MEETING NO. 7

Members

Councillor V. Burke

Robert Hunn (Chair)

Bill Broger

Prescott Harrison

Michael Khan

Others

B. Wiles, Manager, Enforcement and Licensing

D. Sewell, Communications Coordinator

Chris Raynor, Committee Clerk

The Markham Advisory Committee on Accessibility convened at the hour of 3:30 p.m. with Mr. Robert Hunn in the Chair.

1. MINUTES OF THE MARKHAM ACCESSIBILITY COMMITTEE
MEETING HELD ON SEPTEMBER 19, 2007

THE MARKHAM ADVISORY COMMITTEE ON ACCESSIBILITY RECOMMENDS:

That the minutes of the Town of Markham Accessibility Committee meeting held on September 19, 2007 be adopted.

CARRIED

2. TOWN OF MARKHAM WEBSITE
ACCESSIBILITY ENHANCEMENTS

Ms. D. Sewell, Communications Coordinator, provided a brief overview fo the accessibility of the Town’s website. It was noted that the accessibility options are available within the “Font Size” tab and that they conform to the W3C standards for accessibility.

There were a number of suggestions for improvements such as making the options easier to find and improving screen reader compatibility. Ms. Sewell agreed to review other websites, such as the CNIB, to see what features are available.

3. ENFORCEMENT BLITZ

Mr. B. Wiles, Manager, Enforcement and Licensing, was in attendance to discuss options for tackling abuse of disabled parking spaces at Markville Mall and the GO stations. Mr. Wiles advised that 473 tickets for misuse of disabled parking spaces have been issued to date. It was noted that the Ministry of Transportation will issue temporary permits to people with injuries, and those people will continue to use them until they expire. This misuse cannot be enforced. It was noted that where misuse is witnessed, people can call the Town on extension 2050 and enforcement staff will be deployed.

It was agreed to have a press release prior to the enforcement blitz and that the Ward Councillors should be notified in advance. There was also brief discussion surrounding the narrow disabled spaces and it was noted that these do not meet the definition of such a space in the Parking By-law. Committee suggested that staff undertake to determine how many such spaces there are in the Town.

4. REQUEST TO WAIVE ON STREET PARKING FEES

THE MARKHAM ADVISORY COMMITTEE ON ACCESSIBILITY RECOMMENDS:

That the resident’s request for fee relief for on street parking adjacent to her home be denied;

And that all future requests with respect to fee relief for street parking fees due to matters relating to disability be referred to the Markham Advisory Committee on Accessibility to be considered on a case by case basis.

CARRIED

5. ACCESS COORDINATOR

JOB DESCRIPTIONS

There was brief discussion surrounding the proposed Access Coordinator position. Mr. Hunn agreed to develop a consolidated description to be issued to the Committee for comments. There was a suggestion that the position initially be a contract position that can be reviewed at a later date. The Council Members will work to have the position included for consideration during the current round of budget discussions.

NEXT MEETING

The next meeting will be on November 21, 2007 at the Centennial Community Centre. There will be a brief tour of the facilities followed by the meeting itself.

ADJOURNMENT

The Markham Advisory Committee on Accessibility adjourned at 4:35 p.m.