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(* At Joshua Creek Ratepayers ’ meeting just five days prior to the Dec. 8th Council meeting, Joshua Creek Ratepayers Executive, aware {that the latest Town Meeting showed . that the support for the road was : Dverwhelming, were still unable to : radvise those present how "they"" were ! going to vote. Their excuse that the { elosing of Maplegrove had acceleratâ€" jed the traffice chaos, was true, but that closing had been in the plans just ‘ :as long as Ford Drive and they had a © responsibility to know and recognize +. _ It should be logical to assume that .Â¥ Ratepayers Association is protectâ€" «ing and promoting the best interests «Of the majority of local residents. The :gact that several executive members ‘always have and still do reside backâ€" "Hng onto the proposed extension _ would appear to have clouded the «issue. In fact, George Brown, long «term and current executive member, ‘even after the Joshua Creek Ratepayem representative supported ‘the road, still suggested to Council that from Devon to lakeshore should be assessed as to its necessity. "Guess where Brown lives?" Does he care ‘that this merely shifts rather than Solves the problem and, as Regional Councilor Keith Bird pointed out, would direct even more traffic onto €harnwood Drive on which the ;grade school is situated. *« JCR executive no longer had any choice but to support this road. If they hadn‘t, an alternate association would have been formed, an associaâ€" tion that not only represents Joshua Creek, but all of the residents of Eastlake. Ford Drive, Royal Windsor to Lakeshore won‘t be built to pacify 200 residents â€" thousands and thouâ€" Had this Association supported the road on either of the two previous occasions when the Town was budâ€" geting for it, it would have been conâ€" Siderably cheaper than the projected current cost. I‘m sure Joshua Creek Ratepayers Association has done many good things but willingly supporting the Ford Drive extension isn‘t one of Dear Sir: Re: Ford Drive Extension and Shelley Sanders Greer article Patience growing thin on Ford Dr. issue One thing is sure, the back of winter has already been broken. What else can we conclude now that the days are actually getting LONGER. Can Spring be far behind? People have even called the Beaver with news that some of their planys budding. Wishful thinking, no doubt. Quite a contrast to the ‘winter‘ weather of 1993, with aboveâ€"normal temperaâ€" tures, absolutely no snow accumulation and a forecast for Dec. 25th that sounds more like one for Vancouver than southern Ontario. f there‘s one thing Canadians like talking about, it‘s the weather, And it Iseems that over the past five years, in particular, the weather patterns have been erratic at best. And this year is continuing that trend. A look back one year ago as we approached Christmas, found Oakville covâ€" ered in snow and ice, having come through a major winter storm and several other snowfalls. It‘s to be hoped the province gets the message and spends some money to make some money, otherwise, hand it over to the HRCA. Compare this with the Kelso Conservation Area and the Mountsberg Wildlife Centre, for example, that stage countless events and activities throughout the year. And try to get into these sites without paying. No pay, no entry...period. The park has had its budget slashed over the past few years and that has meant a reduction in the number of staff and programs offered and maintenance problems. Much of the time entrance fees are not even collected because of staff shortages. Visitors are instead greeted with a fee box operated on the ‘honor‘ system. Little wonâ€" der the park is losing money. It‘s unfortunate that some kind of arrangement couldn‘t have been made because we have little faith in the ministry‘s ability to make the kind of improvements to the park that are so desperately needed to draw more people and thus more revenue. ~OPINION the HRCA Talks went on for 18 months but became derailed last week with news that the province had abandoned any kind of jointâ€"venture or complete transfer of the site to The facility has been a consistent moneyâ€"loser to the tune of between $1.5â€"m to $2â€"million a year. And it was this constant flow of red ink that prompted the ministry and the Halton Region Conservation Authority to start talks about the possible transâ€" fer of the site to the HRCA. There was a master plan and