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No steel on the pier yet – but boulders were put in place last week to shore up the natural beach that was formed.

By Pepper Parr

BURLINGTON, ON June 1, 2012 It was a painful evening for our civic administration when they informed council about the problems surrounding the installation of a turbine on the Pier. Turns out that no one even knew about the availability of a process called “net metering”, a procedure we could be using tomorrow that gets around all the nonsense and misunderstanding about the ability to send energy from the turbine to the electrical grid.

Council chose to just walk from the whole thing – foolish, irresponsible and bad stewardship but unless someone decides to revive the matter – that is a dead duck. BurlingtonGreen, an organization not known for giving up easily, is expected to be back at Council June 11^th and we will see what they can do. The turbine is not over yet.

Geese know a good thing when they see it. Mini- beach formed on the west side of the pier will be shored up with large boulders that were delivered on Friday.

The other news about the Pier is the delay in getting fully tested steel to the fabricators so they can cut the plates of steel which are 7/8ths of an inch thick; 40 feet long and ten feet wide. It has to be tested and the documentation that came with it has to be checked and if that’s a go – then the process of cutting the steel begins.

The sense at this point in time is that we will not see steel beams on the site until sometime in July and more likely late in the month at that.

As difficult and as embarrassing as all this is for the city administration they are not going to let this delay result in attempt to take short cuts to make up the lost time. There will be some work done on what city manager Jeff Fielding calls, schedule mitigation – looking for ways to shift work around and do tasks now that were scheduled for later in the construction process.

One such task is shoring up the western side of the pier site where a natural beach has formed. This wasn’t a planned feature – just a small benefit that came our way and with this project the city will take every benefit it can get.

A flat bed truck delivered a load of large boulders that will be used to shore up the waters edge on the west side. Once the steel is tested, cutting will begin followed by welding and galvanizing.

Large boulders are being trucked in and will set down and create an edge to this natural beach area. The work was done on one of those days when it wouldn’t have been possible to do much else on the site.

Staff believes that with the fifty four weeks left until Sound of Music 2013 they can get the job done. That will call for several breaks weather wise and we may have had all the breaks we are going to get. We had a very easy Winter and Spring was good to us for the most part. That time was lost.

The one thing city hall is going to ensure doesn’t happen – no more screw ups because they didn’t know what was happening. The city has two consultants in place to oversee and advise on what is being bought and ensuring that what is bought is thoroughly tested before it gets used.

The steel used for the beams that will form the deck of the pier has been a problem from the beginning. I’m not competent to tell you what the problem was and it appears that many in the engineering department were in over their heads as well. That is not going to happen this time around.

The city has brought in Mettko to oversee the testing and to ensure the testing done is thorough and complete. Bill Katsiroumpas, P.Eng. a Principal in the company and the Senior Project Manager on this task, explains what is being done:

The Quality Program is developed to ensure the quality of the work, thus protect the interest of the City of Burlington. It essentially involves two parts, the Quality Control (QC) Program which is implemented by the Contractor and the Quality Assurance (QA) Program which is implemented by the Consultant. The QC Program is specified in the Contract Document, while the QA Program is developed by the Consultant based on industry standards and experience.

With this kind of weather there wasn't going to be much work done on the Pier. We will need a great second half of July, August and September to get caught up. Prayers are acceptable at city hall..

The Quality Program is applied to all work components, in particular granular base and sub-base, concrete and steel. In general, the Contractor is required by the specifications to perform QC tests in accordance with stipulated standards to demonstrate conformance. Some common standards are the American Society for Test Methods and Canadian Standards Association (ASTM and CSA). Another component of the QC program requires that qualification certificates from the accredited institutions be provided for companies and individual performing work on the project, for example Canadian Institute of Steel Construction or the Canadian Welding Bureau.

The Consultant performs independent QA tests to ensure quality compliance. The QA tests performed by the Consultants are approximately equal to 25% of the QC tests performed by the Contractor in accordance with the requirements of the stipulated standards. The Consultants also review and verify that the qualification certificates provided meet the requirements of the contract documents.

There is very little doubt that anything faulty is going to get through this kind of process. And that explains a large part of why there is no steel with workmen bolting it all together on the deck of the pier in weather that was made for outdoor construction work.

It will get done and it will get done properly.

Arts crowd will descend on the Burlington Arts Centre for two days of shop till you drop and quality time with artisans.

By Staff

BURLINGTON, ON June 4, 2012 More than 100 artists and artisans will be selling their original fine art and crafts in and around the Burlington Art Centre (BAC) on June 9 and 10.

Work by Billy-Jack Miligan

There will be two events – The Fine Art and Craft Festival and Kaleidoscope of the Arts, both taking place on the same weekend, and both at the BAC

The place will be filled with a unique selection of artwork to see and buy, from jewellery, clothes, accessories, and home décor to pottery, photography, fine art, weaving and unique crafts, all created by Canadian artists and craftspeople. It’s one-stop shopping at its best, with the added bonus of hands-on activities for all ages and entertainment by musicians John and Sheila Ludgate and friends.

Rich Baker of Richcraft Ironworks

The Fine Art and Craft Festival attracts artists and artisans from Burlington, Hamilton, Oakville, Dundas, Mississauga, Toronto and beyond.

Kaleidoscope features sales of the work of members of six guilds at the BAC, plus hands-on activities for the family in guild studios: create and develop a photogram, weave a mugmat on a loom, finish and decorate a woodcarving or make and paint a sculpture, try rug hooking, and decorate a raku bowl and watch the firing (Saturday from 10 am to 3 pm, $8) or create an urban smoke-fired pendant (Sunday, 12 to 3 pm, $5).

John and Sheila Ludgate and friends will perform throughout the weekend. John and Sheila are award-winning Burlington-based musicians known for their strong rhythms, vocal harmonies, and original and cover songs. Special guests Ian Reid, David Lum, Jericho (Jeremiah Budnark and Eric Bower), Dave Jensen and friends, and Shawn Brush also will entertain.

The whole weekend is a great way to see art in action. There is no admission charge. The BAC also is participating in Doors Open Burlington.

John and Sheila Ludgate will perform throughout the weekend.

Hours are: Saturday, June 9, from 10 am to 6 pm, and on Sunday, June 10, from 11 am to 5 pm.

You would have to try hard to miss the Burlington Art Centre – on Lakeshore right across from Spencer’s and the Discovery Centre. Plenty of parking in the rear off Elgin Street.

Thirty six artists donate their work to back up art student scholarships – Silent Auction June 11 at Rayoon’s.

By Staff

BURLINGTON, ON June 2, 2012 If Monday evenings are quiet for you – give some thought to getting out for part of an evening on June 11th, and taking in the Art in Action’s silent night fund raising auction taking place at Rayoon’s Persian Fare, a Burlington secret in the Village Square.

Tickets are $30.00 each and include a drink and appetizers. The food at Rayoon’s is an experience you don’t want to miss.

A Helen Griffith's piece of fine art should tempt many bidders to the Art in Action Silent Auction.

Thirty six artists are donating their work to the Silent auction. Included are hand turned wood bowls, fine art paintings, goldsmithing, iron and stained glass works as well as photography and jewellery.

New this year is the $50 table – bid $50 and you take it home. You might want to get there on time for this table.

This is the 10^th anniversary year for Art in Action and to celebrate the event they will be creating two $1000. Scholarships for Halton Region students intending to pursue full time, post secondary education this fall.

