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Wednesday July 1991 the HERALD Opinion Page 11 Friction within housing committee makes good copy Id be the first to admit it con flict makes good news copy And judging by the outcomes of the first two meetings between members of a Town committee who are looking at future development for Acton and Georgetown this committee will be a major source of news for months to come The committee is comprised of representatives from various ratepayer groups the Town plan rung staff and their consultants It was formed to solicit public in put on the issue of what types of housing development would be suitable for Georgetown and Ac ton and where the different types of housing should be located in the two communities An underlying idea behind the committees formation was to And a consensus between various groups including the general public business community and developers and builders Indeed during the first meeting which happened earlier this summer developers and those more wary of certain types of development agreed they should work together to dispel the perceived mistrust existing bet ween them Ironically these comments were made after certain members of the committee op posed the meeting being during the afternoon At that time it was decided the fairest solution for all would be to alter nate the meetings between the evenings and afternoons However during the next meeting which happened last Tuesday a lot of members not representing the developers or Bens Banter by Ben business community voted against the next meeting being held during the evening In the end Committee Chair and Town Planning Director Ian Keith decided on an evening meeting People may argue this example Political Forum of conflict between some commit tee members is petty They pro bably think I highlighted this ex ample because I might not want to cover evening meetings However I think it is an tion of the problems the commit tee members will have when they get down to the nitty For instance at the last meeting tempers flared when the committee members started to discuss the issue of building size Gail Rutherford President of Residents Active in Development Decisions and a com mittee member suggested Town planners should consider the size of existing buildings in any given area when determining where certain types of new development should be located Local developer and committee member responded by asking what does building scale mean Through the debate Mr admitted he knew what scale meant no surprise since he is a builder The point is Mr doesnt want the restriction of building scale placed on buildings He fears building size restrictions will make it economically unfeasible for development to happen especially since land prices are so high Committee members like Ms Rutherford want scale to be ap plied because without the ap plication of this principle the Towns character is jeopardized Its great the various commit tee members want to work together but if neither is willing to compromise their respective visions about future development this goal will never be realized Media attention on Kealy shows banking system fragile Ottawa Report For just about every day I have been an MP hes been there standing across from the door to the House of Commons Glen Kealey has with him a sign calling the prime minister a liar He has a pair of green foam dice which he hangs from the carved stone fence He has a bright pink stuffed pig And every time he sees me or any other Conservative MP he shouts Resign When he sees a Quebec MP he does it french Kealey is most often there before and after Question Period when Parliament turns into a media circus After as people in Ottawa call it the foyer outside the House of Commons is jamm ed with reporters cameras and They often spill outside and Kealey is right there to heckle Mulroney or Clark or whomever is getting the gears that day Before Question Period Kealey heads down to Wellington Street in front of Parliament and waves a sign denouncing government at the cars going by He does this routine in snow and rain and heat This is the mans self given full time job He appears to be on some kind of mission And last week he got more media attention than he could ever have dreamed of Kealey says he was once asked for a bribe to get a government contract by a man who is no longer a cabinet minister I have no idea if this is true or not His charges are personal and have not been investigated yet by the police Ontarios attorney general must decide now if theres enough evidence to pro secute the charges or let them drop But there have already been consequences and I write about this topic today because it shows how fragile the whole system really can be Kealeys charges were hugely covered by the media front page stuff The news went out on the wire and found its way within Garth Turner MP Halton Peel Progressive Conservative hours to Tokyo And when the news got there it wasn that one man had made charges which were not yet investigated In stead it was news of a political scandal in the Canadian govern ment Many Japanese investors in Canadian securities were already nervous after some recent scan dais with large Tokvo investment dealers So this news was all they needed the word to sell Canada went out The result was a run on the Canadian dollar Our currency lost almost a full cent in one day and things have ac celerated if the Bank of Canada has not stepped in and slowed the selling down by buying up Cana dollars So what So the Bank also found itself having to raise interest rates as another way of putting the brakes on the dollars slide So last Thursday reversing months of steady declines the Bank of Canada rates were up Things are still unsteady on the markets raising the prospect of more rate increases and dollar woes in the weeks to come Until the Kealey charges are determin ed one way or the other valid or frivolous the climate can stay volatile It would truly be a shame if loan and mortgage rates rise as a Peoples Forum Recreation and Parks Director defends baseball facilities Editors note The following letter from Hills Recrea tion and Parks Director Tom Shepard was forwarded to the Herald for publication Because of the letters length it will be published