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THE NEW TANNERTHURSDAY, FEBRUARY 5, 2009 3 INDIAN RIVER DIRECT CITRUS TRUCKLOAD SALE ACTON WED. FEB. 11TH, 12:30PM - 2:30PM THE HIDE HOUSE PARKING LOT (Eastern & Mill) 20 LB BOX OF FLORIDA Seedless Navel Oranges or Ruby Red Grapefruit $22.00 PER BOX Due to the Family Day holiday, waste collection services the week of February 16 will take place the day after your regular collection day. Please place your waste at the curb by 7 a.m. on your scheduled collection day. Please check your 2009 Waste Management Guide and Collection Calendar for your collection area details, or visit www.halton.ca/waste to use our Search by Address tool. Halton Waste Management Site will be closed Monday, February 16, 2009 Regular Operating Hours Open Monday to Saturday 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. 5400 Regional Road 25, Milton Please check your 2009 Waste Management Guide and Collection Calendar or visit us online at www.halton.ca/waste for more information. Halton Hills Family Day Waste Collection Notice Please Note Collection Day Changes Mon Tues Wed Thurs Fri Sat Feb 16 17 18 19 20 21 Collection Moves Collection Moves Family Day Tanner Full: 204.96 ag Limit (Not Full): 184 ag The Regional Municipality of Halton www.halton.ca 05020 91151 Bronte Road, Oakville, Ontario L6M 3L1 Dial 311 or 905-825-6000 Toll Free 1-866-442-5866 TTY 905-827-9833 www.halton.ca Town Digest Board to sell surplus... Continued from Page 1 Halton District School Board Trustee Gerry Ockenden Education) has told us that they are quite prepared to give us millions more to carry on with our business, but they feel that its time that we sort of stop sitting on our holdings, which in- clude the eight pieces (of property) that came up at the meeting, Ockenden said on Friday. The eight properties included on the surplus list include the vacant Speyside School, an ele- mentary school in Milton, an elementary school and a portion of a high school in Burlington, a public school site, a parkway belt property and a portion of a high school campus in Oakville. O c k e n d e n s a i d h e understands the concerns of those who dont want any part of the MSB land sold. Im not saying its not an emotional issue. I understand that its abso- lutely wonderful to talk through that field and have all that open space, but we have no hope of having a new school built in the north, so we have to live with the facilities that we have and they have to be upgraded and that takes money, Ockenden said. I believe that it is important to have that (MSB) land out there, but I thinks its more import- ant, or just as important, to have a facility that the students and staff go into everyday that is a decent place to go to school and work everyday, he said, adding that any money made from the sale of MSB would go into the pot and not be earmarked for school improvements in the north. Ockenden also said that the school board must of- fer municipalities, other school boards and govern- ment agencies first right of refusal for surplus proper- ties before it is offered for public sale, and that there is provincial money avail- able for municipalities to purchase parkland. Re- cently, adding that rules have recently changed so the school board can keep all, and not just half of the money from surplus land sales. Steven Parfeniuk, the Halton school boards superintendent of busi- ness services, said once the facilities services de- partment has determined what portion of the MSB site to sell, they will apply for a severance with the Town. He said in the end, the MBS site, currently 15.4 acres, will be no larger or smaller or will have the same average acreage as other school sites, which are between six and seven acres. Parfeniuk said the next step is to look at the MSB property and see what fits best for the boards purposes and work with the municipality to sever a portion of the land for sale. Along with the eight Zoning meetings The pretty sparse turn- out at three recent public meetings to gather public comments and questions about the Towns proposed new comprehensive zon- ing bylaw did not come as a surprise to Town staff who said that zoning can be perceived as pretty dry by the public. Used to implement poli- cies in the Towns Official Plan the blueprint for land use and development the comprehensive zoning by- law regulates every aspect of what can be built on pri- vate land. Currently there are three zoning bylaws one each for Georgetown, Acton and Esquesing Township and the review is de- signed to provide consistent town-wide standards and terminology. Secondary deal A three per cent wage in- crease in each of the next four years is one of the main parts of a new contract rati- fied by Halton public school secondary school teachers, last Monday. The deal with the teach- ers, members of the Ontario Secondary School Teachers Federation Unit (OSSTF) Halton and the Halton Dis- trict School Board also includes improvement of future benefits, reduced workloads, resolving large class sizes and the hiring of at least six full-time sec- ondary school teachers for the 2009-10 school year. The sa lary increase means a new teacher with a four-year degree will earn $45,208 annually and the pay scale tops out at $84,086 for teachers with 12 years of experience or more. By the end of the new contract, a new full- time teacher would earn $50,882, and an experi- enced full-time teacher would earn $94,639. The deal runs from Sep- tember 2008 to 2012. The teachers union ratified the deal last Monday and the school board approved it last Wednesday. sites declared surplus, Parfeniuk said there are other sites in Oakville and Burlington that are under review to determine of they are needed by the Board. So, we have a con- siderable amount of work to do in order to get all of our sites ready for the next step which is governed by government regulation, he said, adding that the Board hopes to raise ap- proximately $43-million with the sale of all of the surplus land and build- ings. Parfeniuk said the Min- istry of Education recently approved $117-million for capital projects in Halton and expects the Board to raise $7.4-million for those projects from the disposition of surplus land. The Ministry current- ly has before it another $100-million in projects for the Board and it would expect us to raise the bal- ance to assists them fund the rest of the projects before them now. For the Georgetown High School addition, the Min- istry expects us to raise $4.6-million from the proceeds of disposition of surplus lands, he said. SHINNY TIME: The outdoor ice rink the Town creates every winter gets well used by hockey players and pleasure skaters alike. Unlike last winter when the varying temperatures kept the rink out of service, this year the constant cold has made for a good season for those who like outdoor activities. - Traci Gardner photo