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01 - January 12, 2022 JAAC Agenda Packageu .� 14- .' i . County of Elgin/Central Elgin Joint Accessibility Advisory Committee Agenda Wednesday, January 12, 2022 10.00 a.m. — 12.00 p.m. Virtual via Zoom 1. Call to Order 2. Disclosure of Pecuniary Interest and the General Nature Thereof 3. Adoption of Previous Minutes — October 20, 2021 & November 10, 2021 4. Delegations - none 5. New Business a. JAAC Membership Update i Terms of Reference ii New Members b. Accessibility Compliance Report Update c. Consultation Requirements with the JAAC i Playground Consultation Guide Revisions d. Hamlet of Richmond Reconstruction Update e. Accessibility Policies Update f. Elgin Joint Annual Accessibility Status Report 2021 6. Next Meeting — April 13, 2022 (Tentative) 7. Adjournment u .� 14- .' i . County of Elgin/Central Elgin Joint Accessibility Advisory Committee Minutes Wednesday, October 20, 2021 1.30 p.m. — 3.30 p.m. Virtual via Zoom Attendees: Tom Marks, Deputy Mayor, Municipality of Central Elgin Doug Mayer, Chair Michele Horton Dianne Wilson, Deputy Clerk, Municipality of Central Elgin Sarah Savoie, Accessibility Coordinator, County of Elgin Katherine Thompson, Manager of Administrative Services, County of Elgin Aaron VanOorspronk, Senior Engineering Design & Construction Technologist, County of Elgin Jenna Fentie, Legislative Services Coordinator, County of Elgin Regrets: Harry Muir Am Row, Vice Chair 1. Call to Order The County of Elgin/Central Elgin Joint Accessibility Committee met this 20t" day of October 2021 via Zoom. The Chair called the meeting to order at 1.35 p.m. 2. Disclosure of Pecuniary Interest and the General Nature Thereof None. 3. Adoption of Previous Minutes — January 12, 2021 Moved by: Deputy Mayor Marks Seconded by: Michele Horton RESOLVED THAT the minutes of the meeting held on January 12, 2021 be approved. Yes No Deputy Mayor Marks X Michele Horton X Doug Mayer X 3 0 Motion Carried. 4. Delegations 5. New Business a. Introduction of Accessibility Coordinator Chair Mayer welcomed County of Elgin's new Accessibility Coordinator Sarah Savoie. Sarah has experience working on accessibility initiatives through her previous position at the City of Woodstock. b. Accessibility Project Updates i Elgin County Administration Building Elevator Addition and Washroom Renovation The Elgin County Administration Building will be undergoing an elevator addition and washroom renovation. The elevator project is currently out for tender with a closing date of October 26, 2021 and will be presented to Council to award the tender on November 9, 2021. The expected start date of the project is the last week of November 2021. c. Compliance Reporting 2021 Update The Accessibility Coordinator provided an update on compliance reporting for 2021. Elgin County and Local Municipal Partners are required to complete and submit a compliance report by December 31, 2021. The report is specifically pertaining to the Integrated Accessibility Standards Regulation. The most significant question on the report is pertaining to the WCAG 2.0 Level AA compliance regarding website accessibility. Elgin County is in the process of updating its website and social media pages to ensure compliance, with a goal of redoing the website in 2023. The Compliance Report will need to be submitted to the Chief Administrative Officer for signing. The Accessibility Coordinator will provide further updates to the Committee regarding compliance reporting in early 2022. d. Status Report 2021 Update The Accessibility Coordinator provided an update on the 2021 Status Report. The Status Report is completed on a yearly basis and includes information on Continuous Achievements in Accessibility and Accessibility Highlights for 2021. Elgin County and the Local Municipal Partners are creating a joint Status Report for 2021. The report will be presented to the Joint Accessibility Advisory Committee for approval in January 2022 and will be presented to County Council for approval in February 2022. Once approved, the status report will be posted on the County website and Local Municipal Partner websites. e. Accessible Parking on Furnival Road in Rodney The Accessibility Coordinator and the Senior Engineering Design & Construction Technologist provided an update on accessible parking on Furnival Road and is seeking feedback from the Joint Accessibility Advisory Committee regarding the need, location and design of accessible parking on Furnival Road. The Municipality of West Elgin is proposing that accessible parking be considered for high traffic areas on Furnival Road. Chair Mayer suggested that the accessible parking spots be located in a location that allows for rear entry into a vehicle. The Senior Engineering Design & Construction Technologist noted that additional length required for accessible parking is not an issue to accommodate on Furnival Road, however the width of Furnival Road would not allow for wider parking spots. Engineering Services suggests reaching out to the Municipality of West Elgin to see if it is possible to utilize a side street that allows for more space to accommodate accessible parking spots. The Chair recommended that if the accessible spots are located on side street, the parking spot should be located as close to Furnival Road as possible. Moved by: Michele Horton Seconded by: Deputy Mayor Marks RESOLVED THAT the County of Elgin consult with the Municipality of West Elgin for the designation of two accessible parking spaces in downtown Rodney and consider all feedback on placement and design from the Joint Accessibility Advisory Committee. Yes No Deputy Mayor Marks X Michele Horton X Doug Mayer X 3 0 - Motion Carried. f. 2021 -2026 Joint Multi -Year Accessibility Plan Feedback i Survey Update The Accessibility Coordinator provided an update on the Joint Multi - Year Accessibility Plan (MYAP) currently being undertaken by Elgin County and Local Municipal Partners and is seeking input from the Committee on the current draft of the MYAP. The draft MYAP will be circulated to the Committee to review before their next meeting in November. Initial feedback from the Committee included increased communication delivery to the public. The Accessibility Coordinator also provided an overview of feedback received from the recent Multi - Year Accessibility Plan public survey. g. Deputy Mayor Marks requested that at the next meeting, the Committee discusses sending out a reminder to municipal snow removal companies to be cognizant of clearing snow as close as possible to crosswalk buttons, sidewalks, community mailboxes, etc. The Accessibility Coordinator will research current legislation and requirements for the next meeting. 