Over the holidays there was a lot of confusion as to snow plowing on the streets in our ward.  While I was on vacation in Newfoundland for Christmas, I answered a number of emails from people concerned as to when their streets would be plowed.  I think it would be good to review the snow removal policies in advance of this potential storm.  Now, watch there be NO snow on Friday and I look silly.  But at least we will have the information available right?

Click on the map to enlarge it.  This is from the Town of Milton’s site and Ive just put up ward 6.  If you are outside ward 6 click here for the main map.  The streets in our area are classified for different priorities.

The primary or arterial roads (for example in our ward Thompson Road, Fourth Line, Derry Road, Britannia Road) are considered first priority and the plows are sent out based on accumulation.  For instance if we receive under 5 cms of snow or the conditions are icy, the response time will be within 2-3 hours.  If there is 5 to 30 cm of accumulation, the response time will be 2 to 4 hours.

A majority of the roads in our ward will be secondary / collector roads or urban / residential roads (Yellow and Blue on the map)

The response time for 5cms and below of accumulation is 4 to 5 hours and above 5cms is 4 to 10 hours for the secondary collector roads and 8 to 16 hours for many of the residential roads in ward 6.  If you live in a cul-de-sacs it will be a bit longer once the accumulation reaches over 5cms. 

The main priority of the snow plows is to keep the main streets and collector roads as bare as possible.  Its also very important for those residents who have sidewalks to keep them clear as quickly as possible during the snow fall and afterwards.

Here are some links for detailed information on our snow policy.  Just as a reminder to allow for the plow.  Try to keep your cars off the road as to allow for the snow plow to come by without creating issues with snow piles or potentially damaging any vehicles.

Town of Milton Snow Page

Road Plowing Response Times

Now the snow might not come as its being predicted by all of our very nice weather people but in case it does here’s your handy page for information.

Now Im going to get my snow pants ready for Friday!

I’ll see you at the doors.

UPDATE:  I am including links to the Town of Milton’s website for the velodrome reports that council has reviewed during this process.  Please take some time to review them and feel free to email or post here any questions you might have.

Toronto 2015 Pan/Parapan American Games – Velodrome Status Report November 21st 2011

Velodrome Status Report, December 5th 2011

If you’ve been following my blog recently, you will have noticed I have posted quite a bit of information on the progress.  Someone tweeted me recently to ask “what does Mike think?”  So here it is.

The basis behind this facility is that its more than just cycling. Its a facility that can be and will be multi purposed. As with those other velodromes others talk about as failures this will provide more than just cycling. Basketball courts, indoor tennis, or if turf there’s indoor soccer, cricket maybe, football practice field (Ticats are you listening?)

As I mentioned during the special council meeting, the $3.8 million has already been budgeted for similar use facilities. Its in the bank so to speak and not coming out of taxes. We have been able to stand above other municipalities in the Greater Milton Area for a reason….partnership with the private sector.

This deal could NOT have been done without the assistance from the private sector. Mattamy is just ONE of the companies involved in the fundraising process for this deal…there are many many more. Tim Hockey, President and CEO of TD Canada Trust who is also an avid cyclist, is getting behind the project personally and will assist in fundraising for the velodrome. The pool of resources isnt just in Milton, its national organizations…international organizations as well that can assist in the fundraising.

That’s where other municipalities failed. They couldn’t harness the power of the private sector in getting things done. We as a council made it very clear that if we were to move forward on this there has to be minimal to NO impact on taxpayers. This can only help in growing our business base … and hence more tax revenue in town.

The Milton Education Village is just one of the keys to that success. The land is ready to go, our partners are ready to go and the provincial government needs to see that by approving Milton as one of the locations for satellite university campuses (as they have already acknowledged) it will go a long way for THEM to keep a promise made in the last election for increasing the number of post secondary spaces in Ontario. This MEV project moving forward can help kick in the pants OTHER things that Milton needs, like an interchange at Tremaine Road so that everyone on the west side of town doesn’t have to drive along Derry and or Britannia to go to the 401 and help with the backlog of traffic that way.

With moving the Canadian Cycling Association here to Milton with this facility we can help increase travel and tourism to the area. Right now we only have 2 hotels. We WILL need more (any entrepreneurs out there?) for when they hold national/international events that’s even more businesses that can benefit…from hospitality to restaurants to local businesses the impact can be huge.

Having the velodrome on campus adds some other benefits that can be looked at for revenue generating possibilities. The parking lot can be used at the university and we can charge a monthly fee for profs using it or what have you. There’s also the matter of the legacy fund set up by the Pan AM games … we don’t know the amount yet, but that should evolve through the business plan process over the next 4-6 weeks.

Is it a done deal? Not yet. ONE more report to go. That report will outline the needs for commitments at all levels so that we feel comfortable the project will stay under $40 million (contingencies are already built into that number) and that we can get the job done with our fundraising partners so that we don’t have to dip into the tax pool on this.

