town of milton report

Demographics Are Changing & Trustee Debate

Mike Cluett

Here is an article by Christina Commisso of the Milton Canadian Champion regarding some of the events coming out of the most recent Administration & Planning committee meeting.

“We heard from (Milton trustee) Donna Danielli that the school board was working on base statistics of about three children coming out of a household. Last week we learned it could be up to double that,” said Councillor Paul Scherer at last week’s town council meeting. “The implications in terms of us not getting those numbers right going forward could have a tremendous impact on the tax base in Milton.”

Paul brings up a valid point.  If we as a council moving forward, make plans for programs we need to know if there are any major changes to the demographics in town.

To say that Milton is a family friendly town would be an understatement.  There are some streets I canvass in Ward 6 that its easier to count on one hand the number of homes without children.  You can call it Milton’s Baby Boom.

Councillor Scherer asked town staff to come back to the new council with an updated report on population projections as we are rapidly approaching the beginning of the Boyne Survey.  The “Boyne” as its referred to, will be the newest development in Milton that will bring close to 60,000 new Miltonians to town.  It stretches from James Snow Parkway from the east to Tremaine Road in the west, all just south of Louis St Laurent.

During this election, you have heard from candidates that we need “better planning”.  I think this report will go a long way to making sure we are on track with projections.  It’s not just a matter of the number of homes built and roads that are  constructed…its other services that the Town of Milton provides that might be under even FURTHER strain.  It’s services like the library, recreational facilities, and more importantly schools.  If we are low in our projections, down the road we will be squeezed at the delivery of the many services the town provides.

I look forward to reading this report when it comes back to council on the 20th of December.  I invite you to send me your comments, questions and concerns to mike@mikecluett.ca and I’ll add you to my email list for when updates on this are issued.

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Also, last night I attended the only all candidates meeting for the public and separate school board trustees in Milton.  I’ve talked about this position before as one that’s seems to be overlooked by a lot of people.  In fact, in previous elections, they used to have the trustees go first because most people would leave the debates/meetings after the Mayor and Regional Council speeches.

These people are entrusted to deal with the developments in our schools and the safety of our children…and most people don’t even know who the trustees are.  Last night 4 of the 5 candidates vying for the 2 jobs had a chance to speak and tell us a little about them.  I must admit, it was nice being on the OTHER side of the table for once.  Being a candidate myself, Im used to being the one talking instead of the one listening.

The candidates for Public School Trustee are Nancy MacNeil, Brian Hawley and Jafar Alam (Jafar wasn’t there last night due to a business engagement).  Both Brian and Nancy did a great job letting us know a little about them and what they would do if elected.  Its hard to talk about what you will be able to do, if you dont know the job or have no experience so both candidates were brutally honest about that fact.  Its going to be a tough choice for sure.

The other two candidates are running for the Halton Catholic School Board position.  Sandor Koso is the current trustee, but Diane Rabenda is a strong challenger and from the comments I heard last night from those in attendance, its a coin toss.  Great candidates all around.

Speaking of All Candidates meetings, I would be remiss if I didn’t mention that tomorrow (Wednesday) is an All Candidates Meeting for the wards 1, 6, 7 & 8.  All candidates for all positions have said they will be there, so this is a good opportunity for you to come out and see what your next  council might look like.  You can go to the Hawthorne Villager website and get more info on times and location.

If you come on Wednesday, please stop me and say HI!  Until then, I’ll see you at the doors.

Steam Era 2010 This Weekend

Mike Cluett

For 50 years, the Milton Steam Era has ushered in the end of summer with its annual event.  This weekend is a time to bring out the kids and learn some history about the ways things used to be.

Stephanie Hounsell has a great article in the Champion this week as well.

Going full steam ahead – Fiftieth Steam-Era show this weekend

Neil Ford stands between two of the Rumely tractors he has restored and will display during this Labour Day weekend’s 50th annual Steam-Era event at the Milton Fair Grounds. Ford attended the first show 50 years ago and has the W 20-30 Rumely tractor that was displayed at the first show.

The year was 1961, and Neil Ford was a young man excited about attending the first-ever Steam-Era show at the Milton Fair Grounds.

It was something new and exciting for the then-small town, and the largely agricultural community embraced it wholeheartedly in the years to come, earning Milton the title “Steam Capital of Ontario.”

Fifty years later, Ford still eagerly anticipates the annual show, which this year will start tomorrow and continue until Monday.