6. Next Meeting The next meeting will be held virtually via Zoom on November 15, 2021 at 10.00 a.m. 7. Adjournment Moved by: Michele Horton Seconded by: Deputy Mayor Marks RESOLVED THAT we do now adjourn to meet again on November 15, 2021. Yes No Deputy Mayor Marks X Michele Horton X Doug Mayer X 3 0 Julie Gonyou, Chief Administrative Officer/Clerk. Motion Carried. Doug Mayer, Chair. u .� 14- .' i . County of Elgin/Central Elgin Joint Accessibility Advisory Committee Discussion Notes Wednesday, November 10, 2021 2.00 p.m. — 4.00 p.m. Virtual via Zoom Attendees: Tom Marks, Deputy Mayor, Municipality of Central Elgin Michele Horton Dianne Wilson, Deputy Clerk, Municipality of Central Elgin Sarah Savoie, Accessibility Coordinator, County of Elgin Katherine Thompson, Manager of Administrative Services, County of Elgin Aaron VanOorspronk, Senior Engineering Design & Construction Technologist, County of Elgin Jenna Fentie, Legislative Services Coordinator, County of Elgin Regrets: Doug Mayer, Chair Am Row, Vice Chair Harry Muir 1. Call to Order The County of Elgin/Central Elgin Joint Accessibility Committee met this 10t" day of November 2021 via Zoom. The meeting began at 2.08 p.m. Discussion notes of the meeting are outlined below as quorum was not achieved. 2. Disclosure of Pecuniary Interest and the General Nature Thereof None. 3. Adoption of Previous Minutes — October 20, 2021 Deferred until next meeting. 4. Delegations None. 5. New Business a. Furnival Road Accessible Parking Update The Accessibility Coordinator advised the Committee that the staff at the Municipality of West Elgin and County of Elgin have begun working on the accessible parking project on Furnival Road. b. Consultation on Reconstruction of Hamlet of Richmond The Senior Engineering Design & Construction Technologist provided an update on the Reconstruction of the Hamlet of Richmond in the Municipality of Bayham. The project will include replacement of storm sewers and private drain connections, road base replacement complete with concrete sidewalks and curbs, and asphalt replacement. The County of Elgin confirms that on - street accessible parking spaces are not required given that the Hamlet is a residential area. The Committee will vote on staff's recommendation at the next Joint Accessibility Advisory Committee meeting. c. Snow Removal in Central Elgin i Canada Post Community Mailboxes The Accessibility Coordinator provided an update regarding snow removal around Canada Post community mailboxes and noted that a service ticket can be submitted via the Canada Post website. ii Municipality Crosswalks with Accessible Pedestrian Signals (APS) The Accessibility Coordinator shared the Committee's concerns regarding snow removal around crosswalks with APS with the Municipality of Central Elgin. Staff at the Municipality noted that staff will be reminded to keep an eye on crosswalks, and that crosswalks are cleared in accordance with O. Reg. 230/2 Minimum Maintenance Standards. If there are concerns regarding snow removal, please contact the Municipality of Central Elgin Infrastructure & Community Services Department at 519-631-4860. Michele asked for enhanced communication efforts on County and Municipal websites to inform the public on snow removal processes and how to report issues. d. Zoom Captioning Update The Accessibility Coordinator noted that Zoom now provides free auto - generated closed captioning for all users, including those with free accounts. Instructions can be found in the attached presentation. e. 2021 -2026 Joint Multi -Year Accessibility Plan i New Updates The Accessibility Coordinator provided information regarding new updates included within the Joint Multi -Year Accessibility Plan such as: message from CAO, description of Accessibility Coordinator role, removal of repetitive sections, addition of Local Municipal Partner sections, addition of Accessible Maintenance Procedures and Temporary Service Disruptions under Appendix A, and updated contact information. Michele suggested that the definition of membership for the Joint Accessibility Advisory Committee be expanded to include caregivers and significant others of persons with disabilities. The Accessibility Coordinator will also amend the language on page 17 to include the wording "County -owned Long -Term Care". The Accessibility Coordinator will update the plan and forward to the Committee by November 16, 2021. ii Approval and Timeline for MYAP The Accessibility Coordinator also provided an approval timeline for the MYAP. The final version of the plan will be presented to County Council on November 23, 2021, with the final copy posted online by early December 2021. f. New Membership Recruitment for JAAC The Accessibility Coordinator notified the Committee that Harry Muir has resigned from the Joint Accessibility Advisory Committee. A letter of appreciation will be sent to Mr. Muir on behalf of the Chair. The Accessibility Coordinator sought feedback from the Committee on how they would like to proceed in terms of recruiting new members to the Committee. The Committee discussed expanding the membership to include members from other local municipalities, as well as enhancing communication regarding recruitment. Michele suggested that in addition to advertising on social media, advertisements should be sent to organizations that work with people with disabilities, seniors' centres, etc. 6. Next Meeting The next meeting will be tentatively scheduled for January 12, 2022 from 10.00 a.m. to 12.00 p.m. 7. Adjournment The meeting adjourned at 2.49 p.m. Julie Gonyou, Chief Administrative Officer/Clerk. Doug Mayer, Chair.