www.insideHALTON.com | OAKVILLE BEAVER | Thursday, May 5, 2016 | 30 Halton Highlights 2016 May Ready to respond: celebrating Emergency Preparedness Week From May 1 to 7, Halton Region is celebrating Emergency Preparedness Week alongside the community's first responders, partner organizations and emergency management teams. Emergencies can happen anytime, and your best defense is to be prepared by following three simple steps: Step 1: Know the risks and potential hazards in your area; Step 2: Make a plan for your household to follow in an emergency; and Step 3: Assemble or buy an emergency kit to meet your household's needs for at least 72 hours. We also encourage everyone to contact neighbours, family and friends who may be vulnerable during an emergency to ensure that they are properly prepared. By working together, we can help ensure Halton is ready to respond. To learn more about emergency preparedness, please visit halton.ca/beprepared. Keeping you informed by highlighting what makes Halton a great place to live. Halton Regional Chair Gary Carr Maintaining Halton's strong economy Regional Council is committed to supporting a strong and sustainable local economy. When businesses locate in Halton, they are choosing one of the best places to do business in Canada. Businesses in our area benefit from a deep talent pool of professionals, proximity to leading educational institutions, easy access to major markets and a high quality of life that is second to none. Halton recently When presented the Economic businesses Development Economic Review 2015 report, locate in which highlights Halton, they are the year's economic choosing one of activity and real estate the best places development. The to do business report outlines several in Canada. key accomplishments, including low unemployment rates and tremendous growth in employment development. To download an electronic version of the full report, or to learn more about what makes Halton a great place to invest and do business, visit halton.ca/invest. May 1 to 7 is Emergency Preparedness Week ReThink your outdoor water use this spring and summer Starting May 7, we are offering our annual rain barrel sales at various locations throughout Halton. The program is part of our ReThink Water campaign that encourages residents to enjoy Halton's safe, highquality drinking water and promotes water conservation and protection. You can help conserve our valuable water resources by collecting rain water from your home's downspout for use in your garden. Using the water from one full rain barrel saves 240L of water, which is more than the average Halton resident uses in one day. To learn more about rain barrel sales or Halton's water programs, visit halton.ca/water. Rain Barrel sales events All events take place from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. May 7 Georgetown Robert C. Austin Operations Centre 11620 Trafalgar Rd. May 14 Burlington Mapleview Mall (lower parking lot by the Bay) 900 Maple Ave. June 4 Milton Milton GO Train Station 780 Main Street East (west of Thompson Rd.) June 11 Oakville Halton Regional Centre 1151 Bronte Road (Parking lots A, B and C. Enter off North Service Rd.) Meetings at Halton Region 1151 Bronte Rd., Oakville, L6M 3L1 Visit halton.ca/meetings for full schedule. May 10 May 11 May 11 May 18 May 23 9:30 a.m. Health & Social Services Committee 9:30 a.m. Planning & Public Works Committee 1:30 p.m. Administration & Finance Committee 9:30 a.m. Regional Council Offices closed for Victoria Day holiday Rain barrels cost $45 and can be purchased at these sales events or online (see link below). If you would like to order more than one barrel, please pre-order online at halton.ca/water. Please contact us as soon as possible if you have any accessibility needs at Halton Region events or meetings. This page has been donated by this newspaper to communicate important information to Halton residents at no cost to taxpayers.