The following text may have been generated by Optical Character Recognition, with varying degrees of accuracy. Reader beware!

The Canadian Champion, JuIy 10, 1998 - 13 Discontent with the regional review in Milton By BRAD REAUME The Champion Atternptte eto erm gevernimcnt operations in Halton have been wrapped up in politica and are ulti- mately a disappointment, Milton counicillors believe. In the end, nobody knows, nor has anyone tried to quantify, the amount of money taxpayers might save, according to Mayor Gord Krantz. The Halton Area Services Review (HASR) process began about two years ago to recommend efficiencies after a quick look at current govem- ment and school board services. The process has yielded somne savings to taxpayers but bas become bogged down in polities, turf protection and expandîng c",îsiderations', ctinillors heard. The review consisted of six commit- tees looking at areas of local govemn- ment control, including: Planning, transit, roads, property assessment and taxation, emergency service commu- nication and ambulances. Milton councillors recently received an updated report on the HASR process. "There have been some successes however not everyone is happy with what's been done," said Mr. Krantz. 'he mayor suggested that Milton and Halton His efforts are stymied by a lack of votes at Halton regional coun- cil anid slow tîoiiîng H.lîeîi pi cmscs Councillor Wally Hunter, one et Milton's two representatives on the HASR steering committee, the other being Mayor Krantz, agreed that some of the areas of investigation are not moving fast enough. 'There are still political battles and jurisdictional concems," he said. "I'm a little frustrated with the time involved." The most contentinus issue is plan- ning, according to Councillor John Challinor. Current HASR plans cal for a reorganization of planning which will retain a separation between regional and local fonctions. 1 ni plehe'd te seO tanIe tcIma l municipality at the end et the day retains control of local planning," said Mr. Challinor. "However, I'd prefer to see the Region lose the planning function altogether. 1 don't want our local plan- ning to be done in Oakville." Councillors heard that the idea of a single Halton fire department bas not been discussed but that a single-tier communications system bhas been sug- gested, to operate through Oakville. In addition Mr. Challinor pointed out that issues surrounding the use of volunteer and part-time firefighters have flot been addressed. unteers might not disappear, givsen how cost effective they are. He said other Halton fire departments are looking at their use. Mr. Challinor said regardiess of the direction of talks it is imperative that provincial officiais be made aware of Milton's less than adequate ambu- lance service. Councillor Rick Malboeuf assured Mr. Challinor that he, as Milton's rep- resentative on Haltons health and social services committee, is on top of the issue. 50 Exiterkc ns for i * TUE LARGEST STOCK 0F WALLPAPIER lN Sunworthy, Waverly, Provincial, imperiai &more! .WALLPPER acces trne to rMlton >eff ~ Premium Eggshell Latex$99 'ultra 011 Seluil loi$ $oi,, aC l i'ghtly higher HDG~ ImpoeialHcxoeDeccrGioup1M MILTONa LARoESTqi SELIECTION 0F WALLPAPER BOOKSI SIiF.FIELD BRONZEINC