Ward 5 Community Safety Meeting Re-cap
Community Safety evening with Councillor Keyes, Pastor Mavis, and YRP Officer Hinds
On May 27th Ward 5 Councillor Andrew Keyes held a Community Safety Meeting at the Rhenish Church of Canada. Constable Brian Hinds of York Regional Police joined Councillor Keyes for a discussion about how residents can better protect themselves and their property. 40 residents from both Cornell and Greensborough attended.
The event included a slide presentation from Constable Hinds, followed by a question and answer session. Representatives from Home Depot were also present to help answer questions related to home security and video surveillance options.
A very special “thank you” goes out to Pastor Mavis and the Rhenish Church of Canada for hosting this community event.
Home Safety Presentation Highlights
While it is unlikely residents can completely protect themselves from home break ins and property damage, there are some “best practices” that can be adopted to help improve your home and personal safety.
Communicate with your neighbours – Get to know your neighbours and inform them if you plan to be away from home for a while.
Neighbourhood Watch groups are also very effective in bringing residents together and sharing information. Captains of the groups liaise with York Region Police directly. Though social media does offer great opportunities for posting incidents seen and or experienced, we do not really know who is on the site. Many residents voiced this concern to us at the meeting. Perhaps criminals are on the sites as well. Read more.
Report any suspicious activity to the police – If something looks wrong, it doesn’t hurt to err on the side of caution and let the police know if you see something suspicious.
Natural surveillance techniques – Burglars do not want to be seen, so consider landscaping choices that do not provide too much cover around your home entrances and windows. Keep trees and bushes trimmed.
Motion activated lighting – Although many break-ins occur during the day (when most people are not home), having motion activated lights creates a deterrent and alerts people that something is happening – it gets attention.
Video Surveillance Cameras – Cameras will deter many thieves but that is not the only reason for having them. After a crime is committed video footage often provides valuable evidence that can be used to capture and convict the criminals.
“Harden” your home entrances – Criminals want to get into and out of your home as quickly as possible. Anything you can do to slow them down will deter them and possibly stop them from entering. Reinforced door frames and security window films are relatively inexpensive and effective solutions.
You can read about other community safety issues in the Ward5Markham.ca “Frequently Asked Questions” section under “Safety”.
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Updated: Community safety, break-ins, and vandalism
Over the last few months there have been a number of incidents of car break-ins, spray painted graffiti on private property, and more recently mail boxes being broken into in the Cornell community. The good news is that York Regional Police have made a number of arrests of individuals likely connected to some of these crimes, and they are continuing to investigate these incidents.
In addition to the property damage and material costs associated with these incidents, residents are also naturally concerned about community safety and would like to see action taken to address their concerns.
Ward 5 Councillor Andrew Keyes has been discussing this issue with residents and with York Regional Police and is looking at ways community safety and crime prevention can be improved across Ward 5 and the City of Markham.
Community Safety Meeting
Councillor Keyes is currently working with York Regional Police to arrange a Community Safety Meeting. At this meeting residents will be invited to get an update on recent events and learn about options available to help deter and prevent break-ins and other crimes. The date and location of this meeting should be announced shortly, so please stay tuned.
Video Surveillance Opportunities
In addition to working with York Regional Police, Councillor Keyes is investigating the possibility of assisting residents that wish to install video surveillance equipment around their homes. Many homes have installed video surveillance cameras, but there is more that can be done. In an effort to help reduce the cost of purchase and installation of video cameras, Councillor Keyes has reached out to the major manufacturers of these devices to see if either a bulk purchase discount or a rebate can be offered to residents interested in this option.
It’s unlikely neighbourhood crime can be completely eliminated, but there are measures we can take to make improvements and make our neighbourhoods safer.
Update – April 29th, 2019
CHARGES LAID IN ONGOING RESIDENTIAL BREAK-AND-ENTER INVESTIGATION IN MARKHAM
Investigators with the #5 District Criminal Investigations Bureau have charged a 22-year-old man with more than 100 criminal offences in relation to a residential break-and-enter, vehicle entries and theft of mail occurrences in the City of Markham.
