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economist sunsuntribune saturday may 8 2004 suntnbune a metroland community newspaper 34 civic ave stouffville on l4a 7z5 publisher ian proudfoot letters to the editor halt development until roads fixed open letter to markham council i am writing to add my voice to the grow ing number of people in markham and york region who are upset with the traffic con gestion when our employees regularly complain about increasing commute times it is a warning bell turnover in any business is costly this week for example i needed 21 min utes to drive from village parkway in unionville west on hwy 7 south on warden avenue to the corner of 14th avenue there were no accidents i live near kennedy road and 16th avenue and my commute regular ly takes 25 to 30 minutes two other employees in cornell need about 35 minutes on an average day to get to warden and 14th i suggest council immediately freeze all development until it develops and presents workable plans in concert with the region to address this quality of life issue such a freeze would send a strong mes sage of leadership to other municipalities that markham and york care more about this issue than development spending this much time each day com muting in markham is shameful it is time for this council to show leadership to taxpayers business owners the region and province biltrainor president capital networks limited markham socialism doesnt built character someone should tell premier dalton mcguinty the keynote speaker at the building communities of character confer ence last month in richmond hill good char acter development doesnt spring out of liber al socialism surely what is going on in ottawa with the sponsorship scandal is ample proof the only soul that produces the 10 points of good character honesty empathy fair ness respect responsibility initiative perse verance integrity courage and optimism is a very close adherence to the bible these points are not nurtured in the pub lic school system and they never will be as long as unions dominate them bud oconnor markham stop hydro one electrical line re residents fight hydro one economist sun may 6 residents have expressed concerns about the potential impact of putting electrical lines through two hydro corridors in the region letters policy the stouflville tribune welcomes your letters all submissions must be less than 400 words and must include a daytime telephone number name and address the tribune reserves the right to publish or not publish and to edit for clarity and space letters to the editor the tribune 9 heritage rd markham on l3p1m3 email fetterseeconsuncom opinion tie west wis sun mm wu miowtoe and gvepuptqlol iisilft a hydro one expansion project has initi ated an environmental assessment to select one of the routes the parkway transformer station in markham to the armitage trans former station in newmarket or the claireville transformer station in vaughan which runs north to newmarket this expansion would put 230 kv electri cal line through existing hydro rightofways near schools residential and commercial properties opposition is steadily growing as public awareness grows due to efforts of a residents group this project has forced many to investi gate the ramifications of these wires includ ing health risks from electromagnetic fre quency exposure environmental concerns socioeconomic effects and reduction in the vitality of residential and business areas residents are demanding hydro one take responsibility in meeting the demands of supplying power safely and securely in a more environmentally sound manner the future growth management of our region depends oh this this is aclassic display of how major cor porations show callous disregard for the public by forcing communities to rally against each other rather than come up with viable solutions studies ive seen recommend prudent avoidance and strong caution be exercised when putting hydro lines through neigh bourhoods therefore the choices offered are unacceptable this issue should serve as a window of opportunity for the public to educate itself on the number of potential sources of elec tro magnetic frequency exposures in homes streets and by electrical lines have you assessed your risks associated with these invisible pollutants statistics in electro magnetic frequency booklets are very disturbing especially where links to childhood leukemia are con cerned the public should voice its concerns to municipal and provincial representatives for more regulation and denounce hydro ones process of endangering and infringing upon our quality of life this decision is weeks away there is no time to take a back seat approach with this toxic welcome wagon it may be rolling into your back yard suefusco markham library may need more revenue will the whitchurchstouffville public library board need to look for another rev enue source if whitchurchstouffville coun cil carefully scrutinizes and controls the operations of the towns treasury depart ment under the public libraries act libraries are funded by grants from the ministry of editor l chief debora kelly business manager robert lazurko director of production john futhey advertising director retail fixer sales nicole fletcher advertising director classified real estate events management cord paolucci culture which is responsible for public libraries and the municipality council approved a combined 609940 operating and capital grant to the library board april 13 down from its request of 647258 as in previous years council did not authorize the treasury department to make any additional tax dollars available to help the board the board has also budgeted for a 55588 grant from the ministry of culture the only other major income in the boards 2004 budget is the expected revenue of 22000 from fines book sale revenues are not used for operating expenses the councilapproved town operating grant to the library board is usually used up by the end of october leaving no money for salaries benefits and other expenses in november and december this is well docu mented by the treasury department which prepares the boards financial statement at the budget committee meeting the board did not ask council for more money to cover its usual yearend deficit the treasury department uses town money during november and december to cover the boards operating deficits and reportedly submits invoices to the board for these debts no records of these transactions are placed on the boards financial state ments also the treasury department does not report these transactions to council or include them in its annual operating budget for council approval at the budget committee meeting april 13 the department did not inform council about any money owed to the town by the library board should council be informed about the way public funds are used by town departments so it can keep control of town spending margaret l may stouffville thanks for help with seniors on behalf of the seniors subcommittee of the wwtchurchstouffville library board i would like to thank gord brooks and his musical group the rascals for their enter tainment at the seniors spring fling april 28 at the wwtchurchstouffville public library all seniors who attended this event enjoyed the old time favourites mr brooks and his band performed free of charge he is available for other bookings at 905-640- 8852 our thanks also to the children of the stouffville village child care centre for light ing up our day ap and sobeys for the fruit platters and bakers who provided goodies for the event marilyn e ferguson stouffville editorial editor jim mason newsroomeconsuncom advertising retail sales manager steve kane skane9ymgcom sales manager new business development distribution dauma andrews dandrews9ymgcom classified manager ann campbell acampbett9ymgcom real estate manager mikerogerson mrogerson9ymgcom production production manager pam nichols pnlchols9ymgcom distribution distribution manager barry black bblack9ymgcom administration office manager vivian 0neil vonell9ymgcom york region events managing director debra weller dweller9ymgcom shows manager staceyallen sallen9ymgcom york region printing general manager bob dean bdean9ymgcom editorial 9052943100 fax 4941538 advertising 1940200 classified 1-800- 7433353 f 8534626 distribution 9052948244 canadian ontario prea circulations audit council board member sgrwfrbine a york region newspaper group community newspaper the stoufmlle tribune published every thursday and saturday is 8 member o the metroland printing publishing and distributing ua a whooyowned subsidiary of torstar corporation metroland is comprised of 70 community pubdcarjorts across ontariathewt regton newspaper group includes the liberal serving richmond m andthomha vaughan crten markham economist sun stourmtesurhhbunegeorgaia advocate ybrk regton business times north of the city yorkregtoncom and wc region printing iiiii 1 w c it v- uitl