Loading...
HomeMy WebLinkAboutGRAAC 2015-10-22Grand River Accessibility Advisory Committee Date: Thursday October 22nd, 2015 Location: Conestoga Room, Kitchener City Hall Present: Greg Moore (Co- Chair), David Kuhn (Co- Chair), Keri Cameron, Donna Hartzler, Amanda Moorhead, Carrie Speers, Brenda Robinson, Rob Bender, Dawn Clelland, Paula Saunders, Andrew Tutty, Lolita Paroski (City of Kitchener /City of Waterloo), Vanessa Lopak (Region of Waterloo), Kaitlyn Werth (Township of Wellesley), Shannon Sweeney (City of Kitchener, Recorder), Dawn Mittelholtz (Township of Wilmot), Julia Sippel (Township of North Dumfries), Councillor Kelly Galloway - Sealock (City of Kitchener) Regrets: Mike Shipley, Laura Master, Sharon Giles, Kathie Must, Julie Forth (Township of Woolwich) Councillor Bob Mavin (City of Waterloo), Councillor Sue Foxton (Region of Waterloo) Guest(s): Karl Jeffreys (Township of Wilmot) 1.0 Welcome and Introductions • David welcomed everyone • Round table introductions 2.0 Approval of September Minutes and October Agenda • Moved by Paula Saunders and seconded by Carrie Speers to accept the September minutes. CARRIED • Moved by Donna Hartzler and seconded by Greg Moore to accept the October agenda. CARRIED 3.0 Declarations of Pecuniary Interests • None 4.0 Township of Wilmot Website Refresh (Dawn Mittelholtz — Township of Wilmot) • Wilmot.ca coming soon. • Working with E- Solutions who have designed websites for many municipalities. • The website is AODA compliant. • Not quite ready for public viewing but close. • Now you can search for what it is you are looking for instead of "needing" to know what department. • Feedback tab on website is for website feedback only, not general questions. • There is now a page for community events and is open to the community to post their events as well. • There will be a link to the GRAAC website. • There is lots of accessibility information. • The colour palate from WC3 was used. This was used as it is the most accessible and the ease of navigation. You will notice lots of contrast. • When the tender went out it was stated that the website needed to be user friendly on all mobile platforms, (phone, Blackberry and Android. • Testing is now taking place. • Expected launch date is December 3, 2015. • Dawn can be contacted anytime with suggestions or concerns. Questions/ Comments from GRAAC • Dawn Clelland asked if there is a description of the photos attached to photos on the website for the visually impaired? Yes, there is. • Greg Moore suggested Dawn Mittelholtz talk to City of Kitchener to see what challenges they have had. Meetings have taken place between the different Cities and Townships through this entire process. • It was suggested by Brenda Robinson that there be a list of accessible restaurants and stores in the Township. Dawn Mittelholtz and Karl Jefferys liked this idea and will be taking it back to see what could be done further. Amanda cautioned because of the degrees of Accessibility. Amanda has seen an accessibility grading system. • Any questions please send to Dawn Mittelholtz (Township of Wilmot) 5.0 Township of North Dumfries Status Update — (Julie Sippel — Township of North Dumfries) Staff Training • Ongoing training of all new staff and crossing guards has occurred over the year. • Training for all staff and volunteers on the human rights code as it pertains to persons with disabilities has been and is currently ongoing for all new employees and volunteers. • All Council members were trained in Accessible Customer Service, the Accessibility for Ontarians with Disabilities Act and the Human Rights Code in January. Accessibility Plan • Implementation and maintenance of the accessibility plan for the Township of North Dumfries occurred and is ongoing with new deadlines from the AODA. • Status update to GRAAC completed and presented in October. Emeraencv Procedures and Plan • Review of the emergency plan is currently underway as our Fire Chief is looking at alternative service delivery in emergency situations. Our current Emergency Plan is posted and available to the public, any changes to this plan will be released to the public. Accessibility and the Public • The Township of North Dumfries has included a statement on the website informing the public that accessible formats and communication supports are available upon request. • Staff are trained through the Customer Service Standard and Integrated Accessibility Standards Regulation that they are to provide accessible formats and communication supports upon request. • North Dumfries Township has been operating a TTY line since January 2015. The number is available on business cards, the website, and all email correspondence as well. Website GRAAC — October 2015 Minutes Page 2 • All new items added to the website are created in an accessible format to ensure accessibility for all. • Retraining of all Staff on the creation of accessible documents is planned for early 2016. • North Dumfries is considering further updates to the website interface and cross training of more employees on the website interface to ensure documents are readily available and information accessible. Recruitment, Hiring, and Staff • Review of policies and practices with respect to recruitment, hiring, and interviewing as per the requirements under the employment standards. • Policy changes for recruitment and hiring have been implemented as per the AODA. • Notification of accommodation for applicants with disabilities is included in recruitment ads. • Successful applicants are notified of accommodations available to them during the offer of employment. • Staff is notified during training that if they do require accessible formats or communications supports to do their job, this can be made available to them and that employees need to inform their