 REVISED
By Pepper Parr
BURLINGTON, ON. June 28, 2013. I didn’t see Rick Wilson out on the pier this afternoon with a telescope but there were around 100 people who were up on the observation deck or crowded around the rail of the pier watching the five tall ships manoeuver and getting in position to pass through the canal, under the lift bridge and into Burlington Bay where they were to sail around the bay letting people on both the Hamilton side and the Burlington side see these majestic vessels catch the light winds before they tie up at the various piers they have been given for the duration of their stay in Hamilton.
Wilson, a history buff who will, if you let him, tell you more than you ever wanted to know about the War of 1812 battle that took place on the lake just off the foot of Brant Street, or so some believe, that changed the outcome of the War of 1812 that lasted three years.
 They weren’t easy to see but they were certainly out there; five tall ships lining up to pass through the canal and into Burlington Bay where they will tie up in Hamilton for the weekend. Today, there were five tall ships, easing their way into the canal. There were supposed to be six – no idea where that last one got to – but the five were out there on the lake. Many wondered why the ships didn’t come in closer to the pier – wind was not all that good and they had to be far enough out on the lake to be able to line up in procession to get through the canal.
 The public gets some value from their $15 million pier (true cost is going to be $20 million) as they watch Tall Ships prepare to sail into Burlington Bay. It was expected they would all drop their sails as the went through the canal but at least one went through with all their rigging up.
 The tallest mast on this ship had to have a hinge placed on it so it could clear the lift bridge that lets her into Burlington Bay. The tallest of the ships, the Solandet, had to put a hinge on part of their tallest mast – it was just a little too high to pass underneath the lift bridge safely.
The sky was a little overcast, weather muggy, rain off and on – not the best weather in which to see these ships. They will be in Hamilton Friday through to Sunday. Tours are available.
The expectation is that all the ships will sail out of Burlington Bay at the same time. Exactly when that will happen isn’t all that clear.
There are more than a dozen ships taking part in what is billed as Tall Ships 1812 Tour with different ships showing up at different ports. St. Catharines, Dalhousie are among those that will be visited.
 The Niagara, one of six Tall Ships that will tie up in Hamilton after taking part in a sail past around Burlington Bat. None of this matters to Rick Wilson, his mission, driven by his passion is to have a plaque set up on the Burlington Heights to replace the one that everyone now agrees is just plain wrong.
 Here they come. Slip over to the links and read that tale of the role British ships sailing off Burlington played in winning the War of 1812 where ships fired cannon balls and iron shot at each other. For those who dive as a hobby – there are cannon balls to be found at the bottom of Lake Ontario –possibly right off the front of Spencer Smith Park.
Our colleague chose to catch the ships as the passed through the canal. She made a better choice than we did.
Margaret Lindsay Holton has written for us in the past. Some of her columns can be seen at:Terra Greenhouses and Are you nuts?
Tall Ships passed through the Burlington Canal under the Skyway Bridge mid-afternoon on Friday, June 28th.
Black and white photo montages by Margaret Lindsay Holton – Mid-career artist and author from the Golden Horseshoe Region of Ontario, Canada.
 Passing through modern history. 
 By Pepper Parr
BURLINGTON, ON. June 26, 2013. Economic development in the city has stalled. Part of the reason is that no one knows how to give the people who are supposed to make economic development happen the enema they so badly need. Burlington hasn’t seen a piece of good economic news for some time.
That may change but it won’t be because the Economic Development Corporation has done anything. They have yet to get past setting out their governance standards and as a result have some members around the table more focused on their individual economic interests rather than those of the community at large.
Serving on the board of an economic development corporation means you leave your personal or employer related interests outside the room; that apparently is not yet the case in Burlington.
 Head of the Economic development Corporation in Burlington, Kyle Benham hasn’t move the dial very much during his tenure. Quite why the city’s banker or the local cable company are on that board is beyond me. The banker’s marching orders are to make sure they don’t lose the city banking business and the cable company wants to be sure it gets the brownie points it needs to maintain the federal government license they have to operate their business.
