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6 tnbmbt sun stouftetniun stouffvifle tribune a metroland community newspaper 37 sandiforrj dr siute306 stoutme ont l4a 7x5 publisher- ian proudfoot general manager alvinbrouwer editorinchief advertising director business manager brenda larson debraweller margaret fleming deputy editor debora kelly classified manager ann campbell office manager vivian cneil editor alan shackleton distribution director barry goodyear rrr editorial province must support efforts to save moraine its 160 kilometres long extends across durham york and peel regions is the headwaters for more than 35- rivers and streams in the greater toronto area and the provincial tories think municipal governments can manage it t but local governments just dont have the money or the clout to protect the oak ridges moraine in york region developershave already paved oyer a third of this environmentally sensitive ridge of sand and gravel loft over from the last ice age and if politi cians dont take action soon it will be a lot more in richmond hill three major subdivision plans are on the table including the 428home oak ridges farm gotenancy provincial consultants have raised concerns about the impact of these subdivisions on groundwater in whitchurchstoxiffville clublink corporation is planning a tennis centre golf course hotel arid about 1000 homes for a 650acre parcel of land near woodbineavenue and stouffville road although me riiorame represents some of the last vestiges of nature in the southern urban part of the region this isnt just a treehugger issue the quantity arid quality of water we have in the r greater toronto area is determined dfrectiy by me moraine from one side of the ridge water runs north virito lake sirncpe from me other it runs to lake ontario r ifweallowittp be ruined pur qualify of life will suf fer and our economy with it v the fonner ndp government declared a provincial interest in the moraine and had a position paper pre i pared m 1994 but nothing was done about it the mike harris government has since left the mat- ter in the hands of iriunicipalities york peel arid durham regions have conducted a joint study to devise a lpngrterrn strategy to protect the moraine the problerh is that most of the moraine is private ly owned in many cases by developers who will- want to be compensated if they arent allowed to build v no municipal government can afford to buy large- amounts of land at iriarket price the province hasnt offered any funding nor has it offered to change planning legislation to give munici- palities the power to stop development on environ- niehtauy sensitive land right now developers can appeal to the ontario municipal board a provincial agency if their pro jects arent approved within a couple of months some have already done just that the municipal board could allow the subdivisions to be built without approvals from the towns or me regiori it probably wouldnt do so if the province sent a sig nal that protecting natural areas was a priority instead the provinces natural resources minister receritly endorsed me sale of a small piece of publicly owned arid undeveloped land at bloomirigton arid bathurst streets in aurora to a developer the save the oak ridges moraine environmental group has asked the province to freeze all development on the moraine a strategy that would at least buy sometime however the landowners the province and probably most municipalities would find that unpalatable the alternative if the province wont take leadership of protecting the moraine is to listen to the regions and give them what they need to do the job planning act changes that put some teeth in local environmental controls funding to acquire particularly sensitive prop erties and clear guidelines to let the municipal board- know that the moraine is a priority and they need it soon while there are still some nat ural areas to be protecteits 160 kilometres long letters to the editor real world requires police to be armed re canada should- adopt british gun control system letters sept 2 everyone is entitled to their opinion and mine differs somewhat from that of auanb chamberlains first of all if you legally own a hand gun it has to be registered and kept under lock and key all other firearms must at least have a trigger lock and gun registry for these is not far off asfor police officers not carrying firearms and only eing issuecl one when they are called upon to arrest any- one believed to be dangerous this is poriipletely ludicroua obviously charnberlain does hot read the newspapers very much or is unaware of what me real world js like lam a pouce officer who works in the downtown core of toronto i frequently come in contact with dangerous persons who carry weapons whether it be a gun praknife we as a police service are constantly called upon to arrest these people with little or no time to prepare for this per son to suggest that only a few officers carry guns is completely asinine and by the way all police officers are fully trained in how to use their weapons mark milne stouffville eatons staff will miss sharing in customers lives re favourite eatons employee will be missed letters sept 14 i have been the recipient of compli ments regarding the performance of my duties as an eatons sales associate- i started at eatons markville 17 years ago when the store first opened i think i will be one of the few employees to have started and left from the same location hi do appreciate me comments of the ponsford family however i also feel that the complimerits must be shared with all of those fellow eaton associates and managers ihade pleasure of working with oyer the years v i watched a new store grow up and become a place where customers became friends our staff becarne a farrir ily and we shared the fun and pleasure of meeting and helping our customers we shared the joys and sorrows ofour customers and coworkers families new babies marriages and other events- that were significant to our customers were shared with us in the course of a ii shopping trip r we had our moments when we counted to lobut carried on to provide our gold standard level of customer ser vice that we would expect if we were the customer when the doors are closed i will miss my associates and ibngterrn customers but the experiences arid memories of 17 years at eatons markville will always be a significant part of my life i might even miss working christmas eve rushing horhe tp prepare for christmas day and back to work ori boxing day thank you eatons for a memorable ltyears elaine stover markham i dougdevine councillors failed to stand up for taxpayers in a compelling example of yorks shrinking world a recent decision by aurora council could have a neg ative impact on taxpayers across the region by a 54 margin aurora councillors rejected a proposal to ban all future growth in their town a disappbintirig vote that affects everyone living or oper ating a business in york region thats because at the heart of auroras proposed ban was the undeniable fact that under new provincial rules exist ing residents arid businesses are being forced to shoulder a much greater share of the capital costs associated with growth using the logical argument that growth should pay for growth towns have long been collecting development fees on new homes and businesses to pay for me construction or addition of services such as hospitals recreation centres arenas parks and libraries but the mike harris government decided these socalled soft services should no longer be fuuy funded by new constructiorv a j that wiu havea huge impact v property taxesadross the region yorkfe three hospitals estimate they will need 80 million from property taxes to accommodate growth j rf- ari estimate i of auroral future growth costs nbtmcluding hospitals conclud ed local taxes will have to jump by9tol3 per cent over the next eight years just to riiaintairithe current level of services that prompted deputy mayor john west to propose an allout ban on growth but his plan was rejected by a slim majority of councillors who feared the ontario mimcipai board would overrule them they may be right gjyen the omb prodevelopment track record but they missed a golden opportunity tp act like real politicians and stand up for the rights of the people they were elected to represent what west andhis supporters under stand is that its their job to tell the province the people of aurora do not want to share the cost of future growth especially since ariyone who rnbved here in the past decade has already paid a whopping development fee to coyer their own growthrelated costsv now that aurora council has whimped out will any other york region councillors or tory mpps take up me fight or were they all just grandstanding during election campaigns when they vowed to stand up for the rights of local residents touffme tribune serving the community since 1888 the stouffville tribune published every tuesday thursday and saturday is one of the 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