Ward 3 Councillor Cindy Lunau wanted to make sure she passed this information on to as many people in Milton.  Please join us at the Milton Centre for the Arts on Sunday Oct 23rd from 12-4pm  for a Celebrating Stories event.

Celebrating Stories A Family Festival (formerly known as Milton’s Book Festival for Children) is a free family literacy event dedicated to promoting Canadian talent and encouraging reading and writing.  It is a fun filled afternoon of musical entertainment and interactive sessions with authors, illustrators, and storytellers.

Some of the talent includes:

• Joe Ellen Bogart
• Ruth Ohi
• Lana Button
• Mahtab Narsimhan
• Kevin Sylvester
• Helaine Becker
• Jude Johnson

This event is completly free of charge and for a schedule of times and room click http://www.celebratingstories.ca/schedule.htm

We hope to see you there!!

The next meeting of Milton Town Coucil is on Monday May 30th starting at 7pm at Milton Town Hall.

The governing body of the Town of Milton is Town Council, consisting of the Mayor and 10 Councillors who represent Milton’s eight wards.  Milton residents elect members of Council for a four-year term of office.  You can find a link to watch the Town Council meetings here.  The meetings are also broadcast on TV Cogeco (Channel 14).

Town Council deals with:

• Matters requiring policy direction
• By-laws or by-law amendments
• Responses or actions to pertinent issues

Council also makes decisions on the recommendations of Milton’s two Standing Committees of Council:

• Administration & Planning Committee
• Community Services Committee

You can find a link to the agenda for this meeting here.

Some of the items for discussion tonight are:

• 2012 Budget Call Report (details not available at the time of agenda printing but I’ll try to link to the report later today when it comes available)
• Hospital Motion
• Walking Piano Steps report from Councillor Arnold Huffman (You can find some interesting discussion on the Hawthorne Villager forum regarding the piano steps here)
• Paratransit Service Strategy
• Notice of Motion re: Transit / Gas Tax Revenues Notice of Motion from Councillor Rick Malboeuf

You can register to be a delegate at the meeting if you have any questions or concerns regarding these or any other item on the Town Council agenda.  Email townclerk@milton.ca for more information.

I look forward to seeing you there.  If you cant, please watch online via www.milton.ca

Here is an article from Christina Commisso from the Milton Canadian Champion about last Monday nights Community Services Standing Committee Meeting.

Farmer fears race will hurt business

Plans for Milton to host the premier race during June’s Canadian Road Cycling Championships are in jeopardy, following opposition from a local strawberry farm.Saturday, June 25 is the date elite riders are to take to Milton streets for grueling 157 and 180-km races that could very well determine which Canadians will be heading to the 2012 Summer Games. Among these cyclists will be Canada’s golden girl Clara Hughes, a two-sport Olympic medalist.

June 25 is also one of the busiest days for business for Springridge Farm on Bell School Line.

With road closures planned for throughout the day and a route that runs on Bell School Line — Springridge’s home for more than 50 years — owner John Hughes is worried the race will have serious implications on his business.

During Monday’s community services meeting, Hughes asked the committee to say no to the race.  “This is not a charity race, but an elite race with talk of the Olympics down the road for some. For Springridge, the strawberry season is our Olympic season.”

Hughes said the hundreds of bikes that will hit Milton streets combined with the 1,000 to 1,800 cars and anywhere between 3,000 and 5,000 strawberry pickers expected to make their way to the family-owned farm don’t make for a good mix.

“The liability exposure for all concerned is huge,” said Hughes, pointing to the poor visibility issues and crumbling infrastructure on Bell School Line.

Race Director Craig Fagan of Midweek Cycling said scrapping the Milton event all together will be “disastrously difficult.” 

“This is by far the most prestigious event. It is what determines who is going to be selected to represent Canada at the Olympics.”   He said Appleby Line is the circuit’s “key climb.”

“That’s what really sets the national champion apart. The women will be climbing that hill eight times and it really determines who’s the strongest.”

He added that riders from as far as Quebec have been spending their weekends in Milton to train for the race. The event is considered a primer for the Canadian Olympic qualifier.

