3583 Schedule "A" - Accessibility Plan for the Town of Tillsonburg.ACCESSIBILITY PLAN
TOWN OF TILLSONBURG
January 3, 2012
1. BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE
The Town of Tillson burg is committed to promoting a barrier-free Town for
employees, citizens and all who live, work, visit, and invest in Tillsonburg. With
this report, the Town of Tillsonburg is proud to present its findings and report on
the development of innovative strategies to remove and prevent future barriers
for people with disabilities and our significantly maturing population.
In keeping with this vision, the Town of Tillsonburg understands that people with
disabilities:
• Represent a growing and diverse community that is dramatically
increasing due to the demographic trends of a maturing population.
• Form part of the work force, and include our families, our friends, our
customers and members of the community at large.
• Purchase goods and services and make important financial decisions on
where they do business, enjoy recreation or choose to live.
• Understand that accessible features can be of benefit to others, such as
automatic doors that assist parents with children in strollers.
• Understand that inclusion and full participation of people with disabilities
requires well-considered commitment from all levels of government.
The Town of Tillsonburg is committed to ensuring that people with disabilities
enjoy the same opportunities as all who live, work, visit and invest in our
Town.
2. LEGISLATION
Ontarians with Disabilities Act, S.O. 2001, C.32
Under the Ontarians with Disabilities Act, Ontario government ministries,
municipalities, hospitals, school boards, colleges, universities and public
transportation organizations are required to develop annual accessibility plans to
make policies, practices, programs, services and buildings more accessible to
people with disabilities. These plans must be made available to the public.
Accessibility for Ontarians with Disabilities Act, S.O. 2005, C.11 (AODA)
In 2005 the Province enacted the Accessibility for Ontarians with Disabilities Act.
It defines a disability as: any degree of physical disability, infirmity, malformation
or disfigurement that is caused by bodily injury, birth defect or illness and, without
limiting the generality of the foregoing, includes diabetes, mellitus, epilepsy, a
brain injury, any degree of paralysis, amputation, lack of physical co-ordination,
blindness or visual impediment, deafness or hearing impediment, muteness or
speech impediment, or physical reliance on a guide dog or other animal or on a
wheelchair or other remedial appliance or device; a condition of mental
impairment or a developmental disability; a learning disability, or a dysfunction in
one or more of the processes involved in understanding or using symbols or
spoken language; a mental disorder and an injury or disability for which benefits
were claimed or received under the insurance plan established under the
Workplace Safety and Insurance Act, 1977.
The Act defines a barrier as meaning anything that prevents a person with a
disability from fully participating in all aspects of society because of his or her
disability, including a physical barrier, an architectural barrier, information or
communication barrier, an attitudinal barrier, a technological barrier, a policy or
practice.
The Accessibility for Ontarians with Disabilities Act (AODA) provides for the
development of minimum standards in order to achieve accessibility for
Ontarians with disabilities with respect to goods, services, facilities,
accommodations, employment, buildings, structures and premises on or before
January 1, 2025. The Minister responsible for the AODA is required to establish a
process to develop and implement all accessibility standards necessary to
achieving the purposes of this Act. Within this process, standards development
committees are established by the Minister to develop proposed accessibility
standards. These standards are adopted by regulation. Persons or organizations
may be required to meet more than one accessibility standard under the AODA.
Five sets of standards are being issued under the Accessibility for Ontarians with
Disabilities Act, 2005 (AODA) to achieve the vision of a barrier-free Ontario by
2025. At the time of writing, four of the five standards have been approved. The
Customer Service Standard was the first to be approved on July 25, 2007 by
Ontario Regulation 429/07. The bulk of this standard required training of
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employees, development of policies and procedures, and the implementation of
feedback mechanisms.
On June 3rd 2011, Ontario Regulation 191/11-lntegrated Accessibility Standards
was approved by the Lieutenant Governor in Council. This regulation integrated
three of the five standards: transportation, communication and information, and
employment. To date, the integrated standards represent the most
comprehensive set of accessibility requirements mandated by the Province.
The Accessible Built Environment Standard will be the fifth and final standard.
This standard has been released in draft form and there is no set date as to
when it may be approved by the Lieutenant Governor in Council. This standard
is intended to help remove barriers in buildings and outdoor spaces for persons
with disabilities. The standard will only apply to new construction and extensive
renovation, with the expectation that buildings would be retrofitted to meet the
standard within 5 to 13 years after it becomes law.
3. Obligations of the Province of Ontario:
The Provincial Government is required to develop barrier-free design guidelines
to promote accessibility to buildings and other premises that the Government
either purchases, enters into a lease for, constructs or significantly renovates.
