Vallhalla Newsletter July 2015

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The last week of July was warm and humid. Or should I say, hot and humid. The picture to the right shows my thermometer on the deck railing in the afternoon of July 27th. The sun came around then so it was actually around 32-34 degrees Celsius but felt over 40 with the humidity.

A number of Town Staff are on vacation. Some for a month. I asked to speak to that persons back up and he was on vacation for two weeks. So when I called his manager, he was on vacation as well. Corporately, I had four weeks vacation but was never allowed to take two weeks at a time. My procedures manuals for all my staff needed to be updated and the staff that were filling in for me needed to be on call. Why I state this, it must be difficult for any project / issue to be done within our town when all these people are off at the same time.

On Friday, the director of Infrastructure called my home: I stated: "Gee ____ you must be running the entire department yourself. Everyone I have contacted is on vacation." He said, Eric, one supervisor called in with appendicitis today ... I had to fill in ... I stated: I don't understand why you would allow so many people to be off at the same time.  I know one member of staff I contacted will be off for a month or more. I was informed that this was a special circumstances ... once he elaborated I understood. I don't think this will happen again.

We were talking about different projects within the town. I was trying to get a handle regarding the traffic counts for Old Yonge so I could report the results in our newsletter. Will we be one of the five pilot projects?  He looked in to his staff records and could not find it.  This is another issue that will be corrected when staff return. I was sent this document regarding the speed cushion pilot project.   Our area has done everything, some steps multiple times, and we still seem to be going around in circles.

STREETLIGHTS:  When I spoke to the director about the street lighting it seems staff were missed informed by their contractor. The contractor will only replace existing streetlights.  Not add to them. As you may recall we suggested months ago that additional street lighting is required on Old Yonge. We gave specific locations on where we felt streetlights should be installed. Our Town hired a consultant who recommended to the town the SAME five locations accept the consultant did NOT agree with the sixth location that York Regional Police suggested at Old Yonge / Closs Square to help inhibit vandalism. The director stated; We now have to budget these additional lights, poles, ... for the 2016 budget.   I then stated: ____ wait a minute, NO poles are required. The town can use the existing hydro poles. We just require authorization from Power Stream to do so. The director stated oh .... we maybe able to do something then. So at this point I don't know what is happening. 

PROJECT VERIFICATION  Suggested that if we do not have one already, our town requires a project supervisor to ensure the contractor has completed the work to the agreed contract specifications before the final cheque is given and our town signs off that the project has been completed to specifications.  I have given numerous examples over the years and it still seems to occur.  I mentioned this again to the director.  I used an example of a e-mail sent to his staff on July 8th.  I had contacted a manager and his supervisor who reports to the director, asking why the curbs and median beside my home have not been repaired after "X" years from the infill homes sewage/utility connections.  The following is the e-mail received:  Hi Eric, The contractor who installed the new services to those homes should have been responsible for the repairs. I’ve asked our Engineering Department to look into having that contractor make the repairs. I’ll advise you once I have more information.  Regards,
From my understanding there will be some discussion with staff when all return from vacation.    

GRAFITTI: Do you recall last month staff asked me to report all the graffiti to bylaw? Once bylaw was informed, the graffiti could then be cleaned up. Well I took the time to gather all the graffiti posted in our area, location, approximate date it was posted, plus added the graffiti on a portion of the Nokia "Tim Jones" trail. A slideshow was created with a Web page for bylaw. Unfortunately for some reason, bylaw is unable to view specific locations on the Web using internal computers. So, after I had received that message requesting that I submit it in another fashion, I took the time to download it in a DVD format so that it could be played on one of their computers or DVD player. On June 29th, I took the time to address it to that specific bylaw staff officer on a 9.5" x 5.5" envelope, cover letter, ... and hand delivered it to reception. I stated to reception that ____ is waiting for this, please call ___. When I got home, I sent ___ an e-mail. I was then told it probably went in interdepartment mail.  OMG ..  Guess what: while I was showing properties around Bloor St. / Avenue Rd. on July 28th, I received the following message: I haven’t received the disc yet so I am wondering if you could send me another one. Thank you. Regards, I replied back on my phone: "You must be kidding!" Received NO RESPONSE. Well, I was wondering why nothing was being cleaned up. On Thursday July 30th, I called reception. They recall me coming in ... they could not find it.

