HomeMy WebLinkAbout2016-01-28Grand River Accessibility Advisory Committee
Date: Thursday January 28th, 2016
Location: Conestoga Room, Kitchener City Hall
Present:
Amanda Moorhead, Greg Moore (Co -Chair), Donna Hartzler, Rob Bender, Andrew Tutty,
Sharon Giles, Carrie Speers, Mike Shipley, Lolita Paroski (City of Kitchener/City of Waterloo),
Gina Hickman (Region of Waterloo), Wendy Smith (Township of Wellesley), Johanna Ellis (City
of Kitchener, Recorder), Julie Forth (Township of Woolwich), Dawn Mittelholtz (Township of
Wilmot), Councillor Sue Foxton (Region of Waterloo), Councillor Bob Mavin (City of Waterloo)
Guests:
Michelle Drake (City of Kitchener), Gethyn Beniston (GRT — Region of Waterloo)
Regrets:
Keri Cameron, Paula Saunders, Kathie Must, Councillor Kelly Galloway-Sealock (City of
Kitchener), Vanessa Lopak (Region of Waterloo)
Absent:
Dawn Clelland, Brenda Robinson
1.0 Welcome and Introductions
• Greg welcomed everyone.
2.0 Approval of December Minutes and January Agenda
• Motion by Mike Shipley, seconded by Sharon Giles to accept the December minutes,
carried.
• Motion by Donna Hartzler, seconded by Carrie Speers to accept the January agenda,
carried.
3.0 Declarations of Pecuniary Interests
• None
4.0 GRAAC Transportation Sub Committee — Greg Moore
• This committee is will not meet separately for now but will be integrated into the GRAAC
agenda.
• It has been very difficult to set up meetings.
• A decision was made to hold the co-chair position for now. The committee will revisit
this later in the year.
5.0 City of Kitchener Neighbourhood Strategy — Michelle Drake
• Michelle presented a power point that outlined what the Neighbourhood Strategy is
about.
• What is it? The Neighbourhood Strategy will help neighbours connect and work together
to do great things in their neighbourhoods.
• How are we developing it? The groups involved are the Project Team which is made up
of Citizens and City staff. Included in the city staff are members of the Employee
Advisory Committee and the Safe and Healthy Community Advisory Committee. There
are 4 sub -committees as follows:
1. Communication & Engagement Sub -Committee
2. Best Practices Research Sub -Committee
3. Data Review & Collection Sub -Committee
4. Stakeholder List Sub -Committee
• Last summer when this was initially rolled out there were 27 events. There was a free
lemonade stand and a cookie if you filled out a survey. 2,000 glasses of lemonade were
handed out and the city received 1,308 surveys.
• Pre -Engagement includes; #lovemyhood stories (December — April) and looking at
handing out colouring books in March (Family Activity Book and Adult Colouring Book).
• There are 3 streams of Engagement to gather input;
1. Creative
2. Conversational
3. Online
• How can you help? — Review the stakeholder list and let Michelle know if there are any
groups that are not listed. Get involved this year between May and August 2016. Stay
informed and spread the word through social media.
• The Neighbourhood Strategy will not;
- Create more red tape
- Ignore what is already working
- Take a top down approach
- Only engage the people who are already engaged
- Be inflexible
- Focus on problems
- Presume to be able to tell neighbours what they need
- Apply an inflexible, one -size fits all approach
- Sit on a shelf and not be implemented
6.0 Election:
Co -Chair Nominations:
Donna Hartzler — declined
Amanda Moorhead — declined
- Carrie Spears — accepted
- Sharon Giles — accepted
Rob Bender — declined
- Andrew Tutty — accepted
Greg Moore — declined
Co -Chairs elected are: Carrie Spears and Sharon Giles
Built Environment Committee Chair
Paula Saunders — accepted
- Greg Moore — declined
Chair: Paula Saunders
GRAAC — January 2016 Minutes Page 2
BREAK
7.0 Election Results
• Election results were announced before break.
8.0 GRT SmartCard Technology — Gethyn Beniston (GRT)
• The SmartCard will eventually replace all fare types and be accepted on Grand River
Transit buses, LRT and Mobility Plus.
• Transfers will be written in the memory of the card once it is tapped.
• Buses will only take coins.
• Cards are customer specific.
• There are a couple of different pieces of fare collection equipment.
Fare box
Hand held for mobility plus and used by fare inspectors
• There will be ticket vending machines on all ION platforms.
• The EasyGo fare card includes, most fare types and are reloadable.
• The paper fare card in not reloadable.
• Paper ticketsltransfers can be printed on demand.
• Fare boxes include; electronic coin counter, smart card reader, bar code reader, transfer
printer.
• The handheld card reader will be used by fare inspectors on Mobility Plus, BusPlus,
Kiwanis Transit.
• Ticket vending machines will sell and re -load EasyGo cards; sell paper fare cards;
accepts cash payments, print transfers, accept transfers, accept Smart Cards, also
accepts credit/debit. These will be available at all ION stations and all satellite terminals.
• The Platform Fare Processor will be for Rapid Fare payments with SmartCard or Paper
Fare Card. There will be a barcode reader for transfers. These will be available on each
ION platform.
• If you choose to purchase online, there is a 24 hour waiting period to process
tickets/cards.
• GRT/ION has followed all the height requirements for machines and used ADA
guidelines.
• Transition to electronic payment from September 2016 -- May 2017.
BREAK
9.0 Built Environment Update — Lolita Paroski
• Issues with water draining on sidewalks.
• City of Kitchener engineering staff reached out to Lolita regarding the accessibility of a
product that is being considered for purchase.
• It is believed by staff that this product may help with water drainage on sidewalks.
• Lolita Shared the information with Paula.
Comment
• If the sidewalks keep sinking, there is most likely an infrastructure problem.
GRAAC — January 2016 Minutes Page 3
• Comments provided when installing the product to install flush to the sidewalk with no
edge to it (accessibility).
10.0 Councillor(s) Report(s):
• Bob Mavin (City of Waterloo Councillor) — Councillor Mavin thanked Greg Moore for his
service as the GRAAC Co -Chair.
• The leaf collection issue was taken to city council.
• Bricks at intersections are not as good as asphalt.
• Budget at the City of Waterloo is February 81h, 2016.
• Sue Foxton (Mayor of North Dumfries and Regional Council) — Mayor Foxton thanked
Greg Moore for his service as the GRAAC Co -Chair.
Sue Morgan received an award from Regional Council — AODA 10th Anniversary.
11.0 Staff Report(s) — Lolita Paroski, Dawn Mittelholtz
• Lolita encouraged the committee to provide feedback for the Neighbourhood Strategy.
Email Lolita with any feedback.
• Tuesday February 23`d, 2016 there will be a Compass Kitchener meeting. All Advisory
Committees of Council are encouraged to attend and network with other committees.
Let Lolita know if you want to attend.
ACTION: Lolita will email out Compass Kitchener meeting information to committee members.
• Lolita thanked Greg Moore for his work on the committee as co-chair, on behalf of staff.
• Dawn Mittelholtz reported that she had information that a change room bench at the
Wilmot Township Recreation Centre is being used as an adult change table.
Co -Chair Report -- Greg Moore
• Greg reported that he enjoyed his time as the GRAAC co-chair and congratulated the 2
new co-chairs.
12.0 Adjournment
• Motion to adjourn by Amanda Moorhead, seconded by Donna Hartzler — Carried.
Next meeting is Thursday February 25th, 2016 from 1:30 — 4:00 pm at Kitchener City Hall in the
Conestoga Room.
GRAAC — January 2016 Minutes Page 4