Dont leave your cars running

As a few residents of the area found out last week, its not good to leave the cars running to warm up in the morning.  Here’s the story from the Milton Canadian Champion about what happened at several homes in Hawthorne Village.

If you must warm your car up in the morning, make sure the doors are locked or have an automatic car starter.  These thefts were really close to home for me and we have to make sure we are aware of whats going on around us.  If you park your car in the driveway, make sure you lock your vehicle.  These crooks are fast and smart.  One will drive the car around the neighbourhood looking for cars that are running.  The other will get out and quickly check the vehicle to see if its unlocked.  They can also drive around to see if cars are unlocked to get credit cards, cash, wallets, purses etc.

The best thing we can do is make it difficult for these crooks to make a living.

Be safe!

Police are warning motorists about the dangers of leaving cars warming up unattended after several vehicles were stolen from driveways.

The first such incident occurred on Lancaster Boulevard last Friday between 7:30 and 7:42 a. m., police said. An unknown suspect drove off in a grey, 2004 Lexus with licence plate BFVW617. It’s worth $20,000.

A 2009 Toyota Corolla left unlocked and idling in a Bussel Crescent driveway was stolen at about 6:30 a. m. Monday. The grey, four-door car has licence plate BEWT488 and is worth $20,000.

Just before 7 a. m. Tuesday, unknown suspects drove off in a 2006 blue Toyota Tacoma that had been warming up on Barr Crescent. It was recovered a short time later on Burgess Gardens, north of Hepburn Road.

At about 7:15 a. m. Tuesday, a white, 2009 Toyota Rav4 SUV left running was stolen from a Fourth Line driveway. Its licence plate is BEVC598 and it’s worth $25,000.

Santa Claus Came To Town

The weather was sunny with some clouds.  The people were lined up along Main Street all cuddling in their blankets.  The kids had smiles on their faces a mile wide….yep, you guessed it.

Santa Claus was coming to town.

The big guy didnt disappoint anyone either as some of the best floats we have ever seen in the Milton parade made their way down Main Street.

We were perched out in front of Knox church to take in the festivities.  My inlaws made their way up from Cathcart Ontario (in between Brantford and Paris if you have to google it) to witness what has been described as one of the best, if not THE best Santa Claus parades in Ontario.

Mike the Barber had his doors wide open giving out free hot chocolate, coffee and snacks for everyone!  Thanks Mike!!!

The parade itself didnt last as long as last years with my calculation being just over an hour and a half to see Santa come down on his sleigh.  Standing there in the chilling air, we could hear the ooo’s and ahhhh’s from those lining the streets as the floats got better and better.  I dont know of the official count but it seemed there were less floats than previous years…which might lend to the fact that the parade didnt last as long either.

All in all I can honestly say that we had a blast and every year seems to improve on the previous one.  This is just one of the reasons Milton is an amazing town.  A well organized parade and the people  of the town taking it all in.

Here is a story from the Champion by Stephanie Hounsell on the history of the parade in Milton.  Local historian and member of the Milton Walk of Fame Jim Dills is a fantastic source of information.

For many Milton residents, the Christmas season unofficially kicks off when jolly old St. Nick makes his way through town at the tail of the Milton Santa Claus Parade, as he’ll do Sunday afternoon.

Although change has come to Milton in a big way over the past few years with its burgeoning population and ever-expanding neighbourhoods, it’s nice to see some things, like the annual parade, can be counted on.

Local historian Jim Dills has compiled a wealth of neat information on Santa’s arrival in Milton throughout the years.

According to Dills, Mr. Claus made his first appearance in 1907 at the shop of a local merchant.

There was no parade — that came later. But the tradition had begun.

Christmas celebrations were kept low-key in years like those during the First World War and in 1924 when there was an outbreak of measles, Dills said. But in 1925, the community and merchants organized a program that saw Santa ride along Main Street on the radiator of a motorcar.

A bona fide parade took place in 1933, and that continued for nearly two decades thanks to the Royal Canadian Legion and firefighters. Bags of candy were packed by volunteers and given out to kids along the route. In 1965, Santa arrived in spectacular fashion, via helicopter.

There were years, Dills wrote, when it doesn’t seem there was any parade at all. But more often than not, community groups and citizens went to great lengths to provide an experience that would usher in the Christmas spirit in celebratory fashion.

