www.independentfreepress.com Ted Brown............... 7 Calendar .....18, 19, 21 Sports ............22, 23 Directory ............... 31 Classifieds ....32, 33 50 Cents (+ GST) Circulation: 22,800 CITIZEN OF THE YEAR Longtime volunteer Dianne Penrice named Georgetown's top citizen PAGE 3 RAIDERS' SEASON ENDS For the fourth straight year the Raiders are cut down by the Blades PAGE 22 56 Pages Halton Hills' award-winning newspaper THE INDEPENDENT & FREE PRESS THURSDAY, March 3, 2011 Users to kick in $5.86M to pay for new ice surfaces By CYNTHIA GAMBLE Staff Writer Check out time for Acton library Longtime employees of Halton Hills Library Marie Vickery and Walter Lewis save a couple bricks from the old Acton Library as demolition crews started taking down the building Thursday morning. For more on the library see page 10. Photo by Ted Brown Cheers, applause and whistles greeted a Halton Hills council decision Monday night to go ahead with a three-arena program costing $29.2 million. The decision, made after a four-and-a-half hour meeting with 16 delegations, will include a threeyear dedicated arena levy on homeowners' tax bills in 2013, 2014, 2015-- $2.45, $12.40 and $12.40 on the average home assessed at $350,000. The program will see the addition of two new ice surfaces at the Mold-Masters SportsPlex ($18.9 million) by the fall 2013 ice season and the twinning of the Acton Arena ($10.3 million) by the fall 2015 ice season. The Acton Seniors' Centre's expansion plans were included in the 2014 and 2015 capital forecast. Council unanimously agreed to add in an amendment calling for the inclusion of the design and engineering-- $885,000-- of the second phase of the Gellert Centre, which will include the new Georgetown Seniors Centre, in the 2015 capital forecast. The forecast is a guide for council and inclusion does not guarantee it will happen. "I'm very excited it's all going forward, including our seniors' centres, which is as important as our arenas," said Arlene Fritz, of Acton, one of the Halton Hills Arena Users Group spokespersons, after the meeting. See COUNCIL, pg. 4 REFINANCING? PURCHASING? Now Available at VARIABLE RATE. CALL FOR DETAILS. .85% BOB WOODS, Broker PA I N T · WA L L PA P E R · L I G H T I N G · H O M E D E C O R GEORGETOWN MARKETPLACE MALL Like u s o n FSCO #10259 Division of 1490845 Ont. Ltd. 905-877-4193 (905) 877-1490 360 Guelph St., Georgetown