some extensive research. This included reviewing many historic emails and searching through ODOT’s and City of Molalla’s websites.

The STA designation at this intersection clearly empowers the city as the primary entity to make decisions about local issues, including parking changes and enforcement. Please let me know if you disagree. Here are a few links that guided me to this perception:

· ODOT designation of Molalla Special Transportation Area (STA) – from 2010

· City of Molalla Transportation System Plan – version adopted in 2018

· City of Molalla 2018-2023 Capital Improvement Program Plan - Page 39 references TDM4-Parking Management, including a 2024-2028 plan for downtown Molalla

· City of Molalla Downtown Molalla Development and OR 211 Streetscape plan – Chapter 7 in particular includes significant parking plan strategies for future designs

OCR’s requests for Basil and Paul:

1. Please confirm your understanding regarding the city’s responsibility for the parking designations within the STA near the OR 211/Molalla Avenue intersection.

2. Please inform our city partners that, regardless of ODOT having approved their development plans, the city is responsible for parking designations within the STA, and also responsible to respond to their own residents about their concerns.

This customer is a resident of their community, and they need to be responsive to her, even if their answer will not satisfy her request. We remain eager to coordinate effectively with our city partners and provide any technical assistance they may need. Still, the city must work directly with customers on items within its jurisdiction.

I made a commitment to respond to the customer next week, so I’m interested in hearing from one of you promptly, indicating either that you are able to move this forward or that you have additional feedback to provide to OCR. I am happy to communicate in all the available ways – telephone, Teams, and email. I typically start work at 7:00am and end at 4:00pm.

Thank you very much,

Jennifer (Jenny) Erickson | she/her (any/all pronouns OK)

ODOT Civil Rights Programs Coordinator

(503) 871-2977 (mobile) | Jennifer.M.Erickson@ODOT.Oregon.Gov (new 12/2021)