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5 · Thursday, March 11, 2010 OAKVILLE BEAVER · www.oakvillebeaver.com Board hopes Town will turn lights on Continued from page 1 the board to install the lighting at Loyola and its council voted early last summer to undertake a study examining policies governing lighting at both public facilities like Townowned fields and commercial and institutional properties used by the public such as schools and shopping malls. That study is ongoing, according to the Town's website. About 22 per cent of Oakville's 107 fields have lighting, but there is none at the 40 sports fields located on school properties, according to a Town presentation made at a public meeting in October. The Town has heard concerns about light pollution, increased traffic due to longer hours at sports fields and decreased property values, according to the presentation. It has also heard there are benefits to community organizations looking for greater availability of such sports fields and tracks. The school board doesn't intend to take the Town to the Ontario Municipal Board (OMB) for failing to make a decision on its plans to install lights at both Loyola and a future field at the under-construction St. Thomas Aquinas, said Giacomo Corbacio, the board's facilities supervisor, in an interview. He said the board prefers to work with the Town and hopes council approves lights at the schools and Holy Trinity in future. Not being able to have lights, as was envisioned in a 2007 all-weather turf business plan, will have a "very significant" impact on the board's ability to stay within its planned timeline to repay the loans it has taken out to pay for the turf fields, said Corbacio. Some of the cost for the turf fields is paid for through the board's facilities operations budget and renewal reserve funds. The board's business plan estimated it could pay off the remaining loans it needed in 10 years partially through an increase in revenues generated by renting the fields to community groups. The turf fields can be used approximately nine months of the year when snow is not on the ground, while natural grass fields only have a five to six month season, and even less than that for student athletes, said Corbacio. The lighting also allows the fields to be used after dusk, useful for community groups. In Halton, the public and Catholic school boards, along with the four municipalities, have a reciprocal sharing agreement in place, overseen by the Community Schools Consultation Committee (CSCC). Under the agreement, the municipality's parks and recreation departments take care of booking school board facilities such as fields to local groups. However, that competition might not drive down rental rates. The CSCC is currently in discussions to harmonize closely the hourly rate charged for facilities offered by the boards and the municipalities, the report states. Creating sensational smiles in Oakville for 15 years.