 By Pepper Parr
July 28th, 2016
BURLINGTON, ON
If there was any doubt as to what is going to happen to this city in the next 20 years – that doubt was dispelled in a media release issued by the city today.
We are going to grow and we are going to do it as boldly as possible.
 Director of Planning coined the phrase: Bolder, Smarter, Beautiful. That is how she plans to lead development in the city and has the full support of city council behind her. Director of Planning for the city Mary Lou Tanner underlined that point at a recent city council meeting when she said we will build “Bold, Smart, Beautiful.”
City City Council approved the Official Plan Review reports that lay the foundation for how and where the City of Burlington will grow for the next 20 years, inspired by Burlington’s 2015-40 Strategic Plan.
Two Official Plan Review reports that will help establish how and where the City of Burlington will grow over the next 20 years were given the stamp of approval.
Those reports set out where growth will take place and the kind of growth that will take place. There are a couple of locations that are intended for one type of growth when the owners of the property want to do something different. Is that another “OMB here we come?”
“This is an important time for our city,” said Mayor Rick Goldring. “We have the opportunity to plan the type of growth we want in the locations we want to ensure we continue to be a thriving city. We will grow responsibly, with detailed planning that will result in new neighbourhoods that provide public amenity space, walkability, cycling infrastructure and public transit options, while minimizing the carbon footprint.”
Getting all that done is critical if the city is to be the kind of place the public seems to want. Sitting in on public meetings and hearing what a developer wants and noting how much they vary with what the city has set out as its model points to some stiff battles ahead.
 The Air Park learned that a developer cannot do whatever they choose to do nor can they apply their own interpretation to the regulations. It has been said that you can’t beat city hall and the Air Park has certainly learned that lesson. There are developers putting up impressive, large in scale projects that are well within what the city wants to see. There are others battling the planners at almost every yard. The city asked residents what to call the new direction for growth in Burlington. Two-thirds of the hundreds of people surveyed chose “Grow Bold” over the other option, which is “We Are All In.”
“After months of engagement with the community, City Council made the decision earlier this year, in the city’s Strategic Plan, that Burlington is going to grow,” said James Ridge, Burlington’s city manager. “With this direction, the city’s planning team has been hard at work updating the city’s Official Plan, the blueprint that defines where and how growth will happen over the next 20 years.”
Of the two reports approved by City Council, the Urban Structure and Intensification Policy Directions report contains a policy direction for an intensification framework that clearly outlines the parts of the city that are being targeted for growth and those areas that will not see a significant amount of development. Among the primary locations for intensification are the areas around Burlington’s GO stations, called mobility hubs.
The second report, Burlington’s Mobility Hubs: A Work Plan for Area-Specific Planning, addresses the need for a dedicated mobility hub planning team.
 Mobility hubs at the GO stations is close to a no brainer. Which of the four identified hubs should be first – thatis what planners will be figuring out in the immediate future. City Council approved $2.5 million in funding for four full-time staff who will work to ensure future developments around the mobility hubs reflect the city’s vision for new neighbourhoods that are walkable, offer a variety of affordable housing choices and have easy access to transit, shopping, parks and recreation centres.
At one point it looked as if Aldershot was going to be the first mobility hub for the city. They seem to have backed away from that and are looking at all four hub locations to determine which should get the focus and attention
“We have the opportunity to plan the type of growth we want in the locations we want to ensure that Burlington is a vibrant 21st-century city,” said Mary Lou Tanner, chief planner and director of Planning and Building with the city. “We are going to grow bold, which means we are going to build up, we are going to build smart and we are going to build beautiful.”
These are exciting times for the planners. Will enough of the work have been done to have something to take to the public before the next election in 27 months?
 By Pepper Parr
July 27th, 2016
BURLINGTON, ON
Well – they know how to put a damper on a vacation – don’t they?
The city wants to know what you think about the two budgets they are preparing. The Capital budget which covers the cost of the things they build and repair and the Operating budget which covers the day to day expenses for all the departments.
The average taxpayer might want to pass along the following words: “Less would be better.”
 In election years public budget meting attendance is pretty good. Candidates for office show up while everyone goes through a workbook the city prepares on what they plan on doing. Rarely do the comments made at the public meetings make into into the budget. For the most part they are a public relations exercise. Burlington’s Finance department is exceptionally good at pulling in the numbers from the different departments and then crunching those numbers and turning them over to the Leadership Team that works at cutting where they think they can cut.
“The budget is your tax dollars,” said Mayor Rick Goldring. “It is the basis for all our city services and everyone should have the opportunity to review and provide comment before the budget is approved.”
The 2017 capital and operating budgets are in the early stages of development. They are expected to go to City Council for approval in December 2016 and January 2017 respectively.
Lori Jivan, co-ordinator, budget and policy, “… encourages more people to learn about the budget and provide feedback”. “We hope to do this by surveying the residents to better understand the ways they would like to become involved in the budget process.”
A short survey is available at www.burlington.ca/budget, or through Insight Burlington and Let’s Talk Burlington until Aug. 12, 2016.
The rub for those people who follow the budget setting process is that the budget is basically determined and all but cast in stone by the time the city holds the Public Information meetings.
 Lori Jivan, co-ordinator, budget and policy, standing, explaining a piece of information in the handbook that was prepared for the meeting Any changes made to a budget get done at the Standing Committee level at which people can delegate but they aren’t allowed to ask questions of Council members
The city does have a Committee of the whole where the rules are more relaxed and there is a much more open flow of information.
If Burlington is serious about getting input from the taxpayers then hold the meetings at which the public can comment before the budgets get to the Standing Committee level.
This is one of those things the Mayor could actually show some leadership on.
The early projections for the 2016-2017 budget nudge the 4% level.
