Earlier today we held a special council meeting to update us on our COVID19 response. You can find the report here
During today’s meeting we made necessary changes to our meeting bylaws that will allow virtual participation from residents who want to comment on items listed on our agenda. Having the public take part in our council meeting, watching and commenting, is vitally important to us and resident will now be able to register with the clerk and present to council.
The other item was our COVID19 update which outlines a number of issues from business continuity, plans for economic recovery, operations going forward with reduced staffing levels and road plan mapping when we get the green light from the province and medical officer of health.
Plans are in place to get the Mayor’s Business Roundtable to become Milton’s economic recovery taskforce. In my role as chair of the Milton Economic Development Advisory Committee (MEDAC) I will be with our towns business leaders to devise an action plan to phase in business life – post COVID. While we haven’t received a date from the Province of Ontario, we will be setting up the course of action to be ready when that time comes.
Check out the video above for a synopsis of this meeting and if you have any questions or comments please let me know Mike.Cluett@Milton.ca
As the situation regarding the COVID19 situation continues to change, and in many ways improve, plans are now in place to start a roadmap in Halton to begin opening things up so that life in our amazing community can get back to where it should be. This of course is determined by a number of factors including direction from the Federal and Provincial Medical Officers of Health as well as Halton Regions MOH. The province of Ontario earlier this week outlined a “roadmap” set up in different phases to bring Ontario’s economy back online, kids back in their schools and for life to return to “normal” but there are no dates set in place. I believe that is the correct course of action going forward as we are still not out of the woods yet. Residents in Milton and Halton can go to www.halton.ca/covid19 for regular updates and statistics on where each municipality stands on infections, recoveries, etc. but until the MOH’s can determine that there is good chance there wont be any 2nd wave, we need to stay the course.
Keeping all of that in mind, the Town of Milton’s Crisis Management Team has made the decision to extend the closures of our town facilities, permits and events to July 5, 2020. This extension does result in the cancelation of the first week of summer camps and in the details below it will outline how residents can be kept up to date on any further changes.
This is an unfortunate but necessary course to set into action and all I can say is our town staff and CMT are working very hard to keep people updated on what is happening and doing what we can to get back to the point we can begin to enjoy these programs, social events, charity fundraising, and fellowship that makes Milton the best community in the world to live in. We’re getting through this.
Take care everyone! Enjoy the weekend!
May 1, 2020
From the Town of Milton News Release May 1, 2020
The Town of Milton is extending the closure of all facilities and postponing all recreation programs, permits, rentals, theatre performances and special events up to and including July 5 to protect the health and safety of residents and staff from COVID-19. This continued closure supports Halton Region and the Province of Ontario’s efforts to contain the spread of COVID-19 and ongoing measures to flatten the curve.
Town staff are conscious that programs, facilities and events will not return to 100 per cent capacity the first day back after the pandemic has ended. The July 5 date was selected for the purpose of planning for the recovery phase of COVID-19. The Ontario Government released the Framework to Reopen Ontario on April 27, 2020, including a phased approach to loosening restrictions. While no specifics were included in that framework, it is anticipated that modifications to operations, including but not limited to, physical changes at facilities, policy updates, and program limitations to ensure the health and safety of staff and the public will need to occur.
This extension date results in the cancellation of the first week of summer camps. Further decisions on the remainder of summer camp programs will be made by June 1 and communicated to participants.
Milton Council and the Town’s Crisis Management team continue to monitor the situation, in consultation with Halton Region Public Health, and reassess the Town’s service changes and operational adjustments. At this time, resources are being directed to the areas of greatest need and the Town will re-open facilities and recreational programs as soon as it is reasonable to do so.
The Town will automatically issue refunds within two to four weeks for any rentals, programs or performances that are impacted by these closures. Questions related to rentals can be sent to facilitybooking@milton.ca . For programs or membership questions, email recreation@milton.ca
The Town continues business in alternative ways and adjusts to the evolving COVID-19 situation. During this extended closure the Town will provide core business to citizens through online services, by phone, or in our community using proper physical distancing measures. We are committed to balancing our service and service levels, along with remaining fiscally responsible.
Milton, Burlington, Halton Hills, and Oakville form Halton Mayors Recovery Coordination Group
The Mayors of Halton’s four municipalities of Burlington, Halton Hills, Milton and Oakville have joined together to form the Halton Mayors Recovery Coordination Group.
Over the coming weeks, they will coordinate and work together to prepare for a successful transition to a post-COVID19 emergency, reopening and recovery, and living with the changes it has brought.
