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Thats an estimate based on recent projects. Problem with that is there isnt even a concept of what the Milton hospital will look like, no solid plans. Its great to start with that number but realistically it will be much higher.

_________________
Mike Cluett
Local/Regional Councillor
Wards 1,6,7 & 8

Website | Email mike@mikecluett.ca | Cell (647) 888-9032 | Facebook Page | | Twitter @Mike_Cluett

What we need to make sure is that if were going to the taxpayers for money via a special levy on taxes or potentially going to developers and increasing their DC's we HAVE to make sure everyone is on board. Were both saying the same thing.

Its a priority for the town but my big worry is that a change in provincial govt might bring some more changes and we will be put even further back on the backburner (were on the edge right now)

What if??? A new provincial govt decides that the LHIN's are an excessive level of govt and disbands them? What happens to the work done so far?

What if??? The govt stays the same and finds that its $25B already in the hole and postpones further investments another 2-3 years ... and as we heard last night from Mr Oliver ... that would mean at LEAST another 10 years of nothing. How long will taxpayers want to put into the kiddy money for a hospital without a firm plan of actually getting it?

What if??? they decide to change the LHIN's into more regionally based (ie Peel LHIN and Halton LHIN and Hamilton LHIN etc) Will that mean no expansion for Milton because of the new hospital in Oakville? Change to the services provided by Milton DH into a more regionally based care unit instead of a fully functional hospital?

There are so many balls being juggled around by different organizations and levels of government its not funny. And as I mentioned to the Halton Compass last night, no matter what we end up doing on council in 2011 and beyond, there has to be a fundamental change in the way council communicates with residents.

Last year 35,000 Miltonians signed a petition through the hard work of those at the Friends of Milton Hospital...we need MORE input. This needs to be something that cant be done in back rooms...people need to have their input and council members need to fundamentally change the way they do things.

We all have the best interest of Milton in mind...we just have to make sure we do the right thing.

*rally cry for the hospital*

_________________
Mike Cluett
Local/Regional Councillor
Wards 1,6,7 & 8

Website | Email mike@mikecluett.ca | Cell (647) 888-9032 | Facebook Page | | Twitter @Mike_Cluett

I think I'm with Zeeshan on this one. Yes, we don't know the time frame or the cost. But we know the expansion is needed and will eventually happen. Let's start with an initial estimate and start putting away money now. We do that with planning for our children's RESP's - we don't know the actual cost though at least there we're somewhat confident of the timeframe. At least it's something, and it may help as it has in other municipalities to bump the project up the provincial priority list. I personally think I'd rather see the municipality move forward with starting to plan to have funds available instead of waiting to see and playing catch-up later or hoping the provincial legislation will be changed (not that the lobbying on this front should not continue but let's not put all our eggs in one basket).

To address all the "maybes" could the town maybe draw upon an educational institution idea and set up a "hosptital endowment fund" with said yearly money set aside for the expansion to gather some shorter term benefit from it as well? What I'm thinking is that the monies from whatever source (GTA pooling, hospital tax levy) be set aside in a revenue generating fund and that the yearly interest/dividend be used to purchase hospital equipment and supplies, in addition to relying on charitable donations. Universities have been using endowment funds to purchase equipment and fund research projects for decades. Donations are applied to the fund principal balance, while the interest generated is used to fund projects.

Then, if there is a surplus when the eventual building project is approved you still have a principal balance from which interest can still be drawn for equipment etc the new hospital expansion will no doubt continue to need and the debate could be had at that stage is to still contribute an amount to the endowment fund. Wouldn't that be a nice debate for council to have when the time comes instead of how much of an additional tax levy should the people be burdened with like they've done in Oakville?

Playing devil's advocate- what if the province says no to the full-service hospital? If we're being honest with ourselves- it is a possibility. The province is $20+ billion in debt, and have got an infrastructure audit going on. I'm sorry but there are probably places that don't have even an ER to speak of who might even need the money more than we do. We have a beautiful hospital being built 15 minutes away, and access to CVH 15 minutes away.

I'm not saying it'll happen this way. I'm just saying: be realistic.. consider a "no" scenario.

Again- I'm just doing my job, and playing devil's advocate.

I totally agree that the number is irrelevant at this stage because there is no question about the need for expansion or the requirement to show good faith to the province.

I don't think that council can afford to punt the issue to their successors. Hospital expansion is too popular, and if a reserve fund can be established with no tax increase (GTA Pooling) it would cost them votes if they don't make the right decision on June 28.

One other proviso, if council at last acknowledges hospital expansion as a top priority they have to tighten control of capital on lower priority projects to leave some room.

Laura, this is what I kind of like about the idea of an endowment fund for the hospital administered by the town. The base principal amount - prefereably from a source that doesn't involve a tax increase such as the GTA Pooling fund would generate a source of revenue via interest that would allow for the purchase of new equipment for the existing hospital while also building principle for an eventual expansion. Right now the hospital relies on charitable donations for this and it can take quite some time to raise funds for a significant purchase. Right now I believe they are saving for a new ulstrasound machine. Previously it was a CT scanner. If the endowment fund is held by the town, I don't believe it interferes with the hospital books and not-for-profit status and it would benefit the existing hospital as well as building a principal amount that could be used later for new hospital building funds. What I'm not sure about is if there would be a penalty involved in cashing the principal out when needed. I would think that's all in how the fund is set up. Comments on this idea from the candidates? Am I out to lunch? If the province says NO, then we can at least still support the hospital in purchase of state of the art equipment to assist them in doing their jobs more efficiently in the current facility.

