HomeMy WebLinkAboutGRAAC-2008-08-28Grand River Accessibility Advisory Committee (GRAAC)
Thursday August 28th, 2008 Kitchener City Hall, Conestoga Room
PRESENT: Sharon Ward - Zeller (Co-Chair),, Taposhi Batabyal (Co- Chair), Brad Ullner, James
Hunsberger, Gordon Cummer, Amy Ross, Sharon Giles, Deb Bergey, Kelly Steiss, Julie
Doherty, Johanna Ellis (Recorder)
PRESENT (OTHERS): Paula Saunders
REGRETS (MEMBERS): Saul Herzog, Rosa Bustamante, Ken Parker, Gail Brunscon,
Coucillor Kelly Galloway, Councillor Jane Mitchell
REGRETS (OTHERS):
ABSENT WITHOUT REGRETS: Myron Steinman, Darryl Denny, Rik Louwagie, Councillor
Karen Scian
1.0 WELCOME AND INTRODUCTIONS
Taposhi welcomed everyone to the meeting and invited members, staff and
observers to introduce themselves. She reminded everyone that a Built Environment
(GBESC) subcommittee meeting would follow, and that everyone was welcomed to
stay for it.
2.0 APPROVAL OF MAY MINUTES AND REVIEW OF JUNE AGENDA
• Sharon Giles made the motion to accept the minutes of the May meeting,
seconded by Amy Ross. All were in favour and the motion to accept the minutes
carried. Sharon Ward - Zeller moved to approve the June agenda, seconded by
Sharon Giles; all were in favour.
3.0 CO -CHAIR REPORT (Sharon Ward - Zeller)
• Redesigned seating plan arranged with members needs in mind.
• Website — is currently live and will be ready to launch formally (graac.ca).
• Planning to advertise via a colourful poster to be distributed to various agencies.
• Members are encouraged to share information regarding the website with others
as well.
• AODA Customer Service regulation training will take place on September 28th
from 1:30 — 4:00 p.m. at City Hall in the Conestoga Room.
• If some cannot attend the training another date and session will be delivered
since it is a legislated requirement that all must be trained. There is also the
possibility of recording the training.
• Taposhi spoke about the new " "draft" Code of Conduct for council and its advisory
committees. There will be an open house in September for City of Kitchener
resident input.
August 2008 - GRAAC Minutes 1
Grand River Accessibility Advisory Committee (GRAAC)
Thursday August 28, 2008
4.0 SUBCOMMITTEE REPORTS
• Kelly Steiss reported on the Built Environment Subcommittee. There was no
meeting held in July and a review of the parking garage at Benton /Charles will be
held following this GRAAC meeting.
• GTSC will be meeting on September 9t", on which elections for chair and vice -
chair will be held. Sharon Ward - Zeller will be looking for nominations, since the
positions can be held only by a GRAAC member, although all GTSC members are
encouraged to be present and vote. The term is 4 or 5 months while staff and
co- chairs determine the annual cycle for electing chairs.
5.0 NEW BUSINESS
• Forms (attached to minutes): Kelly and Deb presented the "new forms" to the
committee. They included the (1) Application for Training form; (2) Purchase
Requisition; (3) Mileage Form.
• Process for attending conferences: This new form will put in place a formal
process for approving conference attendance by members, and have been
modeled after the Region of Waterloo staff forms for conferences. If members
are interested in attending a conference, they will need to fill out the form and
give 2 weeks' notice.
• Any GRAAC member who attends a conference will also need to submit a report
to the committee.
• Reimbursement will include registration fees, all transportation costs, hotel fees
(also for attendant if required) and meals only to a daily maximum. Members
must keep all receipts. Alcohol is not included, nor are social events outside of
the conference or expenses for spouses or partners.
• Staff will make a decision on who attends based on numbers (how many previous
conferences member has attended, role on committee &how pertinent) their
background and experience is). James Hunsberger asked if conference
attendance could be brought forward to the committee as a whole first and Deb
Bergey explained that this will be done if enough lead time is available. Often
notifications of conferences do not allow for meeting lead time, since GRAAC only
meets once a month. Staff and co- chairs will bring these forward to the
committee whenever possible.
• Kelly went on to explain mileage forms (available from the City of Kitchener) and
for other expenses related to committee work, Purchase Requisition forms.
6.0 GRAAC PLANNING PRIORITIES
• Deb Bergey gave a PowerPoint presentation on the remaining planning priority
issue, transportation This included system issues, conventional buses, pars
transit buses, taxis etc.
• Will be revised with committee recommendations.
August 2008 - GRAAC Minutes 2
Grand River Accessibility Advisory Committee ( GRAAC)
Thursday August 28, 2008
7.0 VOTING ON G RACC PRIORITIES
• The committee then voted on what they see as being GRAAC priorities using this
method: each committee member was handed slips of coloured paper. Green —
Top Priority; Red — Item off the list; Yellow — keep on the list but can be
addressed at a later date.
• The results were tallied immediately. The summary of voting results will be sent
out electronically to all members
A motion to adjourn was made by Amy Ross. The next meeting will be held Thursday
September 25 from 1:30 to 4:00 p.m. at the Conestoga Room.
August 2008 - GRAAC Minutes 3