This week on Local Matters with Mike Cluett, I sit down with Donna Danielli who in addition to her countless hours of volunteering in Milton is the executive director of Milton Transitional Housing as well as a long time Halton District School Board Trustee.
Recently Milton Transitional Housing wrapped up its annual fundraising campaign called the Coldest Night of the Year Walk where over the last number of years, hundreds of Miltonians lined up outside the Milton Sports Centre to begin a 2km, 5km or 10km walk to raise funds for MTH. This year having to deal with COVID 19 put a few more challenges in front of the organizers but by judging from the amount of money raised this year, exceeded its $70,000 goal by raising well over $80,000.
In part one, Donna talks to us about what Milton Transitional Housing does and its challenges over the 10 years in operation with a stunning 100% success rate and how important these funds raised during the Coldest Night of the Year are to helping local Miltonians in need of help.
Here is part one (courtesty of YouTube – YourTV Halton
https://youtu.be/njck0wc8BeE
In Part two of our discussion, Donna puts her Halton District School Board hat on to provide Milton/Halton residents with updates on school construction, getting the necessary funding for capital projects and dealing with COVID 19 in educating our chidren.
https://youtu.be/XK7OkfqGqPg
Thanks for tuning in to Local Matters with Mike Cluett and YourTV Halton. If you have any questions, comments or show ideas, please feel free to contact me via this website.
The Regional Municipality of Halton For Immediate Release
March 1, 2021
Halton’s online booking system for residents 80 years of age and older set to launch Wednesday
Starting Wednesday March 3, Halton residents who are 80 years of age and older can book their appointment to receive their COVID-19 vaccine at a Halton Region COVID-19 Vaccination Clinic.
“Getting our most vulnerable residents vaccinated as quickly as possible is our top priority”, said Halton Regional Chair Gary Carr. “Our clinics are ready and our online booking system is set to open for appointment bookings on March 3. Our ability to vaccinate our community is dependent on supply from the Federal Government and direction from the Province on who to prioritize for vaccination. Thank you to our incredible Halton Region staff for all of the hard work behind the scenes to get us ready for this important milestone in our program. We will continue to expand our vaccination program as more supply becomes available.”
To support residents 80 years of age and older who require transportation, Halton Region has been working with Specialized Local Municipal Transit service providers and Private Transportation (taxi) services to ensure residents can conveniently request and arrange free transportation to and from Regional clinics if required.
“Vaccinating those most at risk of complications from COVID-19 is critical,” said Dr. Hamidah Meghani, Halton Region’s Medical Officer of Health. “If you know someone who is 80 years of age or older and may need assistance accessing information or booking their online appointment, please reach out to them to assist. While we continue to vaccinate priority groups, I am urging everyone to keep staying home except for essential purposes, avoiding social gatherings and preparing to be vaccinated when it is your turn.”
Quick Facts:
On Wednesday March 3, eligible Halton residents, who are 80 years of age or older, or someone on their behalf, will be able to go online to book an appointment via halton.ca/COVIDvaccines or Halton’s COVID-19 Vaccination Clinic webpage.
Halton residents can call 311 if they require booking support. Please only call 311 if you are unable to book online to ensure those residents requiring support can be assisted.
There will be appointments available to book for every resident who is 80 years of age and older during March and April. All appointments are contingent on the availability of vaccine supply.
Residents who are not currently 80 years of age and older, please do not call 311 or visit the online booking system to ensure eligible residents have access.
Appointments will be available for clinic sites in the City of Burlington, Town of Oakville, Town of Milton and Town of Halton Hills. Free transportation options will be available for all eligible residents if required. Halton’s Vaccination Clinics are not open to the public and are available by appointment. There will be no walk-in appointments.
Halton continues to vaccinate priority populations as identified by the Province and with vaccine supplies currently available. As of Friday, February 26, 28,622 doses have been administered in Halton to priority populations. Mobile teams of Public Health and Paramedic Services staff continue to administer vaccinations to long-term care and retirement home residents. Halton Healthcare continues to operate the COVID-19 Vaccination Centre at Oakville Trafalgar Memorial Hospital for prioritized health care workers, essential caregivers and staff of long-term care and retirement homes and adults receiving chronic home care.
