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HomeMy WebLinkAbout2010-02-03 MinutesCLARINGTON ACCESSIBILITY ADVISORY COMMITTEE February 3, 2010, 6:00 P.M. MEETING ROOM 1A Present: Councillor Ron Hooper – until 6:30 pm David Kelly, Chair Elaine Simpson, Vice-Chair Keith Brettell Sylvia Jaspers-Fayer Absent: Corine Goodwin Sally Barrie Also Present: Anne Greentree, Deputy Clerk 1. ADOPTION OF MINUTES Moved by Councillor Hooper, seconded by Elaine Simpson THAT the minutes of the meetings held on December 2, 2009 be approved. “CARRIED” 2. BUSINESS ARISING FROM MINUTES OF LAST MEETING a) Customer Service Standard Training The Deputy Clerk advised that the two training sessions were well rd received, with 23 attending the December 3 session and 15 attending the th December 10 session. More sessions are to be scheduled in order to include members of all committees/boards. Sylvia enquired about dates for future training sessions. The Deputy Clerk will ensure that the Committee members are advised of the scheduled training dates. b) Accessibility Challenge David Kelly previously asked about the possibility of the Municipality buying used wheelchairs for this purpose. The Deputy Clerk advised that Home Care and Therapy Supplies have been contacted. They do sell used chairs and provided a ball park figure of $200-$300 for a basic clinic model. We will need to see if the budget will allow for this following the th February 19 meeting. It was suggested that perhaps we may be able to partner with Community Care for use of chairs in future challenges, or there may be an opportunity to seek donated chairs. The Committee concurred that a letter of thanks be sent to Community Care for their Clarington Accessibility - 2 - February 3, 2010 Advisory Committee prompt assistance in providing us the wheelchairs for the Challenge. Councillor Hooper expressed his thanks to David Kelly and Keith Brettell for their initiative and frankness in their discussions. Keith expressed, with enthusiasm, the success of the Accessibility Challenge that was held at Clarington Central. This was a very flexible activity which really helped to make it work for the participants. Keith suggested that, for future sessions, we put together a bit more of a formal script for the first half. The teacher intends on introducing this activity into his curriculum. The Committee agreed that perhaps we may also want to roll it out to other schools. Committee members will ponder the best approach to assembling the formal presentation portion and will report back at a future meeting. c) Community Advantage Rehabilitation Inc. – “Deaf Child Sign” The Deputy Clerk advised that The Traffic Management Advisory Committee had lengthy discussion of this matter at their last meeting. It was left that the members would give it more thought and it will be discussed again at their next meeting. Community Living had apparently not seen the letter so it was resent to them early this week. The Municipal Clerk is still awaiting a response from them, but hopes to have responses from both agencies prior to the next meeting. d) Correspondence from Lou Politano, Ministry of Transportation – Preliminary Design and Class Environmental Assessment Study for the Widening of 401 from Salem Road to Brock Street – For Information Only Moved by Keith Brettell, seconded by Elaine Simpson THAT the correspondence be received for information. “CARRIED” 4. NEW BUSINESS a) Proposed Plan of Highway 407 Extension With respect to the extension of Highway 407, Sylvia raised the question why the plan shows a bike path in only one area and why not throughout. The Committee requested that this question be posed to the Region of Durham for a response. Clarington Accessibility - 3 - February 3, 2010 Advisory Committee 5. OTHER BUSINESS a) Pedestrian Crossing at Traffic Light on King St. - Strathaven Request from Valerie Love to Councillor Hooper, requesting that the timing of the crossing in front of Strathaven Nursing Home be changed. The Deputy Clerk advised that the email had been forwarded to the Region of Durham for their consideration and conveyed the Region’s response to the Committee. The Deputy Clerk further reported that the Committee had received a delegation from the Region in November 2008 wherein we were advised that the timing cannot be altered. Sylvia expressed that while the setting has been adjusted she believes it still to be too short. It was agreed that public education on how the pedestrian signals work is key. b) Accessibility Expo The Deputy Clerk reported that the Region held a meeting, on January 27, 2010, to discuss the planning of the Accessibility Expo in June. Unfortunately Elaine and the Municipal Clerk were unable to attend and the minutes have not yet been received. An update will be provided at the next meeting. However, information on the event was provided by an email from Tracey Cavanagh. It was noted that the next Expo Planning meeting is to be held on February 25, 2010, from 2:00 p.m. to 4:00 p.m. c) Recreation Facilities Infrastructure Upgrade Funding The Deputy Clerk reported that an email had been received from Tim Hick regarding recreation facilities infrastructure upgrade funding. The Committee briefly discussed some of the deficiencies and accommodations at some of the Municipal facilities, such as: ? the arm bike at Courtice complex, ? the accessibility barriers at the Courtice Complex, and ? the lack of viewing platforms at the Garnet B. Rickard. The Committee agreed to invite Tim Hick to a future meeting and arrange for a representative of Community Services facilities to also attend, to discuss in more detail Tim’s concerns and/or observations. The Committee agreed that perhaps they may wish to undertake a facility audit. Clarington Accessibility - 4 - February 3, 2010 Advisory Committee d) Retroactive Request for Greater Degree of Accessibility Request from Paul Wirch, Staff Planner, asking whether the Accessibility Committee has had occasion to retroactively request that an owner bring their property into a greater degree of accessibility and if so, how was it handled and what were the results? The Committee advised that they have not previously made such a request as they would not have any authority to do so. That said, however, the Committee does support planning contacting the plaza owner to voluntarily comply. e) Free Accessibility workshop offered for businesses – Newspaper Article The Deputy Clerk distributed a copy of a newspaper article promoting the free accessibility workshop offered for businesses, hosted by the Business Advisory Centre Durham (BACD), entitled “Accessible Customer Service: Is your business ready?”. 6. DATE OF NEXT MEETING The next meeting will be held on March 3, 2010 at 6:00 p.m. in Committee Room th 1A. Elaine advised that she will not be able to attend the February 25 Expo Planning meeting and also will not be able to attend the next Committee meeting rd on March 3. 7. ADJOURNMENT Moved by Keith Brettell, seconded by Sylvia Jaspers-Fayer THAT the meeting be adjourned. “CARRIED” The meeting adjourned at 7:10 p.m. _________________________ Chair _________________________ Secretary