HomeMy WebLinkAboutGRAAC 2015-06-25Grand River Accessibility Advisory Committee
Date: Thursday June 25th, 2015
Location: Conestoga Room, Kitchener City Hall
Present:
Greg Moore (Co- Chair), David Kuhn (Co- Chair), Sharon Giles, Rob Bender, Donna Hartzler,
Amanda Moorehead, Carrie Speers, Mike Shipley, Dawn Clelland, Brenda Robinson, Vanessa
Lopak (Region of Waterloo), Lolita Paroski (City of Kitchener /City of Waterloo), Julie Forth
(Township of Woolwich), Johanna Ellis (City of Kitchener, Recorder)
Regrets:
Keri Cameron, Andrew Tutty, Kathie Must, Paula Saunders, Laura Master, Councillor Kelly
Galloway - Sealock (City of Kitchener), Councillor Bob Mavin (City of Waterloo), Councillor Sue
Foxton (Region of Waterloo), Kaitlyn Werth (Township of Wellesley), Julia Sippel (Township of
North Dumfries), Dawn Mittelholtz (Township of Wilmot)
Guest(s):
Angelo Apfelbaum (Region of Waterloo), Aiden Lucas (Region of Waterloo)
1.0 Welcome and Introductions
• Greg welcomed everyone
• Round table introductions
2.0 Approval of May Minutes and June Agenda
• Moved by Mike Shipley, seconded by Carrie Speers to accept the May minutes.
CARRIED
• Move agenda item #9 to #8 as there will be no councilor reports.
• Moved by Dawn Clelland, seconded by Amanda Moorhead to accept the June agenda.
CARRIED
3.0 Declarations of Pecuniary Interests
• None
4.0 Woolwich Multi -Year Accessibility Plan (Julie Forth)
Highlights:
• Accessible Services including ASL Interpreter Services, PAL Card (Personal Attendant
for Leisure), sidewalk snow clearing, accessible parking and emergency evacuation
plans.
• The Township has been replacing old facilities with newer accessible buildings or
upgrades in existing facilities.
• Working on updates in accordance with yearly budget.
• Gibson Park in Elmira opened in July of 2012; community funded accessible
playground; designed for all children of all abilities; sensory wall, sand play area, zip
lines, accessible swings, climbing equipment and slides.
• Initiatives for 2015 -2019 include continuously reviewing and monitoring Provincial
Legislation; re- design of the website (2015- 2016), going live in 2017.
2015 Initiatives:
• Employment accommodation policy (2015)
• Updated accessible parking bylaw (2015)
• Design of public spaces — information support and awareness training (2015)
• Elevator at the Breslau Community Centre (2015)
• Township of Woolwich zoning bylaw, accessible parking provisions (2016)
• Review and consider alternate voting methods for 2018 municipal election (2017 -2018)
• St. Jacob's fire hall — accessible entrances (2018)
• New Breslau fire hall (2018)
• New Elmira fire hall (2019)
• Begin reviewing and preparing a new Accessibility Plan (2018 -2019)
Questions:
1. What about the pedestrian traffic signals?
- Will have to check with the Region
2. Are you looking at bylaws with regards to store fronts (accessible doors) and accessible
washrooms in stores and restaurants?
- There are no bylaws in place right now for private businesses. Training has been
done for staff and volunteers. Township is a resource for private business to assist
them in locating the information online.
5.0 Taxi Update (Angelo Apfelbaum, Region of Waterloo)
• The Region is updating the Taxi By -law, and will be undergoing public consultation.
GRAAC is considered an essential group to consult with.
• Angelo will send out an invitation to the group for a separate meeting, to get input on
what are the critical components to the Taxi By -law for persons with disabilities.
• The following is a summary of the group's discussion:
• What are you doing to make vehicles accessible to people who are blind to know
what the meter says? There is technology used in Vancouver that provides
audible information on fares, driver id, etc. Worth looking into.
• Training — what accessibility training do drivers get? Recommended expanding
training beyond drivers of accessible taxis, and ensuring training includes
customer service training. Include training on all types of disabilities, visible and
invisible.
• How will the Region handle companies who use smart phone applications to offer
rides (i.e. Uber)? The Region will need to decide if they allow Uber in the
community, and if they license Uber and UberX
• Find more ways for people to identify who their driver is and what car number
they are in, especially for people who are blind.
• Passenger safety is critical, especially for vulnerable groups. There should be
standards for taxi drivers where, when there is one passenger, they are not
allowed to sit in the front seat. The Region will be expanding the Police check for
all licensed drivers to include Vulnerable Persons Check.
6.0 Accessible Parking Position Paper
• Committee has reviewed the position paper that was sent out by email prior to the
meeting.
June 25th, 2015 — GRAAC Minutes Page 2
MOTION:
Brenda Robinson moved that the GRAAC Committee officially adopt the paper on
Accessible Parking and present it to our municipalities as a guideline for Accessible
Parking.
Seconded by Sharon Giles
Carried Unanimously
BREAK
7.0 Emergency Preparedness Training Module (Vanessa Lopak, Aiden Lucas — ROW)
• Vanessa and Aidan presented group with draft online training module, designed to train
and prepare Region staff on what to do in the event of an emergency at a Regional site
when vulnerable groups are present.