These guidelines must meet or exceed the levels of accessibility set out in the
Building Code Act. Individual Government ministries must each prepare an
accessibility plan, which must meet specific requirements.
4. Obligations of the Town of Tillsonburg:
Besides simply requiring the Town to have regard to the accessibility of persons
with disabilities when purchasing goods and services, the Act requires that the
Town establish an accessibility advisory committee, which must have a majority
of members who are persons with disabilities, to advise Council on accessibility
issues and work toward the removal of barriers within the community.
The annual accessibility plan is a public document approved by Council, which
must address the identification, removal and prevention of barriers to persons
with disabilities in policies, by-laws, programs, practices, and services. An
updated Plan must be published annually and must be made readily available to
the public.
5. ACCESSIBILITY ADVISORY COMMITTEE (AAC)
Town of Tillsonburg Council renewed the mandate of the Accessibility Advisory
Committee in 2011, as part of the Council committee restructuring. The
Committee's responsibilities include raising issues and concerns and providing
advice and guidance to Tillsonburg Town Council on matters related to policies,
practices and programs in the Town relating to accessibility issues.
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The Committee consists of three members of the public, one Councillor, and the
Town Clerk, who chairs the committee. The current members of the committee
are listed in Appendix 1. Additional assistance is provided by a town staff person
who prepares the agendas, records the minutes and provides other secretarial
services to the committee as required. The current committee Terms of
Reference are attached as Appendix 2.
6. TOWN STRUCTURE:
The Town of Tillson burg is comprised of four main departments:
Operations!Tillsonburg Hydro, Community Services, Development and
Communication Services, and Finance Services. Additionally, there is a Fire
Services department. Services provided by the Town are provided in accordance
with the Town's Accessible Customer Service Policy. Within each of the four
main departments, the following services are provided:
OPERATIONS: COMMUNITY SERVICES:
• Fleet Services • Museum
• Utility Services • Library Services
• Infrastructure Services • Community Centre
• Road Maintenance • Special Events Centre
• Parking Lot Maintenance • Cemetery
• Airport Maintenance • Community Services
• Surface Operations • Operation of Parks and
• Traffic Recreation Facilities and
• Engineering Programs
• Municipal Facilities Management
DEVELOPMENT AND FINANCE SERVICES:
COMMUNICATION SERVICES:
• Communications • Contract Administration
• Information Technology • Accounts Receivable/Payable
Services • Treasury Services
• Records Management • Accounting Services
• Vital Statistics • Inventory Purchasing
• Legislative Services • Human Resource Services
• Parking/By-Law Enforcement • Compensation, Benefits and
• Community Development Payroll
• Land Use Planning • Revenue Management
• Subdivision Administration • Tax Services
• Building • Customer Service
• TillsonburQ Airport • LicensinQ
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• Economic Development
7. ACCOMPLISHMENTS TO DATE
The Town of Tillsonburg has been actively developing innovative approaches to
addressing accessibility issues, some of these recent initiatives are as follows:
• Several measures were taken by municipal staff to ensure increased
accessibility during the 2010 municipal election. These included
accessibility audits of all polling locations, and allowing staff to assist
persons with disabilities who required assistance filling out forms, filling
out a ballot, or accessing a voting location. The Town also offered roving
polls.
• The AAC undertook an initiative in the second half of 2011 to tour Town-
owned facilities and identify where barriers exist. At current, the following
facilities have been toured: Station Arts Centre, Tillsonburg Community
Centre, Town of Tillson burg Corporate Offices, Tillsonburg Public Library,
and the Annandale House National Historic Site. A number of barriers
have been identified and documented, and solutions are being explored in
2012.
• The AAC has also identified and documented a number of outdoor
locations in town which are unfriendly to persons with disabilities, most of
which can be addressed by cutting curbs or fixing sidewalks. These issues
have been notified to the roads department, and will be addressed in
Spring 2012.
• A new Town website has been developed, in consultation with the AAC,
which prioritized accessibility issues during its design phase. The new site
considered things such as ease of navigation, device independence, and
text readability, from an accessibility standpoint when developing the
website. The new site also features Browsealoud, a tool which reads text
out loud to individuals with vision impairments, or users who have difficulty
reading.
• An improved feedback mechanism has been incorporated into the new
website so that members of the public can bring accessibility issues and
concerns to the Town's attention via a webform, telephone, email, or fax.