THAT is Art in Action.

A necklace by Terry Silvana will be amongst the items up for the Silent Auction.

The group holds an art studio tour every fall – the dates for this year are Saturday November 3 and Sunday November 4th , 2012. If you’ve not been – mark the dates on your calendar – it is a fun experience driving from studio to studio.

Brand extension at The Different Drummer – Cottonwood amongst the bookshelves.

By Pepper Parr

BURLINGTON, ON June 2, 2012 It’s sort of like what the big marketing organizations do – they call it brand extension. When you take a brand – say Tide, which every one knows is washing detergents with a very distinctive look and extend that brand say, into hand soap – always a tricky thing to do.

Ian Cameron over at Different Drummer Books is extending his brand from books, for which he is well known, into music – small quintets, trios, quiet, dignified. There will be no Silverstein at A Different Drummer Books, if you don’t mind.

Cottonwood Brass will play some material from the War of 1812 era, plus some of their usual fine work.

Sunday June 10, at 3:00 pm The Cottonwood Brass will be doing pieces under the theme: “Brass from the Past”, it’s a session of rousing vintage music played on antique instruments.

Their repertoire includes two fascinating recently discovered pieces of local origin and a generous helping of music spanning the years from the War of 1812 to the early 20th century.

The artists are Graham Young and Ryan Baker on cornets, Johnny Bissell on horn, Mary Ann Pearson on euphonium and Dave Pearson on tuba.

Tickets are $15, available here at A Different Drummer. Refreshments will be served after the concert.

You can contact Ian at : (905) 639 0925 or diffdrum@mac.com to reserve.

Nothing more delicious than overheard comment about someone you know.

BURLINGTON, ON June 2, 2012 There is something absolutely delicious about over hearing a conversation others are having about someone you know. Our parents told us it wasn’t polite to listen in and perhaps it isn’t polite – but we listen in nevertheless. And we can’t wait to pass on what we heard.

Our source for what follows is impeccable – we would trust our first born with this man. He was sitting in the lobby of a public building – attending a by invitation only event.

Two ladies of a certain age were seated nearby and noticed Burlington’s MPP Jane McKenna walk into the space and one said to the other:

Oh, it’s going to be one of those events – Marvelous Mike will be here soon too.

To which the second lady replied:

Where have I heard that – the Marvelous Mike thing?

The first lady explains – It’s on that web site, the one done by the guy with the white hair.

Yes, said the second lady. I don’t understand the thing. What does he mean by cheeky and irrelevant.

The first lady corrects her friend and says – he says : cheeky and irreverent.

Oh responds the second lady of a certain age.

And continue with

“Why does he always talk about the kimono having to be open?”

The first responds with:

I think he must have had a bad experience in a Japanese brothel.

Ms McKenna stayed at the by invitation only event.

Marvelous Mike was in Ottawa doing the nation’s business.

Pepper Parr has never been to Japan

City gathers to recognize those who work with the disabled and press to bring about changes that allow them to enjoy their lives to the fullest.

By Staff

BURLINGTON, ON May 30, 2012 – More than 200 people gathered at the Burlington Performing Arts Centre today for Burlington’s Accessibility Awards. This first-time event, organized by the city’s accessibility advisory committee, celebrates business owners, service providers and community members who have made significant steps toward improving accessibility for people with disabilities in Burlington.

“Today we applaud and thank those who have become champions of accessibility in our community,” said Mayor Rick Goldring. “The collective actions of this year’s 16 award recipients signal that our city’s residents and the local business community are ready and committed to making Burlington a more inclusive and accessible city for all residents and visitors.”

The Honourable David C. Onley, Lieutenant Governor of Ontario attended as keynote speaker and praised recipients for their efforts in making Burlington a more accessible city.

Row one: The Honourable David C. Onley, Lieutenant Governor of Ontario; Chris Chandler; Sue Shea and Sarah Lisi (Swiss Chalet)Row two: David Fisher (Burlington Accessibility Advisory Committee); Robin Rogers (Burlington Youth Soccer Club); Bob Wercholoz; Jim Casey (Able Sail); Don Green(Rotary Mobility Cup); Catherine Hawkins; Ian Ross (Burlington Arts Centre); Nancy MacMillan (Shell); Gwen Piller; Maria Condello (Longo’s); Mayor Rick Goldring; Councillor Blair Lancaster;Row three (back): Scott Wallace (Burlington Taxi); Dr. Stephen F. Hopkins (St. Christopher’s); Peter Summers (Burlington Youth Soccer Club); Martin McInally (Burlington Arts Centre); Bruce Whitehouse (Whiting Group of Canada); Dr. James Kraemer (Caroline Medical Group); Carole Ward

The following is a list of this year’s award recipients in each category:

Education: Catherine Hawkins. Employment: Longo’s, Fairview Street, Swiss Chalet, Bruce Whitehouse, Whiting Group of Canada. Customer Service: Nancy MacMillan, Shell, Scott Wallace, Burlington Taxi. Recreation: Chris Chandler, Burlington Youth Soccer Club, Able Sail, • Rotary Mobility Cup 2011.

Volunteer: Bob Wercholoz , Carole Ward, Gwen Piller. Other: Burlington Art Centre, St Christopher’s Anglican Church, Caroline Medical Group

The awards were presented during National Access Awareness Week, which was established in 1988 following Rick Hanson’s 40,000 kilometre Man in Motion World Tour. The week allowed people to pause and think about accessibility in Burlington, to provide information to others and to call residents of the community to work toward equal access and full participation for people with disabilities.

Heavy rain for the next two days will significantly increase the flow of water through area creeks. Caution is advised.

By Staff

BURLINGTON, ON June 1, 2012 The Halton Region is experiencing a weather system that will provide rainfall to the watershed throughout the day and into tomorrow and Sunday. Our watershed has generally received between 15mm on average from this storm system thus far and we are expected to receive an additional 30 to 40mm of rainfall. Rain heavy at times with isolated showers is predicted under today’s forecast.

Water levels in watershed creeks will rise significantly during the weekend. Caution around the edges of creeks - especially with children.

Given our dry conditions, flows are expected to increase but flooding is not expected to occur. At this time, while flooding is not anticipated, flows in most creek systems will be elevated and Conservation Halton warns that all stream banks and slopes will become slippery and dangerous.

This storm event may be accompanied by isolated heavy downpours; we can expect to see the potential of localized flooding in some low-lying areas. Specifically, urbanized areas may expect increases in water levels where heavy downpours and thunderstorms occur.

Our reservoirs are functioning with large amounts of storage capacity available.

The public is advised to use extreme caution around bodies of water and stay well back from stream banks. Alert children in your care of these imminent dangers.

Conservation Halton will continue to monitor stream and weather conditions and will issue further messages as necessary.

Conservation Halton will issue an update to this only if significant changes in the forecasts occur. This Water Safety Statement will be in effect through to the end of Sunday June 3, 2012.

Next Saturday – Region making rain barrels available to Burlingtonians for $40. at Mapleview Mall

By Staff

BURLINGTON, ON June 1, 2015 They are going to sell them by the truck load and at $40 they are a steal. Trucks will be near the Hudson’s Bay entrance

in the lower parking lot on Saturday June 9 and will be on location from 8 a.m. to 12 noon.

At $40 they are a bargain. Long life - see them as a feeder for the envirment.

