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Lawnmower Service DO IT NOW! 6 9 ^ ^ 'V CURRENT POWER MACHINERY INC. 1661 LakeshoreRd.W. Have a blast this I A day in the A Victoria Day! life of a kennel S ection b Focus M ercedes-Benz Q .E .W . & D o rv a l D r. w w w .oakvillebeaver.com B E A V E R N O R T H A M O S T A W A R D E D C O M M U N I T Y N E W S P A P E R G r o w t h is s u e w ill b eb a c ko n M a y2 9a n d3 0 Region loathe to revise its planning forecasts By Kim Arnott SP ECIAL T O T H E BEAVER The hotly-debated issue of grow th in north Oakville will be back on the Town council agenda at the end of this m onth. At Monday's Town of new residents and 35,000 Oakville Planning and new employees by 2016. Development Council The Town must fall meeting, local councillors into line with the higher gathered to hear a report government's plan. from staff that they'd Yet, while Oakville called for more than a council has asked Halton month ago when they Region to review its num turned Official Plan · bers -- as well as the pro Amendment (OPA) 198 posed urban boundaries for back to staff. Oakville -- a letter Despite the fact that received by councillors the plan had been mas Monday night suggested saged after copious pub that such a review isn't lic input, councillors Fred O I'ver likely to take place. wanted more informa Regional council will tion, particularly about environmental be receiving a staff report on its own issues. Regional Official Plan review on May Ward 2 Councillor Fred Oliver 22 -- just days before Oakville Town called for a staff report on those envi council will meet on the growth issue. ronmental issues before OPA 198 came Michael Lansdown, a spokesperson back to council. for Oakvillegreen Conservation That report was tabled Monday, but Association Inc., said Monday that he councillors agreed to schedule evening believes the next step for concerned meetings for Wednesday, May 29 and citizens is to convince the Region of Thursday, May 30, as the dates on the need to reconsider the population which they'll try to thrash out a position allocation for Oakville. on the town's future growth north of Lansdown said he believes the Dundas Street. Region has "put the cart before the On Monday night, staff presented an horse" by allocating population update on various studies to be under growth to the area before determining taken to assess the environmental how many people north Oakville can impact of development in the town's sustain from an environmental per northern areas. spective. Along with completing sub-water "I think the numbers are going to shed studies of the area, the Town is have to be reconsidered," said hoping to undertake a review of the Lansdown. Trafalgar Moraine in co-operation "I think the response we've received with the regional and provincial gov from the Region is unacceptable." ernments. The upcoming May 29 and 30 meet The need for OPA 198 has grown out ings will begin at 7:30 p.m. in the of a region-wide plan that calls for Council Chambers at Oakville Town Oakville to accommodate about 55,000 Hall. Jamie Smith · Special to the Oakville Beaver READY FOR ACTION: Four-and-a-half year old Dante Mazzotta had every reason to smile during Saturday's Police Day, as Halton Regional Police -- who adopted him as their "wish child" -- went all out to make him part of their team. The Oakville youngster even went to visit a tailor to be measured for an official Halton Regional Police uniform -- pintsized, of course -- which was detailed right down to the service's crest. Dante -- who proudly wore his uniform to O ur Lady of Peace School on Monday -- had surgery two years ago to deal with a heart condition. Proceeds from the suc cessful Police Day event will go tow ard sending him to Disney World in July as part of the Make-a-Wish Foundation ini tiative. Saturday's family event also featured demonstrations of various police units, a barbecue and a climbing wall. A quantum leap forward with new fire technology By Howard Mozel OAKVILLE BEAVER STA FF Picnic in the Park cancelled Lack o f volunteersforces Historical Society to put event on hold By Heather Strucken SP ECIA L T O T H E BEAVER Picnic In The P ark and some other favourite Oakville events will not take place this year because of a seri ous shortage of volunteers. For more than three decades the Oakville Historical Society's Picnic In the Park has been held in Lakeside Park at Navy and Front Streets. It marks the opening of the park's two museums -- The Post Office Museum and The Thomas House. It was initially planned as a `Thank You' to the community for its support of the historical society. The picnic offered pony rides, face painting, a white elephant stall, bake sale, sundry art stalls, family dog show, as well as best decorated bike competi tions, races and other events. It is also a showcase for local school and community bands and other musi cians who entertain for the afternoon from the bandstand. What happened? "A variety of things," said Oakville Historical Society President Jeff Jarvis. "It is a lot of work and many of the volunteers are getting older -- many have died, including three of the key helpers. In the past it was a big thing for particular ladies to become involved in. Now we just don't have the personnel to handle " Now we just don't have the per sonnel to handle it any more. It's one of those things you hate to see coming to an end. It was a tough decision because it would have been the 36th year." · Jeff Jarvis it any more. It's one of those things you hate to see coming to an end. It was a tough decision because it would have been the 36th year. "No, it has nothing to do with money," said Jarvis. "It has always earned us a bit of money, depending on the weather. It's just that it is too much of a challenge to us now." Barbara Savage, who has organized the picnic for the past six years, echoed Jarvis' remarks. "It was a very difficult decision for the committee to make -- we just need ed more manpower," she said. "It is harder because so many young women are working." Savage said the historical society has just recently attracted some more active volunteers. She hopes they will be able to stage the picnic again next year. In addition, some teenagers are getting involved. Volunteer work is now part of their cur riculum. Last summer a student helped the society by taking photographs of historic homes in Oakville. Mayor Ann Mulvale said the cancel lation of Picnic In The Park was very regrettable, but she understood the soci ety was taking a pause from the event just for a year because some of the stal warts were no longer available. Sometimes you have to let people lose (See 'Young' page A2) The arc fault circuit interrupter (AFCI) -- a quantum leap forward in fire safety technology -- was officially unveiled recently at the Oakville Training Campus for Emergency Excellence. The Oakville Fire Department's state-of-the-art facility was an ideal venue for the event, since anything that helps reduce injury, death and property damage is welcome news to emergency personnel. "This is the next generation of devices that use technology for fire pre vention," said Dave Goodyear, of the Ontario Fire Marshal's Office. "Arc fault circuit interrupters can prevent electrical fires before they hap pen." Created by EATON CutlerHammer, the AFCI is an improvement over such overcurrent protective devices as fuses or circuit breakers because of complex electronic circuitry that can identify specific characteris tics, or signatures, of the current or voltage waveform unique to electrical arcing. When this is detected, the breaker snaps off the circuit. "The arc fault technology is relative ly new, but the test results demonstrated that it is dependable and protects against arcing faults that could potentially cause fire," said Ted Olechna, provincial code engineer with the Electric Safety Authority. The basic definition of "arcing" is a luminous discharge of electricity across an insulating medium. This can result from worn insula tion on wiring, a nail hammered through a wall which pierces a wire, loose plug connections and many other causes. As a result of an arc, electrical ener gy is converted into thermal energy. This heat -- which can reach several thousands of degrees Celsius -- is transferred to a combustible material which then reaches its ignition tempera ture and a fire results. (See 'H elping' page A4) M ay 24.. Business........... ...... B6 Focus ............. ...... Cl Artscene................. C8 1 Sports............. ...... D Classified.......... ...... 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