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Volume 73, Number 39 GST Included $1.25 Wednesday October 13, 2010 Orono Town Hall Publications Mail Registration No. 09301 Agreement No. 40012366 Serving Kendal, Kirby, Leskard, Newcastle, Newtonville, Orono, Starkville and Tyrone since 1937 Candidates square off at public meeting Over 250 Ward 4 electors filed into the gym at The Pine Senior Elementary School last Wednesday, for the first and only candidates' meeting in the Ward for this year's municipal election. It was a chance to "kick the tires," said the evening's moderator, John Conrad. Meeting organizers, the Newcastle/Bond Head Ratepayers Association, and the Orono Weekly Times, extended invitations to all seven of the Ward 4 Local candidates and the three Regional candidates. The large number of councillors running in Ward 4 made it impossible to include the Mayoralty candidates and candidates for School Board Trustee positions to participate in this meeting. Six of the seven local candidates participated in the meeting, the eighth, Robert Willett, did not respond to the invitation. The third Regional candidate, Carl Zmozynski, also did not respond to the invitation to participate in the meeting. Questions posed to the candidates were provided by the rate payers group, Orono Times readers who submitted questions, and from the audience. Candidates were permitted a two-minute introduction, and one minute to answer the questions. The questions asked of the CANDIDATES see page 3 Moooo-ving to the polls on October 25th. There are seven new Local Ward 4 candidates vying for position on the next municipal council, but only one will get the chance to see if the grass is really greener on the other side of the fence. See inside for a round-up of complete candidate profiles. Newcastle hall to get garden manicure The Newcastle Horticultural Club is looking to rejuvenate the gardens and plantings around the Newcastle Community Centre. "The plants and bushes have seen better days," Jeany Barrett, project chair for the garden redesign, told the Orono Times last Thursday. The ambitious rejuvenation plan originally had five elements with a total price tag of just slightly over $200,000, according to Barrett. This plan was recently pared back, and two elements were dropped from the priority list, and the committee now has a plan they feel is more realistic -- with a price tag of $150,000. "Something they felt they could afford," Barrett said. While the group plans to start the actual work on three of the items on the plan this spring, they hope to have everything, including the two items removed from the priority list, completed in 2014 -- the year the Horticultural Club will celebrate its 100th anniversary. While there were no gardens planted around the Hall when it was built in 1922, Barrett said they were working with their landscape designers on a vision for the gardens that reflected the era in which the Hall was built. "Heritage gardens were more manicured," Barrett said. The cenotaph area, to the west of the building was an area of prime concern to the committee. The fountain beside the cenotaph will be moved to a new location, and the blue spruce on the other side of the cenotaph, which is diseased, will be removed, Barrett told the Times. The area will be widened to provide more room for ceremonies, according to Barrett, "The cenotaph area will be balanced, and the cenotaph will stand on its own." Opening up the cenotaph area will also open up the courtyard area to the street, Barrett said. "A lot of people don't even know what a nice spot it is back here," she stated. The gazebo will remain as it is but the shrubs behind it will be replaced with a children's learning garden. The Club's active junior gardeners will have the opportunity to grow unique plants, with signage, in that area. GARDENS see page 3 What's Inside! Ward 4 Candidate Profiles