The Corporation of The Town of Cobourg

Accessibility Advisory Committee

MINUTES

Wednesday, June 16, 2021 at 10:00 A.m. - 12:00 P.m.

Electronic Participation

Members Present:

• Jerry Ford
• Susan Caron
• Aaron Burchat
• Kathryn Richards
• Troy Mills
• Dan Wilson

Members Absent:

• Elizabeth Sheffield

Staff Present:

• Laurie Wills, Director of Public Works
• Jamie Kramer
• Krystal Christopher

Staff Absent:

• Brent Larmer, Municipal Clerk/Manager of Legislative Services

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1.

CALL TO ORDER

Chair Sue Caron called the Meeting to Order at 10:00 A.M.

Dan Wilson joined the meeting at 9:58 AM.

Krystal Christopher joined the meeting at 9:58 AM.

Laurie Wills, Director of Public Works joined the meeting at 10:00 AM.

2.

TRADITIONAL LAND ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

3.

APPROVAL/ADDITIONS TO THE AGENDA

• Moved by Kathryn Richards

  THAT the Agenda dated June 16, 2021 be approved as presented. 

  Carried

4.

DECLARATIONS OF INTEREST BY MEMBERS

There were no Declarations of Interest Declared by Committee Members. 

5.

ADOPTION OF MINUTES

• Moved by Kathryn Richards

  THAT the minutes dated May 19, 2021 be adopted as presented.

  Carried

6.

DELEGATIONS/PRESENTATIONS

6.1

Krystal Christopher, Deputy Clerk/Records Management Coordinator, with a presentation on eSCRIBE Board Manager.

• K. Christopher provided an overview of eSCRIBE's Board Manager.
• Each member of the Accessibility Advisory Committee can provide a biography and photograph to be visible on the Town's website.

7.

COMMUNICATIONS/CORRESPONDENCE

8.

REPORTS

8.1

Jamie Kramer, Accessibility Coordinator, regarding National AccessAbility Awareness Week.

J. Kramer provided highlights including:

• Over the eleven (11) events, we had over 150 unique participant sign-ups for the week.
• There was a lot of positive feedback from people about Sue Caron’s, the Chair of the Accessibility Advisory Committee’s, poem and visuals. Many people thought that not only did it highlight the struggles of everyone during COVID-19, but it shone a light on issues that some people may not think about – including feeling alone or isolated. Similar feedback was sent about the video that Sue prepared around accessible built environment and living spaces.
• Many people came to multiple events, with most people attending at least 3.
• The events with the highest level of participation were:
  • The Keynote Address on Monday, May 31st with Benoit Huot (76 unique sign-ups), and;
  • The Closing Event on Friday, June 4th with Minister Qualtrough (68 unique sign-ups).
• The documentary movie sessions had the next highest amount of participants with an average of twelve (12) participants per session watching the full movie.
• On average, there were twenty-five (25) unique sign-ups per event and approximately ten (10) to fifteen (15) participants in each event.
• The events that took place on Thursday seemed to have more participants than the others, with the exception of the keynote and closing events.
• The events with the highest participation were also the ones that were advertised on social media so there appears to be a correlation between the two.
• In the future, we hope to be able to do an "in-person" event next year using the resources from Sue and continuing this type of programming throughout the year where possible to bring more awareness to accessibility needs and issues.

8.2

Jamie Kramer, Accessibility Coordinator, regarding the Inclusive Communities Grant Program.

J. Kramer provided an overview of the Inclusive Communities Grants projects that are underway:

• As part of the Inclusive Communities Grant, the Town hired a part-time Assistant through Community Living’s EARN program that will be working with Jamie until the end of December.
• The EngageCobourg survey and forum for the Grant should go live this week and Staff are working to send out mailers to a variety of people to get participation rates up for the Inclusive Communities Grant.
  • Initial information for the Grant and the survey is already up on our website (www.cobourg.ca/accessibility) to provide some information.
  • There will also be some targeted social media posts - one tailored to people living with disabilities and one for people who are not to showcase the importance of having their say in this topic.
  • Once this survey is live, J. Kramer will share with the Accessibility Advisory Committee to participate and pass along to their networks.
• Staff is working on creating an audit checklist for assessing Town-owned and operated buildings/facilities and J. Kramer is waiting for the Rick Hansen Professional Designation to become available through George Brown to then see about using that as our standard for buildings (https://www.rickhansen.com/become-accessible/professional-training).
• In addition, the Town of Cobourg is launching a few new projects that we’re working on launching too including:
  • Working with John Draper and the Together We Rock! Team on getting training for both our senior management team and our Council in July and August (https://www.togetherwerock.com/);
  • Working with Distinctability to provide training for all staff, committee, and council members on Autism Inclusion in the Workplace (https://distinctability.ca/);
  • Working with LanguageLine Video Remote Interpreting Services to get instant ASL (and other language) translations at customer facing departments – we’re hoping to pilot this during Council and Committee meetings as well (https://www.languageline.com/interpreting/on-demand/video-remote).
  • Installing automatic door openers that can be used with apps (to limit contact and touch) with Key2Access (https://key2access.com/). This should be ready for the Fall when we can hopefully have in person Council meetings. and;
  • Working with Silver Cross to get ramps for some of our buildings that have a “one step" to make it easier for people with disabilities to access the heritage buildings.