• The Customer Service Centre now allows for more ways for people with
mobility disabilities to obtain municipal services 24 hours a day e.g.
phone, fax, email, web-site, automatic bill payment, internet banking bill
payment etc.
• The Town has invited a member of the AAC to sit on the steering
committee for the Central Business District Urban Design Guidelines
Study. The study will address the character of buildings, streetscaping and
landscaping, open space and pedestrian movement, the scale and
continuity of development, heritage elements, the use of materials and
signage, land features and vehicle accommodation in the downtown and
surrounding areas.
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• The Clerk's Office has recently acquired new videos to assist with
accessibility training, which will be used in 2012.
B. GOALS FOR 2012
• The Town's Accessible Customer Service Policy will continue to be
complied with, and reviewed by staff to ensure the Town is providing an
adequate level of Accessible Customer Service to the public;
• In 2012, the AAC will be introducing an award program which will
recognize accessibility leadership in the private sector. Members of the
public will be given opportunity, via the town website, to nominate
individuals or businesses who have demonstrated leadership in this area.
A winner will be announced on a quarterly basis and will be awarded a
certificate of recognition at an Open meeting of Council, and will be
recognized on the Town website, and in the Focus on Tillsonburg section
of the Tillsonburg news.
• The Clerk's office, in partnership with Human Resources, will undertake
an initiative to improve the quality and thoroughness of Accessibility
training for staff. As part of this, a review will be conducted to ensure that
all staffpersons are adequately trained as per the requirements of the
Customer Services Standard and the Integrated Standard. A plan will be
developed to integrate full accessibility training into the employee
orientation program for new hires.
• In the first quarter of 2012, the AAC will be reviewing the site inspections
conducted in 2011 to develop a list of top priorities resulting from the
inspections of town facilities, and will bring a report to Council with
recommendations.
• In Spring 2012, the Roads department will be addressing sidewalk and
curb issues identified by the AAC in late 2011.
• Accessibility will continue to be considered when reviewing planning
applications;
• Staff will continue to be made aware of the Town's Accessibility Plan, and
the Town's Accessibility Policies;
• Multiple formats of Town policies and procedures will be made available
upon request;
• The Central Business District Design Study will consider accessibility
issues throughout the process, relying on its representative from the AAC
to bring accessibility issues to the forefront.
Appendix 3 outlines implementation timelines for the goals listed above.
9.1DENTIFICATION
The types of methodologies that will be used in identifying barriers:
• Departmental audits
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• Site audits
• Consultation with staff
• Consultation with community organizations and the Accessibility Advisory
Committee
10. MONITORING PROGRESS
The listing of 2012 Goals were established based on what is achievable within a
12 month period. Since a Municipal Accessibility Plan is required on an annual
basis, reviews will occur during mid-year. The Town of Tillsonburg will develop a
monitoring process to evaluate if targets are being met and/or are being adapted
to changing circumstances.
11. COMMUNICATION OF THE PLAN
The availability of the Town of Tillsonburg's Accessibility Plan will be announced
publicly by way of:
• a notice in the local newspaper in the biweekly "Focus on Tillsonburg" ad
• Distribution of the plan to the Tillsonburg Library, Customer Service Centre,
Tillsonburg Community Centre and Corporate Offices, as well as all Town
staff.
• Posting of the plan on the Town's website www.tillsonburg.ca.
• A member of the AAC will be invited to appear on the Rogers TV show,
'Inside Tillsonburg', to speak to the 2012 Accessibility Plan as well as other
initiatives being taken on by the committee in 2012.
The key contact for inquiries regarding the Municipal Accessibility Plan is:
Donna Wilson
Clerk
Town of Tillsonburg
200 Broadway, 2"d Floor
N4G 5A7
dewilson@tillsonburg.ca
12. RECOMMENDATIONS TO THE PROVINCE OF ONTARIO
The Town of Tillsonburg applauds the enactment of legislation to improve the
living and working conditions of persons with disabilities. However, as the
financial impact of this legislation on municipal taxpayers is significant, the Town
also recommends that the province assume some financial responsibility for the
requirements of the AODA with the provision of funds for additional municipal
resources, operational expenses and capital works.
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13. CONCLUSION
The Town of Tillsonburg is committed to addressing existing accessibility barriers
and preventing future accessibility barriers to allow people with disabilities to fully
participate in our communities. The Town encourages input from all Town of
Tillson burg residents. The Town is of the opinion that this legislation should
improve accessibility in workplaces and public spaces and improve access to
employment, customer service, communication and transportation. However, as
the financial impact of this legislation on municipal taxpayers is significant, the
Town also recommends that the province assume some financial responsibility
for these requirements.