Oh dont get me wrong I am all for putting something away dedicated only to hospital expansion. There are a lot of questions that need to be answered and a lot of discussion (like this but on a more larger scale) with Milton residents before we start making decisions like tax levy's or increasing DC's or GTA pooling $ or combinations thereof.

I think we're all on the same page with this one for sure. We cant be rushed into anything based purely on emotion...and this is probably THE most emotional issue Miltonians have.

_________________
Mike Cluett
Local/Regional Councillor
Wards 1,6,7 & 8

Website | Email mike@mikecluett.ca | Cell (647) 888-9032 | Facebook Page | | Twitter @Mike_Cluett

@ freemantrail:
We can raise all the money we want- pay for it ourselves even. If the province says "no additional services" or you can only offer say maternity and ER for example, then that's it. They decide what services get offered where.

The endowment idea is a good one. We could start with the GTA pooling cash, and some from the slots, and it would be at least a start. Who would administer it? The CAO or somebody off Council?

I totally agree with the idea Milton Hospital needs expansion in some way. I just think the idea it's going to look like Oakville, and offer some of the same services stretches the boundaries of the imagination a llittle. I'd like to see council take a step back and wait to see what a final number looks like in Oakville's case before commiting public money.

Having more information never hurt anyone.

I agree Mike - there needs to be more discussion on a wider scale. I don't think I agree though that all the "what-ifs" need to be addressed before figuring out how much to start putting away though. If we wait for the what-ifs to be addressed the expansion will never happen. At some point we have to bite the bullet and say "this is our starting point, this is how we're moving forward". Review the plan every 3 or 4 years and update accordingly depending on new information available at the time.

And, as I said with a town generated and administered (or third party - I don't care particularly as long as it's accountable to the town council and citizens) endowment style fund dedicated to the hospital, the investment begins having returns fairly quickly in the form of funding for the existing hospital equipment. Maybe the first 3-4 years the interest could be re-invested in the fund to increase the principal balance more rapidly and after that be interest could be potentially be invested in new equipment for the existing hospital depending on what the current state of provincial affairs is at that time. If steps to expansion are no closer, then at least it gives the town an opportunity to help the hospital with investments in new equipment to better serve the community within existing facilities. It can be a useful tool independent of the bigger provincial picture and gives the municipality a bigger stick to wield with whatever provincial government/LHIN exists at the time. "We have X funds available dedicated to expanding our hospital - we're ready, it's needed, ante up your part now!". Wouldn't that potentially put Milton higher up the provincial money food chain if we were financially ready for the hospital expansion?

CompassLaura, yep I understand - from a services perspective the municipality has no control no matter how much money the town raises. I won't dispute that. That becomes a lobby matter that I would consider something that could be pursued in parallel with the actual funding issue, along with lobbying for changes to provincial regulations that currently do not allow development charges to be used for hospital expansion. From a funding perspective though - go with what you know now, start a plan forward on that basis and review periodically to accomodate new changes in direction. I don't think we need to wait for Oakville to make those first steps.

I got all that Zeeshan...Cindys motion includes asking the province to reinstate DC charges to help in raising these funds.

"AND FURTHER THAT the Town of Milton will research and identify potential funding mechanisms to assist Halton Healthcare Services in raising its local share including but not limited to:
a) requesting the Ontario government to reinstate development charges that would contribute to funding the cost of the expansion and redevelopment program; and
b) including a special tax levy on the municipal property bill in the 2011 budget considerations;"

There needs to be fast n quick study on where a good start point is rather than just tossing out a number like 60-80 million and say let's start there. If GTA pooling funds fail, then its go to the taxpayers and before we take money from taxpayers wallets we need to have more information than we do now.

I'm not for dragging feet and I agree that something should have been done sooner but we can't look back on "shouldve's and couldve's" we need to move forward starting now.

_________________
Mike Cluett
Local/Regional Councillor
Wards 1,6,7 & 8

Website | Email mike@mikecluett.ca | Cell (647) 888-9032 | Facebook Page | | Twitter @Mike_Cluett

Please don't hire a "consulting firm"

I'll play devil's advocate here for Kiddan, because I suspect the comment about the consultant comes from the town hiring a consultant to study alternate uses for the current main library branch (please correct me if I'm wrong Kiddan!). A third party consultant chosen carefully with the right background, credentials and staff can sometimes be the most cost effective and expedient way to get an impartial recommendation . Don't forget that internal town staff and council members time costs taxpayers money too.

^Yes, you guessed it right! Doesn't the town have any personnel with similar qualifications on their payroll? I mean we are planning the whole town aren't we? I see that in the private sector as well; every time there is a little issue everyone wants to call in the "experts" and nobody wants to use common sense...I guess it is a scarce commodity

I haven't seen what the town's looking for in terms of consultants for the library study. I'm sure they probably do have people on staff who could do the study - it's more a matter of how many projects said people already have on their plate and how much time it would take for them to manage and conduct the study. That in itself may cost $20K or more. Now, I'm reserving judgement on that one until I see whom they decide to hire. I would ideally hope for that situation it would be an acrhitectural firm with a good knowledge of building code who can study the current library building plans and reconcile alternate uses with code requirements and the building design, what building design changes ($$$) might be required to suit uses most popular with the community.

Now, being this is government we're talking about - that might be too logical an argument. We'll wait and see who they hire.