Currently, the women’s race (nine circuits) is set for 10 a.m. to noon and the men’s race (14 circuits) from 1 p.m. to 5 p.m.

The route begins at Rattlesnake Point, travels northbound on Appleby Line, east on No. 14 Side Road, south on Bell School Line, and west on Britannia Road.

Fagan said about 5,000 racers and spectators will descend on Milton to watch the race. With major artillery roads being closed to traffic on and off throughout the day, the committee said traffic snarls are certain. 

During the meeting, Councillor Colin Best suggested the race times be changed — the women’s 2.5-hour race in the early morning and the men’s 4.5-hour race in the evening.  “I have no problem with riders starting at 7 a.m. or earlier if that’s what we need to do to get things done,” said Fagan.

However, he added that four hours of prep time would be needed prior to each race, which could cause noise concerns for neighbours.

Insp. Ivan L’Ortye of Halton police, who’s coordinating police during the paid-duty event, said traffic will be moving in the same direction of the race with left turns on the circuit prohibited.

“The underlying theme is we don’t want to mix cyclists and cars. We want this to be well-choreographed,” he said. “Obviously I think there will be significant delays, but we don’t feel it’s safe to have northbound traffic on the course.”

Mayor Gord Krantz asked Fagan about possibly compensating Springridge for the potential loss of business due to the race.

However, Fagan pointed out that with events of this scale, in many cases municipalities pay for the event to come to town.

“These events tend to turn around and deliver. In Halton, that will be one-point-something million dollars coming back to the community, which we don’t get a piece of. We haven’t asked the municipality for any financial aid.”

The committee delayed voting on the cycling championships until Town staff work with organizers and Springridge to determine if a new time for the race is possible. The report will have to go council for approval before the June 25 race is permitted. 

So with the committee’s decision to delay the vote, it will provide the parties involved with the opportunity to come to a compromise with the start time to accommodate Springridge Farms regular business hours.  As John Hughes stated, that day is the farms busiest day in revenue terms and it would have a severe hit on their business.

I hope that they can come to a resolution, but still there is no doubt the traffic issues will be intense.  Other concerns brought up at the meeting by Councillor Lunau was the condition of the road.  Bell School Line hasn’t undergone a major repair since the last race in 2007.  The race organizer assured council that these are “semi-pro’s” and they know how to handle themselves on rougher terrain.  With cyclists flying down the road at speeds of “80-90 km/hr” the risk is still there for a disaster to happen.

Another issue that came up was the fact local residents were not informed of the race route during the planning stages of the event.  One area resident spoke up during the meeting letting their concerns be known and as far as I know, they plan on speaking again when the report comes before committee.

How should these “world class” races be planned in the future?  Should their routes be approved by the local municipality before they are advertised around the world?  As Mr Fagan said, people from all over will “descend” upon Milton to practice for the race, which will bring in revenue for the town.  Whether this race goes through or not, I would make a suggestion to the race organizers to pay closer attention to the local residents and possibly submit their race plans/routes BEFORE they begin their advertising campaigns.  This way it wont look like the municipality is backed into a corner to approve a race mere weeks before it begins.

I will await the updated report on negotiations and council will make its decision at that point.

That was the question last night at the Community Services Standing Committee meeting.

This item was the “barn burner” issue of the night as the committee discussed the upcoming Canadian Cycling Road Championship on June 25th, 2011.  The staff report along with the map of the route can be found here.  Area residents, including the owners of Springridge Farms had concerns of safety issues and lost revenue as the 25th of June is THE biggest day for the popular farm in town.

After lengthy discussions with the parties involved and the race organizers they will head back to table to find a solution that will meet everyones needs.  Councillor Huffman suggested that the starting times of each of the two races be spread further apart and begin earlier/later in order to accomodate Springridge Farms hours of operations and hopefully also address concerns raised for safety of the cyclists.

Councillor Lunau took some pictures of Bell School Line which showed some pretty heavy erosion of the road, with some patches here and there which causes a lot of concern seeing how these riders will be going anywhere from 80KM/HR to 90KM/HR (speed limit is 60…should we give them tickets?)  The organizers feel that given the experience level of the cyclists and the semi professional status, they will be able to handle it.  Time will have to see.

