Accessibility committee needs community input

Accessibility committee needs community input

News

By: Sandra Bolan

Bradford West Gwillimbury’s accessibility advisory committee chairperson wants to do more for the community’s disabled residents, but can’t unless the committee’s appointed disabled members attend the meetings.

“We have a good group of people, that’s not the problem, said councillor and committee chairperson Jeanny Salmon.

Instead, it’s about those members not attending the meetings, she said.

Some projects have been completed during the past year, including the installation of audible traffic signals at the intersection of Melbourne and Professor Day drives and Melbourne and Holland Street West. Accessible playground equipment has been installed at local parks, more large print books were brought into the public library and sign language programs were offered to the public through the town’s recreation department.

“The town has really stepped up, but we have to educate ourselves to do more,” Ms Salmon said. “We’re relying on them. They’re in a wheelchair — are the areas where sidewalks are to elevated?”

To know the answer to that question, as well as which projects to tackle, Ms Salmon said at least four of the committee’s eight disabled members, all of whom applied to and were accepted onto the committee, must attend the meetings for a quorum to be formed and decisions made.

“We need that feedback,” she said.

The committee had been in existence for three years before that but only met annually until last year when it was decided to increase the number of meetings from one to three.

The group has met twice this year — in February when there were enough members for a quorum and in June when there wasn’t.

“You come to the meeting, you read the minutes from last year and you can’t act on anything,” Ms Salmon said.

Town staffers who sit on the committee do not have voting privileges.

The accessibility advisory committee’s next meeting is on Oct. 23 at 3 p.m. at the Don Harris Meeting room, 125 Simcoe Road.

“I’m hoping, with my fingers crossed, we’ll have a quorum,” Ms Salmon said.

No decisions have been made on what to do with the committee if quorums cannot be met.

“As far as planning what the next steps are, I haven’t done that because I’m being optimistic and we’ll have a quorum (on Oct. 23),” she said.

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