Raptors pull out of twoâ€"year training camp contract at RIM Park osing the Toronto Rapâ€" I tors‘ fall training camp t RIM Park was upsetâ€" ting, says the recreation facility‘s team leader Bob Hayes. But it‘s nothing the City of Waterloo can‘t handle, he "This means about $12,000 to the facility. But we don‘t like to lose any business. and we‘re now looking to fill that void." "We were disappointed," Hayes said. "We‘re still workâ€" ing through the details with the team‘s management. The city and the Raptors RIM Park organization entered into a team leader twoâ€"year contract last year, which agreed the NBA basâ€" However, Raptors team ketball team would hold its _ officials announced last Looking For a New or Preâ€"owned BMW www.bkmotorsgqroup.com By Anprea Barey 2002 and 2003 training Chronicle Staff camps at RIM Park. "They felt it would be easier just to stay in Toronto instead of having to run some players back and forth." â€" Bob Hayes RIM Park team leader week that the team has decided to pull out of the agreement and hold the camp in Toronto. Hayes said the move was based on the wishes of the new coaching staff, who hope moving the camp to Toronto will help boost that city‘s economy since the recent SARS crisis. "They felt it would be easier just to stay in Toronto instead of having to run some players back and forth," Hayes said. He also said a change in the NBA contract which allows some players to report to camp later than others also had bearing on the team‘s decision. Hayes said team officials who broke the news were apologetic. And he assured no bridges have been PAGE 3 "I know when the team was here last year they had ¬hing but praise for the facility, our staff, the accomâ€" modations they received at the Waterloo Inn and local restaurants. They enjoyed the fact they were able to keep a low profile." burned between the two organizations. _ _ "In fact we‘re looking toward the future and hopâ€" ing to hold more camps down the road," he said. "We‘re full of hockey camps and basketball camps," he said. "It‘s been a very busy August. In the meantime, Hayes said RIM Park is a bustle of activity. _ _ _ "Right now we‘re getting ready for a lot to start up again in the fall. Our usage is definitely up." Mayor attends : conference on . 5 urban sprawl | terloo‘s recognition as one of the world‘s most livâ€" Wble cities earned Mayor Lynne Woolstencroft a special invitation to a conference on urban spraw! last week, and she came away with some real ideas to address some of this community‘s growing problems. Woolstencroft was invited to be a panelist at a conference called Kyoto and Sprawl: Building Cities that Work, organized by the Neptis Foundation in Toronto. The conference looked at sprawl development and how it hurts communities. In addition to politicians from all levels, the conference featured urban planners and activists renowned for making their communities livable, including Elaine Wilkerson whose work in Portland, Ore. is held up as an example for all North American communities. "Her warning to all of us was that hard boundaries must be respected, and you have to know what is going to happen outside the boundary," said Woolstencroft. "You have to creâ€" ate a vision and hold on to it." The concern in the City of Waterloo is that the community is agreeable to growing out to its boundaries while doing some intensification and infilling within its borders, but that policy is dependent on the Region of Waterloo not allowâ€" ing "punch throughs." An example of punch through is the development going on at the top of King Street just across the city‘s boundary in Woolwich Townâ€" ship. The mammoth developâ€" ment features outlet stores coupled with ongoing talk of putting a Walâ€"Mart store in the vicinity of the Farmers‘ Market. "There‘s got to be some ‘I_ agreement that we have that will protect our community LynneYVoolstgncroft and our identity," said mayor of Waterloe Woolstencroft. "By 2015 Waterloo will be at its boundaries. "Everything was zoned by the late 1980s, so now all we do is tinker with those plans." As a panelist, she was asked questions about what a city of Waterloo‘s size was doing to manage sprawi and the environâ€" mental impacts it has on water quality and air quality. â€" "I told them that the U.S. is not prepared to do anything about the Ohio Valley, which dumps its pollution here, until we do something about ours," said Woolstencroft. "We‘ve got to really address air pollution in our own community." Woolstencroft was told that if we can diminish our own pollution by six per cent, we‘ll be able to reduce our cases of adverse health reactions to things like particulate matter in the air dramatically. She plans to follow that up with Waterloo Region‘s medical officer of health, Dr. Liana Nolan. Woolstencroft was also questioned about the city‘s supâ€" port for public transit. She told the conference it‘s all in the implementation, and cited the Laurelwood community in Waterioo as an example. By Bos VRBANAC _ Chronicle Staff Continued on page 4