To this day, volunteers continue to spend hours and hours to ensure the tradition lives on.

A hearty thank you to you all.

More News on H1N1 Clinics

Thanks to Michael Lund from the Region Of Halton for sending me a comment on my previous post to give us more information on H1N1 clinics in Milton and who can get the shots.

Hi Mike,

Halton Region is now also offering the H1N1 vaccine to all elementary and high school age students and
people 65 and over.

http://www.halton.ca/health/services/communicable_disease/H1N1/Protect_Yourself_and_Your_Family.htm#q3

Clinic Schedules: http://www.halton.ca/health/services/communicable_disease/H1N1/clinics.htm

Michael Lund
Website Manager
Strategic Communications
Halton Region
http://www.halton.ca

Once again, many thanks Michael for keeping us up to date!!!!

Cap’n Krantz and Shipmate Day & Derry Green Update

Sifting through some of the older editions of the Milton Canadian Champion, I found this article from Tim Foran about a spirited discussion on growth a couple of town council meetings ago. Just goes to show that the battle between “growth vs no growth” still rages on in the council chambers. 

I dont know about you but I really enjoy Tim’s point of view…sometimes not quite agreeing with him, but he is definitely detailed and thorough.

Here’s the article.

Cap’n Krantz spars shipmate Day on Milton’s voyage

Tim Foran, Foran Affairs

Published on Oct 30, 2009

The resurrection of an old but tired battle was played out between two older but spirited warriors at Milton’s council session Monday night.

Councillor Rick Day, who’s been around more than his surname indicates, woke himself and kicked off the kerfuffle during debate of a fiscal analysis that estimates Milton’s taxes would have to rise about 1.8 per cent a year above inflation between 2021 and 2031 to pay for the growth currently being planned for that time period. That’s actually less than the 2.5 per cent increase estimated for the growth currently under construction in the southwest and west ends of town, noted the Town’s treasurer Linda Leeds.

In mischievous spirits, Day, likening the analysis to a ‘doomsday report’, put the question to Leeds:

“Are all these problems related to growth?” a question that elicited an awkward silence amongst the assembled.

Leeds, ever the civil servant, hesitated to reply, wary of feeding a political agenda.

“It’s an easy answer,” Day pushed, smiling. “One syllable; three letters, not two.”

“You’re killing me,” Leeds finally replied, laughing.

“None of us are proud to be the fastest growing municipality in Canada, we’re embarrassed by it,” Day continued, getting serious.

That shot across the bow of the good ship Milton, in particular pro-growth Cap’n Krantz, drew a proportional response.

Noting Milton’s residential property tax rate is the second lowest in the GTA after Toronto, Krantz defended the Town’s containment of service levels the past decade: “In my opinion, over the years the councils have made some pretty wise decisions.”

In reality, both men are correct.

Day’s implied position that something has been lost here beyond dollars — perhaps not the community spirit, but the small town feel — is believed by those who engage in old vs. new Milton debates.

But Krantz’s push more than a decade ago to bring up The Big Pipe — the Lake Ontario water that allowed growth — was a recognition of the inevitable expansion of Milton, though it likely moved up the process a decade or so.

It’s time though for these old foes to scabbard their swords and pull out a pen; to work on finding a way to make new Milton work as well as the old one; to stop signing off on development applications on paper and then letting the bureaucrats deal with them; to get involved in the design of these multiple thousand-home communities – from the street layout to the driveway lengths to the placement of drive-thrus, noise fences, and even a store residents can walk to for milk.

And speaking of growth, there is a public meeting at the Town Hall Chambers on November 16th at 730pm regarding the new development plan for the area east of James Snow Parkway.  There are lots of changes coming down the pike and if you live in the area, like I do, its best to be informed of those changes.

You can find out more about the Derry Green Business Park proposals on the Milton website under projects.  Here’s that link.  The details of the public notice can be found here as well.