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APPENDIX 1
TOWN OF TILLSON BURG ACCESSIBILITY ADVISORY COMMITTEE
2011-2014
Members
1) Mike Cerna
2) Michael Kadey
3) Helen Lamos-Parker
4) Donna Wilson
5) Councillor Mel Getty
Staff Resources
1) Donna Wilson, Clerk. Email: dewilson@tillsonburg.ca Phone: 519-688-3009
ext. 3224.
2) Committee secretary
WIVOiros 9
MISSION STATEMENT
APPENDIX 2
TOWN OF TILLSON BURG
ACCESSIBILITY ADVISORY COMMITTEE
TERMS OF REFERENCE
The Town of Tillson burg Accessibility Committee is dedicated to promoting and
enhancing, where possible, a barrier free environment for all persons, regardless of
needs, to participate as fully as possible in all aspects of community life. Its activities
shall be guided by the principles of the Accessibility for Ontarians with Disabilities Act
(AODA) and the Accessibility Standards for Customer Service (0. Reg. 429-07).
GOALS AND OBJECTIVES
The goals of the Accessibility Committee are to encourage and facilitate accessibility on
behalf of all persons by:
1. Promoting public awareness of accessibility issues.
2. Encouraging cooperation among all service and interest groups to ensure a better
community for all persons.
3. Conducting a tour of town facilities to identify and document accessibility issues and
barriers to use of town facilities by persons with disabilities.
4. Liaising with Town Departments and local organizations in addressing accessibility
issues that are related to municipal property and buildings; Acting as a consulting body
during the rollout of the Parks and Recreation Master Plan, and any other renovations
that may be taking place over the course of this committee's term.
5. Ensuring that town facilities are accessible not only for users, but also for prospective
employees.
6. Recognizing leadership in accessibility in Tillsonburg's private sector through the
awarding of a certificate, and recognition in the Tillsonburg News.
COMPOSITION
As per Town of Tillson burg By-law 3485, the AAC shall be composed of five members,
with one non-voting staff support person. Term of appointment for all members shall be
four years. The Town Clerk shall serve as the Chair, and one member shall be appointed
as Vice Chair, and one member as Recording Secretary for the full term of appointment.
CHAIR DUTIES
The Chair shall:
(a) Chair all meetings; and
(b) Represent the committee interests to Council
(c) Serve as the voice of the Committee and may represent the Committee at various
special initiatives
VICE-CHAIR AND RECORDING SECRETARY DUTIES
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There shall be chosen a Vice-Chair who shall assume the duties of the Chair when the
latter is not in attendance. The recording secretary shall record the minutes of each
meeting should the staff support person be unavailable to take the minutes.
QUORUM
A quorum shall consist of 50% plus one of the voting members of the Committee at any
of its meetings for the conducting of business.
PROCEDURES
The following procedures will be followed:
1. The Accessibility Committee will be a Committee of Council.
2. The Committee will meet quarterly, and may call additional meetings as required.
3. The minutes of Committee meetings will be received by Open Council during the
second meeting of each month.
4. Recommendations to Council shall be formally submitted to Clerk, Donna Wilson, in
the form of a letter.
5. The AAC shall generally operate according to the Town of Tillsonburg's Procedural
Bylaws 3416 and 3485, but may on occasion opt for less formal meeting procedures as
determined appropriate by the Committee Chair.
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APPENDIX 3
2012 Implementation Plan
Action Actio ned Timing Cost
by:
AAC Reward Program for accessibility AAC7 Q1 Cost to
excellence in the Community Supporting include in
Staff Focus on
Tillsonburg
Redesign of Staff Training Program, Clerk's Q1 Staff time
and integration with orientation Office &
program HR
Rollout of staff training using new Clerk's Q2 (and Staff time
videos Office & ongoing for
HR new hires)
AAC to identify priorities from site AAC Q2-Q3 No
inspections and submit report to immediate
Council with recommendations. cost
Miscellaneous curb and sidewalk Roads Q2 Cost
repairs dept. already
accounted
for in Roads
budget
Continued compliance with Accessible CSRs, and Ongoing n/a
Customer Service Policy all staff
who
interact
with public
Consider accessibility issues when DCS staff Ongoing n/a
reviewing planning applications.
Ensure that town policies, procedures, All staff Ongoing n/a
and all other materials are available in
multiple formats and made available
upon request.
Utilize member of AAC on Urban DCS/Urban Q1-Q2 n/a
Design Study steering committee to Design
fullest extent, and consider Study
accessibility issues throughout this steering
exercise. committee
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