letters to the editor

Champion Letter Regarding Litter

Mike Cluett

Those of us in Ward 6 over the last few weeks have seen the effects of what we’ve called “Monday windstorms” and the resulting increase in the amount of garbage lining our streets.  On April 22nd, I along with a number of local ward 6 residents took part in my 2nd Annual Park Clean-up at Meighan Park and we saw first hand the effects of flying trash in our neighbourhoods.

Today in the Milton Canadian Champion, ward 6 resident J F Hardacre presents some ideas for everyone because the wind is everywhere, not just in our ward (No politicians/hot air comments please 🙂 )

Here is a link to the Region of Halton websitefor a list of acceptable items to include in your blue box and what not to include.

Here’s the letter. And thank you JF Hardacre for taking the time to pick up trash in your area to help keep our ward clean.  THANK YOU!

Read your recycling calendar to help eliminate litter

Dear Editor:

In a recent edition of the Champion, Helena Dudgeon wrote: “There are many locations in our beautiful town that through carelessness have become eyesores.”

Too true, sad to say. But where’s all this trash coming from? While a portion of it is due to some people’s sloppy habit of eating and drinking in their vehicles and then tossing the empties out the window, the sad truth is that most of the trash is the downside of our recycling program. Poorly-packed Blue Boxes and the wind that blows nine days out of 10 equal the mess we deplore.

The evidence? While walking my dogs recently in the Clark Boulevard/Bennett Boulevard area, I picked up some of the trash I came across, and it was all too obvious that it consisted almost entirely of Blue Box escapees.

Here’s a list of what I picked up and hauled home: Ninteen drink cans (not flattened), 14 water/pop bottles (not flattened, all with the caps on — caps go in the garbage, people), three juice cans, 16 paperboard boxes (most not flattened), one sheet of corrugated cardboard, one magazine, one sheet of craft paper, three flyers, two printed receipts, three tin can lids, nine newspaper pages, one paper bag, one margarine tub, one lid, one frozen juice can (not recyclable), one cellophane bag (not recyclable), one soup can, three dryer sheets (not recyclable), five clear plastic clamshells (not recyclable), one black clamshell (not recyclable), three styrofoam meat trays (styrofoam of any sort is not recyclable), one paper napkin, three plastic grocery bags (not recyclable, but I used them to put all the other stuff in). And the piece de resistance — a 2012 Halton recycling calendar.

All this (and there was much more that I didn’t have room for) from a walk around one block.

The solution? Read your recycling calendar. It tells quite clearly what should and shouldn’t go in your Blue Box. Among the should-nots are plastic clamshells, cellophane, dryer sheets, plastic toys, bottle caps, and plastic bags of any sort.

Pack your blue box carefully — completely flatten boxes, cans and plastic bottles and mash everything down into the box as far as possible. Put flimsy things like newspapers and flyers at the bottom, and any heavier stuff, like those flattened cans, on top. Don’t put any recycling in a plastic bag.

One more thing — make absolutely sure that nothing edible goes into your Blue Box. Anything edible will attract unwelcome guests like raccoons, skunks and coyotes.

A little more care and thoughtfulness in recycling will go a long way toward keeping Milton a town we can be proud to show off.

J. F. Hardacre

Milton

More Feedback on Hospital Expansion Levy

Mike Cluett

In what seems to be a recurring theme in the Milton Champions Letter to the Editor section, there is more feedback on councils decision to implement a 1% tax levy for the potential hospital expansion for MDH.

Most of the comments received by Miltonians on this blog, through email and in the Champion tends to focus on the fact that this decision was made with no public input and because we haven’t received the go ahead from the provincial government.

Dear Editor:

I read with interest the letter by John Challinor in the February 3 Champion entitled, ‘Hospital levy should be rescinded; taxpayers engaged in discussion.’

We agree that the tax levy should be re-opened for further discussion.

As life-long residents of Milton, we don’t oppose paying money toward our hospital expansion. However, we do question why the decision was made so quickly, when the Milton District Hospital expansion isn’t yet approved by the provincial government.

We urge councillors to re-open the tax levy issue for public discussion.

Jean and Joe Gregoris, Milton  

If you haven’t already read Stuart Service’s article in the Halton Compass last week, (front page / second page) suggest you have a read.  In the article, Stuart asks Dalton McGuinty about Milton’s decision to implement the levy and asks the all important question of will this help.  The Premier’s answer is quite telling.