TOWN OF MILTON

DERRY GREEN CORPORATE BUSINESS PARK

SECONDARY PLAN & RELATED STUDIES

STATUTORY PUBLIC MEETING

1. BACKGROUND

The Town of Milton and the Region of Halton have been involved in the Halton Urban Structure Plan (HUSP) – a strategy for managing Regional and local growth for the next 20 years. In relation to the proposed growth, the Milton Official Plan provides for approximately 2000 hectares (4940 acres) of additional land for new growth, which is referred to as the “Urban Expansion Area”. Milton Council and Regional Council ratified a plan for the phasing of this new growth in May and June 1998 respectively. The first phase of employment development in the 401 Industrial/Business Park Secondary Plan Area is currently underway. The Derry Green Corporate Business Park lands (see map) represent Phase II of the proposed employment development.

In accordance with the policies of the Milton Official Plan and HUSP, the Town of Milton is currently preparing for the development of the Derry Green Corporate Business Park lands through the preparation of a secondary plan and supporting background studies.

Study Area:

The purpose and current status of the various studies is as follows:

The Study Area includes the area within the Milton Urban Expansion Area, bounded by Highway 401, the Middle Branch of Sixteen Mile Creek (west edge of floodplain); Sixth Line; Centre Tributary of the Middle Branch of the Sixteen Mile Creek (north edge of floodplain); and James Snow Parkway. Derry Green Corporate Business Park Secondary Plan

The Derry Green Corporate Business Park Secondary Plan is being carried out in accordance with Sections 17 and 21 of the

Planning Act, and the policies of the Town of Milton and Region of Halton Official Plans. A draft secondary plan has been prepared for public review which provides detailed policies on matters such as land use, urban form and design, transportation, servicing including stormwater management, and other related issues. Master Transportation/Transit Plan

The Derry Green Corporate Business Park Master Transportation/Transit Plan (MTTP) is being prepared in conjunction with the Derry Green Corporate Business Park Secondary Plan and related studies. The Master Transportation/Transit Plan is being carried out in accordance with approved procedures contained in the Class Environmental Assessment for Municipal Road Projects. The MTTP defines a functional road network with the study area, provides long-term need and justification for major transportation improvements serving the study area, and identifies transit opportunities and major transportation improvements for implementation over the next 15 to 20 years.

Sixteen Mile Creek Subwatershed Update Study and Functional Stormwater and Environmental Management Strategy

The above-noted studies are being carried out in accordance with approved procedures contained in the MEA Class Environmental Assessment for Municipal Sewage and Water Projects, June 2000 as Updated 2007. These studies which have been prepared in draft for public review provide general guidance with respect to stormwater and environmental management. They provide an evaluation of various stormwater management and servicing strategies for the Secondary Plan area, and recommend a preferred environmental and stormwater management servicing plan.Study Area

: The study area for the subwatershed and environmental studies includes the secondary planning area, as well as the external area draining to it and the downstream part of the associated subwatersheds. The study area includes the East Branch of the Sixteen-Mile Creek. See map attached showing the East Branch of the Sixteen-Mile Creek and the Functional Stormwater and Environmental Strategy area under study within this secondary planning exercise. Functional Water and Wastewater Servicing Master Plan

The Functional Water and Wastewater Servicing Master Plan is being carried out in accordance with approved procedures contained in the Class Environmental Assessment for Municipal Sewage and Water Projects. The purpose of the study is to prepare a detailed Functional Water and Wastewater Servicing Master Plan, which in conjunction with the Secondary Plan will be used as a basis for development in the Derry Green Corporate Business Park Secondary Plan area.

2. PUBLIC INPUT

Public consultation is an essential component of the preparation of the secondary plan and related studies. Members of the public wishing to obtain further information with respect to the secondary plan preparation and background studies should contact the Planning & Development Department at 905-878-7252 x2398.

Copies of the draft secondary plan and draft information related to the background studies will be available for review as of Members of the public, who wish to participate in these undertakings and require notification of future public meetings or other matters related to the study, should contact Bronwyn Parker, Policy Planner at (905) 878-7252 x2307 or at the address noted below. Written submissions regarding the draft Secondary Plan and Related Studies should be submitted to the Town prior to

Ms. Barbara Koopmans, Senior Manager of Planning Policy

Planning and Development Department

150 Mary Street, Milton, Ontario L9T 6Z5

Tel: 905-878-7252 ext. 2304 Fax: 905-876-5024

E-mail:

