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THURSDAY, MAY 18, 2006 THE NEW TANNER 21 By Rick Bonnette Mayors Corner Recently, Council made two significant decisions that will positively affect Halton Hills for years to come. The expansion of the Georgetown Library, and the lack of a facility for the Acton Agricultural Society, have both been bones of contention for some time. Since the Acton Arena in Prospect Park was demol- ished, the Acton Fall Fair, a 92 year old organization that never missed a year, was forced to go forward without a major component of a fairs success. By renting tents, the Fall Fair has been able to go forward under less than ideal conditions. The Agricultural Society had been working with staff and other community organizations. They came up with a wonderful solution, to build a building that will be home to the Acton Fall Fair, but will also double as an indoor soccer facility. Both Georgetown and Acton soccer organizations have bought into the concept. The Town, with conditions, has approved a $1.3 mil- lion loan. The revenue generated by the soccer clubs will offset the loan. There will be a fundraiser campaign to be launched immediately. The Acton Agricultural Society has already raised $250,000 at this time. There is no doubt in my mind that this will be a great facility in Acton that will benefit all of Halton Hills. On Tuesday, May 9, Council made the decision to pur- chase a property on Market Street. This will allow the library to remain in downtown Georgetown. Before this purchase was made, the library board did a Preliminary Design Study to see if it would be feasible to expand the library on this site. The results showed that it could be done. Councillor Jane Fogal deserves credit for first discovering that this property was going on the market. Id like to thank the many of you who took the time to write letters and e-mails expressing your concerns about your desire to keep the library in downtown Georgetown. With this purchase, and the recently approved parking lot on Main Street, downtown Georgetown will be viable for many years. It is fair to say we listened to you! May 9 was indeed an historic night for two longtime components that make our Town special. Congratula- tions to all of you who were involved in these creative solutions. * * * * On behalf of Council, I welcome the following new business: Moxxi Boutique, Downtown Georgetown * * * * Congratulations to the Poullos family and staff of Outdoor Power Equipment who recently celebrated 20 years in business. * * * * Unsung heroes of the Georgetown Welcome Wagon - Gail Bibby-Labranche, Polee Mark, and Joan Leeves have presented a plaque to our Town for Outstanding Community of the Year 2005, in the15,000 to 35,000 population category. * * * * Keeping it real! I can be reached by telephone at 905- 873-2601, ext. 2342, or by e-mail at mayor@haltonhills. ca. More evening classes at centre The Wednesday morning art class is taking a break for the summer and will resume in the Fall. We are running out of space at our Centre and so will be running more things in the evenings. There will be Scrap Booking the sec- ond Thursday of the month from 7-9p.m. and the Paper Tole will move from Mon- day afternoons to every first, third and fourth Thursday of the month from 7-9 p.m. The classes are for members only, as space is limited. Anyone 55 or older is welcome to join the Acton Seniors Centre. There was a good atten- dance at the Birthday Tea; 15 birthday people and their guest enjoyed cake and tea. The next one will celebrate birthdays in June and July on June 27. One tr ip people are looking forward to is Ni- agara-on-the-Lake to see High Society at the Shaw Festival on Thursday, June 8. They will be stopping at the Rockway Glen Golf and Estate Winery on the way for wine tasting and a deli- cious lunch. (We stopped there last year, and the lunch was excellent, and the view from the dining room over- looking the golf course was beautiful). You do not have to be a member of the Centre to enjoy these trips. Just get in touch with the travel desk at the Centre on a Monday or Friday morning. On to Sports. In car- pet bowling Nives Bozics Brown team beat her hus- band Ivans Black team 20-11. Needless to say it was hard for me to concen- trate while working on my column with all the cheering going on. I didnt know six people could make so much noise. As the weather turns warmer, they are hoping to play Bocci outside. They are always looking for new players so come along on a Monday afternoon, and find out what its all about. The next evening Euchre will be on June 21 at 7:15p. m. The Halton District Se- niors Games held their final cribbage tournament last week. The four members representing our Centre played well, but didnt bring home any medals this year. The one team consisted of Mary Walsma, and Gerry Kroezen and the second was Lloyd Broostad, and Norma Titus. Mary was one point short of a perfect hand, and had 28 points rather