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Councillors ignored warnings say residents Local councillors have continual ly refused to act over a 17year period despite repeated warnings- by experts and homeowners that the backyards of houses in Georgetown would crumble away if nothing was done a Dawson Crescent resident says Theres an unquestionable link between the towns refusal to act in the last 17 years and the failure of our slope said Ann Geh who lives at Dawson Cres The town was told by a soil mechanic consultant as early as when the Dawson Crescent subdivision was still under con struction that the ground was unstable said Mrs Geh She sent a letter to then Georgetown Mayor William Smith informing him of the soil consul tants findings Mr Smith then turned the letter over to the town engineer with a promise of a response but the Gehs were never contacted she said Mrs Geh said she also talked to the building inspector in 1972 but got no response There are 16 homes on Metcalfe Court and a total of homes on Eden Place and Irwin and Dawson Crescents in need of stabilization work The backyard stabilization pro jects recommended by the Credit Valley Conservation Authority have become a contentious issue at the town because homeowners want the town to pay its share of a million repair bill The town can agree to pay its share but it has the option of charging the cost back to the homeowners through tax bills over a number of years The project is proposed to be done over three years The pro vince has approved its share of the funding for the 16 homes on Metcalfe Court this year The repair bill on Metcalfe Court alone is expected to cost about The cost of repairs to backyards on Metcalfe Court averages bet ween and with a high of 35000 according to Vicki Barron general manager of the CVCA The cost of repairs to the backyards on the other streets is expected to average with a high of she said Although the province has ap proved funding for Metcalfe Court this year there is no guarantee it would approve the funding again next year if the town doesnt pro vide its share of the money During the budget deliberations on Monday councillors removed the Metcalfe Court repairs from the budget The problem was created by developers who revamped the sub division in order to put in more homes area residents say Builders then placed uncompacted fill at the edge of the ravine to ex tend the backyards of the homes Homeowner Glen of 27 Metcalfe Court and John Stinson of 20 Eden Place said its crucial that the Metcalfe Court project go ahead this year In years there have been five reports conducted on the proper ties which say the stabilization was needed said Mr Homeowners have a perception that some councillors see the backyard stabilization as a Continued on Page OPEN 1010 7 DAYS A WEEK EASTERN AVE ACTON Its Worth the Drive to Acton Main St N Ontario J 1W3 Trie S19M3I370 of Halton Hills FREE DISTRIBUTION WEDNESDAY MARCH PAGES AIDS cases doubled during last year report discloses Easter Delights With Easter around the corner and Peter Cottontail watching Ellis of Deboras Con fections In Crawfords Pine Valley Farms In Nerval designs chocolate for the Easter Bunny to deliver Local stores are filled with colorful eggs giant chocolate bunnies and soft plush rabbits for the holi day this weekend Herald photo by Donna Kell The number of people with AIDS in Halton has doubled in the last year Twentyone cases of AIDS Ac quired Immune Deficiency Syn drome have been reported since the Region began keeping records in 1982 Ten of those were reported in the last year said Susan Har- rigan the AIDS project co ordinator at Halton Region Of the 21 cases diagnosed seven people are still alive and only one case has been reported in Halton Hills but that person has since moved out of the region On top of the cases diagnosed with AIDS more people are con firmed carriers of the Human Im munodeficiency Virus HIV the viruswhich causes AIDS said Ms Eight of those people live in Halton Hills Haltons figures appear low but the AIDS situation in the Region is quite serious when the numbers are plugged into the accepted ex trapolation formula According to Ms Harrigan for every one person diagnosed with AIDS there are between five and 50 people who have the HIV and are showing symptoms and another SO to 200 people who have contracted the HIV but are not yet showing any symptoms About 2300 Canadians are known to nave AIDS but there could be between 30000 and more carriers of the fatal disease said Ms Harrigan There were 279 cases of AIDS reported in Ontario in and only 170 of those are still alive ac cording to a report by Haltons medical officer of health Dr Graham Pollett Although Halton reports only two per cent of the cases reported in Ontario since records were first kept in 1982 71 per cent of all cases in Ontario were reported in the greater Toronto area which in cludes East York the City of York the City of North York Scar borough York Region Peel Region and the City of Toron to Nineteen of 20 cases reported in Halton are male Details of the most recent case have yet to be released By far the most common risk group which tests positive for AIDS are homosexual or bisexual people Of the people whose cases have been studied are homosexuals or bisexuals one was a recipient of a blood transfusion one is a regular user of intravenous needles and is a homosexual or Related story Page 2 bisexual and another person is an intravenous needle user who has had multiple sexual partners staff were unable to trace the causes of AIDS in three of the cases Eight of the people who have contracted the HTV are located in Halton Hills Another eight reside in Burlington two reside In Milton and two more live in Of those 20 people are homosexual or bisexual one is the recipient of a blood product one is heterosexual and one person bad multiple sexual partners Four HTV carriers have yet to determine the causes of the disease in their systems