Opportunity House has secured city permission to build two new exterior accessibility ramps for a Sycamore building that will jut into the city’s easement.

The Sycamore City Council approved the request from the organization that has offered a variety of programming for adults with developmental disabilities for 60 years. No public discussion preceded the vote.

Tom Matya, the CEO and president of Opportunity House, attended the meeting in case city officials had any questions they wanted to ask him.

He said the city of Sycamore has been supportive of Opportunity House.

“The city has always been very responsive to our needs,” Matya said. “We provide a lot of jobs to the community. We have over 130 employees, and a lot of those live in Sycamore. And we have eight of our group homes, out of our dozen of group homes, that are in Sycamore. So the community has been very warm and welcoming to us.”

After the meeting, he said the new accessibility ramps at the building located at 357 N. California St. are a part of a project spurred by state legislators’ decision to eliminate subminimum wage for people with disabilities.

“We’re converting the whole former workforce area into more of a development center, and we need to have more exits to be able to go out of the building, and we need to be [Americans with Disabilities Act] compliant. So we’re grateful for the city to be able to pass that tonight and let us use a little bit of their ease way.”