Canton Boards Refer ADA Fixes and Flag Policy to Building Committee

Town Board · Meeting of July 29, 2026

Canton and village boards refer ADA accessibility failures and flagpole policy to joint building committee. At the July 29 joint meeting, the Town and Village Boards of Canton agreed to assign two unresolved issues — long-standing ADA deficiencies at the municipal building and the absence of a written flagpole use policy — to the joint building committee, which will meet next on August 6. Jeff Reibens-Snyder, Executive Director of the Independent Living Center serving St.

Lawrence, Franklin, Essex and Lewis Counties, told the boards the building is "a mess" and offered to conduct a free ADA architectural barrier assessment, noting that 36 years have passed since local governments were first required to conduct such self-assessments. Resident Kate Giverland said a back entrance to the wheelchair lift was locked during the accessibility meeting itself and described a school field trip that had to be restructured around the building's inaccessible areas. A six-year board member who sits on the building committee said the failure stems from "really flawed systems" and is "not an excuse." The boards also unanimously accepted the resignation of recreation employee Ryan and approved the hire of a replacement named Owen, who is set to begin immediately.

In the full story:

• Who Was There
• Organizations And Documents Referenced
• The complete report — 2,554 words

Source: the Town Board meeting of July 29, 2026, reported from the official video recording and transcript.