Body: Council Type: Agenda Meeting: Regular Date: August 1, 2023 Collection: Council Agendas Municipality: Frontenac County
[View Document (PDF)](/docs/frontenac-county/Published Agendas/Advisory Committees of Council/Accessibility Advisory Committee/2023/Accessibility Advisory Committee (FAAC) - 01 Aug 2023 - Agenda.pdf)
Document Text
Frontenac Accessibility Advisory Committee Tuesday, August 1, 2023 –10:00 a.m. Township of South Frontenac Council Chamber, 4432 George Street, Sydenham, ON https://youtube.com/live/wJbho4rPIBM?feature=share
AGENDA Page 1.
Call to Order
Election of Officers a) Election of Chair b)
Election of Vice Chair
Adoption of the Agenda a) That the agenda for the August 1, 2023 meeting of the Joint Frontenac Accessibility Advisory Committee be approved.
Disclosure of Pecuniary Interest and General Nature Thereof
Adoption of Minutes a) Minutes of Meeting held December 6, 2022
3-5
That the minutes of the Joint Frontenac Accessibility Advisory Committee meeting held December 6, 2022 be adopted.
6-9
Deputations and/or Presentations
Reports to the Accessibility Advisory Committee a) 2023-092 Frontenac Accessibility Advisory Committee Second Quarter Update Report This report is for information purposes only.
10 - 12
b)
2023-093 Frontenac K&P Trail Request to Extend ATV Access on the K&P Trail, Verona to Harrowsmith
Page 1 of 13
Page This report is for information only. It is intended to solicit input from the Committee with respect to potential access to ATVs on the K&P Trail from Verona to Harrowsmith. 8.
Township Updates a) Township of North Frontenac
Communications a) From Kurt Halliday regarding a news article on Trails and Accessibility [Distributed to AAC members July 28, 2023]
13
b)
From Kurt Halliday regarding a new captioned video that gives practical advocacy tips for Members of a Municipality’s Accessibility Advisory Committees [Distributed to AAC members July 28, 2023]
Other Business
Next Meeting
Adjournment
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Frontenac Accessibility Advisory Committee Meeting Minutes December 6, 2022 https://youtu.be/_kaZRpuTHvk A meeting of the Frontenac Accessibility Advisory Committee (FAAC) was held in virtual electronic format, hosted at the County Administrative Office, 2069 Battersea Road, Glenburnie on Wednesday, December 6, 2022 at 10:00 a.m. Present Virtually:
Neil Allen, Community Representative, South Frontenac, Chair Janet MacDonald, Community Representative, Frontenac Islands Kurt Halliday, Community Representative, Central Frontenac, Vice Chair David Yerxa, Community Representative at Large
Regrets
Ed Schlievert, Community Representative, North Frontenac
Also Present
Jannette Amini, County of Frontenac Eric Korhonen, Township of North Frontenac Cindy Deachman, Township of Central Frontenac Jody Legue, Township of South Frontenac
Call to Order
Mr. Allen called the meeting to order at 10:02 a.m. 2.
Adoption of the Agenda
Moved By: Seconded By:
Mr. Halliday Mr. Yerxa
That the agenda for the December 6, 2022 meeting of the Joint Frontenac Accessibility Advisory Committee be approved. Carried 3.
Disclosure of Pecuniary Interest and General Nature Thereof
There were none.
Minutes of Meeting held December 6, 2022
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4.
Adoption of Minutes Minutes of Meeting held October 4, 2022
Moved By: Seconded By:
Ms. MacDonald Mr. Yerxa
That the minutes of the Joint Frontenac Accessibility Advisory Committee meeting held October 4, 2022 be adopted. Carried 5.
Deputations and/or Presentations
Reports to the Accessibility Advisory Committee a)
Consideration of the 2022 Celebration of Accessibility Awards
The Committee reviewed all the nominations submitted and thought that all nominations were unique in the way that they support accessibility in their respective Townships. All nominations were meaningful. The committee was encouraged, along with others, to keep their eyes open around what is happening in the communities in terms of accessibility, given that one of the nominations had been operating for the past 10 years. The certificate will be wording to include “In recognition of their community contribution by” and then list what each was nominated for. Moved By: Seconded By:
Mr. Halliday Ms. MacDonald
That Fargo’s General Store and Graham’s Pharmacy Jointly, Hunters Creek Golf Club and Wolfe Island Medical Clinic AND (2) The Frontenac Doctors Jointly be selected as the 2022 recipients of the County of Frontenac Celebration of Accessibility Award. Carried b)
2022-126 Frontenac Accessibility Advisory Committee Approval of the Joint Frontenac 2023-2027 Multi-Year Accessibility Plan Moved By: Mr. Halliday Seconded By: Mr. Yerxa Be It Resolved That the Council of the County of Frontenac pass a by-law adopting the 2023-2027 Multi-Year Accessibility Plan attached to this report as Appendix A.