countless studies concerning everything from future development of the 684 hectare site, to the management of the facility. Unfortunately, the operation was never high on the interest list of those at the Ministry of Natural Resources, probably because they didn‘t and still don‘t, know how to deal with this unique park. o other Ontario provincial park has been been studied more than Bronte NCreek Provincial Park. From the moment it was first opened in July 1975, it f was controversial. â€" Traditionalists viewed the park as an anomaly. It may be a provincial park in name, but not in operation, they argued. They were correct in their assessment but it ‘was a unique ‘experiment‘ in building an urban park or an oasis of green amid the concrete that could give urban southern Ontarians, a different kind of park experiâ€" ence. Womiennvernminrininnnimninensenmennnnmnnseinenbisesssscssseensennnessneeenccessseccrssose Vancouver east Park problems EDITORIAL eemerenneenrernnimennennninrprenssprenmmpnessresnsnenesnceessneensonce Dear Sir: The merchants of Downtown Oakville would like to apologize for the absence of horse and wagon rides at Midnight Magic, Fri. Dec. 10th. Dut to cirecumstances beyond our control, Mayberry Stables did not attend the event. We regret any inconvenience this may have caused. BIA says ‘sorry‘ for no wagon rides sands of Residents who thought they were buying on residential streets now collectively have in excess of 20,000 vehicles travelling past their homes daily, as any resident who lives east of Chartwel] and needs to go east or north and tmies to get to the only road that exits the area â€" FORD DRIVE. The Town is bending over backwards not to upset 70 families who back onto the proposed extenâ€" sion, all of whom knew and could visually read this road was planned for 30 years. Somewhat like buying on the flight path and then trying to Someone obviously called an ambulance, comforted the victim and gave eyeâ€"witness reports to the police. Was that you, Ms. Morrison? Perhaps Ms. Morrison should seriously address her own behaviour before condemning a generation of youths who may have had their own reasons for behaving ‘indifferently‘. Ms. Morrison noted every minute detail of the incident, including facial expressions. Not only did she watch the beating but returned after her errands to take up her surveillance once again. Her reason for not coming to the victim‘s aid ie. being in the wrong lane and having to get to kindergarten class sound pretty lame when a possible lifeâ€"threatening situâ€" ation was taking place. Dear Sir: Regarding the physical attack on a student reported by Laurie Morrison, (Dec. 17th) I too was enraged when I read her report on the indifference of onlookers. Taking time to help a victim rHONE CALL845â€"5585 Lee Pigeau Promotions Coâ€"ordinator, Downtown Qakville Business Impreovement Area | SPEAK YOUR MIND | All callers are allowed 45 secâ€" onds to express their opinion and must provide their name, address and phone number for verification. A cross section of the responses will be published in next Wednesday‘s Oakville Beaver. Got a gripe? Give us a call. Readers are invited to express their opinion on a topic of their choice by calling 845â€"5585, box years and Joshua Creek Ratepayers have fought us every step of the way. We know we still have a Jong way The clapping, Sanders Greer, was a victory roll; sarcasm if you wish. Finally, in spite of themselves, Joshua Creek Ratepayers Association had no choice but to support this desperately needed alternative to safe access and egress to the area. A road that assures a sharing of the load â€" so to speak. A victory for those of us who have been fighting to get council to take that unanimous vote for the last three ground the planes Advertising is acceptec the applicable rate. Th z> fl>222 y \l{ JJ, .. The Oakville Beaver welcomes your comments. All letters must be signed and include the writer‘s address and phone number. Letters should be typed, doubleâ€"spaced and addressed to: Letters to the Editor, The Oakville Beaver, 467 Speers Rd., Oakvilie, Ont. L6K 3: Mz 46 Margaret Knight Classified Advertising: 845â€"2809 Circulation: 845â€"9742 or 845â€"9743 845â€"3824 Fax: 845â€"3085 peers Road, Oakville, Ont. L6K THE OAKVILLE BEAVEE Industry and commerce continue to reduce staff and salaries to meet current economic conditions. Should not the town‘s staff and salaries be reduced before cutting services