3. STATUTORY PUBLIC MEETING – DERRY GREEN CORPORATE BUSINESS PARK SECONDARY PLAN & RELATED STUDIES

October 26, 2009 in the Planning & Development Department, (2^{nd Floor, Town Hall East), 150 Mary Street, at the Milton Public Library or on-line at www.milton.ca under the “Business Park II” link off the ‘Projects’ page (draft secondary plan is the only document available on-line).} November 24, 2009 and should be directed to: Barb Koopmans The public is invited to attend a statutory public meeting as follows:

Place: Milton Town Hall, 150 Mary Street, Milton

Date: Monday, November 16, 2009

Time: Public Meeting 7:30 p.m. (Council Chambers)

Purpose of Meeting:

The meeting will provide an opportunity for the public to review and discuss the draft Secondary Plan & Related Studies formally with Town staff, the consultants and Council. Secondary Plan and Supporting Studies Available For Review:

Copies of the draft Secondary Plan and background papers completed to date will be available for review as of October 26, 2009, in the Planning & Development Department, (2nd Floor, Town Hall East), 150 Mary Street, at the Milton Public Library or on-line at www.milton.ca under the ‘Projects’ page, “Business Park II” link. Written Submissions:

Written submissions should be made prior to November 24, 2009 to the attention of Ms. Barbara Koopmans as noted above.

H1N1 Clinics in Milton

Its hard to find anyone who hasnt experienced the “bug” or knows of someone who has.  Anthony’s class of 26 was reduced to 11 at one point in time, with Anthony having to take a couple of days off as well.  Thankfully he didnt get hit too hard, but there were some children off for over a week.  From what we hear at some of the schools, its beginning to subside and the kids are back at school. 

With all of this sickness going on, is it H1N1 or is it just the flu, there are a lot of questions going around and to say people are confused would be an understatement.

I dont want to get into the politics of “should you” or “shouldnt you” get the shot but theres always a lot of questions on where do you go to get it if you want.

The following is from the Region of Halton’s website with the dates and time for clinics in our region, and more specifically Milton residents.  As a reminder, these clinics for the time being are for the priority group which include:

Priority groups are determined by the Ontario Ministry of Health and Long-Term Care, and include:

• People with chronic medical conditions, under age 65, such as:
  • heart, lung and kidney disease
  • illness or treatments that might affect the immune system (diabetes, cancer, HIV/AIDS etc)
  • certain blood disorders such as anemia
  • long term aspirin therapy in children under 18 years of age
  • severe obesity
• Pregnant women
• Healthy children from 6 months – under 5 years of age
• Health care workers involved in pandemic response or the delivery of essential health care services
• Household contacts and care providers of people at high risk of complications who cannot be immunized, such as for infants under 6 months of age or those who may not respond to vaccines
• People residing in remote and isolated settings or communities

In addition, the following groups are also being offered H1N1 flu shots now :

• First responders (police and firefighters)
• Frontline institutional correctional workers
• Adults 65 years and older who reside in long-term care homes or complex continuing care units.

To avoide overcrowding at these clinics they ask that if you are not in that priority group, you wait until everyone ha received their shots that want them.

Here are the details for Milton

Milton New Life Church – CYC Black Box Theatre 824 Thompson Road South  view map Thursday, November 12: 4 p.m. – 8 p.m. Friday, November 13: Noon – 8 p.m.

Will open Thursday, November 12 at 4 p.m.

Here is the link for the clinics info from the Region Of Halton.

Milton Santa Claus Parade 2009

Anthony reminded me yesterday that hes beginning to write up a list for Christmas.  I thought at first…Christmas?  Yikes.

With last weekends fantastic weather, people all over Milton (with the execption of yours truly haha) were putting up Christmas lights to make sure they wouldnt be the ones climbing up and down ladders in sub zero temperatures.  With the coming of the holiday season brings Santa Claus in Milton.

The Milton Santa Claus parade is scheduled for November 22nd at 2pm.  You can go to the Milton HQ for Santa here and see all the details of the route.  Volunteers are always needed so please contact them if you have some time or if you’d like to help out along the parade as marshals.  The more the merrier.  Contact Dianna Bracken at lauranne62@hotmail.com or 905-875-2109.

Looking forward to seeing you along the route.  It’s been said by many people that Milton’s parade is one of the best if not THE best in the area with thousands making their way to downtown Milton to take part.  The floats are amazing and the community spirit of Milton really shines during this time.

See you there!

