Letters to the editor...Resident fears loss of home to hydro project

(This letter was originally sent to Halton Hills Mayor Rick Bonnette. A copy was made available for publiccation.) Dear Mayor, I am writing this letter to you to bring to your attention an issue with the proposed Hydro One tower twinning that you have overlooked. I realize that the Town will lose a portion of their much-vaunted gateway industrial lands with this plan but I am going to lose my entire home and eight-acre property in Limehouse. Perhaps if you were to take a drive along any of the sideroads (5, 10, 15, 17, 22) between the Fourth and Fifth Lines where the current hydro corridor meets the roads it will become apparent to you also that I am not the only resident looking at the same fate. My neighbour across the road, his neighbour behind, and a resident along 15 Sideroad all appear to be in trouble of losing their property. As it stands now, if the corridor is widened 175-200 feet, it will cut my frontage in half and put the wires directly over my house. Hydro One, although it has not directly contacted me, states "where the corridor directly impacts a home or building, Hydro One will likely choose to purchase (or expropriate) the entire property at market value." Let me be perfectly clear. I do not want to move. I run my own landscaping business and 95 per cent of my work is in town. I am not interested in their compensation package regardless of what it is. Laugh if you want, but my home was only built in late 2003. Prior to that, my wife and I had lived in Georgetown since 1993. Our children were born here. We decided to move to the country so we could enjoy some privacy and space. After two years of looking, we were able to settle in Limehouse and build our dream home. Since that time my boys have settled nicely into the schools and sports teams while my wife and I have donated time personally and through my business to Scouts and many community projects like the Stewarttown Middle School sand volleyball court construction last fall. I realize the tower twinning may be their only option but I would like to know which bean counter decided that the east side was the most favorable. While I have not traveled the entire length to the Bruce power complex, the east side anywhere inside the Halton boundary not only means the loss of the homes mentioned, but a fair chunk of forest as well. The more I investigate this east side decision, the more it appears to be a typical Hydro One make-work project. Had Hydro One chosen to put the new tower on the west side, I would have no objection. Now that this issue with the towers has been brought to your attention, I would expect you to investigate Hydro One's proposed destruction of homes in our community. You can drop by my residence at 10417 22 Sideroad any time that is convenient to view my concerns. I expect you to be as diligent with this as you seem to be with the compensation you are demanding on behalf of the town. David Clifford, Limehouse