Each rain barrel is priced at $40 – cash only – and will hold 208 litre – 55 gallons of water. They are made of a durable plastic containing recycled content. The rain barrels fit into the back seat of an average sized vehicle and require minimal assembly. Residents are responsible for adapting their downspout to flow into the rain barrel. All the instructions you need come with the barrel.

Putting in and using a rain barrel is an important part of outdoor water conservation; it allows you to reuse rain water that would otherwise go to waste,” said Gary Carr, Halton’s Regional Chair. He added that “Since Halton began the truckload sales in 2009, almost 13,000 rain barrels have been sold, which at full use has the potential to reduce water consumption by 2.6 million litres.”

For more information about the rain barrel sales events or the water efficiency program please contact Halton Region by dialing 311 or 905-825-6000, toll free 1-866-442-5866, TTY 905-827-9833 or visit us online at www.halton.ca/waterconservation

Turbine spins its rotary blades off into never, never land. Mayor bails on renewable energy, says it was always a hydro project.

By Pepper Parr

BURLINGTON, ON May 31, 2012 The meeting started with comments from the city manager who said there was information that had to be made public, that is both ” painful and embarrassing” but had to be told if he was to adhere to his policy of being transparent. It is certainly not what Jeff Fielding cam to Burlington to do. As he put it – “this is not good for the administration”.

His question to council was that “if you had this information would you have made the same decision” – and he then turned the microphone to city engineer Tom Eichenbaum who took the meeting through a disappointing series of events where misunderstandings were not clarified and the knowledge level needed to deal with the way wind power can be harnessed, measured and put to a positive environmental use was not in the hands of the city engineer.

This latest pier situation came to light when city engineer Tom Eichenbaum said he was told by Burlington Hydro that the energy from the turbine that was to be built on the pier could not be fed into the power grid.

Eichenbaum did what a good bureaucrat does; wrote a report setting out the problem and included some options. Install a battery pack in the utility room beneath the turbine – cost: $70,000 or forget about using a turbine at all and just buy power from hydro and light the 12 lamps that will illuminate the pier and the LED lights that will illuminate the tower that the turbine was to sit on top of.

Council was surprised, certainly didn’t want to spend anymore money on the pier and decided to kill the turbine. That didn’t fit all that well with BurlingtonGreen and they delegated to council two weeks later – but council said – no we don’t want to do anything and approved the cancelling of the turbine.

What we didn’t know then, but know now is that (a) a battery pack was available for $20,000 and not the $70,000, and that Council was not told on April 18^th that there was a program available now that would let the power from the turbine feed into the power grid. Nor did the city know that this program would result in no electricity bill the powering the lights on the pier. The program is part of the Green energy Act and has been available since 2007

This is a little technical but bear with me.

When the idea of a turbine was first proposed it was going to be paid for with a grant Burlington Hydro got from the provincial government under the RESOP program. Burlington Hydro was the lead on this application. The program has since gone through several changes as has everything in the field of alternative energy.

A crane toppling over and falling into the water was the beginning of a sad, expensive story for the city.

When the crane accident took place in 2008 the idea of a turbine sort of got lost. Was there even going to be a pier was the question on the front page. Most people thought the pier was going to be THE issue in the 2010 municipal election. The winner for the ward two council seat in that election made the pier her number one issue and while she had scared the daylights out of the Cam Jackson campaign it was Jackson’s record as a Mayor that did him in. The people in ward two kind of liked the sound of Marianne Meed Ward and chose her over Peter Thoem. Candidates Dave Bodini and Shannon Gillies didn’t rank.

The change in council meant there was a new Mayor and three new council members with Meed Ward wanting to go back and negotiate with the original contractor Henry Schilthuis and Sons Ltd., and get the project back on track. Council decided not to talk to Schilthuis and continue with the law- suit and re-tender the pier.

All was going well. The city surrounded themselves with consultants who would ensure that the job got done right and it looked as if progress was being made.

Then the bumps. The problem with getting power from the generator into the electricity grid became known mid April and the problem with the delivery of the steel that could pass the quality control tests emerged. The first was an irritant that council solved by cancelling the turbine.. The second was much more serious and had the potential to delay the opening of the pier which could have very serious political implications.

Burlington Green didn’t buy the council committee decision to cancel the turbine and delegated to council and pointed out that the MicroFIT program the city said was not available was in fact available. Eichenbaum did not appear to know that. The MicroFIT program did have a waiting list but it looked as if the wait would not impact on the city’s schedule.

More to the point – there was a second program called “net metering” that was also available and could be made operational just as soon as the turbine was installed. The meters to measure the flow of electricity were already installed in the utility room.

The “net” – the difference between what we send and what we use is what we pay for. Given Burlington’s situation we will, most of the time, send in more energy than we use. The only down side is that we don’t get any money for the energy we feed into the grid and don’t use. Burlington can live with that downside. Eichenbaum did not appear to be aware that the program even existed.

Some significant mistakes had been made relating to information about getting a turbine in place and using the energy from the turbine to power the lights on the pier. The city engineer had to take the meeting through a painful explanation as to what happened, where the mistakes were made and what steps were taken to fix the mistakes. It was not a pretty picture.

We will take you through the sorry story:

On February 15^th the engineering staff was told the transformer station on Cumberland Street could not accept an energy feed from the wind turbine. The public first heard this news April 18^th at a council committee when Council decided not to go along with the idea of a battery pack solution and to instead cancel the turbine. BurlingtonGreen heard about this piece of news and delegated to the council meeting to advise the city that the grid could accept power under a program known as micro Fit that had been around since 2009.

That information goes to council committee and they decide to cancel the turbine. It then goes to Council where BurlingtonGreen tries to get the decision reversed. Council still decides to cancel the turbine .

Engineering staff nevertheless follow up on what BurlingtonGreen taught them. The city manager realizes that staff has misled council and prepares a document that goes to Committee May 30^th and asks council this question. “Given this new information we now have – would you still make the decision you made April 30^th“.

At that May 30^th meeting Eichenbaum explains in considerable detail what went wrong. It was not a pretty picture.

Before Eichenbaum gave his version of things at that meeting, two delegations spoke to Council, both from people well versed in the alternative energy business. Martin Ince, a consultant who does what are known as “big wind” projects was familiar with the wind on our part of Lake Ontario and advised council that they were doing the right thing.

Deborah Power from Niagara Wind Power, the company that was to be the supplier of the turbine that was going to be used, explained that the turbines she was supplying could be used for both the MicroFIT program and the “net metering” program; it was just a matter of which model you ordered, the cost was the same.

Net metering was apparently something Eichenbaum had not heard of before nor did anyone on council seem to know anything about this program.

Deborah Power of Niagara Wind Power explained how “net metering” worked to Councillor Meed Ward who appeared to be the only council member interested enough to ask questions.

This is what the turbine that is supposed to be installed on the pier. Burlington Hydro provided the funds to pay for it and once installed it will generate power at no cost to the city for as long as 50 years. Council still chose to cancel the turbine. The hydro bill for electricity to light up the pier will come in at $35,000 annually - forever.

When the turbine is creating energy, Power explained, it sends it to the electrical grid and the meter that reads the flow of energy turns BACK. The lights are powered by electricity drawn from the electrical grid. When we draw energy a meter that reads the energy used goes FORWARD . The difference between the forward and the backward meters is the number that determines what our hydro bill is going to be.

