BEND, OR -- A local group says Pacific Power is violating the Americans with Disabilities Act with the placement of a power transmission box. Brian Douglass is the Chief Advocate for Bend-based Advocates for Disabled Americans, Inc. He discovered the box during the group’s effort to clear sidewalks and curb ramps of winter gravel and landscaping. "There was this huge pine tree that was covering the sidewalk. So, I came over about a week ago and I started to trim this tree; and I got in to about two limbs off of it or three limbs off of it, and I suddenly looked and here was this Pacific Power and Light transmission box sitting on a concrete pad, right in the middle of the sidewalk."
He wants to know how it got there and immediately started questioning officials. Douglass tells KBND News, “The initial effort went to the City Manager to ask for the paperwork that was provided for installation of this and when was it installed? And then, to Pacific Power to ask them, ‘it’s your box, right?’ ‘Yeah.’ ‘Ok, well then, why is it where it is’?” He's hoping the utility will act quickly, "I’m hoping that they’ll do the right thing, which I believe – unless they can show me some other reason – is that they’re going to come out and take this box out and move it back to where it belongs and clear this sidewalk. I mean, I know it’s not going to be a lot of fun for them; they can’t have this, in my opinion. This is an obstruction." Douglass is asking Pacific Power to move the box back a few feet off the sidewalk, so it’s with other utility boxes, nearby.
