Online budget tool, ‘Shop with a Cop’, Hockeyville, safe trucking

Morning Coffee – By Aaron Hall

Weather forecast for Tuesday, December 12, 2017

The special weather statement has ended across Chatham-Kent.

Today – Snow ending this morning then mainly cloudy with 40 percent chance of flurries. Local blowing snow this morning. Wind northwest 30 km/h gusting to 60. Temperature falling to minus 7 this afternoon.

Tonight – Partly cloudy. Wind northwest 20 km/h becoming light this evening. Low minus 12.

School buses cancelled in Wallaceburg, Dresden, Chatham-Kent

School buses are cancelled across six of eight zones across the region on Tuesday, including all buses in Wallaceburg, Dresden and all of Chatham-Kent.

More details, here.

Cancellations & closures

We’ve started a list of cancellations and closures for today. Send your cancellations to aaron@sydenhamcurrent.ca. We’ll update the list as they roll in.

Click, here.

Hockeyville improvements celebrated

A celebration of the $100,000 in Kraft Hockeyville improvements to Memorial Arena in Chatham will take place Tuesday, December 12 at the Arena at 12 p.m..

Chatham-Kent finished second in the nationwide contest in 2015 and improvements include signage, doors and upgrades to spectator areas.

The event will include a brief tour of the upgrades as well as information on the work undertaken.

Chatham-Kent online budget tool now live

Local residents once again have the opportunity to share their thoughts on where and how their property tax dollars are spent through an online interactive process.

At www.chatham-kent.ca/LetsTalk residents can have their say on the 2018 Chatham-Kent budget through a survey that allows them to express their thoughts on what services they deem important and whether spending should be increased or decreased in various areas.

Municipal officials say residents are asked to rank 22 separate services from very important to not important.

There is also a section asking if respondents would support an increase in user fees for municipal services where such fees provide primary source of revenue.

The survey concludes with an area in which residents can provide general comments.

All completed surveys will be provided to Chatham-Kent Council as part of efforts to provide Councillors with public input prior to budget deliberations.

Gord Quinton, Chatham-Kent’s Director of Budget & Performance Services, says the online survey isn’t meant to take the place of public meetings.

“The online survey gives residents the opportunity to provide input at their convenience,” he said in a press release.

“Not everyone can attend public meetings, but we’d like everyone to have the opportunity to comment on the budget.”

Online surveys will be accepted until January 2, 2018. Last year more than 750 residents provided budget input online.

Citizens are also encouraged to bring budget concerns to their Councillors throughout the year, or attend budget meetings in January and February. Throughout the process, information will be posted to Chatham-Kent.ca/budget to inform citizens about the proposed budget and opportunities to participate.

On Wednesday January 17, 2018, Council will host its budget committee information opening night in council chambers, beginning at 6 p.m.

Community open houses will follow on Tuesday, January 23 from 4:30 to 6 p.m. at the Ridgetown municipal office and Tilbury Arena, on Wednesday, January 24 from 4:30 to 6 p.m. at the Blenheim high school cafeteria and Wallaceburg municipal office and Thursday, January 25 from 4:30 to 6 p.m. at the Active Lifestyle Centre in Chatham.

Council budget committee deliberations will be held from 6 to 10 p.m. in council chambers the second floor of the Chatham-Kent Civic Center, starting January 30.

For budget updates or to join the conversation, follow the Municipality of Chatham-Kent on Facebook or Twitter #MunicCK.

Shop with a cop

On December 16, 2017, members of the Chatham-Kent Ontario Provincial Police (OPP), Chatham-Kent Police Service, Chatham-Kent Fire and Emergency Services, Medavie EMS and other local first responder agencies will be joining forces for the fourth annual Shop with a Cop event.

The purpose of this event is to foster positive relationships between children and law enforcement officers.

Kids between the ages of 5-12 from across the Municipality have been selected by the Lambton-Kent District School Board and St. Clair Catholic District School Board.

Each child will be given a Walmart gift card to purchase gifts for their immediate family. The child will be assigned their own officer as their ‘personal shopping assistant’ who will escort them around the store to assist in selecting appropriate gifts for each family member. After shopping, the children will be transported to the Bradley Convention Centre where they will enjoy breakfast and other activities while volunteer ‘elves’ wrap their presents.

The goal of Shop with a Cop is to break down the barriers between young people and police, with the intent of developing a better and more trusting relationship.

The gift cards have been purchased through donations from individuals, businesses and organizations.

Chatham-Kent OPP taking part in Operation Safe Trucking

Chatham-Kent Ontario Provincial Police (OPP) will be taking part in Operation Safe Trucking which is a five-day targeted province-wide enforcement initiative running from December 11 to 15, 2017 and focuses on Commercial Motor Vehicle (CMV) safety.

Operation Safe Trucking supports the OPP CMV Collision Mitigation Strategy and is the latest example of the OPP’s proactive approach to reducing the number of CMV collisions on Ontario roads.

From January 1 to December 8, 2017, the OPP responded to 6,252 transport truck-related collisions. A total of 84 lives were lost in 69 of those collisions.

The goal of the Strategy is to reduce the number of CMV collisions and resulting deaths and injuries on Ontario highways and roads.

During the initiative, OPP officers will conduct patrol in truck tractors (transport trucks), giving them a better vantage point for spotting CMV drivers who are distracted or engaged in other dangerous behaviours behind the wheel.

While the focus of the initiative is on transport trucks, officers will also be addressing dangerous behaviours on the part of all drivers.

World news

If you have a suggestion, story idea, column idea, or if you want to say hello… drop me an e-mail at aaron@sydenhamcurrent.ca.

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