Vallhalla Newsletter September 2015

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Although beautiful, it sure pains me to see the leaves falling for a number of reasons.  The weather in September ... fantastic! 

The background picture this month is a picture of a spider web during one of those misty mornings.     

Crime Report
Please note; because you are being informed monthly of the crime within our area, you may think Valhalla is a high crime neighbourhood. Really it is not compared to other areas within Aurora and other municipalities. We seem to have sudden spurts now and then. The graffiti portion lasts a year or two when either they move on or “usually” young adults grow out of it, ...  The less crime we have within our area the better for numerous reasons; i.e. home/car insurance rates, overhead costs to our town and us, home/area property value, beauty within our area, ...
Theft from Vehicle -  Burgon Place Sept. 25th
Utter Threats to person - Twelve Oaks Sept. 12th
Street Check - Qty 4 Old Yonge in last 30 days.
Traffic Stop - Qty 9 Old Yonge in last 30 days. 
Fraud - other means - Hollingshead  (In law, fraud is deliberate deception to secure unfair or unlawful gain.)
Breaking & Entering - Batson Drive Sept. 24th
Community Policing - Street Check -Mark & Cedar Sept. 17th
Community Policing - Street Check - Valhalla Court Sept. 21st  
Over the last month, YRP have stoped 48 Vehicles at St. John's / Yonge St.  

Over the last month I have been in discussions with the YRP on different issues conerning our area. The YRP know we have our newsletter but one detective suggested the following;
Perhaps you can include some Crime Prevention Tips from the officer in your newsletter and/or a Virtual Community Watch can be created with your subscribers similar to our pilot project in Georgina - https://www.facebook.com/CWKeswick?_rdr=p

The following was my response;
In previous newsletters over the years there have been links and suggestions for resident / subscribers regarding tips on crime prevention including vandalism, graffiti, … The same when residents call / e-mail me directly.  Maybe I should have it in the newsletter all the time as another menu option at the top.

The Virtual Community Watch is good but the information can be too late to be received and you also require a Facebook account.  Depending on how you have your Facebook notifications setup you may not even be notified.   It’s also important to look at the demographics and what people are connected to. Not everyone has a Facebook account and view it daily. Also, there is so much advertising on these social sites it is putting people off. The millennial generation is using instant messaging and other types of social networks. Facebook is OLD BOY stuff. You can be in the next room calling them but they preferred to be texted. They want their information quick and to the point. If you are not texting them back within a few minutes, they move on.

A lot of the Greatest and Silent generation do not have accounts at all. The Baby Boomer and “X” generation are changing constantly. My niece is a young Police Officer and uses no Social Media. .

How many of us have moved from Rogers Cable / Internet to Bell Fiber just over the last year? It is now available within the Valhalla area. When this happens, all those efforts of local volunteer cable programming are commendable but Bell Fiber customers would not even be able to view it. It maybe better for YRP / Georgina to post their Rogers video on there own YouTube Channel that is free …. but then again, you get advertising.

Thank you again for your time and suggestions.

Take this link to report community concerns (traffic, graffitti, disorderly use, dumping) to York Regional Police: https://onlinereporting.yrp.ca/communityconcerns.html


Reported to our town with google links: 
1. Speed sign in front of 22 Twelve Oaks I presume has been borrowed. You may want to look at others along this street / area. 
2. There is a skid in the middle of the sidewalk at the front of the walkway between Closs Square and Moorcrest. Located beside 46 Closs Square. The contractor that but the pool in on Closs Sq backing onto Old Yonge left about five skids by the road. Personally I’m surprised they were not on the road. Its possible the young adults took one and put it down at this end of Closs Sq.
3. In front of 80 Old Yonge a branch was torn down that crossed the sidewalk. 
4. The Streetlight at the corner of Moorcrest and Batson is very dim at night. Looks like it is trying to come on but does not flicker.
5. The steetlight across from 24 Attridge is out. 
6. I was informed by a subscriber that it is becoming very dangerous to drive the section between Batson/Old Yonge to Batson/Spruce. From what I was told, there is always a car parked there and often on both sides of the road. They stated that our bylaw staff often pass without ticketing the vehicle. I know there is no parking on the NORTH side of Batson within that section but I think parking is allowed on the south side. 





