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HomeMy WebLinkAboutGRAAC-2010-01-28 Grand River Accessibility Advisory Committee (GRAAC) th Thursday January 28, 2010 Kitchener City Hall, Conestoga Room PRESENT: Sharon-Ward-Zeller (Co-Chair), Taposhi Batabyal (Co-Chair), Anthony Cashin, Kurt Schneider, Karen Panchaud (ASL Interpreter), Amy Ross, Gordon Cummer, Sharon Giles, Vanessa Lopak, Brent Wilcox, Kelly Steiss, Darryl Denny, Councillor Kelly Galloway, Johanna Ellis (Recorder) REGRETS (MEMBERS): REGRETS (OTHERS): Councillor Jane Mitchell, Val Hummel ABSENT WITHOUT REGRETS: Gail Brunsdon, Rik Louwagie 1.0 WELCOME AND INTRODUCTIONS: Taposhi welcomed everyone to the January meeting. 2.0 APPROVAL OF DECEMBER MINUTES AND JANUARY AGENDA: Taposhi asked that members move elections after the built environment presentation on the agenda. With that amendment, Sharon Ward-Zeller made the motion to approve the agenda; it was seconded by Anthony Cashin. All were in favour, and the motion was carried. The minutes of the December meeting were approved on a motion by Sharon Giles, seconded by Kurt Schneider. All were in favour. 3.0 BUILT ENVIRONMENT: 3.1 McLennan Park facilities, Kitchener – Dan Ritz ? Dan introduced the consultants on the project; Mark Christianson – Walter Fedy Partnership and Richard Turner – GSP Group ? Dan presented the proposal for Phase 2 of the McLennan Park Development Plan ? The new park will have many amenities including a basketball court, splash pad, beach volleyball court, picnic/free play area, accessible playground area, trails and landscaping, skateboard park, comfort station with washrooms, storage and mechanical area, change rooms and a small concession. ? Sharon Ward-Zeller asked if they could have the armour stone seating in a colour other than greyscale. Ritz explained that the armour stone is more of a landscaping feature and aimed at youth using the park. ? There was discussion around the shade areas by the splash pad. Anthony asked if there would be shaded areas for those who cannot be in the sun or exposed to the sun. th GRAAC – January 28, 2010 1 ? Parking was planned carefully to avoid people using the parking lot as a through way. There will be accessible parking spots. There will also be speed bumps as a traffic calming measure. ? A question was asked as to the type of security the park would have and how much authority security will have. ? Dan indicated that there would be Waterloo regional police who will drive through the park and with heavy traffic within the park it is hopeful that will be a deterrent to crime . ? The Installation of cameras is also being considered around the comfort station. ? There will be staff there during park hours. Bylaws state that all city parks are closed from 11 pm – 6 am. ? Discussion around themes for the park. The developers are looking at the “re-use, recycle” theme. Because the land was formally a landfill, they are looking at incorporating items to use as a theme for the park. ? A question was asked by Gord Cummer if there was still any out gassing from the formal landfill. The Region monitors the area on an ongoing basis. These things were looked into before the decisions surrounding the park were made. All things built in the park are done above grade. ? Signage will be visible in 3 levels. Most of the signage is instructional. ? Font and colour of signs are going to be discussed and any barriers will be taken into consideration. ? The consultant will be using the highly accessible urban design guidelines from London Ontario’s model as a guideline to the accessibility and design of the comfort station. ? Gord Cummer asked if this park’s accessibility will meet the AODA guidelines for built environments. The consultants responded that they are making sure they meet those requirements. ? Dan invited members to the upcoming open house and reported that rd after February 3, 2010, all panels of the presentation (including drawings) will be available on the city’s website at www.kitchener.ca ? Taposhi thanked Dan and his team for their presentation. - BREAK - 4.0 GRAAC CO-CHAIR NOMINATIONS/ELECTION: (Kelly) ? The meeting had quorum (minimum of 5 members) and Kelly Steiss proceeded to hold the elections in the absence of Val Hummel. ? Nominations for Co-Chair and results as follows: Sharon Ward–Zeller, accepted the nomination – ACCLAIMED Taposhi Batabyal, accepted the nomination – ACCLAIMED Amy Ross declined the nomination ? Co-Chairs for 2010 are Sharon Ward-Zeller and Taposhi Batabyal. th GRAAC – January 28, 2010 2 4.1 GRAAC Built Environment Sub Committee Chair: Nominations were accepted for Built Environment committee chair. The chair will preside over the built environment section of the agenda and the committee of the whole. Results were as follows: Gordon Cummer accepted the nomination – ACCLAIMED Amy Ross declined the nomination 4.2 GRAAC Transportation Sub Committee Chair: Nominations were then accepted for the chair of the Transportation committee. The chair, with the help of the vice-chair as necessary, will preside over the transportation section of the agenda and the committee of the whole. Results were as follows: Amy Ross declined the nomination Sharon Giles accepted the nomination - ACCLAIMED 4.3 GRAAC Transportation Sub Committee Vice-Chair: ? Nomination(s) were opened for Transportation committee of the whole Vice-Chair, and the results were as follows: Amy Ross accepted the nomination – ACCLAIMED 5.0 COUNCILLORS REPORT: 5.1 Councillor Kelly Galloway: th ? Nomination for municipal elections are open until September 10, 2010 ? Kitchener City Council is expanding from 6 councillors to 10 councillors ? KPL renovations and expansion; will bring plans to GRAAC. The plans are currently being worked on. (Kelly Steiss added that the KPL plans are likely to come before the committee at the next meeting). ? Taposhi thanked Kelly Galloway for her report and for keeping GRAAC members updated. She added that councillors are an important and valued part of the committee. 6.0 CO-CHAIR REPORT: Taposhi and Sharon 6.1 GRAAC Meeting Dates: ? Everyone should have received annual meeting dates to this months agenda package. th ? Meetings are the 4 Thursday of every month except December which rd will be the 3 Thursday ? Will plan on having Built Environment at each meeting as site plans come up before GRAAC. 6.2 Annual Overview of GRAAC Calendar: ? North Dumfries accessibility plan and site plans for the Ayr Centre at the February meeting; ? The KPL library and renovations in February as well; th GRAAC – January 28, 2010 3 ? Taxis and sensitivity training in February; ? Township of Wellesley accessibility plan in March; ? Regional accessibility plan in October; ? Kitchener, Waterloo, Woolwich accessibility plan in November. 6.3 Other Updates: ? Item of general interest City of Kitchener was taken to the municipal board re: Cedar Hill bylaw violates the rights of persons with disabilities. ? Vanessa Lopak provided a regional update: The 2010 accessibility rd plan was approved at committee level and will go to the February 3 regional meeting. ? Eight (8) round-a-bouts have been scheduled within 11 km of Franklin Blvd. in Cambridge. Region would like staff to do more research. ? Region budget meeting was attended by Anthony Cashin who provided an overview to members. ? The budget was passed with an increase and automated audio and visual information will be installed in GRT buses as reported. ? Anthony reported that councillor Jane Mitchell thanked him for attending. ? An Uptown Waterloo vision 2005 workshop was attended by Gord Cummer and Paula Saunders. ? Paula Saunders gave an update on 2 sessions. stnd ? 1 session was good – accessibility was given high priority and the 2 session was not as helpful. ? A citizens group is trying to get level access to stores in the uptown. Most stores have one step in. ? Staff is going to collect all information from the workshops and put into a report for council. ? Paula added that she sits on the CTV diversity committee that reports back on news stories that were not aired correctly. 7.0 ADJOURNMENT Sharon Giles moved to adjourn the meeting. The next GRAAC meeting th will be held on Thursday February 25, 2010 in the Conestoga Room at Kitchener City Hall from 1:30 – 4:00 p.m. th GRAAC – January 28, 2010 4