GILL — Town officials were presented with a draft ADA self-evaluation and transition plan by the Franklin Regional Council of Governments (FRCOG) at the Selectboard meeting on July 23.

The plan is being distributed to the various people responsible for the buildings and programs discussed in the draft, Town Administrator Ray Purington said.

“Generally speaking, I’d say Gill’s compliance is about normal for a town of our size,” Purington said. “We need to provide some staff training on the requirements of the ADA, update or develop some policies, and of course there’s a full range of physical improvements to make to our buildings, from simple and inexpensive to complicated and very costly. The report is a good starting point.”

After acquiring a grant from the Massachusetts Office on Disability, the town hired FRCOG to conduct the ADA Self-Evaluation to prepare a transition plan for the town.

Gill has implemented ADA improvements including designating the town clerk, Lynda Hodsdon May, as ADA coordinator, installing an accessible entrance and concrete ramp at the Town Hall, installing a three-stop elevator in the Town Hall and others.

To conduct the self evaluation, the FRCOG staff distributed checklists designed by the New England ADA Center to all department heads that assessed effective communication practices, general nondiscrimination practices and website accessibility.

According to the draft, the FRCOG used the latest 2010 ADA standards for accessible design to evaluate all of the town’s buildings and facilities as well.

The assessment found Slate Library to be inaccessible, the Public Safety Complex and Riverside Municipal Building moderately accessible and the Town Hall and Gill Elementary School to be mostly accessible.

The draft also evaluated nondiscrimination policies and practices in the town’s programs, services and activities, and found that the town may need to provide training to inform staff members how to arrange for different types of auxiliary aids and services and become familiarized with Title II requirements.

Purington said the town is going to focus on the easy, inexpensive projects first. At the moment, there are no projects planned, because the town is doing energy grant work first.

“This is a good snapshot of where the town is with buildings and programs in regards to accessibility requirements,” Purington said.