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THE NEW TANNER TUESDAY DECEMBER 30, 2008 2 264 MAIN ST. N ACTON 519-853-1970 We stock a full line of Paints, Hardware, Electrical & Plumbing supplies Enter to Win FREE HOCKEY TICKETS FREE LOCAL DELIVERY FAX LINE: (519) 853-2542 TORONTO LINE: (416) 601-1259 FAMILY OWNED AND OPERATED HOURS Mon-Fri. 7:00am to 6:00pm Saturday 8:00am to 4:00pm 1 Halton Hills Drive, Halton Hills, ON L7G 5G2 INVITATION For Public Input to the Georgetown Arenas Task Force The Georgetown Arenas Task Force is undertaking a comprehensive review to determine the existing and future needs of Town-owned arenas and wishes to hear from the public. Representatives of Organizations, Teams, Leagues, users and potential users of Town Arenas are invited to speak to the Task Force on: Date: Thursday, January 8, 2009 Time: 7:00 p.m. Location: Mold-Masters Sportsplex (Heritage Room - upstairs) Individuals who have concerns or wish to speak to the Task Force are invited to attend on: Date: Thursday, January 22, 2009 Time: 7:00 pm Location: Mold-Masters Sportsplex (Heritage Room - upstairs) Advanced registration is encouraged but not necessary. Please contact Jill Buckles at the Town of Halton Hills 905-873-2601 ext. 2345 (jillb@haltonhills.ca) or Task Force Chair Bryan Lewis at 905-877-5380 (email at bryanl@haltonhills.ca) ROYAL CANADIAN LEGION BR. 197, ACTON Gord McCutcheon Auditorium 9:00 p.m. to 1:00 a.m. New Years Gala DANCING TO Steve Dunns Music Machine $30.00 per person INCLUDES: PARTY FAVOURS BUFFET Tickets Available at Legion Bar, 15 Wright Ave., Acton FREE IN TOWN BUS Check assessment for errors... Continued from page 1 legislation, the assessment could only be adjusted back to 2006, but not for 2003, 2004 or 2005, Borkowski said, adding it works out to approximately $100 in overpayment each year. He was told that revisions could only be made for the current year and two pre- vious years, something he says is not fair, particularly in light of the fact that the information that led him to discover the overpayment was not available to prop- erty owners until this year. If I was delinquent in paying taxes, the Town wouldnt give me grace after four years theyd be constantly applying interest charges on the outstanding balance, Borkowski said, noting again that it was MPAC that made the fac- tual error. When an MPAC official told him that to get any overpayment prior to 2005, the legislation would have to be changed, Borkowksi contacted the Ontario Om- budsman and his MPP, Ted Arnott, to ask for help. Arnott wrote a letter to the Minister of Municipal Affairs and Housing asking for a change in legislation to cover overpayment issues, but so far has not had a response. So far, Borkowksi has not been told how the error of charging him for a second swimming pool occurred, and no one from MPAC has apologized. So now they are hid- ing behind statutes of limitations which is not fair. Its too expedient for public servants to actually hide behind the rules of the day. Every property owner should go to MPACs about my property website and en- sure that the details that MPAC is using are cor- rect. Proper ty va lua t ion information can be ac- cessed at www.mpac. ca and then clicking on about my property. At press time, MPAC had not responded to a request for comment. officials and Halton Hills taxation officials, Bor- kowski was informed that MPAC had made a fac- tual error resulting in the value of his property on Wordenview Road being overvalued by $22,500 He was told because it was a MPAC error, he did not have to file for a formal request for reconsideration for 2008, but had to contact the Town to get a reassess- ment for the error that was made in 2002. MPAC adjusted the value of the property down- ward by $10,000 giving him an assessed value of $555,000. Ive been paying too much tax or six years, but because of provincial Bill 64 regulates pesticide use By Frances Niblock To comply with a prov- incial ban on the use of pesticides on Town lands, Halton Hills Council has a number of strategies, including focusing solely on issues related to public health and safety in cem- eteries and public gardens, increasing acceptable weed thresholds at civic facilities, developing ir- rigation systems in parks, and naturalizing Town owned properties. In response to Queens Park announcing Bill 64, a province-wide ban on the sale and use of lawn and garden pesticides, Town staff was instructed to report on the implica- tions of the legislation on the Towns existing Inte- grated Plant Health Care program (IPHC). The proposed provincial legislation municipal- ities and stakeholders have until December 22 to com- ment on Bill 64 replaces municipal restrictions in more than 30 Ontario municipalities, including Halton Hills, with one single law, which will take effect this spring. The ban would apply to cosmetic use of pesticides herbicides, insecticides and fungicides now used on public land, private lawns, fruit trees and gar- dens, to answer mounting concerns about the po- tential harmful effects of pesticides and herbicides on human health. Bill 64 would include a list of banned pesticides for sale and cosmetic use and make exemptions for agriculture, forestry, health and safety and golf cours- es (with conditions.) Last resort In 2003, Town Coun- cil adopted a pesticide reduction program that de te rmines how and when pesticides are to be applied, with the goal of continually reducing the reliance on pesticides as part of an Integrated Plant Management Health Care program. It says that pesti- cides are to be used as a last resort when public safety or capital replace- ment is at issue. While developing a pesticide reduction pro- gram with a pilot project at Trafalgar Sports Park, Town staff found organic alternatives were not vi- able on a wide basis due to their higher purchase price and increased labour costs. The two-year trial found that not using any pesticides required more aerating and fertilizing and added $500 to the cost of caring for each sports field, or $26,641 to aerat- ing and fertilizing all of the Towns sports fields, plus $90,000 for addition- al equipment. The final form of Bill 64, including full definitions and regulations should be in place this spring, pending approval by the Provincial Legislature. Staff said until the legisla- tion is further refined, its difficult to determine the full scope of the implica- tions for Halton Hills. One of the main issues, staff said, is understand- ing the term cosmetic or non-essential versus the exemptions that apply to health and safety. It ap- pears the local sportsfields would not be able to use pesticides, and the Town must provide safe play- ing surfaces. Staff said lower thresholds for weed density in sportsfields was established on the basis of sport safety rationale, not cosmetics and with- out the use of pesticides, operating costs will be significantly higher until the cost of organic alterna- tives decrease. Strong legislation In a joint presentation to Council, officials with Continued on page 14