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Md“.- Want to praise, protest or pontificate on issues facing our town? Our online forum is growing and we want to hear from you. Here's a sampling of recent posts: GO TO www.stouflvllleonllne.¢om and join the discussion. Now that the election I: over, We tune to look ahead at what the next four year: hold for thtchurch-Stoufhr’xlle We desperately need to find solutions to traffic congestion and the preservation of green space. We hope that the am will final- ly receive a fair share of support from the town, after years of underfunding and reluctance to acknowledge the]! Importance to a well-rounded community. “u Ivâ€"nâ€"vw ‘vuâ€" __ Outgoing mayor Sue Shergan was a sun pmponent of the an: in general and actively sou t to estab‘ a perfomnng arts centre to the old town hall at 9 Cmc Ave, both as councillor for Ward 6 and as mayor. ,,I,j J-..__ I‘ll v-uâ€" v â€"â€" w _â€"â€"l -h Before the election, council voted to support a scaled-down version of the theatre in that location, but incoming mayor Wa Emmerson has said he favour: 3 lat er venue. U ortunately, that would mean yet another lon de y and the probable loss of York Durham Academy of the forming Arts to a more welcoming municipality with the foresight to provide itsownaxts venue lf Whitchurch-Stouffville is serious about catering to the needs and interests of all its residents and encouraging people who live here to spend their disposable income in town, not to mention bringing in visitoxs from out of town, council must (Selena prio‘ll'it)‘; to surport the arts We have a wonderfu , but woeful] the Latcharn Gallery, which is slowl being starved to death. We have community groups ranging om Music Mania, YDAPA and several fine dance studios to choirs such as Men of Note and Bach to Blues, who have to rely on the availability of local churches, schools or Latcham Hall to put on performances. We have a dance collective, Motus 0, whose original and unique work has led to national and international performanc- es, but whose appearances in their home town are limited to school gyms or their own backyard. Like sports, the arts do not appeal to everyone, but both are important for quality of life in appeal to everyone, but both are important ror quauty or nu: m a vibrant community. The challenges for the new council are formidable. Many long- time residents and newcomers have chosen to live in this com- muni because of its traditional, small town ambience, but now that t e big pipe is a reality, the pressures of growth mean we can take nothing forgranted._ .u ,,,- -1--- .n IL... lv'cnn fnnc La“ Lulw I‘VE-“nab ." ..__ , - _, ' D” Whitchurch-Stouffville is still a great place to live and our elected representatives to make sure it stay A formidable challenge 01"r‘l-lpl' .Is I Etliufilttaiiltlzif HI $1.... 4' 1' oi.lal"l P.5t'gi-Il‘Ei-iil In .E'QIIlidtiisclo-I" ild’lalfi I33: ilf'it‘ta‘tii I'll {It "There is a right way and a wrong way to build up a town's residential and com- mercial infrastructure. I have talked to a lot of residents that feel that this growth is too fast too soon. If you talk to busi- ness owners they will tell you that the customers are just not there. They will be, but not until the homes are occupied and people become familiar with their new surroundings. Plus think of the impact on the downtown Core, there will be serious impacts. And as far as people using the retail stores in town, think again, over 68 per cent of our town’s retail urchases (not groceries) are pur- chase outside of town. This is bigger dam: to live. It's up to us sure it stays that way. than having access to the downtown core. Plus people moved to this town to be outside the city not to have it come to our doorstep." "I own a service business here in Stouffville and I can tell you it is a VERY hard town to do business in. A good chunk of my clientele are from here but a very small portion of my profits are gen- erated here. i can only imagine how the retail stores downtown are going to be affected Yes,‘ there is potential with all the incoming people to form a bigger client base, but if they are like the folk in say, Georgetown or Brooklin, they are To the Editor: The 14th annual Student Music Sch ' Concert, hosted by St. James Presbytemn Church and held Nov. 3 u Stou ‘ District Secondary School, proved venjy successful. ___ I . I ASA ____.--_s:_.. sin mirrknrrk- Readers Write f w- Concert raised over $5,000 m Tâ€"lâ€"xému, Gayle Atkinson, Stewart McFJroy onccn Committee 0 Stouffville Yes folks. H's the mayor of Christmas Presenfs... Wfithwu mmmum-mmdlmo raga-ummwm-wmmom; Wand Wm'MduWo mwmuwla just oing to sleep here. And they will see the '13 blue Wall-Mart sign and head there every Saturday. That’s a worry." "l believe our infrastructure has fallen behind because spending taxpayer money is not a popular thing to do, and fenerall infrastructure projects take onger t an council/mayor office terms. So we (and council) end up having end- less debates (like this forum) and con- sultants and delays." Go to www.3touffvilleonlinexom and join the discussion.