HomeMy WebLinkAboutGRAAC - 2011-02-24Grand River Accessibility Advisory Committee (GRAAC)
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Thursday, February 24, 2011 Kitchener City Hall, Conestoga Room
PRESENT:
Gordon Cummer (Co-Chair), Sharon Giles(Co-Chair), Taposhi Batabyal, Sharon Ward-
Zeller, Anthony Cashin, Kurt Schneider, Paula Saunders, Mike Begin, Ken Parker, David Kuhn,
Carrie Speers, Amy Ross, Kelly Steiss, Val Hummel, Vanessa Lopak, Jeanette Nicholson (ASL
Interpreter), Lesley Roach (ASL Interpreter), Johanna Ellis (Recorder), Councillor Jean Hallboom
(Region of Waterloo), Councillor Jeff Henry (City of Waterloo), Councillor Kelly Galloway (City of
Kitchener)
GUESTS:
Sergeant Kevin Thaler, Meghan Hines (Waterloo Regional Libraries)
REGRETS (MEMBERS):
Kathleen Nessner
1.0 WELCOME AND INTRODUCTIONS
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Gord reported to all that the minutes of the meeting were being recorded. There was no
opposition.
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Introduction of committee, staff and councillors
2.0 APPROVAL OF DECEMBER MINUTES & JANUARY AGENDA
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Motion by Anthony Cashin to accept the minutes, seconded by David Kuhn, carried.
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Additional items for the agenda; 1. Co-chair report immediately following council reports.
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Guest from City of Waterloo Museum to be rescheduled for another meeting.
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Add allotted times for each item to future agendas
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Motion by Sharon Ward-Zeller to accept the agenda as amended, seconded by Ken Parker,
carried.
3.0 DECLARATIONS OF PECUNIARY INTEREST
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No conflicts of interest were declared.
4.0 AODA INTEGRATED STANDARD (Vanessa Lopak)
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Proposed to come into effect July 1, 2011.
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Public comment period for the draft standard ends March 18, 2011.
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Also proposed amendments to the AODA Customer Service Regulation, and to the Highway
Traffic Act Regulation 629.
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Draft Integrated Regulation includes general standards, and standards in information and
communication, employment, and transportation.
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Timelines for compliance differ for Ontario Public Service, large and small public sector
organizations. Ontario Public Service would be the first ones to comply with the
requirements.
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General standards include provisions regarding accessibility plans, policies, the procurement
of goods, services, and facilities, self service kiosks, and training. Compliance dates for
large public sector organizations are January 1, 2013 (policies, plans, and procurement) and
January, 2014 (kiosks, training).
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Definitions and exemptions are provided for information and communications. Requirements
include establishing accessible feedback processes; providing accessible formats and
communication supports upon request; emergency procedures, plans, and public safety
information; website requirements; and public libraries. For large public sector organizations
timelines range from January 1, 2012 (emergency information) to January 1, 2015
(accessible formats and communication supports), and website compliance in two phases,
by January 1, 2017 and January 1, 2021.
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Employment standards will apply to paid employees, not volunteers or other non-paid
individuals, and include provisions regarding recruitment, information to employees,
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accessible formats and communication supports, workplace emergency response
information, documented accommodations plans, return to work processes, and processes
for performance management, career development, and redeployment. Large public sector
organizations would need to reach compliance by January 1, 2014 on all provisions with the
exception of emergency response information by January 1, 2012.
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The transportation standard has the most comprehensive requirements, with some
provisions required to be met by July 1, 2011. These include requirements regarding fares,
courtesy seating, pre-boarding announcements, on-board announcements, and fees for
taxicabs. Some technical requirements will be phased in on a go-forward basis and will
apply only to vehicles purchased after the standard is enacted, allowing for existing contracts
to be honoured. Municipalities will need to work with their accessibility advisory committees
for advice on accessible transit stops and numbers of accessible taxicabs, and must plan for
these in the accessibility plan.
5.0 WOOLWICH ACCESSIBILITY PLAN (Val Hummel)
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Population of the Township of Woolwich is approximately 22,500
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Continue allocation of staff resources towards the support of the Grand River Accessibility
Advisory Committee. Staff will attend monthly Co-Chair meetings. Staff will attend GRAAC
meetings when Woolwich issues are on the agenda or when staff other municipalities require
Woolwich’s assistance at a GRAAC meeting.
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Continue working to ensure compliance with all Standards of the AODA.