• Training module was provided in agenda package sent to GRAAC members.
• Aidan provided highlights of training module.
• Training content came from a variety of sources, including Province of Ontario resources
and the University of Washington.
• GRAAC members were asked to discuss what they liked /would change about the
training content, and what key piece of information they would like staff to know about
emergency preparedness and people with disabilities. Members shared the highlights of
their discussion with the whole group.
• Vanessa will be sending out an email request to GRAAC members, asking for volunteers
to take part in videos to be included in training module, explaining the importance of
emergency preparedness.
Discussion Highlights:
• Use the word "buddy" with caution. May be appropriate to describe someone to assist
children, but not adults. Perhaps use companion or associate instead.
• Do staff check washrooms? Please do it. People with hearing loss usually lose high
frequencies first, so alarms (which are usually high frequency) tend not to be heard.
• Like emphasises on asking first before assisting.
• Communicate to people what is going to happen, now what, then what.
• Provide information on how you can tell if someone needs assistance.
• Remind people that a lot of noise makes it even more difficult for someone who is blind
to navigate a room.
• Keep calm, and provide reassurance "we have done this in drills."
• Provide description / explanation when guiding someone who is blind "we are going
through a door, we are at the top of the stairs, we are outside at the meeting point, etc."
• Discuss evacuation plans in advance — part of regular housekeeping at the start of
meetings.
• Make it clear who is the leader in the evacuation.
• Make evacuation routes obvious (lines on floor, etc)
June 25th, 2015 — GRAAC Minutes Page 3
8.0 BUILT Environment Committee Update (Lolita Paroski)
1. Waterloo Memorial Recreation Complex locker replacements:
• The lockers in the male, female and universal change rooms are being replaced.
• Recommendations provided include;
a) Prefer the 3 tier and 2 tier lockers because a person from a seated position would be
able to access locker;
b) Have a mix of longer version locker and stacked lockers to accommodate a variety of
needs;
c) Consider not having the locker go too deep (would not select the 24" deep locker)
because articles may get pushed to the back and a person may not be able to reach
those articles;
d) Have an opening mechanism that would work for a person with limited hand use;
e) If the supplier has accessible lockers — possibly putting extra ones in the universal
change room and also have some accessible lockers in both female and male change
rooms;
f) Hooks and shelves lowered in accessible lockers.
2. Accessible drop -off at entrance of Waterloo City Hall:
• People have been driving up the interlocking brick pathway to the entrance doors in
order to drop off people.
• When backing out, once the person has been dropped off on different occasions,
pedestrians have been hit.
• A designated accessible drop off spot will be created at the base of the entrance.
• Barriers to block people from driving up the interlocking stones will be put in place. This
will still allow for a wheelchair to get through but will not allow for a car to get through.
• The construction of this will start after labour day. This space needs to be used for
special events during the summer months. The special events (i.e. Buskers etc.) that
typically happen on King Street are being moved to the entrance of city hall because of
the King Street construction.
3. Accessibility of the Iron Horse Trail
• Josh Joseph, from the City of Kitchener, has invited GRAAC members to join him on a
tour of the Iron Horse Trail in order to address any accessibility concerns.
• The tour is scheduled for Thursday July 2nd from 2 — 4 p.m., Union Street entrance.
• Lolita wrote down the names of the members interested and will send an email out with
further details.
9.0 Transportation Committee Update (Sharon Giles)
• The June 9th meeting was cancelled due to lack of attendance.
• Feedback on how to proceed in the future;
- Change meetings to a different time;
- Meet with two (2) people if necessary;
- Meetings would be too long to incorporate at GRAAC;
June 25th, 2015 — GRAAC Minutes Page 4
- Regular separate meetings of this committee is important;
- Vanessa has booked the 3 d Thursday of each month in the afternoon until the end
of 2016;
- Try to get ION reps at the September meeting;
- Make Transportation a regular monthly meeting and staff can attend when available;
- Vanessa will connect with ION staff and see if they are available for the September
meeting; Use July meeting to plan the fall agenda.
10.0 Co- Chair /Staff Reports
• No staff report this month
• David went to council meeting regarding infill policy changes. David spoke about
GRAAC's position on sidewalks. Primarily about GRAAC's Sidewalk Position Paper.
• Carrie went to a brainstorming session about the Iron Horse Trail. They discussed
signage, lighting and the size of the trail itself.
• Greg went to the Compass Kitchener Meeting. All Advisory Committee Chairpersons
and Staff were invited.
• Committees got together, in groups, to discuss similarities.
• Shared common goals, i.e. environment committee — accessible parks.
• Other committees learned a lot about GRAAC.
• Overall Greg concluded that Youth, GRAAC and MACKS had the most in common.
• Greg also attended the Iron Horse Trail meeting at the Victoria Park Pavillion.
• There was a lot of information about the trail.
• Online feedback is available.
Motion to Adjourn by David Kuhn, seconded by Carrie Speers and carried.
Next meeting is Thursday July 23 d, 2015 at Kitchener City Hall in the Conestoga Room
June 25th, 2015 — GRAAC Minutes Page 5