Committee deferred the report until we get an update which will hopefully come this week, and we can get this matter resolved to everyones satisfaction.  This is the biggest sales day for the Springridge Farms and it would be a shame to see their sales drop (as well as the frustration of their customers not being able to get in) and of couse, the safety of the cyclists involved.

At our last council meeting on Monday there was a report from the Halton Regional Police Service and they updated town council on their endeavours to keep the residents in the town informed of programs and initiatives.  I was very happy to hear this and I have been impressed by their communication plans and urged the Town of Milton to do what we can to help “spread the word” 

This not only goes for the Halton Police Services but for all aspects in the town’s business and programs.

In that light the Town of Milton has announced on its website some information about a Conservation Halton event called the “Trees for Watershed Health” where residents can get involved in planting trees.  Councillor Cindy Lunau also brought this up during the last council meeting and urged Miltonians to get involved in this venture.  This year they will be planting 4,000 trees by Kelso Park.

Here is some information from the Conservation Halton website that has details on how you can get involved on Saturday April 30th, rain or shine to help plant trees and help improve the area.

You can register by clicking HERE.

Each year Conservation Halton hosts a public tree planting event on or around Earth Day as part of its Trees for Watershed Health Program. All watershed residents regardless of age or skill level can participate and help our local environment. So whether you are a veteran tree planter or just starting out, this program has something for everyone.

The 2011 tree planting event is in partnership with the Town of Milton and takes place Saturday, April 30, 2011, starting at 9 a.m. at the Kelso Quarry Park, which is located in Milton. Conservation Halton needs over 400 volunteers to come out and plant approximately 4,000 trees, rain or shine.

Volunteers need to bring their own shovel and ensure they are dressed appropriately for the weather – hat, shoes or boots (no sandals),  sunscreen (if necessary). Following the planting a delicious barbecue lunch will be provided.

This is an excellent opportunity for you, as a volunteer, to see a unique and picturesque section of the Halton watershed and lend a hand in its renaturalization for the enjoyment of our children and grandchildren. Volunteer and community service hours are available for high school students who register and participate in the event. Volunteers are asked to register by Tuesday, April 26. 

Registration for the 2011 Tree Planting Event is now OPEN. 

Conservation Halton is partnering with the Town of Milton on Trees for Watershed Health for the next two years. The Town received a two-year grant through Hydro One’s Biodiversity Initiative to enhance Milton’s natural habitat. The Town of Milton chose to partner with Conservation Halton to hold a volunteer tree planting event as part of its focus on environmental and sustainability initiatives. Trees for Watershed Health supports the Town’s goal to provide a thriving natural environment that is a valued community asset to be protected, maintained and enjoyed.

The forests of Conservation Halton’s watershed provide habitat for a myriad of wildlife species. They also provide ecosystem functions such as cleaning the air, purifying water and storing carbon along with providing places of unparalleled beauty for us all to enjoy. Protecting existing forests and increasing forest cover is an important aspect of sustaining the health of the watershed. 

The Trees for Watershed Health planting event provides an opportunity for watershed residents to take part in the transformation of marginal parklands into an area with healthy and abundant forest cover. This will help to offset the negative impacts of climate change in our watershed, while increasing biodiversity in the park. The site is ideally located adjacent to Kelso Conservation Area. The Quarry is a fantastic location to continue our public tree planting program and provides important green space for both Conservation Halton and the Town of Milton.

Continuing with some of the feedback I posted earlier last week, here is another letter to the editor of the Milton Canadian Champion in todays paper.

A re-do needed on Town budget

Dear Editor:

Milton council appears to be out of touch with the reality of today’s economy.

The country is in a recession, thousands of Canadians are unemployed, and citizens are still reeling from the introduction of the HST and hydro cost increases. And still Milton council feels increasing our property taxes at twice the rate of inflation represents good government. It doesn’t.

The Bank of Canada is projecting a 2 per cent inflation rate for 2011, which should represent the absolute limit for property tax increases this year. Town council needs to get back to work and have Town staff provide them with spending reductions that will keep the tax increases within the 2 per cent target.