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Continue awareness training for new staff, contractors and volunteers.
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Review of BrowseAloud as a component of the 2012 budget to improve accessibility of the
Township of Woolwich website.
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Continue providing large-print agendas at Council and Committee of the Whole meetings.
Finalize the procedures for use of assistive listening devices in the Council Chambers.
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Continue placing ads in the Recreation Brochure and occasionally in the Community Page to
inform residents that their comments, questions, concerns and suggestions should be
forwarded to the Accessibility Coordinator.
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Continue making large-print Recreational Guides available to the public.
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Review the 2007 Accessibility Audit of Municipal Facilities to see what actions still need to be
accomplished and work with the Recreation and Facilities Services on an implementation
plan.
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Anthony had commented that there needs to be some sort of communication tool other than
email. Anthony also said it would be better to have Gail Brunsdon in attendance for input.
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Taposhi thanked Val for the Township involvement.
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Taposhi also reported on items that have been brought to her attention such as;
infrastructure needs to be kept up (ie. sidewalks); The isles are not wide enough for
wheelchairs at the fitness centre; parking woes on the municipal lot on Church St W (Elmira),
access spot not kept clear; library courtyard, uneven ground; a Senior had a problem on
election day (Municipal election). He couldn’t stand in long line at new voting poll place.
*BREAK*
6.0 POLICE REVISED STANDARDS (Sergeant Kevin Thaler)
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Appreciated input from committee.
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Avoid the term reasonable and make it sound firmer (“the police shall”).
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AODA compliance issues should be directed to the WRPS Quality Assurance.
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Re-designed internet for public use. Can put a link directly to Quality Assurance.
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“Forms” drive has a list of who is available.
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Meeting with Mandy Conlon (re TTY) on March 22.
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Need to work on existing TTY (enhanced 911 calls)
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Anthony commented that he can call the Police station through TTY but not through Bell
Relay.
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Anthony offered to volunteer to help out with any type of “pilot project” program that the
WRPS rolls out regarding 911 calls.
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3 new WRPS buildings are under construction and will all be accessible.
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WRPS has both internet and intranet (intranet being an internal service for officers and staff
of WRPS).
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Taposhi shared a concern that “mental health” is not addressed in the document (invisible
disabilities).
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Sgt. Thaler replied that there are resources available to officers to assist with issues on
mental health, however, the link can be added to the document.
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Sgt. Thaler was thanked for all of his hard work.
*BREAK*
7.0 COUNCILLORS REPORT(S)
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Councillor Jeff Henry (City of Waterloo); City of Waterloo council has approved 2011 budget.
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Beginning March 1, 2011, the City of Waterloo will have BrowseAloud.
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Councillor Kelly Galloway (City of Kitchener); All day budget talks on Monday February 28,
2011 and Tuesday March 1, 2011.
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In the proposed budget, the City of Kitchener identified $100,000 yearly for the next 10 years
for accessibility improvements.
8.0 CO-CHAIRS REPORT
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Focus group – Transportation master plan
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GRAAC Co-chairs will be visiting each City/Town council within the next few months.
9.0 WATERLOO REGIONAL LIBRARY UPDATE (Meghan Hines)
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Meghan introduced herself and asked the committee for feedback on what they would like to
see at the various locations of the Waterloo Regional libraries.
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In her new position, she has already begun to work on signage.
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Meghan passed around her contact information and encouraged staff to contact her with any
suggestions.
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The library branches that Meghan services are the Township libraries.
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Gord Cummer suggested that committee members visit libraries and report or comment on
what is missing.
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Kelly Galloway sits on the KPL (Kitchener Public Library) Board and committee can contact
Councillor Galloway if there are any concerns with Kitchener Library branches.
10. STAFF UPDATE (Vanessa Lopak, Kelly Steiss)
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Last week the ROW (Region of Waterloo) Accessibility Plan was approved by council.
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Learning Summit at the end of March.
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Kelly Steiss has returned to her position as Inclusion Coordinator with the City of Kitchener
and the City of Waterloo.
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Kelly reported that the updated outdoor patio encroachment policy is going to be going to city
council. This will outline requirements of outdoor patios on city property.
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Anthony to send Kelly an email regarding his concerns around outdoor patios.
11. ADJOURNMENT
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Motion to adjourn by Sharon Giles
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NEXT MEETING: Thursday March 24, 2011, 1:30 – 4:00 p.m., **Conestoga Room**
200 King St W, Kitchener
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