halton region mike cluett

Increased Weed Control Being Considered in 2014 Budget

Mike Cluett

From the Milton Canadian Champion

Town may increase weed control budget

Town councillors have heard the message that residents want better weed control in parks and on boulevards, and will be looking at it when it comes to next year’s budget.

Possibilities for improving the maintenance of the areas include more frequent mowing during dandelion season, or the more expensive option of increasing fertilizer, aeration and over-seeding treatments.

The Town currently spends about $220,000 on upkeep of boulevards and passive park areas. Increased mowing of both would cost about $150,000 more, while the multi-faceted treatment would cost an additional $320,000.

Several councillors said at Monday’s town council meeting that they regularly receive calls from residents about the state of the parkland, and suggested that moving toward fertilizer, aeration and over-seeding would pay off over time. Town sports fields are already maintained using that system.

“The people in the Town of Milton take pride in the appearance of this town and this is a solid investment,” said Ward 6 Councillor Mike Cluett.

The options will be discussed by councillors during the upcoming process to establish the 2014 budget.

Steam Era Returns Labour Day Weekend

Mike Cluett

Many people think that the CNE getting ready to close down is the official sign of the end of summer.  For those of us in Milton, its the Steam Era!

Starting this coming weekend is the 53rd edition of the Steam Era at Milton Fairgrounds.  According to the Steam Era website, their goal is “to advance knowledge, appreciation, and  interest in rural antiques and  our rural agricultural heritage. This is accomplished through the preservation, restoration and renovation of articles, vehicles,  machinery and power equipment of antiquity.”

The Steam Era is an “annual show held by the Ontario Steam and Antique Preservers Association  each year. At the Labour Day weekend show our members exhibit and demonstrate their equipment, models, cars and trucks, along with  craft and other displays for the public.”

So if you’re looking for something interesting to do over the long weekend in Milton, head on down to the fairgrounds and see history come alive in front of you.

Friday afternoon starting at 1pm there is the annual steam era parade through town and its not to be missed.  With all the whistles going off, it would be hard to miss it.  Later on Friday night at 6pm is the corn roast and movie night.

On Saturday there are a number of competitions from the tractor pull to log sawing (which is much more difficult that you would think) followed by more steam games, live entertainment and a talent contest.

More games are slated for Sunday along with mini tractor pulls and on Monday it wraps up with more competitions and the Steam Era Skills competition.  The full schedule of events can be found here.

Come and take part in Milton’s rich agricultural history this long weekend at Milton’s Steam Era and the real unofficial end of summer.

Look forward to seeing you there.

Milton United Way 5K/10K Event October 6th 2013

Mike Cluett

The race is just over a month away and pledges are now open for the 2nd annual United Way 5K/10K run and 5K community walk on Oct 6th.  I’ll be participating this year so feel free to pledge your support here.

Need some incentive?

Meet Ronaldus Maximus of Milton United Way fame.  Notice the hair?  Im sure everyone who meets him notices it.  Here’s the deal.

If I get to $1,000 in pledges I’ll wear a Ronaldus Maximus wig for the race!

All for the United Way of Milton.  So pledge NOW and post a comment to let me know you did.

I would appreciate any support you might be able to give so please be generous and take into consideration that next to being Dave Hester from Storage Wars for Halloween last year, THIS will be something hard to live down.  Again, its all to go help the 1 in 4 Milton residents who use a United Way service.  As our town continues to grow, the need for funding grows as well.

Lets all help be part of the CHANGE … it starts here.

Free Garbage Tags Expire Sept 7th

Mike Cluett

Just a reminder to Milton residents that the Region of Halton free bag tags expire this coming September 7th. After that you will be required to purchase them at $2.00 each.

If you have any questions about the Halton Bag Tag program, please visit this website for more details OR you can call 3-1-1.  The 3-1-1 service is a very valuable tool to use to find out about a number of town and region services, garbage pick up and also where you can report roadside dumping.

