Issues

Friends of Swan Lake Park need to hear from you

As I have written about many times previously, a local group of Ward 5 residents, the Friends of Swan Lake Park, are working with the City of Markham on the restoration of Swan Lake and Swan Lake Park. There is more information on the issues and the group’s recommendations on their website https://friendsofswanlakepark.ca/ Over the past year significant progress has been made, with Council approvals to invest in improving water quality and investing in longer term efforts to improve ... Read More

Andrew Keyes2021-06-14T17:43:38-04:00February 20th, 2021|

Let’s talk about MZOs

In recent weeks there has been a lot of discussion about the use of Minister’s Zoning Orders (MZOs) in Ontario. Here in Markham I have received many questions and comments related to a couple of MZO applications submitted over the past few months, and Markham Council was asked by the Ontario Provincial Government to provide comments related to those applications. I’d like to provide some context as well as some specific reasons I have supported the MZOs that have ... Read More

Andrew Keyes2021-04-14T17:43:41-04:00February 18th, 2021|

Cornell Centre Development Application – Public Meeting

A second Public Meeting will be held by the City of Markham Development Services Committee on Tuesday, February 16, 2021 at 7:00 p.m. This meeting is to receive public feedback related to the development application submitted by Springhill Homes Inc for the property at 7128, 7170, and 7186 Highway 7 East in Cornell Centre. More information about this application can be found here.

Andrew Keyes2021-02-07T12:30:35-05:00February 7th, 2021|

Ward 5 Winter 2021 Newsletter

The Winter 2021 edition of the Ward 5 Markham printed newsletter was distributed to Ward 5 residents last week. There was a minor error in one of the charts on Page 3, related to how property taxes are distributed. The text in the article is correct, but the text accompanying the pie chart had an error. Here is an image of the corrected graphic: Where Your Property Taxes Go Thank you to the very astute residents ... Read More

Andrew Keyes2021-01-17T14:20:01-05:00January 17th, 2021|

Has your street been cleared? There’s an App for that.

Winter Maintenance Status During snow storms, Markham's Winter Maintenance App* will show the progress of road and sidewalk plows in Markham. Residents can watch as snow clearing efforts start with primary roads and then move to secondary roads, local roads, and sidewalks to help keep Markham moving. Road Classification and Snow Removal Standards Our roads are plowed, salted or sanded based on a roads classification system which prioritizes all roads maintained by the City of Markham. Roads not maintained by ... Read More

Andrew Keyes2020-12-26T13:57:16-05:00December 26th, 2020|

Markham moves to GREY-LOCKDOWN Zone

Effective Monday, December 14th the Province placed York Region into the GREY-LOCKDOWN Zone under the Province's Keeping Ontario Safe and Open COVID-19 response framework. New restrictions will be in effect for a minimum of 28 days. Gathering limits for organized public events and social gatherings will be as follows: Indoor - 0 - limit interactions to those in your household Outdoor - 10 people maximum while keeping a safe distance Weddings, funerals, religious services: 10 people indoors or outdoors while keeping a safe ... Read More

Andrew Keyes2020-12-16T12:43:56-05:00December 16th, 2020|

Markham approves 0% property tax rate increase for 2021

MARKHAM, ON – December 10, 2020 – Markham Council approved the City’s 2021 Budget of $520.9M on December 9. The zero per cent property tax rate increase will help Markham property owners to better weather these uncertain and challenging times that the community continues to deal with during COVID-19. The budget preserves, and in some cases exceeds, current service levels, and continues investments in Council-approved priorities in a responsible manner as we remain prudent with our assets while we push forward ... Read More

Andrew Keyes2020-12-20T21:54:59-05:00December 10th, 2020|

City of Markham moves from ORANGE-RESTRICT to RED-CONTROL classification

The Government of Ontario has lowered the thresholds for each classification level in the Keeping Ontario Safe and Open Framework as a result of the latest modelling showing that if new cases of COVID-19 continue to grow at its current rate, the province could register up to 6,500 new cases per day by mid-December. Within the next two weeks, the province will likely exceed its intensive care threshold of 150 beds under any potential scenario. On Monday, November 16 at ... Read More

Andrew Keyes2020-11-14T17:29:11-05:00November 14th, 2020|

Please Slow Down – Lawn Sign Request

Every day I hear from residents about drivers texting, speeding, and running through stop signs in our neighbourhoods. With playgrounds open, families out walking more, and school around the corner, we need to make an effort to drive with extra care and slow down. Police are out there enforcing road safety, but there are hundreds of streets in Ward 5 and they can't be everywhere at one time. Residents can help too, by marking down license plates if we see ... Read More

Andrew Keyes2020-12-19T14:27:56-05:00August 9th, 2020|

Cornell community outreach garden gives back

Have you seen the Blessed Frederick Oznam Community Outreach garden lately? It is gorgeous and twice so far, donations to families in the area have been made. Kale, swiss chard, zucchini, herbs and other delicious produce grown and cared for by Ward 5 residents for Ward 5 residents! What could be better. If you have not been by, please walk over to Bur Oak and White’s Hill, have a look at the incredible allotments, about 30 in total, growing ... Read More

Andrew Keyes2020-08-04T14:15:35-04:00August 4th, 2020|