 By Pepper Parr
July 26th, 2016
BURLINGTON, ON
Canadians find it rude to talk about money – and those with a lot of it take offence when you ask just how much they have.
For the rest of us – knowing what we are going to have to shell out in the months ahead is of both interest and concern.
Burlington has a Finance department that is seen as the best in the city. It pulls together the numbers and lays it all out and is very good about making the information available.
We are sometime away from actually striking a budget for 2017/18 but the documents that lead up to that happening have for the most part been put together.
Set out below is a chart the Finance people call their Program Source summary – which means how much money each of the program areas the city operate is going to require.
Some detail, provided by the city is set out beneath the chart.
 The amount the city spent in 2015/16 in each of their program areas and what they propose to spend in 2016/17 Human Resources costs are up 2.8% primarily due to increases to union and non‐union compensation.
Operating/Minor Capital Equip. The 0.6% increase is primarily due to higher electricity rates and increased costs for parts and equipment. These increases are partially offset by lower expenses on general office equipment.
Purchased Services Decrease of 0.9% is attributable to lower external service requirements. These savings are partially offset by higher computer, software and vendor hosted solutions as well as increased snow removal expenses.
Corp. Expenditures/Provisions Increase of 6.7% is mostly due to the infrastructure renewal levy and debt charges incurred for the accelerated renewal program. Additionally debt charges for the Joseph Brant Hospital are offset from the reserve fund (offset by recovery in General Revenues & Recoveries).
Controllable Revenues Controllable Revenues are down 0.6% due to realignment of Transit Fare revenue to be in line with actual receipts, which is partially offset by improved revenues in other services.
General Revenues & Recoveries The increase of 4.2% in General Revenues & Recoveries is mostly due to increase in Hydro dividend and Federal Grants, in addition to a recovery for debt charges from Joseph Brant Hospital reserve fund.
 City manager James Ridge is guiding his team in producing the first budget that is all his – the last budget had major development done before Ridge took up his position. He gets all the credit or the blame for this one.  Director of Finance Joan Ford does a great job of providing the data and her department does a good job of collecting the taxes as well. It’s the spending side that is causing the long term financial stress. Ms Ford doesn’t determine the spending. Seeing those number in a slightly different way we see what the spending increase is year over year. From 2015/16 to 2016/17 the increase will be 4.89% Well over inflation.
 The 2015/16 budget on the left, what is going to be spent to arrive at the proposed 2016/17 budget.
 By Staff
July 25th, 2016
BURLINGTON, ON
The game was originally scheduled for July 14 but was rained out – the Bandits made it count when they finally took to the field.
 Carlos Villoria’s pinch hit, two-run single in the bottom of the ninth inning gave the Burlington Bandits a 7-6 win over the Barrie Baycats Monday night.
Villoria entered the game for Nolan Pettipiece with two outs and fell behind in the count before connecting on a 1-2 pitch from Chris Nagorski that scored Justin Gideon and Erik Werner.
Gideon led the offence with a home run, two singles, two RBI and two runs. Julian Johnson hit a solo home run, and Grant Okawa had an RBI.
Alex Nolan (1-1) went the distance and was charged with six runs on five hits, striking out 10 and walking four.
Kyle DeGrace homered twice and drove in three for the third-place Baycats, who dropped to 23-11.
Kyle Nichols added a two-run home run and Ryan Spataro singled twice and drove in a run.
Nagorski (1-2) took the loss, giving up two runs on three hits in two-thirds of an inning, striking out one. Starter Brett Lawson went six innings and allowed four runs on seven hits, striking out seven and walking one.
Sixth-place Burlington improved to 10-23.
Future games
Wednesday, July 27
Burlington at London, 7:35 p.m.
Guelph at Brantford, 8 p.m.
Thursday, July 28
Hamilton at Barrie, 7:30 p.m.
London at Burlington, 7:30 p.m.
By Pepper Parr
July 25th, 2016
BURLINGTON, ON
This document has been revised since its original publication. The addition is shown in bold below:
We are back at the ADI Development file – again.
This development was put before the public at a meeting at the Art Gallery on October 9, 2014.
Those in attendance then weren’t happy then and things never did get better.
ADI made a presentation, city planning staff gave a presentation. It was a contentious meeting.
ADI then filed their application for both zoning changes and changes to the Official Plan on property they had assembled at the intersection of Lakeshore Road and Martha Street for a structure that was to soar 28 storeys into the sky.
 A generous serving of hubris in the corporate make up. will it work for them? Part of the first design had a small portion of the building at the upper level reaching out over the property line. At the time ADI was working on a design that had the shape of the building looking a little like a billowing sail – they were very proud of this innovative and unique look. To their credit ADI has usually come up with progressive designs that accompanied the very aggressive request for significant height and density changes.
The 28 storey application got revised to 26 storeys which asked for revised Official Plan and Rezoning applications to permit a condominium building with 240 units and 423 m2 commercial space, 6 levels of underground parking, driveway access from Martha Street and retail units that would front onto Lakeshore Road.
Rosa Bustamante was the city planner on the file and she prepared the report that went to city council. It was a very solid report – the problem was that city council didn’t manage to “appreciate” the relationship between the report and the calendar. A municipality is required to respond to an application with 180 days of the filing.
The practice has always been for some elasticity in that 180 time-frame. ADI chose not to go along with the practice and filed an application to the Ontario Municipal Board (OMB) claiming the city did not respond to the applications within the time-frame – they asked the OMB to decide on what would be permitted because the city had failed to do so.
The application for the original development proposal got to city council on March 30th.
 View from the north east corner of the site. The recently acquired bungalow property is just to the right of the last pole that once held advertising material the cit forced AI to remove. The Official Plan and the zoning on the property allowed 4 storeys with an all but automatic upgrade to eight storeys which is what ward 2 Councillor Marianne Meed Ward wanted to see.
