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Wednesday April 26, 2000 THE OAKVILLE BEAVER A7 COMMENT A h , t h e ( f i s h i n g ) l u r e o f a g a r a g e s a l e I don't know w hat's worse: hold ing a garage sale or buying drapes. Now, I know. If I was truly the interior designer that lurks at the bot tom o f the hearts o f m ost o f us, I 'd just whip up some billowy things that would have drape-lovers oohing and aahing, the m om ent they were hung on wonderfully exotic curtain rods. And can anyone tell me the differ ence between drapes and curtains? And do you have drapes but hang them on curtain rods or drape rods? Or is that, again, like interior design know how....sort o f like sofa over couch. Everyone know s, o f course, that a sofa is the well built Cadillafc o f fur niture whereas the momertt you sit on a couch, you know it. In any case, the idea o f sew ing up anything more com plicated than the hem on a dress and even then y o u 're stretching it is sim ply too m uch, so I am one of those schlepps out w ith the drones looking at w hat is euphem isti cally known as W indow C overings. kept because after all, it's the only board game of its kind, the only wine cork of its kind even if it has never worked properly, the only w icker dog bed o f its kind even if most dogs chew them to bits and then.... the pricing o f all these wonderful items. I mean, I have to say we almost came to blows over an old silver tackle box, filled with lurid lures of all shapes and sizes. My husband began reminiscing about the fishing trips he and pals had taken all the while fingering the lures lined up on the tiny shelves, the floats, line and sinkers at the bottom of the box. My son, hoping to goad him into keeping it, asked what was so special about the basserino lure lying in red and white splendour at the top o f the shelf. W ell, said my spouse, leaning back and propping his feet up on the couch, red and white drives pike mad. Drew nodded. "So have you ever caught anything with it?" My spouse shifted a little uncom fortably on the couch. "W ell, no not exactly. But it's a vintage lure." Okay so w e're back to square one. We have to put a ticket on this box and while I say give it to anyone who walk by the house, my spouse wants cold, hard cash in the area o f $10 for it. "W hat?" I shriek, "who in their right mind will pay $10 for lures that don't even catch any fish?" This is not what you m ight call exactly collegial talk between spous es, but w hat the heck. It's already 10 pm, we can't answ er the front door because w e've got so m uch junk packed ready to put out in the drive way, it's pouring rain and the kids are beginning to bicker back and forth about how m uch each has donated towards our family garage sale. "We better make a m illion dollars, that's all I can say," I grumbled. We still had to get a couple o f bikes from the back shed, the basket ball net set from the deck and on and on. Finally, we were ready. All the odds and ends were priced, the stuff was ready to go. We fell into bed, exhausted. Only to wake up to pouring rain and drivers o f vans and trucks slow ly snaking their way past our house despite our Cancelled sign in the dri veway. One fellow actually banged on our door. And there we were look ing out into the rain, our living room cram m ed with stuff, ju st pondering our next step: lugging it all back down the stairs until we could try it all again the follow ing week. I'm thinking I had more fun hav ing an em ergency root canal last year. You know what? It would be just my luck to have the basement flood and I 'd have to pay some guy to take it all to the dump. So I 've decided: I'm going to adopt a new m inim alism in my life. Bare w indows and no more junk. The next interior design trend, what do you think? DIANE HART It is, take it from me, not the best way to spend an afternoon. B ut even finding your way around W indow C overings is far better than getting ready for a garage sale. Now if you talk to anyone about garage sales, y o u 'll think you've hit a jackpot. Tens o f millions of dollars are only to be had by slapping a few strips o f m asking tape on some old pots and hanging out a sign at the end o f the driveway. Well that may be true. But my question is how any relationship lasts throughout all the jolliness of lug ging ju n k through the house, prop ping it up in the living room, arguing about w hether or not it should be Study inform ation available from different sources (Continued from page A6) congested road system ? · this stu d y w ill not d ire c tly address the congestion that we are currently ex periencing on the road netw orks in O akville. H ow ever, the study will m ake recom m endations that are directly related to traffic m ovem ent in the study area, in O akville and the th ro u g h traffic from outside o u r m unicipal borders. It is w ell recognized that congestion is not peculiar to O akville but is present th ro u g h o u t South H alton and the G reater T oronto A rea (GTA). The R egion o f H alton has already c o m p leted the R eg io n al Road 5 and 25 C orridor Strategy w hich includes w idening D undas Street to six lanes and m akes p ro v i sion