Hopefully ALL of this is only happening to me. I will create another DVD and will also hand deliver it but this time to that specific department. What do you think will happen this time? Do you think they will say ... We don't have anything to play it on?  We cannot read it?   If I was the employee, I would have spoken with my supervisor to request access. If I could not obtain access, I would then ask my supervisor if I could transfer the e-mail to my personal e-mail on my cell phone so I could view it.     We all think differently ... if we all felt and thought the same ... would we be better off?  Or would it just be a very boring place to live?

Fire hydrants
As you may have noticed, the fire hydrants within our area are being repainted. As reported in a previous newsletter last year, Ontario has adopted a universal colour code for hydrants that was implemented years ago in other states and provinces. This universal colour code greatly assists fireman.   Example: The United Church Fire on Yonge Street last year.  More then one fire department was called to assist.   I don't think a visiting fireman from another municipality would know the flow rate of the firehydrant he was connecting to.  The colour coding system would resolve this.  

Our province / town is starting to catch up. The colour code shows the flow rate. (Example: Gallons of water per minute or liters per second) Unfortunately, there are always those municipalities / regions that want to do their own thing. The city of Brampton for example did not want the added expense of re-painting every fire hydrant so they purchased REFLECTOR FIRE CODE Emblem Shields in specific colours to signify the flow and attached it to the hydrant. It also makes it easier for the fireman to find. Here is the Peel Link http://www.peelregion.ca/pw/water/fire-hydrants.htm   

Our town is repainting all the fire hydrants but it looks to me they are going to add the REFLECTOR FIRE CODE Emblem Shield.  Why this way, I really don't know.  How long will these plastic sheilds last?  Can they be removed?   If they are not putting the shields on and our fire hydrants are painted red, that would mean the flow rate is less than 31 L/s.   That is not good. 

IMHO, if the flow rate is not at least 1000 gallons per minute the infrastructure should be updated. I’m certain this will reflect on our home insurance costs for specific areas in the future.  Would it not be smart for the province to step in and ensure that every fire hydrant is identified the same way? 

The hydrant beside my home is still the faded yellow.  A grey primer is placed on first, then after a week or so the hydrant is painted.  Yes, there is a special company / contractor for this too. 

Municipalities that practice the colour-coding system follow the U.S. National Fire Protection Association’s standards. The bonnet and nozzle caps of hydrants are painted a specific colour to indicate water flow as follows:
Blue – flow greater than 95 litres/second
Green – flow of 63 to 95 L/s
Orange – flow of 31 to 63 L/s
Red – flow less than 31 L/s


Lets hope our town is going this route and the relector fire code emblem shields are all BLUE within our area. 
Get organized & stay organized
My new article has been published in the Ontario Real Estate Associations (OREA) REALTOR® Edge magazine.  Hopefully it may help some people.   The Edge Newsletter is sent to every REALTOR® in Ontario and to other associations throughout Canada and the United States. "Get organized & stay organized." http://bit.ly/1TUUzxh    
Graffiti / Tagging
The following is some new graffiti / tagging noticed over the last month. 

GARAGE FLOOR REPAIR
CONTINUED from last month ... REFER TO SLIDESHOW BELOW.   I was going to correct just the corner myself.  I'm really glad I got a professional to do so.   My neighbour was getting some cement work done so I approached the contractor and asked if he would give me an estimate.   I then spoke with my neighbour to find out more about the contractor.    One of my concerns was if there was a crack in the foundation wall of the garage.  I agreed to remove a 9 ft x 9 ft section of the garage going back to the last hairline crack.   The concrete was cut and removed.  Thank goodness the foundation was fine.  When that was done, there was still a cavern going back another three to four feet on the left side.  It was all dry.  The cement was hanging in the air.   Unbelievable!   The wire mesh was laid and the concrete was pushed back in the cavern.   I'm so happy a large section was removed.  I would never have known that.  I waited four days for the concrete to cure before backing my vehicle in the garage.   The only negative is some of the concrete poured was spilt on the stonework in front of the garage.   The cost to have all this work done was $1,600.00  The contractors name is Gino Staffieri of R-CON Contracting Inc.  They did the same work on Walton last month.  I also called the person on Walton and wanted to view the work.   Gino can be contacted at (416) 616-2081 
What may have caused this to happen?   I think it may have been a combination of things that resulted in the movement.  
  1. Poor construction
  2. Wire mesh rusted out
  3. Water went in between the floor and the wall causing the soil / gravel to settle further.  This may have been caused by washing down the garage floor over the years and the water seeped in between the floor and the wall.  I think the previous owners never had a drain pipe attached to the downspout.  The water may have also backed up in the garage.  The floor just gave out over time.
  4. Weather - frost heaving    

