The Oakville Beaver, Wednesday December 4, 2002 - A 3 Town approves 4.6 per cent tax hike Town council has officially approved its budget for the coming year. Taxes will rise by 4.6 per cent, or about $43 on a residential property assessed at $250,000. But Ward 1 Councillor Kevin Flynn, who chaired the Town's budget com mittee, described the increase as "a small investment to ensure Oakville continues to provide quality services and a value-added community." After a number of public consulta tions, council formally adopted the $104.5 million budget quickly and qui etly Monday night. Flynn noted that much o f the increase in the budget will go for front line service additions, such as 10 new firefighters, four new buses, Sunday and evening zone bus service, inter change improvements at the QEW and Third Line and a pesticide reduction program. Tax revenue is expected to increase by about 3 per cent increase due to assessment growth, but the Town is fac ing increased utility, insurance and staffing costs, along with lower invest ment revenues due to interest rate declines. Residential taxpayers will pay an additional $17.25 per $100,000 of assessment, and commercial taxpayers will have to fork over an extra $25.15 increase per $100,000 of assessment. Liberal's plan could impact OPA 198 (Continued from page A 1 ) Canadian Tire employee Doug Clarke holds up a copy of Oakville on Board. Oakville on Board returns for another Christmas season O akville's own board game, "Oakville on Board" is back for a sec ond year for a very special price. The board game - featuring a host of local landmarks and businesses - will be on sale for $14.99 for a limited time at its major retail sponsor. Canadian Tire at Trafalgar Road and Dundas Street, as well as the Canadian Tire on Speers and Kerr Streets. Proceeds will benefit Wellspring and the Salvation Army. "The charities' work speaks for themselves," said Karen Holmes-Lane, project chair. "They are charitable and worthy causes." Supported by many local businesses and a number of national sponsors, it's a great keepsake, said Holmes-Lane. "It also makes the perfect holiday gift for employees and friends or as a donation to a children's Christmas gift giving program." The centre of the board is a beautiful watercolour depiction of major Oakville landmarks like Erchless Estate and the Millennium Clock. The property spaces are occupied by such sponsors as M icrosoft, Loblaws, Good Books, Poly wheels, O 'Connor M acLeod Hanna, M attamy Homes, Re/Max Aboutowne Realty Corp., Srigley's Fine Jewellery, Boffo's Food Emporium, the Invidiata Team, Rosewater Spa and many others. The game tokens are made of pewter and include miniature replicas of promi nent Oakville landmarks. The outside packaging displays Oakville's natural beauty in vivid colour. Last year's retailers continue to be involved and board games can still be purchased at Loblaws and Shoppers Drug Mart. "Bring a piece of Oakville home with you and help two great local char ities at the same time," said HolmesLane. Two Oakville residents charged in Milton steroid and pot bust Two Oakville residents were among six people charged last week after the Toronto Drug Squad and Halton Regional Police raided what they called a sophisticated steroid and marijuana grow operation in Milton. One of the six charged is 29-year-old Michael Mihelic, a Hamilton Tiger-Cats offensive lineman. Toronto and Halton police said that during a raid Nov. 27 they seized 120,000 steroid pills and hundreds of bottles filled with an injectable liquid form of the drug commonly used by bodybuilders. Police say they also seized equipment used to manufacture and package the pills and took away 700 marijuana plants in various stages of maturity, along with hydroponic growing equipment. The residence is owned and occupied by Alberto DaSilva, 61. Toronto police are still trying to put a dollar figure on the steroids but said the marijuana plants have a street value of about $650,000. "The investigation has been on going for a month, but I suspect it's been going on (grow operation) for an extended period of time," said Det. Sgt. Stephen Hulcoop of the Toronto Drug Squad. Mihelic, who's in his third season with the Tiger-Cats, was arrested Wednesday at his Mississauga home along with his fiancee Patricia Lincez, 33. Mihelic is charged with conspiracy to commit an indictable offence, pro ducing steroids and possession of mari juana. Lincez is charged with conspiracy to commit an indictable offence and pos session of marijuana. DaSilva is charged with conspiracy to commit an indictable offence, pro ducing steroids, possession for the pur pose of trafficking marijuana, careless storage o f firearm and ammunition and producing marijuana. His son Rui Manuel DaSilva, 34, of Oakville, is charged with conspiracy to commit an indictable offence, posses sion of proceeds of crime, possession for the purpose of trafficking steroids, producing a controlled substance (steroids), producing marijuana, posses sion for the purpose of trafficking mari juana and possession of marijuana. Christopher D. Humphrey, 35, of London, is charged V i th possession for the purpose o f trafficking steroids, MDMA