After skipping March like usual, the Accessibility Advisory Committee will pick up where it left off in February, with questions about the direction on alternative voting methods for the 2026 municipal election. That’s going to be complicated, but fortunately much of the rest of the agenda seems straightforward with some items on heritage, waste collection and transit to consider, and then we have to get ready for a special meeting in May.
NOTE #1: This meeting will take place in Meeting Room A at City Hall, but you can also watch it on video via Microsoft Teams. (Find the link on the meeting agenda.)
NOTE #2: Accessibility-related accommodations available upon timely request to Sarah Boghossian 519-822-1260 extension 3536; TTY 519-826-9771 email: accessibility [at] guelph.ca.
NOTE #3: The meeting begins at 3 pm and is expected to wrap up around 5 pm.
Seasonal Patio Program Follow-Up – This and the next two items are part of this month’s consent agenda, the first of it’s kind for the AAC. This one is an information report detailing the implementation of the season patio program for 2024, including the efforts to ensure that approved patios meet accessibility requirements.
Follow up regarding Single Use Items Letter – A letter was sent to the federal Ministry of Environmental and Climate Change regarding their new single-use plastics policy on behalf of the AAC in December. There has been no reply yet.
Site Plan Internal Review Report – In addition to these meetings, members of the AAC take place in site plan reviews, and this memo outlines the next series of site review meetings over the next few months.
Municipal Election Follow-Up – The discussion here didn’t get a full airing at the last AAC meeting so it was deferred to this one with a request for more information about why staff are making the decisions they’re making in regards to voter options for 2026. There’s no advice from staff in the new report about what they recommend to the AAC, but there is an invitation for Chair Root to join staff at the May Committee of the Whole meeting where the report will be be presented.
Downtown Waste Project: Design Guideline – This is another carry over from the last AAC meeting because they ran out of time. The City is looking at a couple of different options for new containers to collect waste and recycling downtown, and they each offer different challenges and advantages so the AAC are looking to look at them from the point of view of the disabled community since once of them is a little obtrusive when being emptied. A report on this matter will be coming back to city council in June.
Guelph Transit: Introduction of Chime Sound on Conventional Buses – As you may have seen at last month’s Transit Advisory Committee meeting, Guelph Transit is planning on introducing a chime that will presage a series of pre-set messages like “move to the back of the bus” or “exit through the rear doors”. In the interests of making the chime and messages heard and understood by everyone, the AAC is being asked for their notes on thee chime.
Heritage Conservation District Boundaries – The official Heritage Conservation District boundaries for Downtown Guelph will be coming to city council in a couple of months for approval, and thus bring an end to the first of two phases in the HCD development. Before that, the committee will be asked at this meeting if they foresee any accessibility concerns with the boundaries of the downtown HCD as they’re presently drawn.
Tuesday, May 21: AAC Special Meeting – As discussed at last month’s meeting, a series of recommendations from city council last fall were deferred to the committee for further conversation. The direction at the February meeting was to hold a special meeting of the committee in May in order to have a thorough discussion about those recommendations. No report is attached for this item, so this is likely just a reminder.
Guelph Politico 