To get the latest information on Halton Region’s COVID-19 Vaccine Program including who is currently eligible, transportation options and how to book an appointment, please visit halton.ca/COVIDvaccines. Halton Region’s website is being updated as the program progresses, and residents are asked to check this page regularly for the latest information.
The Regional Municipality of Halton serves 580,000 residents in the City of Burlington, the Town of Halton Hills, the Town of Milton, and the Town of Oakville. Halton Region is committed to meeting the needs of its residents through the delivery of cost-effective, quality programs and services, including water and wastewater; Regional roads and planning; paramedic services; waste management; public health; social assistance; children’s and seniors’ services; housing services; heritage programs; emergency management and economic development. For more information, call 311 or visit Halton Region’s website at halton.ca.
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Media Contact:
John Winkels Communications Advisor Halton Region 905-825-6000, ext. 7490 Cell: 289-259-3778 john.winkels@halton.ca
Starting Wednesday March 3, adults 80+ (or someone on their behalf) can book an appointment online for one of our #COVID19 vaccination clinics.
There will be appointments available for every resident who is 80 years of age or older during March and April.
All appointments are dependent on the availability of vaccine supply.
We know some residents will require transportation to and from their appointment. Information on available transportation services is also on our website and will be offered free of charge.
A construction notice for Thompson Road south of Louis St Laurent to Britannia has been released by the Town of Milton to begin the process of widening to 4 lanes. As residents will note, there is a lot of new home construction happening now and more for the future as well as new retail developments on both the east and west side of Thompson Road at Louis St Laurent. This will require a staged closing of Thompson Road to accommodate the widening to prepare for future development on Thompson Road.
The first stage of the closure will be from March 8th to June 11th, 2021. Local access to some roads WILL be available during this time but travel from Thompson Rd to Britannia WILL be detoured to 4th Line and heading south to Britannia Road. Residents not familiar with some changes to the roadway, there is now a signaled intersection at Louis St Laurent and 4th Line as well as LSL and Trudeau Blvd.
Please stay tuned to the Town of Milton’s social media page (and mine as well 😉 )for any updates.
(From the Press Release)
The Town of Milton, in conjunction with KAPP Infrastructure, is urbanizing and widening Thompson Road South, between Louis St. Laurent Avenue and Britannia Road, to a 35-metre four lane cross section.
The project includes a roundabout intersection at Whitlock Avenue and Thompson Road South. The intersection of Logan Drive and Thompson Road South will have temporary signals installed as part of this contract. This intersection may be modified to a roundabout intersection as intended in the Boyne Road Network Assessment in the future.
Road closures
In order to execute this work safely, Thompson Road South will have staged road closures for the duration of the contract.
The first road closure is Thompson Road South between Whitlock Avenue and Britannia Road, from March 8, 2021 at 7 a.m. to June 11, 2021 at 7 p.m. Traffic will be detoured via Fourth Line, Regional Road 25 and Britannia Road.
Subsequent road closures, with anticipated dates, include:
Louis St. Laurent Avenue to north limit of Whitlock Avenue from June 14, 2021 to Aug. 27, 2021
Whitlock Avenue intersection from Aug. 30, 2021 to Oct. 15, 2021
Halton Region Council met on February 17, 2021 to discuss the Federal Government’s decision to approve CN’s proposed truck-rail hub in Milton. We are extremely disappointed that the Federal Government has ignored its obligation to protect the health of Canadians, especially at a time when health is our collective focus. We are going to court to fight federal approval of the CN truck-rail hub in Milton.
Halton Regional Council has reviewed its legal options and unanimously supported going to the Federal Court of Canada to review decisions by the Minister of Environment and Climate Change and Cabinet to approve the federal assessment. The Federal Government has ignored the expertise of a panel it appointed, which has said that this project will cause significant harm to the health of Halton residents that cannot be mitigated.
