HomeMy WebLinkAboutGRAAC-2010-03-25
Grand River Accessibility Advisory Committee (GRAAC)
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Thursday March 25, 2010
Kitchener City Hall, Conestoga Room
PRESENT:
Sharon-Ward-Zeller (Co-Chair), Taposhi Batabyal (Co-Chair), Ken
Parker, Sharon Giles, Gordon Cummer, Councillor Kelly Galloway, Councillor
Jane Mitchell, Vznessa Lopak, Darryl Denny, Rick Louwagie, Pam Albrecht,
Linda Pretty (Recorder)
REGRETS (MEMBERS):
Amy Ross, Gail Brunsdon, Anthony Cashin, Myron
Steinman, Kurt Schneider
REGRETS (OTHERS):
Val Hummel
1.0 WELCOME AND INTRODUCTIONS:
Taposhi welcomed everyone to the March meeting
2.0 APPROVAL OF FEBRUARY MINUTES AND MARCH AGENDA:
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A motion was made by Ken Parker, seconded by Sharon Giles that the
agenda for the March meeting be approved. All were in favour; the
motion was carried.
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A motion was made by Gordon Cummer, seconded by Sharon Ward-
Zeller that the minutes of the February meeting be approved. All were
in favour; the motion was carried. It was also noted that the minutes
from the February meeting were thorough and well done. Thank you
to the recorder for February’s meeting, Pamela Abrecht.
3.0 BUSINESS ARISING:
3.1 Staff Update: Inclusion Co-ordinator
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The committee extended their thanks to Kelly Steiss for a job well
done. Kelly has accepted another position with the city. They also
welcomed Pam Albrecht who has been hired as the temporary
Inclusion Co-ordinator. Pam had initially been hired to provide
accessibility standards training for city staff and has now taken over for
Kelly. Accessibility training is still being done as needed and there is a
plan in place to offer sessions in Kitchener and Waterloo as part of
staff orientation.
4.0 NEW BUSINESS
Gordon Cummer took over as chair.
4.1 North Dumfries Accessibility Plan – Darryl Denny
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North Dumfries is asking for input from GRAAC regarding their
accessibility plan. The document was sent out earlier to GRAAC
members and Darryl reviewed the highlights:
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In 2009, redesign of the website was tendered to make it accessible
with the hope to get it up and running by June 2010.
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Snow Clearance: The township is still under a 3 year contract for
clearance of all snow in Ayr and the contract will be retendered in
2011.
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Staff awareness and training: North Dumfries partnered with Wellesley
to deliver 2 half day community services training sessions which were
well attended by staff. As well, guidelines were created for North
Dumfries for indirect staff and future employees.
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Physical and architectural barriers: A contract was awarded to
redesign the municipal office layout with proposed accessible
washrooms and improved access. Plans are being developed now
and will be finished in 2010. Prior to going to tender, the plans will
come to Built Environment for review.
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The phone policy was carried over from 2009 – request for alternate
formats policy for deaf/deafened and hard of hearing.
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Designated parking: Under the current by law, the fines for illegal
parking in designated areas were not addressed with the fine being the
same as any other ticket. A bylaw has been drafted now to increase
the fine from $20.00 to $300.00.
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Identification of barriers in facilities: Sidewalk to path paving estimates
will be established for the new arena and community complex for
budget purposes.
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A cost analysis is being done for all municipal buildings highlighted in
the Herrington audit – carried over from 2009.
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Construction company estimators are looking at the cost analysis for
municipal buildings.
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Council and the Mayor received customer service training.
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Emergency procedures for accessibility: North Dumfries is working on
an emergency plan as a whole – still to be done.
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Darryl will take any feedback from GRAAC to Council.
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Gordon said that he was impressed with the amount of work done by
North Dumfries.
5.0 COUNCILLOR’S REPORT(S)
5.1 Councillor Galloway
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A huge roundabout is planned for Huron Road.
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The King Street construction is starting shortly in the block outside City
Hall and down to Francis Street. Work will take place over the spring
and summer. By the end of the summer all of King Street will have
been redone.
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Huron Road: It is the opinion of the committee that a joint
sidewalk/bike lane, wide enough to accommodate pedestrians and
bikes be considered. The idea of multi-use sidewalks and trails is new
to Kitchener. Sharon Ward-Zeller noted that is it hard to see and hear
bikes. Ken noted that electric motorcycles/e-bikes are now allowed on
trails (Iron Horse Trail) making it a safety concern for pedestrians.
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Paula suggested that trails should be asphalt. There is a multi-use trail
in Waterloo that works well and also a lane for commuter cyclists. It
would be good if bikers ring a bell or otherwise advise that they are
approaching. Kelly will pass GRAAC feedback regarding the trail on to
staff.
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Paula shared that Ottawa has multi-use sidewalks and trails and they
are nice and wide. People know how to use them and making it wide
enough is really important.
5.2 Councillor Jane Mitchell
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Plans for many roundabouts on Franklin Blvd were passed at Council.
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A sign bylaw was passed but doesn’t affect accessibility.
6.0 BUILT ENVIRONMENT
6.1 Ayr Community Centre Presentation – Darryl Denny and WGD
Architects
Gordon chaired this portion of the meeting.
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KPL – questions from a previous presentation by KPL were answered
by them.
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Pam Albrecht brought information regarding ramp turning radii at the
top of the slope. The presenter, Penny, checked with the architect and
there is a flat surface at the top of the running slope to accommodate
larger wheelchairs and scooters. The proposed new ramp off Queen
Street will have a flat surface at the top and a 9’ x 30’ minimum 5’wide
slope.
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Darryl presented Ayr community centre plans at a previous meeting
and came back this month to finish the presentation with the help of
the architect.
