8- The Oakville Beaver Weekend, Saturday July 15, 2006 www.oakvillebeaver.com Regional Campus Plan moves forward without Catholic board By Melanie Hennessey SPECIAL TO THE BEAVER The proposed joint Halton Regional Campus plan has taken another step forward. At its meeting Wednesday, regional council authorized staff to finish negotiating a Memorandum of Understanding -- an expression of intent to proceed -- with Halton Regional Police and the Halton District School Board (HDSB) for the shared facility that would house all three regional bodies. The campus proposal originally included the Halton Catholic District School Board, but it recently decided not to participate in the initiative. The potential facility would be located at the Region's current site on Bronte Road in Oakville and, without the Catholic board, is estimated to cost approximately $107 million, as opposed to the previous projection of $127 million. The overall campus would also include the existing Woodlands Operations Centre and potentially a centralized Halton courthouse to the south and energy facility to the north. While it was expected that the original concept with the Region, police and both school boards would result in an overall savings of more than $20 million for taxpayers, that number has gone down to $12 million with the removal of the Catholic board from the plans, Commissioner of Corporate Services and Treasurer Jane MacCaskill said. How much more money the police and HDSB may have to kick in to make up for the loss of the Catholic board is still under review, but MacCaskill said it's estimated the Region's capital and operating costs for the project will go from 67.6 million to $69 million. Halton CAO Brent Marshall said the Region has already been approached by two other organizations interested in joining the cam- pus that would more than make up for the loss of the school board. In addition to supporting the Memorandum of Understanding negotiations, council also approved having staff continue to investigate other partnership opportunities for the campus. If everything goes as planned, staff will report back early next year with a final Memorandum of Understanding and refined budget estimates. Detailed design work would then be completed in 2007 and 2008, construction would commence in mid-2008 and the building would be ready for occupancy in late 2009. -- Melanie Hennessey can be reached at mhennessey@miltoncanadianchampion.com. March of Dimes silent auction The Ontario March of Dimes (OMOD) is hosting a silent auction on July 28- 29 at the Jean and Howard Caine Apartments. Established as an organization to help fight the polio epidemic of the 1950s, the OMOD has expanded into a variety of other causes and services, such as the attendant care program in Oakville. The OMOD works to create a society inclusive of people with physical disabilities by maximizing the independence, strengthening personal empowerment and encouraging community participation of people with physical disabilities. The silent auction is being held in order to raise funds for the organization so that in August, the OMOD may host the annual Consumers Barbeque. The consumers are those who have either been born with a physical disability or have acquired one throughout their lives, therefore they require some assistance in their daily lives by attendants that work around the clock. The Jean and Howard Caine Apartments, located at 259 Robinson St., house many of the OMOD consumers who participate in the attendant care program. Outreach consumers are those who live throughout Halton in their own homes but who still require the assistance of the attendants on a regular basis.