There are more than a couple of people on that Board who know what has to be done and in the fullness of time they will succeed in totally reorganizing the Burlington Economic Development Corporation and getting it to the point where it is effective and fully focused on the job that has to be done.
That process seems to be taking quite a bit of time. There are some timelines the most significant of which is the AGM next April at which time expect to see a new chair in place.
 Burlington city manager Jeff Fielding came to us from London, Ontario where he was able to maintain development growth. Here he is seen at a London Council meeting where he moved things along rather smartly. He’s in the process of doing the same thing in Burlington. Fielding sits on the BEDC board. The city can`t afford to continue experiencing the current state of economic affairs. City manager Jeff Fielding advised council recently that he expect ICI (Industrial, Commercial, Institutional) tax revenue to be less in 2013 than it was in 2012; not a sustainable situation for the city.
Currently the Economic Development Corporation is a stand-alone operation that gets some of its funding from the city but had to do a significant amount of funding on its own – at which they did rather well by the way, but that funding work took the focus off the really important stuff – getting new business into Burlington.
The governance discussion is believed to be revolving around dissolving the existing structure and bringing economic development back into city hall, where it used to be when Don Baxter headed up that work. He is now a consultant working with corporate clients in the Fort McMurray, Alberta part of the country as well as serving on the Burlington Performing Arts Centre.
 Parking lot # 3 on the corner of Caroline and John Street will be re-developed as a structure that has several levels of public parking. The city will look for an organization to partner with on this. Is there revenue is selling the naming rights to the building? The city for its part is pushing on a number of levels. They have decided to work towards getting better use out of parking lots 3, 7 and 8. The thinking is that the city would look for a partner to build an above ground parking lot on #3, at the corner of John and Caroline, that will serve the shopping plaza just north of Caroline – which should soon be given a major make-over, as well as some of the overflow from Brant Street.
The MedicaOne project, on the corner of Caroline and John Street, which expects to break ground soon will have some underground parking – something in the order of 100 spaces but that will get used by the traffic to the medical offices and the condo owners in that project.
 Situated on the corner of Caroline and Locust any structure on this lot would certainly crowd the Different Drummer bookstore. Lot 8, on Caroline immediately west of Brant, snuggled up to the Different Drummer bookstore and lot 7, on Locust south of Caroline will be made “marketing ready” with the city looking for potential partners. There is a property right beside lot # 7, to the south, that is up for sale and could become part of a land assembly.
 Lot 8 on Locust Street is closest to city hall. It serves people who meet at the Upper Canada location where Regus has been located for years. The city is hoping that if it puts its property in play developers will take up the opportunity and do some building. The problem is that there has in the past been no one at the BEDC that knows how to bring players to the table and close deals. That is a very specialized skill; a combination of hustle, diplomacy and the capacity to schmooze, bundled up with a person who has contacts or knows how to make contacts. There have been some new people added to the BEDC staff but that corporation has chosen not to say anything about these new additions. Not a good sign.
The city also has to make a major decision as to what it wants to do about its own space requirements. The lease it has on the space in the Simms building, right across the street from city hall, is due for renewal – does the city continue to rent or do they build and own?
 Does the city expand on the space it has on Brant Street by adding to the back of the building or putting office space on Civic Square? Or is there a new city hall in the cards for us? Councillor Jack Dennison, who certainly knows about this kind of stuff, believes the city could have paid for an addition to city hall with the money they have paid in rent to the owners of the Simms building.
The city could, some think, build onto the back of the existing building or perhaps build into the current Civic Square space. Or – and this would seem to be the preference of city manager Jeff Fielding, the city could build a brand new structure that would be designed for the city that is now a much different place than it was when city hall was first built.
Parking lots 4 and 5 on Brant and John Streets get all kinds of attention when conversations like this take place.
 The last time Council took part in a ground-breaking event it was for a park in the Alton Village part of town. No tax revenue there. What we are seeing is all kinds of buzz and chatter but there haven’t been any announcements. The property that International Harvest is currently located on at Guelph Line and Harvester, will be vacated soon as they move their operation to Hamilton. We are not only not bringing in new business but we are losing the good ones we had.
