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w w w . o a kv ill eb ea ve r.c o m O A KV IL LE B EA V ER Th ur sd ay , Se pt em be r 2 , 2 01 0 6 THE OAKVILLE BEAVER IS PROUD OFFICIAL MEDIA SPONSOR FOR: RECOGNIZED FOR EXCELLENCE BY: 467 Speers Rd., Oakville Ont. L6K 3S4 (905) 845-3824 Fax: 337-5566 Classified Advertising: 905-632-4440 Circulation: 845-9742 The Oakville Beaver The Oakville Beaver is a member of the Ontario Press Council.The council is located at 80 Gould St.,Suite 206,Toronto,Ont.,M5B 2M7.Pho e (416) 340-1981.Advertising is accepted on he condition that,in the event of a typographical error,that portion of advertising space occupied by the erroneous item,together with a reasonable allowan e for signa ure,will n t be charged for,but the balance of the advertisement will be paid for at the applicable rate.The publisher reserves the right to categorize advertisements or decline.Editorial and adv rtising content of the Oakville Beaver is protected by copyright. Unauthorized use is prohibited. United Way of Oakville Ontario Community Newspapers Association Canadian Community Newspapers Association Suburban Newspapers of America NEIL OLIVER Vice-President and Group Publisher, Metroland West DAVID HARVEY Regional General Manager JILL DAVIS Editor in Chief ROD JERRED Managing Editor DANIEL BAIRD Advertising Director RIZIERO VERTOLLI Photography Director SANDY PARE Business Manager MARK DILLS Director of Production MANUEL GARCIA Production Manager CHARLENE HALL Director of Distribution SARAH MCSWEENEY Circ. Manager WEBSITE oakvillebeaver.com Recently, I walked by another red sign proclaiming power plants and homes dont mix. I find this funny, because my home is a power plant. I have solar panels on my roof. Every day my micro power plant produces electricity that I sell to the grid. The organization responsible for the lawn signs Citizens For Clean Air is an impressive group. They formed in quick response to the threat of building a new power plant in Oakville. Their ultimate goal is ensuring that there is no plant built in the Oakville Clarkson Airshed area and theyve protest- ed, fund-raised, held rallies. They even host- ed a celebrity golf tournament this week. While I understand and support their goal of stopping the construction of a gas- fired power plant in Oakville, I find it inter- esting that the only advice they offer to Oakville citizens is to join the group, donate money, become a volunteer and order a lawn sign. This letter is not meant to be a rant against C4CA. Im impressed by their quick and professional response to this challeng- ing problem. Im writing simply to offer two suggestions to my Oakville neighbours: The first is to reduce overall power consump- tion; the second is to become a power pro- ducer. In the past several years, weve been inundated with advice on how to reduce our environmental footprint. Theres not much I can put in this letter that most readers havent already heard, but I think it cant be stressed enough that power plants are built to meet our power needs. Reducing such needs will cut down on the need for new power plants. Such advice may be falling on deaf ears when considering an Oakville population obsessed with bigger cars, bigger houses and greater luxuries like home theatres and swimming pools, but maybe an interest in the latest gadgets will spark a segue to per- sonal power production. We can reduce the need for new, large- scale, dirty power plants, by increasing the number of small, green power producers. If all the homes in Oakville were fitted with solar power panels, we could produce roughly 150 megawatts. If we add the rooftops of businesses and institutions, we would be well on our way to producing enough power to completely eliminate any need for a new power plant. Environmentalists may decry our waste- ful ways when it comes to power usage, but theres no greater power wastage than all the rays of sunlight that go unharnessed every day. If you want to be part of the solution - and you want to do more than put a sign on your lawn consider attending the Renewable Energy Fair at the Halton Regional Centre on Saturday, September 11. There will be experts in solar and geot- hermal energy running free workshops to help homeowners realize their power pro- duction potential and reduce the need for new large-scale power plants. To find out more, visit www.haltonenvi- ronment.com/here. NEIL MACNAUGHTON, OAKVILLE Become part of the solution - turn your home into a power plant ERIC RIEHL / OAKVILLE BEAVER WORTHY RECIPIENT: Steph Lee (right) was recently presented with this years Ray McConnell Award by Rosemary McConnell (Rays mother) at the Town of Oakville Recreation and Culture Departments annual awards night. Ray was a leader in the Oakville Parks and Recreation Summer Activity Center program for three years, 1979 to 1981. During his employment he consistently displayed outstanding leadership. Ray lost his life on Sept. 1, 1982 in a motorcycle incident involving an impaired driver. He was heading to Sheridan College to reg- ister to become an architect. ATHENAAward Media Group Ltd. The Oakville Beaver is a division of Guest Columnist Halton Region is a location of choice for businessinvestment and a place that residents choose tocall home. Our region has become one of the best communities in Canada. At Halton Region, we are committed to ensuring our quality of life continues. Residents have identified that maintaining current infrastructure and plan- ning for future infrastructure requirements is a top issue of concern. To address this, we have introduced Building a Better Halton, which is our infra- structure construction plan. This plan covers road, water and wastewater proj- ects. This year, Council approved $362 million in infrastructure investments. Upgrading and adding to our infrastructure will help us to reduce commute times, provide a high-quality water supply to new communities and complete preventive maintenance on key services such as wastewater mains. These investments will benefit residents across the Region -- from Burlington to Halton Hills to Milton to Oakville, as we are upgrading and maintaining current infrastructure, and adding new services to not only meet the needs of residents, but also business owners. Each year our budget focuses on an investment in the services and pro- grams you have told us are important to you, one of which includes infrastruc- ture. Over the last four years, the combined tax increase for Regional programs and services has been less than 0.5% - one of the lowest among municipalities in Canada. In order to keep Haltons portion of taxes low we need to come up with other sources of revenue. One example is how we are financing infrastructure construction needs in Halton, which is being addressed through our collection of Development Charges. This year alone, Development Charges will cover 82% of the costs for road construction. Development Charges are paid by developers on all new development. Using Development Charges as the primary source of funding to pay for infrastruc- ture construction ensures that the developers pay for these costs, not existing taxpayers. During summer construction, remember were Building a Better Halton to ensure that Halton remains a great place to live, work, raise a family and retire. To find out more about Haltons construction plans, dial 311, visit us online at www.halton.ca/construction, or follow us on Twitter at twitter.com/HaltonBBH. If you have any Regional concerns or comments you would like to share, please feel free to email me at gary.carr@halton.ca. Gary Carr, Halton Regional Cahir Gary Carr Financing building a better Halton Letter to the editor