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By FRANCES NIBLOCK The New Tanner Drafts of the Town's proposed smoking bylaw have become tougher with each public meeting and now, the only question is when all public and work places in Halton Hills will be 100 per cent smoke free. The latest proposed revision of a 1993 bylaw calls for a graduated smoking ban to 100 per cent by 2001, a bylaw Town CAO Steve Andrews said is "dramatically different and more strict" than an earlier version that didn't include a workplace smok- Or | 2dCOoMn> | \OTOR. PRODUCTS 1993 SUNBIRD LE $4,995 ing ban, aimed mainly at protecting bar and restaurant workers from sec- ond-hand smoke. At the last public meeting the Town was urged by local service clubs and health officials to go fur- ther with restrictions and the bylaw, as proposed, includes a gradual move to 75 per cent smoke-free this July, 85 per cent smoke-free next July, and 100 per cent smoke-free by 2001. Last week councillors narrowly rejected Georgetown Councillor Moya Johnson's attempt for a total ban by July 2000, as Andrews cau- tioned against going too fast with- out allowing time to educate the bar and restaurant owners -- silent so far in the public debate -- who face the toughest changes. Former bar owner, non-smoker Councillor Rick Bonnette, said he's sympathetic with local bar owners, some of whom had their property taxes doubled because of Current Value Assessment. He suggested they be able to stay 50 per cent smok- ing, 50 per cent non-smoking until September, after the traditionally slow summer season. "T think we also have businesses at stake... and unless you're one of the bars in town that has an outside patio, this is a very difficult time to be in business," Bonnette argued, unsuccessfully. At Council on Monday, Bonnette said Royal Canadian Legions are "private clubs built by veterans that served this country for freedom" and should keep their exemption from the smoking bylaw. "T think it's rather Draconian to dictate to Legions," Bonnette ar- gued, adding the Legions can po- lice their own buildings. Ward 2 Councillor Kevin Kuiack said private institutions should have the right and opportunity to make their own judgement calls and warned the bylaw could lead to em- ployees "squealing and ratting" on fellow employees who smoke ille- gally at work. The bylaw will be en- forced on a complaint basis with help from the Region and the Town's already over-worked bylaw enforce- ment staff. Council asked staff to report back with plans to invite the bars, restau- rants, pool halls, Legions and oth- ers affected by the changes to the next public meeting, that will be held within the next three to four weeks. FREE WEED Nationally Awarded Sales Representative Rockwood * 856-2222 RE/MAX Realty Specialists Inc. Earthy awards for St. Wayne who? See what 9 reporter Maggie Petrushevsky really Joseph S thinks about the hype sur- Sa r rounding the Great One. By FRANCES NIBLOCK See Page 4. The New Tanner They urge their fellow stu- dents and parents to turn down the heat and tum off the Check out the local deals in home and garden products and services in our special section. See Pages 7 to 11. ee "WN MSB Mustangs take Milton volleyball tourna- ment by storm. See Sports, Page 13. lights. They recycle faithfully and encourage others to do the same -- without nagging --and for their efforts to pro- tect the planet, four students from St. Joseph Catholic School received environmen- tal awards at a ceremony on Monday at Ontario Place. Each year during Earth Week, Halton Region and the public and separate school boards honour outstanding environmental efforts in Halton schools -- like the En- ergy Savers Patrol at St. Joseph -- with Blue Planet awards. While the entire Grade 6/7 class from the school at- tended the ceremony, four students -- Mirko Tonkovich, Jonathan Borrelli, Jason Ivory and Tricia Joyce -- were called to the stage with their teacher, Claire Lanois, to accept See AWARDS, Page 2 PLANET PROTECTORS: Students at St. Joseph Catholic School received a Blue Planet '99 envi- ronmental award, sponsored by Halton Region and both Halton school boards, at a ceremony at On- tario Place on Monday. Jason Ivory (left), Mirko Tonkovich, Jonathan Borrelli and Tricia Joyce ac- cepted the award. -- Frances Niblock photo esi 1999 An Acton homeowner with a Current Value Assess- ment of $185,000 would pay $9 more in municipal taxes this year -- that's a 1.3 per cent increase for a Town tax bill of $653 -- if no further changes were made to the proposed operating budget - $12.1 million of which must be raised through taxes. Councillors and the mayor, sitting as the budget commit- tee, began reviewing the op- erating budget on Tuesday night and prior to that meet- ing,. Treasurer. Ed. DeSousa said they'd bee: lind-_ sided" by the province which -- reduced a transfer payment by approximately $780,000. That could have resulted in a $54 tax increase -- or 8.3 per cent more -- had Halton Region not received a similar amount from the province, al- lowing it to absorb most of the Halton Hills shortfall. A balance of $2 will show up on the Region's tax bill. "T think from my stand- point this was a very tough budget. We got blind-sided with the loss in funding in late March when we were in the midst of doing our budget, so it's been very tough," DeSousa said, adding the operating budget focuses on maintaining existing service levels. Further meetings were scheduled for Wednesday and Thursday (today), if needed, to complete the budget committee's review of the operating budget. Capital budget The budget committee pared approximately $400,000 from the ambitious $7.4 mil- lion proposed capital budget "blind- 1 during three recent meetings. Plans for a new fire station were put on hold, reducing the budget by $365,000, leaving $120,000 to study Georgetown's fire service soe = Saar - n included $200,000 in the budget -- 95 per cent of it developers' dol- lars --as seed money for anew recreational facility --a leisure centre and/or the twinning of Alcott arena. Councillor Norm Elliott said he'd support spending the $200,000, but noted de- bate over a leisure facility is being watched with "very close scrutiny" in his ward. "What I'm concerned about is the mistaken idea that a leisure centre is upper most in everybody's mind. I can assure you it's not ...and peo- ple that are looking for decent roads in front of their homes perhaps might tell you at elec- tion time that the leisure cen- tre isn't the most important thing on their mind," Elliott said. To mark his point, Elliott gave staff a letter sent him by a Churchill Road resident complaining about the poor shape of that road and ask- ing for long-awaited repairs. Councillors hope to ap- prove both the operating and capital budgets on May 10. {\ t p Achilles Lease from $1 99* 148 months $1970 down B3000 SX 1.9% Financing Up to 48 months * No Limit OAC} * 3.0L V6 Engine (150 hp) * AM/FM CD Stereo * 15" Euro Style Wheels * Dual Air Bags * Tow Trailer Wiring * 60/40 Split Seat Lease rate based on 48 Mos. 20,000 KM per year O.A.C. Excess kilometer charge $0.08 per km. Down payment and monthly payment subject to GST and PST. First payment, down payment and security deposit due on delivery. Down payment includes freight and PDE. 357 Queen St. Acton (519) 853-0200