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THURSDAY, AUGUST 11, 2005 THE NEW TANNER Jon Hurst Mayor Bonnette Mike Davis No crackdown on builders who ignore stop work order Continued from page 1 purposes and sees town stop work orders as a nuisance to be ignored and a fine as a cost of doing business. Coun. Jon Hurst fired the first dart into Davis' punitive balloon, calling the proposals "vindictive, restrictive and detrimental to non-residential develop- ment" in the town. Mayor Rick Bonnette has declared the town is open for busi- ness and council needs to be behind that statement, he said. Davis' proposal would do just the opposite. Bonnette said staff"don't turn a blind eye" to of- fenders. Charges do get laid when necessary and the town's reputation is not being undermined be- cause people don't follow the building department's tules. With only 12 per cent of its tax base coming from industry, the town desper- ately needs to attract more business to lighten the load for residential taxpayers. Davis' comments and at- titudes only deter potential new industries looking at Halton Hills as a possible site for new growth. Referring to offenders as "corporate welfare bums" and suggesting they should "go to Brampton" if they don't want to play by the town's rules is "not help- ful," Bonnette said. Such comments send the wrong message and com- pound the bad image the town has had for years. Bonnette. named the Georgetown firm apparent- ly embroiled in a fight with the building department and the incentive behind Davis' motion. The firm has been in town for 40 years, Bon- nette said, and employs 500 people, which makes them neither corporate welfare bums nor corporate citizens council wants to chase off to Brampton. Davis demanded rebuttal time and complained that his "welfare bums" remark came as an echo of some- thing Bonnette or Chief Administrative Officer Bob Austin had said. He stood behind the Brampton re- mark though, and he'd pay their taxi fare to go there. Coun. Joan Robson termed the publication of convicted offender's names equivalent to "a public whipping" and rejected it immediately. The town already has a reputation in the business community for being difficult to please, she added, and that's not something council should foster. "1 don't think we need to do that to our business community," she said. Coun. Clark Sommerville said Davis' motion would not just catch large builders. It would potentially affect every individual attempting to do any type of construc- tion in the municipality, including the homeowner putting an addition to his existing property. Coun. Bob Inglis termed Dayis' motion "saintly..so- cialism" and pointed out that council would be on "dangerous ground" if it began infringing on peo- ple's privacy by publishing names of convicted of- fenders. Georgetown Councillor Jane Fogal said council wanted to get things done properly in the town. Their objective was not to go around prosecuting build- ers. Even Georgetown Coun- cillor Ron Chatten said he would not support the motion although he had sec- onded it. He simply wants more information when the town is having a problem with a developer because he doesn't like to get caught unawares by questions from his constituents: Austin said legally the town can't publish offend- ers' names. Members of the press or the public in- terested in the results of a court procedure against an offender have the right to attend the case when it's heard, or they may go to the court and check for the results afterwards. Privacy of Information legislation; however, prohibits the town from publicizing the names of people convicted of breaking its bylaws. He admitted staff may be dropping the ball when it comes to informing councillors of initiatives the building department is taking and promised to look at ways to im- prove that communication. - BABY At your house? It's time to call your Welcome Wagon Hostess. She will bring congratulations and gifts for the family and the NEW BABY! Call Betty Ann 853-1944 Veome Wagon THOMPSON CTO aN Ce Dr. Dave de Melo D.C. Deanna Wilson B.Sc., D.Ch. Foot Specialist Naomi Bedell R.M.T. Registered Massage Therapy * Safe, Gentle Chiropractic Care 25 Main Street North, Acton Across from Giant Tiger Plaza (519) 853-3460 Serving Acton, Georgetown, Rockwood & Guelph SERRE nyarerrerreanr tT tT a EVENING APPOINTMENTS AVAILABLE Idling vehicle new town offence... bylaw 'unenforcable' says O' Leary Idling your vehicle for more than three minutes has become a municipal offence in Halton Hills. Unless, of course, the idling falls under one of multiple exceptions ranging from getting stuck ina traffic jam to needing the motor running to operate your air conditioning or heater in extreme temperatures. Coun. Mike O'Leary was the single opponent of the bylaw on the basis it would be just another unenforceable piece of legislation. Quoting figures from neighbouring municipalities with similar bylaws, he said only one charge had ever been laid by any of them over the years of their regulations. He felt this was just another rule to be ignored. Other councillors agreed they don't want to add a layer of "idling police" to munici- pal staff but pointed out the need for some teeth to sup- port an education campaign. Mayor Rick Bonnette said he has received complaints and could.offer residents no help because the town had no tules against the practice. This would plug that loop- hole and something is better than nothing. Smoking used to be an ac- ceptable practice. Now peer pressure does much of the enforcement of anti-smok- ing rules, Coun. Jon Hurst noted. He predicted idling your vehicle unnecessarily will receive the same sort of public censure over time and extra staff won't be needed to spread the public message. Henry Tse, Director of © Building, Zoning and En- forcement, Said parents waiting for their kids outside schools are likely to be a prime place for this educa- tion. Parents who flaunt the new rules, for instance, will be seen and since schools operate during the town's regular businesses hours, LOOK FOR YOUR HOME HARDWARE FLYER IN TODAY'S ISSUE! Acton Home Hardware 519-853-1730 'they can report deliberate, persistent offenders. Then town staff can show up and lay charges if necessary. Exceptions to the anti- idling rule include fire, police or emergency medical ve- hicles doing their job, mobile work vehicles doing their job, idling needed for vehicle re- pairs, transit vehicles loading and unloading passengers, or vehicles in a parade. Georgetown,Ontario L' td 905-873-1999 NTO IW) DUKES OF HaAzzarpb Dairy 6:45-9:00 Sat-Sun 2:00PM DeEucE BIGALOW DAILY 6:45-9:00 Sat-Sun 2:00PM Starts Friday 'WAR OF THE Wor.ps 6:45pM- 9:00PM Web -Sat-SUN 2:00PM Starts Friday www.cinemas3.ca hr a ae Le