As the response to the COVID-19 pandemic continues, all four communities are maintaining the delivery of critical and essential services while also planning for recovery. While this does not mean that emergency measures put in place by the province, the region or individual cities and towns to slow the spread of COVID-19 are expected to be lifted in the near-term, it is prudent to begin to look ahead so that our plans can be ready to execute when the time comes.
The final phases of the pandemic response include the potential reopening of municipal facilities and the implementation of recovery efforts over the balance of the year. The dates of when recovery might begin are contingent on the continued slowing of the spread of the virus and the province lifting its emergency orders and restrictions, including those related to businesses and physical distancing.
“Plans will be set in motion to move towards the recovery plan. Working together as a Region is important to ensure people can get back to work, businesses can reopen & life returning to where it should be. As always, public health is vitally important! ” said Halton Region Councillor Mike Cluett
All four Mayors have made the commitment to keep each other apprised of decisions being considered in each respective municipality, share best practices, and coordinate when it comes to the recovery planning. They will also ensure a continued close linkage with Halton Region, with the chair Gary Carr as an invited guest to our group when his schedule permits.
Earlier today, Premier Ford and his government announced a road map to getting the Ontario economy back as we get through the COVID19 situation.
While it seems frustrating to many that the plan for reopening the province and in fact the Halton Region having so many broad strokes and generalitites, its important to ensure a phased in approached based on the numbers and direction we get from all the Medical Officers of Health (federal, provincial & local) There isn’t anyone who doesn’t want our country and our region back to work. We all want our restaurants to re-open – getting people back to work – our children back to school and for life to return to what many of us refer to as “normal”
If we go back too quickly and raise the restrictions currently in place – those restrictions that have got us to where we are today – we could easily find ourselves back to stage one. The starting point from over 7 weeks ago is not where we want to be, and if we do make hasty decisions, we could easily find ourselves back there again. The hard work and dedication of Milton and Halton residents, our business owners, our teachers, our volunteers and the heroes on the front line – the police, the fire fighters, the EMS, the doctors, the nurses, the custodians in our hospitals – will be all for nothing. I for one do NOT want to go back to day one. It must be done responsibly and carefully.
It continues to be imperative that we all follow the instructions our Medical Officer of Health gave us from the beginning:
stay home as much as possible, only going out for essentials;
wash hands frequently with soap and water or with alcohol-based hand rub;
clean and disinfect frequently touched objects and surfaces;
avoid all non-essential travel until further notice; and
if you have travelled, it is now mandatory to self-isolate for 14 days from when you return home.
As the weather begins to improve, it will be very tempting to say things like – things are better I can do this or that. It may be tempting to say to yourself, I want to be part of this event over here where there are more people. I urge you to not do this. We still hear stories of people jumping into other cars to take part in events . God Bless you for the intent of wanting to support the healthcare workers, but while these gestures are appreciated, we hear from many front line workers, its BEST to just stay home.
Make your noise every night and ring your bells and cheer from your driveways, but lets do what we need to do and stop this COVID19 virus from spreading any more than it is. Its putting everyone at risk, especially our seniors and vulnerable citizens and the more this is done, the longer it will take to get back to the “normal” we all want so desperately.
As our Halton group works together with the province of Ontario and Government of Canada on a plan to get people back to work, rebooting our economy and more importantly allowing us to show everyone how great our community really is, you will be updated. As it gets closer to the starting point, there will be a plan in place. Lets keep doing what we’re doing, be safe and I’ll be the first one in line to start Milton’s group hug when we can.
Milton Transit offering seniors door-to-door transit service during COVID-19 pandemic
Starting Monday, April 27, Milton Transit will offer seniors aged 65 plus door-to-door transit service to grocery stores and pharmacies during dedicated senior hours. The Town recognizes that not all seniors have supports or assistance to attain these necessary items, so this new service implementation will support seniors by providing safe, essential travel during the COVID-19 pandemic.
“We’re offering this service to ensure seniors in our community can access essential services, worry-free,” said Tony D’Alessandro, Manager, Milton Transit. “During these uncertain times, we want to provide seniors safe transportation service they can rely on.”
Scheduling a trip:
Call Milton access+ at 905-875-5417 before 5:30 p.m. to book a trip for the next day (Note: For a trip on Monday, a booking must be made by 5:30 p.m. on the Saturday before)
Scheduling periods: (when you can book a trip)
Monday to Friday, 8 a.m. to 5:30 p.m.
