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8- The Oakville Beaver, Friday November 9, 2007 www.oakvillebeaver.com SANTA CLAUS IS COMING TO TOWN NOVEMBER 17 - 9:00 a.m. TEMPORARY ROAD CLOSURES During the Santa Claus parade, the following roads, and adjacent streets will be closed from 7 - 11 a.m.: · Lakeshore Road from Allan Street to Kerr Street · Kerr Street from Lakeshore Road to Stewart Street · Stewart Street from Kerr Street to Maurice Drive · Felan Avenue from Stewart Street to Rebecca Street · Rebecca Street from Dorval Drive to Forsythe Street · Robinson Street from Navy Street to Allan Street The co-operation of all motorists is requested. For additional information on road closures, contact Bob deHoog, Road Corridor/Permit Co-ordinator, 905.845.6601 ext. 3337. DAVID LEA / OAKVILLE BEAVER BLAST IT: Mike Schiraldi, of the Town of Oakville's graffiti removal crew, sandblasts graffiti off the SmithTriller Bridge in Oakville. Free Santa Shuttle Don't worry about parking, take Santa's Shuttle Bus. The free Santa Shuttle runs every 15 minutes from the Oakville GO Station stopping at all regular stops along Reynolds to the Church/Dunn bus terminal. The Santa Shuttle will run from 8 to 11:15 a.m. Please note that for safety reasons children must be removed from strollers and/or wagons while on the bus. Strollers must be folded and wagons put in an upright position. To ensure emergency vehicle and public access, visibility and traffic flow, residents and visitors are asked to adhere to parking regulations during the parade. Price tag is not cheap Continued from page 7 For more information on the Oakville Santa Claus Parade visit: www.oakvillesantaclausparade.ca or leave a message at: 905 815-5981 CONGRATULATIONS TO UNITED WAY OF OAKVILLE 2007 GREAT GRANTS AWARD RECIPIENT United Way of Oakville is among United Ways of Ontario honoured with Ontario Trillium Foundation 25th Anniversary Great Grants Award. Sharing the vision of Ontario Trillium Foundation in building healthy and vibrant communities. "This could help a judge decide what they're going to do with these people, who tend to by young offenders." In the event of racist graffiti Halton police promptly begin an investigation with incidents of `hate graffiti' being monitored by the chief of police, district investigators and specialized Hate Crime investigators. The cost of this graffiti abatement strategy has not been cheap with annual operating costs set at $109,000, while the one time cost of purchasing a vehicle and equipment for the program was another $55,000. Cozzi insists the funds are necessary as previously the Town dealt with graffiti by having existing work crews clean it up, which diverted them from other important work. Cozzi also points out that the dangers of graffiti are too great to ignore. "Half the battle with graffiti is that you have to remove it as quickly as possible. You don't want it to stay because it just seems to multiply," he said. "They call it the broken window theory, where if someone breaks a window you need to repair it fast, because if you don't others will think no one cares about the area and that they can break windows." Police also say graffiti eradication is important as neighbourhoods infested with graffiti can attract criminal elements because these criminals get the impression from such places that public apathy and neglect are high, so no one will cause problems if they move in and conduct DAVID LEA / OAKVILLE BEAVER HARD AT WORK: Peter McDonald, of the Town of Oakville's graffiti removal crew, removes graffiti from a plaque on Oakville's Smith-Triller Bridge. "Half the battle with graffiti is that you have to remove it as quickly as possible. You don't want it to stay because it just seems to multiply." Dan Cozzi, Town of Oakville their business. Unfortunately preventing such a situation requires help from the public for while the graffiti eradication program removes graffiti from public surfaces, the property owner must remove graffiti left on private property. "The property owner is essentially a victim. They didn't do the graffiti, but they own the property and now it is their responsibility," said Cozzi. "We don't give the person like a day and say, `you better get rid of it.' We try and work with the property owner and if the owner doesn't know who to contact we'll give them the name of a contractor. "Having said that there are some penalties associated with not cleaning up graffiti. The town can act on the Property Standards Bylaw and have the graffiti cleaned on the property owner's behalf and then charge them through their taxes, but we try to avoid that." This policy of having the property owner pay for the removal of graffiti is also followed if property belonging to groups like Bell Canada or Canada Post is vandalized with graffiti. Anyone who wants to report an incident of graffiti can call the Town of Oakville Graffiti Hotline at 905-3384392 or email roads&works@oakville.ca.