than the 29 needed. This week (May 19) the hiking club will be going to the spectacular Webster Falls in the Dundas area. It is a longer car ride, so they will be leaving the Centre at 9:30a.m.. Eileen reminds everyone to bring some money for a snack/lunch. Ruth tells me during the Thursday afternoon Bid Euchre we had a total of six mooners Shirley Hunter had two, Muriel Dzierla two and Chris Robertson and Cath- erine Hunt one each. People are asking what we will use money raised by the walk-a-thon for. You may have noticed the sign at the entrance to the Seniors Centre has been taken down as it was in pretty poor condition. It will shortly be replaced by a much more attractive sign. We also need to replace some of our equipment at the Centre, and hopefully will raise enough to cover the expenses of all these projects. As the years pass we find things wear out, and have to be replaced, a little like our bodies as we reach the Golden Years. Two events coming up on the weekend of May 27/28. On the Saturday a walk-a-thon in the park, starting with a ribbon cut- ting ceremony at 10a.m. M and Ms meats have kindly offered to staff and operate a B.B.Q in the park during the walk-a-thon, and any par- ticipant who has more than $10 pledged, will receive a ticket for a hamburger or hot dog plus drink. Canada Trust has kindly donated tee-shirts to the first 20 participants. The video shot last week to publicize the walk-a-thon should be shown on Chan- nel 14 in the next week or so. It will be featured on Seniors Show Case, on channel 14. On the Sunday we hope to see everyone at the com- munity brunch. Its a great bargain. You get to see, and visit with all the people you missed over the winter. I know of several Georgetown people who used to live in Acton and make a point of coming to the brunch, just to see friends. I hope to have finished my walk-a-thon around Guelph Lake in aid of Junior Diabetes in time to take in the brunch. I will need the refreshment and sitdown by then. Members of the Seniors hiking club have committed themselves to walking the 8km route in aid of this cause. So many ways to eat this weekend and support the Centre. One more way to enjoy yourself is the spring lunch on Tuesday, May 23 at noon when chicken, salads and desserts are on the menu, and you will be entertained by Bobolini the great ma- gician. You might even win a prize. You must get your ticket before the weekend. ????? ???????? ???????????????? ???????? ?????? Council wants to exploit Towns assets In an effort to make the most of all underutilized land in Halton Hills, Town Council is asking for ex- pression of interest from planners to do a community planning exercise to exploit in a good way what the town has to offer. S ta ff say th ree a r- eas that offer significant economic development and intensification poten- tial are the downtown in Acton and Georgetown, under-utilized sites in both communities contaminat- ed industrial lands called brownfields, non-contami- nated industrial grey fields and institutional blue fields, and agricultural areas. Acton Councillor Mike OLeary favours making better use of available prop- erty. In Acton of course we have the biggest, or pos- sibly one of the biggest brownfields in Halton Hills and thats the Beardmore property that lies within the urban boundary so any- thing that we can do to get a development of some kind in there will be most wel- come, OLeary said. Staff said the Towns application for expression of interest will ask appli- cants to identify possible sources of funding for the Community Improvement Planning exercise and the item will also be considered during the normal budget process. Surprisingly unprepared Turns out some of the people whose job is public emergency preparedness need some personal sur- vival skills help. Acton and Regional Councillor Clark Somer- ville thanked Council last Tuesday for sponsoring the Halton Police Services Board as it hosted the On- tario Association of Service Boards annual meeting. Somerville recounted how a guest speaker, an emergency coordinator from Brampton who worked with the Red Cross in New Orleans, quickly made her point by asking anyone with more than half-a-tank of gas in their car to stand up. That narrowed the room down pretty quick. And then how many people have three litres of water per person in the house? And, this is a room full of people who deal with emergency planning, and it was surprising how few were actually prepared, Somerville said last Tues- day, during Emergency Preparedness Week. Town Digest WASNT THAT A PARTY! 15 Acton Seniors Centre members and their guests celebrated birthdays that fell during April and May at the Centre on May 8.They enjoyed cake and ice cream. In the front row are Marg Haring, Marian Pascoe, Freda Buckman, and hiding behind them are Bryan Alder, Betty Blain, Anna Ar- nold, Arlene Coultrup, Tell Connelly, Wilda Tressel, Thora Jespersen. (Some were shy and didnt want their pictures taken). Julie Conroy photo