Given the size of the generator Burlington was going to install and the projected need determined by the consultants – there would be no energy cost for lighting up the pier. If there was an energy cost it would be very low.

Ms Power wasn’t able to say what Burlington’s energy cost is going to be without getting some basic information, like how many light standards are there going to be and how many LED lights – but she said with that information in hand she could tell the city almost to the dime what it will cost to light the pier with a turbine. The number of $3200 per month was floated but it could not be verified. $3200 x 12 amounts to $38,400 – forever. And with the cost of energy sure to rise – well you get the picture.

A pier in North Carolina that reaches out into the Atlantic ocean has three turbines identical to the ones planned for Burlington.

With the microFit program the city would have entered into an agreement with the province to sell them energy at a fixed price for twenty years. The city would then have to buy power from hydro at the going rate, which right now is lower than the going rate but we all know hydro is going to increase for those occasions when the turbine is not providing enough energy.

Despite this information – council chose to walk away from using a turbine.

Despite the foolish comments made by Councillor Sharman about ROI, return on investment – the turbine was being paid for by funds that Burlington Hydro got from the provincial government on our behalf. That grant was for $100,000 and the cost of the turbine, installed and made operational was $ about $85,000 The city just didn’t have this data, didn’t know about net metering. Your council lost the opportunity to make a wise, financially beneficial and environmentally friendly decision. They didn’t have to cancel the turbine Wednesday night – they could have voted to defer and get all the facts. They didn’t.

Councillor Dennison kept asking why the city wasn’t using solar – it was explained that solar wouldn’t work on the pier setting. What Dennison didn’t tell anyone was that his Cedar Spring Health club operation was one of the 297 organizations in line for entry into the microFit program. That information isn’t necessarily a conflict of interest but it was certainly relevant.

Councillor Taylor listened to the people from Niagara Power and had one question: “Do you have a claim against the city due to the cancellation of the turbine?” When M’s Power said no Taylor wanted to know why staff did not mention net metering. The answer was because they didn’t know. Taylor said he had never heard about the option before.

Councilor Lancaster didn’t appear to fully understand the issues and was busy chairing the meeting.

Councillor Craven didn’t appear to have an opinion – he asked just the one question about when the public would get out on the pier.

The Mayor chose not to lead the discussion and instead turned to staff asking: “What should we do?”

Staff had a bigger fish that had to be fried. Getting the Pier done in time to open in 2013 is their single focus – if that doesn’t happen – they might well be out of that frying pan and into the fire.

The city managers view was that “all things being equal we should leave the turbine our”.

Disturbing was that not one council member could see the financial benefit and ask staff to take a hard look at the information they had been given. Niagara Wind Power had nothing to gain – they already had a contract to provide the turbine. They just felt there was a better deal for the city if they went the “net metering” route rather than the microFit. Niagara Wind Power would and could install a turbine to do either.

Council was confused and thinking about the fall out if the pier was delayed. Goldring seemed unable to lead. Stewart is totally focused on getting the pier completed and from his perspective the matter of a turbine is “small potatoes” and he was prepared to live without one. He did add that “this was awful from an environmental aspect”.

Meed Ward had all kinds of questions about net metering which brought all kinds of information to the surface. Eichenbaum didn’t know anything about the subject. What Meed Ward missed was the significance of the real savings and long term advantage of going the net metering route.

The ward two Councillor asked: “What else don’t we know? How is it possible that we didn’t know about net metering? Did you know about this when you wrote your report?” she asked of Eichmann?

A council that just couldn't get its head around a very real cost savings for the lighting of the pier. The focus was instead on getting the pier completed for the summer of 2013. The delay until July of delivery of steel beams that meet the quality control specifications has put the 2013 date in serious jeopardy. If there is a hard winter and a late Spring the project will not make it for 2013. The next municipal election is in 2014. If the pier doesn't open the summer of 2013 - guess what the campaign issues will be?

Ms Power explained that the meters to do the measurement were already in the utility room. Meed Ward has to be given credit for asking the questions about net metering and getting it on the table.

The Mayor wanted to thank staff for being candid and said: “In some ways this is a good thing, now we are saying no for other reasons. I’m happy that we don’t have to worry about it now”.

Meeting in committee council chose to receive and file the report from Eichenbaum and not take the opportunity to seriously consider the turbine issue – they wanted to put it behind them. The city manager gave them the opportunity to change their minds. Two delegations presented more than enough information to at least ask for a delay and verify the data.

Any Schnurr of Burlington Green had written the Mayor earlier in the week. Mayor Goldring responded in a letter that can only be seen as a brush off and what would appear to be an abandonment of his environmental position as a federal Green Party candidate.

In the Mayors response to Schnurr he said: At last night’s Community Service Committee, Council was asked to review new information about the wind turbine that was removed from the pier project.

Council received and filed the report last night. This means that the turbine project was not reconsidered and remains out of the project scope.

Council and staff are focused on completing the pier. The wind turbine was a project initiated by Burlington Hydro in 2005. At that time, renewable energy was in its infancy relative to local projects. The project was for demonstration purposes.

Since 2006, when the pier project was originally rendered, technology and implementation of renewable energy projects has progressed. The City recently implemented a significant project at Fire Station # 8 and is continuing to look at appropriate opportunities for renewable energy use. The City has also initiated the Community Energy Program to look at long term energy sustainability and this project will include, energy conservation and renewable energy generation as part of the long term plan.

A wind turbine at the end of the pier presents some challenges. Given the option, Council has chosen to minimize any of those issues and I am sure will continue to look at viable renewable projects in the future.

Most of those comments are true – what the Mayor fails to recognize is the the city will have to spend more than $35,000 a year forever to pay for the electricity that will light up the pier.

That may be an email the Mayor will come to wish he had not sent.

The problem with the turbine has been confusing and perplexing. The whole pier project has been xxx The meeting at which all this got worked through had its own form of “black humour” Deborah Powers had told Meed Ward that short of a plane crashing into the turbine it would last 50 years. Almost simultaneously council members responded with – “what if a crane fell onto it? It was that kind of meeting.

The city’s communication department chose to issue a short statement saying: City staff yesterday gave the Community Services Committee some key updates related to the Brant Street Pier—including details about steel delivery, the wind turbine and the city’s legal activity.

The committee heard that despite the steel installation scheduled for July, several months behind schedule, the delivery date of the completed pier will still be June 2013. The project remains on budget, according to the amount approved by council in September 2011.

It was a glum looking city manager who talked of being "embarrassed" at how council was mislead over the turbine matter. He has taken the view that the pier completion date 54 weeks from now can still be met. He is however figuring out what mitigation measures he should be taking.

“We wanted to confirm that the right quality of steel has been ordered,” said City Manager Jeff Fielding. “We are reviewing our timelines, but I believe that we can make up for any schedule delays.”

Wind turbine: Staff also introduced a report providing information about the wind turbine and renewable energy options for the pier project. City Council removed the wind turbine in April after being told the city could not hook up to the power grid. Staff then cancelled the order for the wind turbine.

In May, city staff met with hydro officials and discovered that the city may be able to connect to the grid through the MicroFIT program run by the Ontario Power Authority.

Committee chose not to reverse the wind turbine decision, instead considering renewable energy opportunities as part of the city’s Community Energy Plan in conjunction with Burlington Hydro.

Legal update: The city’s legal team provided a confidential update to the Community Services Committee. The city is entering the next phase of litigation proceedings which includes the exchange of documents and discoveries.

