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Developer gets cheque from Town for construction of new parkette A cheque for $45,726 was sent to Mattamy Development Corporation recently-- the cost of developing the Dr. Charles Best Parkette in the new Arbor Glen subdivision. Mattamy, the developers of the subdivision, approached the Town about building the parkette themselves, rather than waiting for the Town to do it. Mattamy did such things as the preparation work, the lighting and planting. Mattamy's cost was at or below market rate, said Director of Recreation and Parks Terry Alyman. The Town installed the wood fiber play surface, play equipment and bench. The Town had budgeted $65,000 for the work, and including the Mattamy cheque spent just under $63,000. The Town is also proposing a trail be built along Black Creek in Arbor Glen to the parkette, through the open space of Stewart's Mill and then to McNally Park via some connecting walkways. The trail would be a 5-ft. wide woodchip path with signage and bollards (posts). An existing footpath will be closed. Halton Region endorses plan to extend life of landfill site Initiatives that' will increase the Halton landfill's life expectancy by several years can finally be put into action now that regional council has endorsed the 2006-10 Solid Waste Management Strategy. The plan, approved by council recently, has a goal of increasing Halton's waste diversion rate from 42.6 to about 60 per cent, which is expected to translate into an additional six to eight years for the landfill beyond its current capacity date of 2023. To reach the target, the strategy's 12 key components will have to be put in place. This includes implementing a Region-wide GreenCart compost pickup program, enhancing electronics recycling, expanding what can be put in Blue Boxes and investigating technologies that convert waste into energy. Achieving the higher waste diversion rate is anticipated to increase annual diversion program operating costs from the current $21.7 million to $28.5 million. Beyond 2010, the Region plans to consider things like using new waste processing technologies and implementing a `user pay' waste collection system with bag limits. A few councillors shared their praise and concerns about the strategy at Wednesday's meeting. Burlington Councillor Jack Dennison said while it's a good report, he noted he thinks there are "a lot of things we aren't doing that I think we need to be doing," such as bringing the user pay system on board now. Meanwhile, fellow Burlington Councillor John Taylor said he would support the strategy on the understanding that the Region-wide GreenCart program won't be put in place until council has all information on its alternatives. Staff is expected to report back to council with an evaluation between the GreenCart program and alternatives next spring. Don't wait to report dead birds, region reminds residents The Halton Region Health Department is reminding residents to report dead bird sightings as soon as possible for its West Nile virus surveillance program. So far this year local citizens have reported over 855 birds to the health department. However, only seven specimens have been in good enough condition and of the proper species (crow, blue jay or gray jay) to be sent for West Nile virus testing. None of the results came back positive. In many cases, by the time the health department is notified the specimen is too decayed to test, which in some cases is due to delayed reporting. As the hot temperatures are likely speeding up the rate of decay, it's important to contact the Region as soon as possible after finding a dead bird. Halton Region staff takes dead bird reports seven days a week. Reports can be called in to 905-825-6000 or e-mailed to wnv@halton.ca. Details that should be included are the type or description of the bird, address or closest intersection to where it's located and the length of time it's been there. For more information on West Nile virus call the Region at the aforementioned number or visit www.halton.ca/wnv.