8.3

Laurie Wills, Director of Public Works, regarding the updated WHEELS Policy and Application.

WHEELS Policy

• L. Wills provides an overview of the updated and changes to the WHEEL Policy and Application.
• L. Wills highlights that the Town is working with Northumberland County to provide more information about emergency medical services as this is not provided by WHEELS Transit.
• L. Wills notes that now the drivers are able to assist with boarding and disembarking passengers.
• R. Champagne provided an update on being able to update the passes online and purchase ten (10) or twenty (20) rides.

WHEELS Application

• L. Wills provided an overview of the updates and changes to the WHEELS Application.

Bus Shelters

• L. Wills highlighted the possible locations for a bus shelter based on ridership.
• R. Champagne noted that the Stratgy & Elign is the highest ridership.
• T. Mills: What will they do with the Golden Plough shelter?
  • R. Champagne: No one is using the shelther on top of Courthouse Road; most members in there are members of WHEELS so they are using the door-to-door service. That shelter will be moved to Courthouse Road and Elgin Street as people are using that, which will be done once construction is done.
• The Committee recommended that if Stratgy & Elgin land is not owned by the Town, then the William and University bus shelter should be the next priority.

• Moved by Troy Mills

  THAT the Accessibility Advisory Committee endorses the WHEELS Policy  as presented and recommends that Council adopt the WHEEL Policy.

  Carried
• Moved by Troy Mills

  THAT the Accessibility Advisory Committee endorses the WHEELS Application as presented and recommends that Council adopt the WHEEL Application.

  Carried

8.4

Members at Large, with guidance from Shannon Murphy, Emergency Planner, regarding Town of Cobourg Emergency Planning.

• Moved by Troy Mills

  THAT the matter regarding Emergency Planning is deferred to the next meeting.

  Carried

9.

NEW BUSINESS

9.1

Members at Large regarding part of the 2021 Work Plan, "Create more educational campaigns for schools."

• S. Caron: We could have people come in and speak and talk about different ways to cope with disabilities.
  • J. Ford: Get into the classes and speak to the kids about living with disabilities. Instead of being a lecture, but providing them with something they can contribute, such as art classes, etc.
• D. Wilson: Grandview Kids - organization in Oshawa and they work with children and youth with physicial communication and developmental needs. They do school visits and provide advice on what to do. We could partner with them to see the best approach.
• S. Caron: Depending on COVID and if the kids are in school, it'd be nice to have them participate and understand some of the struggles of people in wheelchairs or sight goggles to experience them.
• S. Caron: Could start with virtual and then move toward in person experiences.
• D. Wilson: Five Counties Children Centre - they offer program to go into schools and work with the schools, parents, and kids with disabilities. They can come in and do assessment for the accessibility needs or unique needs of the school.
• K. Richards: Focus on teaching people how to respect and work with the people with disabilities.

Aaron Burchat joined the meeting at 11:04 AM.

9.2

Members at Large regarding a summer break.

• Moved by Kathryn Richards

  THAT the meetings will continue as scheduled throughout July and August.

  Carried

10.

UNFINISHED BUSINESS

10.1

Members at Large regarding the letters to businesses.

• J. Kramer to send the letters as an individual email and provide a general letter to the Accessibility Advisory Committee before the next meeting.

10.2

Members at Large regarding the award for Accessible Customer Service 2021.

• J. Kramer highlights that this can still happen in the future, just have to decide on a date and time that works.
• S. Caron notes that she is not available in July or August and will follow up for Lou from Chesler Shoes to come to Cobourg for a presentation of the award in September during the week of September 7th to 10th.

11.

ADJOURNMENT

• Moved by Aaron Burchat

  THAT the meeting be adjourned at 11:34 a.m.

  Carried