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Independent & Free Press, Wednesday, August 1, 2007 9 Water allocated for seniors' residence The St. Andrews United Church's proposal for a 53-unit seniors' residence is one step closer to being built after Halton Hills council approved water allocation for the property. Council approved 31 Single Detached Equivalent (SDE) units of water for the development, which will provide sufficient water for the number of residents in the building. In order to get the water, St. Andrew's has to submit a site plan, have it approved by the Town and receive a building permit by Jan. 31, 2008. If it doesn't meet that condition the Town can take back the water allocation. Calendar girl pays a visit Angela Baker, of England, one of the original calendar girls made famous by the movie of the same name, signs an original calendar, owned by Sharon Sullivan of Georgetown. Baker was the guest of honour at the recent Country Garden Tea at the home of Roger and Pam Fonck of Limehouse, held in aid of Cancer Assistance Services of Halton Hills (CAS-hh). In 2000, Baker (a.k.a. Miss February) and her friends posed nude for the Rylstone and District Women's Institute alternative calendar in 2000, and became world famous as the project took off, raising huge funds for cancer research. Photo by Yves Desjardins For a limited time, buy any new Cub Cadet lawn or garden tractor, or Residential ZeroTurn Rider, and you will be dollars ahead. Pay now ­ or, upon approval of credit, payer later.This is a limited time offer, so don't miss out. Get all the details today. 61 Guelph St., Hwy #7, Georgetown Tel. 905-877-0314 www.outdoorpower.ca Report indicates Hydro offers speedy service CYNTHIA GAMBLE Staff Writer Lightning strikes and a tree is down over a hydro line-- don't worry you won't be in the dark for long. Halton Hills Hydro Inc. (HHHI) chair Bryan D. Boyce reported in his annual presentation to Halton Hills council that the local utility beats the provincial average in restoring power. In 2004, the average duration of interruption in Halton Hills was 1.14 hours compared to the average of 1.34 hours for all utilities. In 2005 it was 1.88 hours for HHHI compared to the average 2.38 hours. Last year, HHHI's average was 1.19 hours-- the provincial average hasn't been released yet. "This means that, given similar conditions, our customers are obtaining recovery of power lost in lightning strikes or other storm damage or accident faster than the average across Ontario," said Boyce. "What is more, this is occurring in a utility that has one of the largest service areas of similar utilities." HHHI is a mid-sized utility-- the 27th largest of the 85 utilities in the province. It has a service area of 257 sq. km in the rural area and 25 sq. km in the urban area. Boyce told the councillors that net income earned by HHHI in 2006 was $1.9 million, and the Town, as sole shareholder, benefited with financial distribution of $1.5 million. Boyce said HHHI has been selected to have its rates reviewed by the Ontario Energy Board in 2008, and the utility is currently preparing a rate application. Councillor Bryan Lewis asked if this would mean an increase for customers. Boyce acknowledged the utility will need cash to fund its infrastructure growth, such as in the 401 Corridor, but he didn't know yet the extent or if all customers will be equally impacted. HHHI's subsidiary, Halton Hills Fibre Optics Inc., continues to expand its fibre optics' customer base also requiring significant infrastructure expansion. "This is a good news story," said Boyce. "Every company likes to be in a position that it needs to build infrastructure to support committed expansion in its customer base. ...Of special interest has been the rapid expansion of the company's wireless division and the customer growth in provision of high speed Internet services to areas of our community unable to receive effective and costefficient high speed Internet from other providers." HHHI's other subsidiary, SouthWestern Energy Inc., will focus on providing conservation and demand management programs in 2007. Utilities in each franchise area must bid for the Ontario Power Authority's four conservation programs, such as the Great Refrigerator Roundup, now under way. "The utility wants to be first in line for the programs," said Boyce. "We'd like to keep those dollars spent by the community in the community." (Cynthia Gamble can be reached at cgamble@independentfreepress.com) 15,000 BONUS TD POINTS Travel right away with a new TD Gold Travel* Visa* Card. 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