Saturday, 8 a.m. to 5:30 p.m.
No service available on Sundays or statutory holidays
To maintain physical distancing measures, there is a maximum of two people per trip. Milton Transit is not collecting fares until further notice.
For more information, call 905-864-4141 or visit miltontransit.ca. Connect with us on Twitter or Facebook and download themyMILTON mobile app to access the Triplinx trip planner.
During this meeting, I had brought up a couple of questions regarding by law enforcement. Recently the Town of Oakville and City of Burlington passed additional bylaws to help deter residents from breaking the social and physical distancing rules, as well as those who hang out in parks, playground equipment and dump used PPE material. Staff had recommended that we in the Town of Milton continue to enforce the provincial rules and focus more on education. This measure I support entirely. We already have bylaw officers as well as Halton Police monitoring parks, trails and town properties and residents can continue to report infractions using the Halton Police COVID line (905) 825-4777 and people can learn more at www.haltonpolice.ca
The second item I brought up in the meeting was looking forward post COVID19 are we, as a part of the continuous improvement and the core services review, looking at the possibility of redefining some of our positions to possibly offer tele-commuting options going forward. As we have seen through previous reports, in the next few years the town will have to increase the number of staff working and long term plans are to build an addition to Milton Town Hall to accommodate future growth needs. If more people are working from home, using shared meeting spaces like the Milton Innovation Centre and other locations, the less need there will be for physical additions to town hall, therefore deferring or postponing future capital costs. Staff will of course keep this in mind moving forward. I call it “looking at the silver lining” as during the COVID19 situation, staff have done an incredible job keeping the business of the town flowing and adapting quite well to the “work from home” model. I will keep you posted as this continues.
Some concerns were brought up by our finance staff saying that in a “worst case scenario” of the current level of social/physical distancing guidelines continuing until the end of 2020, the Town could realize a revenue shortfall of close to $14 Million. Of course this is a situation we don’t expect, but we should prepare for. It can also aid once again in reviewing some of the services we provide and if they are currently viable going forward. The Town in the report states clearly that we are in a good cash flow situation as tax reserve accounts as well as some of our short term investments can aid in bringing us back into balance. As I’ve brought up a number of times, the municipal level of government is not able to run a deficit as with our provincial and federal partners. We must balance our books each and every year and a more formal financial plan is forthcoming by staff in the coming weeks.
Here is more details from the press release earlier today.
News Release
On April 14, the Town of Milton’s Strategic Management Team (SMT) presented a COVID-19 update report to Milton Council, outlining how the Town is responding tothe pandemic.
Since the beginning of this crisis, the Town’s focus and immediate actions have been on the safety of staff and residents, continuity of essential services and providing for the community’s needs.
As the COVID-19 situation continues to evolve, the Town’s Crisis Management Team (CMT) is monitoring the situation and reassessing the Town’s response on a daily basis, in consultation with Halton Region Public Health and various Town departments.
To date, CMT has implemented many actions including, but not limited to:
Declaration of a State of Emergency;
Closure of all Town facilities and park amenities;
Additional safety measures and protocols in all aspects of the Town’s operations and service delivery;
Financial assistance with respect to property taxes and development charge indexing;
Revisions to the Town’s by-law enforcement to focus on safety-related issues;
Maintenance of essential services and related staffing in a fiscally responsible manner.
Since March 17, all facilities have been closed and all recreation programs and theatre shows have been cancelled. Due to these closures and cancellations, the difficult decision was made in early April to temporarily place approximately 544 part-time, casual and seasonal employees on Emergency Leave or defer their start dates until further notice. The Town of Milton is committed to providing eligible staff with the support they need to access the financial relief programs offered by the federal government.
The Town continues to plan carefully through the pandemic to protect and maintain the financial stability of the organization. The most significant financial impact to the Town has been the loss of revenue associated with the closure of facilities and programs. A portion of this impact can be mitigated with reductions in the associated costs. Staff will continue to evaluate further opportunities as part of the planning for the balance of the year and will be reporting to Council with updates, reports and the regular variance reporting program.
For more information about the Town of Milton’s action to help reduce the spread of COVID-19, please visit milton.ca/coronavirus.
For the most up-to-date information on COVID-19, visit
Earlier today, the Ontario legislature passed Bill 189 (Coronavirus COVID19 Support and Protection Act which amended a number of laws including the Education Act, the Planning Act, the Development Charges Act along with the Police Services Act.
