miltonsearch.com
Community Services Standing Committee June 11 2012
The next meeting of the Community Services Standing Committee is this coming Monday June 11, 2012 at Milton Town Hall beginning at 7pm.
This Committee consists of five Councillors and the Mayor. Committee members review all reports, formulate policy and make recommendations to Council on matters over which Council has authority under the Municipal Act. These matters are related to Community Services, Fire, Library, Transit and other operational programs. If you wish to be a delegation at the Community Services Committee, you must register in writing with the Clerk’s Office by 10:00 a.m. on Monday, the day of the meeting.
The following Council Members sit on the Community Services Committee:
- Gordon Krantz, Mayor
- Councillor Tony Lambert, Wards 1, 6, 7 & 8
- Councillor Greg Nelson, Ward 2
- Councillor Rick Malboeuf, Ward 4
- Councillor Arnold Huffman, Ward 5
- Councillor R. Di Lorenzo, Wards 7
Here is a copy of the agenda for you to review. Some of the items to be discussed include:
- Q1 Quarterly Report on Community Services Milton
- Q1 Quarterly Report on Engineering Services Milton
- Q1 Quarterly Report on Fire Services Milton
- Union Gas Temporary Land Use Agreement – Willmott Neighbourhood Park & Community Park areas
- Scott Neighbourhood Park North Final Concept Plan
- GTA West Corridor Update
If you have any questions or concerns about any of these reports and would like to make a presentation to council, please contact the clerks office before 10am on Monday. The last public meeting for the Scott Neighbourhood Park was pretty full with interested residents, so if you’d like to have your say, here’s your chance. Otherwise if you have any questions I can ask them on your behalf so please email me mike@mikecluett.ca
If you cant make it to the meeting, as always you can watch online. Just click on my links to the right and enjoy!
Tim Hortons Camp Day
I had a great time earlier today at the Derry Road / Ontario Street Tim Horton’s doing my best to keep up with the line for coffee. I have been on the other end of the line up many MANY times but nothing prepared me for the onslaught of customers this morning.
Thank you to everyone who came out today supporting Camp Day at Tim Horton’s and many thanks to the staff for dealing with us volunteers. All the proceeds go to a great cause and Im very honoured to have been a part of it.
Milton Mutt Strutt Fun
Many thanks to Hamilton TigerCat Yannick Carter for attending and supporting the Oakville Milton Humane Society today. The weather cooperated with us for the walk as Yannick led many pooches along with their owners on a 5km walk around Milton’s downtown area. The fairgrounds were packed with vendors, silent auctions and a special appearance by Chance the dog.
If aren’t familiar with Chance, he was the dog left abandoned and abused at JM Deynes School in the winter. Hes definitely back to good health and getting better every day. Way to go Humane Society.
The Milton Mutt Strutt was a great success. We wish him and the rest of the Cat’s nothing but the best for this 2012 CFL Season and a trip to the 100th GREY CUP in Toronto!!!! OSKEE WEE WEE!!!
2nd Annual Budget Input Session
This coming Monday night will begin the process for receiving input on the 2013 Town of Milton Budget.
It will take place at our council meeting this coming Monday May 28th at 7pm. **UPDATE** Here are the links to the agenda and reports for Monday’s Budget Committee meeting and full Town Council meeting.
http://www.milton.ca/MeetingDocuments/Council/agendas2012/BC01_May_28_2012.pdf
http://www.milton.ca/MeetingDocuments/Council/agendas2012/CL06_May_28_2012.pdf
Also, this means I am arranging another budget input session for Milton residents during this course of time. ***UPDATE* Date and time have been confirmed. The date is Thursday June 14th at 7pm at the Milton Sports Centre Room 2.
This is a time where town councillors, like myself, have an opportunity to bring up items to be considered for the 2013 budget year. Do we need more transit routes? What about parks maintenance and weed control? Recereational services and the growing demand from Milton residents on our facilities/libraries etc?
During the course of the last few months I have heard from many residents in ward 6 and throughout the Town of Milton about our parks and their importance to our lives. Recently, I have been in contact with many residents along Storey Drive regarding a playground that instead of wood chips has sand. Most of the time, that park is not very usable and having sand makes it difficult for kids to play in it. Through discussions I have had with staff, its estimated that revamping the park will have a potential cost of $25,000 or more.
Its ideas like that I’d like to hear from you. Should we spend more on parking control now that the bylaw is going to be changed from 3hr parking to 5hr? These are important issues and I want to hear from you.
As soon as the date and time has been confirmed, I’ll announce it here. Until then, I’ll see you at the doors.
Potential CP Strike Will Affect Milton & GO Transit
This will be an updated blog post as more information comes forward on this issue.
As you might have heard, CP might be going on strike midnight tonight which will cause some disruptions to transit riders who use the GO Train. Here is what we have received so far from Milton Transit.
Milton Council,
GO Transit staff have recently notified Town Staff of a potential strike situation that would impact GO Transit’s Milton Rail corridor service. Effective 12:01 am on Wednesday, May 23, 2012, the Teamsters Union representing Canadian Pacific Railway (CPR) train crew and rail traffic controllers will be in a legal strike position. GO Transit’s Milton Corridor is owned by CPR and will be directly impacted by any strike action. CPR and Teamsters will pursue a negotiated settlement right up until midnight, Tuesday May 22, 2012.