These reductions should include, at a minimum, a freeze on the hiring of new employees, unfilled positions being left vacant and capital projects being reduced, as they eventually create ongoing operations and maintenance expenses. The Town should also be looking to contract out any services that it performs that can be more cost-effectively provided by the private sector.

The 1 per cent hospital tax levy should be rescinded. Ontario residents are already burdened with high Provincial taxes to support health care. The Town shouldn’t be creating a ‘stealth’ health-care tax  through our property taxes.

One of the more pleasant surprises I experienced when I moved to Milton over a decade ago was reasonable property taxes. To keep these taxes reasonable, council needs to recognize that prudent management of our tax dollars is expected of our elected members of council.

The budget for 2011 needs to be re-opened and spending reductions introduced to lower the Town portion of property taxes to a maximum 2 per cent increase.

Sean McCafferty, Milton

Tonight is the first of our “non-council” meetings throughout the year.  As I’ve mentioned here before, Milton Town Council is divided up into two standing committees (Community Services Standing Committee & Administration and Planning Standing Committee)  Half of council is on one and the other half is on the second with the Mayor sitting on both.  The Community Services Standing Committee consists of Regional Councillor Tony Lambert ( Wards 1, 6, 7 8 ) Local Councillors Greg Nelson (Ward 2), Local Councillor Rick Malboeuf (Ward 4), Local Councillor Arnold Huffman (Ward 5), Local Councillor Rick DiLorenzo (Ward7) and Mayor Gord Krantz.

The Community Services Standing Committee consists of the five Councillors and Mayor. Committee members review all reports, formulate policy and make recommendations to Council on matters over which Council has authority under the Municipal Act. These matters are related to Community Services, Fire, Library, Transit and other operational programs.

Our first meeting of the Community Services Standing Committee is tonight at town hall (7pm) and while I don’t sit on that committee, we do attend these meetings without a vote.  Council members are not required to be there but the standing tradition is that they attend when possible to provide any additional information and feedback from the community that other councillors might not have.

The agenda for tonights meeting is here.

One of the items on tonight’s agenda is the by-law to be passed regarding the 4th Line / Britannia Road intersection closure slated for March to April of 2011.  You can find the report here.

Some of the questions Ive received over the past couple of weeks that I had my posting on the blog was to find out if the traffic lights set for Britannia Road (during the closure, Britannia Road will be reduced to one lane instead of two) and if the temporary lights will be unmanned and / or timers set to accommodate morning/afternoon rush hour traffic.

I received an email from Joe Proietti at the Region of Halton who assured me the lights will be unmanned but set up on timers and those timers will be set to recognize the increased amount of east / west traffic through the mornings and afternoons on Britannia Road.  This isn’t the most ideal situation and hopefully the Region of Halton will complete their work as soon as possible during this time.

Its imperative that the traffic flow along Britannia Road not be hindered during this time as it just adds to confusion and frustration of drivers looking to leave and enter Milton during the day.

I’ll keep you posted during the meeting via Twitter for any other updates.  Thanks to everyone who sent me emails about this.

From The Milton Canadian Champion – Letters to the Editor

Hospital levy should be rescinded; taxpayers engaged in discussion

Dear Editor:I read with interest the article in the January 20 Champion entitled ‘Hospital levy increases tax hike by 1%.’

Reporter Christina Commisso wrote that in a 6-5 vote Milton council approved a 3.58 per cent tax increase, plus an unprecedented 1 per cent tax surcharge to help fund the possible future expansion of Milton District Hospital.

Any 6-5 decision is a bad decision, and this one is no exception.

It’s little wonder that Mayor Gord Krantz and councillors Mike Cluett, Tony Lambert, Greg Nelson and Rick Malboeuf didn’t support the 2011 budget. The 4.58 per cent tax hike is more than twice the 2 per cent inflation rate estimated for 2011 by the Bank of Canada. The 2010 inflation rate was 1.7 per cent.

Worse, monies will be set aside for a hospital expansion that isn’t even in the Province of Ontario’s current health infrastructure plan.

