qathet Regional District (qRD) board will consider applying for a $25,000 grant to help with accessibility in its new office space.
At the April 24 committee of the whole meeting, Electoral Area A director Jason Lennix said he notes the grant from the local community accessibility grant program is up to $25,000. He asked if staff believe the amount is sufficient.
Chief administrative officer Al Radke said the regional district would try to optimize what is being asked for in the grant application.
Electoral Area B director Mark Gisborne asked if there was an expected completion date for when directors can get out of the current boardroom and get up to the new one.
Radke said he believes there will be substantial completion in June. Gisborne said he presumed the new boardroom would have more space than the current one, then asked if there would be windows in the boardroom so directors could get some fresh air and natural light.
Manager of operational services Patrick Devereaux said the new boardroom is in the interior of the building and there are no exterior windows. However, there is an enormous skylight, he added, which will bring natural light into the room. Also, there will be a heat pump so the room will be climate controlled in all seasons.
The committee unanimously recommended that the regional board authorize staff to submit an application to improve the built environment of the new boardroom.
According to a staff report, on November 1, the board of directors announced that it had purchased the unit directly across from the current qRD main office on Marine Avenue, adding 3,728 square feet to the existing 2,924 square foot office. The new space includes several staff offices, a meeting room and a large boardroom, the report stated.
Accessibility was the main driver for the purchase of the space, according to the report. The current boardroom, which is on the ground floor of the building, is inaccessible for people with mobility impairments.
qRD needs to renovate the newly acquired space to make it more accessible, including a larger bathroom to meet Accessibility Standards Canada requirements, widening the hallways and expanding the existing boardroom and purchasing a more accessible boards table, according to the staff report.
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