This situation has been ongoing for some time – more than a year. Changes needs to be made when there is a situation that has our ICI tax revenue facing negative growth relative to last year.
 By Pepper Parr
BURLINGTON, ON. June 26, 2013. There is usually a better way – we often can`t see it because we don`t want to see it. Our stubbornness gets in the way. My Mother used to say to me, when I was about to make a fool of myself again: I see you are going to cut off your nose to spite your face.” It took many years for me to fully understand what she was trying to teach me.
Those people who attended that meeting in a barn hayloft on Bell School Line sat and listened to Vince Rossi, owner of the Burlington Air Park as he said time and again that he would “take it under advisement” whenever people asked him to do something.
To be fair to Rossi – there were some pretty stupid asks but the point was clear to everyone; Vince Rossi isn’t going to do a damn thing unless he is forced to. Many thought the meeting was a waste of time before it was held and are doing the “I told you so” thing. But the meeting had to be held; the community had to show that it would come to the table and listen.
 Vince Rossi, owner of the Burlington Air PArk is keeping pretty good political company. He has Mississauga Mayor Hazel McCallion in his corner as well as Burlington Ward 6 Council member Blair Lancaster. The ward residents are opposed to the airport expansion. What they heard was a man on a mission determined to make his dream come true and if the property of some people is destroyed, well that’s the cost of progress. Rossi put it rather crudely when he said to one property owner that if they didn’t want airport problems they shouldn’t have bought property beside an airport. Problem with that response was that property owner was there before the airport.
This situation could be handled differently. There is another small airport in Tottenham, south of Barrie just off the 400 highway. They too are expanding and they too are bringing in landfill.
Known as the Volk Aerodrome on Hwy 9 is under new ownership, Tottenham Airfield Corporation owned by Toronto businessman John Bailey.
Bailey brought in a communications group that sends out information. The airport corporation said they were doing “An enhancement of the existing airfield and once a draft master plan has been completed – expected later this year – it will be shared with the local community.”
The news release went on to say: “We believe there is a tremendous potential to provide high quality aviation services at a small local airfield, particularly with the planned closing of the Buttonville Airport in Markham, the increased interest in recreational flying, and the increase in tourism and development in the Simcoe area.”
The Volk Aerodrome has been the subject of intense opposition from its neighbours who have pleaded with the Town to stop the fill operation that had been taking place over the past few months. Growing volumes of truck traffic in and out of the site caught the attention of the Ministry of Transportation which suspended entrance permits until several conditions were implemented.
Volk put together a contractual arrangement with the Green Soils group of companies. Green Soils is highly respected and specializes in the movement and remediation of soil. (…) with this single-source supplier arrangement, a strong level of control can be placed on the amount and quality of soils entering the site, as well as all trucking activity.”
Volk has set up a telephone hotline for enquiries about the airfield. A general manager for the company will be hired in the coming weeks, and the Volk family will continue to manage the airfield and flight school operations.
Tottenham Airfield Corporation Inc. is holding a community open house to seek input into the site plan, provide information about the enhancement project and answer questions from members of the community.
It can be done differently but for reasons that only Vince Rossi understands he is going to attempt to bulldoze his way through this in the belief that he holds the trump card: he is federally regulated.
Rossi has pulled in some powerful allies. His relationship with Mississauga Mayor Hazel McCallion is strong enough for her to fax material to the federal minister of finance on behalf of the Burlington Air Park.
Burlington’s Mayor Goldring will be meeting with McCallion to see what can be done to have her have some respect for Burlington and allow us to develop our own plans.
 For reasons that only she understands, Blair Lancaster, Ward 6 Councillor chose to seat herself beside Air Park owner Vince Rossi during a meeting between a resident association that is opposed to the dumping of landfill on airport property and would like to know much more about what the long-term plans are for the Air Park. The council member appears to be telling her constituents where she sits Rossi appears to have almost completely co-opted the ward council member. At a meeting of residents of the community and the organization set up to battle the airport plans, Blair Lancaster chose to sit beside Rossi throughout the meeting – not the best political optics but perhaps Lancaster thinks she has the votes she needs to win her Council seat south of Dundas. She appears to be doing next to nothing for the people who have organized themselves to get some information on what is happening to their community.
