Lloyd Ferguson

In Hamilton 25 years ago, more than 7,000 people came here every day to work, mainly in industrial jobs in the north end. The city's residential tax base then was 35 per cent of total municipal revenue.

Today, we see 24,000 people leaving our city every day to work elsewhere and our dependence on residential taxes to pay our bills has jumped to 80 per cent.

These two statistics - people leaving our city for employment and residential taxes footing the bill to the tune of 80 per cent - is not sustainable. We need to increase the non-residential tax base if we want to see and enjoy real economic development and employment growth in Hamilton.

It's one of the biggest reasons for supporting the need to develop the land around Hamilton Airport. At our June meeting, council agreed that the Airport Employment Growth District (AEGD) - from Garner Road to the north, Carluke Road to the south, Fiddler's Green Road to the west, and Upper James Street to the east - would be brought into the urban boundary for future employment land development. Over the next year, city staff, consultants and the community liaison committee meet to work on a secondary plan that realistically will take years to fully implement. No one likes to see agricultural land come out of production, however no one will be forced to sell their land.

I want to be clear, however, that these lands will be serviced - sewer, water and roads - using development charges and won't come from municipal tax levy.

While some have suggested that we need to exhaust the available brownfield lands in our city - we agree and we are aggressively doing that - the fact is that we only have 150 hectares of land available and approximately 70 per cent of it is located on parcels of less than one hectare.

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In other news, following up on the proposed cell-phone tower at Fiddler's Green Road and Highway 403, our medical officer of health has reported that cell-phone towers do not pose a health risk to area neighbours.

We have also been advised by representatives from Industry Canada and our planning staff that telecommunications falls under federal jurisdiction and we have no say as to the location of such structures.

I am very disappointed as the municipality is the lands use agency and these towers should not be located in residential areas. However, it has been made clear it is out of our control. I will continue to do what I can to change that policy.

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Next month, I will meet with municipal staff to develop a list of future capital projects for Ancaster and I want to extend an invitation to all residents to participate in this process. If you have suggested ideas for capital projects in and around our community, please contact me by Aug. 11. Keep in mind, however, that capital projects have an impact on our tax rate.

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And finally, I am pleased to report that we have awarded a paving contract to resurface the following roads in the Nakoma Subdivision: Council Cr., Huron Ave., Manitou Way, Nakoma Rd., Seminole Rd., Senior Dr. from Corwallis Rd. to Nakoma Rd., Sioux Rd., Spring Tr., Waban Pl., and Yahara Pl.