Happy New Year Milton

Thank you to everyone who came out to the annual New Year Bell Ringing at Milton Town Hall last night.  Over 100 people braved the chill in the air to join Mayor Krantz, myself along with some other councillors to help ring in the new year.

This tradition goes back to 1967 when Jim Dills started it.  Every year there is an honourary bell ringer to start us off.  This year was a young girl named Cara Slade who throughout the year had been job shadowing Mayor Krantz to learn about how local government worked and politics in general.  Look out Gord…shes gunning for your job!

Joining us this year as usual was the world’s most famous hockey dad Walter Gretzky who helped the kids and other adults cheer and ring in 2013.

It was a great night…to be followed by the Mayor and Councillors New Year’s Levee on January 1st.  I’ll post more about that later this week.

Happy New Year Milton!!! Have a wonderful, peaceful and prosperous 2013!

SNOW PLOWING INFORMATION

Ive had quite a few emails this morning as to when streets will be plowed and other snow information.

Here are some links for SNOW

http://www.milton.ca/en/live/resources/ … -roads.pdf

This link is the target snow clearing timelines in town….which roads (arterial, collector, etc) get done first.

http://www.milton.ca/en/live/snowremoval.asp

This link is the main snow page on the Town of Milton site.

Dont forget if you can avoid it at all…do not park on the road to allow for the snow plows.

Allow the Plow!

We all want our street cleared of snow quickly, but nothing slows down the work of snow plows more than cars parked on the street.

Please remember:Mascot named Allow the Plow

3-hour parking unless otherwise posted.
Cars must be off the road during snow plowing (3-hour parking limit does not apply).
Cars impeding snow plowing can be ticketed and towed at the owner’s expense.
Keeping your car off the street will speed up snow removal.

If your street has not been cleared within 24 hours after a storm has ended, please call the Snow Control office:

Engineering Services
Phone:905-878-7252 ext 2500

Teddy Bear Vigil Friday December 21st

FACEBOOK EVENT PAGE

“The streets of heaven are crowded with angels tonight”

Thanks to Giles and Samantha Attew amongst others for getting this organized.

I dont think there was a parent or person out there who was not affected by what happened in Newtown CT last week.  Watching the news I could barely hold back the tears as the visuals of children running screaming from their school were shown on TV and hearing the accounts of what happened made my skin crawl.

Its these events that prompted the quick organization of a night time vigil in remembrance of those children who were taken from us way too soon and the to support the families and friends of those directly affected by the events of that day.

There will be a Teddy Bear Candlelight Vigil this Friday Dec 21 at 6pm at Victoria Park/City Hall – 150 Mary Street to Support The Grieving Families at Sandy Hook ES – Newtown , CT.

Bring a Bear to show you care!   Attached is the poster – Please share this with others in Milton so they are aware! Milton, Lets all come together to do a payer and to show love & keep Newtown in our thoughts during this difficult time they are facing. All Bears will be collected and sent to Sandy Hook ES.

Regional Chair Gary Carr – Advocating for Halton

From time to time the Regional Chair Gary Carr outlines a report on what the Region of Halton is doing in our area to help assist all levels of government provide the services we need and enhancing the environment for creating much needed jobs and assisting in bringing businesses to our area.  Here are some highlights in is his most recent column as printed in the Milton Canadian Champion.

Advocating for Halton

Advocating for the residents of Halton is one of the priorities of the Citizens’ Priorities Action Plan.

Ensuring that growth pays for itself is of critical importance to Halton Regional council and we will continue to advocate for long-term predictable funding to ensure that taxpayers do not bear the burden of growth.

Regional council recognizes even though there are many of levels of government, there is only one taxpayer.

Halton Region has one of the best records in all of Canada for keeping taxes low — 2013 will make the seventh consecutive year in which we have had an average of a 0 per cent tax increase for regional programs and services.

The future that Halton Regional council envisions includes important partnerships with both the provincial and federal governments. The support of both levels of government in the form of long-term predicable funding is essential to ensuring Halton remains a great place to live, work, raise a family and retire.

On behalf of the residents of Halton, I will continue to meet with Halton’s MPs, MPPs and elected officials of all political stripes to bring Halton’s issues to the forefront.

***

Regional council has also urged the Ontario government to make appropriate decisions to prevent the collapse of the horse racing industry. At council’s Oct. 3 meeting, councillors unanimously supported a motion to endorse an interim report that identifies the benefits of a strong equine sector and horse racing industry and the need to make immediate decisions to ensure its long-term viability.

Recently, Regional council also supported a motion in support of the Town of Milton’s efforts to build more schools to house its growing population. Investing in Halton’s future is important to ensure our region will continue to prosper for generations to come and remain a location of choice for new businesses.

If you have any Regional concerns or comments you would like to share, please feel free to e-mail me at gary.carr@halton.ca. You can also find me on Twitter @garycarrhalton or on Facebook.

Halton Police RIDE Program Kicks off December 4th

From the news release

Halton Regional Police Service to Launch Holiday R.I.D.E. Campaign December 4th

The Halton Regional Police Service will commence this year’s holiday R.I.D.E. campaign on December 4th at Thomas A. Blakelock High School in Oakville.

The Service has once again partnered with local students, businesses and community organizations for the sixth year to offer “RIDE 101”, a program designed to educate drivers, particularly young and future drivers of the importance and responsibility while driving and the consequences associated to mixing alcohol or drugs and operating a motor vehicle.

High schools from across the Region will be participating in the program, including:

Milton District High School – 396 Williams Avenue, Milton – December 5th

Burlington Central High School – 1433 Baldwin Street, Burlington – December 13th

Acton District High School – 21 Cedar Road, Acton – December 14th

The official launch will take place at Thomas A. Blakelock High School, 1160 Rebecca Street, Oakville, where Halton Police RIDE 101 officers will team up with students from Thomas A. Blakelock to distribute RIDE 101 educational information, provide students an opportunity to test roadside screening devices and put all students through a series of simulated ‘road side’ sobriety tests during a fun, yet educational format.

The night component will entail members of the student council assisting designated officers in speaking with drivers of stopped vehicles during a R.I.D.E. spot check and distributing ‘Think of Me’ cards and information pamphlets on the consequences of impaired driving. The ‘Think of Me’ cards are hand-drawn and coloured by grade four, five and six students and reflect on that child’s perception of drinking and driving.

The daytime component will be held within the school from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. and the spot checks will be conducted from 6 p.m. to 9 p.m. out front of the school.

The Halton Regional Police are grateful for the community partners who are supportive of this worthy endeavour, including: the Halton Catholic District School Board, the Halton District School Board, Mothers Against Drunk Drivers (M.A.D.D.), McDonald’s restaurants and Tim Horton’s.

-30-

Here is an article from Inside Halton outlining more details to the program.

Record Donations for Milton Stuff A Bus

Milton Transit’s Holiday Stuff-a-Bus BREAKS record for donations

Milton Transit held its most successful holiday “Stuff-a-Bus” to date on Sunday, November 18, 2012 during the Milton Santa Claus parade.

In total, over 4,350 lbs of food were collected benefiting the Salvation Army food bank in Milton and thousands of dollars worth of toys in support of Toys for Tots.

“On behalf of Milton Transit, I would like to thank our generous Milton community and the many volunteers who helped make this year’s holiday Stuff-a-Bus such a great success,” said Milton Mayor Gord Krantz.

Milton Transit will hold its next “Stuff-a-Bus” early March 2013, in time for Easter celebrations.

For more information on Milton Transit, visit www.milton.ca, e-mail transit@milton.ca or call 905‑864-4141.

– 30 –