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f 2 - Orono Weekly limes, Wednesday, March 27, 2002 ) A ocna (+CNA x (YRO Weekly Times NO Servmy East Clarmgton and beyc Subscriptions $28.04 + $1.96 G.S.T. = $30.00/year Publications Mail Registration No. 09301 Agreement No. 40012366 Publishing 50 Issues Annually at the Office of Publication yX "We acknowledge the financial support of the Government of Canada, through the Publications v> Assistance Program (PAP), toward our mailing costs." 5310 Main Street, P.O. Box 209, Orono, Ontario LOB 1M0 E-Mail Address: oronotimes@speedline.ca Phone/Fax (905) 983-5301. y Publisher/Editor Margaret Zwart The Orono Weekly Times welcomes letters to the editor on subjects of interest to our readers. Opinions expressed to the editor and articles are those of the writers and do not necessarily reflect the opinions of The Orono Weekly Times. Letters must be signed and contain the address and phone number of the writer. Any letter considered unsuitable will not be acknowledged or returned. We reserve the right to edit for length, libel and slander. If your retail or classified ad appears for the first time, please check carefully. Notice of an error must be given before the next issue goes to print. The Orono Weekly Times will not be responsible for the loss or damage of such items. Missed opportunity Clarington's cultural agencies have been under the microscope so to speak in the recently completed 'Cultural Review 2002'. While the review dealt mainly with the municipality's two museums, the operations of the Visual Arts Centre (VAC) was examined as well. The release of the Cultural Review 2002 report last week, prompted the President of the VAC to appear before councillors on Monday at the General Purpose and Administration Committee Meeting, thanking them and the Community Services Department for having undertaken the review. VAC President Jean-Michel Komamicki stated in his address that while presently there is sufficient available space at the Centre, there are outstanding concerns regarding the building itself. The VAC occupies the former Cream of Barley Mill on Simpson Avenue in Bowmanville. Komamicki thanks the Municipal Operations Department in his presentation for helping identify the buildings deficiencies and for undertaking the necessary repairs and renovations to bring the building in conformity with fire code regulations and to meet the municipality's own property standards by-law. The VAC has recently secured a sizable grant from the Trillium Foundation, which according to Komamicki "a large part is assigned to pay for essential repairs and renovations to the building building - which is owned by the Municipality." The Ontario Trillium Foundation, an agency of the Ministry of Tourism, Culture & Recreation, funded toy the Government of Ontario from Ontario's charity casino initiative. They obviously had no problem paying to fix up an old building owned by a lower tier government. In fact the Trillium Foundation likes to see their funding recipients foster partnerships with other groups and agencies. Just two months ago, Clarington council denied a $1,500 Municipal grant for the Orono Crown Lands Trust because they said that group is responsible for maintaining Provincial Land. It was perceived as further downloading by the Provincial Government. Meanwhile, the Province pays the municipality around $13,000 annually in lieu of taxes on the 1,055 acre former Orono Forestry property. Fortunately, that property has remained in public ownership and is a major benefit to the entire municipality. Unfortunately council didn't realize this and missed the boat on what could have been a valuable partnership. Letter to the Editor Incorrect information Dear Editor: Incorrect information about emissions from the Darlington Nuclear generating generating station appeared in the March 20, 2002 letter-to-the- editor from Jessica Markland. In fact, the radiation dose to the public as a result of Darlington's operation was 1.1 microsieverts to the most exposed individual - theoretically theoretically someone living at the station boundary 24 hours a day, 365 days a year, and consuming consuming local water and foodstuffs. foodstuffs. When one considers that the regulatory limit on public dose is 1,000 microsieverts, and a single dental x-ray gives a dose of 100 microsieverts, then obtaining a level of 1.1 is truly a remarkable accom plishment. We are working to improve on that. Darlington also recently completed the Darlington Nuclear Ecological Effects Review study in 2001. The purpose of the review was to evaluate and predict effects from Darlington Nuclear's construction and operation, and to provide follow-up recommendations recommendations for monitoring and mitigation. That study found there were no likely effects from emissions of radionuclides or chemicals. Copies of the report are available available by calling 1-800-461- 0034 or darlingtonnuclear@opg.com Darlington was the first North American nuclear station station to receive its ISO 14001 environmental certification. In order to keep this internationally internationally recognized certification, certification, we must show continuous continuous improvement. Darlington is subject to an annual audit of our Environmental Management System in order to retain our certification, which we did successfully again in 2001. Darlington also received a national award from the Wildlife Habitat Council for the work we have done in wildlife habitat conservation on our site. We were recognized recognized as a founding Corporate Lands for Learning site for our educational programs that see hundreds of schoolchildren schoolchildren experiencing nature on our trails Environmental protection and public safety are taken very seriously at Ontario Power Generation and its generating generating stations. The evidence shows that we are meeting the high standards set for protecting protecting the public and our employees. Dominic Iafrate Site Vice-President Darlington Nuclear There are changes ahead for Clarington's two museums as result of the recently completed completed review of Clarington's cultural institutions. . Following the next municipal municipal election both museums will be operating under the unified 'Clarington Museum' umbrella. Where the Clarke and Bowmanville museums each had a curator in the past at a combined salaiy of $78,000 last year, they will now share one curator. A new administrator's administrator's position has been created created to work under the museum museum board and be responsible for all aspects of the museum's museum's operations. With cutbacks cutbacks in provincial funding over the years, curators at both museums were spending more and more time seeking alternate sources of funding. With an administrator on board the curator will have more time to do this job. The Clarke and Bowmanville museum boards will be combined to form a transitional board till the end of their term of office. Following the next municipal election in the Fall of 2003, council will appoint two volunteers volunteers from each ward to make up the Clarington museum museum board. While the Clarke Museum Board did express concern initially that their museum might be swallowed up by the larger Bowmanville facility, both boards have acknowledged acknowledged the benefit of one board to coordinate expanded museum museum services in the future. For both boards to have equal representation on the transitional board, it was recommended recommended that five votes be given to each existing board. The Bowmanville Museum Board currently has eight members, while the Clarke Museum Board currently has five members. The (continued page 3) S. 1 t ! i !.. i - ! 1 ! > I . » ■ ' t 1 v t t t I ' I x I ! ' , t \ - k , t X x M l * ' \ * < . x , n ' t i x \ x \ ' » ' *• x » ' 1 H x