Our community’s ability to absorb a 3.58 per cent tax hike, let alone a 4.58 per cent tax increase with a hospital surcharge, is doubtful.

We’re in tough economic times and seniors on fixed incomes, young families with mortgages and local manufacturers and retailers that create jobs and drive municipal assessment revenues are all at risk.

Very few will see business revenues or personal incomes rise 3.58 or 4.58 per cent this year.

A re-do is in order.

Re-open the operating budget and reduce it to inflationary levels.

It’s time to rescind the unprecedented hospital surcharge and engage taxpayers in an open discussion about its future.

Council should also request Queen’s Park to immediately include the hospital expansion in its health infrastructure planning and require  it be funded through a public-private partnership, rather than using municipal property taxes.

John Challinor, Milton

Also…

Hospital tax levy tough to swallow

Dear Editor:This letter is in response to the 1 per cent tax levy approved by council for the hospital expansion.

At the time of planning for growth, where on the list of priorities was the expansion of Milton District Hospital? This should have been a top priority. How is the hospital supposed to cope with this new growth?

We already pay taxes to the Province for hospitals. Could money the Town gets from the Mohawk slots not go toward the hospital fund?

To me, there has been some poor planning shown by our governments.

Cecilia Thorpe, Milton

From Christina Commisso, Milton Canadian Champion

Town budget barely passes

Council divided in approving Milton budget that will see municipal taxes rise by 4.58%

The 11 members of council spent little time discussing the increase during Monday’s marathon meeting, which saw only six of 11 councillors vote in favour of the controversial budget. Much of the divide and discussion came down to a 1 per cent tax levy that will establish a hospital expansion reserve fund.

Though Milton continues to enjoy one of the lowest property tax rates in the GTA, the 4.58 per cent increase was still too much for some councillors, including Milton’s mayor, to swallow.

“You’re always going to get differences, but a council split down the middle doesn’t send a very good message to the community and it doesn’t show a lot of confidence,” said Mayor Gord Krantz. “It sends a message that a lot of people are not comfortable with what’s going on. I hope it’s not a prelude of things to come.”

Voting against the budget were Krantz and councillors Tony Lambert, Greg Nelson, Rick Malboeuf and Mike Cluett. Voting for the budget were councillors Colin Best, Sharon Barkley, Cindy Lunau, Arnold Huffman, Rick Di Lorenzo and Zeeshan Hamid.

The increase isn’t nearly as steep as staff previously predicted was necessary, when an initial budget report suggested a levy of close to 7 per cent was needed. The report presented to the budget committee last week showed a 5.72 per cent levy, with options to bring that amount down to 2.08 per cent.

While a lot of Town Hall’s priorities were set during the previous council term, newly elected and returning councillors did make some slight changes to bring the increase closer to the rate of inflation. A $100,000 bike lane implementation program was reduced to $50,000 to be spread out over four years. The opening of the Milton Centre for the Arts and the new main library was delayed from April to June and a snowplow advertising campaign was eliminated from the budget.

The changes saved about $143,000.

The Town’s $164.2 million budget includes 80 infrastructure projects that total $85.6 million. The capital budget was largely influenced by eight multi-year projects pre-approved in 2010, which include the Main Street grade separation and several new facilities that should be operational by the year’s end.

On a $350,000 home, the 4.58 per cent increase translates to a $40.70 increase in the urban area and $34.05 for rural homes.

Combined with the regional, local and educational components of residential taxes, which account for 44 per cent, 29 per cent and 27 per cent respectively, Miltonians are looking at an overall tax increase of 2.2 per cent in the urban area ($19.41/$100,000 of assessed value) and 2.09 per cent in the rural area ($17.48/$100,000 of assessed value).

Just an FYI… according to reports today CPI rose to 2.4% in December.  Rate of increase in town portion of budget spending was 3.58% (add in 1.0% levy) for 4.58%. 

http://www.cbc.ca/money/story/2011/01/25/inflation-canada.html

Last night council continued its marathon discussions on the budget and other items almost until the wee hours of the morning.  Since taking office we have yet to finish a meeting before 11pm.  Tiring pace to say the least, but that’s why we were elected.

