rC C N A BETTES NEWSPAPERS COMPETITION 2000 lA K V U L E LAW N M O W E R TW NEUPS --------v&w^44,|iarts CURRENT POWER MACHINERY INC. 1661 Lakeshore Rd. W. Mississauga Soccer N ew s A busy week in Oakville! Sports Vol 38 No. 101 C O P C H O IR R E C R U IT IN G A r ts ^ S S r -- ?822-42f1 A M e tro la n d P iM c a tio n & e n t e r t a in m e n t Mercedes-Benz WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 23,2000 w w w .oakvilbbeqver.com 56 Pages 7 5 C ent $ (p lu s G S T) Province has board in bargaining box H a lto n B o a r d h a s litt le m a n o e u v r i n g r o o m a s t a l k s w it h h ig h s c h o o l tea ch ers re su m e By Dennis Sm ith SPECIAL TO THE BEAVER Provincial government require ments are expected to cast a long shadow over contract talks for Halton's public secondary school teachers. Representatives for teachers and the Halton District School Board resume negotiations tomorrow (Thursday) and hope to resolve some Because o f the fund t h o r n y ing formula, union issues. leaders already "I still know the board can believe we only afford a 1.9% have a posi increase. " It' s like tive working playing a card relationship game when the with the union can see your association," cards. Old-style said board negotiating isn 't v i c e - c h a i r much use in this M ic h a e l case. " Ellis. "But -Michael Ellis, Halton the govern District School Board ment has Negotiating given us `x' Committee Chair amount of dollars that are required for instruc tional time and instructional supervi sion and has said. `Now go get a con tract.'" ; The Provincial funding formula will force the board to ask teachers to handle seven classes instead of six, said Ellis. The extra class requirement was staunchly opposed by Halton sec ondary teachers during 1998 contract talks. `The government has clearly put boards in the middle," said the negoti ating committee chair. "Maybe they should be doing province-wide bar gaining. There's a general feeling across the province they should do that." Ellis said, because of the funding formula, union leaders already know the board can only afford a 1.9% increase. "It's like playing a card game when the union can see your cards," he said. "Old-style negotiating isn't much use in this case." Ellis feels Halton's board has a good relationship with its 1,000-plus member secondary teachers union because both groups understand the other's situation. "I'm going into this with a positive outlook and I hope we'll come to some sort of resolution," he said. (See `Strike' page A2) Photo by Julie Fairrie S U P E R S U M M E R F E S T : The weekend was a time for good rides, good friends, good food and entertainment during the annual Summerfest held in north Oakville. Having a good time on one of the rides were Stephanie Domingues and Ashley Medeiros, both 11. Traffic chaos will get worse before it improves Traffic relief inched another step closer this week with Monday's multi-million dollar announcement to improve the Queen Elizabeth Way (QEW) in Oakville. According to Transportation Minister David Turnbull, $7.2 million has been earmarked to build an additional eastbound lane between Trafalgar Road and Hwy. 403, as well as make improvements like resurfacing and new lighting. "Good highway transporta tion is the foundation of a strong economy," said A dditional eastbound lane on QEW from Trafalgar to Hwy. 403 should help ease crunch Oakville MPP Gary Carr. `The government recognizes that upgrading the Queen Elizabeth Way supports job creation and business investment in Oakville. The work will also ease traffic flows and enhance driver safety." The funding is part of $37.2 million worth of highway improvements. Work on the Oakville pro ject is expected to commence in late August with a comple tion date set for late summer, 2001. The contract, which was awarded to Oakville's Dufferin Construction, includes realign ment and resurfacing of exist ing eastbound lanes, a "tall wall" concrete median barrier and high mast lighting. The QEW improvements are part of an overall bid to improve traffic flow through the GTA and its member municipalities. In Oakville, for example, completion of the Rebecca Street Bridge in September 2001 will give motorists another crossing of Bronte Creek other than the QEW, Regional Road 5 and Lakeshore Road. The 26-kilometre Hwy. 407 extension from the Freeman Interchange in Burlington to the Hwy. 403/407 ETR Interchange in Oakville will be completed around the same time as the bridge, also divert ing a lot of Burlington-bound vehicles. The QEW widening from Third Line to Burloak will also help. According to Regional Chair Joyce Savoline, Hwy. 407 should reduce traffic on both Regional Road #5 and the QEW through Oakville and Burlington by 15% to 30% once the highway opens in August 2001. In addition to traffic relief, Hwy. 407 will provide transportation access to new residential and industri al lands. H e r i t a g e h o m e d e m o lit io n a "m is u n d e r s t a n d in g " Owner's father says structure was rife with rot By Howard Mozel OAKVILLE BEAVER STAFF The investigation continues into last week's demolition of a Front Street heritage home. According to Assistant Town Solicitor Jennifer Huctwith, the cir cumstances surrounding the fate of 181 Front are currently being scruti nized, after which a recommendation will be made to Town Council for its direction. At worst, the province will become involved and the matter could be prosecuted. According to David Balchin, who addressed Tuesday's meeting of the Heritage Review Committee on behalf of his son, the owner of 181 Front, he never wanted to demolish the entire structure but ended up doing so after a "misunderstanding" with the Town. In a nutshell, Balchin explained that he received a demolition permit to raze part of the house while leaving the front portion as is in order to con dation up to code then rebuilding with original materials or undertaking a "massive" excavation to the tune of $30,000 to $40,000. Balchin said a Town building inspector concurred that none of the structures were viable and needed to be modified or replaced. Balchin said he understood this to mean that noth ing could be done to save the place, so everything came down. That said, Balchin saved windows and bricks and fully intends to recon struct the original facade as closely as possible. "It came as a great shock when a stop-work order was issued (by the Town)," said Balchin. "We have always acted in good faith. If we erred, it was by misunderstanding." At the time, says Huctwith, a for mal structural report from municipal inspectors was forthcoming, but last week's demolition made that moot. Huctwith said that it was always possible that Balchin might have (See 'House' page A5) IN S ID E today' s paper E d torials...... ........... Rudnocc Focib.......................... Rft ,R1 M tmertanment .................. Sports____________ C 1 Automotive______________ C8 Fal Registration___________ D1 A pile of rubble is all that's left of heritage home at 181 Front Street. form with the heritage requirements In late July a consulting engineer of the area. found even further "degradation" to Balchin said he knew going in that the building, he added. there were problems - everything The options open to the family from dry-rot to crumbling mortar - yet included tearing down the exterior the further inspectors probed into the wall intended to be preserved, tearing place the worse its condition became. down the wall and bringing the foun Special Supplements: H o m ed e fie ry ;B u sin e ssD e p o t,Ja z zF e s & v a i.L ic k ' s P a rtia ld e irv e ry A c a c le m yo lL e a n u n c ,T tieB a y .C c n p u c e n t'e .S m a rt S o u rc e .F u tu reS h o p .G u a n ia nD re u g s. 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