Everything left city hall and was sent along to the OMB. The manner with which the city handled the file was not one of their better moments. Council either wasn’t paying attention or didn’t want to pay attention to the calendar. The planning department failed to impress upon the Mayor the critical importance of that 180 day time frame.
Perhaps they all felt that ADI would follow the accepted practice – they have learned a hard lesson. ADI plays hardball.
While waiting for the OMB hearing to take place ADI appeared to realize that they did have a problem – several actually.
The resident’s didn’t like what they perceived to be a traffic problem with the entrance to the building and the underground garage being on Martha – it was never going to be on Lakeshore.
The other problem was the small bungalow that was going to be orphaned behind the structure. City hall wasn’t going to buy into that kind of behaviour.
 The ADI boys are building a brand and have chosen a hardball, aggressive approach to the way they do business with city hall. The Martha Street development is not h only on that has problems. wrapped around it. ADI could see the writing on the wall and so, through a series of property transfers, ADI obtained the bungalow property. They used the acquisition of that property as their argument to request a delay in the OMB hearing.
The cheek of this developer. They give the city the bums rush for a delay of a few days in dealing with a staff report and then several years later they buy a piece of property and then ask the OMB to have city staff review hat is almost a new development proposal.
Many people thought the city should have taken the position that it was a new application and asked the OMB commissioner to dismiss the ADI application. The city chose to show a level of civility that is not seen by ADI.
 The most recent design for the Nautique – planned for the Martha Lakeshore Road intersection. Legal counsel for the city asked for a few days to get instructions from Burlington’s city council who went along with the ADI request for time to upgrade their plans to incorporate the bungalow property.
The sequence of events went like this:
The OMB hearing related to this application was held on March 14, 2016. At the hearing the developer told the OMB it has bought the property at 380 Martha St., and will include that property in its condominium development application. The city’s legal team asked for an opportunity to receive instruction from Burlington City Council.
On March 15, the City of Burlington informed the Chair of the OMB that the city would not oppose the developer’s request for an adjournment.
On Wednesday, March 16 at 10 a.m., the OMB hearing resumed to formally accept the adjournment and establish a timeline for the process related to the appeals before the board.
The OMB hearing regarding the application was adjourned until Feb. 21, 2017 at 10 a.m.
The OMB required ADI to file a revised development proposal no later than June 30th. They failed to do so – the new revised application didn’t get to city hall until July 12th.
There appears to be some confusion as to how the procedural requirement set out by the OMB was to be met. City hall advised the Gazette that: “The procedural order requirement for both the submission of the revised plan and the notices resulted in a practical impossibility that was not intended by the Board or the parties. Notice of the revised plans could not be sent out until the plans were received. The plans were received late in the afternoon of June 30th, necessitating the delivery of the notice the following week. Legal counsel for the parties discussed the practical impossibility created by the procedural order and agreed that the intent of the order is to have the City get the notice to the public as soon as possible after receiving the revised plans and required information from Adi.”
 Received date is clear – document was due June 30th – th city was required to make the document public. Let us know if you find it on the city web site. Officially, the city’s position has been:
No approvals have been given for the proposed development. A summary of the city’s position is set out in the March 30th, 2105 staff report that went to Burlington City Council on March 30, 2015.
City planners are now looking at the revised development application that still wants 26 storeys.
The revised Planning application has been submitted by ADI Developments to amend the Official Plan designation and the Zoning By-law regulations for 374 and 380 Martha Street.
This proposal is to allow a 26 storey apartment building with ground floor retail on the site. The proposed building will contain 240 residential units and 423m2 of retail/commercial use. The retail uses will front onto Lakeshore Road. The entrance to the residential units will be from Martha Street.
The proposed building will contain 6 leveIs of underground parking with a total of 241 parking spaces. Driveway access into the property will be from Martha Street. The proposed development will have a floor area ratio (coverage) of approximately 11.26 (11 x).
All units will have balconies, and outdoor terraces will be provided on the 4th and 20th storeys.
 This is a bit of a stunner – they want even more density than the first proposal – twenty more parking spaces added; quite a bit more in the way of amenity space. still a very tall building. Site Summary:
Property Size: 0.17 hectares (0.4 acres)
Surrounding Land Uses:
• South: parking lot
• East: 5 storey retirement home
• North: 3 storey townhouses
• West: 1storey medical clinic
The planners will be preparing a report to Council about the revised proposal in Fall 2016.
The next municipal election will take place in October of 2018 – is city council hoping this issue will get mired in OMB paper work and not see the light of day until after the election?
Mayor Goldring is reported to be asking people what they think of a 10 storey building.
By Pepper Parr
April 25, 2016
BURLINGTON, ON
The notice that the place was going to be air conditioned certainly made it more inviting. The list of people who were to sing and play instruments was certainly worth the time. So off I went to the Second Annual Lowville Festival.
The world is populated with “first annuals” but the people who made this work last year were back and the program was solid.
Andy Griffiths on guitar with his particular play on different pieces of music; Jude Johnson who still knows how to belt them out;
 Stuart Laughton – played a very very fine guitar on Saturday at the Lowville Festival. Stuart Laughton who makes is guitar talk with his pick and managed to convince Barbara Anderson-Huget that he “was her man” as he did the Leonard Cohen cover.
Anderson-Hugest, along with Rob Missen and Lorretta are the founders of the Festival.
The evening got off to a solid start with Griffith playing “Knock on Heaven’s Door” and later doing “Sundown”.
It was a good audience – they filled more than ¾ of the space available at the Lowville United Church which, as Reverend Daryl Webber admitted later, was more than he was going to see the following Sunday.
