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NUMBER CRUNCHING Town treasurer Ed DeSousa suggesting budget hike of 5.9 per cent PAGE 3 YANKEE PACO Acton harness driver fondly recalls champion standardbred PAGE 8 www.theIFP.ca Tuesday, August 28, 2012 Halton Hills' award-winning newspaper serving Acton & Georgetown 20 Pages 50 Cents (+HST) Heart attack thwarts woman in lake swim bid A Georgetown woman's bid to swim Lake Ontario this past weekend nearly turned to tragedy when the 22-year-old suffered a mild heart attack about three and a half hours into the swim. Amanda Kelessi, a lifeguard with the Town of Halton Hills, was pulled from the water just before 1 a.m. Saturday after entering the water at Niagara-on-the-Lake at 9:30 p.m. Friday night. In an email to The Independent & Free Press Sunday from her hospital bed at St. Catharines General Hospital, Kelessi said she believed she was suffering from a cramp and continued swimming. However, after completing about 20 kilometres of the 51.5 km trek to Toronto's Marilyn Bell Park, she AMANDA told her coach Kathleen KELESSI Dennis and her swim master Colleen Shields, a veteran lake swimmer who is planning an attempt next month at the age of 60, that she felt cold. Dennis and Shields were confused by this as the water temperature was a balmy 76F. Around 1 a.m. the pair knew something was amiss as Kelessi's stroke slowed considerably. They asked her some prepared questions about students she teaches in a bid to determine if she was thinking clearly. When Kelessi was unable to form any answer, let alone a correct one, they told Kelessi they needed to get her out of the lake. See KELESSI, pg. 2 Decisions on new rec facilities in council's hands By CYNTHIA GAMBLE Staff Writer Town staff has put the decision of any future recreational facilities-- Phase 2 of the Gellert Centre and new or expanded seniors and youth centres-- squarely on the shoulders of Halton Hills council. In a report prepared by Chief Administrative Officer Dennis Perlin that was presented to council at last night's meeting, staff requested direction on whether to pursue the realization of these facilities-- which could put the Town into more debt than it already is. Perlin offered alternatives to council, but made it clear the decision would be council's. He suggested the report be referred to a special council meeting in early September, so the public could comment. After the 2012 budget discussions, council-- pressed by seniors and youth leaders-- passed a resolution asking staff to bring back a plan how the building of $12.5 million Phase 2 of the Gellert (gym, Georgetown seniors and youth centres), the purchasing of $5.3 million developer's land to house the expansion, the $2.45 million Acton Seniors Centre expansion and a new $2.45 million Acton youth centre could happen. Council recently accepted a Recreation Dept. strategy report that stated all those facilities were required to serve new growth to 2016 and beyond. But the Town is tapped out paying for new arenas, new fire stations, new libraries, hospital expansion, and town operating and capital costs. Council has a present debt limit guideline of 10 See CAO, pg. 2 Bus stop Nine-year-old Johnathan Dunslow checks for traffic during the annual school bus orientation day hosted by the Halton School Bus Safety Committee Saturday at Christ the King Secondary School. Photo by Jon Borgstrom 2012 TERRAIN SLE Vi s i t o u r s h o w r o o m SLE-1 CASH PURCHASE PRICE $ * WAS 29,558 NOW $ · your window & door professionals · SLT-2 341 Guelph St., Unit 3 Georgetown 905.873.0236 www.buy-wise.ca info@buy-wise.ca · awarded readers choice 18 times · OFFERS INCLUDE FREIGHT, PDI, LEVIES & $2,000 CASH CREDIT. TAXES NOT INCLUDED. 27,558 * 905 877-6944 33 Mountainview Rd. North, , Georgetown g 0 84 % FOR UP TO OR UPGRADE TO SLE-2 OR SLT MODELS AT We handle all insurance work. MONTHS · Truck T Accessories Accesso · Upholstery · Heavy Equipment Glass ·Window Tinting 354 Guelph Street, Georgetown 905-873-1655