The investigation began on April 6, 2019, when a residential break and enter was reported to police that had occurred at a home on Walkerville Road, which is in the area of Cornell Park Avenue and Bur Oak Avenue. The suspect was described as being male, Asian, 5’6” and was wearing dark clothing. As the investigation progressed, officers linked a suspect with the same physical characteristics to other criminal offences that had occurred in the area.
Full release from York Regional Police: https://www.yrp.ca
Snow windrow removal in Markham: Yes or No?
It seems that each winter the question of whether or not the municipality should extend snow clearing service to include windrow removal comes up in Markham. This year is no exception.
What is a “windrow”?
A windrow is the pile of snow left at the end off your driveway after the street snow plow passes by.
Markham is certainly not the only municipality dealing with this issue. Here’s an excerpt from a recent article in York Region:
The topic of whether town employees should be used to clear that heavy, slushy or sometimes frozen line of snow at the end of residential driveways left behind by snowplows has been discussed by council twice this month and still awaits a final decision.
“It seems unfair that those who wouldn’t be using the services, like those in condos or apartments, have to pay for the service,” Abas said. “Also, many of us are able to clean our own windrow.”
Service levels and timing also have to be considered, since most people would want the windrow removed by the time they go to work, so many would be clearing it themselves.
Read the full story here: www.yorkregion.com
The decision to add snow windrow removal to the standard service level for Markham is often discussed in terms of cost to the taxpayer. It’s estimated that adding windrow removal would increase property taxes significantly. However cost is not the only concern. Other jurisdictions that have added the service have experienced increased delays in having their roads cleared, as windrow service requires the use of slower moving machinery.
Markham staff have been asked by Council to once again prepare a report that will look at the costs and implications of windrow removal for all residents. This report is expected to be presented in the spring as part of a broader snow removal workshop for Council.
Did you know Markham DOES provide windrow removal service?
The City of Markham offers windrow removal service for residents with special needs (those who are either 60 years of age or older or have disability). If you or someone you know needs help there is an application available online at: Markham Snow Windrow Removal Application.
There’s a catch
Many of the homes in Ward 5 have rear lanes, and the snow clearing method uses front loaders instead of road plows. In theory this technique does not leave a large windrow, as all the snow is removed from the lane. This means the windrow removal service is not available to residents with rear lanes. It also means that even if Council did approve a $5 to $8 million dollar increase in the annual snow clearing budget to add city-wide windrow service, this service would not apply to much of Ward 5. Also, the windrow service does not apply to the windrows left by sidewalk plows.
Markham council priorities: transit, seniors issues, housing take the lead
Councillors, mayor tell you their plans for this council term
Tim Kelly, Markham Economist
MARKHAM, ON – January 3, 2019 — Markham’s 13 elected municipal politicians have a wide range of top priorities for this coming term of municipal council, but there are some fairly common themes when you start to dig deeper.
Top of mind for several councillors was transit and transportation issues, specifically gridlock and improving transit links throughout the city.
A few of the councillors also said they were worried about Markham’s seniors and wanted to do something about their issues, focusing on affordable housing specifically.
Others cited other individual issues such as focusing on Rouge National Park, finding the funding for the cancelled York University project, taking a hard look at the city’s parking bylaws, establishing Neighbourhood Watch programs and finding innovative new ways to get rid of waste.
To see what your elected representatives feel is the No. 1 issue in your city and what they will focus on over the next term in office — among other things — read on.
Ward 1 Coun. Keith Irish: “We’ve got to do something about gridlock. We can look at the timing of our traffic lights, we can look at the timing of our advanced greens, we can harmonize our transit fares I hope through the region with Viva and the TTC to make it more economical to hop a bus and make a connection to the TTC route network.”
Ward. 2 Coun. Alan Ho: “Seniors issues are very important for me. I am going advocate for them, for affordable housing, free bus fares and we need to have public washrooms in all our parks.”