(photo by Stuart Service, courtesy of Halton Compass)

McGunity did not confirm whether or not a MDH levy would increase the towns chance at landing provincial approval for the hospital expansion.

“It’s obviously a sign of a strong committment on the part of the community, but I think that there is a lot of factors that we have to take into account when it comes to what we’re going to put something next.”

He continued…

“At this point in time, we’re talking about a long term plan and none of those decisions have been made yet.  One of the things we have to look at is where do we go going forward with respect to our capital plan.”

“We’re in a significant deficit , its a matter of modest growth, its a time of still too high unemployment.”

Doesn’t necessarily spark optimism now does it?  In fact its the opposite.  As the article mentioned, there were a number of councillors in support of the levy who used the argument that by implementing the tax levy will increase our chances in getting provincial approval.  In fact key members of staff at MDH and Halton Healthcare Services echoed those same comments.  Judging from the Premier’s comments it doesn’t spark any light of hope as we move closer to the time where the provincial government will be making those decisions.

Recently at the Mayor’s Breakfast we had a visit from Minister of Infrastructure Bob Chiarelli (one of the key decision makers in the approval process) came to town to visit the Milton Centre for the Arts and take some time to speak at the breakfast.  In his 25 minute address to the mostly business crowd there wasn’t a mention of the need for hospital expansion in Milton.  A few individuals I spoke with after who attended the meeting were equally as puzzled as to why the much needed expansion and quite possibly the number ONE issue in the town went unaddressed.

Only time will tell if its a success or a failure.  We should find out in time (March / April 2011) if Milton receives the approval from the provincial government to move forward to the design stage of the much needed expansion of MDH.  Since 2001/2002 there have been a number of studies completed by Halton Healthcare Services (at a significant cost) to assess the need for expansion.  That’s a no brainer as many Miltonians are quite aware.  The need is there…there is no doubt of that fact.  The most recent report was completed back in 2008/2009 as to the need and viability of the expansion and nothing has been done since.  In essence, the report is sitting on an in-box somewhere at the province of Ontario.

You want community support?  We only have to turn back a couple of years when over 35,000 Miltonians, via the Friends of Milton Hospital organization collected signatures on postcards that were delivered to the Premiers office telling them of our needs.

We can do something in the meantime.  We can keep the discussion going at all levels, on this blog, on discussion forums, in the coffee shops and restaurants in town and with our MPP Ted Chudleigh.  It’s getting close to that time and if Milton isn’t approved for expansion there will be a lot of very upset residents.

Even More Feedback on Milton Budget & Tax Levy

Mike Cluett

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

Feedback About 1% Tax Levy

Mike Cluett

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

So its not just me…

Mike Cluett

Someone sent me an email awhile back asking me why I keep on the fact that there seems to be a lot of poor drivers in town.  While I wont go so far as to say the drivers are poor, but there does seem to be people who for whatever reason, dont pay attention and obey the rules of the road.

That got me thinking…is it just me?  Am I being too picky?  Apparently not as more and more letters to the local paper seem to justify my analysis that there are people taking liberty with the rules of the road when it comes to stop signs, speeding in residential areas and aggressive driving.

John Airyo’s letter to the Champion this week seems to outline the same concerns I, as well as many other people in Milton share.

Here’s his letter.

DEAR EDITOR:There’s a growing trend in Milton that in my own opinion is gradually reaching a frightening dimension.

It concerns the way many people treat traffic stop signs. I can recall more than 15 times recently where drivers haven’t used traffic stop signs properly — with a few of them nearly causing an accident.

In all those cases, it happened that I got to the stop sign and stopped by the white line. My tire touched the white line and I made a complete stop. Then I went forward.

I knew I touched the line before some drivers, but they proceeded before me as if they were blind.

A couple of times I almost ran into those drivers because I had no inkling they were going to advance before me. I don’t know whether they were impatient, rude or simply inexperienced — or a combination of these.

These incidents have happened all over Milton, so I can’t really pinpoint a particular place.

Please use our traffic stop signs properly to avoid an accident.

