The Corporation of the Township of Hornepayne
By-Law No. 863
WHEREAS, the Province of Ontario has passed an Act, referred to as the Ontarians with Disabilities Act, 2001 which provides for the formation and implementation of an Accessibility Plan for every municipality.
The purpose of this plan is to identify, remove and prevent barriers faced by persons with disabilities.
NOW THEREFORE, the Council of the Corporation of the Township of Hornepayne enacts as follows:
1. That the Accessibility Plan attached hereto as Schedule A of this by-law is hereby adopted;
2. That annually, the Municipal Council and Staff as well as consultation with those with disabilities will review the plan to make such changes as are considered appropriate.
Read a first and second time this 8th day of July 2003.
Read a third time and finally passed this 8th day of July 2003.
____________________________
Presiding Officer
____________________________
Clerk
THE CORPORATION OF THE
TOWNSHIP OF HORNEPAYNE
Submitted by:
Susan Smith, Clerk
Township of Hornepayne
Co-ordinator Accessibility Working Group
Executive Summary 3
Aim ..4
Objectives 4
Brief Description of the Township of Hornepayne ..5
Council Commitment to accessibility planning 6
Recent Barrier Removal Initiatives ... 7
Informal site audit of the municipally owned buildings 8
Barrier Identification Methodologies 9
Barriers Identified/ Municipally Owned ..10
Barriers Identified/Other than Municipally Owned .12
Barriers to be addressed in 2004 ..15
Review and Monitoring of the Process 15
Communication of the Plan ..15
The purpose of the Ontarians with Disabilities Act, 2001 (ODA) is to improve opportunities for people with disabilities and to provide for their involvement in the identification, removal and prevention of barriers to their full participation in the life of the Province. To this end, the ODA mandates that each Municipality prepare an annual accessibility plan.
This is the first year plan (2003) prepared by the working group (department heads and Council Members) of the Township of Hornepayne. The report describes the measures the Township will take during the upcoming years to identify, remove and prevent barriers to people with disabilities who use the facilities and services of the Township, including staff and members of the community at large.
This next year the Township committed itself to the continual improvement of access to municipal facilities focus being on recreation facilities having existing barriers.
The department heads identified a number of barriers to people with disabilities. The most significant findings were that recreation facilities were not fully wheelchair accessible. Over the next several years, the working group recommends focusing on those barriers which deny access to the recreation facilities on a day-to-day basis.
This report describes the measures that the Township of Hornepayne will be taking to identify, remove and prevent barriers to people with disabilities who utilize the facilities and services of the Township, including staff.
This report:
1. Describes the process by with the Township of Hornepayne will identify, remove and prevent barriers to people with disabilities.
2. Review past efforts to remove and prevent barriers to people with disabilities.
3. List the facilities, policies, programs, practices and services the Township will review in the coming year to identify barriers to people with disabilities
4. Describe the measures the municipality will take in the coming years to identify, remove and prevent barriers to people with disabilities
5. Describe how the municipality will make this accessibility plan available to the public.
Brief Description of the Township of Hornepayne
The Township of Hornepayne is located in the District of Algoma, approximately 400 km northwest of Sault Ste. Marie, 97 Km north of White River and 132 Km southwest of Hearst.
The Township was incorporated in 1928, we are a fairly young community with 1265 residents. (figures from the 2001 census information) The two main employers are Canadian National Railways and Haavaldsrud Timber Company with approximately 150 employees each.
Located in the Township is a major facility called the Hallmark Centre which took approximately 2 years to build and opened in 1980. The Centre contains our local highschool, post office, senior citizens and other apartments, hotel/motel, medical/dental clinic, Northern Department Store, Financial Institution, Restaurant and Dining Room, Gift Store, Variety Store, Childrens Resource Centre, Gymnasium, Library, Pool & Sauna, LCBO, Ontario Provincial Police and Outdoor Recreation Facilities.
The local area and curling clubs are owned and operated by the Municipality.
The airport is owned and operated by the municipality.
The Township along with the highschool also has two other schools with gymnasiums, one school was renovated about 20 years ago and the other was built in 1992.
The Ministry of Health built a new Hospital in 1990 with 24 hour emergency service, long term care beds and regular hospital beds.
The Council of the Corporation of the Township of Hornepayne is committed to:
· The continual improvement of access to all municipally owned facilities, premises and services for all those with disabilities
· The provision of quality services to all members of the community with disabilities.
The Council has authorized the municipal clerk to prepare an accessibility plan that will enable the Council to meet these commitments.
The municipality installed a ramp at the Hornepayne Municipal Airport to allow those with disabilities access to the terminal building.
Sidewalks on Front Street have access ramps to allow those with disabilities access to our sidewalks.
