Author: Mike Cluett

Good News for Milton GO transit riders

Mike Cluett

As outlined in the Champion this week, it looks like there will be more trains headed to Union Station from Milton in the coming months.

This will be a welcome addition for the many people who use the GO train on a daily basis.  From personal experience I know how much time contstraints are on the riders given the limited number of trains.  One more in the morning and the evening will be well received.

I know first hand that a large number of people who use this GO train come from outside Milton as well.  From as far as Kitchener and Cambridge people make their way down the 401 to Main Street to catch one of the few trains to help them in their commuting ways.

Also outlined in that article is the fact that GO Transit is looking at doing a study for all day service.  Before you start jumping up and down, its not going to happen for a long time, if it ever does.  Many things will have to fall into place, including a transfer at 401 and Tremaine Road to accomodate more traffic headed to the station, new tracks along the route towards Union and of course the big thing…CASH!

Still good to hope that it might happen.

Less coffee, more walking

Mike Cluett

Having started a new job at Moneris Solutions (Canada’s leader in debit/credit processing solutions) and back on the road, Ive had to re-learn a few things.

In the past, I was an outside sales representative in the B2B (business to business) sales. My job was to go to my prospects offices, sell, and repeat. With this new position my territory is mainly in the downtown Toronto area.

Nothing like working downtown Toronto to make you appreciate Milton even more. In my first week, I did learn a valuable lesson. My contacts are mainly retailers and generally they are all located beside each other, leaving me to park my car and walk from one end of the street to the next.

Not a problem, right? For those who know me well, I am an avid drinker of coffee. Lots of coffee (with an 11 month old at home some of the reasons are obvious) is how I make it through the day. In the past, I was able to drive from one location to the other, make a stop here and there for some coffee and use the washroom when needed.

My first stop on my calls was the Queen Street West and Spadina Avenue part of Toronto. So after I get into town, find myself a parking spot, pay in advance, I grab my materials and head out. The only problem is … using the facilities 🙂 . In downtown Toronto there arent many places you can just drop in and go. If there are places, its coffee shops and restaurants. They are pretty picky on who comes in to use the washroom so they normally demand (some nicely, and some not so nicely) to buy something before using the washroom. This leads to even more coffee and a repeat of the problem.

Needless to say, now before I head out, I limit my coffee intake and so far, its served me well. That and more comfortable shoes as pounding the pavement, literally, can be painful.

Thats why I enjoy the ride back into town and despite all the selection in town, my favourite place for a great cup of coffee is Cafe Deda, located at Trudeau and Derry Road (right beside Hawthorne Pharmacy) Tell Faisal I said HI!!!!

Sky is Falling and Paving Your Driveways

Mike Cluett

Happy Be-lated Easter everyone!

Its been a great weekend with the weather (albeit a bit cool) and fun Milton events. There was an event being held on Good Friday courtesy of The Village in town at the Milton Fairgrounds.

It was advertised as a free event, a massive “egg drop” for the kids in town and the first of its kind anywhere. If you did get a chance to come out, you were one of the few who didn’t. Close to 2000 people came out with their children in tow to take part, throwing the organizers for a loop, as they only expected 1/2 of that.

The winds were high early in the morning and they were not allowed to set the balloon aloft to the bright sky. The Milton firefighters improvised and raised their crane in the air and dropped hundreds of plastic eggs, each one containing a ticket to be redeemed for easter candy and prizes, into a crowd of children below.

Despite the extra numbers that did come out, it was a pretty good event, once again showcasing Milton as a family friendly town. Despite a few kids getting bumped around and temporarily getting lost, everyone seemed to have fun. Of course, as with any event, things can get better. Anthony and Miranda also had a blast to say the least.

Some other council notes: the new ward boundaries have been officially approved and will be in effect for the next election in 2010. Yes its only a year away. Only two councillors voted against the changes (Regional Councillor Colin Best and Town Councillor Jan Mowbray) siting reasons that the boundaries wont be accurately divided and they recommended that town staff take a further look to make sure its the best job it can be.

This means Milton will go from a 4 ward/2 councillor per ward system to an 8 ward/1 councillor per ward system. This should help increase accountability for our town representatives which would be a drastic improvement from what we have now. You can read some details here from the Champion.

Also included in that update is councils decision to allow people to pave their driveways to have 2 car parking, even if it means paving part of your lawn.

Driveway expansions approved

Residents with a home that has at least a 26-foot frontage will now be able to expand their driveways to fit two cars, even if it means paving over a portion of their lawn.

Council approved the changes to the zoning by-law last week in an effort to accommodate the needs of residents with multiple cars, some of whom have resorted to parking on their lawn as the Town doesn’t allow street parking for more than three hours.

The Town still requires enough green space such as a lawn or garden to allow for water filtration.

