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HomeMy WebLinkAboutGRAAC - 2007-02-22Grand River Accessibility Advisory Committee (GRAAC) Thursday February 22, 2007 Kitchener City Hall, Conestoga Room PRESENT (MEMBERS): Taposhi Batabyal (Co-Chair), Brad Ullner, Sharon Giles, Sharon Ward-Zeller, Carol Moogk-Soulis, Gail Brunsdon, James Hunsberger, Chris Douglas, Mary Beth Hunter, Frank Groenestege, Saul Herzog. PRESENT (STAFF AND COUNCILLORS): Deb Bergey, Ana Popa, Leigh Golden, Lori Ludwig, Kelly Steiss, Councillor Jane Mitchell, Councillor Kelly Galloway and Ann Marie Hagey (recorder). REGRETS (MEMBERS): Ian Ardill (Co-Chair), Susan Harkins, and Gord Cummer. REGRETS (OTHERS): Darryl Denny, Val Hummel, and Dave Heuchert. ABSENT WITHOUT REGRETS: None Guests: Albert TenBruggencate, Steve Usher (Kitchener), Lois Andrea East, Chris Cressman (Waterloo) and Andrew Scheifele (Region of Waterloo). 1.0 WELCOME AND INTRODUCTIONS Taposhi welcomed everyone to the February meeting. 2.0 PRESENTATIONS Taposhi read a letter from Ian Ardill. Ian will be taking a 6 month leave of absence from GRAAC. He will contact the chair(s) when he is ready to return to GRAAC. 3.0 APPROVAL OF DECEMBER MINUTES AND REVIEW OF JANUARY AGENDA • A motion was made by Sharon Ward Zeller, seconded by James Hunsberger to accept the minutes of the January meeting. All were in favour; carried. • A motion was made by Sharon Giles, seconded by Sharon Ward Zeller to adopt the February agenda as submitted. All were in favour; carried. 4.0 NEW BUSINESS 4.1 City of Kitchener -Presented by Albert TenBruggencate & Steve Usher. Copies of the building evacuation plan were circulated prior to the meeting. Albert provided definitions of disabilities which are have identified in their plan. The City of Kitchener continues to improve their plan, recognizing that nothing is stagnant. He indicated that it is a last resort to carry non-ambulatory occupants out of a building for four reasons: # 1 -lack of training for those individuals doing the evacuating, #2 -the size of stairwells, #3 -what to do with occupants dependant on assistive devices once they are out of the building, and #4 -firefighters are the ones trained in such evacuations. The city has implemented a ~~~buddy system"'data base. This data base would identify those needing assistance and the type of assistance required, which would only be shared with security officers, fire wardens and the fire February 2007 - GRAAC Minutes - 361406 1 department. The city also has refuge areas which are designed for shelter from fire, smoke, severe weather and intruders. Stairwells have a 2 hour fire resistance rating. Floor wardens have a check list which is located on the first floor when using the ~~buddy system" Those using City of Kitchener buildings are also encouraged to have their own plan and to familiarize themselves with the buildings they go into. Know where emergency exists and pull stations are. The future goal is a central registry for those who require assistance during emergency situations, although at this time the city is not sure how this will look, but the city welcomes comments from GRAAC. The City of Kitchener has identified employees who possess ASL interpreting skills in the event they are needed in an evacuation. 4.2 Staff responded to GRAAC questions. Individuals with cognitive disabilities and those who are frail are considered in this plan. The evacuation areas are quite large. The buddy system is essential for individuals with visual impairments, as well as familiarizing yourself with the building. Elevators are not used to help evacuate, because the fire department has jurisdiction over elevators, however, they can over-ride the elevator if required. 4.3 City of Waterloo -Presented by Lois Amos-Herter, Chris Cressman and Lori Ludwig. Copies of the presentation were circulated prior to the meeting. The City of Waterloo's presentation focused mainly on recreational facilities like the Waterloo Memorial Recreation Complex. The plan is continually being updated. The scope of the plan is to prevent an incident by controlling the hazards. They have an emergency coordinator and fire wardens to help with implementation. Their job is to make sure the plan is followed and that evacuations are done in a timely and orderly manner. 4.4 Staff responded to GRAAC questions. They have had a small fire recently, but it did not require a full evacuation. They are looking at making a few changes. The current evacuation site for the pool area is Luther Village. This is quite far, particularly in winter. If an evacuation was required, a GRT bus would be called for evacuees sit in. They are re-evaluating the Luther Village location. Gail Brunsdon asked about visual alarms. Alarms flash white. It has been suggested that if there was smoke in a building, white might be easier to see. Gail suggested that red is traditionally used for emergencies and that is what the deaf, deafened and hearing impaired persons have been trained to identify. Too much white is hard to identify. There are flashing alarms at the Waterloo Memorial Recreation Complex and RIM Park. Smaller, older facilities are not equipped with alarms If it was unsafe for fire wardens to assist those with disabilities to evacuate, they would use an alternate plan. GRAAC suggested that if an exit does not have a way for anon-ambulatory person to exit, then there should be signs directing them to another accessible exit. Staff