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6 stouffville suntribune thursday nov 25 2004 opinion publisher ian pr0udf00t telephone 9056402612 fax 9056408778 email jmasonyrngcom website wwwyorkregioncom editorial pickering airport site makes sense earmarked since 1972 the time for the pickering airport hasnt arrived yet but its on schedule blame the need on growth the popu lation of the gta will grow by 50 per cent over the next 27 years pearson inter national airport in mississauga will reach capacity in 15 years planes will have to land and take off elsewhere the greater toronto airport authority which was asked by the feder al government to study pickering thinks the site in western durham region is right for an airport for york region residents the loca tion at hwy 7 and brock road is five minutes from the markham border with half the growth in the gta expected to take place in york and durham the site makes sense it also evens the playing field of airports across southern ontario given the western locations of pearson and hamilton airport pickering is not as central as buttonville airport which will be closed with markham and oshawa airports when pickering opens but pickering has room for expansion something buttonville hasnt had in years the pickering site is the envy of air port authorities across north america because the land is owned by the gov ernment the property has been held for a proposed airport since 1972 the buttonville site can readily be transformed into a business park its residential neighbours wont miss the planes still pickering is not a slam dunk there are questions specifically con cerning the environment there is a call to protect the quiet rural communities that now occupy the property however the main reason those communities still exist is the airport des ignation without it they would be awash in suburbia such as the southern part of durham region noise and traffic are major concerns the plan calls on york region to pre serve a corridor for an arterial road con necting hwy 404 to hwy 48 pickering wont happen overnight and the gtaa is giving residents ah opportunity to speak out at a series of open houses the series comes to stouffvilles latcham hall tuesday night letters to the editor bat boxes dividing ballantrae re disease fear shelves ballantrae bat boxes oct 28 we cant believe what is happening in ballantrae we moved here for the same reasons many others did we could see forests and wildlife up close and buy our food direct from the farms kids play out side without having to be guarded living here my children appreciate nature and the importance of farming they are active supporters of the envi ronment we pickedwhitchurchstouffville as our home because these were things we valued and we heard the residents and local council felt the same way unlike many towns around us thats all slipping away what should have been a simple environmental project has become a rift dividing our community into us and them anyone who attended the public meeting in the spring and followup council meeting can attest to that councillor phil bannon regardless of how you were elected and who supported you you must represent all of ballantrae to those neighbours new to our community there are snakes bats birds deer and even coy otes living in our back yards they have no inten tion of leaving in building over their home you are inviting them to move in with you why not give them an alternative i understand people are naturally afraid of these creatures but a reasonable person and i saw many on council would listen to the available the stouffville suntribune welcomes your letters all submissions must be less than 400 words and must include a daytime telephone number name and address the stouffville suntribune reserves the right to publish or not publish and to edit for clarity and space write letters to the editor 34 civic ave po box 154 stouffville l4a 7z5 email jmasonyrngcom information ask questions and make a rational decision in the spring i brought to a council meeting a group of girl guides and brownies all of whom feel very strongly about their school park and com munity centre and wanted to make their voices heard the children use these facilities 10 months of the year five days week they spoke to council and were there for the ruling the girls learned how the demo cratic process works that you may not get everything but a fair compromise this month i had to explain to them lifes not so fair and democratic that people will agreeto one thing and then silently find ways to get what they want in the end mayor sherban and councillors i implore you to use your elected power to restore rea son to this situation and lead this communi ty to an educated decision help us live in harmony with our natural environment rather than handing an eviction notice to the species in danger in this community andrew sharon burdette ballantrae f stouffville sunlfibune a metroland community newspaper 34 civic ave 3rd floor stouffville ontario l4a 7z5 phone 905-640-2612- fax9056408778 classified 18007433353 distribution 9052948244 website wwwyorkregioncom email jmasonyrngcom member ontario community newspapers association canadian community newspapers association ontario press council editor in chief advertising director distribution directors debora kelly retail sales flyers barry black lynn pashko editor nicole fletcher classified manager jim mason advertising director classified ann campbell reporters real estate events management gord paolucci general manager joan ransberryhannelorevolpe york region printing director of production bob dean sales representatives interactive media casey weir sarah wilson john futhey director marketing partnerships production manager managing director real estate debraweller pam nichols mikerogerson shows manager office manager sales manager new business yrng events management vivian cneil development distribution stacey allen business manager dawna andrews robert lazurko fcj jwfil t hp mpfac5y sz ffitfoem viambk vva5 l off the top with jim mason the deejay who loved to pick on us stouffviue lost a good friend and its worst enemy saturday legendary toronto deejay tom rivers fit both bills he died at 57 after battling cancer mr rivers was the king of toronto am rock n roll radio in the 1980s first at chum and later cftr he was big six feet eight inches loud and quick on his feet and he loved to pick on stouffville for some reason after ghum fired him unjustly as he would prove in court mr rivers took the weekend afternoon shift on cftr hard ly prime time in radioland a big spill at the stouffville sewage plant details in the news at the top of the hour he said one day before play ing another huey lewis and the news tune but there was no update because there was no spill the joke was on stouffville as it was so many times with tom there was his ode to the stouffville hockey jacket and a line about snow- knitting being an olympic sport here when a team from cftr was announced for a charity snopitch game in 1986 in stouffville memorial park it did not include mr rivers name i took him to task in this column for not having enough guts to show his face in the small town he loved to belittle he showed up and played the next year we upped the ante with a wager recorded on air and in print and team stouffville won giv ing me toms job nervously announc ing on the rivers air force show one morning if cftr had won mr rivers would have been whitchurchstouffville mayor for a day perish the thought the stouffvillerivers war died like all radio promotions cftr went all news tom rivers bounced around the toronto dial including stints at talk 640 and most recently jackfm we met years later at the markham fair and i asked him the question hed never really answered before why stouffville it just sounded right to rag on he said like when youre driving up the 400 and you see the sign for bond head theyre perfect small towns that are close enough to the city that listeners know them stouffville worked rest in peace big guy jim mason is editor of the stouffville suntribune