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Williamsport City Council Accessibility Advisory Commission has begun an assessment of the city parks for usage by the disabled community.

Councilman Jon Mackey said he would provide the commission with a list of all city-owed property, including the parks.

“We will be taking a look at the parks, while maybe not a violation of Americans with Disabilities law, there still may be things to do to make them more accessible to the community,” he said.

The parks include: Brandon Park, Memorial/Elm Park, Newberry Park, Shaw Place Park, Young’s Woods Park, Veterans Memorial Park and Lose Park. The survey is to look at accessibility needs and what parks have that. Memorial Park, for example, had an inclusive and accessible playground installed last year.

Mackey said he did not want to drive the commission’s conversation and wanted to take a step back and have members of the commission move the issues forward.

Brooke Beiter, the ADA consultant for the commission, agreed with one of the first projects for the commission being a look at the parks.

She suggested it may be worthwhile to solicit feedback from folks who frequent the parks whether day care centers or child care providers who utilize the parks to identify areas of common concern or barriers they encounter.

Megan Rogers, a commission member, cited a park in Lewisburg to give the members ideas because it is for special needs children and others.

“It has everything one can think of and I would be willing to get some ideas from there,” Rogers said.

Joseph Gerardi, city codes administrator, said he would reach out before the next meeting to Codes Inspection Inc., the third party company that tends to do most of the ADA work in the city and area. He said he could provide a general list of items that need to be updated in parks, a basic starting point for the commission.

Items might be restrooms, accessibility ramps and whether the mulch is safe.

Council President Randall J. Allison said the commission may want to contact the city streets and parks department, which might have some sense on what is happening at different parks, such as which are more heavily used and what facilities are at each one.

“Maybe have some type of usage numbers and available figures for each park,” Allison said.

The commission is working on a draft mission statement. So far it has formed the following mission statement draft: “The goal of the accessibility advisory commission is to create a more inclusive Williamsport by ensuring that all residents have access to programs and properties.”

“I love the thoughts involved in the draft version and definitely things we can work with,” Beiter said. What would a fully inclusive Williamsport look like and feel like and the mission is what the commission does to get to that state?” she asked.

Another goal for the commission is to develop a vision.

Commission member Max Moore said he wanted a means of sending the draft mission statement to others on the commission.

Mackey said he could get everyone a copy of it and the members can work on it for the next meeting which is at 3 p.m. April 8 and covered on Zoom digital format.

To access the meetings go to the city Website and click on the icon for accessibility advisory commission.