Ward 3 Coun. Reid McAlpine: “Housing affordability. I will work with all stakeholders to implement new requirements and incentives for the development of purpose-built rental housing. Lack of affordable housing is holding the whole community back economically and socially.”
Ward. 4 Coun. Karen Rea: “We need to have more diversity in housing. Markham needs more purpose-built rentals, more bungalows, more duplexes, more triplexes and it also needs to have more seniors housing.”
Ward. 5 Coun. Andrew Keyes: “In my heart of hearts, it’s taking care of seniors, trying to advocate for seniors, only so much we can do at the municipal level in funding and providing housing but I think we can advocate for better services for seniors.”
Ward. 6 Coun. Amanda Collucci: “I want a review of our current parking bylaw. We need a very thorough public consultation just to kind of solicit public opinion to see what we want to do, whether residents want to pave their front lawn, to park on the streets or just to keep it status quo.”
Ward. 7 Coun. Khaled Usman: “It’s all about the traffic issues I’ve had in my area. I have to do something about Steeles and 14th Avenue. Traffic is definitely No. 1.”
Ward 8 Coun. Isa Lee: “A neighbourhood Watch program. I’ve heard a lot of concerns regarding safety in the neighbourhood and a lot of neighbours’ houses have been broken into and some of the neighbours have formed an informal neighbourhood watch program. Would hope to revive that program.”
Regional Coun. Jack Heath: “Rouge National Urban Park. We haven’t finished the negotiations with Parks Canada and the city has major requests and major issues that it wants to raise with that negotiation so that we can transfer 300 to 400 acres mainly to housing but also to recreation for residents.”
Regional Coun. Jim Jones: “Burying hydro lines, developing high-speed rail and rail-integrated communities. Hydro lines take about 200 metres and sterilize another 100, so by burying them in a six-to-nine metre duct I free up tons of land and we can do rail and with land-value capture we can bury the hydro lines, do the rail and have rail-integrated communities.”
Regional Coun. Joe Li: “I have to finish my waste-collection system. Would be banning trucks from coming to neighbourhoods to pick up waste. Everything should be done through underground delivery. It would be connected by pipe underground.”
Deputy Mayor/Regional Coun. Don Hamilton: “My priorities have changed for the city. The withdrawal of provincial funding for York University has left the city in a bad spot. We were counting on York University being an anchor and a draw as part of the overall vision for a vibrant downtown. That project was essentially ‘shovel ready’ and now it’s been sidetracked. So we need to secure funding and get it built.”
Mayor Frank Scarpitti: “Transportation is going to be one of the highest priorities in this coming term for me for sure among a list of many priorities. But the only way we can get things done is by working through council, staff and the community.”
Source: Tim Kelly, Markham Economist
Cannabis Retail in Markham?
Recreational cannabis was legalized by the Federal Government on October 17, 2018.
In Ontario, we have new laws that tell us how, where and who can buy and have cannabis:
See: Ontario Cannabis Legislation
Regulations for private retails sales are currently being drafted by Ontario’s Ministry of the Attorney General; these regulations are anticipated to be in place for April 1, 2019.
The Ontario government is also moving forward with a tightly regulated private retail model for cannabis that will launch by April 1, 2019. The Alcohol and Gaming Commission of Ontario is the provincial regulator authorized to grant store licences. The Ontario Cannabis Store will be the exclusive wholesaler to these stores. Private stores will be introduced with strict controls to safeguard children and youth and combat the illegal market.
Municipalities are being offered the opportunity to opt out of having a retail store in their community and must so by January 22, 2019. Municipalities may opt in at a later date. If a municipality decides to opt in, they cannot chose to opt out at a later date.
On December 12th, 2018, Markham Council has passed a Proclamation banning retail stores in Markham, however Council can reconsider this decision at a later date.
Ward 5 Councillor Andrew Keyes spoke on this issue at the December 12th Council meeting.