The Region of Peel is one of the most successful two-tier governments of all time, offering award winning, cost effective service delivery to the people who live and work in Peel. This year we received national recognition for excellence in our programs and services through the National Quality Institute's prestigious Canada Award of Excellence - Silver level. We are the first government in Canada to receive this designation. The Region has built a strong community by operating as a business and developing partnerships that help us provide cost effective and meaningful services and programs.
The Region offers the citizens of Peel a broad range of well-run services that provide a high degree of return on your tax dollar. The Region of Peel has been debt-free since 1997. Our AAA credit rating is proof that our partnerships work in providing a sound and well-managed government with stable taxes. Our water and wastewater rates are one of the lowest in Canada. We continue to build dedicated reserves to pay for future infrastructure work. Our 10-year capital plan is funded without reliance on future debt.
Here are some statistics I thought you might find interesting, which just touch upon the broad scope of Regional programs and services:
Road construction is always an important topic for Brampton residents. As our community continues to grow and prosper, so must our infrastructure. The good news is that we will be spending approximately $200 million to improve our roads over the next three years. The downside to this is that many of our major routes will be temporarily affected by the construction making it more difficult to reach our destinations. How we manage traffic throughout intense construction is important. The Region and the City need to do a better job coordinating their road work projects to lessen the negative impact that this construction has on traffic. I recently proposed a motion to Brampton Council that our traffic engineers at both levels need to get together to discuss improvements to this process. To properly manage the process, work needs to be planned and executed in phases so that alternate routes are available to traffic. Construction efforts to improve the community will provide residents with more efficient and safer roadways with additional thru-lanes, turn lanes, signalized intersections and walkways and freshly paved and painted asphalt.
Major Road Work in Ward 7 and 8
I want to thank residents for their patience as Peel worked to complete these roadway projects:
Queen Street
This project includes widening of Queen Street to six lanes from West drive to Airport Road. The road widening has been completed from Bramalea Road to Airport Road. Road widening to base asphalt has been substantially completed from West Drive to Bramalea Road. The west side widening of Dixie Road to base course has been completed. Paving will continue through October. Paving is scheduled to be completed at night from 7 p.m. to 6 a.m. to reduce the impacts on the travelling public. Completion of centre medians, street lighting and traffic signals are also scheduled for October.Dixie Road
Dixie Road, from Steeles Avenue to Clark Boulevard, is also scheduled for improvements. An environmental assessment for this section is underway. Currently the construction is planned for 2008 and 2009. Two public information meetings are planned for this project. Look for details of the next meeting in winter 2005. I am proud that the majority of our community improvement projects are provided without incurring additional debt, which can be attributed to sound financial planning and management. If you are interested in more information on Peel’s infrastructure and related services visit peelregion.ca/pw
Have
you ever stood in front of your Blue and Grey recycling boxes and been confused
about which items go in which box? Milk cartons, for example, do they go in the
Blue or Grey Box? As they are made of paper, some people believe they should
be placed in their Grey Box, along with their newspapers. However, the paper
milk cartons are made from coated plastic, and this means the cartons have to
be placed in the Blue Box for proper recycling.
But later this fall, the Region of Peel will take the guesswork out of recycling, when single-stream recycling services are introduced throughout Peel. At that time, you’ll no longer need to sort your recyclable items into container (Blue Box) and fibre (Grey Box) streams. All of your recyclable materials will be collected and mixed together in the recycling collection truck. So, you’ll have the option of mixing them all together in one recycling box, or you can continue to use your Blue and Grey Boxes to separate your paper and container products as usual. The choice is yours.
All collected recyclables will then be processed at Peel’s new Integrated Waste Management Facility, located in Brampton. This new facility, one of the largest in Canada, has been designed with state-of-the-art sorting equipment that will allow us to separate recyclable materials right at the plant. It will let us do the work for you.
By eliminating the need to separate container materials from fibre materials, the Region of Peel hopes to make recycling easier for you. Watch for more details about this program enhancement coming your way in late November.
For more information on the Region of Peel’s waste management programs and services, call the WASTELINE at 905-791-9499 or check the Region’s Web site at peelregion.ca
I applaud the efforts of Peel Health as it strives to prevent disease in our community, protect the health of residents in Peel, and promote healthy lifestyles. From providing prenatal classes to managing Peel’s SARS response to educating youth about the dangers of smoking, Peel Health affects the lives of residents every day.
Peel Health provides services based on provincial mandatory programs. In addition, the Region’s Health department assesses the needs of our community and develops programs to address Peel-specific issues. It is this responsive and forward-thinking approach that makes Peel Health a leader in public health.
For more information visit http://www.region.peel.on.ca/health/index.htm
Recently the Region of Peel launched Water Smart Peel, a new water efficiency program to help maintain service reliability and protect the environment. The program will focus on raising awareness of the importance of using water wisely, inside and outside your home or business.
Water efficiency is an integral component of Peel’s Water and Wastewater Master Servicing Plan which provides the framework for the development of the water and wastewater services to accommodate future growth in Peel in accordance with the Region’s Official Plan and the local area Municipal Plans.
Historically, water supply systems developed from the need to have reliable access to water for fire fighting and hygiene purposes. As society evolved, so did our attitudes and behaviours towards the seemingly endless supply of water coming through our taps.
Over the past couple of years the Region of Peel has employed the use of outdoor watering bans to help restore reservoir levels lowered due to drought conditions and inefficient outdoor irrigation. These measures to maintain service reliability are vital to the safety of our community and will continue to be used as needed. Water Wise Wednesday (no lawn watering on Wednesdays) will help to maintain reservoir levels and assist to offset possible future watering bans.
If you would like more information on water efficiency please visit the Region’s web site at www.watersmartpeel.ca
The City of Brampton is one of the fastest growing municipalities in Canada, a growth rate and prosperity that belies the other reality – thousands of families in Brampton and other parts of Peel Region experience the daily distress of needing and searching out available, affordable housing. Homelessness has grown steadily in Peel in the last ten years as a result of severe affordable housing shortages.
Peel’s waiting list for social housing has grown to about 13,500 households in 2005 from 5,000 households in 1995, with current average waits of eight years for a unit to become available. That’s more than half of a child’s life spent in overcrowded, unstable and inappropriate housing environments. In addition, over 10,300 individuals, including almost 2,300 children, had to stay in Peel’s nine homeless shelters last year.
There is good news. The federal and provincial governments have committed to funding affordable housing development and increasing rent supplements. As well, anticipating negative impacts on the community from affordable housing shortages, Peel Region wisely established a reserve fund for social housing in 1999.
As a result, Peel has recently built and opened two new apartment buildings for seniors and singles, an innovative facility for families in transition and soon to open is a housing facility for youth in transition. Peel regards these creative solutions as prototypes for further successes. In addition, two projects in Brampton for seniors and singles have been given preliminary approval and are in the early stages of development.
For more information on Peel’s affordable housing initiatives, visit peelregion.ca
Peel Decisions Newsletter is published after each Regional Council meeting.