I don’t think the city has heard the last of this issue. BurlingtonGreen will probably be back; Meed Ward may decide she wants to attempt to revive the issue.

Stay tuned.

Police identify and arrest three identity theft thieves.

By Staff

BURLINGTON, ON May 31, 2012 The Fraud unit of the Halton Regional Police is keeping very busy – they recently arrested three people who have been stealing identities and using those identities to purchase high value items at big box stores in a stretch of Ontario that runs from Mississauga to Brantford.

Detective Brad Murray, Regional Fraud Unit, who was involved in the arrest of a group that were skimming data from Automatic Teller Machines a number of months ago has put his experience with identity fraud to this most recent case.

The investigation into his most recent challenge began back in April and culminated on May 23rd with the arrest of three individuals and a search warrant on their residence. Police recovered an assortment of gift cards, $8000.00 in US and Canadian currency along with $20,000.00 in jewellery.

Also located in the home were over 27 different identities and a taser/stun gun. Police are in the process of contacting the victims of the identity thefts and the investigation is still ongoing as investigators anticipate laying additional charges.

Charges are Craig Alanzo McIntosh (37), Kevin Oneil McIntosh (35) and Jennifer Halyk (32) all of Mississauga. The trio face over 95 criminal code charges relating to Fraud, Possession of Property Obtained by Crime and Possession of Identity Information. All are scheduled to appear in Milton Court on the 19th of June, 2012.

Good grief – will this never end? Pier problems persist. Completion date threatened.

By Pepper Parr

BURLINGTON, ON May 31, 2012 It was a tough night for the Pier – bad news galore and some serious cock ups as well. A city council committee learned in considerable detail what the problems were with the turbine and learned as well that the actual construction of the pier will get a later start than planned.

It was a long meeting, individual interests intruded on the process, it became evident that a senior staff member didn’t have a firm grip on the file but there was a hint that there was some light at the end of the tunnel.

Stripped of the beams installed by the first contractor - the Burlington Pier sits naked waiting for beams made of steel that has been fully tested. That testing, which is essential just might delay the opening of the pier. And that wouldn't be a bad thing. That platform to the right is a working trestle that will be dismantled when the construction work is completed.

Lets start with the Pier. The steel needed to build the deck with had to be returned because it did not meet the specifications. Having had disastrous problems with the steel used in the first attempt to build a pier out into Lake Ontario the city decided it was not going to make that mistake again and hired a consulting firm to test every piece of steel that went to the fabricator. Fabricators cut, weld and bend steel based on the design plans they are given.

A shipment of steel that went to the fabricator recently was tested, found deficient and was returned to the manufacturer. The search then began for steel that would pass the tests from a North American supplier – it looked as if none could be found and that steel would have to be sourced from China – which would have meant a very significant delay.

Steel was found, a batch was sent to the fabricator, it passed the tests and so the contractor ordered all the steel needed. Guess what? CP rail went on strike, which meant using trucks to ship the steel. Guess what? All the people who used to use rail were now scrambling to get trucks so the contractor is still waiting for the steel to arrive.

And that is why we will not see any construction work being done on the building of the deck of the Pier that will reach out into Lake Ontario.

Scott Stewart, General Manager Community Services commented that “this project did not go as smoothly as it should have”. He got that right – it has been a colossal and consistent mess that Stewart is trying to get back on track and on schedule – and the breaks are just not coming his way.

Stewart wasn’t with the city when the pier project started and he wasn’t all that involved during the city’s experience with the first contractor. He is the point man on the project now and is doing all that can be done to get it to completion. He isn’t getting the level of professionalism he needs from some of his staff.

The problems with the turbine are not helping either.

The delays in getting the steel beams in place does create problems. Once the steel beams are in, the concrete has to be poured and that can become dicey in colder weather. The hope – and that’s about all it is at this point – is that the weather will be mild in December so that the concrete can be poured. If the concrete is not poured in December an opening date of June 2013, in time for Sound of Music, becomes difficult to achieve.

The Mayor, in his enthusiasm to see this project through, said many months ago that he looked forward to seeing the pier officially opened during Sound of Music in 2013. It was a bit of local booster-ism and his way of showing his unqualified support for a project that has been nothing but problem after problem since the day it started but Goldring was committed to seeing it through to completion.

All those beams, in place but useless. They were removed and now the city waits for new steel beams so that construction can begin - again.

It might make some sense to begin preparing the public for an opening date beyond 2013. Are we going to do this on time or are we going to do it right. We certainly aren’t going to do it on budget.

Staff are being resolute on insisting that they do it right and that pressure from the community not result in short cuts being taken.

The engineering people are working on mitigation plans – those are the plans you put in place when it looks as if the original plans are not going to work out.

The contractors will now begin work on the front part of the pier, the apron section that leads up to the actual deck part of the project. This is work that was going to be done later in the project but with no work that can be done installing steel beams the contractor will do whatever they can to show some progress.

The city met with the president of the construction company, Graham Infrastructure, to ensure that they fully understood and appreciated the situation the city faces.

No mention was made of any additional cost due to the delays in getting the kind of steel that is needed.

That’s the Pier part of the story. The turbine is another part that we tell you elsewhere. That one is both a real mess and a glaring failure on the part of the engineering staff. Burlington Hydro doesn’t come out of this looking very good either.

Transparency means telling your constituents as much as you possibly can – trust them and they will learn to trust you.

By Pepper Parr

BURLINGTON, ON May 30, 2012 Council will meet this evening and probably approve the repairs to the Drury Lane pedestrian bridge, approve a bunch of paving contracts. They will also hear from the BurlingtonGreen people about the turbine they want to see on the Pier. It won’t be a long meeting, there doesn’t appear to be anything contentious on the agenda.

What I hope we hear this evening is an announcement from the Mayor that he and Councillors Lancaster and Sharman will be off to Saskatoon to attend the Federation of Canadian Municipalities annual conference. So far we have not heard a word about this event at a public meeting.

Politicians tend to shy away from talking about those occasions when they are going to be spending public funds on themselves. Mayor Goldring is given a sum to be spent on the things a Mayor does. He proudly reported that he had not spent all the money he has given – which I personally think is failing to do his job. He was given the money to use – use it.

Three of the magnificent Seven are off to Saskatoon. Goldring, Sharman and Lancaster pack their bags for the Federation of Canadian Municipalities convention. The rest of the country gets to see what we have to offer.

The community elects people to represent them. The seven people we elected in Burlington oversee the spending of $ 116 million operating budget and close to $22 million in capital spending and the employment of more than 1000 people. The decisions they make impact directly on the quality of life we live in this city. We need to trust them and they need to trust us – and that means telling us everything they do.

In the past few days, as I drive down Guelph Line (in my car and not on my bike) I have seen dozens of young men and woman wearing those bright safety vests planting plants, flowers and shrubs. My tax dollars are being used to pay for those people and plants and in the next few weeks I am going to be treated to what I think will be a delightful scene. I think that was good spending.

I think sending Goldring, Lancaster and Sharman to Saskatoon is also good spending – but while the Mayor will comment on the plants and how nice they make the city look – he is loath to talk about occasions when funds are spent on sending Council members to conventions.

At this point we don’t have an adequate process for determining what we should pay these Council members and if they dare increase their salaries by more than $100 there is a huge howl from the public.