for H O V (H igh O ccupancy Vehicle) L anes. The G reater Toronto Services B oard (G TSB ) is develop ing a GTA T ransportation Plan. It is also the direction o f the study to create m ore live/w ork relationships in the area under study. What type o f business/industry will be located in the em ploym ent lands? · O akv ille's E conom ic Strategy identified the need for creating a business environm ent in O akville that w ould attract co m plim entary businesses and industries to m eet the needs o f the already existing business com m unity in O ak v ille. Creation o f land areas that w ould accom m odate business parks, office buildings, w arehousing w ith good access to m arkets and road netw orks in O ntario, other provinces and to the U nited States. An exam ple is Zenon w hich has already relocated their H ead O ffice from B urlington to the area around D undas Street and B ronte Road. T his com pany w orks th ro u g h o u t the w orld installing their technology for treat ing waste water. Is this S tu d y a n d P la n n in g Process being rushed? · as indicated before, it has taken 10 years or m ore to designate the lands north o f D undas Street as an urban area. Item s related to H U SP can be view ed by accessing H alton R e g io n 's ow n w eb site at w w w .region.halton.on.ca. The p lan ning for N orth O akville began w ith the LGL Study w hich took over a year. The current N orth O akville Land Use O ptions study was begun in June o f 1999. T here have been two Public Inform ation M eetings to date. There is also a C om m unity R esource G roup that has m et on two occasions to review the sam e m ater ial that has been presented at the Public Inform ation M eetings. The next P ublic In fo rm atio n M eeting will be held on M ay 18th, 2000, and the final report will be presented to council at a Public M eeting on June 26th, 2000. All m eetings are held at the Town o f O akville offices on Trafalgar Road. C an't we ju s t say N O to anym ore Growth in O akville? · the Town o f O akville tried to say NO and lim it grow th in the m id1970's. This decision resulted in the D evelopers and L andow ners refer ring the plan to the O n tario M unicipal B oard. The decision of the OM B in 1978 re su lte d in approvals for the grow th we have seen in Glen Abbey, R iver O aks and Iroquois Ridge N orth. T here is still land in these com m unities w hich can be built on but inquiries from D evelopers and L an d o w n ers are being made to the Town for lands that are ow ned north o f D undas Street. If an application is received for an O fficial Plan A m endm ent and Zoning B ylaw for any o f the lands north o f D undas Street, the Town m ust deal w ith the application w ith in 90 days according to the Planning Act. If the Town d o esn 't m eet this tim eline, the ow ner has the right to app eal his p lan to the O ntario M u n icip al B oard for a decision. W ithout a Plan, O akville is at a dis a d v an tag e and could risk losing control over how, when and where grow th starts to occur on the lands north o f D undas Street. H o pefully, this article has addressed some of the questions that the current citizens o f the Town of O akville have about the N orth Land Use O ptions Strategy that the Town is presently doing. I would encour age you to visit the Tow n's website at w w w .to w n .o ak v ille.o n .ca. for details o f both this study and the LG L E nvironm ental Study. For inform ation on Region o f H alton O fficial Plan #8, p lease access w w w .region.halton.on.ca. If you are not currently connected to the inter net, v isit your local library and access the w ebsite through the com puters located there. If you still have qu estio n s, attend the next Public Inform ation M eeting in May and the P ublic M eeting before C ouncil in June or call your Ward C ouncillors; they will be more than happy to talk to you. Liz Behrens H alton Region councillor and chair o f the Steering Com m ittee fo r the N orth O akville Land Use O ptions Study. G > O n tario O A K V IL L E OAKVlLLE T r o o p e r 8 4 5 -6 6 0 1 s a y s : D R IV E D R Y ! A m e s s a g e f r o m t h e M a y o r 's S p e c ia l C o m m itte e A g a in s t Im p a ire d D riv in g THIRD LINE Wyecroft Road to Upper Middle Road Class Environmental Assessment Study NOTICE OF SECOND PUBLIC INFORMATION CENTRE NOTICE OF FIRST In order to address growing traffic congestion on Third Line and to enable co-l ordination with the Ministry o f Transportation's (MTO) design o f the QEW /I PUBLIC INFORMATION CENTRE Third Line interchange, the Town o f Oakville and MTO are carrying out a studyl C LASS EN V IR O N M E N T A L A SSESSM EN T o f Third Line from Wyecroft Road to Upper Middle Road in accordance with thel D O R V A L D R I V E E X T E N S IO N requirements o f the Ontario Environmental Assessment Act. The study isl FR O M REB EC C A S T R E E T T O L A K E SH O R E ROAD W EST addressing the EA requirements for both Third Line and the interchange with thel QEW. McCormick Rankin Corporation (MRC) has been retained to carry out the[ The Town of Oakville has initiated a Class Environmental Assessment Study to examine study. the extension of Dorval Drive from Rebecca Street to Lakeshore Road West. The study is being carried out in accordance with the Municipal Engineers Association guidelines for Following the first public information centre on March I, 2000, the study findings I a `Schedule C' Class Environmental Assessment for Municipal Road Projects. The study and preliminary proposals for Third Line were reviewed taking into consideration! will review the need and justification for possible improvements to the existing corridor comments received from the public, property owners and government agencies.