Local Jazz and Dinner Sold Out Performances

This past weekend the Bach Chorale made a musical leap from Bach to jazz and show tunes. The performance was a lot of fun for the sold out crowd. The Bach Chorale is under the leadership of Georgetown resident and concert pianist Ron Greidanus. Ron is in the centre picture playing the piano while a choir member performs an outstanding version of "Cry Me A River".
The evening features dinner prepared by local resident Yvonne Oldaker and is served by members of the choir. Throughout the dinner various members stop serving and start singing. All of this takes place in a truly unique older home on Main Street South in Georgetown. It is a casual setting with tables set up in 3 different rooms. The audience is encouraged to wander back and forth between rooms to mingle with other attendees and catch various performances.
Dinner itself began with champagne and appetizers. Multiple courses followed including a choice of Coq au Vin or Boeuf a la Julia Child.
Pictured below are desserts from one of two differnt dessert trolleys.
This particular evening was an unusual one with respect to the musical selections. However, the same type of evening happens at Christmas and features music from the group's
classical repertoire. At Christmas the house itself is sumptuously decorated and is a visual treat all by itself.
I would recommend the Bach Chorale to anyone who appreciates classical music and enjoys the gift of live performance.
For future opportunities to hear the Bach Chorale please visit http://www.georgetownbachchorale.com/.

Election Over and The Work Begins

On Monday the Ward 3 councillors, Moya Johnson, Dave Kentner and myself, Jane Fogal were all returned to office with strong endorsements from the electorate. Congratulations to my colleagues on their very robust election campaigns. The hard work obviously paid off.
Now that the Election is Monday's news, we are right back to work. We all talked to many people during the campaign and numerous issues were raised.

For example the pictures on the left are of the railroad underpass at McNabb/John Street, the town owned land at the corner of McNabb and Mill Street and the disappearing sidewalk on McNabb Street. Residents have raised these 3 locations as safety issues that they want the town to address.

Councillor Kentner is organizing a meeting of staff, councillors and concerned residents that will likely happen on November 16th in the morning. Any resident is welcome to attend this meeting and should confirm the date and time by contacting Councillor Kentner 905 877 6710.

This is one example of how councillors work with staff to address resident concerns. Yesterday I attended a similar meeting at Gardiner
Public School with the Ward 4 Councillors and the Mayor. In that case we were investigating the possible need for an additional crossing guard.

These are typical concerns that are raised by the public during an election campaign and throughout the term. If you have a concern you can call the Town directly or you can contact any of your councillors.

Election Day in Halton Hills

Today is Election Day in all municipalities across Ontario. For candidates the last month has been intense, as they all rush to get information into the hands of the electorate.

As a candidate for the position of Regional Councillor representing Wards 3 and 4 (Georgetown) I either delivered or had volunteers deliver 12,000 brochures to residents' doors.

I have heard some complaints that residents received their brochure but the candidate didn't knock on the door. What the resident doesn't realize is that it would require starting the campaign in June for the candidates to knock on all the doors at a time of day when people might actually be home. For new candidates who are working full time this would be impossible. The compromise is to find helpers and then do as much door knocking as possible in order to find out what is on people's minds in different parts of the town.

My own door knocking revealed that growth is still the primary concern. Residents perceive the town to be growing quickly and fear where we are going in the future.

I chose this particular picture to illustrate the point because it seemed that people were really saying they valued the small town atmosphere surrounded by landscapes such as the one pictured.

This attitude stands in stark contrast to the attitude found in Milton where the growth is more welcome.

At this point Town Council and Halton Regional Council have approved growth for Georgetown to take place in the timeframe 2021 to 2031 that will add 20,000 new residents to a 1000 acre block bounded by Main Street South, 15th Sideroad, 10th Sideroad and Trafalgar Road. However, this growth area will be challenged at the Ontario Municipal Board by landowners south of the 10th Sideroad. They will argue that we need to approve more land for development.

