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THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 11, 1999 THE NEW TANNER 7 Bonnette wants to see Town out of the GTA BY MAGGIE PETRUSHEVSKY The New Tanner Meet the Town of Halton Hills Ward 1 Elected Repre- sentatives - continued. Rick Bonnette is single and came to Acton with his family when he as just over a year old. He teaches travel and tourism at Humber Col- lege. He has been a Halton Hills councillor since 1982 and became Acton's regional councillor in 1985. At the regional level he sits on the Halton Agricul- tural Advisory Committee, the Joint Waste Management committee, is vice-chair of the Planning and Public Works committee and sits on that committee's interview group. Locally he chairs the Norval Secondary Plan com- mittee, is vice-chair of the Town's budget committee. With concerns at two lev- els Bonnette sees two major issues for both his councils. Locally he says Acton needs to get residential growth to tie in with commercial devel- opment. At the Region the big issue will be keeping a decent tax rate so the budget can continue to provide the present level of services given their loss of $40 mil- lion in government grants thanks to provincial downloading. The fearmongering at- tached to the way Halton has been "dragged kicking and screaming into the Greater Toronto Area (GTA)" is self- destructive, Bonnette says, but it will also cause prob- lems for councillors to: deal with. How much time his coun- cil duties take depends on the week, he says. Considering he has an hour -long com-' mute just to get to Regional meetings, he estimates coun- cil work consumes 35 to 40 hours per week. Bonnette calls himself a high-energy person and un- winds with lots of sports-re- lated activities. In summer he enjoys in-line skating and tennis, and has recently added golf. He works out at the gym in winter and walks his greyhound Lucky at least once daily. He enjoys watch- ing hockey on TV now that he no longer plays the game himself. He also likes to kick back with a rented movie sometimes. Considering the time in- volved in working on: the Acton Proud campaign which supported construc- tion of the new Acton arena, Bonnette says he's taking a year off his volunteer work torest. He was strictly a com- munity citizen on that com- mittee, he says, never a coun- cil representative. Bonnette says he likes to shop locally whenever he can and figures his last major purchase, apart from grocer- les, was a lawnmower from the hardware store. He sees no friction be- tween Acton and Interview with Coun. Bonnette Councillor Rick Bonnette Georgetown councillors but agrees there may bea percep- tion of that. "It goes in cy- cles depending on the is- sues," Bonnette says, "but this council has been really good at avoiding friction." In terms of preparing Acton to head into the next century Bonnette wants to see the town out of the GTA. He would also like to see the town become more self-suf- ficient with more industry and a larger population so they could support the vari- ety of stores required to be self-sustaining. He would also like to see downtown Acton revitalized. Section of Acton sidewalks added to snow removal Pedestrian safety concerns prompted the Town's special purpose committee to recom- mend to Council that several small sections of Acton sidewalks be added to the list of those that are cleared of snow and ice by the Town. The south side of Church Street from Main Street South to Willow Street will now be cleared of snow fol- lowing a request from Blue Springs Funeral Home to improve safety for mourners walking to the facility. The cost of clear that .11-kilome- tre section of snow will add an additional $82.50 to the Town's annual sidewalk snow clearing budget. It's heart and stroke month February is Heart and Stroke month. It's time to get fit, have fun and make a dif- ference, says a spokesperson for Flamingo Dance/Exercise Studio. "Take part in our "Fit for Heart" and keep your own heart healthy by staying fit," Dorri Bland says. "And check out the valuable prizes you can earn by raising money for "Fit for Heart." Pledge forms can be picked up at the Flamingo Dance/Exercise Studio on Main St. S., Georgetown, and support the Heart. and Stroke Foundation of On- tario. The sidewalks on the south side of Cedar Road from Churchill Road to the Acton High school property - a .09 section -will now cleared by the Town at an additional cost of $67.50 an- nually. a At a meeting later this month Town staff will report on the cost of clearing the sidewalk on the south side of Mill Street West from Main Street to Park Avenue - a re- quest made by Acton Coun- cillor Clark Somerville who has had complaints about pedestrian safety. Somerville said he will also ask the committee to consider adding the entire length of the sidewalk on the north side of Bower Street from the railway tracks to Willow Street to the sidewalk clearing route. RR #2 Acton, Ontario D. DONALDSON AUCTIONEER Farm, Estate, Household Your Local Acton Auctioneer 519-853-4025 Available for immediate occupancy. Recently updated large 3 bedroom brick semi. House features include hardwood floor throughout, family size eat in Kitchen with new cabinets, main floor laundry, second floor bath with clawfoot tub. Large 30' x 145' lot on a quiet street in Acton. Peter Zions Construction Call Steve or Peter 853-2464 For an evening out Bonnette prefers a movie or a sporting event to concerts and live theatre entertain- ments. Bonnette says the biggest surprise for him as a new councillor was to see how long it takes 12 people to de- bate an issue and reach a de- cision. "And that hasn't changed," he says with a grin. The most stressful issue he recalls as a councillor was getting the fire hall and new arena for Acton. The last book he read and would recommend, Bonnette says, is Another City, Not My Town. It was written by Dominic Dunn whose actress daughter was murdered in Los Angeles. He left the city after his daughter's death, but returned to watch the O.J. Simpson trial. He drops ce- lebrity names throughout the book as he comments on the differences he saw in the city now from when he used to know it, Bonnette says. Privatizing garbage col- lection "had some glitches in the beginning", but it will save Halton Region more than $1 million over five years, he says. "We lost a lit- tle in community pride with losing our own people, but it is saving major tax dollars." In terms of additional tourist attractions beside the old Hide House, Bonnette says visitors ought to come for the Leathertown Festival, the Acton Fall Fair, and now the Winter Fair which he hopes is to become a new tra- dition for the town. He also feels we have some interest- ing tourist-oriented stores for visitors to see. Bonnette figures we need - "pristine industries that will . attract other industries" when the 401 corridor is de- veloped. "There are 740 acres to be developed there and I'd like assurance the industries that come will employ Halton Hills people," he says. Bureaucracy can always be streamlined, he says but it's a double-edged sword. A few years ago the Region went from eight department heads to four. That did save money at the time but three or four extra staff had to be hired to cover the extra work- load and he questions whether the end result won't cost just as much. Bonnette says some day he might run for mayor "if the political climate is right." It can be a thankless job at times and it takes significant money torun a campaign. So there's no point in running unless there's a reasonable chance of winning. mK Monda Tuesday, 2 Main Street ACTON PHARMACY LTD, COMING SOON "PHARMA SAVE" - HOURS aes 6 North, Acton 853-1620 Mes MILLAN'S ( Open 7 Days a Week _) 10 am - 5 pm 853-0311 GREAT DEAL! 10" CHOCOLATE HAZELNUT CAKE COVERED IN A RICH DARK CHOCOLATE ow! § 995 CABBAGE ROLLS FILLED WITH GROUND BEEF & RICE WITH A CHUNKY TOMATO SAUCE $ 4% OR 2 for$ 8° 8/PKG Apple Dumplings An old fashioned favourite with a STRAIGHT CUT FRENCH FRIES 1 kg ONLY 99¢ While Supplies Last 16 Variet caramel centre BANANA MUFFIN BATTER PLUS ONE OTHER $4 3°0 6/pkg $695 litre pails ies to Choose From Every Wednesday seniors receive 10% off on regular priced merchandise Hwy. #7, 1 mile west of Acton