Milton Walk of Fame Grand Opening

From www.milton.ca

The Walk of Fame honours Miltonian’s past and present who have earned significant national and international recognition through their enduring achievements.  Each Walk of Fame inductee is recognized in the glass corridor linking Town Hall west and Town Hall east.  The first 27 inductees will be recognized at this event.

Event to be held on Thursday October 29th at 7pm at Milton Town Hall

Was it really that long ago?  It seems like forever when the 150th Anniversary master committee started back in 2006 to come up with some ideas to commemorate Milton’s 150th anniversary.  I was honoured to be part of that committee and throughout 2007 there were a number of events to promote the town and celebrate such a substantial achievement as being 150 years old.

During that year we had the first street festival in the summer, which has now grown into an annual event.  There was also Milton’s Amazing Race, an idea born from and organized by the committee chair Karin Muller which received rave reviews as dozens of teams raced across Milton to answer questions, pick up clues and win prizes.

One of the definite highlights of my time on that committee was being part of the creation of the Milton Walk of Fame.  With the help of the Milton Historical Society and countless volunteers, we came up with a list of 27 people from Milton, who through the years reached a high level or national and or international success in their fields.  Many people are unaware that there are many famous Miltonians in different fields and the cream rose to the top with our first class in the Walk of Fame.

You can see the full list of inductees here .  Many of these people are well known, but their connection to Milton came as  a shock to many.  Mr Dressup,  Ernie Coombs was a big surprise to quite a few people along with Dr John Wallace, one of the cofounders of Blue Cross.  There are many Milton favourites such as Lt. Col. Chris Hadfield, PL Robertson, John Tonelli, Peter McDuffe and international wrestling icons Tiger Jeet Singh and his son Tiger Ali Singh.

These great Miltonians were announced at the Canada Day Celebrations of 2007  to quite the bit of fan fare in a day I wont soon forget.  Here is the brochure from the Canada Day event that lists each inductee and their bio of what made them the first members of Milton’s Walk of Fame.

So its not just me…

Someone sent me an email awhile back asking me why I keep on the fact that there seems to be a lot of poor drivers in town.  While I wont go so far as to say the drivers are poor, but there does seem to be people who for whatever reason, dont pay attention and obey the rules of the road.

That got me thinking…is it just me?  Am I being too picky?  Apparently not as more and more letters to the local paper seem to justify my analysis that there are people taking liberty with the rules of the road when it comes to stop signs, speeding in residential areas and aggressive driving.

John Airyo’s letter to the Champion this week seems to outline the same concerns I, as well as many other people in Milton share.

Here’s his letter.

DEAR EDITOR:There’s a growing trend in Milton that in my own opinion is gradually reaching a frightening dimension.

It concerns the way many people treat traffic stop signs. I can recall more than 15 times recently where drivers haven’t used traffic stop signs properly — with a few of them nearly causing an accident.

In all those cases, it happened that I got to the stop sign and stopped by the white line. My tire touched the white line and I made a complete stop. Then I went forward.

I knew I touched the line before some drivers, but they proceeded before me as if they were blind.

A couple of times I almost ran into those drivers because I had no inkling they were going to advance before me. I don’t know whether they were impatient, rude or simply inexperienced — or a combination of these.

These incidents have happened all over Milton, so I can’t really pinpoint a particular place.

Please use our traffic stop signs properly to avoid an accident.

JOHN ARIYO, MILTON

It’s not an unreasonable request is it?  The stop signs are there for a reason.  To safely control the flow of traffic and help keep drivers and pedestrians alike as safe as possible.  We can go back a couple of years to Yates Drive where a number of these problems lead to a house being hit by a car…twice…in less than a year.  A car driving down Yates at a high rate of speed (for the record a “high rate of speed” was perception based on cars driving the speed limit) drove through an intersection with a stop sign.  The person at the stop sign didnt fully stop and did what was described by witnesses as a fast, rolling stop turning left onto Yates.  The car with the right-away swerved to avoid the car coming from the stop sign, lost control, jumped the curb and sidewalk to slam into this persons home.

The second occurence happened almost identical with the result being the same less than a year later.

I’m sure youve seen it too.  On your way to work in the mornings, or coming home at nights many people take liberty with the rules of the road and most times, nothing ever happens.

