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Orono Weekly Times; Wednesday, November 20,2002 : , > RONO Weekly Times Subscriptions $29.91 + $2.09 GST = $32.00 per year. Publications Mail Registration No. 09301 • Agreement No. 40012366 Publishing 48 issues annually at the office of publication. "We acknowledge the financial support of the Government of Canada through the Publications Assistance Program (PAP) toward our mailing costs. " Orono Weekly Times VâiShftb 5310 Main Street, RO. Box 209, Orono, Ontario LOB 1M0 Email: oronotimes@speedline.ca • Phone/Fax 905-983-5301 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 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. Regional Council dealt with an issue on Wednesday that could have serious implications for the rural areas of Durham Region. ty to support development in the Ajax's rural area. The owners of Deer Creek Golf Course applied. to have municipal sewer services brought up to their golf course to house facility! denied as did the Regional planning Depàrtmètit, 5 an|d the Region's Planning Committee. J y ' ! The golf course was already serviced with tnunicipal water, and bringing the municipal seWer service into the rural area opens that whole àjrèa up to development. j ' : 1 ! y This decision seta Very significant precedent, said Regional Councillor jim Sçheffjn a phond interview pn Îyîpnday. Schell who sits ^ on, thp. Regional Planning Committee ' Maid Cougs Investments, ™ sewer pipe up there. , , r , .y, ' "This decision screws up the Ajax Official Plan and the Regional Official Plan with no rational reason for doing so," said Schell. The smallest sewage pipe available, an eight inch pipe, could accommodate 200 to 300 hdmes. Cougs Investment put the Region on notice that they are in the prodeÉs of purchasing property property adjacent to their golf course, an 80 acre property, that could accommodate 300 homes. This is a simple case of a developer riding rough shod over established policies and getting away with it. The Golf Course and neighbouring property are in Ajax's rural area. The city of Ajax is fast running out of rural areas, and this decision by Council just put more pressure on the little that's left. When Councillors vote against their own staffs recommendations recommendations they better have a really good reason for doing so. Clarington's Regional Councillors, Jim Schell and Charlie Trim both voted to support the staff recommendation and deny Cougs Investment their request for the sewer pipe. 9 Mayor Mutton voted for the developer as he did in September of 2000 when the same developer, contrary to regional policy, wanted to install communal sewers to accommodate a 500 seat club house and a 107 unit housing development around the Deer Creek golf course. That motion was lost with the narrowest of margins. Cougs Investment contributed $750 to Mayor Mutton's 2000 election campaign. As another election year approaches we should know which of our elected representatives respect municipal and regional official plans, and who will sell out to. developers. Letter to the Editor To protect and serve... To the Editor, As a member of one of the hundreds of small communities communities which are protected by a part-time/volunteer fire department, 1 would like to respond to the Professional Firefighter's Union's ludicrous ludicrous stand on the 'two hatter' issue. Point one - the union's main argument is that a fulltime fulltime firefighter who is also a volunteer is putting himself and his crew at risk by being physically exhausted on shift. First of all, a major fire that would require that firefighter to become physically exhausted exhausted is a rare occurrence. Secondly, surely this caring, concerned union has enough respect for their member's intelligence to realize if a firefighter firefighter is that exhausted they would take a shift off. Does this mean they would have to call another firefighter on shift? Yes it docs, but is that any different than if he phoned in sick or injured? . Point two - the union Continued page 3 S As I see it by Peter Jaworski The 'technically preferred route' for the 407 extension would pass right through the tip of my family's property. As it so happens, it would pass through our neighbours kitchen. And living room. Possibly their bedroom, too. In a sense, then, we should feel lucky. Instead of losing our home, we lose a week's sleep or two (just enough time to get accustomed to the rumbling rumbling of the eighteen wheelers and suped-up Honda Civics). There is little question about the utility of the highway. highway. People need to get products, products, goods, and other things from Toronto to Kingston, from Kingston on to Ottawa or Montreal. The 401 is the only highway highway to properly service this particular, and economically vital, stretch of land. Highway 2 is no good. Given the amount of products and things that, ideally, should make their way between Toronto and Kingston, it becomes clear that another highway would be of 1 benefit. Even so, how we go about doing it is also important. As with most things, so with this proposal-a balance has to be struck. Here there are more than two things at stake. There is the economic import of a highway to service the route between Toronto to Kingston, Ottawa, and Montreal. There is the important environmental consideration-any progress should be sustainable, and should take seriously the prospect of pollution, protection protection of habitat, and similar concerns. And there is the necessity of respecting private property., something threatened by the extension of the 407. So it's not just about whether this highway is or is not necessary--! think we do need it. The question is also about what we can do to get it. Taking away peoples homes, even if it is more efficient efficient from a central planner's point of view, seems to me to be a terrible way of doing it. "The government doesn't just come in and take youi home," a friend of mine once explained to me, "they are going to pay you 'fair market value' for it." This is true, but misleading In this case, paying the home- owner 'fair market value' foi their property is a contradiction. contradiction. A market is, almost bj definition, a place where willing willing buyers and willing seller: Continued page