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Lawn and Gai&n isiaEjiiIhalicMisllfeiiis (T c i)ir h $ 7 0 Local stars shine on J national team Say " Cheers!" to awarded beers S ports B usiness Mercedes-Benz Q .E . W . & D o r v a l D r . w w w . o a k v ille b e a v e r . c o m R I C A 'S M O S T A W A R D E D C O M M U N IT Y BEAVER N E W S P A P E R WEDNESDAY, JULY 23, 2003 56 Pages $1.00 (plus CST) USIN G C O M M U N I C A T I O N TO BUILD B E T T E R C O M M U N I T I E S ' O M B deal possible Settlement could be reached Friday to avoid lengthy hearing on OPA 198 By Howard Mozel O A K V IL L E B E A V E R S T A F F Smile, our kids' teeth are tops in Halton By JASON MISNER T H E CHAM PION Parties involved with the O ntario M unicipal Board (OM B) hearing regarding the future o f Oakville north o f Dundas Street are holding intensive talks this week in an effort to ham m er out a settlem ent. On Monday - what wtfs to be the first day of the formal hearings into appeals of the Town's Official Plan Amendment (O PA) 198 lawyers for most sides agreed that a further oneweek delay was necessary in order to continue negotia tions. A settlement, which must first receive the approval of Town Council, would side step a full blown hearing conservatively estimated to last three months. In the meantime. those now involved in the talks are revealing nothing as to the substance of thetr bargain ing. That includes Oakvillegreen Conservation Association spokesperson Michael Lansdown, who did admit that a settlement in " draft form" was being dis cussed. Other than sanction ing the postponement. O M B chair J.L . O'Brien was simi larly closed-mouthed. " What we're telling you today is all you're getting," he said. Plans for growth in north Oakville would accommo date at least 55.0(X) new resi dents and 35.000 new jobs by 2016. This gro\vth would, however, urbanize the remaining agricultural land in Oakville - approximately 7.6(H) acres, of which some 1.2(H) acres have been deemed environmentally sensitive. The land includes such features as the Trafalgar Moraine from which Oakville's many creeks are fed. This development raised red flags for many residents whose concerns range from the environmental impact, pollution and traffic, to tax implications. Most of the official parties with standing at the hearing are developers who are seeking approval from the O M B to build on the land. During the pre-hearing. Oakvillegreen questioned whether OPA 198 is bad planning, in part because members maintained it fails to take into account the (See AH' page A3) Harrison Smith Lifecare closure could sting taxpayers A decision by Ontario's health ministry to close the Oakville Lifecare Centre next month could end up adding more than S10 mil lion to the bill taxpayers will face as part of the Royal Crest Lifecare Group bank ruptcy. The Ministry of Health and Long-Term Care announced last week that it will close the Oakville nurs ing home on Aug. 22 -rexactly one year to the day after the ministry took control of the facility from Royal Crest. The Hamilton-based Royal Crest chain of 17 nurs ing and retirement homes filed for bankruptcy in January, listing almost $200 million in total liabilities. The chain's owners, brothers John Martino of Burlington and Aldo Martino of Ancaster, each filed for personal bank ruptcy in December. Royal Crest's bankruptcy has left more than S I8 million of taxpayer money in limbo, with no guarantee that all -- or any -- of it will be recouped. About $4.4 million of that total is already owed to the provincial health ministry. Until the Royal Crest chain is sold and the pro ceeds are divvied up, no one will know how much of the S18 million or so owed to government agencies w'ill have to be swallowed by tax payers. There are only 33 resi dents left in the Oakville Lifecare Centre, which has 206 licensed nursing home beds and another 22retirement beds. Almost 90 residents of the facility had been transferred out in April in a controversial move when the health min istry decided it wanted to have empty beds ready at the Oakville Lifecare Centre as part of its strategy for fight ing SA RS. (See `Future' page A3) MIDNIGHT MADNESS FUN: The 26th annual Midnight Madness jammed the streets of downtown Oakville with shoppers (below) who were treated to lots of entertain ment, food and bargains. A trumpet player (top) for the F.xeelsior Jazz Band was among the many entertainers. (Above) Robin Solomon looks for a bargain among the many hats at the Chelsea Store. W hile most people enjoyed the crowds and the noise, some like (right) Colin Skov found it was a little too much at times. For more pic tures on the madness see page C l and C8. Oakville kids have the best smiles in Halton. A report released to Halton's health and social services committee earlier this month showed Oakville had the lowest percentage of elementary schoolaged children in the region last year with non-urgent dental needs like loose fillings or gingivitis. Milton had the highest percentage and Halton Hills wasn't far behind. The report showed that 16.767 Halton students in kindergarten and grades 2, 4. 6 and 8 were screened in 2(K)2. and the percentage of kids with non-urgent dental needs was 5.55, or about 930 kids. Specifically, of the 6,877 students screened in Oakville. 4.83 per cent - or about 332 kids - had non-urgent dental needs. Of the 1.609 Milton students screened, health officials found 7.33 per cent of them - or about 117 kids - had non-urgent dental conditions, nearly two percentage points higher than the regional average. O f the 2.41 1 screened in Ha/ron Special to the Oakville Beaver Hills. 6.97 per cent - or about 168 kids - had non-urgent dental needs. O f the 5.870 screened in Burlington. 5.33 per cent - or about 31 2 kids - had non-urgent dental needs. All elementary school students in Halton arc screened every year. Dr. Robert Hawkins, a public health dentist with the Region, said there's no definitive reason for the higher-thanaverage number of kids with non-urgent dental needs in Milton and Halton Hills, and noted assessing these kinds of fac tors weren't part of the screening report. But a key contributing factor is like ly lack of adequate access to dental care, he said. See Oakville' page A3) H ID E S Y LC DELIVERY Best Wheels..................B1 Focus......................... Cl Classified..................... C5 ArtScene......................C8 Sports.........................D 1 Business.......................D4 (Support Your Local Carrier) For home delivery 6 customer service call (V051#45-9742 Mon.. Tues.. <£ Thun. 9 a.m. - ft p.m. Wed A Fri Va.ni - 8 p.m. or Saturday 10 a.m. 4 p.m. Far new subscriptions, call (905) 845-9742 or subscribe online @ ww.oak\-illebeavfr.com Partial Ddhvry: Ale.ianian Carpet, Rtma Cashway, The Bay, Mississauga Booster. Sport Clufk. Sean. 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