County of Frontenac Joint Accessibility Advisory Committee December 6, 2022
Minutes of Meeting held December 6, 2022
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And Further That a copy of this report and the 2023-2027 Multi-Year Accessibility Plan be forwarded to the Townships. Carried Ms Amini provided an overview of the report. She confirmed that all websites themselves are WCAG 2.0, Level A compliant. In terms of website content, she did confirm that the County of Frontenac in 2021 removed all inaccessible content and has since been working to ensure that these documents are now put in an accessible format. All content on the County website is compliant. 7.
Township Updates a)
Township of North Frontenac
Mr. Korhonen provided updates regarding the Township of North Frontenac b)
Township of Central Frontenac
Ms. Deachman provided updates regarding the Township of Central Frontenac c)
Township of South Frontenac
d)
Township of Frontenac Islands
Communications
Other Business
Next Meeting
Adjournment
Moved By: Seconded By:
Mr. Halliday Mr. MacDonald
That the meeting hereby adjourn at 10:25 a.m. Carried
County of Frontenac Joint Accessibility Advisory Committee December 6, 2022
Minutes of Meeting held December 6, 2022
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Report 2023-092 Committee Report To:
Chair and Members of the Frontenac Accessibility Advisory Committee
From:
Jannette Amini, Manager of Legislative Services/Clerk
Date of meeting: August 1, 2023 Re:
Frontenac Accessibility Advisory Committee – Update Report
Recommendation This report is for information purposes only. Background The Accessibility Advisory Committee is mandated to assist County and Township Councils in enabling persons with disabilities to have equal access to all opportunities within the County as well as work with Council and the community at large to identify and address the needs of persons with disabilities within the community. Comment The follow is a list of accessibility updates and activities that have occurred during 2021 for the County of Frontenac:
- K&P Trail The Frontenac K&P Trail is a recreational “rail trail” that consists of 70 kilometres of former railway extending from the Kingston boundary to Clarendon Station travelling through several villages in Frontenac, including Harrowsmith, Verona, Tichborne, & Sharbot Lake. The recreational trail does extend south into Kingston, and parts of it have been developed North of Clarendon Station to form a connection to Calabogie and Renfrew. Benches and Amenities In 2022, the County completed the installation of 40 benches along the K&P in locations that are close to parking and other access points. Other locations were prioritized based on high pedestrian traffic activities. In areas near villages and parking, benches are installed approximately every 500 meters. These benches support trail use for individuals who must take breaks while taking recreational walks or hikes. Each bench is placed on a pad of stone dust that is level with the trail surface. Each pad has space for a wheelchair or other assistive device adjacent to the bench.
2023-092 Frontenac Accessibility Advisory Committee Second Quarter Updat…
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Infrastructure Improvements Later this year, or early 2024, staff will be reviewing road crossings in order to make some improvements. This will be coming back to the Committee later this year or early next year. Earlier this year, the County awarded Algonquin Bridge Company the contract for fabrication and delivery of a pre-built structure to replace Elbow Creek Bridge. The structure is to be delivered in late October for placement on the trail. As Algonquin Bridge will only fabricate and deliver the structure, a contractor will be hired to remove the existing bridge, prepare the site, and place the new bridge, with the work to be tendered over the summer. The work of replacing the bridge is expected to take 6-8 weeks and will require a complete closure of the trail at Elbow Creek. As such, the work and trail closure has been scheduled during late fall, a very slow time for trail traffic. This schedule also permits space for additional weeks of work, if necessary, in late November prior to freeze-up or snowmobile season. 2. Conversion of Accessible Documents Update County Administration staff continue to focus on converting the County’s inaccessible pdf’s to accessible documents as well as ensure all new documents being uploaded to the website are accessible. The County uses Adobe Acrobat Pro DC to create accessible pdf’s and ensure that the County’s website continues to be in compliance with the AODA. Documents must be put through this process prior to being uploaded to the County’s website to ensure compliance. As noted in the past, 7 County Administrative staff attended in person Accessible Document Training through New Horizons in Kingston on December 9th, 2022. The training, which covered creating Accessible PDFs using Adobe Acrobat PRO XI or DC, was a one-day session that covered from creating simple Office documents, to PDF documents that are fully accessible and meet the current mandates. Staff were able to learn a variety of techniques to make documents accessible, pitfalls to avoid, and proper methods to tag legacy documents to provide older documents with the new accessibility guidelines. The lead staff member, who became an expert on converting documents has since left the County and at present, it is proving difficult to remediate complex documents. As such, many documents are unable to be uploaded to the County’s civicweb portal but are available upon request. When it comes to complex PDF’s, there are specialist in that field that can be contracted out to remediate these documents, given that unless a person is remediating documents full time it can be difficult to keep up with all the changing standards, changing adapted technology and even the best training courses can be expensive and require someone to constantly be practicing the techniques they learn making the investment of time for an in-house team becomes more costly then outsourcing to fix.
