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Beaver THE OAKVILLE Voted Ontario's Top Newspaper Four Years in a Row - 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008 www.oakvillebeaver.com CELEBRATING 26 YEARS! Between Kerr & Dorval YOUR FRIEND IN THE BUSINESS 175 Wyecroft Rd. Oakville 905.845.6653 www.lockwoodchrysler.com OUT OF INK? REFILL AND SAVE UP TO 60% Walls of Hope helps family PAGE 24 Upper Oakville Shopping Centre (Upper Middle & 8th Line) 905-842-5600 A member of Metroland Media Group Ltd. Vol. 52 No. 150 "USING COMMUNICATION TO BUILD BETTER COMMUNITIES" FRIDAY, DECEMBER 11, 2009 48 Pages $1.00 (plus GST) Bringing home the cup Town balks at $200-M hospital request By David Lea OAKVILLE BEAVER STAFF Budget committee tables 1.61% tax increase By David Lea OAKVILLE BEAVER STAFF It's a big decision that requires bigger public input. This was the conclusion the Town's Committee of the Whole arrived at Tuesday during a special meeting convened to discuss a $200 million request made by Halton Healthcare Services (HHS). The money is needed to cover the Town's contribution to the construction and equipment of the new Oakville Hospital, which will be located at the corner of Third Line and Dundas Street. The Town's contribution will go toward the local share of the hospital project, which will cover 10 per cent of the construction costs and 100 per cent of the equipment costs. In a statement before council, Ward 5 Councillor Jeff Knoll noted $200 million is simply too large a sum to give away without allowing for proper public consultations. "We are getting some very understandable concern from people in this community saying, `You are about to spend potentially up to NIKKI WESLEY / OAKVILLE BEAVER TREASURED TROPHY: St. Ignatius of Loyola student Shaun Fernandez has his photo taken Wednesday with the Stanley Cup held by gym teacher Dave McNamara, who also does scouting for the Pittsburgh Penguins. See Sports for story. C4CA turns up the heat on power plant By David Lea OAKVILLE BEAVER STAFF See Town page 14 It just doesn't make sense. This was the new campaign slogan unveiled by Citizens for Clean Air (C4CA), Wednesday night, as they prepared to step up their fight against a 900megawatt gas-fired power plant proposed for the Ford-owned lands of 1500 Royal Windsor Dr. The information meeting held by the citizen's group within John Knox Christian School attracted around 400 people who listened intently as the group announced its future plans. From a podium at the front of the room, the group's media and advertising director Aidan Tracey noted the slogan `It just doesn't make sense' made perfect sense as The calculations have been made, the importance of the Town's programs and services weighed and now the money is about to be allocated. Oakville's 2010 Budget Committee voted to approve the Town's Operating and Capital budgets, Wednesday morning, during a Town hall meeting that saw a few last-minute adjustments made to the hard-fought plan. As things stand now, the Town is looking at an operating budget of $205.8 million and a capital budget totalling $118.4 million with $125.7 million required from the tax levy. This translates into a 1.61 per cent jump in property taxes or $16.50 per $100,000 of assessment or $66 per $400,000 of assessment. "This proposed budget is all about finding savings and efficiencies while maintaining and improving key programs and services. The committee has recommended the budget pay more attention to roads, transit and maintenance, and our residents have told us to uphold our goal of making Oakville the most livable town in Canada," said Mayor Rob Burton. "With many competing demands and priorities, we had to target our funding appropriately to the needs of the community while minimizing the impact on the taxpayer." See Clean page 2 See Budget page 3