milton canadian champion

Some Ward One Residents Now Part of Mississauga

Mike Cluett

As reported in the Champion today, a portion of the “ninth line corridor” have now received new addresses. 

Mississauga Ontario.

You can go here to find out the details on what exactly becomes part of Mississauga along 9th line.

Ninth Line annexation finalized

Published on Dec 29, 2009

A municipal boundary realignment between Milton and Mississauga has been approved by the Province, affecting 25 residents in the Ninth Line Corridor.

The change, which will come into effect this Friday, will see Mississauga acquire close to 1,000 acres of land along Ninth Line in Milton. The residents living in the affected area will move from Ward 1 in Milton and form part of Wards 8, 9 and 10 in Mississauga.

The Milton-Mississauga border will now be moved west to the middle of Hwy. 407 from the middle of Ninth Line. The land to be annexed is commonly called the Ninth Line Corridor, and is generally bounded by Hwy. 401 to the north, Ninth Line to the east, Lower Base Line to the south and Hwy. 407 to the west.

The Town of Milton, City of Mississauga and regions of Halton and Peel all previously endorsed the change and submitted the boundary realignment to the Province’s Minister of Municipal Affairs for final approval, which was recently received.

The four municipalities have already agreed to the amount of compensation: Milton will receive $2 million and Halton $1.29 million. Peel will pay about 62 per cent of that amount with Mississauga picking up the remainder.

 

Intensification strategy to go before council in January

Mike Cluett

With many of us still braving the malls and the roads rushing out to get the last of the Christmas presents for under the tree, our thoughts arent usually on things like “intesification” of Main Street.  It is important to know that town council will be reviewing a study on how a large portion of our town will look in the coming years.

I know I havent really talked about it here, other milton bloggers like Jennifer Smith, have taken up that cause, but here is a news story from Tim Foran at the Milton Canadian Champion outlining what the study might find and what the next steps are.

Being at one of the town meetings on this, I have to echo the comments from some of the councillors including the Mayor when we ask “HOW are we going to pay for all of this?”  The provincial government has come up with guidelines for growth and the town is responsible for getting us there.  The province wants it done by a certain time, but the thing that will drive the debate is cost!

Intensification strategy to go before council in January
By Tim Foran, Metroland West Media Group

An intensification strategy outlining which of Milton’s numerous strip malls, parking lots and low-density commercial and industrial properties are prime spots for offices and condominiums is expected to go before councillors for approval next month. The strategy is the result of the Town’s intensification and infill study, which was received for information by council recently.

According to materials prepared by Meridian Planning Consultants, hired by the Town to do the study, most of the growth would be accommodated in what the Province has designated as Milton’s urban growth centre (UGC), one of 25 such areas in the GTA. This UGC generally straddles Main Street between Martin Street and Thompson Road, but also dips south to include the industrial land along Nipissing Road. The strip of Main between Ontario and Thompson, around the GO train station, is a prime candidate for future intensification, according to the consultant’s materials.

Meridian’s Nick McDonald told the Town’s planning committee at a recent meeting Milton’s UGC is unique in that it doesn’t encompass the historic downtown core. The UGC is about 135 hectares in size and must be planned to accommodate a density of 200 jobs and residents combined per hectare, equivalent to about 27,360 people, according to Provincial legislation. On paper, Milton’s 1997 Official Plan already allows for a density of 170 in the area, but the reality of what exists on the ground is far different. Currently, the UGC has only 7,300 people and jobs in an area characterized by low-density commercial units, vacant lots, light industrial buildings, and large surface parking lots.

“All we can do is plan and encourage and provide (allowances),” McDonald told the committee when questioned on the likelihood of being able to meet the intensification targets. “We can’t build, we can’t compel anybody to build.”

While the UGC is expected to be the centre of Milton’s intensification, the Town’s consultant has also identified 187 hectares of potential intensification sites in other areas of the town, mostly concentrated along Bronte and Ontario Streets and Steeles Avenue. About 30 per cent of this area is currently designated for employment uses, leaving 70 per cent, or 144 hectares, for potential residential and mixed-use development. The consultant has identified less than three hectares of potential intensification sites in Milton’s historic downtown core.

