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IiPatfe9 -Letters- Silver Creek valley issues quite involved Dear Sir Further to the article Residents question Region stance in last Wednesdays issue of the Herald the issues that affect the future of Silver Creek Valley are quite involved Fortunately it is not too late to avoid sacrificing the natural en vironmentai heritage of Georgetown for the sake of a new sanitary trunk sewer through sensitive Hungry Hollow Class Significant wetlands because there is a clear alter native the Main Street route Last weeks article contained comments from a Region of Planning and Public Works staff member that needed clarifying First there is a statement about the Silver Creek option say ing this alternative will have no negative environmental impact on the valley The Region of Haltons own Public Information Handout clearly states there are some natural environment im pacts associated with twinning of the Sliver Creek Trunk Sewer mainly vegetation and wetland impacts The Region hopes to control construction procedures to mitigate these impacts Second the consultants report apparently states the disrupted area caused by the construction of the sewer will return to its natural state over the long term It is because of damage to the wetlands caused by the ex isting sewer in the valley that the consultant can make this claim Also the construction of access routes and possibly fencing through the valley would ensure that it will never again be in a natural state Third in talking about the alternate route there is the state ment Since the pump is run on electricity a power outage in the area would cause the sewer to shut down Once again the Regions own Information Han dout states that a Standby Power Generator would be included in the Main Street alternative In fact the Region of Halton is presently installing a diesel power generator in the Cedarvale Wells just yards from the proposed site for the sewer pump on Main Street A key point that has not been raised is why the Region of Halton has not explained how the current sewer expansion will be extended through to Georgetown West the primary reason for the expansion in the first place Is it possible that Halton is hoping to proceed through Black Creek Valley which so far has remain ed virtually untouched and which is part of the same En vironmentally Significant and Sensitive area as Silver Creek This route was part of the second and third alternatives in the February Sewer Study prepared for the Region by E Chpsham Limited If there is the possibility that Black Creek Valley will become part of the sewer project a full environmental assessment is surely warranted on the basis of the total impact on the Hungry Hollow E S A The separation of the project into two distinct phases must then be taken as an attempt by the Region to avoid this complication Perhaps it is time for another intriguing element to be introduce ed Should the Region select the Silver Creek Valley route over the Main Street route private developers would be given the op portunity to argue that the en vironmentai damage caused to the valley should allow them the granting of necessary approvals for the proposed golf course in the valley dented so far on en vironrnental grounds fortunately the pattern in Southern Ontario is for wetlands Columnists to become golf courses which in turn become development sites If developers are unsuccessful obtaining approvals for the golf course during the next seven years the Town of Halton Hills has the unique opportunity to pur chase these lands over acres for an amount of 50000 This is one of the conditions agreed to by in the Master Agree ment signed several years ago between the Town and Enterac when the Georgetown South sub division was approved We believe the proposal favour ing the Silver Creek route by con sultants Marshall Macklln fails to reflect the generally recognized significance of wetlands In July Options for a Greater Toronto Area Greenlands Strategy recognized the importance of wetlands and expressed concern that many have been lost over time and much of the remainder continue to be subject to intense pressure as a result of increased urbanization We think readers should know that A Strategy for Halton submitted to the Greater Toronto Greenlands Strategy by the Region of in March identifies both Black Creek and Silver Creek as two of seven elements of a Greenland System in Halton The Region of Halton advocates a system approach to Greenlands planning and the following quote from their sub mission is revealing By a system approach we mean that for instance En vironmentally Sensitive Areas contain many ecological inter connections which may not be im mediately obvious to the untrain ed eye The removal or distur bance of one part of the system will affect many other parts sometimes in unexpected ways As another example the draining of wetlands in the upstream areas may result in increased flooding throughout the system At this time we strongly believe the Region of Halton should take a leadership role in establishing a Greenlands System An important first step would be to acknowledge the damage that has already been caused to Silver Creek Valley by the existing trunk sewer drop the twinning project and go back to the Main Street route originally favoured Manlyn King Ashley Ransom Halton Hills Only in America no pity here WASHINGTON Some things happen in this country that you cant imagine anywhere else Imagine if you could stepping into a downtown gun shop and walking away with powerful semiautomatic rifles No ques tions asked No waiting period In downtown Washington across the street from a grand building that houses the Museum of American Art and the presidential paintings in the Na tional Portrait Gallery smut merchants have moved into a row of small stores with virtual impunity They claim they can satisfy a customers desire for any kind of pornography and cater to a wide range of Yet a museum in Cincinnati is on trial for displaying seven photographs out of a collection of Robert works that prosecutors think are obscene These are only two examples of somewhat bizarre activity the USA casual look at S daily newspapers reveals many more Consider the campaign of John Andrews for instance Andrews a Republican gubernatorial can didate in Colorado who trails his opponent