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Orono Weekly Times, Wednesday, January 10, 2001 Weekly Times Serving East Clarington and beyond since 1937 Subscriptions $28.04 + $1.96 G.S.T. = $30.00/year Publications Mail Registration No. 09301 Publishing 50 Issues Annually at the Office of Publication "We acknowledge the financial support of the Government of Canada, through the Publications Assistance Program (PAP), toward our mailing costs" 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 The wisdom of teens I am privileged to be the parent of a teenager on the very brink of turning 16 years of age. The teenager will be standing standing on the door step of the Official Licencing Bureau waiting for the doors to open the moment she turns 16. In the mean time she has in her hot little hands The Official Driver's Handbook. She will have no problem passing the written test on her birthday because it appears to me, there is nothing she doesn't know about the rules of the road. (Oh the wisdom of teenagers). She also doesn't hold back when sharing her newfound newfound knowledge of all the rules of the road with me, while I'm taxiing her around town. Apparently my driving practices are often in direct conflict with the rules as stated in The Official Driver's Handbook. In the height of the worst snow storm we've had in years last Friday, the teenager calls from Woodviile where she'd spent a few pleasant days visiting a friend. She called to inform me she would ready to picked up at 3:00 p.m. that afternoon. Being the conscientious parent I am, I checked to see what the Official Driver's Handbook says about driving in snow storms. It says to drive only if necessary and with extreme caution. When I informed her the carriage would not be making the trip that day; she didn't seem to mind. However the next afternoon, as we were travelling down Hwy. #35, she stirred from her snooze long enough to tell me I wasn't checking my mirrors often enough. The Official Driver's Handbook states, you have to check all mirrors every five seconds. Between checking mirrors, keeping the front windshield clean, and exercising my authority over the radio dials making sure we don't lose 99.1, it doesn't leave much time for keeping your eyes on the road ahead. Paging through the handbook on my own recently, I found a section the teenager hasn't shared with me yet. It's under the chapter headed 'Protect your Environment'. Item 2 states: Walk, cycle, car pool or take public transit instead of driving whenever possible. Teenagers; you've got to love 'em. Letter to the Editor 07 Jan. 2000 s Re: 98% Slot Machine Payout Myth If you have not and never Intend donating money to a slot machine .. . please save your time and skip the following. following. Now... that just slot players players have continued . . . let's get serious! Some players believe they are paying as little as .02% commission when playing a slot machine that advertises .98% money return. Now, . . . let's get real serious! The following is a factual realistic exercise: Our play will be the maximum of three tokens in a dollar machine and with one turn on average every 7 seconds, we are look- 9 ing at 500 spins an hour. The built in "Cost Per Play" (around .05%) will translate into the "Casino's Average Expected Hourly Win" of $75. for the "programmed life" of this particular machine. Suggesting that our player experiences the normal, average, average, winning percentage for this hour, ... he or she will probably have spent $50, to $500. out of pocket cash. Now - we get involved in fuzzy math. Let's examine the facts: ... one hour and Domitrovic (continued from page 1) the Ontario Municipal Board (OMB) on behalf of Walter and Bernice Petryshyn. Joe Domitrovic appeared before the General Purpose and Administration (GPA) 500 spins at three bucks equals $1500. worth of wagers. Right!... Right? Our player "won?" anywhere from $1000. to - $1450. . depending on out of pocket expenses to complete the one hour. The $1000. plus an hour "wins?" our player put back into the machine is factored into the predetermined payout payout software and allows the Casinos to advertise .90% plus returns. Most machines are programmed based on a 100,000,000-spin life and generally, payout 50% of actual out of pocket cash wagered. Crunch the numbers numbers . . . the machine will probably be replaced long before the software is either reset and or compelled to "balance the books". I suggest slot player use his or her pocket money only - for a short stay at any one machine and most importantly importantly . . . decide firstly on a maximum playing time and secondly . . . on a maximum dollar lose. If you reach number number two first.. . quit. . . but remember, - it's no disgrace to go home a winner! If you get lucky; - you could win a bunch of money, but please be aware of the true odds. See you at the blackjack table. Sincerely K. Adams Committee on Monday, asking asking for "Any support you guys can give me." As Clarington Council recommended recommended approval of the application, Council has the option of whether or not to participate in the hearing. The municipality has had a policy in place since 1989, that the applicant (in this case Domitrovic) has to commit to bear the Municipality's legal costs, if the solicitor goes to the OMB to defend council's position. If the applicant fails to do so, the municipality has the ability to withdraw from the hearing. Councillor Pat Pingle put forward a motion at Monday's GP&A meeting, requesting that the Municipality send a lawyer and an outside planning consultant consultant to the upcoming OMB hearing to defend Council's position. The lawyer and consultant are to be funded by the Municipality according according to this motion which was seconded by Councillor Charlie Trim. Municipal staff could not be utilized in Council's defence because of their recommendation recommendation to turn down the application. The Report from Planning Department estimates a planner would cost between $10,000 and $15,000 for this hearing, on top of the legal costs. Planning staff did recommend recommend in report PD-114-00, dated December 11, 2000, that Joe Domitrovic enter into a legal agreement with the Municipality to cover all legal and planning consulting costs. Councillor Pingle stated after the meeting that she believes Joe Domitrovic should be entitled to operate his business as the previous owner had, because Clarington's Official Plan is outdated. Though the Domitrovic property at the south west corner of Courtice Road and Pebblestone Road is zoned agricultural, no farming has taken place in that area for some time. "As council, our job is to listen to people, to make decisions for now and into the future for the best interest of the public," stated Pingle. Mayor Mutton's rationale for opting to pay for legal and planning consultant fees in this case was that, "Since there was no policy in place, the council made a decision to support Joe Domitrovic, and basically this council are supporting a decision made by the last council." Councillor Schell, Chair of Planning, stated he was surprised with Pingle's motion saying, "Not only does it set a scary precedent, but what's in it for the Municipality?" "When you do something, it's supposed to be good for the whole Municipality. What we did was good for Joe Domitrovic." As Chair of Planning, Schell could not vote on the motion, however all the remaining councillors supported supported the motion with the exception of Councillor Rowe who was on vacation. All actions taken at the GP&A meeting are ratified the following week at the full council meeting. The Orono Weekly Times Call: 983-5301 doliokm@Ww.COM