Town’s Accessibility Advisory Committee and Economic Development Committee seek new members

The Town of Huntsville is seeking new members for its Accessibility Advisory Committee and Economic Development Committee.

Applications are available at Town Hall or on the Town of Huntsville website. Completed applications must be submitted to the Town’s Deputy Clerk, Tanya Calleja, no later than 9:00 a.m. on Wednesday, January 18, 2017.

Economic Development Committee

The Economic Development Committee advises Council on matters relevant to the Town’s Economic Development Strategy. For examples of the committee’s activities, review its most recent meeting agenda here.

Accessibility Advisory Committee (AAC)

Under the ODA, Municipalities of 10,000 or more residents are required to establish Accessibility Advisory Committees and a majority of their members must be people with disabilities. Huntsville formed its AAC in 2001. The committee is tasked with advising Council on all matters pertaining to persons with disabilities.

AAC Terms of Reference (From the Town of Huntsville’s 2012-2017 Accessibility Plan)

Working under the authority of the Procedural By-law approved by Council, the Accessibility Advisory Committee is appointed by Council to provide advice on matters related to the promotion of equal opportunity for all persons, regardless of needs to enable all persons to participate as fully as possible in all aspects of community life.

The Committee shall:

• Conduct research and prepare reports and recommendations for Council’s review on various matters respecting the issues of persons with disabilities in accordance with the provisions of the Accessibility for Ontarians with Disabilities Act (AODA)
• Advise Council on the implementation and effectiveness of the Town’s Accessibility Plan to ensure that it addresses the identification, removal and prevention of barriers to persons with disabilities in the municipality’s by-laws, all its policies, programs, practices and services and to all buildings, structures or premises or part of a building, structure or premises that the Council purchases, constructs, significantly renovates; or for which Council enters a new lease; or that a person provides as municipal capital facilities under an agreement entered into with the Council in accordance with Section 1 of the Municipal Act;
• Review and provide comments on all site plans for new development to the Director of Planning, described in section 41 of the Planning Act;
• Support, encourage and be an ongoing resource to Council, individuals, agencies and the business community by educating and building community awareness about measures (such as the availability of employment, leisure and educational choices) to improve the social, cultural and economic well-being of the Town’s residents, through the removal of physical barriers, incorporation of universal design standards, and education to overcome attitudinal barriers to make Huntsville an accessible, and livable Town for all people;
• Advise the Municipality on universal transportation issues and how to enable barrier- free access for persons with Issues related to universally accessible forms of transportation, conventional transit and taxi services, specialized services such as Para-transit, sidewalk design (curb cuts), traffic signalization, etc. shall be considered;
• Be informed on matters of government policy (municipal, provincial or federal) affecting persons with disabilities;
• Review public works policies and standards (sidewalks, snow removal,);
• Coordinate the immediate and ongoing dissemination of information in various formats to the disabled community, and to the public at large regarding issues faced by persons with all types of disabilities and regarding the work undertaken by the Accessibility Advisory Committee.

Accessibility Advisory Committee Composition:

The Accessibility Advisory Committee shall consist of up to (12) twelve members: one being appointed from Council by the Mayor and the remaining members shall be appointed by Council on the recommendation of the Mayor from interested permanent or seasonal residents of the Municipality representing the widest cross-section of the community and shall include, but not be limited to, persons with disabilities as well as parents of children with disabilities, representation from service providers and the professional community. The Committee composition shall be in accordance with AODA. The Chair and Vice-Chair will be appointed by a majority vote of the Accessibility Advisory Committee. The Chair and Vice-Chair will serve for the Term of Council. The members of the Committee shall be appointed for the Term of Council.

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