Americans with Disabilities Act Information

NOTICE UNDER THE AMERICANS WITH DISABILITIES ACT

In accordance with the requirements of Title II of the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 ("ADA"), the City of New Braunfels will not discriminate against qualified individuals with disabilities on the basis of disability in its services, programs, or activities.

Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and related statutes, ensures that no person in the City of New Braunfels shall, on the grounds of race, color and national origin be excluded from participation in, be denied the benefits of, or be otherwise subjected to discrimination under any program or activity it administers.

Employment: City of New Braunfels does not discriminate on the basis of disability in its hiring or employment practices and complies with all regulations promulgated by the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission under Title I of the ADA.

Effective Communication: City of New Braunfels will generally, upon request, provide appropriate aids and services leading to effective communication for qualified persons with disabilities so they can participate equally in City of New Braunfels’s programs, services, and activities, including qualified sign language interpreters, documents in Braille, and other ways of making information and communications accessible to people who have speech, hearing, or vision impairments.

Requests for Effective Communication: Anyone who requires an auxiliary aid or service for effective communication, or a modification of policies or procedures to participate in a program, service, or activity of City of New Braunfels should contact the City of New Braunfels, at (830) 221 – 4275 or tci@newbraunfels.gov as soon as possible but no later than 72 hours before the scheduled event.

Modifications to Policies and Procedures: City of New Braunfels will make all reasonable modifications to policies and programs to ensure that people with disabilities have an equal opportunity to enjoy all of its programs, services, and activities. For example, individuals with service animals are welcomed in City of New Braunfels offices, even where pets are generally prohibited.

City of New Braunfels will not place a surcharge on a particular individual with a disability or any group of individuals with disabilities to cover the cost of providing auxiliary aids/services or reasonable modifications of policy, such as retrieving items from locations that are open to the public but are not accessible to persons who use wheelchairs.

The ADA does not require the City of New Braunfels to take any action that would fundamentally alter the nature of its programs or services or impose an undue financial or administrative burden.

Grievance Procedure Information
Accommodation Information

Grievance Procedure Under the Americans with Disabilities 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 claiming discrimination on the basis of disability in the provision of services, activities, programs, or benefits by the City of New Braunfels.

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 will be made available for persons with disabilities upon request.

The complaint can be submitted online using the ADA Grievance Form, which should be submitted by the complainant or a designee as soon as possible but no later than 60 calendar days after the alleged violation.

Complaints can also be submitted in writing to:

ADA Coordinator
City of New Braunfels
550 Landa St.
New Braunfels, TX 78130
(830) 221-4275

tci@newbraunfels.gov

After Filing a Complaint

Within 10 calendar days of receipt of the complaint, the ADA Coordinator will acknowledge receipt.
Within 15 calendar days of receipt of the complaint, the ADA Coordinator will meet with the complainant to discuss the complaint and the possible resolutions.
Within 15 calendar days of the meeting, the ADA Coordinator will respond in writing, and where appropriate, in a format accessible to the complainant. The response will explain the position of the City of New Braunfels and offer options for substantive resolution of the complaint.
If the response by the ADA Coordinator does not satisfactorily resolve the issue, the complainant may appeal the decision within 15 calendar days of receipt of the response to the City Manager.
Within 15 calendar days of receipt of the appeal, the City Manager or a designee will meet with the complainant to discuss the complaint and possible resolutions.

New Braunfels ADA Transition Plan Summary

Introduction

Title II of the Americans with Disabilities Act requires that public agencies maintain an ADA Self Evaluation and Transition Plan which lists physical barriers to access and communicates a plan for improving accessibility.

ADA Transition Plan Need and Purpose

The City of New Braunfels is committed to inclusion, non-discrimination, barrier removal and accessibility. ADA requirements for the City of New Braunfels include the following:

Evaluate programs, services, activities, communication and right-of way per the ADA
Identify physical and other barriers that may limit access to programs and services
Propose potential compliance solutions
Determine estimated cost and the responsible party to implement solutions
Develop a time schedule for implementation
Maintain the Transition Plan for public inspection for three years

Plan Progress

In 2019, the City selected a civil engineering consultant to begin the process of creating a Self-Evaluation and Transition Plan.

Phase I of the Transition Plan conducted self-evaluation through the following steps:

Data collection, beginning with public facilities and parks:
- Hinman Island Park
- Prince Solms Park
- Civic Convention Center
- Downtown Plaza & Bandstand
- Public Library
- Westside Community Center
Summary of findings from department surveys
Review of citizen inquiries for non-compliant sidewalk
Meetings to engage with community members

In 2020, New Braunfels conducted an inventory of pedestrian facilities within its public right-of-way consisting of the evaluation of the following facilities:

42 miles of sidewalks (approximately 15% of total system)
818 curb ramps (approximately 21% of total system)
28 signal push buttons

The City has improved ADA policy compliance through creation of a grievance procedure and designation of an ADA Coordinator.

Next Steps

Self-evaluation and outreach efforts will continue until completion of the plan. An effort to inspect all 2023 Bond projects was implemented in Summer 2023. The final ADA Transition Plan is anticipated in 2026.