barry lee

Its sinking in

Mike Cluett

After taking a very long time to return emails, voice mails, tweets and posts over the last couple of days, I can honestly say its finally sinking in.  What really made it apparent that life has changed was the beginnings of the regular courier from Town Hall with information on meetings, seating arrangements and schedules for the next month or so.

In the coming weeks there will be orientation meetings, briefings from town staff, arrangements for the inaugural council meeting on December 6th and many more “things to do” that quickly make your fingers sore updating the Blackberry and of course more to come after that.

I am really looking forward to the challenge of working for the residents of Milton.  With the overwhelming amount of support I received on election night, its something that I do not take lightly.  Of course, I will be relying on a lot of support from Ward 6 voters when it comes to these decisions.  I want to get as much input as possible from you and help grow the interaction we started many months ago.

These decisions wont be easy and it will require a lot of work, consultation, feedback and possibly some disagreements from councillors and residents alike.  But the main thing is that there will be a dialogue…a conversation that has been lacking over the last several years.

I also want to thank publicly the outgoing councillors who didn’t make it this election.  The rough part of elections is that there has to be winners and losers but that doesn’t discount the impact that these people had on our lives in the years throughout our growth.  Paul Scherer, Jan Mowbray, Mike Boughton and Brian Penman all should be commended on their years of service and dedication to Milton.  Other retiring councillors Barry Lee, Wendy Schau and Rick Day also should be congratulated on serving Milton residents.  While we didnt agree on some issues and decisions that were made, I never once doubted their commitment to Milton, and the taxpayers.  Thank you everyone.

I would also like to find out from you what you would like to see on this website, as I will be continuing to use it as a source of information.  Would you like a listing of Town press releases, information on public meetings, openings on town committees, budget meetings etc?  This is going to be your site as well, so I would love some input on what I can do to make it the best source of information in Milton.

In closing, the last couple of nights have been funny in the Cluett household as Pat sees me either running around after dinner looking like I’m getting ready to go canvassing or I’m about to catch up on some much needed sleep.  Im sure things will begin to get more “normal” as we adjust to the new job at hand.

I am humbled by the support I received and very excited at the challenge for the next four years.  I will do my best to listen to as many people as possible and use my skills and abilities to make the best decisions I can for us here in Milton.  I hope that we can all work together to get that job done.

Thanks for your support and I will soon see you again at the doors (mainly because its Halloween this weekend 🙂 )

Name changes and traffic lights being installed

Mike Cluett

I just came back from the Town of Milton’s Administration and Planning Committee at town hall. For those who are unaware, there are 2 committees in place for the town: The administration and planning committee and the community services standing committee. All members of council are part of either one of these committees but everyone attends all meetings each month.

Tonight there were some discussions regarding possible changes at Thompson and Maple development (what seems to be mostly cosmetic changes to the complex) and whether or not a dealership will be built on Steeles and Martin Road (by Meritor as you come in off 25 south of the 401).

There were a few items of concern to ward one residents. One of them was the moving forward of a staff report to a proposed amendment to the zoning bylaw by Redwood Homes who wants to build 74 back to back townhouses by Ferguson Drive east of Armstrong Blvd over by Guardian Angels Catholic School.

Here is the link to the actual staff report. There are some that feel by adding additional homes right beside the school might eat into the current green belt. Since council adopted the staff recommendation, it will be ratified by council next week. If there are any other questions, please contact the town clerk for any more details.

Another item that was brought up by the planning department is the possible changes to the names of many streets in Milton. According to the report there are several streets that will be affected and I will look into the possibility of any of our Ward One streets being affected.

Given the past problems with other municipalities and the emergency services not being able to find the right location in a time of urgent need, the Town of Milton feels it necessary to move forward with this study and get the process started. This was also endorsed by the Town of Milton Fire Department as something that is essential to providing the best service to Miltonians. Stay tuned to my site for details.

And finally something that I know has been a thorn in the side of many people who use Britannia Road. Judging from the number of calls I have received I can only imagine the number of calls our councillors have received on this.

Regional Councillor Barry Lee brought up the concerns of many residents regarding the 4 way stop sign at 4th line and Britannia. There have been talks with the Town of Milton and Region of Halton to speed up the process and get a traffic light installed ASAP. Paul Cripps made mention that the traffic lights will be going up in the next 5 days or so with a few days after that to be completed.

I am one of the drivers who uses Britannia Road as I work daily in Mississauga and I can assure those who have also been affected it is a major inconvenience. The work is going to get done and not too soon for most of us. I will be updating my site to let people know the progress of the installation as soon as possible.

Please exercise caution and patience while driving through this area. I would love to hear what you think about this, so please feel free to comment on the blog or send me an email to mike@mikecluett.ca it’s your opinion that matters and I would like to hear from you.

I’ll see you at the doors.