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insidehalton.com dlea@metroland.com The Halton Police Board ‘g has approved a $186-million gional Council for fi- nal approval on Jan. 11, was discussed during a board meeting on Thursday, Dec. 22. Halton Police Chief Ste- phen Tanner acknowledged funding request repre- ee a5.7 per cent increase when comparet $175.9-million budget, but said those funds are what the police service needs. are seeking ade- quate and appropriate lev- els of resources, whether that is technology or staff- ing, to ensure we are able to say in good faith that we are addressing the needs of the service and the communi- ty," said Tanner. mee, Goes “need to be estments in police ser- wees, just ike in other ser- areas, to ensure we keep at the level that we are." The region set a budget increase guideline for po- lice ofno higher than 4.7 per cent, which Tanner said he would have met had it not r inflation-driven cost i increases for the build- ing of: w police station in Halton Hills. The need to tackle cer- tain cybersecurity risks al- so brought unexpected costs, Tanner said. Of that 1.3 per cent to staffing in- crease costs, 0.7 per cent to benefits, 0.3 per cent to tech- nology costs, 0.3 per cent to “all other costs," 0.6 per cent to the new Halton Hills po- lice station and 0.4 er cent to cybersorny oo police thief nota Pave: Halton's population continuing to grow and with that growth comes not ony more rattle, but also othe ‘complexity and mul- ti jurisdictional navare of serious crime, and the pact of street and organized crime along with upcoming contract negotiations and staffing needs were also list- ed as being among the sig- nificant drivers of the 2023 budget. The police service is pro- posing to add 20 sworn offi- cer positions and five civil- ian positions in the coming year They also want to con- vert one part-time civilis position to full-time. Tanner noted that of those 20 positions, 16 will be for char a officers while fe will specialty units. One of hose four spe- cialty positions, Tanner said, will be for a technolo- sist involved i in covert sur- adequate staffing level not- in ice service is busy and they are begin: ning to see pushback when requests are made for offi- cers to work 07 The: of the "othe clude: $2.4 million for vehi- cle replacements; $100,000 ‘Another of hee special- W positions will involve dealing with criminal activ- ity on the dark web. During their presentation to the board, Tanner and his dep- uties emphasized the im- portance of having the tech- nology and the staff to stay ahead of the criminals. They also spoke about theimportance of having an (©); OAKVILLE Hydro Line Clearing Tree pruning near hydro lines begins this January in west Oakville (Area 1) Each year, the town and its tree service contractor perform hydro line clearing on behalf of Oakville Hydro to reduce safety hazards and power outages. The 2023 hydro line clearing program will take place in west Oakville from Fourth Line to Burloak Drive, south of Rebecca Street. Trees are pruned in each of the four zones on a four-year cycle and follow the Electrical Safety Authority guidelines to maintain a three-metre (10 foot) for computer replacements; $250,000 for network server replacements; $600,000 for technology replacements; $500,000 for the replace- ment of police vessel (Ma- rine 2); $100,000 for addition- al digital storage require- ments for police video (dash eras) and $4.1 million for technology projects. Despite these costs, Tan- ner pointed out to the board EM ol mr- Tale @el slate | ay Annual New Year’s Levee Graham Paine/ Metroland Halton Police Chief Stephen that when all is said and done Halton police have the lowest cost per capita of On- tario's "Big 12" police servic- es. While the police board approved the requested budget, they also called on Tanner to present more in- formation to the Halton re- gion about how the money police are requesting would impact local crime and community safety. Please join Mayor Rob Burton and Members of Council at the Annual New Year's Levee to celebrate the new year ahead. The event will feature brief remarks from Mayor Rob Burton as well as light refreshments and musical entertainment. clearance between branches and primary power lines and one-metre (three feet) for secondary lines. As a last resort, some trees growing too close to the hydro line may need to be removed if the arborist cannot achieve the clearance standard with acceptable pruning practices. In some situations, the town must prune trees on private property if they are growing too close to hydro lines. In cases where hydro lines are located in rear yards, Oakville Hydro has an easement through the property which allows the arborist to access the tree. For more information and to track the progress of the Hydro Line Clearing program visit oakville.ca.