Councillor Mike Del Grande's Community Environment Day 2012 - September 8

This year Councillor Del Grande's Community Environment Day will be taking place on September 8, 2012. Community Environment Day is an opportunity for residents in the ward to dispose of various items. The City will ensure that items are disposed of in an environmentally friendly manner. We will post more information on our website at a later date, for the time being, please see the City's dedicated site about the events:

http://www.toronto.ca/environment_days/

Valleyview Garden Awards Nominations

We're working once again this year with our friends Valleyview Gardens to present Valleyview Garden Awards to some of Ward 39's best looking gardens. Each of the ten winners of the Valleyview Garden Awards will receive a $25 gift certificate donated by the garden centre. If you or someone you know have a great looking garden, drop us a line at 416-392-1374 or send us an email. Be sure to provide your name, address, and home telephone number so we can contact you. Entries close July 1st, so don't delay!

Useful Links
Valleyview Gardens
Email a nomination

Community Clean-up Day

Community Clean-up Day was a great success this year. Concerned citizens of all ages from all over the ward came to pitch in on Saturday, April 24th, to make their community a better place to live.

Our office would like to extend a warm thank you to all the groups that helped out, including the Heathwood Ratepayers Association, the Bridletowne Park Church, the 5th & 13th Agincourt Scout Group, and Action for Neighbourhood Change Toronto

Coffee with the Councillor

Our office would like to extend a warm thank you out to all residents who came out to Coffee with the Councillor on Saturday, April 11th. We were able to share some coffee with a variety of residents from across the ward, who each brought their own unique perspectives, opinions and issues to our table.

If you weren't able to make it out to our event or still have some issues and questions, please feel free to contact us here at the office at 416-392-1374.

Bridlewood Mall Open Meeting

The councillor hosted an open forum meeting today at L'Amoreaux Collegiate Institute concerning the status of the Bridlewood Mall redevelopment project. Our office has been in touch with the working group and the city planners over the past months, and wanted to share with you some of the details concerning the developer's revised site plans.

• The tallest building has been reduced from 38 storeys to 33 storeys
• One other building has been reduced from 33 storeys to 29 storeys
• 1370 units have been reduced to 1275, a reduction of only 95 units
• 1495 underground parking spaces will be available, with approximately one allotted to each unit
• 9,000 square feet and $1 million have been offered towards a library, which is not enough (15,000 square feet is the minimum)
• The main entrance will face the intersection of Warden and Finch diagonally
• A new entrance will face the street on Finch

The public opinion was that both the height and density of these buildings continue to be too high. In addition, there were some grave concerns that the stability of the local infrastructure is being overestimated by the city planners. Comparisons were drawn to the Markington project, at Markham Road and Eglinton, in which the number of units was reduced by over 25% before it went to council.

The councillor reminded the people that the decision is not in his hands, but rather that of the city planners, and encouraged people to visit both his own website and Stand Up Bridletowne, and to contact Renrick Ashby, the city planner in charge of the project, to voice their opinion.

Heathwood area graffiti cleanup

The Heathwood Ratepayers Association has organized an ambitious graffiti cleanup project, and over a dozen volunteers helped do their part, including the Councillor and his staff. The back yard fences of homes facing Kennedy from Passmore up to Steeles were completely repainted, and currently look beautiful.

WOW TV Grand Opening

Ward 39 celebrated the grand opening of a brand new specialty channel, and the councillor was there to welcome them.

You can see and watch the festivities for yourself at WOW TV's official website, under "Day Show".