A friend commented to me that there should be mandatory retesting for our licences on a regular basis to make sure we remember and comply with the rules of the road.  I dont think that would make much difference because anyone can put on good behaviour during the test, shine the like star that they are and when its securely in their hands…speed off  and fly through a stop sign on the way to make it to the 401 parking lot in the morning.

Milton Fall Fair 2009 Edition

I was going to do post about this weekends edition of the Milton Fall Fair.  Dave at miltonsearch.com beat me to it.

Click here for more information on this must attend event in Milton.

10 years ago today

Heres a tale of two different kinds of days.

Ten years ago today Pat and I were married in Brampton.  It was around this time exactly that we were sitting in Gage Park getting our pictures taken as our wedding party munched on some fast food they got at a drive through on the way back from the church.

The sun was beginning to hide and the cool breeze started to flow as our photographer chirped at us “ok stay there…lets try this.”  Every pose it seemed that he was attempting us to get in didnt seem right and in between shots we held each other and smiled.  “THATS IT” hed say as we seemed much more natural when NOT posing and the photos were beautiful.  It was very calm and relaxing at that point, but several hours earlier, Pat’s day wasn’t going as smoothly.

The night before the wedding I stayed over at my good friend Mike Heenan’s house after being out the night before having a few drinks to calm the nerves and prepare for the next day.  We woke up in the morning and calmly headed downstairs to flick on the Ryder Cup golf tournament.  The smell of eggs and toast filled the air as we sat back with our feet up, watched a few holes of golf and waited for the rest of our wedding party to arrive.  Stress level zero.

Over at our house on Edenridge the totally opposite was happening.  My mother, aunt Betty (who’s birthday is the same day as our anniversary…Happy Birthday Aunt Betty!!) sister in law Deb and Pat’s half of the wedding party were running around getting their hair and make up done and doing what they can to keep everything under control.  Pat, as she always does, did her best to make sure everyone was taken care of so she made some sandwiches for everyone and kept them fed nicely as THEY were trying to do for her.

There were probably 20 or so people running around in different rooms, getting the tuxes on, making last minute changes to dresses and hair and on their make up.  Our niece Ashley and nephew Richard were in the wedding party as well, much younger than they are today and were a going concern to keep an eye on.

Just an FYI the Europeans were in the lead at the Ryder Cup as Mike turned to me and said “More coffee?”  Sure I replied as we refilled and stretched out on the chairs, in what I like to call a “golf haze”.

Needless to say, I still feel kind of guilty that my day wasnt as stressful as hers but we had 20 less people running around and only 3 people to dress.

The limo was there to pick up Pat and the wedding party as the last pictures were taken with her family in a now almost empty living room…all the furniture pushed up to the side to fit everyone, and they headed off to the church.

Mike, Satinder and my brother Rick were waiting anxiously at the church listening for the signal that the limo had arrived.  The minister was with us, trying to see if there was anything he could do to lessen the stress level, but there really wasnt any to relieve.  They were a little late and just as the minister said to us “ok, 3 more minutes and we head to the pub for a pint” the doorbell rang, signaling the arrival of the long white stretch limo containing the future Mrs Cluett.

We had a small contingent of close friends and family members at the church in Brampton as we all lined up front waiting for the music to begin.  A few of my friends looked over at me chuckling “you can run now if you like!” and the usual barbs you give to a nervous groom on his wedding day.  Ah, too late “here comes the bride!”  (Im kidding, I never would have thought of running, besides my knees were knocking too much to be able to run if I wanted.)

Pat took my breath away as she made her journey down the aisle of the church and the knocking of the knees stopped.  My brother even had to make sure I didnt fall over as I tried to catch my breath.

The service was beautiful and even though we missed the opportunity to say our own personal vows and it seemed like a blur until the minister said “you may now kiss the bride”.  Whoo hoo.

Our good friend Neil Sammut sang “When a Man Cries” a song he recorded in Nashville to a captive audience as we went to the back room to sign and make it all legal.  In between the pictures being taken Pat and I snuck around the corner to catch a glimpse of Neil singing as we wanted to be out there listening and watching him.

After talking with a few people today and getting the usual questions of “do you remember that day” my answer is like it was yesterday.

That was ten years ago.  Happy Anniversary Pat.  I love you even more now than I did then.