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Beaver THE OAKVILLE www.oakvillebeaver.com Longhorns heading for semifinal SPORTS HOT TUBS! SEE OUR AD PAGE 19 Oakville Town Centre I, (QEW at Dorval) 905-338-0602 Mon.-Sat. 11am-9pm Sun. 12pm-9pm N O RT H A M E R I C A' S M O S T AWA R D E D C O M M U N I T Y N E W S PA P E R A Metroland Publication Vol. 44 No. 95 "USING COMMUNICATION TO BUILD BETTER COMMUNITIES" FRIDAY, AUGUST 11, 2006 48 Pages $1.00 (plus GST) Palm Place ready to build -- is the Town ready to buy? Even expropriating lakefront property would be costly endeavour for taxpayers By Angela Blackburn OAKVILLE BEAVER STAFF Jazz great OPENING NIGHT: Larry Coryell, along with Brian Auger's Oblivion Express, opened the 14th annual Downtown Oakville Jazz Festival on Wednesday night at the Oakville Centre for the Performing Arts. He is pictured here getting ready for the concert during a Wednesday afternoon rehearsal. For more information on the jazz festival see page 27. The $750,000 spent on a seven-week Ontario Municipal Board (OMB) fight over the former Shell House property -- which saw the OMB give Oakville more than half the contested land as a park -- is chump change compared to the $10-16 million it would cost to expropriate the rest of the property. Inside Artscene.............................26 Sports.................................31 Real Estate.........................37 Classified............................40 Full Delivery: Walia Discount Mart, Canadian Tire, Food Basics, Superstore, No Frills, Wal-Mart, Zellers Partial Delivery: Office Depot, Bluestone Project, The Brick, Price Chopper, Leon's, Longo's, M&M's, Sobeys, Pharma Plus, Please Mum, Fortino's, Sears, Stoney Creek Furniture, Goeman's, MDG Computers, Bulk Barn, Toys R Us, Best Buy, Shoppers Drug Mart, Home Depot, Longo's, Dominion, Future Shop, The Bay, The Barn SYLC (Support Your Local Carrier) DELIVERY For home delivery & customer service call 905-845-9742 Mon., Tues., & Thurs. 8:30 a.m. - 5 p.m., Wed. & Fri. 8:30 a.m. - 7 p.m. or Saturday 10 a.m. - 3 p.m. For new subscriptions, call 905-845-9742 or subscribe online @ www.oakvillebeaver.com As the Town of Oakville decides whether to expropriate, it does so with certain knowledge that the whopping purchase price has nowhere to go but up. In fact, the landowner, Palm Place Developments, believes its half of the property is worth approximately 75 per cent more than the Town's appraisal. With no financial help in sight from other governments -- federal, provincial or regional -- a trend seen in regard to this property for decades, the Town is facing the option of slapping the costs on the tax bill -- more than a two per cent hike -- and reopening the 2006 budget. While that may appease residents, who want the site to become a park, or at least see low density homes built on half of it, it's bound to be unpopular with many taxpayers. "Council is at a crossroads," pronounced Town CAO Ray Green at Wednesday's Planning and Development Council meeting. With an OMB-imposed Aug. 18 deadline looming and Mayor Ann Mulvale advising it's time to make a call, even if it isn't their first choice, See Robinson page 5 LIESA KORTMANN / OAKVILLE BEAVER All vehicles have been priced as per Ford Motor Company's Friends-Neighbours pricing policy. See dealer for details. 905.845.1646 www.kennedyford.ca SOUTH SERVICE ROAD WEST