The approval by local Council for this growth was a strategic decision based on knowledge that we would be taken to the OMB regardless. It was felt that by taking some growth we could avoid having massive growth, perhaps tripling what we have accepted. I believe that this was a sound decision.

I also think that we now need to be working on a strategy to further protect the farmland around Georgetown in anticipation of the next growth plan to be thrust on us by the province.

I would be interested in your comments on growth in and around Georgetown.

Delrex Bike Lane and Parking

The recent addition of what appears to be bike lanes on Delrex has led some to believe that parking has been impacted. The picture of the cyclist was taken on Delrex near Maple Ave. In fact there has been no change to the parking permitted on Delrex as a result of the painted lines.

Although the lines effectively move the traffic to the centre of the road and provide a safe refuge for cyclists, these are not official bike lanes. You will not see any signage indicating that it is an official bike lane.

Prior to the lines being installed, all of the residents of Delrex Blvd. were sent a letter by the Town explaining the role and function of the lane markings.

Parking is still permitted in the lane and cyclists will have to go around parked cars. However, the reality is that there are very few cars parked along Delrex and so the lanes do function as if they were official lanes most of the time.

The result is that it is much safer for cyclists and as a bonus, the traffic tends to go slower with the narrower lane for cars.

On Danby Road in Georgetown South there was more room in the road allowance and staff were able to paint both a bike lane and a parking area. This is illustrated in the photo taken on Danby Road with a car parked next to the curb and a bike lane beside the car.

These are the first 'on road' bike lanes to be added to Georgetown streets and represent the first steps in implementing the Halton Hills Cycling Master Plan. The rest of the draft plan can be viewed at http://www.haltonhills.ca/cycling/index.php

Georgetown Farmer's Market Wraps Up Successful Season

This morning was the last day for the Georgetown Farmer's Market. Everyone agrees that this has been another very successful season.

The strength of this market is that it is truly a farmer's market and not a flea market. The food is produced in Ontario and much of it is organic. As a result, it has gained a reputation throughout the region as an authentic fresh food source and now people are coming here from Oakville and beyond to buy their fresh produce.

The bottom picture features entrepreneur chef Jenny Allen and the Market Manager Kim Falls.

Jenny is an amazing young entrepreneur who previously owned and operated Canterbury Gourmet Foods on Main Street Georgetown. In 2009 she sold the business due to the pending birth of her son Emmett. However, nothing can get in the way of Jenny's passion to cook and so she has begun a new business called Jentree Whole Foods. The food is healthy and delicious and is produced in her home kitchen, which is fully inspected. The packages of granola pictured here at the Farmer's Market are also available at Foodstuffs on Main Street Georgetown.

Jenny shares her passion for food by running cooking classes in the kitchen above Foodstuffs. She has classes scheduled for Oct. 25th, Nov. 7th and Nov. 15th. and you can register by calling Foodstuffs at 905 877 6569. Give them a call and you too could be whipping up a dish of Smoked Salmon Canapes with Cucumber and Wasabi Mayo"

The Jentree website is www.jentreewholefoods.com.

Sustainability??? The Natural Step?

Sustainability is a buzz word that pops up in many conversations but is very poorly understood. The fact that people are talking about it indicates that it is important but some people are actually making fun of it because they don't understand it.

On the other hand, if you ask people if they think that the forests are disappearing faster than they are being replaced or if they are worried about farmland disappearing, then they intuitively say yes. There is an obvious link between their worries and the concept of sustainability.

Two people who have done a great deal of thinking about sustainability were at Sheridan College today for the kick off of Sheridan's Sustainability Week and appear in the photo. On the left is Mayor Ken Melamed of Whistler, B.C. and beside him, the founder of The Natural Step, Dr. Karl-Henrik Robert. Dr. Robert was the guest speaker to a full house of students, faculty and community leaders.

Dr. Robert is a very engaging speaker who attempts to explain this very complex topic in a manner that can be understood by lay people such as myself. The Natural Step was founded in 1989 in Sweden and was first used to help businesses analyse their business model in terms that would sustain them over the long haul. The principles have now been applied more broadly and have been embraced by communities such as Whistler.

