Public meeting to discuss work plan projects

Caledon council instructed staff last Tuesday to organize a public meeting to review the proposed Caledon Community Work Plan for 2006 to 2010.

A draft of the work plan was presented at a council workshop Feb. 20 at which time further refinements were made. The result was 63 individual objectives classified into 12 themes: environment, economic development, governance, growth management, intergovernmental relations, land use planning, parks, recreation, roads, settlement areas, town-wide beautification and trails.

The six projects under environment include expanding Caledon's environmental commitment; energy efficient operation of facilities, roads and lands; alternative sustainable energy sources for lands, facilities and fleet; creating an environmental report card for Caledon; promoting tree planting and stewardship; and promoting water conservation.

The five economic development projects include reviewing and updating the tourism study; creating an economic development committee; developing an economic development business plan; developing economic niche markets; and promoting expansion of high speed Internet infrastructure.

Under governance, the five projects include improving communication with the community; increasing affordable housing in Caledon; developing a long-term affordable residential tax plan; maintaining Caledon's debt-free status; and completing an inventory of land holdings, identifying surplus lands.

There's also five projects under growth management including investigating opportunities for development of employment lands; completing the South Albion/Bolton Community Plan; investigating opportunities to establish a planning framework to manage long-term growth in the white belt; establishing appropriate phasing and monitoring to ensure moderate growth that is environmentally sustainable; monitoring provincial land use policies for opportunities for appropriate growth and appropriate development.

The eight intergovernmental relations projects include advocating for improved/expanded GO service for Caledon; seeking opportunities to bring mass transit to Caledon; working with Peel region to provide water for the southwest side of Caledon; pressuring Canada Post to improve rural mail service delivery; improving communications with Hydro One; seeking opportunities to partner with school boards for joint use of facilities; improving communication with the conservation authorities; and working with the Ministry of Transportation to encourage completion of the Highway 10 project through Caledon village.

The three projects under land use planning include encouraging mixed housing projects in settlement areas; developing a strategy for diversification in rural areas; and reviewing and updating Official Plan Amendment 179 - agricultural and rural policy.

There are 10 projects listed under parks. They include implementing an adopt-a-park program; providing age appropriate play equipment in parks; constructing a hard court surface in Valleywood; partnering with agencies and the community for conservation authority action sites; encouraging development of recreation facilities in villages and hamlets in partnership with school boards and other public sector agencies; providing indoor recreation facilities; encouraging use of recreation facilities in offpeak periods to promote physical fitness; assisting the community in fundraising for the skatepark; providing affordable outdoor recreation facilities; and increasing accessibility opportunities for disabled citizens.

Roads has the largest numbers of projects with 12. These include conducting a road networks study for all major connector roads; implementing a rural road traffic management study; improving traffic calming in villages; implementing a roadside debris strategy; continuing to improve road and ditch drainage; improving rural site line triangles; implementing a salt management strategy for winter maintenance; completing the Bolton arterial route north of King Street; improving street lighting where appropriate; creating a plan to connect rural subdivision roads to paved rural roads; developing a road renewal strategy for older rural subdivisions and older urban areas; and encouraging safe cycling on Town roads.

The four projects listed under settlement areas include completing the Alton village study; completing Cheltenham village study; developing a Caledon village renewal plan; and rehabilitating and reconstructing infrastructure in Inglewood.

For town-wide beautification, the three projects include initiating a community improvement plan to assist in the revitalization of village and rural service centre cores; assisting the community with a beautification program; and developing entrance features for settlement areas as part of the site plan approval process.

The final two projects fell under the trails category. These included updating the trail master plan; and improving trailway maintenance.