Vacuum Leaf Program is moving ahead
This has been a challenging season for the Vacuum Leaf Program with having three disruptive snow storms during the program. You would have received a colour coded notice card in the mail in the early fall with the pick-up dates for your area. Green and Yellow have now been completed. Crews have now moved into the Blue Zone, which included the Mineola’s and parts of Port Credit. They are working diligently to get the program completed.
I would like to thank our residents for their patience and understanding during this challenging season.
Stephen
Park People is working with the City to bring their Walk in the Park program to older adults and seniors living in Mississauga. They currently are accepting applications for community walk leaders with a working deadline of January 3rd.
Full details about the program, volunteer role, online application and associated training can be found on our webpage. Parks staff will be posting in city-owned facilities.
To help get the message out, it would be greatly appreciated if you could take a few minutes to share this opportunity widely amongst your networks. I
Jill Kelly
Project Manager | Park People
jkelly@parkpeople.ca | office: 416-583-5776 | cell: 416-899-5439
City Builder’s Lab | 401 Richmond St. W., Studio 119, Toronto, ON M5V 3A8
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Climate change is one of the most pressing issues of our time. We have already experienced the impacts of climate change with increased flooding, ice storms and some of the hottest summers on record, but we are taking action! Together with my colleagues on Council, we recently approved the City’s Climate Change Action Plan. It contains ambitious yet practical steps that will help us combat climate change over the next 10 years.
The plan has two main goals – 1. Reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions 80 per cent by 2050 with the long-term goal of becoming a net-zero community; and 2. Increase resilience and the capacity of the city to withstand and respond to current and future climate events
In total, the Plan contains 21 key actions that are grouped under five ‘action pathways’:
- Buildings and Clean Energy
- Resilient and Green Infrastructure
- Accelerating Discovery and Innovation
- Low-Emissions Mobility
- Engagement and Partnerhips
You can stay up to date on our progress by following @MilivingGreen on Twitter, @SaugaGreen on Facebook or by visiting theclimatechangeproject.ca.
URL: https://yoursay.mississauga.ca/climate-change
Please be advised that staff are currently changing over the trucks to start up the Vacuum Leaf Collection Program (VLCP) tomorrow. Crews will continue their in the YELLOW zone and then move forward through as many zones as possible, depending on the weather.
The process will be slow due to possible frozen and wet leaves however, crews will do their best to collect as many leaves as possible.
I will provide an update to you indicating how the program is progressing during the week.
Stephen
Borrow a hotspot device to connect a computer, phone or tablet to wireless Internet for free. Use your library card to borrow a hotspot for up to 7 days at a time.
Hotspots are available at Central Library, Cooksville Library, Frank McKechnie Library, Malton Library, Mississauga Valley Library and Woodlands Library.
Use your library card to use a Chromebook or laptop. They can be used anywhere inside the library. They must be returned 30 minutes before closing or late fees will be charged.
Chromebooks are available at Cooksville Library, Malton Library and Sheridan Library.
Laptops are available at Central Library, Frank McKechnie Libary and Woodlands Library.
If you do not have a Mississauga Library card, you can get a virtual library card to access digital items such as ebooks, audiobooks, movies, music, magazines, newspapers and more.
Winter weather continues to interfere with the City’s Vacuum Leaf Collection Program (VLCP). The City has successfully completed the first sweep of collection throughout qualified neighbourhoods, but this weekend’s snowstorm has required us to postpone a second collection. At this time, equipment and staff must continue to be dedicated to snow clearing operations across the City.
The situation is challenging. We understand that managing yard waste on residential properties is difficult and arduous, but snow covered, frozen or excessively wet leaves will damage City equipment. This week and next, weather conditions are being closely assessed to determine if a second collection is at all possible.
We are hopeful for warmer temperatures and no additional precipitation in immediate days ahead, but in order for the City to conduct a second collection, weather conditions must be appropriate. If the weather conditions are right, the City will resume the VLCP.
Our Citizen Contact Centre continues to be available to residents for updates on the status of the VLCP. For information, please call 3-1-1.
At this time, please consider discarding leaves via the Region of Peel yard waste collection program, which continues until December 12 City-wide.
MiWay will continue to accept printed tickets until April 30, 2020 – four months longer than initially planned – in response to feedback from customers who requested additional time to use their remaining tickets. There are no refunds or exchanges on MiWay tickets.
In February 2019, MiWay launched a “Go Paperless with PRESTO” campaign to inform the public that
Tickets have been part of Mississauga’s transit system for decades so there may be many residents with small amounts that they’ve kept on hand. By extending the deadline to April 30, 2020, MiWay customers will have had 15 months to use up their remaining tickets.