 Jude Johnson – “Forever Young” Jude Johnson, kept reminding us that she was 62, but chose not to look like or act like a day of it. As she sang “Call out my name” many in the audience were mouthing the words along with the artist.
Stuart Laughton brings a graciousness to what he does. His music is superb but it is his small touches that makes him different.
The audience sat in hand carved pews painted a light yellow with no cushions – that didn’t seem to bother anyone.
There was a point at which Jude Johnson had the audience on their feet clapping along and applauding – Jude had the place rocking.
 Ariel Rogers singing the Northwest Passage, including a seldom heard fifth verse. The surprise of the evening was Ariel Rogers. She wasn’t on the program released earlier; it wasn’t until she explained that she was going to be singing Northwest Passage and would be adding the fifth verse that was seldom heard that the audience realized she was the wife of Stan Rogers who was lost in an aircraft fire in 1983; she was THAT Rogers.
As Ariel sang one realized that she was at the side of the man in their living room when he penned those words. As she put the sound of her voice behind those lyrics a touching sense of poetry filled the space.
Johnson fooled herself when she made it to some of the notes in a song she had never sung before; she should do “Forever Young” more often.
 Paul Novotny doing the Porter’s Hymn on his bass. His performance was the star of the evening. Seldom does one hear this quality. The stunner however was the solo performance done by Paul Novotny on his base. He pulled a sound out of that instrument that you hear wen jazz greats are playing. It was something to hear. When you see his name on a playbill – make a point of going to listen to him. Superb – best performer on the stage at Lowville on Saturday night – and there was some very very good talent in the room.
Carl Horton accompanied many of the performers on keyboard and then did a solo of “Lay Lady Lay” that was a delight to listen to.
It was a concert you shouldn’t have missed. It would appear to be evident that the Lowville Festival now has some traction and that the risk was rewarded
The opening night event at St. George’s Hall had a 60 member choir that we are told was stunning. Ward 3 Councillor John Taylor was at that event – he said he decided to attend the Saturday night concert in Lowville because he was really impressed with what he heard on Friday.
Taylor is of the belief that community created events like this deserve support from city hall. Every other ward in the city has been given funds (in the $5000 range) for this type of event.
What the founders of the Festival had in mind was getting events out of the downtown core and into the rural part of Burlington.
Their long term goal is to convince the city to let the event be held in Lowville Park where huge tents could be set up and allow for larger audiences.
Given the rate of growth year over year the audience will become too large for the Lowville church.
A community group has put on No Vacancy events for three years – the fourth year event will be taking place at the Art Gallery of Burlington where they will produce a one night show that has broken artistic boundaries and drawn audiences that surprised many.
 The audience was on there feat on more than one occasion. Jude Johnson did it when she sang Forever Young and Paul Novotny stunned the audience with his solo performance on bass. There are cultural groups being formed throughout the city that are not part of the heavily subsidized Performing Arts Centre and Art Gallery of Burlington – they need more attention – they are the “real” Burlington – not road shows that rent space in a publicly subsidized building.
By Staff
July 25, 2016
BURLINGTON, ON
That game started June 26th – got rained out and was completed Sunday – the Bandits took it by one more run than the other guys – 11-10 over the Kitchener Panthers. On the 26th, Burlington was leading 7-6 in the bottom of the sixth inning
The Bandits didn’t do as well in the second game at the Jack Couch Park.
 In Game 2, Nivins homered, doubled and singled twice in the Panthers’ 12-3 win. Nivins drove in two and scored three runs. Gordner had four hits, four runs and three RBI, Whiteside doubled and drove in four and scored once, Interisano had two hits, an RBI and run, Sean Reilly went 2-for-4 with two runs, and Terrell Alliman drove in a pair.
Entenza went five innings for the win, scattering two runs on seven hits, striking out seven without issuing a walk.
Ejoh had three hits and an RBI to lead Burlington, which dropped to 9-23. Gideon singled, doubled and scored. Derek Zwolinksi (0-2) took the loss after giving up nine runs (seven earned) on 11 hits over six innings, walking four and striking out three.
Elsewhere in the league, the Leafs took the game over the Red Sox in the 10th inning
Sean Mattson’s two-out blast in the bottom of the 10th inning gave the Toronto Maple Leafs a 14-13 win over the Brantford Red Sox Sunday afternoon.
Mattson’s home run was his second of the game and seventh of the season. He added a three-run shot in the third inning and finished with five RBI and three runs. Justin Marra hit two solo home runs and scored four runs. Grant Tamane doubled twice, singled twice and drove in two, Jonathan Solazzo had a pair of RBI, Damon Topolie had three hits and an RBI, and Ryan White went 2-for-5 with an RBI and run. Matt Blair-Brown added two hits and scored twice, and Jon Waltenbury singled once and scored twice.
Adam Marra (1-1)earned the win, giving up one run on one hit while getting the last four outs. Marra didn’t strike out or walk anyone. Mike Wagner started and yielded seven runs on eight hits over six innings, walking five and striking out two.
Benjamin Bostick hit two of the Red Sox five home runs. Bostick added a single, double, four RBI and three runs. Ricky Murray homered and drove in five, Chris Dennis and Jeff Hunt combined for two hits, two RBI and five runs, Dennon Koziol had an RBI, and Josh McCurdy had two hits and a run.
Matt Betts (3-1) took the loss, giving up two runs on one hits without registering an out in the 10th inning. Starter Riley Barr went five innings and allowed seven runs on 10 hits, striking out six and walking one.
The win was Toronto’s third straight, as the fifth-place Leafs improved to 18-16. Fourth-place Brantford fell to 19-14.
The Barrie Baycats’ bats came alive in a 10-1 win over the Guelph Royals Sunday night.
