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6 stoujjville suntribune thursday feb 1 2007 suntnbune 6290 main st stouffville0nl4a7z5 wwwyorkregioncom publisher ian proudfoot eonor in chief debora kelly business manager robert lazurko director interactive media technology john futhey director advertising distribution barry black director circulation systems lynn pashko marketingpartnerships director debra welter york region printing general manager bob dean editorial boom town growing concern try and find a person in whitchurch- stouffville who doesnt think growth should be slowed down in this munici pality unless youre talking within the devel opment community the people who make money off growth forget it growth is the no 1 issue with resi dents new and old local residents have dealt with growth in the past one of stouffvilles strengths has been its ability to assimilate new comers a couple of hundred a year were wel comed with open arms during the many building booms this town has experi enced over the last 40 years now those numbers are in the thou sands not hundreds the 2005 population of 24343 was to rise to 32343 by 2008 42343 by 2013 and 53321 by 2021 five years later that total would be 62321 now we learn those numbers can be been thrown out they were too modest now 3000 residents will be moving to stouffville annually up from 1800 in ear lier projections made in 2004 thats small city status not small town those are just estimates and mere numbers on paper the reality for local residents is sitting in traffic needlessly idling while waiting for cars to snake along main street the only eastwest thoroughfare through stouffville the reality is driving west to hwy 48 then doubling back to enter the walmart power centre south of ringwood and this reality has been achieved with only a splash of the growth that will ascend on this town councillors have privately whispered the town was not prepared for the boom either with infrastructure or staffing now whitchurchstouffville council is looking at the situation theres the chicken and egg question of who is responsible the 200306 edition of town council or its predecessors to the taxpayer trying to navigate stouffvilles streets it doesnt matter fixing the problem learning from it and moving on are important its good to hear councillors wonder out loud if this town is ready for the growth it has approved theyll be the ones getting phone calls when children cant get into swimming lessons or minor hockey or commuters cant get out of town in a reasonable time now its time to do something about it where still possible even m can give separate checks and they dont expect tips mabel you had i d dwy have tea or coffee who had jviuch my bwckforest dont forget tax who had jv only got a fifty i sujptosjne letters to the editor is stouffville outgrowing its hydro after just having paid my reconciliation hydro bill which was an exorbitant amount we had yet another power outage friday this would be the third this month alone albeit one of the outages was announced by the hydro one before it took place giving us a chance to make necessary preparations given the fact this is the coldest month of the year i would just like to know where the problem lies with the hydro in stouffville for many like myself it is simply an inconve nience but for the sick and elderly it is much more i am aware of the telephone number to report if the outage is indeed causing an emergency situa tion but how many people know who they can call for help i realize when the power is out we are not pay ing for it but how about a little rebate on our hydro bills for the inconvenience i also realize we should be grateful for having any hydro but it just seems the oudying areas of whitchurchstouffville seldom suffer hydro short ages is stouffville perhaps outgrowing itself djones stouffville woolley was talk of water cooler the news broke thafopp commissioner julian fantino is pulling the plug on sgt cam woolleys descriptive bad drivers you know something it is sad but you have to laugh in disgust at these people who just dont 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 6290 main st stouffville l4a 1g7 email jmasonyrngcom or fax 9056408778 get it most of us spend hardearned dollars to keep our vehicles mechanically sound and safe we adhere to the rules of the road mr fantino needs to focus on stiffer penalties for those who break the law and think they can get away with it especially repeat offenders sgt woolleys comments and onsite partici pation during the holiday weekend blitzes creat ed water cooler talk people commented on what he said how stu pid some people are and you know what maybe this talk inadvertentiy was overheard by a coworker who just may be one of those idiots trying to get away with an unsafe car or reckless driving if it can change the habits of one driver isnt it worth it mr fantino dont focus on what your offers can do but rather what you can do to change the attitude of the courts do you know how many people listened to cam woolley to see how stupid people really are for those people who are not getting the mes- sage a hard tactic needs to be implemented cynthia hiatt stouffville off the top with jim mason hug a teenager stouffville he or she needs it one look said it all it was the look on the teenagers on the front page of last thursdays sun- tribune it was the same look on the face of this communitys youth population as it went about its week walking home from school putting up a brave front at its parttime jobs and sporting events sombre pale fatigued in every which way they were the friends of morgan fitzgerald one of five lads killed in a two- vehicle crash near meaford nearly two weeks ago they were devastated some still are who could blame them who would want to be in their nikes they were to be welcoming morgan back to stouffville district secondary school this week not mourning his death their look has been seen too often in this community from the early 1980s into the 90s it seemed as if one young person a year was taken from wwtchurchstouffville usu ally via a car crash the small towns only high school braced itself parents with the already unenviable job of raising teenagers were forced to explain lifes ultimate mystery why grandparents die grandchildren shouldnt but they do too often in an area of the province where highway driving is both a fact of life and the ultimate symbol of freedom for many teenagers our youngsters will get through it bruised and troubled theyve always been our societal out casts with their unique wardrobe hair and music something bad happens and theyre the first to get blamed not now now they need our help our love they need a hug from this communi ty to let them know we care jim mason is editor of the sun- tribune letters policy thesuntlibune welcomes your letters all submissions must be less than 400 words and must include a daytime telephone number name and address the suntribunereservcs the right to publish or not publish and to edit for clarity and space letters to the editor the suntribune stouffville on l4a7z5 jmasonyrngcom editorial editor jim mason jniasonyrmgcom interactive media marketing advertising manager dawna andrews dandrewsyrmgcom advertising retail manager staceyallen sallenyrmgcom classified manager ann campbell acampbellyrmgcom assistant classified manager bonnie rondeau brondeauyrmgcom new business development manager mike rogerson mrogersonyrmgcom production team leader sherry day sdayyrmgcom ontario press council ijjjb accredit fdsflgj at credited m canadian ctatubtiofts audit board ccab editorial 9056402612 fax9052941583 advertising 9056402612 classified 18007433353 fax 9052941538 distribution 9056402612 suntnbune v a york region media group community newspaper the suntribune published every thursday and saturday is a division of the metroiand media group ltd a whollyowned subsidiary of torstar corporation metroiand is comprised of 100 community publications across ontario the york region newspaper group includes the liberal serving richmond hill and thomhill vaughan citizen the erabanner newmarketaurora markham economist sun georgina advocate york region business times north of the city yorkregioncom and york region printing