Burlington Accessibility Advisory Committee Meeting

Minutes

Meeting #:
Date:
Time:
-
Location:
Virtual

1.
Members Present:
 

Adam Spencer (Chair), Tricia Pokorny, Doug Benton, Vera Zlataric, Ron Baliko, Rachel Cloutier, Cindy Bond, Greg Owens, Marnie Hill, John Kalbfleisch

2.
Member Regrets:
 

Brenda Agnew, Barbara Davis, Morgan Calaway, Cheryl Hurst, Khadija Zafar

3.
Others Present:
 

Ken Pirhonen - Manager of Facility Assets, Fernando Moraes - Project Manger Facilities and Buildings, Councillor Bentivegna, Judi Lytle - Accessibility Coordinator, Heather Martyn - Burlington Public Library, Suzanne Gillies (Clerk)

4.
Declarations of Interest:
 

None.

5.
Approval of Minutes:
 

5.1
Approve the minutes from the meeting held March 11, 2021
 

Minutes were not available to be approved due to technical issues.  Approval referred to the May 13, 2021 meeting.

6.
Delegation(s):
 

6.1
City Hall Modernization Project: Jennifer Johnson - Senior Project Manager, Ken Pirhonen - Manager of Facility Assets, Fernando Moraes - Project Manager Facilities and Buildings
 

Ken provided a presentation that showed detailed plans for the City Hall modernization project as well as a virtual rendering/video.  The construction will have a phased plan as City Hall will need to remain functional while under renovations.  There is still time for input - what was being shown are still concepts. The goal is for the project to start late summer/early fall of this year.  Members of the committee expressed concerns with the removal of the Elgin Street entrance.  The loss of the Elgin Street entrance is a loss of an accessible entrance, the entrance closest to the accessible parking spaces.  Could there be weather protection at the 'new' main entrance?  It was suggested that staff take a look at the Vancouver airport in  BC for an excellent example of wayfinding.  

7.
Regular Items:
 

7.1
The Issue - debrief
 

Adam and Tricia recorded an episode of 'The Issue' with Councillor Bentivegna.  They had great speaking points and promoted BAAC and what the committee does.  

Suzanne to send a link of the show to the committee members.

7.2
Concern at Appleby Home Hardware - discussion
 

The committee discussed an issue brought to their attention regarding the Home Hardware store at Appleby not being accessible.  The isles are so full of merchandise that there is no wheelchair access. The committee discussed if they could help in anyway. The committee discussed bringing attention to the issue on a broader scale as this store is not the only one with crowded isles.  Is this something the committee wants to highlight for NAAW?  

Councilor Bentivegna will reach out to By-law to see if they have any jurisdiction to enforce anything.  

7.3
Housing Strategy discussion 
 

Suzanne reminded the committee members of the opportunity to apply for the working team for the housing strategy.  She also made the committee aware of the request Khadija made to delegate on behalf of BAAC at the Community Planning, Regulation and Mobility Committee (CPRM) meeting.  It was too late to get the committee's approval for the delegation, but suggested she get approval at tonight's meeting and then delegate when the item goes to council on April 20.

Motion:  Approve a delegation to the City Council meeting by Khadija on behalf of the BAAC regarding the housing strategy, pending approval of the delegation notes. CARRIED 

7.4
National AccessAbility Week working group update
 

Discussion on what the committee can do for NAAW

  • idea to highlight those supporting persons with disabilities during the pandemic
  • could the committee just highlight a few on social media and Inside Halton?
  • should the committee ask the community to nominate based on minimal criteria developed by the committee 
  • the working group will meet next week to discuss options for NAAW
  • Councillor Bentivegna will ask Jessica (Cable) for 5 minutes on air to bring awareness

7.5
Anti-isolation subcommittee update (Cindy)
 

Cindy let the committee know that the subcommittee has not had another meeting since the last one.  She asked Suzanne to follow up with communications staff on the status of the library anti-isolation video.  Cindy to organize a meeting in the next couple of weeks to figure out next steps.

7.6
ITAC update (Doug)
 

Doug provided the following updates:

  • major focus was a staff presentation and discussion about the Integrated Mobility Plan (IMP)
  • accessibility was mentioned a number of times, Judi is on the working group for the IMP that is in the very early stages

7.7
Inclusivity Committee update (Ron)
 

Ron provided the following update:

  • the committee has a lot of new members and is in the infancy stages
  • the last meeting was spent developing a workplan for the year
  • the Mayor and Councillor Nisan are forming a committee to address anti-racism

7.8
Coordinators report (Judi)
 

Judi highlighted the following from the Coordinators report:

  • there will be Mobi mats this year at Beachway Park and there will also be a water chair available for those that need one
  • working closely with staff on innovative wayfinding at Mountainside Pool
  • Burlington was successful in getting funding for hearing loops at the Seniors' Centre and other facilities 

8.
Other Business:
 

9.
Adjournment:
 

Chair adjourned the meeting at 8:53 p.m.

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