Town Planning Director Bill Mann has previously said he’d like to see employee-intensive offices included in the plan rather than just residential condominiums. Indeed, at this point, the Town is only planning to add 5,300 residential units — about 12,500 people — within its entire built boundary, an area generally bounded by the borders of the town as of 2006. The majority of those people could be housed in the UGC, according to the consultant’s materials. That’s a small percentage of the new residents Milton is expecting over the next 22 years. Current municipal plans project the community’s population to jump from the 85,000 it’s at now to 238,000 by 2031.

Of that amount:

• About 27,500 people are still to come over the next few years to the Bristol and Sherwood Survey areas that have been under construction for much of the past decade.

• Another 50,000 people would be housed in the Boyne Survey area, which is the area of land south of Louis St. Laurent Boulevard to Britannia Road, between Tremaine Road to the west and James Snow Parkway to the east. The Boyne, Bristol and Sherwood Survey areas were the three phases of residential growth identified in Milton’s 1997 Official Plan.

• Between 2021 and 2031, Town and Regional plans currently identify another 63,000 people to be housed in future residential areas to the east and south of the town. This new growth would see urban Milton extend close to the borders of Mississauga and Oakville.

Tim Foran can be reached at tforan@miltoncanadianchampion.com

Update to Region Councillor Salary Hike

Mike Cluett

Its gone!

Yep, thats what I said.  Gone.  Halton Regional council, in a last minute amendment to the budget removed the salary raise they would have received (amounting to roughly $17,000 in total) and remains a 0 % increase.

While the amount might look to some as minimal it does go a long way to letting taxpayers know that they should be the primary concern when it comes to taxes.

It looks like they listened to the people who sent them emails, called them and by the comments on my blog entry a few days back, no one was happy about paying them more.  One of the most interesting comments from the article is from Tom Adams, who is a regional councillor for Oakville and former Green Party candidate federally. 

He said that council was second guessing the citizens committee who made the recommendation.  From what I understand, and please correct me if Im wrong, the citizens committee makes a recommendation.  That is not saying its something that has to be done.  So council can at anytime say no to that recommendation.

Dictionary.com defines “recommend” as:

to advise, as an alternative; suggest (a choice, course of action, etc.) as appropriate, beneficial, or the like

Its not second guessing the committee at all.  I appreciate the fact that this committee exists and it should continue in making its suggestions for local governments, but the beauty about it is that council CAN say NO.

As Burlington councillor John Talyor said, its not political games, it’s the taxpayers money.

I for one am very glad this didnt go through.  I could only wish the same could be said for the Town of Milton in the recent budget.

Here’s the story from the Champion.

Zero tax hike budget passed
By Tim Foran, Metroland West Media Group
Dec 18, 2009

The elimination of any salary hike for regional councillors was a last-minute change to Halton’s $1.1 billion 2010 budget approved Wednesday. The changes, proposed by council’s budget review committee Monday, won’t change the overall requested tax levy, meaning there will be no increase next year in property taxes for regional services, which include items such as police, ambulance and regional roads maintenance. There will also be no increases in water rates, which are paid by Halton residents on their electricity bills. Staff achieved the zero tax and rate increases in part by instituting a freeze on tax-supported new hires, except for police personnel, and keeping the number of municipal staff at 2008 levels.

Read more here

Milton tax increase official

Mike Cluett

Last Monday night at Town Hall the 2010 captial and operating budgets were approved for a total increase in budget of 3.24%.

As Melanie Hennessey of the Champion outlines in her article today, it passed, but not unanimously.  Both Councillor Mike Boughton and Mayor Gord Krantz voted against the budget because the rate of increase was higher than the rate of inflation.

Good for them!

Mayor Krantz also outlined during the meeting that taxes have gone up about 17% in this term of council alone.  This amounts to roughly $120 per household in the last 4 years.  Although Jan Mowbray stated that Milton has something to show for those increases, the amount is still quite high over a 4 year term.

Jan mentioned that she voted for the budget regretably because it didnt include an increase to service for the new library to include Sunday hours.  Mea Culpa….my family uses that library quite often and is a wonderful place dont get me wrong.  Am I or other taxpayers willing to accept even more tax increases to pay for 7 day a week service?  Highly unlikely. 

Im sure if you had put the question to Miltonian’s BEFORE hand if they wanted a new arts and entertainment centre the answer might not have been what they were looking for.  That project was moved up in order to take advantage of the federal/provincial stimulus funding and rushed through.  There are quite a few better places in town for the centre, and Im quite sure that Thompson and Main isnt going to be the best location. 