in two parts the first half In todays edition and the se cond part in Fridays edition J A Aubin President G B A Box 236 Georgetown Ont L7G4T1 Dear Mr Aubin Subject Response to your let of June re Baseball Facility Deficiencies Thank you for your recent let lr outlining your organizations concerns regardng the provision and maintenance of baseball facilities in Georgetown the following will attempt to address your concerns Later this year the department will be undertaking the tion of an update to its Master Plan The Master Plan will review the departments delivery of service in all areas of its man date including parks and playing fields identifying current and future deficiencies and providing recommendations for remedial actions Given a situation of finite resources it is imperative that all areas of service be addressed through a comprehensive process in order that priorities can be identified and a financially responsible action plan can be prepared The only meaningful process towards the preparation of a Master Plan in volves the receipt of extensive and balanced public input which obviously will be time ing Based on an assumption that the Master Plan will identify the provision of additional sports fields as a high priority the approved Capital Forecast iden titles funds for and acquisition in 1994 Presuming that the Master Plan would be completed in late 1992 and following Council accep tance a process of site identifica tion land acquisition and site planning would be required the projected lime frame for finan cial planning appears to be ap propriate In the interim the Recreation and Parks Department en courages your organization s at tempts to identify coping strategies for the hopefully short term With respect to the issue of playing field maintenance I am enclosing for your information a copy of the department s Maintenance Standard for Parks Playing Fields Open Space and School Sites which defines maintenance responsibilities for playing fields The standard does not include the department responsibilities for cemeteries operation and maintenance which also demands a significant amount of our staff time and equipment resources The matter of infield drainage is a problem to some degree on most of our infields particularly in the Georgetown area where underlying clay soils tend to ex acerbate surface run off pro blems The most effective solu involve regrading works to establish proper surface drainage over both the infield and outfield however the high cost of such works and the lack of alter native facilities to accommodate users during reconstruction and restoration periods are pro hibitive You refer specifically to Diamond at the Fairgrounds in 1987 the depart ment installed sub surface drainage tile system along the base paths draining to a dry well as a remedial measure to drainage problems evident at that time Yours is the first com plaint of this nature to follow since that installation Staff will inspect the site and determine to what extent further remedial measures might be undertaken As indicated within the Maintenance Standard all in fields receive regular machine grooming in addition top dress ing at most major facilities takes place during pre and post season maintenance activities The fact that coaches are assisting in litter control is ap preciated It is frustr ting to observe accumulations of litter within the parks parti under bleachers when con tamers are situated so conve niently for everyone s use In response staff are assigned twice weekly to litter control in major parks which obviously reduces their availability for other maintenance activities Staff will perform the needed repairs to the backstop at a mond No required following repairs performed during the pre result We dont need that now just as we were seeing some first signs that this grinding recession might be coming to an end It is also kind of amazing how all these things can happen so quickly One day there s a man standing there shouting at me with a pink pig in his hand The next day that same man has caused a run on the Canadian dollar and threatens to increase my car payments Maybe we ought to look at this system of justices of the peace Maybe if charges are going to be laid they should come after a police investigation not before Maybe all the reporters who jumped on this should have ex plained some of the cir cumstances to the rest of the world Perhaps if the Japanese could have seen Glen Kealey s green foam dice or watched him wav ing his signs at the traffic every day they would have had a dif ferent impression season the third base players benches at Diamond No were relocated on June 26th per your earlier request Staff have inspected and repaired turf damages following each of the special events operating in the Fairgrounds this season Please note that the Fairgrounds is a multiple use facility and as damages occur by other means your groups assistance in reporting their loca tion to the department would be useful in securing their prompt repair To be continued Employment Centre Thank You To the People of Halton Hilts The summer of is ing to wind down and it is time once again for the Canada Employment Centre for Students to close its doors Over the summer months we have thoroughly enjoyed our con tact with the students and employers of Hills and we 1 hope we have been helpful in ser ving employment needs in the community Much of our tion has come from the interest and support the community has shown us towards student employment While working in a smaller community like Halton Hills we were able to get to know the students and employers we work ed with well The positive attitudes and co operation we encountered were encouraging and made our jobs more pleasant Once again thank you for your kindness and support throughout the summer months We look for ward to serving you next year Yours sincerely Chris Supervisor Nancy Albers and Shelley Powell Write us a letter The Herald wants to hear from you If you have an opinion you want to express or a comment to make send us a letter or drop by the office Our address Is Street Georgetown On tario All letters must be signed Please include your address and telephone number for verifica tion The Herald reserves the right to edit letters due to Umita-