| and evaluate alternatives for the extension. Upon completion of the study, an Environmental The preferred alternative is shown on the key plan and includes: Studv Report will be filed on the public record. · the widening and reconstruction of Third Line to 4 lanes plus median The. 1997 Truck Route and with turning lanes at intersections as required Regulations Studv recommended that a new interchange at the QEW with Third Line going over the QEW. Dorval Drive be designated as the KEY MAP primary truck route into Downtown Oakville once Dorval Drive has been properly extended to Lakeshore Road West. The Peer Review of the study, which confirmed the conclusions of the Truck Study was approved by Oakville Council on February 21. 2000. St. Thomas Aquinas Secondary School Proposed Dorval Drive Extension Public consultation is an important part of this studv. The first Public Information Centre for this project will present the need and justification for the project and existing conditions. It will be held on: Date: W edne sda y, M a y 3, 2000 T im e: 7:00 p.m. to 9:30 p.m. ( p res en ta tio n a t 7:15 p.m.) Place: L ib r a r y , St. T h o m a s A q u in a s S e c o n d a r y School 124 M a r g a r e t Drive, Oakville ( so u th w e st c o r n e r o f Dorval Drive a n d M a r g a r e t Street) The information centre will consist of a short presentation followed by an informal A second public information centre has been arranged to review the comments discussion period where those who attend will be able to discuss the study with received to date and the preferred alternative for Third Line. The information | representatives of the Town of Oakville and the consultants. Anyone with an interest in the study is invited to attend and participate. With the exception of personal information, centre is scheduled for: all comments will become part ofthc public record. If you cannot attend and would like to PUBLIC INFORMATION CENTRE provide comments, please forward them to: Date: Wednesday, May 3, 2000 Time: 5:00 p.m. to 8:00 p.m. Place: Pilgrim Wood Public School 1151 Pilgrims Way, Oakville Mr. Scott M c M illa n , P.Eng. M u n ic ip a l P r o j e c t M a n a g e r Mr. T y ro n e G a n , P.Eng. C o n s u l t a n t P ro je ct M a n a g e r Town of Oakville.Public Works Department P.O. Box 3 10. 2274 Trafalgar Road Oakville. Ontario L6J 5A6 The purpose o f the Public Information Centre is to receive public comments about the proposed widening of Third Line and the proposed interchange with the QEW. Phone: (905) 845-6601 ext. 3308 Phone: 1-888-860-1116 (905) 338-4159 The information centre will be an informal drop-in centre where those who attend Fax: Fax: (905) 882-1557 lean ti itransconsulliiui.com will be able to discuss the study with representatives of the Town o f Oakville, smcmillan'w'tovvn.oakville.on.cii MTO and the consultants, and provide comments. Anyone with an interest in the | study is invited to attend and participate. With the exception o f personal A project website is available at ww w.dorvalca.com. Information on the project will be information, all comments will become part of the public record. If you cannot I posted on the website and you are welcome to contact us directly through the website. attend and would like to provide comments, please forward them by May 12,2000 | C o u n c il & S t a n d in g C o m m it t e e M e e t in g s to: Mr. Dan Cozzi, P. Eng. Town o f Oakville. Public Works Department 2274 Trafalgar Road Oakville, Ontario L6J 5A6 Tel: (905) 845-6601 ext. 4424 Fax: (905) 338-4159 e-mail: dcozzi@tovvn.oakville.on.ca Ms. Leslie Scott McCormick Rankin Corporation 2655 North Sheridan Way Mississauga. Ontario L5K 2P8 Tel: (905) 823-8500 Fax: (905) 823-8503 e-mail: lscott@mrc.ca iTRANS Consulting Inc. 100 York Boulevard,Suite 608 Richmond Mill. Ontario I.4B IJ8 Monday, May 1,2000 Council Meeting Council Chambers 7:30 p.m. Monday, May 8,2000 Planning & Development Council Council Chambers 7:30 p.m. Tuesday, May 9, 2000 Community Services Committee 7:30 p.m. - Oakville Room Administrative Services Comm. 7:30 p.m. - Bronte Room Monday, May 15,2000 Council Meeting Council Chambers 7:30 p.m. Following the public information centre, the preferred alternative will be reviewed in light o f comments received. It is proposed to present the study recommendations | to Community Services Committee on May 23. 2000 and file the Environmental Study Report (ESR) in early June. 2000. A notice o f the filing of ESR will be placed in the local papers. C o u n c i l & C o m m it t e e T o u c h t o n e P h o n e L in e 815-5959 1225 TRAFALGAR ROAD · OAKVILLE, ONTARIO · L6J 5A6