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Home My WebLink AboutGRAAC - 2011-10-27Grand River Accessibility Advisory Committee (GRAAC) Thursday, October 27th, 2011 Kitchener City Hall, Conestoga Room PRESENT: Gordon Cummer (Co- Chair), Sharon Giles(Co- Chair), Sharon Ward - Zeller, Paula Saunders, Anthony Cashin, Taposhi Batabyal, Kurt Schneider, Gail Brunsdon, Carrie Speers, David Kuhn, Ken Parker, Kelly Steiss (City of Kitchener), Vanessa Lopak (ROW), Lori Palubeski (Manager, Program & Resource Services), Karen Panchaud (ASL Interpreter), Lesley Roach (ASL Interpreter), Johanna Ellis (Recorder),CounciIlor Jean Haalboom (Region of Waterloo), Councillor Kelly Galloway (City of Kitchener), Councillor Jeff Henry (City of Waterloo) REGRETS (MEMB 1.0 WELCOME AND INTRODUCTIONS • Gord Cummer called the meeting to order. • Welcome and round table introductions. 2.0 APPROVAL OF SEPTEMBER MINUTES & OCTOBER AGENDA • Motion by Sharon Ward - Zeller to accept the October agenda, seconded by Ken Parker /carried. • Motion, as amended by Sharon Ward - Zeller, seconded by Carrie Speers to accept the September minutes with the following amendment; "wording from the Taxi tariff card fares be added to the minutes ". Carried as amended. *Added to the September minutes* • Tariff cards were discussed (Region of Waterloo). The Region of Waterloo tariff card contains the following: Licensing and Enforcement Services Effective October e, 2011 If you have a compliment or complaint, please call our office at: 519 - 575 -4591. Taxi -cab Tariff $3.50 — initial meter fare $2.10 — per kilometer $31.20 — per hour waiting /contract HST included in fares. Note: a Driver providing a taxi -cab service or an accessible taxi -cab service may turn on his or her taxi -cab meter before the passenger has occupied the taxi -cab or accessible cab if: a) the passenger has requested the taxi -cab or accessible taxi -cab at a specific location at a specific time; or b) The driver or passenger is loading or unloading the passenger's personal items into or from the taxi -cab or accessible taxi -cab. Mobility assistance devices are not a personal item. 3.0 DECLARATIONS OF PECUNIARY INTEREST • No conflicts of interest were declared. 4.0 COUNCILLOR'S REPORT(S) • Councillor Galloway(City of Kitchener) — Considerations in Council reports regarding access. • Using Ottawa as an example; when bringing forward reports from committees (Ottawa) they include accessibility impacts in their staff reports. This was passed at Ottawa City council early in October. • City of Kitchener started budget process. November 17th, Capital budget; December 5th Operating budget; January 19th, final budget. • Next year is the City of Kitchener's 100th anniversary. Kick of event is June 10th, 2012. October 2011 - GRAAC Minutes 1 • Grand opening of Kingsdale was end of October. • Councillor Henry (City of Waterloo) — Gord Cummer and Sharon Giles attended and gave a report at a Waterloo City Council meeting. Council appreciated the report. • City of Waterloo committees are looking at implementing "needs" in reports. • New City of Waterloo library is opened. Good lighting and bright colours! • There was a public meeting held in the Northdale community (between two universities in Waterloo). Integrated neighbourhood, accessible, bright. Will be going forward to council January and March. • Councillor Haalboom (Region of Waterloo) — Would like to see a sample of the reports (Ottawa example). This would assist on what can potentially be improved upon at the Region. This process should be brought forward at Committee of Council meetings. A sample question could be: "What accessibility recommendations /accommodations are in this report and does it meet with AODA requirements. • Budget for 2012 discussions. Two meetings, November 16th and December 14th. January 18th will be approval date. • Budget for 18 new buses for 2012. Staff is looking at ways /ideas to widen isles on buses. • November 12th, Regional Museum's grand opening. • Vanessa reported that the staff at the City of Ottawa would work with the accessibility committee to create a checklist to make sure items were met. ACTION: • See how this unfolds in Ottawa 5.0 REGION OF WATERLOO DRAFT ACCESSIBILTY PLAN 2012 (Vanessa Lopak) • Vanessa presented an overview of the draft Region of Waterloo Accessibility Plan, for feedback from GRAAC. The Region's