The following text may have been generated by Optical Character Recognition, with varying degrees of accuracy. Reader beware!

6 Independent & Free Press,Thursday, March 11, 2010 OPINION Ice solution? It was announced earlier this week that Town of Halton Hills staff will begin investigating a new option to combat the years-old problem of a lack of ice surfaces. That option, is being offered by Sprung Instant Structure Ltd. of Alberta, a firm that apparently specializes in erecting nonconventional buildings-- like arenas-- at a much reduced cost than a conventional arena. The Town is eyeballing a twin-pad arena that would be attached to the current twopad Mold-Masters SportsPlex on Guelph Street. The twin-pad building in Georgetown would have an aluminum I-beam construction, covered with a five-layer architectural membrane, which includes a maintenance free telflon-like film, white exterior and interior PVC layers, a polyester basic fabric and a black opaque layer. The structure would be quickly erected, has a 30-year guarantee, manufactured to meet all climatic conditions, has R28 insulation and is readily LEED-certified, and can be relocated to another site easily. The preliminary cost of $16.2 million is $6 million less than a conventional doublepad rink. That saved money could possibly go towards adding a pad to the Acton Arena. Three pads for the price of two, if you will. That certainly would go a long way to easing the angst of local ice user groups which have been forced to cancel programs or travel outside of town simply because there is not enough ice here. There is nothing to suggest that a nonconventional arena (or three) would not provide a magic tonic for the Town. However, we urge staff, councillors and ice user groups to do their due diligence in carefully examining this option in the coming months to ensure this would be a good fit. 905-873-0301 Publisher: Ken Nugent General manager: Steve Foreman (sforeman@independentfreepress.com) Retail advertising manager: Cindi Campbell (ccampbell@independentfreepress.com) Managing editor: John McGhie (jmcghie@independentfreepress.com) Distribution manager: Nancy Geissler (ngeissler@independentfreepress.com) Classifieds Kristie Pells (classified@independentfreepress.com) Accounting Rose Marie Gauthier Editorial Cynthia Gamble: News editor (cgamble@independentfreepress.com) Ted Brown: Photography (tbrown@independentfreepress.com) Lisa Tallyn: Staff writer (ltallyn@independentfreepress.com) Eamonn Maher: Staff writer/sports (emaher@independentfreepress.com) WEB POLL RESULTS Do you think the lyrics to O Canada should be changed to eliminate the line "all thy son's command"? · Yes (6%) · No (94%) Steve Nease Go to www.independentfreepress.com Letters to the editor Dogs are not the problem on trails Dear editor, Jane Fogal's Feb. 23 letter, "Keep dogs leashed on public trails" infuriated me. When we came to Georgetown 44 years ago with our dogs we did so because it was a small farm town away from the hectic city. There was not Town bylaw about the ravine and dogs. Cattle used to graze quietly down there and dogs didn't bother them. No one asked to gravel the path or build a ridiculous boardwalk down there. It's a ravine! Most people who walk their dogs or let them run are responsible dog owners who pick up after their dogs and call them to come when they see people coming. The dogs usually return immediately and if not, yes they should be on a leash. However, do you know the number of kids who ignore their parent and rush up to pat a dog on a leash? Also, it is not the dogs who are tossing shopping carts, old tires, water rafts, beer bottles, cigarette packs, condoms etc. in the river or are roaring around on BMX bikes or motorized cross-country vehicles. It is not the dogs that are cursing and swearing either. I suggest that if parents can't control their kids then stay out of the ravine and go to one of the TOO many playgrounds in town or better still, put them on a leash. This is a farm town; not the city. Now back off of the dogs. P.S. I have two children and three grandchildren. G. Rumney, Georgetown They cut taxes, which bought votes, and promised balanced budgets without cutting services. In fact, they did cut services. They sold Hwy. 407 to try and balance the budget and when they were booted out of office we found a deficit of $5 billion. Some track record! J. M. Graham-Smith, Georgetown Public transit is needed Dear editor, As long as we keep building facilities far away from the majority of the population, like the Gellert Centre which is the only place in Georgetown with open public swimming, we will need public transit. As long as we have schools like Stewarttown which are located far from the majority of the population, we will need public transit. As long as regional services are located in Milton, Oakville, and Burlington we will need public transit. Unless, of course, you feel those who cannot drive (for whatever reason-- they are too young, have a medical reason, cannot afford to drive, or even by choice) should not be allowed use of the public facilities/services that they are paying for. John Northey, Georgetown MPP's memory short Dear editor, I was irritated by our MPP Ted Arnott's recent disparaging column about our provincial deficit and the way it is being handled by the McGuinty government. All governments are having trouble in these difficult times-- none less than his federal brethern in Ottawa, who seem to be telling us that their deficit will just disappear when better times return. His comment about his private member's resolution calling on the government to commit itself to a long-term debt repayment plan also seemed very strange considering his government's record under Mike Harris and Ernie Eves. Letters to the editor policy Letters must include an address and daytime telephone number. Anonymous letters will not be published. Letters should not exceed 150 words and may be edited for content and/or length. E-mail: jmcghie@independentfreepress.com Mail or drop off: Independent & Free Press, 280 Guelph St., Unit 29, Georgetown, ON., L7G 4B1. The Independent & Free Press The Independent & Free Press is published Tuesday and Thursday 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.