by an incredible 40 percentage points has had the additional problem of explaining one of his previous jobs For two years he worked for an organization that used ex with mung beans yogurt and potted plants to prove the power of prayer In one experiment mung beans were divided into two groups One group was prayed over while the other was left alone The group that was prayed over had twice as many sprouts as the other group says one of the organizations brochures In other experiments plants and dishes of yogurt were given mental promises to promote growth I regarded this investigation as being potentially responsible and potentially useful exploration of the interface between religion and science the candidate told the Denver Post His job ex penence is a story relative to my candidacy he added Kevin Bell Washington Bureau spect potential work sites I can t walk through a apartment building he said In Baltimore a 640pound businessman is suing the city because it does not recognize his as part of a depnved minority Donald Keisters 25page lawsuit asks the court to order the city to grant him minonty certification which would entitle him to bid on special contracts that are set aside for only minori ty and women contractors They tell me I cant qualify because Im not black and Im not a woman Keister told reporters recently Keister who is so large he has to be weighed on a hospital laun dry scale says he is disqualified from contracts because his weight does not alloy him to in A lawsuit is the latest salvo m a threeyear civil war Between Confederacy buffs to determine who has the right to honor the memory of the Old South The Confederate Memorial Association alleges rival organizations of civil racketeer ing The suit claims that the Sons of Confederate Veterans the United Daughters of the Con federary and the Southern Relief Society of defiling the reputation of the rebel cause and making obscene telephone calls Among other things the Memorial Association charges its enemies with slapping bumper stickers on its Washington head quarters that sa Have a Nice Day Shoot a Damn Yankee The rival organizations deny any wrongdoing and attribute the battle to a personal war for the right to represent the Confederate legacy In S politics gimmicks are used extravagant 1 to press home a point to the voters In one recent incident in Con a Democratic represen tative pulled out a milk carton that he had made with a picture of President George Bush in the space usually set aside for photographs of missing children Have you seen this man he asked his colleagues during a crucial time during budget negotiations when the president was gallivanting across the conn try making speeches at Republican fund raising events He urged anyone who had seen the president to call the toll free number emblazoned on the car ton to return him safetly to the White House Another gimmick is a South Dakota candidates promise to pay voters each if he serves more than eight years in Congress Capitalizing on the voters mood Don Frankenfield has even signed contracts to make the payments All the voter has to do to get a contract is to contribute a minimum of SI to his campaign Only in America Spirit of the printed word shunted aside OTTAWA The Spmt of the Pnnted Word remains but her domain has been banished to a cramped jerry room in the basement of Parliament Centre Block The female figure of the holding hiRh the Torch of Enlightenment is one of six que murals created almosl years for the magnificent Parliamentary Reading Until recently she looked down on an eclectic collection of ana and foreign newspapers periodicals and books MPs and their assislants along with journalists could look ROD publications in calm oasis set between the Senate and the Commons But a decision to use the spate for com meetings has produced a drastically reduced collection in an unadorned much smaller Reading Room s new location is just a room It doesn have the same impact Absent are the murals the wood cupboards for newspapers the carved stone pillars the wrought ironwork and sculpted ceiling Gone too are weekly newspapers from X magazines and is foreign publications And that has made MP Da id Kilgour mad A source of important in formation to MPs has been removed the kdmonlon MP says m someone who is in in the written word and it was nice to know it was there VOH EI Kilgour believes the ability of MPs to get a sense of the try s mood has been diminished because the weekly voice of rural and small town has been stilled It reduces our ability to know the country and that what were Gil Qi Hardy Ottawa Bureau T Bam on Mfwt Strict supposed to be here for he savs The MP says the 200odd books on hand in the old Reading Room made MPs more effective as legislators Only some of those books will still be available in Parliament s main library he says Whats the ultimate extension of this That we should have com books in the Reading Room and no words than three syllables has twice risen in the Commons to protest the demise of the Reading Room Each time Speaker John has refer red Kilgour to the Board of Inter nal which made the decision The secretive board peopled MPs from all three parties and charged bv the Speaker made the move dunng the summer recess when MPs and many jour were away Employees were given a week to pack up and move Kilgoursays One issue he plans to raise with the board is fire safety The fire that destroyed the Centre Block started in a small reading room constructed of highly flammable matenal he says Its replacement had stone walls and was made highly fire resistant Kilgour wonders if the Reading Rooms new location is as safe dont know how much greater the risk of fire is in the new mini room but I suspect it greater he says TWO EXITS But a spokesman for Speaker says the new location is safer because it has two exits unlike the old Reading Room that had only one The number of people using the room daily has declined to bet ween 50 and 60 from 80 to a staffer says Theres too little room and too few desks for pro per service The smaller location also means major Canadian daily papers are tossed out after six weeks They used to be kept for up to five months doubts he will change the boards mind and restore the Reading Room to its old spot But he hopes Canadians who believe we are not living a postliterate age will pressure their MPs