Sorry for the rambling and Im sure Ive missed a few points but I wanted to make sure we let people know that theres one more step in the process before its a go and I can assure you if the numbers don’t add up for me, even though Im excited about the project I wont want to see it move forward.

This town has shown others that we’re not the sleepy town we once were. I watched a Hamilton city council meeting recently when they were discussing their umpteenth attempt at getting it back and the almost disdain in their voices when they mentioned MILton of all places. We aren’t 35,000 people anymore. I know I sound sales-y by saying this but its true. Milton is a force to be paid attention to from now on. This is a project I know we can put together, that can be used for the games and years after so its not abandoned like the others and that it can help kick start the business growth we need in town to add more revenue to the town and to be the “new” centre of the universe in the GMA.

As I mentioned in an earlier post, this is a fun time for your local councillor as well.  Over the last year I have talked with you on what your budget priorities are.  This past summer myself along with a number of other councillors sat down with you to discuss the issues you found to be important.  I have received close to 100 emails over the course of the year of you letting me know what you would like to see.

All of the comments received were sent to staff and what you will see here is a list of the budget documents.  This budget will come before council on December 12 and 13th for review/debate/approval.  Members of the public are more than welcome, and encouraged to take part in this process as well.  If you’d like to know how you can be a part of this important process, please email me mike@mikecluett.ca for more details.

Over the course of the next week or so as I dive into these documents, drink lots of coffee and find more dark circles under my eyes due to lack of sleep, I will be posting more details, my thoughts and attempt to get as many of your comments ready for the budget committee meeting on the 12th.  If you want a hard copy of the budget, they can be purchased at Milton Town Hall as well.  Email me for details.

A quick overview of the budget will find that it recommends at 4.18% increase in the tax rate.  That doesn’t mean your taxes will go up by that amount, its the rate of increase in budget spending.  In the past I have stated I wouldn’t support a budget with an increase over the rate of inflation and I look to keep that same commitment here.  That rate doesn’t include education, the Region of Halton, the Library levy or DBIA. 

I’ll post more details on what can be done to reduce the impact of the tax increase in the coming days.  Again, if you have any questions at all, please email or call me anytime.  With over 400 pages in the budget document, odds are I will be up late reading it.

Here are the links online from www.milton.ca for the 2012 Budget Documents

Operating and Capital Budgets

The Town’s annual budget is developed by staff in consideration of the guidelines approved by Council in July and input received from the public. Council deliberates and approves the budget in December of each year ensuring an approved budget is in place for the start of the new year.

2012 Proposed Budget Documents

• Foreword & Introduction
• Capital Budget Summary
• Operating Budget Summary
• Departmental Details
• 2013-2021 Capital Budget Forecast
• 2013-2014 Operating Budget Forecast
• Reserve & Reserve Funds
• Supplementary Information

http://mobro.co/MikeCluett

There are a number of my co-workers at Ballance Display who are participating in the Movember cause this year so I joined the team recently, so I guess I’ll join the Movember team as well.

From the Movember website:

During November each year, Movember is responsible for the sprouting of moustaches on thousands of men’s faces, in Canada and around the world. With their “Mo’s”, these men raise vital funds and awareness for men’s health, specifically prostate cancer. 

On Movember 1st, guys register at Movember.com with a clean-shaven face. For the rest of the month, these selfless and generous men, known as Mo Bros, groom, trim and wax their way into the annals of fine moustachery. Supported by the women in their lives, Mo Sistas, Movember Mo Bros raise funds by seeking out sponsorship for their Mo-growing efforts.

Mo Bros effectively become walking, talking billboards for the 30 days of November. Through their actions and words, they raise awareness by prompting private and public conversation around the often ignored issue of men’s health.

At the end of the month, Mo Bros and Mo Sistas celebrate their gallantry and valor by either throwing their own Movember party or attending one of the infamous Gala Partés held around the world by Movember, for Movember. 

If you are participating, please let me know so I can post YOUR page as well.  I’d like to get a good list of Milton Mo’ Bro’s to let the people of our town know why we will be looking so silly this month.

So far the Miltonian’s I know of are:

Mike Heenan

Martin Capper

John Challinor III

Sean Hazlett

Nik Spohr

And of course, yours truly.

I’m still on the fence as to what kind of ’stash to grow so if you have any tips or suggestions, get them to me soon.

You can follow my Movember quest on my Twitter as well.  Help me help others change the face of men’s health in Canada.

As you might remember from earlier on this year, on a very cool brisk morning, Kim Macdonald, Fred Decarolis, myself and others took to the park to pick up trash, bottles and paper from the parks natural section as well as the surrounding playground.  It was on Milton Makeover Day and was featured on Milton Today TV too.

Ward 6 resident Asaf Maruf has taken the lead with this event and hopefully we will have lots of people out Sunday morning to help clean up the park and make Milton an even more beautiful place to live.  I’m so happy with the response so far and also glad to see Miltonians willing to roll up their sleaves and help beautify our town.

McDuffe Park is located on the south west corner of Clark Blvd and 4th Line in Ward 6.

See you on the 2nd of October everyone!!!