The slideshow above displays pictures of my dog Bro a day or two after he was neutered this month plus one when he was 7 weeks old.   I'm certain a lot of my neighbours are thrilled that I finally got him neutered. LOL   Bro was required to have the Elizabethan collar on him for seven days.  He healed quickly, so I took it off him after five days.   Now ask me how many things he had knocked over.   The collar should come with a warning tag.   Bro's vet stated he should not be neutered until he reaches 1.5 years.  Really, I said.  Bro's vet said it will make a male dog obtain more masculine features and build up his immunities.  Bro turned a year old just about seven weeks ago.  I felt it was time because he seemed to be getting much larger in every area; "if you know what I mean."  I'm surprised he could walk.  I was told he should calm down about six months after this.  I think it maybe a few years.    

Don't get me wrong, Bro is a very good dog but he wants to greet and play with everyone he meets.  On a scale of 1 to 10 for activity, Bro is 11.   Bro won't be ready for the Therapy Dog Program for sometime.  But I can tell you, after the operation, he is about ten pounds lighter.!  ;)  It's hard to believe its been a year already since I brought him home.    

Tree Trimming / Graffiti Update / Community Mailboxes

PowerStream - please refer to the slideshow below.
You may recall, we had numerous power fluxes and outages within our area many moons ago.  We worked with PowerStream directly to resolve and monitor these problems.  Our area has been very much improved.  A lot of new equipment and transfering has been added including the spraying of lines and the replacement of transformerers and connections.  One of the items still outstanding was the prunning of tree branches touching the hydro lines.  Trees that grow near power lines can be dangerous and cause power outages. Trees are involved in approximately 30 percent of all power outages.   PowerStream has followed through and have sent their contractor to remove the branches within our area.   I'm very pleased. 

Graffitti - please refer to the slideshow below.
Our By-law department sent the following e-mails on Sept. 1st & 2nd
The graffiti has been removed from the mailbox in the area of 86 Old Yonge Street and the fence across from 21 Old Yonge Street. Bell and Canada Post have been notified to remove the graffiti from their locations.

Good afternoon Eric,
The graffiti has been removed from the Canada Post Boxes on Closs Square.
Regards, 

I thought great ... a few things off the list.  While walking my dog that evening I thought I would walkby the locations.  Unfortunatly the contractor working for Canada Post and Bell must have been in a rush because they either did not do the job or it was performed poorly.  This was reported to By-law with pictures again.  By-law infomed the contractor again.   I was then e-mailed again that the job was completed.  The contractor cleaned the front of these boxes but I guess its not his job to clean the sides.  Wonder if they are paid by piece work.   

Community Mailboxes
It was suggested months ago but a concern arrose again from a subscriber regarding community mailboxes within Valhalla this month. I e-mailed one of our councillors suggesting that Canada Post consider locating some of the new Canada Post Community Mailboxes for those that currently have door to door delivery, at the entrances to the connection walkways similar to the Closs Square/Moorcrest connection walkway.  In my opinion, it would be safer for residents to obtain their mail and there would probably be less issues with having the community mailboxes abutting a residents property. One of our councillors stated he would forward the suggestion to Canada Post.  

Are you ready?   This season brings a lot of wet weather.  Ensure the water is flowing well away from your foundation.   Check your eaves troughs to ensure they are clean and clear.  
Fire Hydrants
After speaking and reporting to Town Staff the streets within our area where Fire Hydrants had not been painted, the contactor came back to complete the job.  Although some of our neighbours felt they missed a few areas on their own hydrant and reported it.  (Slideshow below)   

Speed Cushion Pilot Project for Old Yonge continued ... plus additional streetlights

Last month I had received the following message from Councillor Abel.
I'll check into it, and get back to you.
Thanks for the heads up.
I did inquire last week, so it's good some info is being communicated.
Regards
John Abel 

On September 19th, after receiving no reply I thought I would try again. The following e-mail was sent. 
Just wondering, did you have a chance to check into the speed cushions for Old Yonge? Please refer to your e-mail below. FYI: There was another major accident where all emergency response was required at Old Yonge and Twelve Oaks last week. What can I say ... Also, I'm just reporting to the town, a speed sign has been removed. Any thoughts of having the speed limit reduced to 30km in all subdivision areas of town. Remove ALL the 40km signs and just put one large 30km sign with a disclosure at ALL entrances to the subdivisions.
BTW: Did you notice how Yonge Street was bottled up last week at Yonge and Wellington? Not sure why the construction / testing on both the north and south of Wellington could not be done during none rush hours.
Have a good one
Cheers,
Eric

After receiving no response from the above e-mail I called Councillor Abel and left a voice mail message on Monday Sept. 28th. 

