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Z - Orono Weekly Times, Wednesday, May 3» 2QQQ ^ Orono X-^ Weëkly Times Sërving East Clarington and beyond since 1937 Subscriptions $23.36 + $1.64 G.S.T. = $25. 00/year Publications Mail Registration No. 09301 Publishing 50 Issues Annually at the Office of Publication 5310 Main Street, P.O. Box 209, Orono, Ontario LOB 1M0 E-Mail Address: oronotimes@speedline.ca Phone/Fax (905) 983-5301 Publisher/Editor Marg Zwart Tuned out Guys, next time you're doing that mad channel flip and catch your Municipal Council on Rogers Cable 10, just pause for a.second a.second and watch the drama coming to you live, and un-rehearsed. (I say guys, because there's no woman alive that I know, ever gets her hands on that converter during prime time.) On the last Monday of each month Roger's Cable films the Clarington Council Meeting, starting time - 7 pm.. Last week Tuesday's Council Meeting was filmed, (Tuesday because Monday was a holiday) and if that meeting is any indication indication of how our local film stars will behave between now and the next election, we could be in for a treat. Discussing an item of correspondence, Councillor Rowe informed council that she had been invited to go on a camping trip with some group. Mayor Harare stated /hat was very nice, but had no relevance to the piece of correspondence being discussed. At that point, Councillor Novak, not to be left out, informed council that she too had been invited to go on the aforementioned camping trip. Councillor Trim sat on his two humdinger motions till he was assured of a wide TV audience. He made notice of his 'Plant a Tree' motion and the 'We care about our Young People' back on April 10. When some councillors balked at the $5,000 that will be spent on the education program, Councillor Mutton got the the chance to say that some councillors would think nothing of spending spending $90,000 of taxpayers money on other schemes, before the mayor shut him up. The education program is to let kids know that stores are a safe place to go, if they should at anytime feel unsafe in the downtown area. It's not Hollywood, or Hollywood North, not even close. I'd rather not see cameras in the council chambers. When choosing between performing their-elected duties or performing for camera, too many choose the later. Letters to Editor V J ' Rants and Raves and Goodbyes Dear Marg, With Jo Ann and yours truly'both officially retired now, we await the arrival of the United Van Lines truck, Thursday, May , 4th, to load up and take us on the next chapter of our lives, up near the Arctic Circle. Not really....actually really....actually we're just 750 miles north of here. Goodbyes aren't a lot of fun when dealing with family and friends....I prefer "we'll be seeing you," and we plan on doing just that. Just maybe not quite so often. After all, we're only moving to Naldna, not Tibet! And, as requested, I'll probably send the odd item down tills way after we get settled in. (Out of Naldna sounds pretty good, Blain). I'd like to take a few lines to say thanks to the reader- ship for their comments and responses, both positive and negative, over the years. What started out as a simple little note to Roy back in 1995 became a rather enjoyable enjoyable "hobby", continued on with Troy, and now you and Herman. My approach was usually to keep it light , make it a "fun read", while trying . not to seriously step on anybody's anybody's toes. But, ya can't please 'em all, all the time....as evidenced by the letters in last week's O.W.T. I have absolutely no intention intention of getting into a squirting contest with anyone before heading north, but your two young readers, both members members in good standing of he Cool Kendal Kids, through their quite harsh (but wéll written) letters indicate to me that they need help in understanding understanding what they read. Twelve year old Sable Rae said their whole family "is looking forward to my future comments," so, here you go Sable Rae. I'm pretty sure there is a book out there called Interpretive Reading 101. And, there is a chapter there in called Tongue-In- Cheek Humour.....For Beginners Only. Read it. And I would strongly recommend that your "parental unit" read it too. Maybe twice. And, keep on keepin' on, C.K.KJ As an aside to Clifford Francis.. I think your idea of using llie chain gang for roadside cleanup is a good one, but I'm afraid I can't help out,, you see. S.B's old Browning .22 rifle disappeared disappeared from The Farm....shortly after I mentioned mentioned my idea of controlling.. the littering down front. There's still an ancient Daisy "Red Ryder Model" BB gun around somewhere but I can't find any ammo. Whoops! There I go talking about firearms again. Better leave that alone. Anyway, so long to The Farm. So long to Kirby, so long to Orono, The Village With a Difference. It's been a slice. Really. Next. dispatch will come from The James Bay Frontier Area. Regards, Bob Rotz, Kirby, Ontario. (Naldna, Ontario as of May 6th) Dear Mrs. Zwart: Re: Letter to the Editor from Jim Wilson (April 12th Issue) In his letter to the Editor (April 12th Issue), the Honourable Jim Wilson, Minister of Energy Science and Technology grossly oversimplifies oversimplifies the restructuring of the electricity distribution sector and the impact on customer bills. Customer bills will go up because of the direct and. indirect actions of the Provincial Government. Let me explain: (1) The legislated corporation corporation of the municipal electric utilities (MEU's) precludes them from having access to development charges under the Development Charges Act, which has ben the major source of funding for electrical electrical infrastructure related to growth. For the Veridian Corporation, this has been a major loss of funding, due to the extensive growth in our service area. This funding must now be collected through the customer's bills. (2) The extensive bureaucracy bureaucracy (The Ontario Energy Board) which has been set up to regulate the electric industry must now be funded funded through assessments on electric distributors such as Veridian. These costs, and the direct costs of legal and financial consultants to deal with the regulator and the new regulations must be collected collected through the customer's customer's bills. (3) The introduction of retail competition comes with a tremendous amount of new overhead costs. The complexity complexity of the new market operations which must be administered by the Independent Market Operator; the complex new wholesale and retail settlement settlement system;and the extensive extensive new electric business transaction systems are all new costs that will be reflected reflected in the customer's bill. (4) The new taxation regime imposed on electric distributors such as Veridian to retire the Ontario Hydro debt, siphons off 45% of the net income required for reinvestment reinvestment into distribution systems for growth related expansion. Again you guessed it, the customer pays for the taxes in the bill. (5) The new business environment environment encourages municipal municipal shareholders to seek the most advantageous capital structure to: a. Block taxation revenue leaving the municipality for Queen's Park; b. Enhance the future value of their shares in the electric distribution system to protect the taxpayer's interest. Again, the net result is higher rates which must be collected through the customer's customer's bills. The municipal shareholders shareholders have only one objective, that is to minimize the dollars dollars leaving the municipality and to enhance shareholder value. The most effective way to accomplish that is by ensuring a commercial rate of return for the shareholder. Clearly Minister Wilson is wrong in disclaiming any responsibility for increased electric rates. The following actions have all added to higher costs: • Loss of development charges • A high cost for open access (retail competition) • Higher regulatory costs • A new tax regime • A business environment, which encourages commercial commercial returns. There are always two sides to an-issue. It is important that Veridian customers know the facts. Sincerely, ' John Wiersma, P. Eng. President & CEO Veridian dolighant@aol.com