Overall, I would concure with the Mayor and Councillor Boughton that this budget could have been better and that the rate of increase should have been closer to the rate of inflation.  As our town growns we need to prioritize our spending.  Would it be nice to have 7 day a week service for the library?  Absoultely.  It would be great if we could keep it open 24 hours.  Is it a priority right now?  No its not.  Maybe down the road when the rate of growth doesnt increase as much and there is more of a tax base available we can look at it then, but not right now.

There are a lot of “would like to have’s” in town.  We would like to have a lot of things, but there simply isnt enough money for everything that we want.  We as a town have to look at what is NEEDED and then prioritize those needs and focus on them.

Here’s the article… once again welcome back Melanie!

Council approves 3.24% tax hike

Melanie Hennessey, Canadian Champion Staff
December 16, 2009

Residents will dish out about $25 more for Town services next year now that Milton council has approved a 3.24 per cent tax hike for 2010.

The increase and the Town’s $149-million budget were given the go-ahead by council at its meeting Monday night. This translates into an extra $24.96 in Town taxes for urban residents and $20.82 for those in the rural area on a home assessed at $300,000.

Of the total budget, property taxes will cover between $28 and $29 million. Much of the municipality’s revenue is money collected from developers as well as funding provided by the provincial and federal governments.

About $70 million of the budget will cover next year’s operating expenses, while more than $78 million is slated for capital projects — the largest capital budget that’s ever been approved by council.

Funding has been allocated for 77 new projects, including $36 million in land and buildings, $32 million in roads and $5 million in parks and trails.

The capital program is being boosted by stimulus money coming from the upper levels of government. The Town has been approved for $33.5 million in stimulus cash, which allows it to advance five major projects that weren’t originally scheduled to start until 2011 or later. The projects include a new visual arts centre and central library and an expansion to the Milton Sports Centre. They must be built by March 31, 2011 under stimulus funding rules.

The budget was supported by the majority of council, with the exception of Ward 2 Councillor Mike Boughton and Mayor Gord Krantz.

Boughton told the Champion after the meeting that he voted against the budget because the tax increase for next year is above the rate of inflation.

“I stated earlier this year that I wouldn’t go any higher than the rate of inflation, and I’m standing by that principle,” he said.

Krantz, who has long been a supporter of keeping tax increases at the rate of inflation, shared similar sentiments. He also pointed out to council that it has increased local residents’ taxes by almost $120 in its term of office, or about 17 per cent.

“It’s very easy for us to say it’s only five or 10 cents more on this or that, but it builds up to $120,” he said. “That’s pretty huge, and it compounds itself.”

Ward 3 Councillor Jan Mowbray contended the extra $120 has helped with things like creating a branch library and hiring more full-time firefighters.

“We’ve got something to show for it,” she said.

Mowbray voted in favour of the budget, but with reservations, she said. The budget didn’t include extra library hours, which she said residents were calling for. “The public wants more for what their tax dollars are giving them.”

At last week’s budget committee meeting, councillors were presented with a proposed 2.98 per cent tax increase by staff. The committee voted to include an extra $70,000 in the operating budget for transit service enhancements, bringing the tax increase up to 3.24 per cent.

The transit improvements include a high school tripper program that’s catered to afternoon school bell times and higher frequency service levels on prime transit routes.

The committee also supported advancing construction of Louis St. Laurent Boulevard from Bronte Street to Regional Road 25 — work that wasn’t slated to get underway until 2011. It added about $6 million to the 2010 capital budget.

Motions to include the transit initiatives and the roadwork were made by Ward 4 councillors Wendy Schau and Paul Scherer respectively.

* * *

Top 5 projects

• Milton Sports Centre expansion — $12.7 million

• Arts and entertainment centre construction — $8.1 million

• Main Street grade separation at railroad tracks — $7.9 million

• Bronte Street reconstruction from Louis St. Laurent Boulevard to Derry Road — $6.4 million

• Louis St. Laurent Boulevard construction from Bronte Street to Regional Road 25 — $5.9 million.

Melanie Hennessey can be reached at mhennessey@miltoncanadianchampion.com .

Shop MILTON First

Mike Cluett

The Milton Canadian Champion has an interesting editorial on the benefits of shopping local, more specifically Milton.