Frontenac Accessibility Advisory Committee – Update Report August 1, 2023
2023-092 Frontenac Accessibility Advisory Committee Second Quarter Updat…
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3. Redevelopment of the Administrative Building County Administration staff fully vacated the administration building as of July 15th, and the Construction for the Joint Admin Facility began on July 18, 2022. A bi-weekly progress meeting between County Administration, Cataraqui Regional Conservation Authority, Colbourne & Kembel, Architects Inc., and Emmons & Mitchell Construction limited representatives occurs to discuss the construction progress. Construction progress as of July 28, 2023: Level 0 – Basement This space, which will be housed by the Cataraqui Region Conservation Authority (CRCA) is about 80% complete with the only remaining work being the finishing touches such as the installation of doors, millwork, and glazing of the glass partitions. Main Building This space, which will be housed by County of Frontenac Administration as well as Frontenac Paramedic Administration, is about 59% complete. Construction and drywall of the space has been complete, with all painting, flooring, trim work, millwork, new stairwell, and other finishing touches still underway. In addition, the original design and work for the main building included additions to the existing building, one being the enlargement of the main entrance, in which the County received a grant in the amount of $100,000 from the COVID-19 Resilience Infrastructure Stream Funding, the second being the removal of the former addition to the building that housed the old Economic Development Office and the Bud Clayton Memorial Boardroom, to make way for a new addition that would house the new Council Chamber along with a excavated lower level that would house the Frontenac Paramedics, and the third being the south addition that would house the collaboration space. The existing soils in the area of the south addition are a sandy infill with an approximate bearing capacity of 100kPa, which is not suitable for bearing the new foundations as currently designed. As a result, Council has directed staff to delete the south addition, and that the design change of the east addition be revised for the roof structure to be built suitable to support a future 2nd floor addition, which will be the future home of the Paramedic training space. Given the deletion of the South addition, which was intended to be a collaboration space for the 2 organizations, the Paramedic training room that was to be on the main floor of the main building, is now being repurposed to house the collaboration space. Until such time that the third floor is added to the east addition, Paramedic training space will be at another location which is yet to be determined. 4. 2023 Access Award Advertisements for nominations for the 2023 Access Award are set to in September and will be open until October 31, 2023, pending confirmation of the date for the Warden’s Wine and Cheese reception, where this years recipients will be recognized. This is being promoted in a number of ways, including:
Frontenac Accessibility Advisory Committee – Update Report August 1, 2023
2023-092 Frontenac Accessibility Advisory Committee Second Quarter Updat…
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4.1.
EngageFrontenac website which is the County’s and Township’s engagement hub that allows residents to learn about, participate in, and share their opinions about all kinds of projects underway across the County. A “Help promote accessibility in Frontenac County” project was set up that provides important links, resources, and connections the visitor can use to learn more about accessibility as well as a series of tools to discuss issues with neighbours and staff, to share ideas on accessibility, and to share stories. All contributions go to help shape accessibility work across the Frontenacs. Staff will also reach out to the townships to have this engagement project placed on their respective engage websites. Members of the Committee are encouraged to visit and promote the Engage Frontenac Accessibility Project.
4.2.
Previous Access Award winners will be contacted with an invitation encouraging them to submit nominations for this year’s award.
4.3.
Regular posts have been and will continue to be done on all County social media channels encouraging people to learn more about the Access Award and encouraged citizens to submit nominations.
Strategic Priorities Implications Priority 1: Develop a Regional Approach to Overcome Infrastructure Issues and Maximize Infrastructure Development Opportunities. 1.2
Develop strategies to improve regional transportation connectivity and accessibility.
Priority 4: Maximize Administrative Leadership within the County Administration. 4.3
Ensure community engagement remains a continued priority and to develop dynamic solutions to improve citizen awareness/involvement in County of Frontenac activities and to promote collaboration with member municipalities.
