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5 · Thursday, February 18, 2010 OAKVILLE BEAVER · www.oakvillebeaver.com Sensitive areas to be off limits but in view Continued from page 1 master plan, but CH is hoping for an answer within the next six months, said CH spokesperson Hassaan Basit. If and when the ORC gives approval to the master plan, the conservation authority will develop a business plan to figure out how to fund it, he said. The conservation authority only receives an annual stipend of $125,000 from the ORC to manage the property, according to its 2010 budget. The master plan states the restoration cost estimates are on the high side and could be brought down with the use of volunteer labour and private-sector funding. However, it is likely that CH, an arms-length board of Halton Region, will also have to request some municipal funding, based on its current financing arrangements. Approximately 32 per cent of CH's $20.67-million budget in 2010 comes from property taxes, the vast NIGEL FINNEY / CONSERVATION HALTON majority from Halton's residents and businesses. Another 46 per cent VALLEY OF TUMBLING WATERS: This section of the Sixteen Mile Creek Valley with the comes from user fees collected from Hwy. 407 bridge in the background will be protected by Conservation Halton in the new Glenorchy the public at its various parks and Conservation Area. conservation areas. However, the Glenorchy master plan doesn't envision charging the public for access to the site for three major reasons. The first is that any fees collected go back to the ORC rather than staying in CH's coffers. The second is that the plan only envisions 8,000 annual visitors to the area, too low for revenues to cover the costs of collection. Finally, the configuration of the conservation area is considered `porous' with too many potential access points for the public to get in without paying a fee. The low visitor count is partially based on the vision for Glenorchy, which is as a protected, natural area with only passive recreation to be allowed in non-sensitive areas. Much of the restoration works would be dedicated to returning areas that have been used for agriculture to a more natural state by excavating and placing fill to "replicate natural processes" and replanting native grasses and trees. The restoration phase also involves closing existing trailheads in 10 or more places and building eight kilometres or more of fences to prevent unauthorized access by the public. To allow time for the restoration to take place, the Glenorchy master plan doesn't foresee providing the Creating sensational smiles in Oakville for 15 years. public with much access to the park for at least a decade, save for two small trails -- one to connect to the adjacent Fourth Line bridge and the Trafalgar Historical Society facilities and one to link to the Palermo Schoolhouse located in the Palermo Cultural Heritage Area near Bronte Road and Dundas Street. "Future recreational development within the conservation area will primarily consist of a trail system with interpretive nodes," the master plan states. "Public access trails will not descend into the valley downstream of the Fourth Line crossing." However, while sensitive areas might be offlimits to the public, they won't be hidden from view. The plan envisions the public being able to view five webcams that will be installed in the park to record the actions of species in their habitats as well as the progress of the restoration works in the most sensitive areas of the site. Species at risk that have been observed in Glenorchy Conservation Area include Butternut trees, Eastern Milksnakes, Monarch butterflies, and Silver Shiner minnows. There has been one documented siting of a bald eagle in November 2008 in the conservation area, but the master plan states that, while the area appears to provide suitable habitat for nesting or foraging bald eagles, the closest nest site found was in Cootes Paradise in Hamilton. See some page 8 Three Year Olds CAN Read! Now registering for Summer and fall classes ª ª ª ª ª ª Now registering for Summer and fall classes School Made Simple OAKVILLE NORTH OAKVILLE SOUTH OAKVILLE NORTH EAST 1131 Nottinghill Gate, Maple Grove Village 511 Maple Grove Dr., 905-469-1929 380 Dundas St. E. 905-849-4027 905-257-1207