JOHN ARIYO, MILTON

It’s not an unreasonable request is it?  The stop signs are there for a reason.  To safely control the flow of traffic and help keep drivers and pedestrians alike as safe as possible.  We can go back a couple of years to Yates Drive where a number of these problems lead to a house being hit by a car…twice…in less than a year.  A car driving down Yates at a high rate of speed (for the record a “high rate of speed” was perception based on cars driving the speed limit) drove through an intersection with a stop sign.  The person at the stop sign didnt fully stop and did what was described by witnesses as a fast, rolling stop turning left onto Yates.  The car with the right-away swerved to avoid the car coming from the stop sign, lost control, jumped the curb and sidewalk to slam into this persons home.

The second occurence happened almost identical with the result being the same less than a year later.

I’m sure youve seen it too.  On your way to work in the mornings, or coming home at nights many people take liberty with the rules of the road and most times, nothing ever happens.

A friend commented to me that there should be mandatory retesting for our licences on a regular basis to make sure we remember and comply with the rules of the road.  I dont think that would make much difference because anyone can put on good behaviour during the test, shine the like star that they are and when its securely in their hands…speed off  and fly through a stop sign on the way to make it to the 401 parking lot in the morning.

More people agree about aggressive drivers

Mike Cluett

As I pointed out in a previous post, and commented on by another Milton blogger Zeeshan Hamid, there was a letter to the Champion outlining several instances of aggressive drivers in the Town of Milton.  It seems to be an ongoing problem with no real direction on what changes can be made.

Here’s Jean Paul’s letter this week.  It echos Cristina’s letter from last week.

What can be done?  There seems to be two different problems here.  One of them is aggressive driving and speeding in residential areas and the second being on the main roads like Derry and James Snow Parkway among other major intersections.

traffic calmingI’ve talked about traffic calming zones with speed bumps for residential streets to force drivers to slow down in areas around schools and where kids walk and play.  On the Hawthorne Villager Forum, people have talked about other ideas that possibly include a form of photo radar.

Raising awareness doesnt seem to work well.  You can have blitzes by police on a regular basis, but it seems that people go back to their old habits of driving 10km/hr over the speed limit because they can get away from it.

Why not make the speed limit 40km/hr in every residential area…no execptions.  If youre driving around homes, where there could be children crossing the street or bikes on the road the limit is 40km/hr.  This way if police do catch speeders, the fines will be increased and maybe someone will think twice about going over the speed limit.

There have been comparisons to speeding on the highways and the main streets and residential streets, and to me there is a huge difference.  Highways have an “allowance” of being over the speed limit.  Thats what fast lanes are for I’m told.

The fact of the matter is there are no fast lanes on Derry Road, Clark Blvd, Ferguson, Louis St Laurent, Trudeau or any other residentail street.  That arguement is mute.

It seems to be an ongoing issue.  Any ideas out there?  Let’s discuss.

mcclogo
 
Sep 04, 2009
DEAR EDITOR:

In regard to Cristina Drapeau’s recent letter about aggressive drivers in Milton, I couldn’t agree with her more.

I have lived in Milton for about seven years now and shortly after moving in I started to notice the exact same problems at the same intersections — Derry Road at Trafalgar Road and Derry at James Snow Parkway.

Other drivers have always used the merging lane as a quick pass lane and feel they have the right of way to merge aggressively.

I’ve witnessed a large amount of road rage and aggressive driving. Many of these drivers I see offend repeatedly on a daily basis. At least a few give a wave when you let them in.

Although I understand that the police can’t be everywhere all the time, I feel that everyone should know there’s something citizens can do about this problem. It’s called Community Road Watch.

It’s a community program where if you witness another driver demonstrating unsafe driving behaviour you can report that driver and incident.

The police will send the driver a letter explaining their unsafe behaviour and ask for their voluntary compliance.

If the driver receives multiple letters, then the police may contact the driver and potentially lay charges if they feel it necessary.

It’s quite simple to do. Just remember or jot down the information of the incident, including licence, vehicle, time, driver description, time, and location. You then report it by giving the report to your local police station.

There’s even an on-line system for reporting at www.haltonroadwatch.ca to make it even easier.

However, I do feel it’s important that one takes their time and considers what they’re reporting and if it’s correct or if we are letting our frustration get the better of us.

JOHN-PAUL DELSENY, MILTON