Steve Wiersma, Supervisor of Horticulture and Tom Weech, Roads and Works Operations Supervisor, both for the Town of Oakville, work silently and zealously for each of us who work, visit, live and play in Oakville. Both they and their teams are on the job every day of the week by 5am doing their best to ensure that the Town of Oakville is the most beautiful and safest place to be. Behind the scenes, Steve, Tom and their crews enable that the show goes on.
Sadly for Oakville, and a great adventure for Tom Weech, he is retiring after 36 years with the Town. His first job out of high school was with the Town and he has stayed. Tom says “I am looking forward to exploring some new interests. I am also wanting to continue consult with the three Oakville BIA’s on an ongoing basis helping them to make prudent choices when buying new products.”
Tom is the supervisor concerned with keeping Oakville clean, starting each day at 5am, before people begin parking on the streets and the traffic becomes heavy. His crews clean the roads and streets before and after every event in Oakville, power washing, power vacuuming and picking up litter. Any Graffiti is immediately removed.
The garbage removal is the responsibility of the Halton Region; however, Tom and his crews will pick up any overflow where ever they see it. The places they cannot go are in private parking lots and Tom urges the people who use these lots “to help the litter issue by using the garbage cans provided”. Garbage attracts wasps, flies, vermin and seagulls and detracts from the beautiful flower planters and summer gardens that adorn our Town and invite citizens and visitors to explore the streets of Oakville.
Speaking of the amazing displays of potted plants and gardens seen throughout Oakville, we can thank Steve Wiersma, Supervisor of Horticulture and his hard-working Town of Oakville crews for taking care of the flowers rain or shine every day of the growing season. Even when it rains each of the pots must be watered as the rain falls off the planters and does not reach the soil below. They also require fertilizer regularly. Steve and his crews are also responsible for preparing flower beds and preparing the pots to be displayed throughout Oakville.
Come, stroll our Oakville streets. Visit our eateries and our shops. Both Steve and Tom endeavour to do their best to work with the three local BIA’S: The Bronte Village-by-the- Lake BIA, the Kerr Village BIA and the Downtown Oakville BIA ensuring fun and adventure and beauty in each area of Oakville.