Eight different Barrie players had at least one hit, and the Baycats pounded out 18 hits overall.
Ryan Spataro had four hits and scored three runs, Kyle DeGrace went 1-for-4 with three RBI, Jordan Castaldo had three hits and three RBI, Kevin Atkinson doubled twice, singled and drove in a run, Jeff Cowan singled, doubled and scored, and Glenn Jackson added three hits, two runs and an RBI.
Emilis Guerrero (4-1) picked up the win, giving up an unearned run on two hits over seven innings, striking out eight and walking one.
AJ Mackey (2-6) took the loss for Guelph, surrendering four runs on nine hits over four innings, striking out four and walking three.
At the plate, Kyle Alarcon doubled as the Royals mustered just three hits.
Third-place Barrie improved to 23-10, and seventh-place Guelph dropped to 7-26 after its fifth straight loss.
In Hamilton the London Majors beat the Hamilton Cardinals 6-5 Sunday afternoon.
RJ Fuhr, Michael Ambrose and Byron Reichstein each had two hits and an RBI as the second-place Majors improved to 24-9. Humberto Ruiz had an RBI, and Keith Kandel singled once and scored twice.
Cory Hammond (4-1) threw 6.2 innings of one-hit ball but walked nine Hamilton hitters. Hammond was charged with five runs (one earned) and struck out five.
Byron Runyon threw 2.1 no-hit innings to preserve the win, walking three and striking out two for his second save.
Marcus Dicienzo had the Cardinals’ lone hit, a single to start the sixth.
Russ Burroughs (1-4) took the loss, giving up a run on three hits in 1.1 innings, striking out one.
Starter Robert Wilson went 3.1 innings and gave up two runs on three hits, walking nine and striking out two.
Last-place Hamilton fell to 7-27.
 By Pepper Parr
July 23, 2016
BURLINGTON, ON
Lowville residents and renowned Canadian actors, Lorretta Bailey and Eric Trask, will sit on a stage and, without paying very much attention to each other, they will read “Love Letters”, a play by celebrated playwright A. R. Gurney. It is about kids who are required to find a pen pal at summer camp. In the play, our two characters continue to write to each other throughout their eventful lives. We get their insights into what is going on with their dates, spouses, children, jobs and friends. Funny, sarcastic, witty, angry —- and then they fall in love.
Which is almost exactly what happened when Lorretta and Eric played opposite each other in a production of Saltwater Moon on a Vancouver stage many years ago .
 Two seasoned Canadian performers, Lorretta Bailey and Eric Bailey, getting comfortable with their lines as they prepare for a production of the A>R> Gurney play “Love Letters” “We did not get along” said Lorretta, “we were like oil and water”. The relationship between the actor and the actress was tempestuous for the run of the play. It was three years after the production that one wrote the other – neither will say who wrote the first letter – but today they are a team who have done impressive work on stages across the country.
Lorretta has the higher profile – she played a lead role in Les Miserables for year and a half while Eric will tell you that he is the “king of the understudy” who never had to actually go on stage and do the show. “I was understudy for the magnificent Doug Campbell who was performing in A Man for all Seasons” at Stratford.
Lorretta played the Mother of Terry Fox in the Marathon of Hope, a folk musical about the iconic journey of Terry Fox’s run across Canada to raise money for cancer research. It was a Theatre Sheridan production with seven Sheridan alumni in the cast. Bailey is a Sheridan graduate.
Between the two of them, Eric and Lorretta have performed separately in hundreds of productions: Brigadoon, Rosencrantz and Guildenstern and Hanna’s Suitcase, a production that left a deep emotional mark on Eric who was in the original performance at the Young People’s Theatre and in the second run of the play and then the tour across Canada.
The couple that have been a part of Canadian theatre all of their professional lives; Eric came out of Ontario while Lorretta was a Canadian prairie girl – Lethbridge Alberta
Lorretta has worked in the Middle East where she entertained troops in the Golan Heights.
 Rehearsing “Love letters” in th garden o their Lowville Home. Lorretta Bailey and Eric Trask prepare for their Sunday performance at the Lowville United church In conversation the two are past that “oil and water” stage but they are very much two different people fully immersed in theatre who have had their big moments. What comes through is the commitment to theatre – it is not just the business that feeds them – it is what they are, it is what they do and on Sunday afternoon the two will sit side by side on a stage and read letters from the play “Love Letters” – the deftly-wrought dialogue about everything from the joys of writing to depression and divorce is what makes the play a favorite among big-name actors — with pairings that have included Elizabeth Taylor and James Earl Jones and, in Broadway revival, Mia Farrow and Brian Dennehy — is that the lines are not meant to be memorized. The staging is sparse, and the actors read off the page.
If you decide to take in the play – be ready for a sterling performance from two people that know theatre.
Sunday afternoon at 3:00 pm at the Lowville United Church on Guelph Line at Britannia Road; the play is th closing event of the second annual Lowville Festival.
By Staff
July 23, 2016
BURLINGTON, ON
Kitchener Panthers beat Brantford Red Sox 10-4 Friday night for their fifth straight win.
 Hamilton Cardinals were beaten by Toronto Maple Leafs in a 9-5 road win.
The London Majors hung on for an 8-5 win over the Guelph Royals Friday night.
The Burlington Bandit bats were idle.
Future games
Saturday, July 23
Toronto at Burlington, 1 p.m.
London at Guelph, 7:30 p.m.
Barrie at Brantford, 8 p.m.
Sunday, July 24
Brantford at Toronto, 2 p.m.
London at Hamilton, 2 p.m.
Guelph at Barrie, 7 p.m.
Burlington at Kitchener, 7 p.m.
 By Staff
July 22, 2106
BURLINGTON, ON
Change in the location of a Lowville Festival event.
