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Beaver THE OAKVILLE Voted Ontario's Top Newspaper Four Years in a Row - 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008 www.oakvillebeaver.com CELEBRATING 25 YEARS! OAS Artist Studio Tour returns ARTSCENE FRIDAY, OCTOBER 16, 2009 Between Kerr & Dorval YOUR FRIEND IN THE BUSINESS 175 Wyecroft Rd. Oakville 905.845.6653 www.lockwoodchrysler.com OUT OF INK? REFILL AND SAVE UP TO 60% Upper Oakville Shopping Centre (Upper Middle & 8th Line) 905-842-5600 A member of Metroland Media Group Ltd. Vol. 52 No. 126 "USING COMMUNICATION TO BUILD BETTER COMMUNITIES" 48 Pages $1.00 (plus GST) Police budget holds the line with 1.3% tax increase By Tim Foran METROLAND WEST MEDIA GROUP Stocking up Town bylaw could scuttle power plant TransCanada official says unfavourable OMB ruling would jeopardize contract By David Lea OAKVILLE BEAVER STAFF The Halton Regional Police Service Board yesterday endorsed a funding request for its 2010 operating budget that would result in one of the lowest property tax increases for police services in recent years. The $108.9 million request is 6.3 per cent, or $6.5 million, more than the projected actual budget for 2009. But it would only result in a tax hike for police services of 1.3 per cent, a drastic drop from the 5.75 per cent average increase since 2002. In household dollars, it represents an extra two bucks in 2010 property taxes, or from $147.84 to $149.75, for every $100,000 in assessed value of a home, according to a budget presentation given to the board by Halton Regional Police staff. Halton regional council must still approve the dollar figure being asked for later this year. This past spring, when council voted to aim for a tax freeze next year for its own regional services, it also asked the police services board and other agencies and commissions that create their own budgets but are funded by property taxes to consider presenting budgets that would support that tax freeze. LIESA KORTMANN / OAKVILLE BEAVER See Growing page 5 AT SALVATION ARMY: Diane Adair of the Salvation Army Oakville Community and Family Services and an army of volunteers are ready to fan out across town Saturday to collect food donations in its annual fall food drive. The collection comes in the wake of door hangers (instead of plastic bags this year) left on doors to inform residents of the drive. People are asked to leave a bag of food at the door, curb or otherwise in plain view, so volunteers can collect it. They are also asked to check expiry dates so donations don't have to be discarded. For information, contact www.salvationarmyoakville.ca or 905-827-5324. An interim control bylaw and an Official Plan amendment, passed by the Town back in March, could have a crippling effect on the building of a 900megawatt gas-fired power plant in Oakville. TransCanada Project Manager John Mikkelsen testified to this effect, Thursday morning, during the third day of an Ontario Municipal Board (OMB) hearing being held at Town Hall. Ford of Canada and TransCanada are asking the OMB to throw out the interim control bylaw and Official plan amendment so TransCanada can build and operate the Oakville Generating Station on the Ford owned lands of 1500 Royal Windsor Dr. The two pieces of municipal legislature stand in the way of these plans because they prohibit the construction or expansion of power plants with a capacity greater than 10-megawatts. Before hearing chair Aristotle Christou, Mikkelsen stated that if the two planning measures are not set aside soon there could be significant impact to construction plans for the power plant project. He noted that TransCanada intends to begin construction at some point in 2010 or 2011 and there is a large amount of work to do in the meantime including the demolition and clearing away of the existing building on the site. One huge problem, Mikkelsen said, is the fact that See Hearing page 3 Oakville's largest selection of Natural Limestone and Hardwood · Custom Quality Workmanship 35 YEARS OF EXPERIENCE IN TILE INSTALLATION LARGEST SELECTION OF WOOD FLOORING OVER 500 SAMPLES ON DISPLAY GRANITE COUNTERTOPS BUY DIRECT FROM THE IMPORTER LARGE SELECTION OF NATURAL LIMESTONE & PORCELAIN TILE Monday to Friday 7:30am-6:00pm · Saturday 7:30am-5:00pm · Closed Sunday 243 SPEERS ROAD, OAKVILLE · 905.338.1288