I don’t agree with some of the decisions they make. Some of the comments made at Council border on real dumb and uninformed. There are times when a Council member hasn’t done their homework. There are times when they get into the details of a project – that’s what staff are there to do – but on balance this is a good council doing good work. This is our Council. They work hard, they are diligent.

We have a new city manager who left a larger city to come to Burlington because the Council where he was didn’t work the way the Burlington Council works. And the Mayor he parted ways with in London was an experience he did not want to endure any longer.

Let three members of our Council be off to Saskatoon – serve us well and don’t mention that Burlington is the second best city in the country to live in too often – it will grate on your colleagues. Also, a real close look at the data that got us the award isn’t all that positive.

And please, be more open with your citizens – trust them so they can trust you. You didn’t intend to hide anything – you just didn’t want to raise the ire of those who howl when you spend anything and then complain loudly when you don’t rake up the leaves fast enough or clear their sidewalks of snow in the winter. You’re dealing with the public – the good, the less than good and the very unpleasant.

How about this for transparency – it could have been buried. Chief finishes his tour of duty on Thursday.

By Pepper Parr

BURLINGTON, ON May 30, 2012. Halton Regional Police report the arrest of one of their own on a mischief charge. You don’t see that very often. Police tend to protect their own.

A 27-year-old Halton Regional Police Service officer has been charged with Mischief following an incident in Oakville.

Constable Chris Peters, 27, of Oakville was charged with mischief and will appear in court in Milton June 19^th. The officer, a three year member of the force, was suspended from active duty with pay.

Halton had a significant number of its officers taking part in the GTA conference in Toronto last year where things got very out of hand and police were seen to be abusing their authority. In the near future we will see at least 30 senior Toronto police officers charged under the Police Act – some careers may come to an end. We’ve not heard anything about the Halton Police involvement.

Last time retiring police chief Gary Crowell appears in uniform with his senior officers. Will one of the two become the next chief? Police Services Board is expected to make an announcement soon.

Tomorrow, Thursday, is the last day Gary Crowell serves as Halton’s Chief of Police. Deputy police chief Andrew Fletcher will take over and do so on a rotating basis with Bob Percy, the other deputy chief until a new chief is announced.

The Halton Police Services Board is expected to make an announcement very soon.

Queensway community will have the pedestrian bridge before kids go back to school.

By Staff

BURLINGTON, ON May 30, 2012 It came in at $60,000 above the original estimate which might cause some indigestion at Council committee this evening but the bridge has to be repaired. That the bridge was repaired at all was because the community it serves rose up and complained very loudly and council listened and put out tenders for the repairs. The longer term solution is thought to be a tunnel under the rail lines but that’s twenty years into the future; and if it ever happens the Queensway community will be a lot different than it is today.

Repairs and maybe a paint job - ready for the kids to cross getting back to school - assuming council committee approves the cost - $440,000

The Queensway community was very upset when the bridge was suddenly closed last November because it was deemed to be unsafe. City Council struggled with spending more than $350,000 on a bridge that few people used. The community responded with several delegations to city hall and set the record straight on that issue. City staff worked very hard and came up with some creative ideas to get people across the railway tracks – but none of them proved very feasible. They deserve credit for the work they did, at times in very short notice. The city had to either tunnel under the tracks or fix the bridge that went over the tracks – that was an easy decision to make. The repairs were approved.

The community response was an interesting example of how community and council interact. Council knew very little about the community and the bridge that gave it a way out of a part of town that while not land locked isn’t easy to get in and out of without a car. It’s an older community with exceptionally large lots that developers have seen as ripe for townhouse type dwelling developments. It is a very short walk to the GO station and if the numbers of new residents rises enough there might even be bus service into the area.

The first of the developments is now underway. A community appeal to the Ontario Municipal Board didn’t get them anywhere.. Part of the problem with that appeal is that the person who filed the documents no longer lived in the community, which in itself doesn’t preclude an appeal – but it does make it harder to make ones case. In this situation the case wasn’t made and the OMB web site says the matter is closed.

The work on the bridge will begin almost immediately and is scheduled to be completed by August – in time for the kids to use when they return to school.

There were four bids to repair the bridge – in this case the lowest tender ($350,339.55) is being recommended. The bid is just part of the cost. Internal engineering services came to $10,000; CN flagman added $20,000 and the people who did the design and contract administration added $40,000 to the cost. The highest bid came in at $731,688.56 – wonder how they came up with that number?

This will probably make it through council committee and get a rubber stamp at full Council. It is on the agenda for committee as a consent matter; they don’t even want to talk about it.

More than three quarters of the car seat installations tested by police at an Oakville car seat clinic fail.

Revised

By Staff

BURLINGTON, ON May 30, 2012 – The people doing the car seat installation tests must have been pretty tough – 76% of those tested failed.. That will have shaken up some parents.

Were police being a little too tough or are that many parents driving around with car seats that are not safe?

There is a right way and a wrong way to install a car seat. You have to have one - might as well do it properly.

The car seat clinic took place in Oakville last Saturday at Town Hall. Here is what Halton Regional Police had to say: “A total of 126 vehicles with car seats and boosters were checked. Of those 96 failed the quick check. The overall failure rate at this clinic was 76 %.

Although the clinic is aimed at educating the public, one driver was charged with having a 4 year old child in no seat at all. They were given a free seat prior to leaving the spot check.

Studies have shown that by using a child safety seat properly the chance of a child being killed or injured in a collision can be reduced by 75%. Safety is our highest priority-the best child safety seat is the one that fits your child, fits your vehicle and one that you use every time your child is in the car.

Mayor Goldring in Saskatoon for municipal pow wow – will return to face Schnurr of BurlingtonGreen. She will best him – again.

By Pepper Parr.

BURLINGTON, ON May 29, 2012 BurlingtonGreen will be back at a council committee meeting providing input and prodding to ensure that the wind turbine intended for the Pier in the original plans gets installed.

Amy Schnurr tells the Mayor in a letter that she “believes it to be most unfortunate that the issue needs to be brought to Committee for further debate. Prior to what turned out to be inaccurate information presented to you and the public on April 18, the wind turbine installation was to proceed as planned.

“While the original project was approved by the former Council, we have seen no evidence to suggest this Council had plans to remove the feature from the pier project under its’ current contract. We expect with the hire of a new pier contractor in the fall of last year, the entire project budget was reviewed carefully with decisions made to retain or cancel or modify various components. It is our understanding that the wind turbine remained as a component to be included in the pier project up until April 18, 2012.

Engineering drawing of the turbine tower with observation deck. Rotary blades would be atop the structure,

“All the reasons the turbine was originally approved are still valid. Burlington still needs renewable energy; the pier is a high profile location and will deliver a valuable message to Burlingtonians and our City’s visitors. The project was never intended to make money and it will not be losing money under microFIT.

“Additionally, on May 18 we asked the following from Mr. Eichenbaum (City Engineer) : Can you advise if any structural work was required for the pier to accommodate the turbine feature? If so, can you advise of cost for this added work? He replied: (The design requires a “heavy duty” structure for the Beacon node for the extra viewing deck and the beacon tower frame for the LED Lights. The 2nd upper deck and the beacon tower for the Lights are still part of the project even if the Wind Turbine is not included. We aren’t planning to redesign the beacon structure even with the Turbine not included in the project.)

“Although we did not receive a response regarding the cost estimate, it appears that structural work to support the beacon tower (as part of the original turbine feature) has been included and we would assume with associated costs. This provides further rationale to proceed with the turbine installation. Doing so is financially responsible to the taxpayer.