Please note that due to the hot weather Saturdays DuffelBags workshop at 2:00 and the Performance of Robin Hood at 3:00 performance will be moved to the Lowville United Church… its air conditioned there.
 By Staff
July 22nd, 2016
BURLINGTON, ON
Bell School Line will be closed to traffic between Derry Road and Britannia Road from Thursday, July 28 at 7 a.m. to Saturday, July 30 at 7 p.m. for Union Gas construction activities.
Please follow detour routes.
1. From the north, traffic will be directed east on Derry Road to Tremaine Road, then south to Britannia Road and west to Bell School Line.
2. From the south, traffic will be directed east on Britannia Road to Tremaine Road then north to Derry Road and west to Bell School Line.
 For more information, please contact:
Susan Cudahy, Community Liaison, Union Gas Limited
Phone: 289-237-0068 – scudahy@uniongas.com
 By Staff
July 22, 2106
BURLINGTON, ON
Halton Regional Police have arrested and charged a Halton Paramedic in relation to an incident which occurred inside an ambulance in October 2015.
 wer Tad Nelson, 57yrs of Dundas is charged with Sexual Assault and Voyeurism contrary to the Criminal Code in relation to an incident involving an adult female patient. Nelson will appear in Milton bail court on July 22nd, 2016.
If anyone has any additional information they are asked to contact Detective Constable Matt Cunnington at 905-465-8978 or Detective Constable Alanda Prescod at 905-465-8977 of the Halton Regional Police Child Abuse and Sexual Assault Unit or Crime Stoppers at 1-800-222-8477 (TIPS), or through the web at www.haltoncrimestoppers.com, or by texting “Tip201” with your message to 274637 (crimes).
These things do have to be reported – there are a lot of men and women who do the very hard, gut wrenching work inside an ambulance as it races to a hospital. This incident should not reflect on the really good people who work as paramedics
 By Staff
July 22, 2016
BURLINGTON, ON
The Barrie Baycats stayed hot, beating the Burlington Bandits 7-5 Thursday night for their sixth straight victory.
Kyle Nichols went 2-for-4 with three RBI, and Jeremy Walker had two hits and two RBI. Kyle DeGrace singled twice and scored twice while driving in a run, and Jeff Cowan singled, doubled and scored once.
Adam Rowe (2-0) went six innings for the win, allowing five runs on 10 hits, striking out two and walking one. Chris Nagorski was perfect over 1.2 innings and struck out three for his fourth save of the season.
 Brad McQuinn had two hits and two RBI to lead the Bandits. Adam Odd singled twice and drove in a run, while John Whaley and Grant Okawa each had an RBI.
Ryan Beckett (2-5) took the loss, giving up six runs on nine hits over five innings, walking eight and striking out one.
Second-place Barrie improved to 22-9, and sixth-place Burlington fell to 8-21.
Elsewhere in the league the Kitchener Panthers beat the Hamilton Cardinals in slugfest.
The runs came in bunches Thursday night in Kitchener as the Panthers beat the Hamilton Cardinals 20-12. Kitchener trailed 6-0 after two innings but scored seven in the third and eighth in the fourth to pull away.
Sean Reilly hit a grand slam to lead the Panthers. His 13th home run of the season sparked Kitchener’s third inning comeback.
Tanner Nivins went 2-for-5 with a home run, three RBI and two runs, Frank Camilo Morejon hit his second home run as and drove in four. He added two singles and scored three runs. David Whiteside went 4-for-5 with two RBI and three runs, Terrell Alliman had an RBI and three runs, Mike Andrulis drove in a run and Luke Baker had three hits, three runs and two RBI.
Andrew Simonetti (1-1) picked up the win, allowing five runs on seven hits in three innings of relief. He struck out two and walked one.
Starter Eric Hall lasted 1.2 innings and gave up six runs on six hits, striking out two and walking one.
The first-place Panthers improved to 24-7 with their fourth straight victory.
 For Hamilton, Liam Wilson had a home run, double, two RBI and four runs. Dre Celestijn singled and hit a solo home run while scoring three times. TJ Baker singled and homered and drove in three, Tyler Hardie had three hits and two RBI, Callum Murphy had two RBI and David Vanderby drove in a run.
Russ Burroughs (1-3) took the loss, allowing four runs on one hit with two walks in an inning. He didn’t strike out a batter. Kyle Adoranti started and went 2.1 innings, giving up seven runs on five hits with three walks and no strikeouts.
Last-place Hamilton fell to 7-25.
Future games
Friday, July 22
Toronto at Hamilton, 7:30 p.m.
Guelph at London, 7:35 p.m.
Kitchener at Brantford, 8 p.m.
By Pepper Parr
July 22, 2016
BURLINGTON, ON
It’s on!
 Whatever papers have to be signed – are signed and the event will start at between 8-8:15 p.m. at Spencer Smith Park with introductory remarks prior to the broadcast of the final Tragically Hip concert that will begin at 8:30 p.m., with the broadcast coming in live from Kingston courtesy of the CBC who have waived their licensing rights.
Putting this opportunity together was done in a matter of days with a lot of phone calls – Ward 2 Councillor Mead Ward managed to get a motion through council that was approved on a 6-1 vote.
The motion asked:
That City Council authorize matching funds up to $12,500 from the Tax Rate Stabilization Fund to assist with funding the live CBC rebroadcast of the Tragically Hip concert, Aug. 20, in Spencer Smith Park
Ward 1 Councillor Rick Craven decided the event was just a nice to have and voted against it. He missed the opportunity to ask if shuttle buses could be arranged for all those good Aldershot people to get to the Park and
 It’s just a nice to have said the Councillor when he voted against the city chipping in for the cost of bringing in the Tragically Hip concert live from Kingston. enjoy the evening. The Gazette has never understood why the Council member can’t seem to get behind really good community events. If you see him attending the event – do let us know.
