Burlington Seniors' Advisory Committee Meeting

Minutes

Meeting #:
Date:
Time:
-
Location:
Virtual

1.
Members Present:
 

Jim Young (Chair), Deepti Mahajan, John Kalbfleisch, Nancy Gilbert

2.
Member Regrets:
 

Wendy Moraghan
Note: April Begg Goodis and David Page resigned from the committee prior to this meeting. 

3.
Others Present:
 

Samantha Romlewski (Special Business Area Coordinator- Community Planning Department), Jim Thurston (Halton Older Adults Advisory Committee), Denise Beard (Manager of Community Development), Councillor Shawna Stolte,  Haley Veronyak (Committee Assistant), Kristin Sprukulis (Clerk)

4.
Land Acknowledgement
 

5.
Declarations of Interest:
 

None. 

6.
Approval of Minutes:
 

6.1
Approval of minutes from the meeting held June 21, 2021
This item has attachments. 

1.2021_06_21_Burlington_Seniors_Advisory_Committee_Minutes.pdf

On motion, the minutes from the meeting held June 21, 2021 were approved as presented.

7.
Delegation(s):
 

7.1
Major Transit Station Areas (MTSA) Presentation from Planning 
This item has attachments. 

1.Seniors Committee_MTSA Project presentation_Sept 27.pdf

Samantha presented on Major Transit Station Areas (MTSAs) and answered the committees' questions. The information provided included:

  •  Context: The City of Burlington is developing area specific plans that will guide the future development of MTSAs. These will direct growth to these areas where people can live, work and play. And this is helping to respond to climate change in terms of providing more options for movement throughout the city. 
  • Objectives: including compact communities within walking distance of transit, providing high quality public spaces, multi-modal transportation units, a mix of housing types, and new parks and trails.
  • Themes of feedback: importance of public and community spaces, housing options, affordability, transit and cycling options, ensuring appropriate transitions to existing neighbourhoods.  
  • Scope: This is anticipated to be completed at the end of 2022. This includes completing all engagement and any by-law amendments. 
  • Next Steps: an updated engagement plan can be found on the Get Involved Page here. This is where background reports, future zoom meetings, and workbooks will be available for residents. 

7.2
Halton Older Adults Committee Update
 

Jim updated the committee about the Halton Older Adults Advisory Committee. The OAAC had not met for their September meeting as of this BSAC meeting.

However at the last meeting OAAC had the co-chair of the Halton Newcomers Steering Committee address OAAC. Information included:

  • The Halton Newcomers Strategy (HNS) was established in 2010 and funded by citizenship Canada. HNS membership is made up of 90 community partners and when surveyed in 2016, there were 160K immigrants in Halton. 
  • The HNS has large community engagement, a newsletter and social media to follow. 
  • The goals of the HNS include: searching for employment, learning opportunities, housing, health and safety

More information can be found on their website here.

8.
Regular Items:
 

8.1
Election of the Chair
 

NOTE: April Begg-Goodis resigned as chair and David Page resigned from the committee effective September 2021.

On motion, Jim Young and John Kalbfleisch were elected as Chair and Vice Chair, respectively, of the Burlington Seniors' Advisory Committee, for the term to expire December 31, 2021.

8.2
Updates from Recreation, Community and Culture 
 

Denise provided an update from Recreation, Community and Culture:

A Number of community consultations are underway and can be found on Get Involved Burlington here.

  • Community Survey- this is done every two years so the city can receive information about services and how these can be improved. 
  • Website re-design- It has been challenging to navigate the website, this survey allows the city to understand the concerns residents are experiencing. 
  • Budget 2022- The city had multiple council workshops in September to address the city budget and residents can also submit comments on the Get Involved Page. 
  • Housing Strategy 
  • Integrated Mobility- including the MTSA information that Samantha had reported on
  • Ryerson Park Renaming -  Taking a pause on this for right now so that the committee can consult with external groups to ensure the name is inclusive to all First Nations in Canada. A report will be available later this year. 

Upcoming Events

  • Truth and Reconciliation Day September 30, 2021 – Community event planned for Spencer Smith Park 3:30-6:00 PM.  Everyone is welcome to attend.

Reports from September that may be of Interest:

  • Vaccination Program for staff and public and upholding the provincial regulations
  • Archaeological review agreements with First Nations (ES-41-21)
  • Hybrid Council and standing committee meeting strategy- this report has been deferred.

8.3
Flag Raising and Proclamation
This item has attachments. 

1.Proclamation for National Seniors Day.pdf

On motion, the proclamation and and flag raising request for October 1, 2021, to celebrate National Seniors Day was approved. 

Note: The flag raising occurred on October 1, 2021 at 8:00am. Photos can be found here.

8.4
Roundtable Updates
 

a.
Burlington Public Library
 

Deepti provided an update on the Burlington Public Library services:

  • The libraries are fully opened with limited capacity. In person programming is not currently happening. 
  • The library is currently evaluating their services for those who cannot come into the locations for medical reasons and trying to make the experience as safe as possible. Looking for possible partnerships with Acclaim Health.
  • Residents do not need proof of vaccination to come into the libraries. There are three locations that are integrated with the Community Centres which do require proof of vaccination, therefore the libraries have a different point of entry. 
  • The vaccination requirement comes from Halton Public Health, to be brought forward by Jim and Councillor Stolte. 

MOTION: On motion BSAC supports the proof of a vaccination requirement to access all Burlington Public Libraries. 

b.
Burlington Inclusivity Advisory Committee
 

BIAC had their first meeting with updates for MTSAs, Recreation, Community and Culture and the library, as BSAC also had. 

c.
Integrated Transportation Advisory Committee
 

No update at this time. ITAC meeting for September had not taken place by the time of meeting. 

d.
Burlington Accessibility Advisory Committee
 

John provided an update from the Accessibility Advisory Committee:

  • Discussed issues regarding accessibility and the digital vaccine passport
  • Disability community hosted a federal election debate to bring accessibility issues to the forefront of the campaigns
  • Discussed food insecurity in regards to accessibility. ie. how to order in groceries
  • Discussed the progress of the on demand bus pilot project as there are challenges being experienced. 
  • Advised that International Day of Persons with Disabilities is December 3rd. 

9.
Other Business:
 

9.1
Community Involvement
 

Councillor Stolte advised that council is always looking for more involvement from the community. The Get Involved Burlington information is very helpful to be able to understand citizen concerns. Also encouraged people to get involved from the seniors community perspective so that all members of the public can have their voices heard. 

10.
Adjournment: 11:36 a.m.
 

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