ward 7

Committee Meetings

Mike Cluett

Tonight is the first of our “non-council” meetings throughout the year.  As I’ve mentioned here before, Milton Town Council is divided up into two standing committees (Community Services Standing Committee & Administration and Planning Standing Committee)  Half of council is on one and the other half is on the second with the Mayor sitting on both.  The Community Services Standing Committee consists of Regional Councillor Tony Lambert ( Wards 1, 6, 7 8 ) Local Councillors Greg Nelson (Ward 2), Local Councillor Rick Malboeuf (Ward 4), Local Councillor Arnold Huffman (Ward 5), Local Councillor Rick DiLorenzo (Ward7) and Mayor Gord Krantz.

The Community Services Standing Committee consists of the five Councillors and 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.

Our first meeting of the Community Services Standing Committee is tonight at town hall (7pm) and while I don’t sit on that committee, we do attend these meetings without a vote.  Council members are not required to be there but the standing tradition is that they attend when possible to provide any additional information and feedback from the community that other councillors might not have.

The agenda for tonights meeting is here.

One of the items on tonight’s agenda is the by-law to be passed regarding the 4th Line / Britannia Road intersection closure slated for March to April of 2011.  You can find the report here.

Some of the questions Ive received over the past couple of weeks that I had my posting on the blog was to find out if the traffic lights set for Britannia Road (during the closure, Britannia Road will be reduced to one lane instead of two) and if the temporary lights will be unmanned and / or timers set to accommodate morning/afternoon rush hour traffic.

I received an email from Joe Proietti at the Region of Halton who assured me the lights will be unmanned but set up on timers and those timers will be set to recognize the increased amount of east / west traffic through the mornings and afternoons on Britannia Road.  This isn’t the most ideal situation and hopefully the Region of Halton will complete their work as soon as possible during this time.

Its imperative that the traffic flow along Britannia Road not be hindered during this time as it just adds to confusion and frustration of drivers looking to leave and enter Milton during the day.

I’ll keep you posted during the meeting via Twitter for any other updates.  Thanks to everyone who sent me emails about this.

Feedback About 1% Tax Levy

Mike Cluett

From The Milton Canadian Champion – Letters to the Editor

Hospital levy should be rescinded; taxpayers engaged in discussion

Dear Editor:I read with interest the article in the January 20 Champion entitled ‘Hospital levy increases tax hike by 1%.’

Reporter Christina Commisso wrote that in a 6-5 vote Milton council approved a 3.58 per cent tax increase, plus an unprecedented 1 per cent tax surcharge to help fund the possible future expansion of Milton District Hospital.

Any 6-5 decision is a bad decision, and this one is no exception.

It’s little wonder that Mayor Gord Krantz and councillors Mike Cluett, Tony Lambert, Greg Nelson and Rick Malboeuf didn’t support the 2011 budget. The 4.58 per cent tax hike is more than twice the 2 per cent inflation rate estimated for 2011 by the Bank of Canada. The 2010 inflation rate was 1.7 per cent.

Worse, monies will be set aside for a hospital expansion that isn’t even in the Province of Ontario’s current health infrastructure plan.

Our community’s ability to absorb a 3.58 per cent tax hike, let alone a 4.58 per cent tax increase with a hospital surcharge, is doubtful.

We’re in tough economic times and seniors on fixed incomes, young families with mortgages and local manufacturers and retailers that create jobs and drive municipal assessment revenues are all at risk.

Very few will see business revenues or personal incomes rise 3.58 or 4.58 per cent this year.

A re-do is in order.

Re-open the operating budget and reduce it to inflationary levels.

It’s time to rescind the unprecedented hospital surcharge and engage taxpayers in an open discussion about its future.

Council should also request Queen’s Park to immediately include the hospital expansion in its health infrastructure planning and require  it be funded through a public-private partnership, rather than using municipal property taxes.

John Challinor, Milton

Also…

Hospital tax levy tough to swallow

Dear Editor:This letter is in response to the 1 per cent tax levy approved by council for the hospital expansion.

At the time of planning for growth, where on the list of priorities was the expansion of Milton District Hospital? This should have been a top priority. How is the hospital supposed to cope with this new growth?

We already pay taxes to the Province for hospitals. Could money the Town gets from the Mohawk slots not go toward the hospital fund?

To me, there has been some poor planning shown by our governments.

Cecilia Thorpe, Milton

More Crosswalk Talk

Mike Cluett

As I’ve discussed before, there has been a lot of talk about a possible crosswalk near the Metro Plaza.  Over the past few weeks door knocking in the area, I have talked to many Ward 6 residents who are deeply concerned about safety in that area.

Its not just a Ward 6 issue, as fellow candidate Rick Dilorenzo found out.  Rick is running for local council in Ward 7 and through emails and discussions with residents on the west side of Thompson, he is hearing the same things.

Rick posted on his blog recently an email he received from Hawthorne Villager contributor and Ward 7 resident Graham W about his concerns with traffic lights and possible crosswalks in the area.

Just to update those concerned residents, Rick and I are both in contact with the engineering department of the Town of Milton to find out what indeed has to be done to ensure safety of pedestrians and drivers in the area.  It really doesn’t make sense for someone less than 500 meters from the Metro Plaza having to get into their car, drive to the mall to go shopping when crossing the street and walking is so much easier.

The reason why people don’t walk is the potential dangers of crossing Thompson during high periods of traffic, especially on the weekend and during the summer months.  Many residents have children playing soccer and want to take advantage of the great park that’s been built, but again, walking isn’t as safe for people at times and they are forced to drive their cars.

As we get more information, both Rick Dilorenzo and I will be updating our websites and of course we welcome comments and concerns from people in the area.  You can email me mike@mikecluett.ca

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

New Lights Coming

Mike Cluett

As I mentioned in a previous entry, there have been a lot of concerns raised while out at the doors about the area around Thompson Road and Kennedy Circle/Louis St Laurent.  After talking with some candidates in the ward across the street (ward 7) those concerns are shared by a lot of people.

I received an email from the engineering department at the town of Milton informing me that some changes are coming.  They told me there will be a set of lights installed at the intersection of Clark Blvd and Thompson Road, possibly up and running by the end of July.  Further studies have been and will be done again for the following intersections:  Thompson & Hepburn, Thompson & Kennedy Circle and Thompson & Louis St Laurent.

Now before the “too many lights” people start raging, this doesn’t mean that there will be lights at each of these intersections.  In order for that to happen that intersection needs to meet certain warrants (traffic totals in each direction) before anything happens.

I got further clarification of what is required for a signalled crosswalk, the most popular choice of people living in these areas, to be installed.  During a period of study there needs to be approximately 200 pedestrians crossing the street in an 8 hour period.  I don’t know exactly when these studies were done in the past but Im sure it comes close to that amount during the summer time.

People on the west side of Thompson Road directly across from the Metro Plaza have repeatedly told me and other Ward 7 candidates that its a challenge to walk to that mall.  While they live less than 1KM from the plaza, they are forced to get into their cars and drive over for the fear of crossing Thompson Road.  The same goes for the people on the east side of Thompson (our ward 6) trying to take advantage of the beautiful park and soccer fields.  We shouldn’t have to get into our cars, to go to a park or go shopping when we live so close.

A signalled crosswalk would be beneficial for these and other people who want to walk in the town of Milton.  Who knows when the lights will be put in at Louis St Laurent.  LSL is slated for a major expansion this year and next in order to keep up with the growth of the Boyne Survey.  There needs to be something at this location sooner.

Send me your email at mike@mikecluett.ca to add your name to a list of people interested in finding out if and when we can get a signalled crosswalk there sooner.

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