Speaking of illegal dumping, thank you to the many residents in wards 1, 6, 7 and 8 for calling and emailing me about these incidents.  In order for these statistics to be included in any future region of Halton reports, they do need to be called in on the 3-1-1 line as well as letting me know.

Before the 3 bag limit was approved by Halton Region council members (unanimously) there were a number of incidents of illegal roadside dumping of household garbage.  After the program was in place we have seen a spike in these occurences and I have been sending this information to both the Town and Halton Region staff for their actions.

What we have been seeing in the last several weeks is residents using town garbage containers to dump their household waste on the garbage pick up days.  These containers are NOT for that purpose.  When people dump their household garbage in the green containers, it attracts animals, rodents and it usually ends up being a big mess.  Add in some wind, and local residents get their areas covered in trash.

If you see any overflowing containers of garbage, please let me know by email mike@mikecluett.ca and call 3-1-1 to report the locations as well.  By working together, we can help solve this problem as we continue with the “growing pains” of a 3 bag limit.

I’ll see you at the doors

When the chips are down…

Mike Cluett

…Regional Councillor Tony Lambert left Milton high and dry.

The following video is from yesterday’s Halton Regional Council meeting.  After a marathon 4 hour plus meeting an in camera report came up for a vote.  This report is a result of 3 years of discussion regarding ROPA 38, which is the Regional Official Plan Amendment that affects many areas in Halton, including Milton.

Our council representatives Mayor Gord Krantz, Councillor Best and Lambert received this detailed report less than 24 hours before the meeting before having to be asked to vote on it.  I wasnt part of the in camera discussions obviously, but what came out of it was a motion by Mayor Krantz to defer the report until such time that Town of Milton staff and legal teams could look into it in more detail.  This comes on top of an announcement from the provincial government regarding a change to the Places To Grow Act that will now, once complete, bring a total of 1,000,000 people to the Halton region, and MANY of those to Milton.

When its all said and done, the province of Ontario has deemed Milton to grow to over 350,000 people by 2041.

You can see that due to this development and the fact that Milton will be the location of the majority of that growth, our councillors representing the best interests of Milton would want to take a look at it some more.

If you watch the video, you will see that some of the discussion on Mayor Krantz’s deferral motion.  The results of the vote were 11-3 with our 3 regional representatives voting for the deferral, so it lost.

Then the vote on the main motion came up and this is where the head scratching begins.  When Milton needed to stand united on an issue that will affect this town for 20-30 years down the road, Tony Lambert first opposed the report by voting FOR the deferral, and then after that motion was lost, voted FOR the original report.

Regional council voted against the deferral and in turn lone Councillor Tony Lambert chose to support it in the end leaving Mayor Krantz and Colin Best standing alone. When the chips were down and Milton needed to stand united, for whatever reason he might come up with, Lambert chose to flip flop and change his mind to in essence desert Milton’s long term needs.

As regular readers of my blog will know, THIS is why there has to be change in representation for Milton at the Region and why I intend to run for the regional councillor position for wards 1,6,7 & 8 in 2014.

3 years of on the job training has not worked. Sadly as it is, this isnt the only example of erratic voting behaviour.

With all of these changes and important issues facing Milton in the coming years, we need someone who will stand up for Milton when the chips are down.

Derry Road Underpass Construction Starts MONDAY June 17th

Mike Cluett

Attention residents in wards 7 & 8

The long awaited construction of the Derry Road underpass between Scott and Bronte Street will begin MONDAY JUNE 17th.  There will be some headaches along the way but this is a project that should have been done years ago before all the growth on the west side of Milton began.  There are and were a number of potential safety issues with fire and ambulance potentially being caught in traffic and when completed that issue wont be around anymore.

We ask for your patience during this time and its slated to be completed in late 2014.  Heres the article from the Milton Canadian Champion.

Derry Road underpass construction begins Monday

Construction of the new four-lane underpass will include new on-road bike lanes and a multi-use pathway. The project is expected to be complete by the end of 2014.

Motorists are advised to expect delays and use caution when traveling through the area. A map of the affected roadway and project updates can be found on Halton Region’s website at www.halton.ca/construction