Despite what some people think, Milton has everything to offer from the smallest of gifts to the big ticket items.  Its worth checking out what Milton has, especially in our downtown core.  Just imagine going Christmas shopping and finding all that you need.  Lets take downtown for instance.

Anyone with a knitter in the family (and there are a lot of knitters out there) they can go to see Carolyn at Main Street Yarns at Carriage Square Mall.  While there you can drop into Coffee Culture and have one of their amazing brews of coffees and teas.  Another good choice is Pasqualino’s Cafe & Bistro.  If youre shopping for a loved one and are looking for flowers….Oceana Whispers is the best choice for quality flowers, excellent presentation and wonderful one on one service.  If youre looking for some high quality leather goods or shoes, you can go to Milton Shoes and Leather Centre.

If youre hungry while shopping there are a number of places to eat along Main Street from The Ivy Arms to Thai House Cuisine.  In the need of a hair cut, you can go to either Mike the Barber or Tony’s Barber Shop.  Your printer run out of ink or need some specialty paper for your Christmas cards, Harris Office Pro.

Endless choices for everyone.  If you need to buy a computer for your kids, or just service the one you have, Crave Systems is a great place for all of those needs.

And Im just hitting the tip of the iceburg.  There are hundreds more stores to go to find exactly what you need for the holiday season.

For the record, no one listed here has paid for anything. 🙂

You can go to www.downtownmilton.com for a full listing of businesses that can serve you.  If anyone has any other companies they would like to promote…let me know.  Feel free to comment as well.

Lets make it a great holiday season for Milton retailers.

Please shop local this holiday season

Canadian — and specifically Milton — retailers are hoping for a ‘green’ Christmas this year after weathering (we hope) one of the worst economic years on record. We also hope that local consumers this holiday season think of Milton first when dashing about for their shopping.

This town has a wide variety of stores. Our local merchants could certainly use your patronage.

While shopping in town, you can pause awhile at the many cafes or restaurants. You can take in old-fashioned Christmas displays and appreciate store owners who are proud of the goods they sell and spend the necessary time answering customers’ questions.

Remember, spending dollars locally helps our entire community. Local businesses are the ones that sponsor your child’s soccer team, contribute to the arts and donate to any number of worthy and charitable causes.

The spin-off effects are tremendous.

Also this holiday season, consumers should be in a better mood to spend (at least moderately) than last year as the economic climate continues to improve while interest rates are at a record low.

Growth expected for long time to come

Mike Cluett

As an avid reader (and participant) in my daily travels to the Hawthorne Villager, the topic of growth is one that never seems to die down.  Some like it and some dont.  Some want it to stop now that they’re living here and some accept it as inevitable change.

Growth in Milton, as with other municipalities is mandated by the Province.  They produce guidelines and directions for the town and its up to the local council to marry those needs with reality.  There are number of projects being worked on within our borders that will contribute to that growth, such as the Derry Green Business Park east of James Snow Parkway and the intensification of Main Street from JSP to Bronte Street.  There have been a lot of numbers thrown around from 150,000 to 175,000 and even up to over 300,000!!!

At a recent Chamber of Commerce breakfast, the Town Planner Bill Mann told the business community at large the population of Milton could reach anywhere from 300,000 to 350,000 in the coming years.  This doesnt mean we’ll be at that point anytime soon as there are many decades worth of development to go through to get to that.

I found those comments, which are detailed by Tim Foran at the Milton Canadian Champion article, interesting along with a letter to the editor against growth in Milton.

Here is the letter by Linda Arone.

DEAR EDITOR:

My husband and I met in 2002. At that time I lived in Mississauga and he lived in Vaughan.

Our dates and weekend getaways were always in the Milton area, at conservation parks, tourist farms, farmers’ market, etc. We loved the quiet charm, the small-town culture and the friendly people of Milton.

In 2006, when we got married, our obvious decision was to purchase a home in Milton. To our disappointment, this town has continued to grow beyond its capacity, and I find myself sitting in more traffic now than ever before and being cut off by extremely inconsiderate and aggressive drivers.

So as a relatively new resident of Milton, I feel for the Miltonians of 20-plus years ago, but I also sympathize with all the newcomers who had hoped to start a new life in the lovely, close-knit and safe little town we used to know as Milton.

LINDA ARONE, MILTON