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the HERALD Wednesday October a Council Briefs Staff recommendation ignored on dealership issue Hills General Committee decided Monday to ignore a staff recommendation and oppose the construction of a farm implement dealership and a garden centre at the Tenth Line and Regional Road The decision wont become final until the issue goes before Town Council this Com mittee is comprised of Town coun cillors Town Councillor Joe Hewitt said the application should be opposed because the farm implement dealership would only be servicing the residential community This type of dealership should only be permitted in the rural area if it ser vices the farming community To do otherwise in the face of the intent of the Towns Official Plan he said Mayor Russ Miller said he op posed the application because it didnt make sense to approve a farm implement dealership when two similar type businesses located in the rural area have gone bankrupt According to a staff report the application should have been recommended for approval because the proposal satisfies the intent and purpose of the Regional and Town Official Plans No decision After hearing conflicting reasons for and against the Town closing St Helena Road near General Committee directed staff Monday to further investigate what should happen to the road St Helena Road resident Michael Kirby was one of the people ap pearing before General Committee who supports the road closure He told committee members the road is a playground for dirt hikers and vandals I fear for my children said Mr He urged committee members to close the road to stop people from misusing it He then went on to say closing the road would not prevent hikers and environmentalists from gaining access to the road to ex plore the wooded area Opposing the road closure among others was area land owner John who said St Helena Road is the only viable road he can use to gain access to his property by car If the road closure went ahead then his property would be effectively landlocked Committee members directed staff to determine if a gate would be a viable compromise between leaving the roadway open or closing it Area property owner Dana Hewson said the gate isnt a viable option because vandals would find a way to break it down Legion request Acton Royal Canadian Legion in formed Town General Committee Region Briefs Monday during a public meeting it wants to build single family residential lots and a seniors apar tment building to be comprised of units on Legion property at Mill Street and Road in Ac ton Legion representative Bruce Donaldson told committee mem bers the proposal reconfirms the Legions committment to its mem bers and the community The residential lots would be for housing to serve moderate to low in come earners said Mr Donaldson Area resident Bill ex pressed opposition to the project saying the proposed housing den sity was too great for the surroun ding area Another property owner Brian Nellis opposed the project saying he didnt get proper notification concerning the date of the public meeting Town staff will now write a report on the proposal incorporating com ments made during the public meeting and then bring it before Town Council for final approval Bike path proposal Town Engineer Bob Austin told the General Committee staff is now considering installing a bicycle path along Street for 1999 as part of the Guelph Street widening project scheduled for the same year The bicycle path project will cost between and ac cording to a staff report Objection raised General Committee learned Mon day resident Debbie Garrett who is planning to move to Hills objects to a Town Halton forest area needs protection Halton Region Conservation Authority HRCA instead of the provinces Ministry of Natural Resources should manage Halton Regions 1500 acres of forest area Regional staff agreed Wednesday at a Planning and Public Works Committee meeting Halton Planner Ho Wong made this comment in response to Milton Regional Councillor Bill Johnsons claim that organizational changes at the MNR will hamper the ministrys ability to oversee the forest area As a based Regional Councillor Mr Johnson is especially concerned about en suring proper management of Haltons forest area since most of it is located in Milton and Halton Hills The office that currently oversees forest area is located in Cambridge However the ministry plans to relocate this responsibility to the MNR office in Maple Ontario In support of HRCA taking over the forest area management duties Colin Johnson said we have problems in these forests- signs torn down trespassing etc When such complaints were laid in the past with the MNR it meant dispatching an officer from Cam bridge Now complaints will be in vestigated from Maple some con siderable distance furtheraway from Cambridge and where there is considerably less staff to respond Although he supports Mr John son Mr Wong explained the Region owes the 240000 in management fees for overseeing the forest area In order to have take over from the MNR the Region would fir st be required to pay off the debt Murray Stephen General Manager said the authority would manage the forests free of charge and he suggested the MNK and Region could negotiate a deal con cerning he outstanding loan Bused on that information coun cillors directed staff to meet with MNR and HRCA to determine if something could be worked out Reports cost questioned Despite recognizing the value of a lengthy report on Georgetowns water supply members of Halton Planning and Public Works Com mittee more concerned about the reports cost during a meeting Wednesday The report which was requested by Oakville Regional Councillor John Graham outlines what Regional staff has done to date to find additional water supplies for the Georgetown area Hills Regional Councillor Joe Hewitt joined Burlington Regional Pat McLaughlin and Oakville Regional Coun Fred Oliver in agreeing the report was valuable while at the same time questioning the cost of the report The reports cost was questioned on the basis that staff has previously provided several documents dealing with various aspects of finding an additional water supply in Georgetown Art Haltons Public Works Commissioner said he didnt know the reports cost He did state it took 22 person days to complete the report McLaughlin estimated the report cost approximately in man hours Mr wouldnt comment on this estimation but at the request of committee he said he would find out the exact figure Oliver commented the cost whatever it might be had not been included the budget Graham did not attend Wednesdays meeting Councillors unimpressed Planning and Public Works committee was unim pressed Wednesday when told that a portion of Highway between the Regions boundaries will need to be expanded from six to eight lanes by the year 2011 Provincial Transportation Ministry official Bruce Dickey said the section of Highway curren tly running through Halton handles between and vehicles per day and this number is ex pected to climb to by 2011 Unimpressed with the Ministrys solution to increased traffic flows Oakville Regional Councillor Janet Mitchell said I dont see any in novative thinking here You are ap proaching it backwards Im not pleased Coun Mitchell wondered why no one had suggested establishing designated public transit lanes in stead of new all- purpose traffic lanes to move people Rash Mohammed Haltons Plan ning Commissioner assured the councillor the Region will be meeting with the Ministry to push the idea of Highway transit lanes Halton Hills Regional Councillor Joe Hewitt wondered if an ex pansion to Highway in Halton Region would necessitate recon struction of conjunction points along the highway at Trafalgar Road and inston Churchill Boulevard Mr Dickt said if the highway expansion plans are carried out then the conjunction points in question would also have to be enlarged Hewitt also speculated Winston Churchill Boulevard itself would have to be widened if High- wa is expanded bylaw permitting 106 homes to be built just west of Moore Park on Trafalgar Road in Georgetown Committee members recom mended Town staff challenge the objection at the Ontario Municipal Board Town Planner Bruce said the hearing wouldnt go ahead for another year In the meantime staff will attempt to resolve ob jections raised by Ms Garrett in or der to avoid going to the hearing said Mr MacLean Santa Claus Parade Town General Committee gave the go ahead Monday for the Acton Fire Annual Santa Parade in Acton on Nov 16 The parade starts at 1pm along Acton Boulevardtravels through the community ends on Willow Street at230pm WORKING GIRLS ASOFTTOUCHjFOR AT FLETCHERS SHOES has a soft spot for your comfort Thats why these Soft Shoes are fashioned with very features Like deeply cushioned insoles that pad your steps with softness But terysmooth leather uppers that look new but feel brokenm Flexible bottoms that move the way you do All in pumps that 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