and date rape drug GHB, pos session of proceed* of crime and pos session of a prohibited weapon. Zorianna Iason, 24, of Oakville, is charged with possession of proceeds of crime. All accused are to appear at Old City Hall in Toronto December 12. preserve the ORC lands as greenspace, but McGee said they have received lit tle attention from the government and have not yet even been able to meet with local Tory MPP Gary Carr to dis cuss their proposal. "We've been totally frustrated with the current government," she said. "We feel we've really, tried to work with them and w e've gotten nowhere." Carr did not return calls from The Oakville Beaver. McGee em phasized that Oakvillegreen is a non-partisan organi zation, but added, "We're happy to work with any political party that is going to work for change to see our environment protected." The ORC lands represent about 15 per cent of the 7,600 acres north of Dundas Street expected to accommo date the town's future growth. In the Town's recently-adopted Official Plan Amendment 198 (OPA 198), the lands are slated for future employment land development. Although the ORC has committed to donating about 300 acres of property to the town to be preserved as green space, Flynn noted that most of that property is so-called "hazard land" land along creek beds, or in other loca tions not suitable for development. If the ORC lands were dedicated as greenspace, Flynn said it would force the Town of Oakville to rethink its entire plan for development north of Dundas Street. Along with a number of other par ties, the provincial government has appealed OPA 198 to the Ontario Municipal Board (OMB). It believes the lands should be zoned for residen tial development, which would be more lucrative. Pre-hearings on OPA 198 are sched uled to begin Jan. 20 and 21. Barrie Erskine · Oakville Beaver Oakville Liberal candidate Kevin Flynn discusses his party's plan for preserving a greenbelt area around the GTA. OPP seek witnesses (Continued from page A 1 ) 136 Trafalgar Road, Oakville N O W O PEN J ( _ u s tc m l e t u s h a U p ifo u e w it h C - h lis t m a s g i f t s o lu t io n s m f a a d e th e e w s a n ? f u r n is h in g s , s . a u n iq u e a h e m w S e e d , b a lle t s J lu i_ / H a c c e s s a r ie s , f c t s t a lin g g i f t h a n d if o n : p illo w in e i 'o u l it e s . c u s to m n is o n c e r t if ic a t e . parked on the right shoulder. McIntosh then lost control of his truck, which entered the grass median between the QEW and Hwy. 403, start ed to roll, skidded across the lanes of the 403 then came to rest on its left side spilling its 30,000-pound load of Maple Leaf pork by-products onto the high way. The Jeep stopped briefly at the scene, then fled. McIntosh was taken to hospital with non-life threatening injuries while Vlasic-Prelovec was not injured. The OPP are appealing to the public for anyone who may have witnessed the collision to come forward and call 905681-2511. VIST OUR OPEN HOUSES W ednesday Decem ber 4th - 1-4 p.m. Thursday D ecem ber 5th - 1-4 p.m. Friday Decem ber - 1-4 p.m. Saturday Decem ber - 1-4 p.m. S e a s o n a l! ^ 7v<?fk&sIvnents R e ive d! La D IS T IN C T IV E D E S IG N a " 1 S O L U T IO N S 9 05 .8 44 .75 5 5 Ontario NUTRIENT MANAGEMENT ACT A public consultation meeting on draft regulations under the N utrient Management Act will be held on Wednesday, December 11, 2002 9:00 a.m. to 11:00 a.m. at the Delta Meadowvale Resort & Conference Centre Craydon Hall C 6750 Mississauga Road Mississauga, Ontario TVavel w ith Peace o f Mind O u t-O f-P ro vin ce Em ergency Medical 'fravel Insurance Com prehensive protection, 24 hours a day C o m plete m edical and hospital benefits Up to $5,000,000 in m edical treatm ent No m edical questionnaire if you are under age 55 · Flexible coverage to m eet your travel em ergency m edical needs Daily plans and extensions · M ulti-trip annual plans underwritten by: Correction In the Friday Nov. 29 Oakville Beaver it was incorrectly stated that Gabriel Cortez would be exhibiting his outdoor garden accessories at the One of a Kind Christmas Show in Toronto. In fact, Cortez will be showing his stone and concrete garden ornaments at the Signature Craft Show at the Metro Toronto Convention Centre until Sunday, Dec. 8. The Oakville Beaver regrets the error and apologizes for any inconvenience it may have caused. Parliamentary Assistant to the Minister of Agriculture and Food, Toby Barrett, will host the meeting. To register fo r you r attendance a n d /o r fo r info rm ation on m aking a presentation, DU Manulife Financial Visit Your Local C A A Office To Arrange Your Coverage Today! Hamilton Mountain Brantford Oakville call the Ontario Ministry of Agriculture and Food toll-free at 1 877-424-1300 990 Upper Wentworth St. 905 385-8500 Burlington T ra v e l w ith s o m e o n e y o u tr u s t· 47 Charing Cross St. Town Centre Two 519 756-6321 905 845-9630 Dundas For information on the Nutrient Management Act, visit www.gov.on.ca/omaf 800 263-8389 www.caasco.on.ca 3480 Fairview St. 905 632-6772 University Plaza 905 627-7777 Hamilton East Hamilton/ Stoney Creek 163 Centennial Pkwy. N. 905 664-8000 393 Main Street E. 905 525-1210