This doesnt mean someone could pave their entire lawn for driving, as you do need enough room on the lawn to allow for the flow of water. For some time there has been a debate, especially in the new area of Milton, about people and their parking habits. Residents have been coming up with creative ways of parking which include on the road, in the driveways with the end of the car over the road (risking tickets and raising safety issues) and also parking perpendicular at the end of the driveway. All of the fault seems to be laid squarely at the towns feet…unfairly to say the least. They may not have taken this kind of growth into consideration but as one of my neighbours said to me recently “no one held a gun to their head to buy the house knowing they had 2 or 3 cars”.

True enough … and what about the garage?

Changes to Milton's ward system

Mike Cluett

Tonight, March 23rd, there will be a meeting of the Administration & Planning committee to discuss changes to the ward boundaries for Milton to take affect 2010 election.

Here’s what the Champion had to say.

Report calls for changes to wards due to growth

By Tim Foran, Canadian Champion Staff
Mar 20, 2009
It’s time to scrap Milton’s existing municipal ward structure and boundaries for the next election in 2010, according to a report that will be the subject of a public meeting at council’s administration and planning committee this Monday at Town Hall at 7:30 p. m.The report, prepared by Dr. Robert Williams, recommends an alternative eight ward structure with only one town councillor per ward. Currently, Miltonians elect two town councillors for each of its four wards.As part of the recommendation, Milton’s two regional councillors would be elected to represent four wards each, one serving the built-up area of Milton and Nassagaweya and the other for the growth zones and the rural parts of the southern portion of the Town.

“The reality is that Milton is well on the way to becoming a mid-sized city and its electoral arrangements must anticipate the future rather than perpetuate the past,” writes Williams in his 19-page report, available on-line at www.milton.ca .

Williams, an independent consultant, was contracted by Milton’s council to study realigning ward boundaries in time for the next election due to the Town’s massive population increase over the past decade. The community’s ward boundaries haven’t changed since 1997.

However, Williams’ recommendation is just that — a proposal — and Milton’s town council will have to endorse it for it to take effect.

That means some councillors may have to vote on the proposal even though it means re-jigged boundaries could cost them their job in the next election. Currently, five of Milton’s 10 town and regional councillors live in the rural area, but the proposed ward boundaries would reduce the amount of rural councillors.

“This could certainly encourage some new people to come forward to reflect this changing town,” said Williams in an interview. However, he noted existing councillors could choose to run in the new wards even if they don’t live in them.

In his report, Williams acknowledges the expected future population increases in Milton will likely merit further ward boundary changes over the next 20 years, but he believes that is not an argument to maintain the status quo.

“The inequitable ward populations of 2009 demand attention now,” Williams writes.

The population of Milton has already more than doubled since the last boundary changes and it is expected to increase to up to 300,000 from the current 75,000 over the next 20 years.

“If you keep saying, ‘Oh, there’ll be a better time to do it,’ you give advantage to the incumbent councillors,” Williams said.

Williams’ recommendation of an eight ward structure means each ward would be served by one town councillor, achieving the accountability requested by the public in recent public meetings, he writes.

Though population varies between each suggested ward, the boundaries were made to accommodate expected population increases over the next 12 years.

The recommended boundaries would result in one rural ward, with another six representing the urban area of the town. The last ward is a mix made up of the large agricultural area south and east of the town, but also including the urban neighbourhoods of Milton between Fourth Line and James Snow Parkway. Those neighbourhoods could not be removed to make it a purely rural ward, explained Williams, as the ward would have a population of fewer than 1,000 residents.

Tim Foran can be reached at tforan@miltoncanadianchampion.com .

Accountability has been a common point throughout this process. Many people, including myself, have said that our councillors need to be more accessible and accountable to the voters who elect them. Countless times over the past few years I have received emails from people in our area that they haven’t received any response from their questions and in this day and age, thats completely unacceptable.
Even though almost every home has a computer, access to the internet and email we still find that they have been under represented…and this has to change.
Milton will continue to grow and change over the years and further changes to the ward boundaries might be needed but this is a first step in changing the system and making it more accountable.
I’ll be going to the meeting tonight and will report on any developments.
After its discussed tonight, the proposal will go to a full council meeting for approval.
If the 8 ward system goes into affect, many of us in Hawthorne Village will be in our own ward (WARD 6) and partly in another (WARD 7) The Ward to be known as 7 includes a portion of Hawthorne Village and a major section of rural area whos future use includes commercial and industrial properties.
As the article in the Champion states, there might be a case where rural councillors currently elected might chose to run in other wards in order for them to stay on council. The municipal election is slated for 2010 and there might be some shakeups on council before then.
Here is a copy of the report.

Where have you been?

Mike Cluett

Where have you been hidingWOW…

When I look at the date of the last post that question pops into my mind as well.  Where in the heck have you been?

First off, Im flattered people even noticed Ive been gone but theres been a lot going on.  My job has been crazy seeing how I have worked in consumer finance during these rough economic times (to say the least) and combine that with putting our house up for sale, conditional offer on another in Milton (in fact its only a few km’s away from where we live), Miranda’s “interesting” sleeping patterns and to top it all off I’ll be making a change in my career, its been litterally impossible to post anything.