“As a solution focused agency, we are pleased to have been able to help identify and share accurate facts on this issue. Contrary to what we have heard and read, BurlingtonGreen did not “do digging” to uncover the facts as the majority of the information was forwarded to us. We are less concerned about the misinformation of the past and more about making the right decision based on the facts you now have before you. Please vote to continue the plan to install the wind turbine on the pier as originally approved.

A single piece of construction equipment sits out on the Pier - waiting for steel beams to arrive. Why aren't they here yet?

Schnurr closes her letter with: “We would like to remind Council that during my delegation on April 30 we requested the item be deferred to allow for public awareness and input and to explore potential solutions. You declined this option and instead voted to cancel the turbine project. Thus we would expect you remain in a position to make a decision to install the turbine without further public input or delay and continued debate.

Schnurr has drawn her line in the sand – will council meeting in committee vote to put the turbine back into the plan and put it behind them and move on to – why there isn’t any work being done on the Pier. We thought you made hay when the sun was shining – and the sun has certainly been shining – but there are no works crews out on the Pier. Why not?

Hospital Foundation has $12 of its $60 million in hand, city will use its $60 million to pay for equipment and furnishings.

By Pepper Parr

BURLINGTON, ON May 29, 2012 They appear to have changed something, maybe it was the water, maybe it was the music – maybe someone spiked the water – whatever – the city and the hospital administration are about to do kissy, kissy and make up.

Mario Joanette, vice president communications for the Joseph Brant Memorial Hospital, attended the Budget and Corporate Services Committee where Council was given an Update on where things are with the hospital. We wish to report that they are much, much better.

We can now tell you what the $60 million the city is going to give the hospital is going to be spent on. We got an upgrade from having our money spent on a parking garage. The funds the city gives the hospital will be spent on things like operating room equipment, an MRI machine perhaps, furnishings for some of the hospital rooms – all stuff the hospital would have had to buy out of their own funds – will now be paid for with money the city provides.

Here roughly is the way that will work – the hospital will buy a piece of equipment and tell the city what it cost and the city will write a cheque and will keep writing cheques until they have spent $60 million. Pretty straight forward.

Demotion of an older building underway. Site is where the new parking garage will be built. City money will not be paying for this structure.

The city will also work out a list of the kinds of things they would like to pay for – we don`t want to be seen as the donours of just vases for the hospital waiting room.

It took months to get this worked out and over that period of time the hospital has come to realize that the city is just not going to roll over and let the hospital dictate what happens to our money. It has been a struggle. Councillor Taylor called the agreement that has been reached a “great compromise”. The hospital administration has had and continues to have a problem with transparency.

During the Committee meeting Councillor Dennison asked how much had been raised at the Saturday evening Gala. Joanette strode to the podium and said – he wasn’t able to say – but he was able to say that they raised more this year than last and they had their largest event ever. Now Councillor Dennison has been at this game a lot longer than Joanette and he asked – `How much did you raise last year? Joanette couldn’t duck that one – $250,000 he replied. So this year the Gala raised more than $250,000 – Wow, talk about pulling teeth from a hen.

Councillor Dennison knew he was on a bit of a roll and he asked” how much had been raised in donations to the re-development fund? That turns out to be $12 million – THAT is a very good number.

$12 million certainly isn't chump change - good start to what is going to be a long fund raising campaign. When the voice mail is from Anissa Hilborn - do return the call.

No announcement from the hospital Foundation about that number. There have been no announcements – the hospital to the best of our knowledge hasn’t said anything – yet. Actually, it is not the hospital that should be making that kind of announcement – it should be coming from the President of the Hospital Foundation Anissa Hilborn or the Chair of the Fund Raising Committee – Brian Torsney.

Something still isn’t running the way it should at the hospital. For reasons that aren’t quite clear yet, the hospital isn’t tied to the community. That responsibility rests with the hospital board – the members of that Board are the people that are the public’s link to the hospital – but for some reason – that Board chooses not to say much. They seem to defer to the hospital administration. And that has resulted in a rocky relationship between the city and the hospital. It need not be that way – it shouldn’t be that way – but it is. Unfortunate.

However, there is hope on the horizon. The hospital will hold its Annual General Meeting in about three weeks and Mayor Goldring will be the keynote speaker. That may be the first step in closing the rift between the two institutions and will give the Mayor an opportunity to talk about the kind of relationship the city needs with its hospital.

The agreement on where the city’s money will be spent is expected to be final sometime in June when a revised Contribution Plan goes to Budget and Corporate Services July 10^th and to city Council July 16^th.

With that irritant out of the way the next hurdle is the site plan for the re-development. That kind of business usually gets handled by the Planning department but it has been un-delegated and is now handled by council Planners have been meeting weekly with hospital people and they expect they will be ready to come to Council for site plan approval sometime in the fall. There is considerable pressure to get the site plan approved so that the construction can begin.

Councillor Craven threw a small spanner in the wheels on that one when he reminded Council that the project could not go to a committee for approval until it has been presented to the community and that there are no meetings in August. That’s a little awkward isn’t it?

What matters for the citizens of Burlington is that their Council has assured itself that the $60 million the city is putting up for the redevelopment will be spent on things the citizens will find useful. We don’t have to worry about bricks and mortar or watching milestones. They buy a piece of equipment for a hospital that has already been built and we pay for it.

Later in the year the city gets to see the site plan and approve it. There will be sufficient public involvement. The hospital has retained a “design consultant” to prepare a “campus plan” showing the full development of the site that will include the parking garage/administration building and the hospital expansion/redevelopment.

The city planners and hospital people met recently and held a Design Charette to talk through different ideas on what could work and what wouldn’t work. Submission of the draft campus plan is expected by the end of June – which is where Councillor Craven sees the log jam – if it comes to the city at the end of June it has to go to the community and then to a council committee and then to Council and all that has to happen during the month of July – and that’s not possible with the meeting cycle Burlington uses.

Watch for a Special Council meeting to bunt this one home.

First Bike to Work Day crowd small – can it grow? Alton & Orchard residents would have to put their life in their hands to be part of this.

By Staff

BURLINGTON, ON May 28, 2012 There weren’t traffic jams around city hall but there were more than fifty people who made it to the breakfast served by the city to mark the first Bike to Work Day which was part of the Smart Commute Halton, that the city and the Chamber of Commerce got behind this year.

It was a start, marred by some political bafflegab that seems to have to be said. Here`s a sample:

With a hearty breakfast in their tummies the cyclists that made it to city hall for the first Bike to Work Day in Burlington, pose and are now part of the city's history. Photo supplied by Region)

“Transportation is an important issue for Halton residents,” said Halton Regional Chair Gary Carr. “By partnering with the Metrolinx Smart Commute program, Halton Region is proud to offer Halton businesses and residents an easy to use alternative to driving alone. By working with the City of Burlington and the Burlington Chamber of Commerce, we’re excited to have motivating events like Bike to Work Day where cyclists can be thanked for their contribution towards making Halton a great place to live, work, raise a family and retire.”

“We encourage Burlington residents and employees to seek alternate means of transport whenever possible,” says Burlington Mayor Rick Goldring. “Whether you’re riding, walking or rolling, we hope to see you get up, get out and get moving.”

It would have been nice to hear an announcement about specific road improvements that would make it possible for people north of the QEW to actually cycle into the downtown core. It`s still a divided city for cyclists.