In addition to debating the 1% tax levy for hospital expansion, the meeting included a number of pubic sessions for input on future developments around town.  One of the contentious items was looking at the zoning for the north side of Main Street near Thompson Road.  Business owners made a pitch to council, of which some of it made sense, about allowing certain types of zoning for that area that will help them decrease their vacancy rates and have more businesses in town.  They are right.  This area is the new gateway to the community with the Milton Centre for the Arts and the Superstore at that intersection.  The zoning that is being allowed is still quite flexible but staff and council still had concerns when it comes to the types of zoning and the potential parking issues that might arise.  Its not a dead end for the business owners, as they can still apply for zoning changes.  The big thing that had to be considered is the development of the Main Street underpass and what the area will look like in the future.  Thats getting underway this year and next…hopefully it wont take too long.  My personal opinion is that this underpass should have already been started so that when its complete it can compliment the Arts Centre.  As it stands now, we might have some traffic issues from people on the west side of town coming towards that area using residential streets like Woodward, Nippising and Childs to get to the Arts Centre…but that’s a debate for another day.

After all the public meetings were complete, council moved to discuss “ITEM 18″ from the budget which was the 1% tax levy for the hospital expansion.  Many of the same arguments were brought up again both on the pro and against sides of the arguement so really nothing new was discussed.  In the end, via a recorded vote, the results were the same.

In Favour of the 1% tax levy:  Clr Di Lorenzo, Hamid, Best, Lunau, Barkley, Huffman.

Against the 1% tax levy:  Clr Cluett, Nelson, Lambert, Malbouef and Mayor Krantz.

We could continue to debate this forever on the “how” we get the funding until sometime next year.  The points that I made were simple.  We needed to have public input on this item as we HAVE the opportunity to do so.  Some have stated taxes only as a last resort, but I honestly don’t feel that we’re there yet.  We have the time to garner input and support from the public on this and move forward in less of a fractured way.  The Chief of Staff at MDH along with the COO of MDH made presentations last night in support as they feel a fund is “critical” towards getting approval from the province.

The original staff motion in this budget was to have $100,000 from the community fund (funded by slot revenues and not tax dollars) placed into the reserve fund as a deposit to get it going and show the province we’ve put hard dollars into place.  The tax levy motion introduced by Councillor Lunau replaced that $100,000 with the 1% on taxpayers bills.  That $100,000 was later put back into the community fund through a notice of motion from Councillor Huffman to start a “matching” program with Milton service clubs.

An interesting development occurred last night when the Town Clerk informed us that the wording of the motion went against the municipal act.  You cant initiate a tax levy on just one taxpayer.  It has to be included in everyone’s tax bills including commercial, industrial and retail taxpayers.  This complicates the issue even more as many of the businesses in town (downtown Milton etc) are small businesses.  I know many of these people and they find it quite difficult to stay afloat and now we have added an additional 1% to their tax bill as well.  Again, without any consultation with the public whatsoever.

The reality is that the tax is here.  I did my best to convince my colleagues that it wasn’t the right thing to do right now.  We have more time and we should use it to get the job done right and involve the people in the decision making process.  The job now is to work with residents to educate them on whats going on in this process with the province, and what we will have to do in the future to fund this hospital expansion fund….without going BACK into taxpayers pockets with this levy.

I’d like to thank everyone over the past week who has emailed, called or personally spoken with me on this issue.  Some of us will disagree with what happened but an overwhelming number of you were in support of the public consultation process and wish we did more.  I promise I will do my best in the coming weeks and months to help that process along so that way we don’t have any more surprises like this and we work together as a town and most importantly as a unified council to get the desired result.  Only time will tell if it’ll work of if it does, we wont really know if by doing this it made the difference.  Milton is in competition with about 55 other municipalities who are struggling to do the right thing as well.  They are raising money…a lot more than we are. 

The need is there for Milton.  That’s not in doubt.  I will continue to pressure local officials to help me in convincing the province to recognize Milton, Canada’s fastest growing municipality, is in dire need of expansion of any kind to help improve the quality of health care services in town.  Whatever services our new hospital will have … we need something now.

Lets work together now to ensure that happens.