We understand how important this effort is to our communities, and our goal is to ensure that the Federal Government follows its own laws that insist on protection of human health. We cannot see any justification for this Project to be approved when its emission of toxic substances makes it the first project ever subject to a federal panel review that was found likely to cause significant adverse effects on human health.
This project will harm the health of more than 34,000 people who will reside within 1 km of the project. We will continue to work with the community and be their voice on this issue. Our communities have unequivocally opposed this project on the grounds of protecting human health.
We encourage residents to contact their MP and the Minister of Environment and Climate Change to let the Federal Government know your concerns about their decision to approve the CN truck-rail hub in Milton, despite the significant impacts it will have on the health of Halton residents.
To learn more about our position on CN’s truck-rail hub, please visit halton.ca/CN.
This week on Local Matters with Mike Cluett I discuss the implications of the recent decision by the Federal government to “conditionally approve” the CN Intermodal in the Town of Milton and Halton Region despites the proponents complete refusal to follow local, regional, provincial and conservation guidelines as any other development in the town. If you would like to have your voice heard, please contact all Halton MP’s (Adam van Koeverden, Karina Gould, Pam Damoff, Anita Anand & Michael Chong)
Here is part one of two with Rita Vogel Post of Milton RAIL www.miltonrail.com
Milton Council endorses land-use vision for Milton’s new Official Plan
On Feb. 8, 2021, Milton Council endorsed the vision statement and guiding principles for We Make Milton, the Town’s new Official Plan, greenlighting a modern, forward-looking land-use vision for the community to the year 2051.
The vision statement is:
Milton 2051: Choice Shapes Us In 2051, Milton offers a diversity of options for how and where we live, work, move and grow. As we evolve, choice is what shapes us.
The new vision for Milton’s Official Plan has been crafted to reflect the things that the community and stakeholders deemed important and valuable, through extensive engagement. The vision builds on Milton’s attributes and the community’s priorities, and is intended to be realistic, yet aspirational.
“Over the years, Milton has evolved into a diverse, young and innovative community,” said Mayor Gord Krantz. “The new vision for our Official Plan reflects our growing community, provides choice for residents and makes Milton a Place of Possibility for all. Choice will shape our community to the year 2051.”
Milton’s new Official Plan vision statement is supported by a set of guiding principles that identify more specific directions for protecting and enhancing the community’s core values and priorities. Moving forward, the vision will provide the basis for policy development and be included in the new Official Plan, once drafted and approved.
“The Choice Shapes Us vision articulates that the need for choice will inform how Milton physically changes in terms of land uses and built form, and will guide how the Town makes decisions about managing future growth and development,” said Barb Koopmans, Commissioner of Development Services. “Milton is a diverse community, therefore the choices it offers will be diverse, too. Sometimes choices will coincide and sometimes they will differ. Making choices will involve compromise and trade-offs as Milton evolves and grows. As we make choices, we want to be inclusive and enable a community that provides something for everyone.”
The Council-approved We Make Milton Visioning Report is a major project milestone, marking the end of the second phase of the new Official Plan project. The Report details the vision statement, guiding principles, community feedback and results of significant public consultation efforts.
Next steps
The We Make Milton project is now moving into Phase 3: Big Questions, where staff will identify and answer critical policy questions about how to manage change to the year 2051 based on community input. Phase 3 includes detailed policy discussions and recommended policy directions for Milton’s new Official Plan. Four discussion papers will be drafted with recommended land-use planning policies that focus on four key themes developed through the visioning process – living, working, moving and growing in Milton.
About We Make Milton
The We Make Milton project is intended to be an innovative, engaging and inclusive undertaking through which all residents can find meaningful, equitable and relevant opportunities to contribute. It’s a community engagement initiative to encourage residents, businesses and stakeholders to get involved in the creation of Milton’s new Official Plan.
The community is encouraged to stay involved and follow the project on Let’s Talk Milton, the Town’s public engagement platform.
