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By Dianne Cornish A hearing officers’ report, sharply critical of the Niagara - Escarpment Commission (NEC) and recommending the delegation of escarpment control powers to regional municipalities and coun- ties along the unique landform has been heartily endorsed by the Niagara Escarpment Landowners Coalition (NELC). The 700-member Coalition has been lobbying for more than a year to have administration of escarp- ment land use controls by elected regional and county municipal gov- emment rather than by an appoint- ed commission. In an extensive report on the NEC and the Niagara Escarpment Plan (NEP) hearing officers Mary « Munro and John McClellan last week supported the NELC’s posi- tion. Before development control Landowners laud report powers are transferred, the hearing officers suggested all regional and local official plans be brought into conformity with the NEP. “We have received no evidence that municipal implementation of the Plan would lead to its weakening,” Munro and McClellan concluded. When the NEC turns over devel- opment control authority, the Commission “can take on fully the crucial roles of monitoring,. research and education that cannot be accomplished as well at other levels of government,” the report said. During eight months of public on the review of the NEP which ended. last March, several landowners criticized the NEC’s emi iatascy of the Plan. Many the Commission was bureau- port as well as slow and inconsis- tent in its decision-making. Continued on page 5 Ruth Scoll (left) and Fran Ai ihe ony demonstrate lace weaving on a fou! Handweavers and Spinners Open House, Sunday at Cedarvale Cottage. harness loom at the Heritage Photo by Simon Wilson ee Ao) Fi a Co 10) Wednesday, Mar 19! HIS WEEN 24 pages RE/MAX SUBURBAN SU) 3 874-9051 232 Guelph St., Georgetown 873-2254 Whiting looking to save jobs Da By Trish Tervit Special School trustee Dave Whiting Hills wards 1 and 3) has introduced a motion that may save the 75 jobs currently on the cutting tal the Halton: Public School Board. The motion, introduced at last week’s board meeting, will be voted on trustees at the next meeting on The att came after the board laid to rest it’s 1993 budget with an 11 to 6 vote. Whiting has pire using $500,000 of a $1.4 million Ministry of Education grant given to help administrators restructure the board and putting it into a fund for early retirement and severance incen- tives. “What it will do is get the top end people out of the system now because the people that were going to be laid off are the people at the low end of the system making the low dollars,” Whiting said. “Long ae a will save this board a pile of me De a an unexpected windfall from the provincial government, the 1993 mill rate, which should have been near 4 per cent, will actually be 3.4 per cent, or an aver- age increase of $43 for education taxes per household. The one million dollars came four days before the budget was set to be approved. The board’s admin- IGHTING Let as hebp you with ALL t ALL your Lighting concerns! 245 Guelph St. (Hwy. 7), Georgetown 873-2996 istration had been ore tne a g shortfall of $4.7 million, but the extra aie made the shortfall $3.69 million instead. School trustees voted unani- mously to put the money directly onto the ca rate, giving Halton break. But some sien thought that was a bold and insensitive move in light of the recent campaign by adminis- tration to get staff to donate a day’s pay to save 75 colleagues jobs. Education director Bob Williams had explained to staff in early March meetings that the board had to cut one million dollars from the of layoffs. i “A lot of people are confused and - some of them angry,” president of the local Ontario Secondary School Teachers’ Federation Sally Continued on page 5 Water issue erupts By Dianne Cornish Mayor Russ Miller wants “an open vote” on the possibility of lake-based water for Georgetown; Councillor Gail Rutherford is “dis- appointed” by a regional report about a proposed water connection with Peel and Councillor Norm Elliott has “grave concerns” about a recent ministry report which, he says, “basically sounds the death knell for future development in Acton until further notice.” All three were reacting Monday night to a regional staff recommedation about a possible Peel water connec- tion. A meeting will be held at the Civic Centre Monday so regional representatives can answer coun- cil’s questions about the proposed water lin! The mayor said piped water to Georgetown might result in uncon- trolled growth. He and councillor Al Cook went so far as to suggest if groundwater supplies cannot sus- tain the town’s projected popula- tion growth of 40,000 people over the next 20 years, maybe growth should stop or another look should be taken at fe development plans for Ges Councillor Rutherford took aim at regional engineering staff and a ‘Ministry of Environment official who visited town council last fall to speak about water concerns. “We were basically misled” about the quantity of groundwater capacity in Halton Hills, she charged, The town’s Urban Area Review is based on a groundwater system for Halton Hills, Rutherford told council, suggesting that a well- based system carries a measure of controlled growth with it, while a lake-based system might lead to development that is too rapid. Continued on page 3 ‘Your independent voice in Halton Hills’ 50 cents includes G.S.T. issues to dressed during the public consultation process include whether the dam will be retained with a bridge deck, whether the head pond will be lowered permanently or whether it'll be retained and a ey con- | struct ‘Several recreational uses in the area will also be considered in determining the shape of the reha- bilitated dam structure. Water connection __ Members of Halton Hills Town | Council will be given an opportu- nity Monday to “ ee about a proposed w: ection between Peel Resion and Georgetown. The proposal and its =e will be explained to council by two representatives of Halton Region, ee Robertshaw, _ and Daniel Mitta as building jen ‘presen: tatives to answer queries, Monday’s meeting will begin at 6 p.m. in Council Chambers, at the Civic Centre, Georgetown. — Contracts extended Town council passed a bylaw Monday authorizing the reap- pointment of Eugene-Callegari imspectors for Halton Hills. Previous contracts with the ne men, who work under contract for the town, expired Feb. 26 of his year. uit the new bylaw, their con- ts will be extended to the end of of 1993, Headline-Purple Cross Month In response to a request from the Halton Hills Elks Lod, proclaimed May as Purple Cross Month for the hearing-impaired and speech-impaired of Oni Classic 5 light brass and ribbed | geese sgg” Valu its 24" Bulbs extra. We