  
Wild Grape Vines

This month it was reported to staff about the "Wild Grape Vines" taking over park vegetation.  If you have any of this weed in your yard strangling your trees or growing over your fence and bushes remove it ASAP. The trees / bushes underneath them will soon die off. The slideshow below will show you a before and after removal shots of the wild grape vines at Atkinson Park.  

REFER TO SLIDESHOW BELOW
 
Community Mailboxes    The footings have been set.  It looks like this location across from Wilson Park, located at Attridge Drive & Moorcrest, is being planned for the new style community mailboxes.  I'm presuming the residents on Moorcrest will be using this location as well as those on Attridge to pick up their mail.  

Joint Operations Center

View the Slideshow Below

The plan is to add a monthly picture to the slideshow from Wilson Park so you can see the progress of this 24 million dollar project. 
Do Not Feed The Waterfowl  Our request to replace the DO NOT FEED THE WATERFOWL signs has been implemented on the Nokia "Tim Jones" trail.  This was another reason why it was suggested to the director at the Park & Recreation Committee to test the new signs for our parks and trails before implementing them this year.  I was informed then that other towns are using them so they should be ok.  All I can say, hopefully the manufacturer has a guarantee on cracking and fading.  Even so, our town would still have labour costs to remove and replace the signs.     

The charts / graphs for
Aurora Homes Sales Statisitcs
have been updated. 
Click the home below to open a new window.



To view ALL the homes currently for sale within Valhalla click here.
This link will only be available for a few weeks. 

 
OPINION  Mavrinac Lands

As you probably know, our Town has purchased the Mavrinac lands. This was a big election issue. Residents surrounding the lands are celebrating. What precedent has this made on our town? Do the Highland Gate residents feel they will have a chance?  Was this a good investment for our town?    For what its worth, the following is my opinion.

Did our town make a good purchase? YES, if used correctly to benefit ALL residents of our town and not just those surrounding the land. The residents surrounding the land, from my understanding, want the land to be used as a Park. Others in our town want the land to be used as additional sport facilities. If I am not mistaken, studies were completed by outside consultants and staff stating there was more then enough parks and sports facilities within that area. Our town will receive ZERO tax dollars for a park and/or sports facility. Plus it adds additional overhead costs to maintain it each year. To benefit ALL residents of our town, I’m suggesting the land be used to generate tax dollars. It is my opinion our town would be wise to create a plan of subdivision of affordable homes. Example; semi detached and/or town homes. A few lots could be given to Habitat for Humanity. In that way, our town would be providing an affordable housing initiative that other municipalities may follow. The costs to create the plan of subdivision and to sell off the other lots would more then pay for the land and the giveaway. Also, all these people purchasing those homes, including the residents of the Habitat for Humanity homes will be paying property taxes each and every year like we are. In this way, ALL residents of Aurora would benefit but there would also be numerous pluses to our Town and others. Aurora would receive a lot of good media attention. I’m sure you will all agree that would be a welcome change. Will this happen?  NO … I’m sure you know the reasons why.

August 2015 Town Events
Monday August 3rd    Civic Holiday

Concerts in the Park   Wednesday Augst 5th, 12th, 19th, and 26th

Theatre in the Park  Friday July 10th and Saturday July 11th

Collection Schedule: 
Thursday August 6th  Garbage, Green Bin, and Recycling
Thursday August 13th Yard Waste, Green Bin, and Recycling
Thursday August 20th Garbage, Green Bin, and Recycling
Thursday August 27th Yard Waste, Green Bin, and Recycling


Volunteering
How many hours have you volunteered this month?   Try something you may enjoy doing. 

Until next month, keep safe, keep laughing, stay healthy, and say hello to everyone you meet. Do what you can to help those around you.  There is always someone worse off than you.   How fortunate most of us are.  
Cheers, Eric 
Web site: www.McCartney.me  



 
 
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