It’s the tractors rather than the steam engines that draw Ford year after year, particularly Rumely tractors, of which he’ll display eight in the upcoming event, including one from the inaugural show.

The 50th anniversary of the Steam-Era is one that has the members of the Ontario Steam and Antique Preservers Association — which puts on the show — excited.

“It’s a milestone for sure,” said past president David Stirk.

As usual, the Steam-Era will take place at the Milton Fair Grounds, with the grounds opening at 8 a.m. each day and closing after the evening’s featured entertainment, except Monday, when activities will wrap up in the late afternoon.

Saturday’s ever-popular Steam-Era parade, starting at about 1 p.m., will see machines big and small lumber along downtown Main Street from Commercial Street to Bell Street and then to the fairgrounds.

Opening ceremonies will take place at 2 p.m., with a handful of the original association members on hand.

The show will feature a wide array of operating steam traction engines — a type of agricultural tractor powered by steam in the late 1800s and early 1900s — and stationary steam engines, all painstakingly restored to their original glory. Also featured will be vintage operating gas tractors and stationary engines, along with antique cars.

There will be demonstrations (sawmill, threshing, etc.), tractor pulls, steam-powered corn roasts, steam engine spark shows, daily grand parades of equipment and more. There will also be toys, crafts, music, a flea market and food vendors.

In recognition of the event’s anniversary, a tent will feature items and machines from the first 10 years of the Steam-Era.  Something new this year is an exhibit by the Ontario Beekeepers’ Association featuring a live observation hive.

Saturday at 7:30 p.m., the 33rd annual Country and Western Talent Contest will take place, while Sunday at 7 p.m. will feature music by Digger and the Campfire Country Music Band.

There’ll be something for everyone, Stirk said, adding this might be the best steam show in all of North America. People come from far away to attend.

Steam engines have fascinated Stirk for a long time.

“It’s that proverbial bug — almost like catching the flu,” he said of his fascination. “You get that steam bug and you’re stuck with it.”

Much has changed since the first Steam-Era, when admission cost 75 cents. These days, many people don’t come to remember, but to learn something new, said Stirk, who hopes new residents will give it a try.

“I can’t urge them enough. It’s a whole different form of entertainment. It’s not an amusement park, it’s not a fair, it’s a festival,” he said.

Admission costs $8 for adults and is free for kids under 12 with an adult. Weekend passes are available for $17. Admission fees include each night’s entertainment.

For more information on the Steam Era go to www.steam-era.com and see the details of what’s happening all Labour Day weekend long.

I hope to see you there.

Potential 6.91% Increase To Be Discussed Monday

Mike Cluett

Well it looks like I have some reading to do.

The agenda for this coming Monday’s meeeting was online this past Thursday which includes a number of items that will keep both the councillors and us “shadow cabinet” candidates there for some time.  There is also going to be a couple of public meetings regarding 230 Ontario Street and Cancast Inc as well.  Click to see the agenda for those items.

Quickly reviewing the Budget Call Report CORS 063-10 it looks like it will be the hottest item of the night.  Staff report shows that they will be recommending a 6.91% increase in the mill rate to pay for a number of new items that have come online, including the Milton Centre for the Arts among others.

Being an election year, you know the show will be out in full force.

Here’s a quick breakdown from the report.

Take some time to review the document and if you would like to make a presentation, you can email the town and let them know you would like to be a delegation to the meeting.  Make sure you let them know by Monday at 10am.

If not, email me your questions and I will present those to the council members at that time.

Remember, this is just a suggested amount and the final decision will take place at the budget meetings in December 2010, after the new councill is elected.

Follow me on Twitter  and I will also provide updates from the council meeting as I have been doing for some time.  There will be candidates from other wards doing it as well, so you can get an idea of who might be representing the town come December 1st.

I look forward to hearing your comments, and until then I’ll see you at the doors.

New Magnets On The Way

Mike Cluett

In my last election campaign in 2006, these fridge magnets proved to be quite useful for many residents in the ward.  In fact, there were a few people who continued to email me over the last 4 years with questions and concerns about municipal issues. 

I would always ask, how did you get my name and number?  From the magnet I received…its still on my fridge!

Keeping with what was successful, I made a few changes and modifications and they’ll be ready to go this week.  Email me mike@mikecluett.ca if you would like one. 

Until then, I’ll see you at the doors.

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

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