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www.oakvillebeaver.com · OAKVILLE BEAVER Thursday, April 29, 2010 · 6 The Oakville Beaver 467 Speers Rd., Oakville Ont. L6K 3S4 (905) 845-3824 Fax: 337-5571 Classified Advertising: 905-632-4440 Circulation: 845-9742 The Oakville Beaver is a member of the Ontario Press Council. The council is located at 80 Gould St., Suite 206, Toronto, Ont., M5B 2M7. Phone (416) 340-1981. Advertising is accepted on the condition that, in the event of a typographical error, that portion of advertising space occupied by the erroneous item, together with a reasonable allowance for signature, will not be charged for, but the balance of the advertisement will be paid for at the applicable rate.The publisher reserves the right to categorize advertisements or decline. Editorial and advertising content of the Oakville Beaver is protected by copyright. Unauthorized use is prohibited. Commentary NEIL OLIVER Vice-President and Group Publisher, Metroland West DAVID HARVEY Regional General Manager JILL DAVIS Editor in Chief ROD JERRED Managing Editor DANIEL BAIRD Advertising Director RIZIERO VERTOLLI Photography Director SANDY PARE Business Manager MARK DILLS Director of Production MANUEL GARCIA Production Manager CHARLENE HALL Director of Distribution SARAH MCSWEENEY Circ. Manager The Oakville Beaver is a division of Guest Columnist Building with a plan Gary Carr, Halton Region Chair nfrastructure planning is a complex process. At Halton Region, we always start with a strategy and a budget that identifies what we want to achieve, as well as when and how much it will cost. On Dec. 16, 2009, Regional Council adopted Halton's 2010 Gary Carr Budget and Business Plan. This plan shows the Region's vision for infrastructure construction over the next 10 years. It outlines the major road, water and wastewater capital projects that will help us support and manage growth and contribute toward our goal of creating sustainable communities. In recent polling, residents identified maintaining current, and planning for future, infrastructure as a top concern. We are making a huge commitment to infrastructure -- $362 million this year alone -- and we believe it's the right decision for Halton. To help inform you about our infrastructure program, we've created the Building a Better Halton campaign to highlight our 10-year plan. Look for it on construction signs, mail-outs to your home, Halton's website and other communications materials. Building a Better Halton will help you see what we're doing in 2010, and how it fits into our bigger, 10-year vision for the region. Each year we follow a logical, planned and phased project management process to deliver our infrastructure projects. Whether it's a large, multi-year project like the Upper Middle Road Widening from Postmaster Drive to Bronte Road, or a smaller project like the Todd Road Elevated Tank and Watermain installation in Halton Hills, we have a wellthought out plan and we will see it through in order to provide a high quality of life. To execute each construction project plan, we follow five phases: 1) Project Planning -- During this first phase, we identify the high-level need, such as a new water main, and what it would cost to build. 2) Environmental Approval -- Here we identify specific project criteria. For example, what water treatment technology is needed to meet the project requirements? It's during this phase that we hold Public Information Centres (PICs) to gather public and regulator feedback to refine the project plan. 3) Design -- In this phase, the detailed design of the work is completed. 4) Construction -- That is, actually putting the shovel in the ground. This phase can take weeks, months or years depending on project size, weather, soil conditions and other factors. 5) Restoration -- Once construction is done, we renew the area so that it is appealing and accessible to the community. Restoration includes planting trees and laying sod. As the spring construction season starts, and you see the construction signs going up, remember ... we have a plan for 2010 and beyond, and we're working toward Building a Better Halton to live, work, raise a family and retire. To find out more about Halton's construction plans, dial 311 or visit www.halton.ca. WEBSITE oakvillebeaver.com Suburban Newspapers of America Media Group Ltd. I RECOGNIZED FOR EXCELLENCE BY: Ontario Community Newspapers Association Canadian Community Newspapers Association THE OAKVILLE BEAVER IS PROUD OFFICIAL MEDIA SPONSOR FOR: United Way of Oakville ATHENA Award ERIC RIEHL / SPECIAL TO THE BEAVER COMMUNITY LIVING: Community Living Oakville (CLO) month (May 2010) was kicked off at the Wyecroft Road CLO facility. A host of dignitaries were on hand to salute the occasion. Here, from left, Ward 6 Councillor Tom Adams, Steven Muir, Mayor Rob Burton, CLO Executive Director John Wilson, Roy Kelly (who founded CLO) and his son David Kelly, Bob Kelly and former CLO executive director Andy Rotsma take part as the symbolic cake is cut at the ceremony. The year we went prematurely green (and buggy) in April C ome what May. In some respects, April was precisely as it's expected to be, precisely as the infamous month has been immortalized in epic odes. Which is to say, in some respects, April was at once kind and cruel. One day we were giddily greeting a wave of unseasonable heat -- windows being thrown open, kids soaping down dusty bikes, people walking about in shorts and t-shirts, like they'd been magically transported to The Bahamas -- the next day we were looking outside and shaking our heads as a freak flurry of wintry weather blew through the area. However, overall, according to meteorologists, entomologists, and Andy for that matter, April was an oddity. To understate, April was a bit insane. If you ignore the day or two of torrential showers and the day the flurries blew through, April was unseasonably warm and dry. To a guy dying to park his parka in storage and get back outside and start living again, that unusual warmth and dryness was like a gift from the gods. As with all gifts from the gods, it had consequences. Some good. Some bad. Consider: we've lived in the countryside for seven-plus years. At the end of each winter up here, our laneway -- which is long enough to warrant a $60 plow every time it snows -- is ravaged. Massive potholes from top to bottom. And each year we have to endure these craters for all of April because the laneway is too wet and muddy to repair. Well, this year, the laneway was dry, mud-free, graveled and graded by mid-April. And the axles on our autos dearly thanked us. Further, in all our time here, I've never cut grass in April. I've been temptAndy Juniper ed, and the lawn's looked a little shaggy, but I've always been able to resist the temptation to trim until May. Not this year. This year I've already cut. Twice. No big deal, you might say? Well, considering each cut is about six hours, it actually is a big, hairy deal. While this unusual warmth has jumpstarted everything from the grass, to the golf season, to the budding and blooming (seriously, it looks like June around here), it's also jumpstarted the bugs. Two weeks ago, I found bees in my blue box. Bees in April! The other day my daughter rode her bike through a wooded area behind our house and came screaming back saying she'd been attacked by mosquitoes. Mosquitoes in April! And yesterday I was cutting grass (did I mention I've never cut grass in April?) when I was swarmed by what I believed to be baby deer flies. Baby deer flies in April? Honestly, I couldn't tell for sure what they were because I was too busy spitting them out of my mouth and snorting them out my nose, oh, and because I'm not a bug expert. I have made a friend up here who goes by the moniker Dr. Bug (he didn't spend seven years in bug school just to be called Mr. Bug) who could surely enlighten me. Trouble is, with the ridiculously early bug season, he's ridiculously busy, and impossible to reach. You know, we should have seen this meteorological madness coming. Both the Farmer's Almanac and Environment Canada were calling for an unseasonably cool and wet April. As for next month, they're calling for warmer and dryer that usual. So, get our your windbreakers and umbrellas. Come what May. Andy Juniper can be visited at www.strangledeggs.com, contacted at ajjuniper@gmail.com, or followed at www.twitter.com/thesportjesters.