The following text may have been generated by Optical Character Recognition, with varying degrees of accuracy. Reader beware!

Fire causes $150,000 damage to shed on 15 Sideroad RURAL BLAZE THE BIG BOUNCE PAGE 9 Gymnastics club's trampoline squad making big leaps PAGE 22 www.theIFP.ca Thursday, February 2, 2012 Halton Hills' award-winning newspaper serving Acton & Georgetown 48 Pages 50 Cents (+HST) Where e's wint ter? Wi W ith T Tue uesd sday ay's war rm temp mperat mp at a tur ures, Ryan Mer ersi siad si adis is-C is s-C Carri rier er r, 16 1 6, fi figured it was balmy enough to lose th he co coat oat t while i stopping pi gaf fe ew shots from neighbour Chris Caissie, 6. Photo by Ted Brown n Fluoride to stay in Halton's water By CHRISTINA COMMISSO Metroland Media Group The decision to stick with fluoridated water passed by a slim margin following Tuesday's marathon regional council meeting. The words used during the 10 hours of delegations varied greatly, depending on who was speaking. Doctors, dentists and medical researchers described fluoride as a mineral naturally found in water sources; a great equalizer that levels the playing field between those who can afford dental care and those who can't and one of the most important health interventions of the last century. However, those on the other side of the debate said the longterm effects of continued ingestion of fluoride are still largely unknown, and they described the additive as a forced medicine and a cancer-causer. Convincing arguments from both sides of the debate led to a narrow 11-9 vote in favour of continued fluoridation. "We had a tremendous improvement in water fluoridation in Canada and at the same time we've seen a tremendous decline in tooth decay," said Health Canada's Chief Dental Officer Dr. Peter Cooney, who pegged that decline at about 30 per cent. "This is a very, very safe practice," Cooney continued. "Some of the things you're going to hear about this is absolutely bizarre... stick with the work of health organizations and stick with the good science." See FLUORIDE, pg. 11 Construction of outlet mall likely to start this spring By CYNTHIA GAMBLE Staff Writer Construction will begin this spring on a $170 million outlet shopping centre on the south-east corner of Steeles Ave. and Trafalgar Rd. At a special afternoon council meeting on Monday, Halton Hills council voted to remove the "H" (holding provision) to allow the issuance of a building permit. Removal of the H means that the developer has complied with site plan conditions. Those have included a variety of studies required by the Town, Region, Conservation Halton and the Province, such as stormwater requirements, traffic impacts and design guidelines. Competing malls wage legal fight page 5 Four homes have been demolished to make way for the development. Calloway Real Estate Investment Trust (REIT) Halton Inc. is developing the 45,875 sq. m. (494,000 sq. ft.) upscale outlet mall on 25.5 hectares (65 acres) in two phases. Summer 2013 is the targeted opening date for the first phase. Halton Hills Mayor Rick Bonnette said this Smart Centre will not be a big box centre, but a high-end fashion outlet mall to be built by Simon Property Group, the See CALLOWAY, pg. 3 REFINANCING? PURCHASING? 42ND ANNUAL JANUARY SALE LAST 3 DAYS! PA I N T · W A L L PA P E R · L I G H T I N G · H O M E D E C O R GEORGETOWN MARKETPLACE MALL 905-877-4193 4 YR. FIXED CALL FOR DETAILS. 2.99% FSCO #10259 Division of 1490845 Ont. Ltd. BOB WOODS, Broker Sale Ends Sat. Feb. 4th SAVE ON PAINT · WALLPAPER · LIGHTING · HOME DECOR (905) 877-1490 360 Guelph St., Georgetown