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4- The Oakville Beaver, Wednesday March 21, 2007 www.oakvillebeaver.com Tree bylaw opponents on committee reach compromise Continued from page1 trees would be waived, but the tree's condition would need to be established by a report from a Town- approved arborist. The recommendations of the task force have been passed along to Town staff, who are expected to bring for- Beth Robertson St. Thomas Aquinas Catholic Secondary School, Oakville, ON Beth Robertson is department head of Canadian and World Studies at St. Thomas Aquinas Catholic Secondary School in Oakville. Her teaching career spans over 20 years with positions ranging from private schools in Mississauga to the Dufferin-Peel Catholic School Board and now in the Halton Catholic School Board. Beth attended the University of Windsor and achieved her Bachelor of Human Kinetics honours degree, and completed her Bachelor of Education at Queen's University. She also holds her Principal's Qualifications from the Catholic Principals' Council of Ontario. In her spare time, Beth is active in her community where she serves as a Eucharistic minister at St. Dominic's Parish in Oakville, sits on the executive association for the federal Liberal riding of Oakville, fundraises for the ALS Society of Ontario, and coaches and plays soccer. Beth is appreciative of this award saying "I have had recognition of my coaching, but never my teaching. This is definitely the highlight of my 21-year teaching career." She currently lives in Oakville with her husband and three children. 2007 Winner Humber's Greatest High School Teacher Contest Humber will award one year's tuition to a Humber student from St. Thomas Aquinas Secondary School as chosen by Beth for the fall 2007 school year. Congratulations Beth! Thank you for your contribution to the teaching profession. Beth shares this award with Joe Tersigni of Our Lady of Lourdes CHS in Guelph. Sheridan Institute of Technology & Advanced Learning presents a new and exciting Job Finding Club Are you an Internationally Trained Individual? Are you currently unemployed or working on average 20 hours per week? Looking for work in your desired field? Seeking fulltime employment? Sheridan's Job Finding Club will assist you with a SUCCESSFUL JOB SEARCH. Two weeks of in-class workshops including; · · · · · · · · · Personality & Skills Assessment Successful Interview Techniques Networking Skills Electronic Job Search Strategies Canadian Workplace Culture Client Job Profile On site recruiter to assist each job seeker Post Program Support Resource Centre with computers, phones, fax, photocopier ward an interim report on tree protection measures in April. Last October, Town council shelved a proposed private tree bylaw which would have required residents to apply for permits to cut down private trees over 30 cm (11.8 inches) in diameter. The proposal generated significant public opposition, and saw the creation of a 700-member group calling themselves NTBiN (No Tree Bylaw is Necessary). That group was formed by residents Glen Herring and Ivor Davies. Following Burton's election to the mayor's office, he says he approached Herring and asked him to develop a working group to offer suggestions on how the Town should proceed on tree protection. Herring recruited bylaw opponents Davies and Roger Mailhot, as well as Oakville bylaw supporters Catherine Kavassallis, and Lakeside Residents' Association representative Chris Hughes. Unlike traditional councilappointed advisory committees, meetings of the task force were not public, and its final report was submitted directly to Burton on March 12. "The job of the task force was to advise me, and they've done that, and I'm very happy with that," said Burton. "I'm very pleased, above all, with how this process worked to bridge people's differences and bring people together." Recommendations from the task force were released by the mayor's office on Monday, a few days after The Beaver began asking about the report. Burton says he sees the work of the task force as being similar to having a research project undertaken by an assistant, and says he intends to use speciallyappointed mayor's task forces to advise him on various subjects. He also added that a full public process will be undertaken in the development of a private tree bylaw. Both Kavassalis and Herring say the recommendations from the task force represent a compromise position. "Really, we just tried to find some reasonable middle ground that could offer adequate tree protection without infringing too much on property rights," said Herring. "I think it's a good Oakville value that neighbours can work together and find solutions to problems." In its covering letter to the mayor, the task force notes, "It is fair to say that the attached report is not the preferred approach of any of the group's members. But it does represent a solution that we all feel we can support." The group also offers to "support" and "sell" a bylaw resembling its recommendations within its "respective spheres of influence." The task force apparently looked extensively at last fall's urban forest (UFORE) report, which inventoried trees throughout the town. Kavassalis says statistics around large stature trees ­ those with trunks 76 cm (30 inches) in diameter or greater ­ particularly concerned the group. "We were rather shocked at how relatively few of those trees we have," she said, noting that the UFORE report found only 8,499 large stature trees across the town making up 0.4 per cent of Oakville's tree population. Over 5,000 of those trees are located on private property. She says the group's recommendations were particularly aimed at protecting those trees, given the environmental and health benefits they offer the community. "The trees that would be protected in the bylaw represent a very small fraction of our community's trees," said Kavassalis. "We're talking about very significant trees. No one's saying you can't trim your lilac bush." -30- This program is FREE! Information Session: Call us today at 905-845-9430, ext. 8026 Call us today at 905-845-9430, ext. 8026 to book for Monday, December 19, 2005 This program is funded by the Government of Canada SAVE $$$$$$$ OAKVILLE KIA SUPERSTORE or up to $5000 Cash Back All Stock Windshield Priced and Ready to Go. Once a Year Saving $$$$$$ $3700 gets you in a new or pre-owned vehicle. 1-866-369-8109 OAKVILLE KIA 1450 Speers Rd. Oakville Also open Sundays 11am - 4pm