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6 ·The IFP· Halton Hills ·Thursday, July 19, 2012 OPINION Seniors wait With no surplus of cash and millions of dollars committed towards a hospital renovation, new libraries, three new ice surfaces and the day-to-day cost of running the town of Halton Hills, it's not surprising Town council has had to say `no' to a local group. That group has turned out to be local seniors, both in Acton and Georgetown, who had more or less been promised expensive new digs but were recently told by councillors going forth with those structures would put the Town in a debt situation it has no appetite for. Representatives from the seniors' centres heard the cost for the second phase of the Gellert Centre, which is to include a gymnasium, seniors centre and youth centre, is $12.5 million plus $5.3 million to purchase the required land. The cost for the Acton Seniors Centre expansion at the Acton Arena is pegged at $2.45 million. In the report it was stated if council went forward with construction of the projects, as well as the $2.45 million for the new Acton Youth Centre, the Town would exceed its debt limit of 10 per cent of the tax levy guideline for longer than it already will (2016 to 2018) for the arena program. Not wanting to slam the door on the seniors, Town staff has proposed a Buy/Lease/Partnership as a more cost-effective alternative for council's consideration as a way of "making the projects happen." "We gave every indication it was our intent to move ahead with the senior centres, and we haven't delivered," said Councillor Jane Fogal. Certainly it is hoped the Town can find a way to accommodate the seniors by finding them new homes, if albeit, in less impressive surroundings than originally planned. Staff will look at alternatives and report back in the fall. Certainly the Town cannot accept going into `tremendous debt' as Mayor Rick Bonnette described it. However, it is discouraging that hundreds of local seniors are now finding out they obviously were lower on the totem pole of Town priorities. 905-873-0301 Publisher: Ken Nugent General manager: Steve Foreman (sforeman@theifp.ca) Retail advertising manager: Cindi Campbell (ccampbell@theifp.ca) Managing editor: John McGhie (jmcghie@theifp.ca) Distribution manager: Nancy Geissler (ngeissler@theifp.ca) Classifieds Kristie Pells (classified@theifp.ca) Accounting Rose Marie Gauthier Editorial Cynthia Gamble: News editor (cgamble@theifp.ca) Ted Brown: Photography (tbrown@theifp.ca) Lisa Tallyn: Staff writer (ltallyn@theifp.ca) Eamonn Maher: Staff writer/sports (emaher@theifp.ca) Letters policy Letters must include an address and daytime phone number. Anonymous letters will not be published. Letters should not exceed 150 words and may be edited for content and/or length. Publication is not guaranteed. Email: jmcghie@theifp.ca Steve Nease Mail or drop off: Independent & Free Press, 280 Guelph St., Unit 29, Georgetown, ON., L7G 4B1. Letters to the editor Glen issue still needs `addressing' Dear editor, Glen residents, have you been checking your mail lately? If, like me, you have been, then you are probably still finding a lot of businesses, organizations and government offices are still addressing us in Georgetown and obviously didn't get the memo yet! In March, 2011, I requested the Town of Halton Hills to consider passing a resolution that would require Canada Post to make a change to their postal code program recognizing Glen Williams. The council supported the proposal unanimously, a decision wellreceived by the Glen community. As a result, on April 16 this year Canada Post officialy updated its program and began the process of including the information in their regular updates to users. But it seems there is still work to be done as mail is still arriving addressed to Georgetown. So it falls to Glen residents to identify the companies they do business with who are still not on board and notify them through their website, e-mail, regular mail or phone of the change they need to make to your profiles to ensure all future mail arrives properly addressed to Glen Williams. In this way we can be sure our community name will never be lost in the mail! Tony Taylor, Glen Williams they walk in order to avoid his dog droppings. We live in the country as well and have always picked up after our dog. There is nothing worse than to have one of your children, or yourself, step in dog droppings, then having to deal with cleaning up the smelly mess. This is the same situation as the person who empties their garbage on rural roads, because it isn't in their backyard, so not to worry. If it wasn't for the hard work of people on Earth Day, the rural roads would look like garbage dumps. Bill Gerrie, Limehouse Rural areas are not immune to litterbugs Dear editor, On the front page of the Friday June 8 edition of the Toronto Star, there was an article regarding the Milton Real Canadian Superstore, not using plastic shopping bags since they opened in 2007. A resident named Bob Pyatt stated that people in Toronto will get used to not having plastic bags in time. The people use them to put garbage in and pick up after their dogs. Pyatt lives in the country so the dog droppings will take care of themselves. I guess he is one of the inconsiderate ones who doesn't pick up after their dog, so people out for a walk will have to watch where WEB POLL RESULTS (Go to www.theifp.ca) Rural residents have an online petition opposing a proposed Bell Mobility cell tower in Norval. Would you sign it? Yes. Health risks of cell towers have not been fully explored (68%) No. I'm not concerned about cell towers (32%) Share your thoughts The Independent & Free Press welcomes your letters. Letters must include an address and daytime phone number. Anonymous letters will not be published and letters should not exceed 150 words and may be edited for content and/or length. Please email your letter to: jmcghie@theifp.ca 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.