supervisors of this request. • Individualized workplace emergency response information to employees who have a disability are available. No employees have asked for an individualized plan to date. • A return to work process and plan for employees who have been absent from work due to disability has been created and implemented. Staff have been informed of its availability. • All available updates to Staff are maintained on our office server for reference of employees at any time. All new staff are provided copies of the policies to ensure they are aware of the availability of the processes. Built Environment Updates • Snow removal tenders have just been completed. The contracted company will be starting a 3 year contract which includes snow removal within 24 hours of the event. All new sidewalks including Inglis Street expansion have been included in the tender and are accounted for. • North Dumfries Administration Office has been relocated to the North Dumfries Community Complex. The building was built in 2011 with many accessibility features including automatic doors, an elevator to the second and lower levels as well as visual fire alarms. AODA Compliance Reporting • The Township of North Dumfries has completed the AODA Compliance Reporting required for 2015. 6.0 Councillor Report(s) — (Councillor Kelly Galloway - Sealock - City of Kitchener) • Budget season is coming up near the end of November. For the City of Kitchener the deficit is insignificant to our budget. • There will be a new South District Sport Complex built. Planned to open in the Fall of 2018. • The Iron Horse trail survey will be coming through on November 2nd 1:3:7 :_1: / GRAAC — October 2015 Minutes Page 3 7.0 Position Papers Review and Discussion — Greg Moore • Open discussion on what to include in positions papers • It was suggested that we include seniors and caregivers. Suggested we acknowledge townships that are already have snow clearing worked into their budget and are actively doing it. • When people with disabilities are held up at home because of snow clearing and do not have the ability to do daily walk or participate in community functions it is a real hardship. • Councillor Kelly Galloway - Sealock suggested the position paper be kept to 2 pages if possible. First page should have bold points made and expectations after. Position paper on Accessible Roundabouts • Dawn CIelland presents the position paper she wrote. • Suggested that it be sized down to as close to 2 pages as possible. • Keri Cameron suggested that maybe appendixes should be used and offered to help with this. • Suggested bold points be made with recommendations to follow. • Several wording suggestions were made "persons with disabilities" is one recommendation over using "pedestrians with impairments ". • Councillor Kelly Galloway - Sealock asked if all recommendations are "required" and suggested we have a short list of required recommendations. • Dawn CIelland and Greg Moore to work together on position papers so they can have a similar format. Summary • David Kuhn acknowledged condensing both position papers need to happen. The research that has been done is great and appreciates the hard work. BREAK 8.0 Built Environment Committee Update — Paula Saunders a) Curb cuts are not being installed properly and there are concerned citizens. Meeting with City Staff, Paula & Lolita to be arranged. b) Recent news was that Huron Farms Community Gardens are closing. City of Kitchener staff has reached out to Built Environment Committee. Paula and Lolita will pull the comments GRAAC provided towards accessible community garden at Chandler Mowat Community Centre. The information will be shared with City staff as a frame work for accessible gardens. c) They are putting in a new outdoor surface and they wanted input. Lori Ludwig (City of Waterloo), the Principal, Lolita and Paula as well as the football coach met. Paula, Lolita and Lori Ludwig (City of Waterloo), met with Bluevale principal and staff to provide feedback on outdoor surface and signage for the fitness playground. d) The ramp at Forest Heights Pool was installed. Re- opening Monday October 26tH e) Reminder to send all input on the Iron Horse Trail to Josh Joseph by Monday November 2nd, 2015. GRAAC — October 2015 Minutes Page 4 9.0 Transportation Committee Update — Sharon Giles • Terms of Reference: Need to find a meeting time with the Built Environment Chair and the Co- Chairs to brainstorm mandate October GTSC meeting: Brought in 1 Region and 3 GrandLinq staff, who highlighted where the LRT construction is at, process involved, and practices for ensuring accessibility at construction sites. Group provided feedback on construction accessibility, such as ensuring good transitions between concrete and dirt surfaces, ensuring reasonably level surfaces, and customer service practices. GrandLinq has responded to group with improvements, and include accessible customer service in their Toolbox Talks, a daily discussion with all crews at the start of the day. Afterwards, the group also brainstormed overall construction accessibility recommendations, which, with collaboration with GBESC, may become a position paper. Taxi ByLaw: we are currently waiting for the revised bylaw to be released for public review. Once released (hopefully by the November GTSC meeting), the group will review the bylaw and develop a response. Next GTSC meeting is Thursday November 17th, 150 Frederick St, room 217, from 1- 2:30pm. 10.0 Co- chair/ Staff Reports • Wendy to take over for Kaitlyn Draker permanently. Congratulations to Kaitlyn on expecting her first child. Motion to Adjourn by Dawn Clellend, seconded by Amanda Moorhead and carried. Next meeting is Thursday November 26th, 2015 at Kitchener City Hall in the Conestoga Room GRAAC — October 2015 Minutes Page 5