In the event of a CPR train crew and rail traffic controller strike, there will be no GO Transit Milton Corridor Train service effective midnight, Tuesday May 22, 2012. All current passengers will be encouraged to find alternative transportation methods starting Wednesday, May 23, 2012. All other GO rail corridor and bus services will continue to operate based on their public timetables.
Town Staff will be working with GO Transit officials on providing updates to customers. In the meantime, we will continue to support all GO Transit Bus services as per Milton Transit schedules, where possible.
I will provide further updates as they become available.
Thank you,
Tony D’Alessandro, M.E.Des, MCIP, RPP
As more information comes in I will post as soon as possible.
Here is the lastest from the National Post & Scott Deveau
Commuters in Toronto, Vancouver, and Montreal could face disruptions Wednesday morning with a potential strike looming at Canadian Pacific Railway Ltd.
The Teamsters Canada Rail Conference, which represents roughly 4,800 CP engineers, conductors, yardmen and rail traffic controllers, served strike 72-hour strike notice over the weekend warning its members were prepared to walk off the job as early as 12:01 a.m. Wednesday morning if a new labour agreement could not be reached by then.
Both sides in the dispute continue to meet, but were also called to Ottawa Tuesday morning for a meeting federal labour minister Lisa Raitt to discuss what would happen in the event of a strike.
“Our government is concerned that a work stoppage would have a negative effect on Canadian businesses, families, and the economy,” Ms. Raitt said in a statement. “That’s why I have invited both parties to attend a working summit in hopes that we can avoid any disruption of services.”
If a labour disruption were to occur, it would not only halt CP’s freight rail service in Canada, but also potentially disrupt the morning commute of thousands of VIA Rail, GO Transit, West Coast Express, and AMT passengers on routes that pass over CP’s lines.
Contingency plans are being put in place, but customers are being encouraged to check the website of the various rail companies for updates.
VIA Rail said it expects service between Toronto and Ottawa, Toronto-Kitchener-London, and Sudbury to White River to be impacted by the strike because its trains on those routes pass over CP lines.
Malcolm Andrews, VIA Rail spokesman, said it was still being determined what mitigating measures would be put in place and to what extent its operations would be affected.
“We will be putting updates on our website,” he said. “Should this all come to pass, we’ll keep that updated as the situation evolves.”
GO Transit said it expects there will be no rail service in its Milton corridor and that its service originating from Hamilton station to be impacted outside of Toronto in the event of a strike.
All GO bus service will continue to operate out of Milton, however, and all four trains originating in Hamilton will depart from its Aldershot station instead with bus service between those stations.
Meanwhile, West Coast Express said it was working with CP and its partners at Translink on contingency plans for the Vancouver area in the event of strike.
“These contingency plans include a number of options: expanded Train Bus services; bus shuttles to SkyTrain Stations; and, encouraging West Coast Express passengers to ride share or telecommute when possible. In the event of any job action, we will act on these plans when possible and provide updates for customers as soon as they come available,” it said on its website.
AMT said its service from Blainville to Saint-Jerome, Candiac and Vaudreuil to Hudson would be impacted in the event of a strike and that it continues to monitor the situation.
CP’s talks with the TCRC has been held up on numerous issues including work rules, fatigue management, and changes to the pension plan proposed by CP’s management, which the TCRC claims will be cut by 40%.
The TCRC sent a letter to CP’s management over the weekend committing to keeping commuter rail service running in the event of a strike in Toronto, Vancouver and Montreal.
But it is likely that management would lock out the TCRC workers in the event of a strike.
Ed Greenberg, CP spokesman, said the railway wouldn’t have the resources to staff the commuter or inter-city passenger rail lines in the event of a labour disruption.
Chris Wattie/Reuters files
“I continue to encourage the Canadian Pacific Railway and the TCRC to either reach a deal or agree to submit to a binding process to settle their dispute and avoid a work stoppage,” federal labour minister Lisa Raitt said in a statement over the weekend.
“Should there be a work stoppage, we have indicated that we would be proceeding with a safe and structured shutdown of our freight and commuter train operations,” he said. “Without the resources in place, it is simply not possible to run reliable and safe commuter service. We would hope if the union is interested in running commuter rail and inter-city passenger rail that they would agree to an extension to the negotiation talks or reach an agreement to the company.”
He said the railway would also be willing to enter into binding arbitration with the union in order to ensure rail service continued.
Ms. Raitt said she is monitoring the situation closely and encouraged both sides in the dispute to continue to negotiate.
“Today, I will remind the parties that the best solution is the one they reach themselves,” Ms. Raitt said. “I encourage both parties to continue negotiating and reach a prompt resolution to this dispute.”
Some of the railway’s customers are already calling for back-to-work legislation in the event of a strike.
Ms. Raitt has demonstrated a propensity to intervene to prevent labour disruptions in the past, including the tabling of numerous back-to-work bills to prevent work stoppages at Air Canada and Canada Post.
The threat of a strike at CP comes less than a week after its chief executive Fred Green resigned under pressure from activist investor Bill Ackman’s Pershing Square Capital Management L.P., which has been pushing to see him replaced with Hunter Harrison, the former head of rival Canadian National Railway Co.
Stephen Tobias, an industry veteran and former chief operating officer at Norfolk Southern, has been named interim CEO of CP while the search for a successor is conducted.