Financial Implications There are no direct financial implications associated with this report. Organizations, Departments and Individuals Consulted and/or Affected Richard Allen, Manager of Economic Development, County of Frontenac Brieanna McEathron, Executive Assistant to the CAO and Director of Corporate Services
Frontenac Accessibility Advisory Committee – Update Report August 1, 2023
2023-092 Frontenac Accessibility Advisory Committee Second Quarter Updat…
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Report 2023-093 Committee Report To:
Members of the Accessibility Advisory Committee
From:
Richard Allen, Manager of Economic Development
Prepared by:
Richard Allen, Manager of Economic Development
Date of meeting:
August 1, 2023
Re:
Frontenac K&P Trail Request to Extend ATV Access on the K&P Trail, Verona to Harrowsmith
Recommendation This report is for information only. It is intended to solicit input from the Committee with respect to potential access to ATVs on the K&P Trail from Verona to Harrowsmith. Background At its regular meeting on April 19, 2023, County Council received a delegation from the Verona District ATV Club requesting expanded access to the K&P Trail for an additional 9-km south of Verona to the village of Harrowsmith. At its next regular meeting on May 17, 2023, County Council provided direction to staff for this request to be investigated, to solicit input from the community, and for a report to be presented to the Planning and Economic Development Committee at 10:00 AM on July 5, 2023. The Planning and Economic Development Committee also hosted a public meeting for anyone who wished to provide their input at the July 5 meeting. At its meeting held July 5, 2023, the Planning and Economic Development Advisory Committee received a detailed staff report based on the results of community engagement carried out on the County’s social media channels and regular updates on the project are available on engagefrontenac website. The report provided to the Planning and Economic Development Advisory Committee at its July 5 meeting contained comprehensive information to assist the committee in its evaluation of the Verona District ATV Club’s request to extend year-round motorized access from Verona to Harrowsmith. The report summarizes results from public engagement, reviews comments from relevant trail partners, analyses potential risks
2023-093 Frontenac K&P Trail Request to Extend ATV Access on the K&P Tra…
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and costs associated with the extension and provides existing data concerning the use of the K&P Trail. The report and its appendices may be viewed here. Of the 14 people who spoke at the public meeting, 1 spoke in support of extending ATV use from Verona to Harrowsmith, while 13 spoke against, with the main issues of concern being safety in terms of interactions between pedestrians and ATV’s, given that this is a densely populated area with many who walk the trail. Full comments from the Planning and Economic Development Advisory Committee and Public participants can be viewed on the livestream link at: https://youtube.com/live/fax7upxXx1k?feature=share After the public meeting and committee discussion, staff were requested to provide additional information to the committee before a recommendation will be made to Council. The requested information surrounded the following topics: •
Safety
•
Liability
•
Bylaw Enforcement
•
Additional Trail Use Data
•
Comparable Trails Information from other Jurisdictions
•
Status of the Verona Pilot Project
Given the opportunity to consult with the Frontenac Accessibility Advisory Committee while this additional information is gathered, staff are requesting input from the committee on this matter with respect to accessibility. These comments will be shared with the Planning and Economic Development Committee to inform its recommendation to County Council. While considering its comments, the committee should consider the following information: •
The K&P Trail is approximately 3 meters in width at any given location, in both motorized and non-motorized sections.
•
ATV’s are typically between 1.1 and 1.4 meters wide, while side-by-side vehicles are generally 1.6 meters wide. Newer, larger side-by-side vehicles are now being produced with a width of up to 2.1 or 2.2 meters.
•
Under the AODA, Design of Public Spaces Standard, trails must have minimum clear widths of 1,000 mm to ensure room for mobility devices or service animals.
•
In addition, in portions of the trail where motorized vehicles are permitted, maximum speed limits are reduced and posted to 20 KM/hr in community zones where pedestrian traffic is higher.
•
In the comments provided with the survey responses, arguments were made both in favour and against increased motorized use from an accessibility perspective.
Recommend Report to County Council Frontenac K&P Trail Accessibility Items August 1, 2023
2023-093 Frontenac K&P Trail Request to Extend ATV Access on the K&P Tra…
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Financial Implications There are no financial implications associated with this report. Strategic Priority Implications Priority 1: Develop a Regional Approach to Overcome Infrastructure Issues and Maximize Infrastructure Development Opportunities. 1.2
Develop strategies to improve regional transportation connectivity and accessibility.
Priority 4: Maximize Administrative Leadership within the County Administration. 4.3
Ensure community engagement remains a continued priority and to develop dynamic solutions to improve citizen awareness/involvement in County of Frontenac activities and to promote collaboration with member municipalities.
Organizations, Departments and Individuals Consulted and/or Affected Jannette Amini, Manager of Legislative Services/Clerk
Recommend Report to County Council Frontenac K&P Trail Accessibility Items August 1, 2023
2023-093 Frontenac K&P Trail Request to Extend ATV Access on the K&P Tra…
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Township of North Frontenac Quarterly Accessibility Report August 1, 2023 Initiative
Details
Completion Date
Harlow Hall Accessibility Improvements
The Harlowe Hall Door was installed December 2022. This door is located after the Wheelchair access ramp and is a fully accessible automatic door with handicap push button. Due to financial constraints the door was the only project completed at the Harlowe Hall.
Complete
Outdoor Skating Rink/Viewing Building
Looking forward in 2023, Township is planning on doing accessibility upgrades to its Outdoor Skating Rink/Viewing Building. There are no plans at this time; however, will update the AAC once these are available for any recommendations.
TBD
Township of North Frontenac
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