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THE NEW TANNER THURSDAY, APRIL 1, 2004 Town told to keep old Acton street names BY FRANCES NIBLOCK The New Tanner Frustration with Bell Canada and the CRTC, an- ger over the possible loss of historical identity and sug- gestions how to eliminate safety issues surfaced at a lively public meeting on possible street names changes at the Acton Legion on Monday night. A Town subcommittee recommended changing the names of George Street, Park Avenue and Main "I tried everything to help my son with school. | wish we'd tried Sylvan first." If your child is struggling in school or just not being challenged enough, call Sylvan today. Our personalized programmes and individual attention can help with reading, math , study skills and ACT or Provincial Test Why Wait?'€3iI Today. QUALIFIED TEACH Education Finance Plan A able from $80 per month = Y LVA N 27 Woodlawn Rd. W. 160 Kortright Rd.W. LEARNING CENTRE' (Hartsland Market Square) : Tel: 823-5711 Learning Feels good: Fax: 823-5781 www.educate.com READING * WRITING * MATH Homework Support * COLLEGE A Discussion lively at public meeting Streets North and South in Acton after Bell 911 Emer- gency Response Service said emergency calls could be de- layed by confusion because those streets have duplicate municipal addresses in Georgetown. None of the approxi- mately 60 people at the meeting spoke in favour of changing the names -- al- though several names were suggested if it happens -- and _ the comments from the two dozen people who came to the microphone to put their comments on the record ranged from passionate his- torical arguments and bottom line dollars and cents. The crowd clapped loud- est for George Street resident Peter O'Meara, who said the Town should not change for _the sake of Ma Bell. "T think Ma Bell should change for the sake of the corporation of the Town of Halton Hills, and for the citi- zens who live in Acton and in Georgetown," O'Meara said, arguing that if Bell can't provide the service the Town wants, the Town " ACTON FIGURE SKATING CLUB'S. 40TH ANNIVERSARY "OUR SKATE THROUGH TIME" Saturday April 3rd, 2004 at the Acton Arena Showtime 1:00 & 7:00 p.m. ADVANCE TICKETS AVAILABLE FRIDAY, APRIL 2/04 5-8 P.M. TICKETS ALSO AVAILABLE AT THE DOOR. Doors open 30 min prior to show should look for another serv- ice provider. Main Street South lawyer Margaret Chapman, describ- ing herself as the most moderate person at the meet- ing because although she doesn't want any change, she is prepared to "play" with her address by chang- ing the number or adding "Acton" to the name. "T think that you should be trying to deal with the safety issue -- if that's your concern -- in a way that causes the least disruption to residents and business, Chapman said. Several people, including Yourway Auto Repair owner Jason Ash, who told the meeting his recent move to Main Street North cost ap- proximately $4,000, questioned the cost that the name change would create. Several speakers, includ- ing Acton High School student Synnoeve Stockinger, a Berry Street resident, raised the historical importance of not changing the street names in Acton. "Over the past few years, Acton has lost quite a few of its historical landmarks --we have lost the old school, we have lost our arena and we just barely managed to hang on to our town hall and I just figured it would be a very, very sorry state of affairs if we can't hang on to our street names," Stockinger said. Birchway Place resident Fred Dunn, noting that his dad had been born on Main Street in 1883, and his grandfather before him,asked that if the name Main Street was changed, it be changed to Dunn Boul- evard to honour his family's heritage. é Elizabeth Drive resident Hartley Coles questioned if the database used to route emergency calls was carved in stone, or it could be PETER O'MEARA changed. Fire Chief Bob Meads said hypothetically, anything could be changed, but he doubted if the CRTC -- the Canada Radio Television and Telecommunications Commission -- would have made Ottawa, Toronto and Halifax change its duplicate street names if it was easy to change the database. "T don't think we have to bow before the CRTC and Bell," Coles said, adding the system should be changed to identify the town where an emergency call was gener- ated. Park Avenue resident Gord Furzer said it would be ahard fight to convince Bell Canada and the CRTC to change its database so the street names did not have to be changed, and had a sug- gestion. "If we do change the names of the streets, every- one has to change, including the database. So, why don't we just tell them we've changed the names of the streets to Park Avenue "A" and just don't bother chang- ing it," Furzer said. JASON ASH Regional Wards 3/4 Coun- cillor Jane Fogal, one of two politicians on the street nam- ing committee, said she wanted to clarify that Bell Canada doesn't care what happens, that it is only a service provider and the problem with duplicate ad- dresses is a decision the Town must make, and that could include doing nothing. Fogal's comments brought O'Meara back to the micro- phone to loudly assert that Bell does care and wants to do things as cheaply as pos- sible to generate the greatest return for their shareholders. "That means this corpora- tion is paying Bell to provide a service, so if we're the piper let's call the tune and tell Bell how we want to be serviced, and if it means we have to go before the CRTC and say to them 'this makes sense,' then that's what we should do," O'Meara said, repeating his request for an- other meeting with Bell 911 emergency Response Serv- ice officials. Twenty-four citizens spoke at the public meeting, including: Jay Raats, Main Street South, Acton "TI hope that the cost of having to change our street names, that the cost of bear- ing that for businesses and individuals will be spread across the whole community and not just on the people that it is going to affect." Dr. Murray Smith, Cobblehill Road, Acton "T would like to think that there was still a chance of stopping this, but I think this is a kangaroo meeting and Just here for window dress- ing." Henry Logan, Main Street North, Acton "Thad the unfortunate situ- ation of having to call 911 in an emergency for my wife. The question that was asked by the operator was it Acton or Georgetown? No problem, not Halton Hills." The Town will accept comments on the issue until April 16, when staff will pre- pare a report for Council Design Consultant ' Xe 19-853-4359 (J Caer % oie Paint, vam at Blind Store Opening Friday, April 2 130 Mill St. E., Acton (Next to Alexanian Carpet) | eu eee eee eee Gisele Tre =~ lay 'Y \ Keep & present this ad & receive : 10% off your first paint order! } omni : tremblay.decorating@bellnet.ca * 905. -693-211 3) "IS EXPANDING" debate. ~\ Free C Shop at Home Sorvice Get ©