Postponed Seniors & accessibility

Accessibility action plan

A $50,000 step-by-step accessibility action plan, asked for by the Town's own Accessibility Advisory Team. The Eaglecrest funding plan moved it from 2028 to 2029.

Amount
$50,000
Got
$0
Where it stands
To 2029. Moved by the Eaglecrest funding plan, Jul 2025.

What it is

An action plan lists specific steps, costs, timelines and who is responsible. This one would put the Town's existing Accessibility Plan into practice. The budget is $50,000 for a consultant.

The Town's Accessibility Advisory Team asked for it in July 2024. That team is the advisory committee that provincial law requires the Town to have.

Town staff explained the difference in 2024. The existing plan is required by law. Staff wrote: “An Action Plan is not required by provincial legislation.”

What happened

  1. July 22, 2024The Accessibility Advisory Team recommended that Council budget for an action plan, put 2% of tax revenue toward accessibility each year, and assign staff to accessibility.
  2. September 11, 2024Council endorsed the Accessibility Plan and sent the action-plan request to 2025 strategic planning. Both carried unanimously. Staff said a coming vacancy meant they could not keep supporting the team.
  3. October 21, 2024Committee of the Whole recommended $50,000 for the action plan in 2028, plus staff time equal to half a full-time job from 2029, paid from property taxes. Carried unanimously.
  4. July 23, 2025Council moved it from 2028 to 2029 as part of the Eaglecrest funding plan (Resolution 25-180, carried 4–1, Councillor Harrison opposed).
  5. March 25, 2026Council replaced the team's terms of reference with a new Framework. Staff chair the team, it meets at least three times a year, and it gives yearly advice for strategic planning and the budget. Carried unanimously.
  6. April 1, 2026The adopted 2026–2030 Financial Plan shows $50,000 in 2029.
  7. April 27, 2026The team met and approved 2026 projects paid from the Town's $50,000 yearly accessibility budget.

Why it matters

  • The Accessible British Columbia Act requires a plan, a committee, a feedback process and a review of the plan at least every three years. It does not require an action plan.
  • The Town's 2024 plan promises yearly progress reports to Council and the public. We did not find a published yearly progress report in the Town's document library.
  • The Town's document library has team agendas from 2023 and January 2024, and then none until April 2026. That does not prove the team did not meet in 2025.
  • The $50,000 a year for physical fixes, such as automatic doors, was not deferred. The deferral affects this planning item, not that budget.
  • The Town's Accessibility Plan says 56% of residents are over 65 (2021 Census).
  • The 2026–2030 Financial Plan says Council's ability to go ahead with 2027 and later initiatives depends on paying back the Strategic Initiatives Reserve, expected in 2027 and 2028, and that Council will set priorities at its 2027 strategic planning.

Sources

Last checked September 18, 2026. Report a mistake.