The first week of April, Department Heads and Council were asked to complete a survey of the municipally owned buildings and in particular to assess any barriers that may exist. Staff was also asked to provide solutions to removing those barriers in order to comply with the current legislation under the Ontarians With Disabilities Act.
There have been numerous barriers identified in the various locations.
Those barriers will be discussed further in this document under Barriers Identified.
| Methodology | Description | Status |
| Survey to Staff and Council | A survey was given to all members of staff and council to help identify any barriers at Municipally owned / operated facilities | The survey was completed by all of the department heads and Council. Many barriers were identified. |
| Mail out was sent to all residents ( 720 ) | Mail-out asked for all residents to contact municipal clerk to identify barriers that exist in our municipality | All comments received were noted and placed in plan as a barrier |
Those Councillors and Staff who completed the survey identified the barriers listed below. Over the next several years Council will have to decide which barriers should be addressed each year keeping in mind budget restraints and feasibility. In the Survey we also identified the barriers we felt are the top 6 priorities
| Barriers | Type of Barrier | Strategy for removal or prevention |
| Pool Tank | physical | install portable ramp
for Entrance into pool tank
For seniors with minor Disabilities *can be removed when not needed |
| Doors | physical / architectural | install automatic door openers at arena facility |
| Arena Bleachers | architectural | ramp to bleachers for Wheelchairs to have clear view of ice surface |
| Stairs at Pool | architectural | engineer design to enter Pool deck from outside and add washroom for changing to deck as well |
| Municipal Office | architectural | ramp to come in main door |
| Curling Club Ice Surface | architectural | ramp from outside to ice surface for Disabled to attend Dances, weddings etc. |
| Council Chambers | architectural | ramp with outside entrance into chambers |
| Seniors Clubroom | physical / architectural | chair lift or ramp |
| town centre park | physical | pave walkway for easy mobility for wheelchairs |
| parking municipal office | physical | spot needs to be designated and marked, parking by-law enforced |
| cemetery | physical | paved or interlocking stone |
| walkway to display board | walkway for disabled to read notices on board |
A mail-out was sent the first week of April to all residents in the municipality, few barriers were identified involving municipally owned facilities, most barriers were in privately owned commercial facilities. These barriers are listed below:
| Barrier | Strategy to Removal or prevention |
|
Hallmark Centre |
|
| Doors into Centre cannot open | install automatic doors |
| Doors to washrooms | |
|
cannot open |
change to lighter doors |
|
too heavy, handles too high |
lower handles |
|
Various levels cannot access without going outside |
interior ramps to each level |
| Apartments, stairs in hallways | interior ramps vs stairs |
| Apartments, washrooms and bedrooms | |
|
doorways not wide enough for wheelchairs |
widen doorways inside apartments |
|
Restaurant- not accessible |
chair lift or ramp to restaurant |
|
Door locks and handles too high for those in wheelchairs |
lower locks and handles |
| Disabled parking | needs to be enforced |
|
High School |
|
| Second level inaccessible | chair lift or elevator needed |
| Barriers |
Strategy for Removal or prevention |
|
Valu-Mart |
|
| Main Doors cannot open | automatic doors |
| Parking | enforced, signs larger ,pavement to be marked |
| G & L Variety | |
| Main Door | |
| Cannot open doors | install automatic doors |
| No access to store level | ramp to store level |
| Royal Canadian Legion | |
| Main Doors | |
| Cannot open | automatic doors |
| Clubroom downstairs | access by ramp to basement clubroom |
| 4-Stevens | |
| Main door | |
| Cannot open | automatic door |
| Step at main door | ramp needs to be extended to door |
| Anglican Church | |
| United Church | |
| Calvary Gospel, access | ramps to seating area |
| cannot open doors | automatic door |
| Credit Union | |
| access | ramps to main level |
| cannot open doors | automatic doors |
| Bear News | |
| access | need ramp to access building, once inside building, stairs inside |
| Home Hardware | |
| Inside access | isles need to be cleared to allow wheelchair to move freely |
The first barrier that should be addressed is making the pool tank accessible to those with disabilities by purchasing a portable ramp that can go in and out of the pool when needed.
The second barrier to be addressed is the need for an automatic door system to be installed at the arena facility.
The third barrier that should be addressed is the need for a ramp going up into the bleachers at the arena for viewing the ice surface.
Council is committed to following through with this plan. This plan will be reviewed annually thus allowing Council, staff and the public to monitor the barriers identified and the direction to which the Township is moving to remove all barriers under the Ontarians With Disabilities Act.
This plan will be available at the municipal office, our municipal web site and we will forward a copy to each person whom called and dropped in with their comments on barriers they identified to our Municipal Clerk. A copy of the plan will also be forwarded to the Manager of the Hallmark Town Centre, many barriers identified by the public were in the Town Centre. A copy will also be forwarded to all owners of properties identified with barriers.