I attended the lecture because I am one of those people who worry about running out of farmland. I see the population going up and up and up whereas I understand that resources are limited. To me, when there is an apparent endless abundance of resources then we use them with abandon. However, when resources are perceived as limited then an entirely different mindset kicks in. We have only to look at the cod fishery to see what happens when we think only of today and fail to manage our resources with the future in mind. To me, sustainability is simply about good management with a long term vision of what we want the world to be like in the future. The actions we take today must match the vision we have for the future.

Dr. Robert has provided the world with a framework to help us to think about the future and to help us figure out how to manage our resources so that we can both prosper today and improve our environment for the future. In the coming term of council this will be a theme that will be heard regularly as we attempt to manage our piece of the planet, the Town of Halton Hills.

Old Seed House Garden Fall Planting

Volunteers, pictured to the left, spent the Saturday Oct 16th sprucing up The Old Seed House Garden. Regular volunteers with The Friends of the Old Seed House Garden were augmented with community volunteers and students from Christ the King High School. This was the autumn blitz to get the Garden ready for winter and spring.

The formal garden had the lavender tidied up and squared off. The beds were cleaned out and replanted with tulips for the spring. The fish pond was winterized and perennials were thinned.

In the foreground of the top picture you can see one of two delightful bronze sculptures donated by Fred Helson. The stone pillars were donated by local stonemasons, Gerry and Ryan Inglis and the installation was courtesy of Artcast.

I am a regular volunteer with The Friends and help out every Tuesday morning during the growing season. We have a small group who faithfully weed and keep the Garden looking attractive. I really enjoy my time in the Garden. It is such a pleasant change from my regular job that usually involves either sitting in meetings or reading reports. Chatting with friends while making a public space more attractive is most gratifying.

We would be very happy to have more help and anyone who is interested in lending a hand can either just show up on a Tuesday morning or contact me for more information.

$8 Million Upgrade to Sewage Treatment Plant

I arranged to have a tour of the Georgetown Waste Water Treatment Plant on Friday morning. The plant is getting a number of upgrades that will ensure there is capacity for Georgetown within the existing urban boundaries. This upgrade will not meet the capacity needs of the new growth planned for the 2021 to 2031 timeframe.

The plant is located in Hungry Hollow just east of Mountainview Road. Because it is in a heavily wooded area it is difficult to see even from the trail immediately across Silver Creek.
Under certain conditions the plant causes odour problems for the residents living along the edge of the ravine, particularly in Georgetown south. Many of the upgrades are intended to reduce odour impacts.

The top photo shows the progress with the new digester. Friday was the last day that concrete was being poured and it is expected that the digester will closed in prior to winter settling in.

This is a Halton Regional Facility and the upgrades will cost the Region $8.25 million.
My tour included all of the processes and odour reducing features.

This plant could be described as 'state of the art' although there are some plants in the world that actually produce potable water at the end of the process. In this case the water that is discharged into Silver Creek is more pure than the water in the Creek. The middle picture shows the outlet and it certainly looks clean.

This plant must produce clean water because it is going into a creek. Plants that discharge into Lake Ontario are not required to meet this standard because they have much less impact on such a huge body of water.
The bottom photo shows the UV tubes being worked on by a maintenance worker. When he is finished the bank of tubes will be lowered to a rack under the floor where the water flows through the tubes for final purification/disinfection. This process replaces chlorination and is a superior process as there is no chemical residue.
Regarding odour control, some of the measures include misting with masking agents, carbon filters that absorb odour, and increased enclosure of processes including a new cone over the sludge removal area. This area will be under negative pressure to capture the odour causing molecules before they can escape to the atmosphere.

Sewage treatment is generally not a topic of conversaton. However, if the plant should ever stop working perfectly then it immediately becomes a top of mind issue. We expect it to simply work all the time. These plants are quite sophisticated and represent a significant part of your Regional tax bill. Sometimes people say to me that they don't get anything for their tax dollars but this just reveals that most of the time what they are paying for is working so well they don't even think about it.