responded that they need to be careful when putting additional signs up. Exits are traditionally where you would find others for help. You need to make your own safe choices during evacuations. GRAAC asked about the safety of stairwells. These doors have a longer fire rating, are under positive pressure and are vented for smoke. ACTION: The City & Fire Department will follow up on the colour of visual alarms as per the building code. February 2007 - GRAAC Minutes - 361406 2 4.5 Region of Waterloo -presented by Andrew Scheifele. Copies of the presentation were circulated prior to the meeting. The Region's Corporate Health & Safety Group writes the policy and the plan, which are given to the fire department for approval, then implemented by staff. In the plan, the Region has floor wardens, exit wardens, and the chief warden, and each building has its own plan. The fire plans have specific sections for those with physical disabilities and those staff members who have disabilities would work with their supervisors to develop a specific plan. Stairwells in regional buildings have a capacity to hold individuals with disabilities. There are several stairwells. Information about anyone moved to a designated safe area is communicated to the exit warden who provides that information to the Chief Fire Warden. For after hours, clinics or public meetings concerns of those with mobility issues should be communicated to the regional staff hosting the meeting. After hours, staff still assume that there could be those who are non-ambulatory in the building. Some Regional buildings are equipped with visual alarms. 4.6 Staff responded to GRAAC questions. There is back-up for the wardens, and often they do the sweep together. Staff training on the plan is provided to exit and floor wardens, but not to the public or guests at the building. Note: Woolwich, Wellesley and North Dumfries emergency evacuations will be brought to a future meeting. 5.0 NEW BUSINESS Call for nominations for chair Kelly Steiss reviewed the process for nominations for chair, as follows The committee needs to re-elect their chair(s) annually and decide what model they will use for the upcoming year. Currently GRAAC is using the co-chair model. Role/ Model preferred The role of co-chair is: to set agendas; attend monthly co-chair meetings with staff, rotate chairing of meetings; determine quorum, manage meetings; expel members who are disruptive, offer guidance and remain neutral as required. A vote was held about the options - 6 votes for the co-chair model; 1 vote for chair & vice-chair model and no votes for the rotating chair. GRAAC decided to wait to make a final decision on the model until the next meeting. Letters of interest Letters of interest to be a chair should be sent to Linda Pretty by Thursday, March 8th and will be attached to the March Agenda. Handouts were available and the handout can be sent electronically if requested. In your letter of interest, you may express interest in being a chair, vice-chair or co-chair. ACTION: GRAAC will decide on the model and will proceed with nominations in March. 6.0 OTHER BUSINESS 6.1 SUBCOMMITTEE REPORTS February 2007 - GRAAC Minutes - 361406 3 6.1.1 Transportation Subcommittee Update (GTSC) -Sharon Ward Zeller reported that TTY payphones have been installed at both the Cambridge and Charles Street bus terminals. New signage is in place at the Charles Street location as well. GTSC will follow up with any outstanding issues and report back to GRAAC. In January, GRT transportation planning presented pedestrian refuge islands. Five new refuge islands are planned over the next two years. Sharon also provided the transportation 24 hour dispatch line: 519-650-8200. Dispatch has a list of every road construction project and each project manager for that project. You can contact the line if you see a project that is not providing appropriate signage or temporary planking. Sharon Giles spoke about the presentation in February: Rick Schram and Ron presented GRT MobilityPLUS history, stats and what the future plans are. GRT will come back to GTSC in May. 6.1.2 Membership of GTSC was reviewed, since there is a member of the subcommittee who is not a GRAAC member. A motion was made by Sharon Ward Zeller, seconded by Saul Herzog to extend lay Oswald's GTSC membership for another year, all in favour; carried. 6.1.3 Built Environment Subcommittee -The committee is still identifying the Terms of Reference, once finished it will need to be approved by staff for time and support requirements. 6.2 Joint AAC Training Day update The AAC training date has been confirmed as Thursday, June 14 from 3-8pm at the Evergreen Senior Centre, 683 Woolwich Street in Guelph. Transportation, attendant care, ASL, dinner & snacks will be provided. There will be speakers to address AODA and Municipalities 101 as well as a member networking session. Registration forms were distributed to members who were present. 6.3 Review of Regional Priorities Deb circulated the feedback list which was created by GRAAC last year. The list has been used as a reference for items like the annual accessibility plan. Motion made by James Hunsberger, seconded by Frank Groenestege to accept the feedback list as submitted, all in favour; carried. 7.0 ADJOURNMENT/NEXT MEETING The next regular meeting will be held on March 22, 2007 at Kitchener City Hall, Conestoga Room, Main Floor from 1:30-3:30 p.m. February 2007 - GRAAC Minutes - 361406 4