An ad hoc committee has been struck and will meet early in August, 12+ members including SET Team, Tourism Burlington, Sound of Music Festival, local citizens and representatives from two charities and Halton Regional Police Services
The team has interest from both The Halton Chapter of Canadian Cancer Services (with a focus on disease prevention) and the Joseph Brant Foundation (local cancer care clinic)
A site is being set up for community/corporate donations. We will send you the link as soon as they have it set up.
All kinds of people have asked if they can donate time and energy as volunteers. Interested parties can contact: mcoletteertel@hotmail.com
The screening was made possible after the Burlington Downtown Business Association (BDBA) put money on the table to kick-start funding for the event, and sought a matching contribution from the city of Burlington. City council supported a motion to contribute to the costs of the event. Donations of cash are still being sought from the community to cover costs of screens, speakers, projectors and security. Please consider making a donation.
 It will be a bitter sweet nice for the Tragically Hip as they close out their final performance in a live CBC broadcast across the country. Bring a chair and a blanket and a handkerchief – it is going to be a very emotional evening. “This is an event of national significance that was looking for a place to happen in Burlington. Many residents reached out to me and said ‘We have to be part of this,’” said Meed Ward. “The Hip is the soundtrack of Canada. Many of us can track significant events in our lives by what Hip song we were listening to at the time. I’m grateful my council colleagues supported the funding request to make it happen.”
This is a rain or shine, alcohol-free and family friendly celebration. Residents are asked to bring their own lawn chairs or blankets to sit on.
The potential audience for this could be enormous. Will people come in from Oakville, will the GO trains be filled?
Hamilton is holding its own event – the location they have chosen doesn’t compare to what Burlington has.
An adhoc committee has been created – they will meet early in August, – 12+ members including SET Team, Tourism Burlington, Sound of Music Festival, local citizens and representatives from two charities and Halton Regional Police Services
 McMahon the Minister now has a chance to give Burlington a great big thank you for electing her to office – send money. Tourism Burlington leading on funding request to Tourism Ontario. The shiny new Minister of Tourism just happens to be our own gracious Eleanor McMahon who one hopes will shower some cash on the city that sent her to Queen’s Park. The Ministry must have a piggy bank somewhere in one of the offices.
 By Pepper Parr
July 22, 2016
BURLINGTON, ON
He is back!
 James B. (Le Grand Fromage) That Stay Frosty Guy – who has upgraded his stage name to James B. (Le Grand Fromage)
A shameless self-promoter who does put together pretty decent networking session out of which he appears to earn a living.
His Social Fusion Network is back up and running. He asks: If you want free b2b networking note the date August 25th, 5:00 pm at the Beaver & Bulldog, 2020 Lakeshore Road, – the Waterfront Hotel.
To date he has 48 people going; he usually draws close to 100.
 It’s all about networking. Just bring yourself (hey, why not invite a colleague?) some cash for the venue (drinks, parking etc.) your business cards and best smile and you’re all set!
The main website >> https://SocialFusionNetwork.com
Follow him on Twitter >> https://twitter.com/socialfusionnet
Like him on Facebook >> https://www.facebook.com/socialfusionnetwork/
Burchill said that if I published this for him – he would buy me a pony. He lied – but he is a likable fellow and if you are new to Burlington – the network is a good place to meet people.
By Staff
July 22nd, 2016
BURLINGTON, ON
These events will take place at the Burlington Musical Centre in Central Park just behind the band stand.
The Summer Concert series for August is set out below so you can plan some of your summer fun.
 Little Peter and the Elegants Wednesday, August 3 – Little Peter and the Elegants
An eight piece band that recreates the rock and roll sensations from the 1950s and 1960s.
Sunday, August 7 – Euba
The spotlight is on the tuba quartet, sure to surprise and please the most eager music enthusiasts with their musical presentation.
Wednesday, August 10 – Vili Verhovsek
A powerhouse singer from Hamilton, Ontario, Vili sings all the vintage favourites from the 1950s and 1960s – Elvis, Orbison, Sinatra.
Sunday, August 14 – Burlington Concert Band
 Burlington Concert Band – in full flight. Summer Concerts finale with the Burlington Concert Band as they perform Broadway, classical and contemporary selections.
 By Staff
July 22, 2016
BURLINGTON, ON
DuffleBag Theatre will take over the Lowville School house Saturday afternoon for a fun-filled and hilarious interactive storytelling.
They’ve been doing this since 1992, and now feel they can call themselves the “Nearly World Famous” DuffleBag Theatre.
The DuffleBag actors, there will be four of them on the stage, begin retelling an adaptation of a well known fairy tale that is full of wit and humour. Just when the audience becomes enthralled by the story – a twist is created!
 These four DuffelBag actors will from the core of the production – other actors will be drawn from the audience. People from the audience are asked to come up on stage and join in the action. At this point the play becomes an unpredictable performance and a hilarious experience for all ages and a truly unique interactive theatrical experience where the dream of living a fairy tale actually does come true!
The program this Saturday afternoon begin at 2:00 pm with a workshop for those who want to learn something about being on the stage and developing ideas and learning xxx
After the workshop – the “production” begins. DuffleBag has always been known for their ability to adapt and change things quickly. They will be doing Robin Hood and given that there is all kinds of great outdoor space they just might move part of the production outdoors.
Robin Hood and his merry band of men did hide out in Sherwood Forest didn’t they?
Expect the unexpected from this unique interactive production.
Where did the name DuffelBag come from? The theatre company uses duffel bags to carry all the costumes and props to each of their events.