plan is primarily based on the requirements of the AODA Integrated Accessibility Standard. Vanessa reviewed the status updates from 2011, including the 7 Accessibility Focus Areas from 2011 and the AODA compliance requirements for 2011. Vanessa also reviewed the planned actions for 2012. The following feedback was provided: • Can the single TTY number accommodate more than 1 TTY call at a time? Yes, TextNet provides for more than one TTY conversation at the same time. • Format of the Plan: It is not very clear what is a status update and what is a planned action. Is there any way to better organize the information, or introduce the structure so the reader knows what to expect? • Are there requirements for LRT? Does LRT know about their requirements? Vanessa can contact Nancy Button in LRT to follow up with LRT needs. • There continues to be no public transportation to the airport. This is a problem. • Signage at GRT continues to be a concern. The blue /yellow does not provide enough contrast. The numbering at the Charles St. terminal to indicate the route number has gotten smaller. Publications from GRT are of a small font and poor contrast. GRAAC recommends having an open discussion with GRT to discuss contrast. • Be sure to update the TTY number with BELL and the telephone book. • Contact CHS for updates in technologies for TextNet/TTY. *BREAK* 6.0 TOWNSHIP OF WELLESLEY ACCESSIBILITY PLAN • Report is very short (keeping in mind it is a smaller community) • Font is too small in the document October 2011 - GMAC Minutes 2 GRAAC is very pleased to see this report and it is much appreciated. A couple of questions from the committee included; "Did they do AODA training ?" and "Is there an update on snow removal, where does it stand ?" Questions will be forwarded to Rick through the Chairpersons. How much consultation was done before the document was printed? 7.0 ROUNDABOUTS: • Roundabouts, and issues with them, have been in the media recently. • Attention is being given to safety hazards. • CNIB made relatively formal statement indicating that they do not support them. • There was a discussion around drafting a formal letter and decided that the one sent a couple of years ago would be resent. • Walk about was done with persons with disabilities (members of the GRAAC committee). As a committee, GRAAC does not approve of roundabouts. • GRAAC was one of the very first groups to voice concerns regarding roundabouts. • Complaint was made about the roundabout at Huron & Strasburg and the ramping for pedestrians. ACTION: Using previous letter as a model, send another letter and make sure each council member at all Municipalities get a copy. Motion by Sharon Ward Zeller and seconded by Carrie Speers; "Recommend GRAAC, as a committee to refer to their previous letter and draft a new letter, re stating serious concerns about the safety of roundabouts and persons with disabilities and strongly suggest that staff develop and implement any or all possible solutions to promote safety for all pedestrians." Motion was carried. Pass along original letter to committee members. 8.0 AODA REVIEW, EMPLOYEMENT STANDARD (Taposhi Batabyal, Sharon) • Deferred until the November meeting. 9.0 CO- CHAIR'S REPORT (Gordon Cummer) • Gord and Taposhi attended the workshop "Making Sense of Abilities). Taposhi spoke at the workshop. • Gord and Sharon attended a Waterloo City Council meeting on October 24tH • Recruitment for new GRAAC members. There are 8 positions to fill for 2012. Notices are our. Applications due October 28th, 2011. • Paula reported that her and Kelly visited the Kitchener Auditorium and met with Dave Berry. Washrooms are all very different. Work has been done on the main floor washrooms. There is a plan to continue to make improvements. All in all it was a great tour. • GRT public consultation. Sharon Ward Zeller attended. Detailed plan revealed for the next 5 years. Items such as scheduling, Express routes, LRT, new routes. Better service is ahead for Mobility Plus. • Election for Co- Chairs in January 2012. • Kelly is being seconded to another position within the City of Kitchener. The committee thanked her for all of her support and presented her with flowers. • Motion by Ken Parker to adjourn at 3:55pm Next meeting is November 24th, 2011 at 1:30, Conestoga Room, Kitchener City Hall. October 2011 - GMAC Minutes 3 October 2011 - GRAAC Minutes