Many customers have already made the transition to PRESTO, as it is the easiest way to pay a fare on MiWay. PRESTO is less expensive than the cash fare and you can buy or load a card online, by phone or at various PRESTO Service Locations across the GTA, including 29 Shoppers Drug Mart locations in Mississauga.
December 3, 2019
Please find below an update on our winter operations related to the event that began Sunday December 1, 2019:
- Based on the accumulations of 10-12 cm received across the City and the snow stopping at 1500 December 2, 2019, our service levels will be as follows:
- Priority Roads, priority sidewalks and bus stops – 0300 December 3, 2019
- Secondary Roads – 1500 December, 3, 2019
- Priority roads have been plowed and salted;
- Priority sidewalks have been completed at least twice with some touch up work continuing this morning;
- Bus stops have been completed at least once however, contractors are being called back in for works that have not been completed as outlined in the contract;
- Windrow program has been making good progress and should be completed this afternoon;
- Secondary plowing and salting has also progressed well and will be finished in advance of our above noted level of service.
Staff will be out today checking all routes to ensure they are safe for our residents. A reminder to our secondary road residents that the plowing may not achieve bare pavement, as per our Council approved service levels.
The forecast shows small amounts of snow for the next few days and then warming temperatures and rain Sunday and Monday. Staff will assess conditions later this week and early next week to see if it will be possible to restart the Vacuum Leaf Collection Program (VLCP).
November 22, 2019
This week, Mississauga City Council unanimously passed a resolution strongly objecting to the proposed demolition of the existing Queen Elizabeth Way (QEW) heritage bridge that spans the Credit River just east of Mississauga Road.
“This was designated by the Province of Ontario as heritage. With one quick stroke of a pen they are disregarding not only this heritage structure, but are also opening the door where all heritage structures are at risk across the Province of Ontario. If this is the first, what is next? Are any heritage buildings or structures safe” said Councillor Stephen Dasko.
“Council was informed by the Ministry of Transportation without notice or consultation with the community, they have changed course on the Credit River bridge project. Instead of rehabilitating one Mississauga’s unique heritage features, the plan is now to demolish and rebuild from scratch. This bridge is an important part of our City’s history and we must preserve and protect it,” said Mayor Bonnie Crombie. I have sent a letter to Premier Ford to ensure the province is aware of our serious concerns. We want to work with them to find a solution that preserves this important piece of our City’s history. You can’t put a price on heritage.”
The bridge is currently listed on the City’s Heritage Register for architectural reasons and because it is part of cultural heritage landscape. It is also identified as a Provincial Heritage Property of Significance and included on the Ontario Heritage Bridge listing. It is 840 feet long, was originally constructed in 1934 and expanded in 1960. It is owned by the Government of Ontario, Ministry of Transportation. During a recent public information meeting, held on November 7, the Ministry of Transportation advised they are taking an alternative approach to life cycle asset management and will be replacing the bridge rather than rehabilitating.
“As Chair of Mississauga’s Heritage Advisory Committee, I am extremely disappointed at the direction the Ontario Ministry of Transportation and Infrastructure Ontario are taking in wanting to now demolish the QEW/Credit River bridge. It’s like saying, we know you’re old, we know you need work, but you’re going to take too much time, effort and money to fix so it’s easier if we just throw you away and start all over again. That’s shameful and it’s very frustrating,” said Ward 11 Councillor George Carlson and Chair of Mississauga’s Heritage of Advisory Committee. “This bridge has been identified as deserving of heritage preservation, why that is being ignored is baffling to me. There’s a reason we have heritage inventories – to preserve and protect our history. Once something like this bridge is gone, it’s gone forever – we can never get it back. That’s why we need to take a strong stance and ensure that we’re doing absolutely everything we can to preserve it.”
In order to demolish the existing bridge, the Minister of Heritage, Sport, Tourism and Culture Industries, the Honourable Lisa MacLeod, must provide consent. If consent is granted by the Minister, the City of Mississauga is requesting that an application for the demolition be submitted for review by the Heritage Advisory Committee. At this time, no application has been submitted.
Learn more about Heritage Planning and the City’s efforts to identify, protect, conserve and celebrate Mississauga’s cultural heritage.
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Media Contact:
Carley Smith
Supervisor, Media and Public Information
City of Mississauga
905-615-3200, ext. 4203
carley.smith@mississauga.ca
TTY: 905-896-5151