Large portion of budget on hard services
Mayor's Report
By Marolyn Morrison

As mentioned in a previous column, council members and Town staff are currently preparing our 2008 Town budget.

This is a lengthy process that involves all facets of our community. Each year, the largest per cent of our budget is spent through our public works and engineering department.

The public works and engineering department are responsible for the design, construction and maintenance of Town roads, storm sewers, storm water management, streetlights, sidewalks, trails, paths, parks, sport fields, streetscape and development design standards and assurance.

Each day, residents are using the services that this department provides; especially this past week with all the snow that we have received. With more than 744 kilometres of roads requiring maintenance, the Town of Caledon is a very large and diverse municipality. I would like to provide you with a brief update on some major capital programs that the public works and engineering department have been working on.

Over the current term of council, the following projects have been completed: McEwan Drive East, completion of road works and sidewalks (completion of the roadway and sidewalks to Commercial Road); Trailway bridge re-decking (re-decking of three Trailway bridges near Inglewood); new playground equipment for Goodfellow Park and Steven Drive Parkette; Inglewood Tennis Court and Caledon East Tennis Court resurfacing; Water Audit System at Edelweiss and Caledon East Soccer Complexes; restoration of a temporary cell in the Pillsworth Storm Water Management Facility; Walker Road sidewalk; Caledon Trailway bridge over Highway 10; the replacement of the Trail bridge in Cataract Park; replacement of Cheltenham Ball Park backstop; Bolton Tennis Court reconstruction and the repair of the Belfountain Tennis Court; the addition of two Bocce Ball Courts for Potts Park; a Multi-Purpose Pad for Valleywood; and the completion of the permanent Skateboard Park in Bolton.

There were also numerous road hard surfacing programs carried out in 2007 and 2006. In 2007 many kilometres of roads in Caledon were improved.

The Bolton Arterial Route (BAR) is one the Town's largest projects. This is an extremely important project for our residents and businesses. The Town has awarded a contract for the construction of Stage 1 (Coleraine between Mayfield Road and Healey Road) of the BAR, but the road works had to be deferred to spring 2008 due to delays in relocating the existing utilities.

Stage 2 (Coleraine from Healey Road to King Street) of the BAR is scheduled to be tendered in February 2008 with construction starting in 2008. Council is in full support of moving this project along as quickly as possible.

In addition the Town is partnering with the Region of Peel during their sewer works in the village of Inglewood to renew McLaughlin Road and the local streets within the core area.

More projects are underway and many more are near completion. For an up-to-date list of these capital projects, please visit the Town of Caledon Web site at www.caledon.ca

It is often a daunting task to balance the needs and wants of our residents and businesses during the budget process but we will continue to keep you informed and work hard to make Caledon the best place to live, work and raise a family.