to t he public? Public Works and the Fire Department are the truly essential services and must be maintained. All other departments should be analyzed and, in most cases, reduced to the preâ€"1989 level. Those members of council who believe in ‘Spend and Tax‘ must be retrained! Recently, the Japanese economic representative in Ottawa pointed out that, on a per capita basis, Canada has two and one half times as many public servants as Japan, and. "the number of bureaucrats in Canada is too high". This applies so clearly to Oakville. In 1993, about 56 per cent of the budget was for staff salaries and benefits, and up markedly from under 50 per cent in 1989 and prior years. Dear Sir: It is interesting to read in your Dec. 17th issue that councillor Kathy Graham, chairman of the 1994 budget committee, predicts that ‘this will be the toughest of the current term of council‘, Councillor Graham is a conscientious member of council, but we were disturbed to read in her Nov. 30th letter, addressed to ratepayer groups and interested ratepayers, that, "The Budget Committee will have to consider a number of cuts which may necessitate the reduction or elimination of services to achieve an acceptable mill rate". THIS MORNING To List "UNCLE JTEAN" AS A REFERENCE, ‘\ MR N\ACGIREEIOR”‘ l Cut town salaries before services to go. We won‘t make the mistake of relaxing and presuming that the logiâ€" cal will happen, that our Ratepayers Association really cares and we will, as advised by several council memâ€" bers, continue the pressure to comâ€" plete this "best planned road that never was" until its successful comâ€" pletion, whenever that might be!!! After thou 30 years igh, patience o growing thin!!! e ® ypograpt YourRE THE FIFTH PERSON Kathleen & Peter Dooly Robert Glasbey Advertising Director Norman Alexander Edior Geoff HIl Circulation Director Teri Casas Office Manager Tim Coles Production Manager Ian Oliver Publisher Pat Melhuish ypogt a pt L6K 354 neous itom, Io?qrm with a reasonable allowance t dn or services al the wrong price, goods or services A Wish for Christmas Rank Gift 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 Money Traval Clothing AudioAideo.. _ . . Bo°ks com F’hotogflm§:i:;;f’K iikge, Home accessories Jewelry wl Flowers or plants Kitchen gadgets and appliances Sports equipment Fragrance Tools Magazine subscriptions Food or candy Games LETTER OF THE DAY In the manger lies the Christ Child, our sins he has forgiven, Peace on Earth, Good Will Amongst Men, is the message he has given, WEEKLY FOCUS Yet we go from day to day, with food banks overridden, By hapless souls who‘ve lost their way, because their craft has been forbidden, Yes, Christmas comes but once a year, a time so sad and meek, For those whose lives are shattered and tomorrow‘s hopes are bleak, Our hearts reach out this time of year, we say they must be fed, But yet we pay no heed, for a place to lay their head, Christmas comes but once a year and makes us oh so merry, Christmas comes but once a year, as we party and seek bounty a‘plenty, A Christmas wish I make of thee, put forth your heart and tend to he, Help lift him from obscurity and rekindle his soul with dignity Aalejis j " O avOt PW»BNG overy Sunday, Wednesday and Friday, al 467 Brun Ad., Oakville, is one of the Matroland Printing, Publishing & g‘flmflm 111 Azoup of suburban newspapors which includes Aw-Pk:lmln%oNowu Advertiser, Bartle Advance, Br Guardian, Bumng:n Post, colln‘L«md nnection, Elobiooke Quardian, Geor Independent Acton Free Press, Kingston This Week, Lindsay This Week, Markham Eoonomist and Sun, Stoutlville/Uxbridge Tribuns, Miton Canadian Champlon, Mississauga News, Newmarketâ€"Aurora Eraâ€"Banner, North York Mirror, Oakville Beaver, ‘Orilia Today, Oshawa/Whitby This Week, Poterborough This Week, Richmond HIVT hornhiWVaughan Liboral, Scarbomungmov is be All material published in the Oakvil aver is protected imclm In whole or in part of this matarial is atriotly forbidden without m? m .f."!.. p The Oakville Beaver, published ov or signalure, will not be cha may nat be sold. Advertising 4.20 3.80 3.42 3.27 3.17 2.99 2.98 2.94 277 2.73 2.69 2.66 2.61 2.29 2.28 2.25 Total Michael M. Coleman 4.24 3.81 3.19 3.56 3.03 2.71 2.75 2.46 217 2.50 3.30 2.34 3.35 242 2.21 2.97 Men In it ho consont of te publanay _‘ the advertisement will be paid f nd may be withdrawn at any timd Women 2 14 2.98 3.31 3.28 3.20 3.41 3.37 2.96 2.08 2.97 1.87 2.15 4.17 3.79 De )9