Hello Ward 4!
I just wanted to bring everyone up to speed on some recent decisions made, and what the impact is to the community, if any.
The Off-Leash Dog Park pilot project that ran last summer, and into the fall/winter due to the weather, was recently reviewed by Middlesex Centre staff and Council. The pilot program was hugely successful in many ways, but there were many negative impacts at the Kilworth River Flats.
- A child was bitten by one of the dogs using the area.
- Dogs were routinely getting into area residents’ backyards, necessitating a lot of trespassing by area residents and non-residents alike in order to retrieve their four-legged friends.
- The traffic and parking issues that were inevitably going to happen did, in fact, happen, and perhaps were worse than thought they could be.
- And several other issues.
- As a result, Council voted to formalize the off-leash dog parks in Ilderton and Arva, but to end the River Flats off-leash dog park.
I’m using Highcharts.com’s tools to put together a budget visualization webpage. This will use a large tree map to show residents where their money is going, and I will also put together graphs to show the current budget in comparison with past years. I think it will be a nice addition to the presentations and spreadsheets normally provided to, well, everyone.
The variance for the new commercial plaza at Tunks Lane and Glendon Drive was approved, and that should be moving forward. I don’t have a timeline on when site servicing will begin, but I imagine there will be work on the site this spring or summer. All indications are that a Foodland and LCBO are part of the plan, but as written in the Middlesex Banner no confirmations have been provided.
I have been making an effort to act as a mediator between MXC staff and South Winds in order to try and speed up the negotiation process for Edgewater Estates, which has to have the agreements in place before the new pumping station and force main can be built, but neither party has taken me up on my offer.
As a result of some MXC residents being surprised with conditions on their recent severance applications, I made a motion on January 25 to have staff come up with a standard list of conditions that severance applicants can expect to see when the recommendation comes before Council, and also to standardize on whether MXC would share in any additional costs as a result of those conditions (e.g. MXC taking a 6m x 6m corner of a property to improve sight lines). We’re waiting for that report to come back.
D’Lux Auto Spa opened this past week in Komoka! I wish them all the best and success in their venture.
You may have seen a Woodstock Sentinel-Review story about Councillors in Zorra Township and Thames Centre bringing forth motions to ask the Province of Ontario, Ministry of Education, and Thames Valley District School Board to develop a policy to ensure all school can accommodate automated external defibrillators (AEDs), and for the TVDSB to install AEDs across all its schools. I’m happy to say that, in working with Thames Centre Councillor Kelly Elliott, I’ll be bringing forth a motion on March 8 to join the chorus and ask for the same things. It’s incredibly odd that the TVDSB, from all the information supporters have been able to gather, is the only school board in the province actively preventing AEDs from being installed in schools, despite the costs being covered by other means.
I think that about covers it! As always, if you would like to get a hold of me, the Middlesex Centre website has my email address, cell phone number, and links to my social media accounts.
Have a great Family Day, and don’t be shy to say hi!