Great entertainment for the whole family in a wonderful rural setting. There is more to Burlington than Spencer Smith Park.
The Festival is using the Snap’d service for ticket sales. Tickets are available on line
Saturday, July 23; 2:00pm
Workshop for Children with Dufflebag Theatre Company
Old Lowville Schoolhouse
$25 for both workshop & show
3:00pm
Robin Hood by Dufflebag Theatre
Old Lowville Schoolhouse
$15
 By Pepper Parr
July 21st, 2016
BURLINGTON, ON
Trees are technology said a participant at the Town Hall meeting on Climate Change that Oakville North Burlington MP Pam Damoff held last night.
 These trees came down on Pearl Street – nothing has gone up to replace them. That comment raised a couple of eyebrows until Damoff piped up with – “I can buy into that.”
“I had senior who explained to me that she had three trees taken down because they had been infected with the Emerald Ash Bore (EAB). The result was that the shade those elm trees proved on one side of her building meant she needed to buy an air conditioner to keep her home cool.
“That senior was on a fixed income and expenses like this were not a part of the budget she lived within. The additional electricity cost is something else she has to deal with.”
The air conditioner is a technology that senior has to pay for – the trees were keeping her house cool and as far as the senior was concerned that was technology enough for her.
Trees are technology.
By Staff
July 21, 2016
BURLINGTON, ON
 Union Gas is running a 40 inch line right across the top or the city. Appleby Line will be closed to traffic between Derry Road and Britannia Road from Friday, July 22 at 6 p.m. to Sunday, July 24 at 7 p.m. for Union Gas construction activities.
Please follow detour routes.
Vehicles:
1. From the north, traffic will be directed east on Derry Road to Tremaine Road, then south to Britannia Road and west to Appleby Line.
2. From the south, traffic will be directed east on Britannia Road to Tremaine Road then north to Derry Road and west to Appleby Line.
Trucks:
1. From the north, traffic will be directed east on Derry Road to Regional Road 25, then south to Dundas Street and west to Appleby Line.
2. From the south, traffic will be directed east on Dundas Street to Regional Road 25 then north to Derry Road and west to Appleby Line.
By Pepper Parr
July 21, 2016
BURLINGTON, ON
It was more than a local town hall meeting to get people to think and act on climate change.
The meeting Oakville North Burlington MP Pam Damoff held at Tansley Woods Community centre Wednesday evening was part of a Canada wide program the federal government has put in place to hear what Canadians think and to learn just how much they are prepared to actually do individually to change the climate.
It didn’t sound like an awful lot at the Tansley Woods meeting
 It was an audience that came to listen and then ask questions. Is this the way these meetings are going to take place across the country? Are we ready to make a real change – or will it be made for us? Damoff knew she was speaking to the deeply converted and ensured that the message would be clear by having the lead person from both the Oakville and the Burlington Green associations at the table with her.
Damoff pretty much stuck to the script that had been prepared – asking people what they wanted to do and explaining that this wasn’t a problem the government was going to solve for them.
 MP Pam Damoff, listening to people who attended the Town Hall meeting on Climate Change. Her son Fraser is on the right. The key word that seemed to come up again and again was “adapt”. Climate change is here – and we certainly know that in Burlington where 191 mm of rain was dumped on the city in less than 12 hours and 300 homes were badly flooded in 2014.
All the creeks in the east end of the city broke their banks which brought about an incredible million dollar fund raising event within 100 days to cover some of the costs of repairing those 300 homes.
 A Burlington Plaza flooded during the August 2014 rain storm. Burlington has tasted climate change – for those that experienced the understanding is very deep. It is the rest of the community that needs to decide what it wants to do about a change that is vital if we are to survive. And so far Canada isn’t doing all that well.
The media release Damoff handed out said: Global temperatures have increased by about .85 degrees Celsius since 1880; Canada has warmed at twice the global average with Canada’s north warming even faster.
Last December Canada joined 195 countries who adopted the Paris Agreement which saw countries commit to limiting the global average temperature rise to 1.5 degrees Celsius in an attempt to avoid the worst effects of climate change.
 CJ Martin asking a question at the Climate Change Town Hall meeting at Tansley Woods When asked how many people attending the meeting drove to the location in a car by themselves – most of the hands in the room were raised. The MP, with a staff of four in her constituency office, apparently all arrived in different cars.
It was justified by there not being acceptable public transit. Some people did car pool.
There were some sterling examples of what can be done. A young mother mentioned the 0 household waste plan she has put in place at her home. We want to look at just how one can do that.
Vince Fiorito, a well-known environmental advocate suggested that with global warning Canada will be able to grow new and different crops in parts of northern Canada that have given us mineral resources and not much more. Fiorito suggested parts of Canada could become a banana belt. It clearly wasn’t his best night.
 People from several communities took part in the Q&A part of the meeting. The people behind the Leaf movement were in the room advocating that the fossil fuels be left in the ground and that we pour subsidies into wind, solar and geo thermal industries.
There were numerous people with their own angles and ideas. Fraser Damoff, the MP’s son wanted to see the federal subsidies given to many in the energy industry done away with. “Stop the subsidies and let them fight it out in the market place where the most effective solution will come out on top” advised Fraser Damoff.
In what was a very Canadian meeting – meaning it was polite, people were respectful of each other and Damoff didn’t cut anyone off – ran longer than was expected.
The interest was certainly there – but then a lot of people drove home, by themselves, in their own cars.
 The audience was mixed, diverse and attentive. Still a lot of work to be done – and more to say on this meeting.
Burlington MP Karina Gould will be hold her Town Hall meeting August 4th. The federal government has its members of parliament out in the field with their ears wide open. Been a long time since we’ve seen that kind of government behavior. They are listening – are we speaking?
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