The next item on the agenda of those who would have us our bicycles every day of the week is two Car Free Sundays – June 10 and July 15.

We may all have to learn to be immigrants suggest Deb Pickfield, TEDx speaker and head honcho at Thinkspot.

By Staff

BURLINGTON, ON May 29, 2012 She was added to the speakers list at the last minute – or so it appeared, but she may have had the idea most worth talking about at the Burlington TEDx, held at the Performing Arts Centre last Sunday. Deb Pickfield, head honcho of Thinkspot, a place on Locust Street, where ideas move forward, just a hop skip and a short jump from where she spoke to more than 100 people suggesting immigrants are the embodiment of innovation and that if we do not innovate, our economy cannot grow in a sustainable manner.

Using data and commentary from the Conference Board of Canada, Pickfield explained: “At every level of analysis, immigrants are shown to have an impact on innovation performance that is benefiting Canada.

Immigrants are by definition seekers of a better way—the very embodiment of innovation

To immigrate: to become established in a new environment

What can we learn from people who immigrate?

What would it take for us to behave and think like immigrants?

Can it happen when we simply learn the job of someone else or join a new network?

Why would someone immigrate?

How would they feel? Scared? Uncertain? Hopeful?

Why would the hope be worth the uncertainty and fear?

Why would people who immigrate be willing to risk everything and learn a whole new way of being in order to build a better future for themselves, their children, and their children’s children?

What can we learn from immigrants who RISK, SHARE, LEARN when they decide to leave their old environment?

Deb Pickfield, TEDx Burlington speaker and president of Thinkspot, suggests to an audience that immigrants are the real innovators and that we have much to learn from them.

Why are we afraid of RISK?

Why do we start to build walls around ourselves at age 9, Grade 4, when we realize others are better at certain things than us?

Why do we fear failure?

Why is it difficult to embrace failure as learning?

What would it take for us to share what we have and know with others?

What would we share to create a better future for generations we don’t even know yet?

Why is it difficult to give up in order to share?

Why are we likely uncomfortable with these gaps of silence?

Why do we do our best to fill periods of silence?

What if we are not listening to others if we are waiting to fill the gaps of silence?

What if immigrants listen well to understand and to LEARN?

What would we do if we could not be understood?

Would we listen deeper to understand more?

What if by living in a community like Burlington, in a country like Canada, we become too comfortable?

What if by being comfortable we become complacent?

What if by being complacent we seek to protect what we have?

What if to protect we focus on safety and security?

What if by building safety and security we risk less?

What if by risking less, we learn and contribute less?

What if we could RISK, SHARE, LEARN like an immigrant?

What if these are the key ingredients for creativity?

What if we need to RISK, SHARE, LEARN to be innovative?

Can we be that strong?

Can we try, stumble, fall and keep on going?

Can we afford not to?

What if we make a point of RISKING, SHARING, LEARNING something every day?

What’s stopping us from having the heart of an immigrant?

Those are ideas worth sharing – but the comfortable who have become complacent and have forgotten how to share risk and learn are the ones who will eventually lose out to the innovators who are probably going to be immigrants who are going to eat our lunch and take away our clients – because they know how to risk, share and learn.

Pickfield is on to something – are the rest of us?

Culture runs into politics – guess who wins? Cultural guru Jeremy Freiburger bites the hand that feeds him.

By Pepper Parr

BURLINGTON, ON May 28^th, 2012 – Biting the hand that feeds you is never a wise thing to do. Ticking off the people who sign your pay check might be called just plain dumb.

Telling a Ward Councillor in Burlington that you don’t particularly want him to attend a meeting you have called in the Councillors Ward and announcing the meeting without informing the Councillor borders on suicidal. It gets better. Jeremy Freiburger also advertised the events in the local newspaper without informing the Council members.

Two of the Burlington Council members are going to be away on the dates the events are to take place in their Ward’s. Councillor Taylor will be on vacation and asked for an “interview with Freiburger. Councillor Dennison will be in Apeldoorn, our twin city in Holland the day the Cultural Conversation is to take place in his ward.

Cultural guru doesn't make any friends with Burlington council members - tells them they are not wanted at public Cultural Conversations.

Freiburger advised the two council members that they weren’t actually wanted at the meeting. Freiburger explained that council members sometimes influence voters unduly. Ouch! Most politicians believe that it is the voters who influence them.

Councillor Jack Dennison looked a little dumb struck when he heard those words and he too asked for an “interview with Freiburger.

Councillor Taylor told Freiburger that he had chosen the wrong place for the event in his ward; Councillor Lancaster added that holding two events at Tansley Woods was a mistake as well.

Cultural has its sensitivities and politics has its nuances – Freiburger may have the sensitivities of culture down pat – but he has a lot to learn about the nuances of politics. Trust Councillors Taylor and Dennison to straighten him out very quickly. Councillor Lancaster may also have a couple of choice words for Mr. Freiburger.

Jeremy Freiburger is the cultural guru the city has hired to oversee the development of the Cultural Plan that will come in at a little over $100,000 – $61,500 of that is provincial money, the rest came from you dear taxpayer. If done properly a sound cultural plan can make a difference – the plan is the easy part – it is the execution of the plan that matters and that calls for as much collaboration as possible.

Telling Councillors that you don’t want them at an event in their ward that will deal with something as sensitive as culture is not what is meant by collaboration.

Mr. Freiburger may find his reception at the “interviews” he will be having on the 7^th floor of city hall a little on the frosty side.

Freiburger also oversees the city’s Public Art Plan and is shepherding the choice of art for the front of the Performing Arts Centre, which by the way is progressing nicely – there is interest from local artists, regional artists, national and international artists.

This particular piece of public art is being funded to a very significant degree by local businessman Don Laurie of Dan Laurie Insurance, a company with offices in Burlington and Hamilton.

That one has a bit of a tussle going on over just how much the city has to say about what goes on property, which the city points out to the BPAC people is property that the city owns.

The Memorandum of Agreement between the city and BPAC has yet to be signed, that has been going back and forth between the city and the lawyers for more than a year – so in actuality the BPAC people are basically just squatters. But that’s another story we will follow up on for you.

Freiburger was taking Council through the process he is using to get the Cultural Plan completed and in place by the end of March next year. That is going to be tight and Freiburger is going to need Council on his side – he didn’t have them with him Monday morning.

There are plans for a very significant amount of public involvement beyond the planned ward meetings. Interaction with the Sound of Music and the Children’s Festival is included in the plans.

Cobalt Connects is a simple concept - Freiburger went for a sophisticated look and what is really top level design - that works for the arts and design community. Burlington's city council just didn't get it.

Freiburger is a decent presenter – he would talk and then break for some back and forth question and answer. Freiburger is a big believer that there has to be strong leadership if a Cultural Plan is to become effective and he wanted to know how Council felt about cultural management – pointing out that Burlington tends to prefer external relationships for cultural management.

“Does Council” he asked “have feelings regarding the development of internal cultural expertise vs. external?” He got his answer – Council felt that the city could manage its own cultural plan – it just needed to put one in place.

“How often do you want to hear from us” Freiburger asked Council. At least once a month they replied – they are going to keep this guy on a short leash.

There is a lot of rally good stuff in the plan that has been put together. We will report in more detail later in the week. It was given to the council members in a workshop setting – at some point it will work its way to Council Committee – that’s where the pruning will get done.

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