The following e-mail was sent Monday Sept. 28th to ALL Councillors.

Dear Councillors:
The residents of Old Yonge about two / three years ago completed a custom survey directed by staff for traffic calming / speed cushions. The reasons are numerous. From the resident custom surveys returned (98% returned), all but one resident on Old Yonge agreed that some traffic calming measure was required including speed cushions.  In my opinion, the volume of traffic should not be the only consideration for the pilot project.
  1. From past traffic volume studies, the daily traffic volume on Old Yonge is far greater then what this road was built for.
  2. This road has an incline from St. John to Twelve Oaks on the north end and another incline from Batson to Closs Square plus a curve that creates a hidden intersection. Dangerous to exit when cars are traveling well above the speed limit. It just takes one collision to crush someone's life.
  3. According to staff, Old Yonge came in sixth place for the pilot project. The average daily traffic volume was 2,651 veh/day. I’m pretty certain that one of those days during testing the region had Old Yonge blocked off at St. John’s. An e-mail I received from staff on Nov. 11th, 2013 then stated the following; Last time we did a traffic volume count and speed study on Old Yonge Street the average daily traffic was 3,447 vehicle per day, …
  4. According to the YRP Crime Report, just over the last month, there have been six traffic stops posted on the crime map site for Old Yonge.
  5. Two weeks ago there was another accident at Twelve Oaks and Old Yonge that required ALL emergency vehicles. Lost count of the ones at the Old Yonge / St. John intersection. Some accidents are not reported.
  6. Residents especially children / elderly have come to numerous close calls over the years.
  7. One resident on Old Yonge told me he had his car hit THREE times over the years from just backing out of his driveway. He moved this year.
  8. Residents are concerned for their young children playing …
  9. School buses for ALL the schools use this route from St. John’s Sideroad daily.
  10. School bus routes have been revised this year. At one time they would come within the subdivision to pick up children.  Residents must now take their children down to Old Yonge where the buses now stop. Is this safer? There are going to be additional safety concerns if our sidewalk snow ploughing will be at the same level of service. Example: A neighbour a few doors from me has FOUR children. One girl goes to one school and another girl goes to another. They are now a TWO different stops on Old Yonge. Each day one of the parents has two walk them both to the stops carting a set of twin boys.  Imagine this in the winter.
  11. The car dealerships often use this road daily for testing cars that are in for repairs and to sell new cars to consumers since they would be making right turns consistently until they return to the dealership.
  12. LIGHTING: Residents have complained about the lighting on Old Yonge for years. YRP suggested it may also reduce the vandalism that was / is taking place. We made recommendations to staff. Staff hired a consult. The consultant agreed with the five locations we suggested but did not agree with the one location YRP suggested lighting should be.
  13. Staff stated the additional lighting would be installed once council approved the installation of the LED street lighting. I am now told that will not happen. Is this right? NO POLES are needed to be installed or electrical lines. Our town would just require approval by Power Stream to install the lighting on current electrical poles. If I heard correctly, because the way the contract has been written, staff are now required to budget the five / six LED lights / arms for next year. When I was speaking to staff they were also including poles until I mentioned the poles / electrical is already there.  Again, they would just required approval from PowerStream to install the lights on their poles.

In conclusion, for the safety and peace of mind of your constituents within this area of Aurora, who have been requesting these items for well over a decade, please allow Old Yonge to be the sixth pilot for speed cushions and allow staff to install the lighting that has been recommended by the consultants study and the YRP.

Councillor Abel called me back and left a message.  The following was aproved by Councillor Abel to publish in our newsletter. 
Councillor Abel stated; “Once the first five streets of the pilot are completed he will recommend that the next five streets on the list be put up for consideration."

