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6 Acton/Georgetown, Friday, July 4, 2008 OPINION Another long weekend of the summer has passed, and yet again, the OPP tallied up the num- ber of dead eight (five on the road, and three on the water). Over five days, the OPP charged nearly 200 dri- vers with driving more than 50 kilometres over the speed limit and issued 6,562 speeding tickets. Almost 700 seat-belt charges and 146 impaired dri- ving charges were laid. Added to that on the latest new provincial highways, lakes and rivers more than 100 charges for offences were laid. Despite the numbers, OPP Julian Fantino said in a press release issued after the long weekend, Our targeted enforcement, combined with the use of two aircraft and our extensive marine patrols appear to be having a positive affect on people. While even one death is one too many, it's encouraging to see our efforts are saving lives and enabling citizens to enjoy their vacations or long weekends safely." Nevertheless, it continues to be a long weekend ritual at the beginning the long weekend the OPP reports in the press that they will be out of the road looking for speeders and other offenders, and at the end of the weekend, theyre reporting in the press, the number of dead and number of charges laid. However, despite this press coverage, people are still speeding, people are still not wearing their seat-belts and people are still not adhering to road and water safety rules. What will it take to get the message to stick? Will there ever be a long weekend when no accidents, or speeding and seat-belt violations are reported? While there are two more long weekends remaining this summer, driving and boating safety should be something that is practised daily. Police dont like to report on tragedies and neither do we. Get the message Steve Nease LETTERS TO THE EDITOR Dear editor, Re: June 6 article, New area-spe- cific DCs approved The Regions staff and taxpayers are using faulty logic in arriving at their concluding statement regarding DC (development charges) discounts to new industrial developments. They believe that the lost rev- enue from the new discount will add about $10 onto the typical tax bill. The error they are making is that they believe the amount of new industrial development is a constant which is not affected by the magni- tude of the DCs. This is not the case. New develop- ment will locate where it makes the most economic sense, whether that be Halton, Caledon, Cambridge or Woodstock. Next time you pass by the latter three, take a look at what is happening there. The underlying size of new indus- trial development in the Regions cal- culations seems to be about five mil- lion square feet, spread out over the whole region. If the full 100 per cent DC is charged with the result that only three million sq. ft of new development is built, the cost to each tax bill is $30, not $10, plus the cost of the annual lost non-residential property tax revenue, plus the lost potential jobs. On the other hand, if the industri- al DCs were discounted by 40 per cent and the resulting new develop- ment is eight million sq. ft., spread out over the whole region, there would be a net gain of $2 per tax bill from DCs paid, plus annual gains from non-residential property taxes, plus the future resulting additional jobs. Even with a discount of 40 per cent, we would still have the highest industrial DCs, not only in the GTA, but all of Ontario and Canada. In the end regional council voted for a diminishing discount starting at 22 per cent and we can thank Mayor Rick Bonnette and Councillor Jane Fogal who tried very hard to bring the industrial DCs a little more in line with the more reasonable level at all the other communities. Peter Scholz, Limehouse Region staff is using faulty DC logic Letters to the editor must include an address and daytime telephone number. Unsigned letters will not be published. Letters should not exceed 200 words and may be edited for content and/or length. 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Phone: 905-873-0301 Fax: 905-873-0398www.independentfreepress.com Something bugging you? What do you think? Below are the results of our most recent online poll. For the current poll go to www.independentfreepress.com Should the Town of Halton Hills spend the extra $400,000 to get a LEED certification on the planned Cultural Centre/Librar y expansion project? Yes (18%) No (82%) The Independent & Free Press is published Wednesday and Friday and is one of several Metroland Media Group Ltd. community newspapers. Editorial and advertising content of The Independent & Free Press is protected by copyright. Unauthorized use is prohibited. THE INDEPENDENT & FREE PRESS Dear editor, On behalf of The Salvation Army I would like to express our deepest and most sincere thanks to our friends at Bang-O-Rama. Based on the immense amount of food donations collected, approxi- mately 2,400 items, it seems the weather, though trying its best, couldnt dampen the spirit of giving in this great town. A special thanks is given to Dan Edwards, Marion Carney and Jim Kong, along with all those who made Bang-O-Rama such a success. Of course, once food is collected it needs to be transported and for that I thank Bonnie and Bob and Diane Pich Once again I say thank you for helping us help others. Captain Michael Simpson, The Salvation Army Community and Family Services Salvation Army thanks Bang-o-Rama friends Dear editor, Over the years I have heard com- plaints about contractors not calling back, not showing up on time, etc. I am pleased to tell you of one who did both and provided excellent service as well. Recently I called a local painter to do a very small job, not expecting too much. I wanted about two inches at the top of a wall painted. I was able to paint the wall but because it was 10 feet high I couldnt do the cutting and the ceiling. Im not as young as I used to be and I dont climb ladders. I called Steve Hartnagle Painting and Decorating in Acton. He came over the next day to see the job and returned two days later and did a beautiful job finishing what I started. The cost was very reasonable. I was pleasantly surprised and he treated my small job as though I were as important as a large contract. Thank you Steve for your profes- sionalism and a job well done. Maxine Bonanno, Acton Painter draws praise