Not to say there hasnt been anything of substance to post about in Milton because there has been.  Between the tax hike, million dollar glass walls for Miltons Town Hall, to transit issues, snow plows, municipal ward redistribution, expansion of the Milton Sports Centre and funding for an arts centre…theres plenty to gab about.

Looking through the Champion over the past several weeks its good to see that the million dollar wall and not gone unnoticed by the residents in Milton.  There have been letter after letter sent and published to let the councillors around the table know that this kind of expenditure was wrong.  Of course it will last forever and be a crown jewel in our new town hall.  It could have been done for less and should have given our current economic environment.  The people around the table are all well aware of the fact that “politics is perception”.  Its kind of like the Toronto City Council voting themselves a pay increase, say that its wrong that they do, then end up taking it anyways.  The perception is that they didnt want it, but didnt decline it either.

There have been many people in ward one who have sent me emails on how to complain about the snow plows that make their way through the streets after every major snow fall.  And there have been a few of those.  It has been pretty crazy with some streets getting plowed almost continoulsy while others going unchecked for days.  All I know is that once I finished shovelling my driveway nice and clean and gaze upon Yates Drive and the fact its been plowed nicely, I wake in the morning to see a 3 foot pile of snow now frozen at the base of my driveway.  That has lead to some issues with my car clunking over that ice pile for several weeks after.

Another issue with snow plows that has been raised is the sidewalk plows.  I really dont know how much they cost in the total budget but really…do we need  them?  In Hawthorne Village (ill get ready to duck the flying snow balls with this one) but we really dont need to have the sidewalk plow do every sidewalk.  Along Yates Drive and many other streets in Hawthorne Village people shovel their sidewalks.  The plow comes by (again late at night as we see the flashing lights gleem through our windows) and “plow” the sidewalk.  And by plow I mean push a whole bunch of new snow on top of the cleaned off sidewalk and little piles on snow deposited, then frozen, on each side of the side walk.

Im not the only one thinking this, Im just raising the issue.  I would prefer the plow misses my part of the sidewalk as its in worse condition after they come by than before.  Plus it makes some people a bit lazy and not shovel the walk as the plow will come do it, while our kids have to persevere through the growing mounds of snow and ice as they head to school on the coldest of cold mornings.

Thankfully most of the snow days are behind us, but I wouldnt hold my breath.  It does look nice outside without all the snow but this is Canada…more is on the way.

Food for thought at least so that our planning department can look at improving it from this year to next and hopefully no one will be stranded on their street or require several friends to push them to a major road before they can get anywhere.

And speaking of ward one, it probably wont be ward one once the next municipal election comes in 2010 as council is now reviewing the new report  to see what changes are going to be made and where the boundaries are going to be and if its going to be one or two councillors per ward.  Changing the number of councillors around the table isnt up for change thankfully.  Right now we dont need anymore but we do need to change some.

The report is due for review on March 23, 2009 at a committee meeting in town hall for public input.  Right now any change would be good, but if any changes are made it has to take into consideration the potential population growth and the Region of Halton’s potential changes as well.  Some have said to leave it alone until after the Region makes its  changes in 2014 but it looks like they will be going to be making the changes anyway.  There are 3 different options at the municipal level where the ward boundaries change and we stay with the 2 councillors per ward and the other is a one councillor per ward  and 8 different smaller and more manageable wards. 

Here is the link to the maps and each of the different options and how you will be affected.

There are so many other issues to talk about but I think I need to ease back into this blog slowly but surely.  Thanks to everyone for their emails and Facebook pokes and add’s reminding me to get started again.

Until then…

More comments on the One Million Dollar Wall

Mike Cluett

million_dollar_wall1

Here is a letter to the editor from Andrew Goodwin about the $1 MILLION dollar glass wall for the new Milton Town Hall.  Ive talked about this before as well, so everyone knows where I stand but it seems other Miltonians are also questioning Milton Town Councils thought process.

If you want things to change, they have to hear from you.  Heres the letter from the Champion.

DEAR EDITOR:

I can’t believe the Town of Milton is getting a window for the expanded Town Hall at a cost of about $1 million.

That’s the most outrageous thing I have ever heard town council approve. I don’t know how Mayor Gord Krantz can wake up every morning knowing this — especially with so many people having lost their jobs.

You could take that taxpayers’ money and build some affordable housing.

Councillors should have a hard time looking in the mirror, as their jobs are safe while other families struggle.

If they need an idea for how to spend the money, how about a crosswalk sign on Bronte Street where the housing projects are. They took out the flashing light and now the kids have to cross the street at their own judgment as cars don’t have to stop anymore.

Yeah, that’s another good move by our town council.

Guess they wanted to save some money for their expensive window for their fancy Town Hall.

ANDREW GOODWIN, MILTON

Municipal councillors jobs aren’t that safe…every 4 years they are up for grabs during a municipal election.  2010 is the next one.  Just over a year away.