The following message was received from Councillor Thompson:
Eric,
Thanks for bringing this to our attention. I'll be sure to bring it up during tonight's meeting and let you know the outcome.
Regards,
Michael Thompson

I'm presumming there is a lot on all the councillors plates since I have not heard back from Councillor Thompson at this time.  I did send an e-mail to him October 1st requesting an update.

As you can tell within our Newsletters, for some reason only specific councillors reply to "MY" e-mails.  Hopefully they are assisting and replying to yours.   Not sure why this happening  ... but I am happy regarding the Councillors that do take the time to assist and inform us.  These are the people I would consider if for some reason I had to vote again.   BTW: Is that not one of their jobs? 



While cleaning up Craddock Park after the soccer tournament last week I noticed this.   A log from the ice storm was rolled out to the field.  Not sure if it was used for a photo shoot for the teams or just some people messing around.  The town was notified.  You may also notice ALL but one garbage can has now been removed. 
St. Andrews College / Yonge Bus Stop 
 Please refer to the slideshow above.

As you may recall,  we informed York Region Transit (YRT) the bus stop at St. Andrews College was moving down the slope towards the field and why this maybe occurring.  Well, it seems that YRT contractors have started working on this site. The problem … they are constructing it the same way!

The following was sent to our YRT contact:
Hi -----:
Hope you are having a great summer.
Noticed over the last few weeks your contractors have been doing some work at stop #2620.
Attached is a picture from this morning. It looks like your contractor is getting ready to pour cement.
In my opinion, this stop is going to have the very same problem of moving back towards the field again if proper footings are not placed.
If they are going to leave it this way, they should think about putting a wire mesh down that goes back over to the sidewalk. It may help to keep it in place.
It looks to me that the powers at be just dumped more dirt and stone. What is going to hold all this weight back?
Just thought I should bring it to your attention.
Cheers,
Eric

The following was received Sept. 9th that was c.c. to some YRT staff.
Eric,
The contractor got a little ahead of us on this one.
We are working with our contractor on a construction method to prevent the issue from reoccurring.
Feel free to contact me with any questions, comments or concerns.
Thank you

The next day YRT Transportation Services was waiting at the stop to ensure the contractor did not continue. At this time, the stop has been moved and the sidewalk has been re-installed. That should save us 10K – 15K.


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. 
Community Mailboxes Installations     
It was brought to my attention on a few of the location where the new Community Mailboxes maybe installed.  I sent my concerns to one of our Councillors and was wondering if Canada Post considered the connection walkways as a Community Mailbox location.   Why?   It is a safe location for people to walk and obtain their mail.  Also, they would not be putting any resident off by installing a community mailbox at the side of their property.  This is not a new idea.   We have a Community Mailbox on Closs Square within the connection walkway between Closs and Moorcrest for years.  Could this not be done for other Community Mailboxes for Batson, Walton, Spruce and other locations throughout our town?  The Councillor stated he will let Canada Post know.   FYI: Never heard back. 

From the markings on the sidewalk it looks to me thus far that there will be a mailbox at the end of Moorcrest on Yonge.  Also, on the very east end of Craddock park on Batson.  I presume Canada post thinks people within the area will walk from their home to obtain their mail.  This rarely happens.   Residents stop their car in front of the mailbox   Can you imagine stopping just at these two locations in the winter?   Hope our Town speaks up for our residents. 
F R E E !    Costco Pumpkin Pie to ALL my current and past clients.
Pllease order before October 6th for October 8th & 9th delivery or pickup.
Delivery available within York Region only. One pie per householed.
Thanksgiving Day is Monday October 12th.  
If you wish, your pie can be given to our local food pantry. 

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. 

 
Town Project Reports / Eric's challenge getting curb repairs completed. 

LED Street Lighting:
If you want to see what your street lights may look like in the future and the cost click the link to the town report below. I have no idea why our town does not standardize streetlight. The savings would be in the tens of thousands. Instead every subdivision within our town is different costing our town thousands to maintain.

Joint Operation Center / Aurora Family Leisure Complex progress report …

Speed Cushions – Consultant results – costs …

Over the years, we have reported numerous infrastructure problems within Valhalla. Sidewalks, curbs, … we have always been told by our Town we will need to budget for it and it will be done next year. These problems get worse each year when the snowplough removes another section. Then we pay for the storm sewers to be cleaned. BTW: The one reported clogged still has not been fixed. How many months and the wet weather is approaching.