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Percy from WGD Architects was introduced. Percy is working with a
team on plans for the building which will be ready to go in the near
future.
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The last time, the building exterior was reviewed at GRAAC. Today,
the focus will be on the interior and Percy will take comments/concerns
back to the team.
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Some feedback was received the last time, most of which was
addressed.
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Community Centre and hockey arena on Greenfield Road site in Ayr.
Percy reviewed the interior via Power Point:
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The building is being constructed on a flat surface and will be fully
accessible. All doors are power operated with a sensor operated door
at the front.
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Lang’s Farm Health Centre is a tenant in the centre and is fully barrier-
free.
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There are stairs and an elevator to the upper level and down to change
rooms and the ice surface.
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The site is flat and includes a large parking area. All entrances are off
the same grade and there are no stairs.
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All accessible parking has been derived from the City of London urban
design guidelines.
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The entire curb will be accessible.
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The Health Clinic shares the same entrance.
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A small senior centre component is part of the community centre. The
centre has its own parking area with some accessible parking. The
number of spots in this area can be increased.
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All doors are 1000 millimetres wide. Other than a few service doors,
all public access (double) doors will be 200 wide and there is a
possibility that they may go with all 1000 mm doors.
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All washrooms are accessible (male/female/family).
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There is an elevator and a ramp down to the ice.
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The 2 floor is a spectator floor.
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The plan includes a small event room, a foyer and concession area.
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There will be a walking track around the top deck of arena.
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The arena has accessible seating including wheelchair spaces and
expansion seating.
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Washrooms here too are accessible (male/female).
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On the lower level (ice) 2 of the change rooms are accessible.
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All other public spaces are freely accessible; 4 out of 6 change rooms
are fully accessible.
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Discussion has taken place to have sidewalks on Northumberland and
Greenfield.
Q & A
Percy responded to questions from the group:
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The entrance to the new facility will be made visible for everyone
including those with low vision. A canopy over the main entrance and
another one over the seniors’ area should help to make the entrance
stand out.
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The entrance is 2 metres wide. People who smoke will stand outside.
Smoking is not allowed within 9 metres outside any building, but
building management staff deal with that issue. No shelter will be built
to accommodate smokers.
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Most surfaces are matt; use of colour helps to identify areas and the
floor is subdued which helps with anyone concerned with flare or for
people with low vision.
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The idea is to maximize the use of natural light.
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The structure is not a LEED building.
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Diffused glass is used – shadow free light.
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Artificial light levels will be to recommended design levels for public
facilities.
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Change room showers are wheel-in and will have seats and a
telephone.
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There is a ramp to the laundry and staff room.
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The building is a small building and has just 2 corridors, so there is no
real need to use colour to help with direction. Instead the design
includes hand rails.
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The London urban design standards are the most comprehensive and
therefore a good one to follow.
Percy and Darryl were thanked for their presentation and Percy left the
meeting.
The chair was given back to Taposhi
7.0 OTHER
7.1 Township of Wellesley Accessibility Plan – Rik Louwagie
Rik presented highlights of the Wellesley plan:
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The plan is on the township website and copies are available at the
admin office.
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The municipal office underwent major construction in 2008 and is now
fully accessible.
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ASL is now available upon request – the alternate format policy is
included in the handout. A TTY was installed in the municipal office.
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The township website is fully accessible. The Clerk’s department staff
maintains web content regularly.
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The accessibility page on the web will be expanded to include larger
font.
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Accessibility audit 2009; items will be prioritized to bring up to
standards as time and dollars permit.
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A RinC grant was received. The doors are being installed in
community centres in St. Clements and Wellesley.
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All staff and council were trained re: accessibility, volunteers and 3
party received booklets and brochures.
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Physical/architectural: Council chambers replaced the front door which
is now 36” wide.
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Sidewalks were installed in settlement area and Hawkesville.
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Plans for St. Clements include making the fire station accessible.
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Compliance with customer service standards will be continuous.
Q & A
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In the future, the Hawkesville Centre will be 100% barrier free, but not
in 2010.
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Paula complimented Rik for the use of larger font in the report.
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Clearance of snow on sidewalks is now paid for 100% by rate payers.
There has been increased enforcement, but no plan for the
municipality to take over. If a building is owned by the township,
sidewalks are cleared; any other building is the responsibility of the
owner and compliance is enforced.
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No emergency plan is in place at this time, but is being developed
currently. No date for completion has been set yet, but staff plans to
have it done by year’s end.
8.0 CO-CHAIRS REPORT
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Kelly sent a note of thanks to GRAAC.
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Sharon Ward-Zeller noted that space will be made in future agendas
for brief updates about events of interest to persons with disabilities
that members may have. Members are asked to let the chairs know 2
weeks in advance as that is when the agenda is planned.
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Taposhi and Sharon thanked the committee for its confidence in them
as chairs.
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Sharon Ward-Zeller complimented Grand River bus drivers who have
helped her personally in her neighbourhood.
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Taposhi asked the group how they felt the committee of the whole
structure has worked so far. Sharon Giles felt that it is working well
and that issues identified as being important to the committee are
being highlighted. Gordon’s feeling was that he was not yet prepared
to say it is working as not enough time has passed. Paula noted that
from a Built Environment perspective, the structure was working well
but if discussion is needed for plans, there may not be enough time. It
may have to be addressed at another meeting. Sharon Ward-Zeller
commented that possibly another meeting may have to be called to
address if more time is needed.
9.0 ADJOURNMENT
Ken moved to adjourn the meeting at 3:17 p.m. The next GRAAC meeting
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will be held on Thursday April 22 at Kitchener City Hall in the Conestoga
Room on the main floor from 1:30 – 4:00 p.m.
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