This will provide all levels of government the flexibility to adapt their own legislation to ever changing deadlines due to the declarations of emergency at both the provincial levels as well as here locally in Milton and Halton Region.
Through this new bill, the province has extended the provincial state of emergency until May 12th, with provisions available for further extensions if needed. This is an incredibly fluid situation with the numbers of COVID19 infections continue to rise which can lead to a longer period of time for the state of emergency.
I spoke with Milton MPP Parm Gill today before the vote (we recorded an interview segment for my weekly YourTV program “Local Matters” which airs every Tuesday at 8pm on channel 14/700HD) where he outlined the intention of the new piece of legislation.
Here are some details listed in the press release from the Province of Ontario:
Today, April 14, the legislature also passed the Coronavirus (COVID-19) Support and Protection Act to amend the Education Act, Planning Act, Development Charges Act, Police Services Act and the Ministry of Training, Colleges and Universities Act as follows:
Education Act
Amending the Education Act will allow school boards with an expiring education development charge (EDC) by-law to use their existing by-law for an additional six months after the end of the COVID-19 outbreak, so they can continue to charge fees on new construction. This change ensures school boards can retain a vital source of revenue that helps support new school projects.
The Education Act is also being amended to provide a fair and consistent, province wide approach to addressing school suspensions and expulsions. During the closure period and with the physical distancing requirements, it is not feasible for boards to complete investigations and hold expulsion hearings.
Ministry of Training, Colleges and Universities Act
Amending the Ministry of Training, Colleges and Universities Act will temporarily suspend student loan payments for OSAP borrowers and initiate a six-month interest-free moratorium on OSAP loans. Both measures will automatically apply to current OSAP loans, providing immediate relief to OSAP borrowers during this difficult time.
Planning Act
Amending the Planning Act will provide municipalities the time they need to focus on local public health priorities by making it possible to suspend certain planning decision timelines during a declared state of emergency. These changes will temporarily pause the need for municipalities and planning boards to make planning decisions within specified timelines without the risk of appeal.
Development Charges Act
Amending the Development Charges Act will ensure municipalities can continue to count on a vital source of revenue that helps pay for local growth-related infrastructure, such as roads, water and sewers as well as fire and police services. This change allows municipalities with an expiring development charge by-law to use their existing by-law during the current emergency and for six months following the end of the emergency declaration, so they can continue to charge fees on new construction.
Police Services Act
The amendments to the Police Services Act allow the Solicitor General to extend the deadline for community safety and well-being plans past January 1, 2021, which will help ensure municipalities are able to meet the legislative requirements and complete their community safety and well-being plans within new required timelines, which will be set at a later date.
From Halton’s perspective, we have already passed and approved our Community Safety & Well Being plan and the province had legislated other municipalities to have theirs approved by a certain date, so this doesn’t apply to Halton Region as we were ahead of the curve. To see a copy of our CSWB plan, click here.
These new provisions will allow municipalities like Milton to be able to collect much needed development charges from developers to be able to continue to fund new infrastructure during the COVID19 situation.
As was outlined by staff during todays Milton Town Council meeting, there has been a huge financial impact so far on town revenues during the COVID19 situation. The report states:
As uncertainty remains with respect to the time horizon and degree to which COVID19 will continue to impact operations, a number of financial scenarios are being assessed. If closures were to extend to the end of 2020, as an example, gross revenue losses could exceed $14 million with a remaining operating budget pressure of $2 million after the existing list of available forms of mitigation are considered. If the Town’s fall programs are able to generate approximately the normal amount of revenue, the existing list of mitigations may be sufficient to offset a large portion of the budget pressure that is expected.
This obviously is the worst case scenario provided this current level of social and physical distancing continues until the end of the year. We are currently working on these assumptions but hope for the best – and as long as residents continue to follow the direction from our medical officer of health, we will get through this. We are getting through this! Day by day we are getting closer to be able to get back to being with our friends, family members and neighbours.
One of the things that must be remembered, municipal governments can not run deficits like our provincial and federal partners. We MUST balance our budget with the limited revenue tools that we have at our disposal. Either taxes/DC’s have to increase or spending decreases are needed to ensure we balance the books. Given this situation there are financial plans in place and Milton is in a good position for cash flow, reserve accounts etc to mitigate this impact. If the situation does get worse, we would have to look to other levels of government to provide assistance. Now that the province has passed this legislation, hopefully the dialogue between the municipalities and Queens Park continues and options are left open to assist towns & cities should they require the help.