I thought I would try again, regarding the curbs and boulevard that was dug up but never repaired properly beside my home from the construction of two infill homes two to three years ago.
I sent an e-mail July 8th.
The following was Town Staff reply:
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,
Ok, why am I not surprised? This is another example why town staff should have an infrastructure contractor project inspector to ensure work is done to our towns standards before signing off on the infill project and returning the deposit. I have endured this for “X” years and had to fixed up town property the best I could.

Did not hear back from staff so I thought I would send a reminder Sept. 19th.
The following is staff response: Hi Eric, I’ve followed up with Engineering on that curb repair, waiting for a response.

Wow … I hope the rest of the residents that live beside or across infill homes are not experiencing the same problems.
Now this request from staff to increase funds for Curbs / Sidewalk was submitted to council ... you never know ... something maybe done ... Click the link below for the report. 


Garage Sale Signs

They are ALL back.  They are FREE for you to borrow including the frames.  If you plan on having a Garage Sale you may want to view my published article that has been plagiarized numerous times. 
Here is the link -> Garage Sales
Happy Thanksgiving and have a fun Halloween

The slideshow below may give you some ideas.
October 2015 Town Events
Tuesday October 6th   Newmarket Aurora Riding Federal Election ALL Candidates Event put on by both Chambers. Newmarket Theatre 505 Pickering Crescent Newmarket, ON Start: Tuesday, October 6, 2015 at 6:00 PM  End: Tuesday, October 6, 2015 at 9:00 PM
                                As a member of the Aurora Chamber I submitted a question for the all Candidates Event and received the following e-mail; Eric,The formal part of the debate has been planned already with questions. The public may also have a chance to ask questions if time allows.  Just thought it was strange since Chamber Members are organizing this event ... that a questions had already been planned without considering them when the event was just announced.  My question; Considering the unrest and turmoil throughout the world, why do you think your leader would be the best voice for Canadians compared to the other Canadian political party leaders?  In my opinion, it would have been nice if Chamber members could vote on the questions that will be asked that may relate to our business.  
 
Thursday October 8th    Colours of Fall Concert

Monday October 12th    Thanksgiving

Saturday October 24th   E-waste and the Town Haunted Forest

Saturday October 31st   Halloween  NOTE: it will also be Daylight Saving Time.  Turn your clocks back one hour and change those 9 volt batteries in your smoke / carbon monoxide detectors. 

Collection Schedule: 
Thursday Oct. 1st  Garbage, Green Bin, and Recycling
Thursday Oct. 8th Yard Waste, Green Bin, and Recycling
Thursday Oct. 15th Garbage, Green Bin, and Recycling
Thursday Oct. 22nd Yard Waste, Green Bin, and Recycling
Thursday Oct. 29th  Garbage, Green Bin, and Recycling


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

The following message was sent to our Town Councillors on Sept. 27th;
Dear Councillors;

I was honoured to be asked and to attend a celebration tonight for the Region of York Branch Canadian Red Cross, celebrating 115 years within our region. The celebration was held at The Municipality of York Region Headquarters. (The first branch of the Canadian Red Cross was created in our area in 1896. The branch was chartered in 1900.)

As a resident of Aurora and long time volunteer for the Region of York Canadian Red Cross, I was personally disappointed that not one person from my town elected officials could attend this celebration to represent my Town.

FYI: Most all other municipalities had their mayors, deputy mayor, councillors, fire departments, police,… represent their town / city by saying a few words and thanking the Red Cross for being there for their residents and presenting them with a citation.  

Hopefully this will never happen again to another volunteer organization that asks for nothing to assist Aurora residents in their time of need.

Sincerely,

Eric McCartney

After sending this e-mail I realized that OUR town was the only municipality NOT represented.  From my understanding some suggestions/recommendations have been made by two councillors so this will not happen in the future.  I just found it difficult between eight councillors and numerous staff that not one person could attend this celebration for a ½ hour during municipal presentations. Every municipality that attended was given a certificate.  Our area was the FIRST in Canada to have a Red Cross Charter. That is really something to be proud of.  I really don’t think our Town understands how the Red Cross helps Aurorans on a daily bases.


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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