Oakland County Parks will be recycling Christmas Trees for FREE at 11 park locations from December 26, 2009 to January 10, 2010, from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m., seven days a week. The trees will be chipped and used for trail paths and landscaping in the county park system.
Self-serve recycling sites include Red Oaks Golf Course in Madison Heights; Catalpa Oaks in Southfield; Glen OaksGolf Course in Farmington Hills; Addison Oaks near Oxford;Groveland Oaks near Holly; Independence Oaks near Clarkston; Lyon Oaksin Lyon Township; Orion Oaks in Orion Township; Springfield Oaksin Davisburg; Waterford Oaks Activity Center in Waterford; and White Lake Oaks Golf Course near Pontiac. CLICK HERE for an Oakland County Parks map.
There is no charge to drop off trees. Plastic, tinsel and wire must be removed. Large quantities from commercial lots will not be accepted.
Local volunteers from the business community provide advice on how to make Oakland County a better place to live and work. The Oakland County Business Roundtable has four committees (Economic Development, Quality of Life, Transportation, Workforce and Education) which present their recommendations at an annual breakfast attended by civic and business leaders in December.
The following are a summary of the Oakland County Business Roundtable’s recommendations for 2010, which were presented on December 11, 2009 at the Troy Marriot. CLICK HERE to read the entire Oakland County Business Roundtable report.
Economic Development Committee
Oakland county should seek to partner with Macomb County in the Site Plan Assistance Review Collaborative (SPARC). The Macomb County Department of Planning and Economic Development has created the SPARC pilot program to assist communities in streamlining and simplifying their site plan approval processes to assist developers looking to build locally.
Quality of Life Committee
Develop an Ambassador Program for Oakland County to attract, orient and retain emerging technology companies.
Recognize and celebrate companies that demonstrate leadership in environmental sustainability in business through the creation of “The Green-based Economic Award.”
Establish a closer Oakland County link with the state’s “Pure Michigan” advertising campaign, giving Oakland County a more prominent presence on the Michigan.org web site and in state marketing materials.
Establish a 311 telephone service to better serve the general public regarding services offered by Oakland County.
Implement a “Community Quality of Life Award” to improve the lives of Oakland County Citizens.
Transportation Committee
The County should call upon state legislators to increase Michigan’s road funding and to support the efforts of Businesses for Better Transportation. Funding options include Private Investment Infrastructure Funding and Public-Private Partnership.
The Board of Commissioners, state officials, and federal officials should be asked to support the Troy/Birmingham Transit Center.
A Transportation Infrastructure Development One Stop Shop should be formed to provide direction and support to alternative energy stakeholders in the form of technology updates, education, funding sources, ordinance support and key contact information.
A transportation purchasing pool consisting of both county agencies and municipalities should be formed.
All permitting agencies and departments in the county should implement an automated online permit management system.
A regional transportation authority should be formed to explore the TranslinkeD logistics program developed by the Detroit Regional Chamber of Commerce.
Recommended the County develop dislocated worker internships and partnerships with employers who have diversified their services or products.
Recommended the County encourage entrepreneurships and train individuals for jobs in health care and emergingtechnologies.
Recommended the County match employers’ training needs with educators who will develop training programs to address those needs.
The Skills Needs Assessment Checklist should be expanded to include health care, film and aerospace sectors.
Oakland County Commissioner Tim Burns speaks with OCBR Transportation Committee member Laurene Funk at the annual Oakland County Business Roundtable breakfast.
The Clawson-Troy Optimist Club in cooperation with the City of Clawson sponsored the annual Christmas Tree Lighting Ceremony on November 30, 2009. The event featured a visit from Santa Claus, live reindeer, cookies and hot chocolate, and nice weather this year.
Oakland County Commissioner Tim Burns passes out hot chocolate to attendees of the 2009 Clawson Christmas Tree Lighting Ceremony with the Optimist Club. Tim is a member of the Clawson-Troy Optimist Club and a past-Vice President of the service club.
The Board of Commissioners has approved the construction of a new terminal building at the Oakland County International Airport.As Vice Chairman of the Board’s Airport Committee, Tim Burns worked to ensure that this new facility would be Oakland County government’s first LEED Certified, energy efficient and environmentally sustainable building. No funds from taxes collected by Oakland County will be used to fund the new terminal; rather it will be paid for from user landing fees and federal stimulus dollars.
For the first time in a weekly address, the President is joined by the First Lady as they celebrate Christmas. They both honor those serving overseas, those who have sacrificed for their country, and the families that stand by them.
The President looks back to the bipartisan Patient’s Bill of Rights, a bill that was defeated in Congress at the hands of special interests and their supporters, and notes that health insurance reform covers the same ground and much more in terms of giving the consumers the upper hand over their insurance companies. He calls on the Senate to allow an up-or-d […]
The President explains that while he continues to focus on jobs, it is also profoundly important to address the problems that created this economic mess in the first place. He commends the House of Representatives for passing reforms to our financial system, including a new Consumer Financial Protection Agency, and blasts Republican Leaders and financial ind […]
Following the best jobs numbers since 2007, the President recognizes that such trends are cold comfort to those who are struggling and pledges to continue pushing forward towards positive job growth. He looks back at the Jobs Forum he hosted days before and looks ahead to further action. He emphatically restates why he ran for President in the first place: “ […]
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Oakland County Parks will be recycling Christmas Trees for FREE at 11 park locations from December 26, 2009 to January 10, 2010, from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m., seven days a week. The trees will be chipped and used for trail paths and landscaping in the county park system. 
Posted by Tim 
Posted by Tim 
Posted by Tim 