Lancaster has lost the support she had north of the Hwy 407/Dundas line.
 By Pepper Parr
BURLINGTON, ON. June 26, 2013. Conservation Halton votes against a Staff Recommendation to implement a program to purchase the homes in the Beachway Park over a period of time. On a recorded vote a specific section of the recommendation was a 6-6 tie which meant the vote was lost.
The recommendation read: That Conservation Halton Board OF Directors recommend that the current strategy of the Burlington Beach Regional Waterfront Park land base being entirely in public ownership continue to be pursued, to ensure the protection of life and property from natural hazards, and to complete the land base of the park.
The vote on the recommendation was tied and it is therefore seen as lost – so the Conservation Authority is now on record as not being for the acquisition of the 30 homes left in the Beachway Park. It was a significant win for the homeowners.
A much more detailed report will follow.
 By Staff
BURLINGTON, ON. June 27, 2013 Halton Police have released a video image of a suspect involved in a Burlington break-in and are seeking the assistance of the public in identifying him.
On June 23, 2013 at 4:00 p.m., a man went to Burlington Tire and Auto – 4490 Harvester Road, knocked out a window in an overhead door and entered the business.
 Not quite sure what this break and enter was about – police report nothing was stolen. May be more to this than meets the eye. No property was stolen during the entry.
The man is described as: white, approx 6’0”, 240 lbs, short brown hair, clean-shaven, solid coloured shirt that may be red in colour, baggy brown shorts past his knees.
Anyone with information is asked to contact the Burlington Criminal Investigations Bureau at 905 825-4747 x2315, Crime Stoppers at 1 800 222-TIPS(8477), through the web at www.haltoncrimestoppers.com or by texting ‘Tip201’ with your message to 274637(crimes).
 By Staff
BURLINGTON, ON. June 27, 2013 If the drug business is like any other business and reacts to the laws of supply and demand – things are going to be tight in the city for a period of time.
The Halton Regional Police Service Integrated Drug, Gun and Gang Unit wrapped up a five month investigation of drug trafficking in Burlington of Hamilton.
They called it Project Rounder, which was an in depth street level investigation of multiple persons involved in the trafficking of cocaine, marihuana and prescription medication in Burlington. The investigation led police to Hamilton when additional participants were identified.
Early morning raids were executed on this morning in both Burlington and Hamilton. Halton Police worked with Hamilton Police Drug Unit, Ontario Provincial Weapons Enforcement Unit, Ontario Provincial Police Organized Crime Unit and the Durham Regional Police.
Police executed 13 search warrants and 12 involved persons were arrested, a total of 41charges were laid. Police seized pounds of marihuana, quantities of cocaine, hashish, psilocybin, oxycodone, five vehicle were seized (07 Volkswagon Jetta, 04 Ford F150, 97 Harley Davidson, 04 Dodge Ram, 2010 GMC pick up) and approximately $100,000 cash.
Charged are:
Elvis DOJCINOVIC (40 years) of Burlington.
Trafficking (Cocaine) 2 counts
Possession of marihuana
Eric LAW (42 years) of Burlington.
Trafficking (Cocaine) 2counts
Possession of Hydromorphone
Possession of Oxycodone
Michelle PELLERIN (31 years) of Burlington.
Possession for the purpose (Cocaine)
Robert SWALLOW (34 years) of Burlington.
Possession for the purpose (Marihuana)
Possession of cannabis resin
Possession of psilocybin
Robyn BARKHOUSE (45 years) of Burlington.
Conspiracy to traffick (Marihuana)
Trafficking (Cocaine)
Possession for the purpose (Cocaine)
Possession for the purpose (Anabolic steroids)
Possession of cannabis resin (2 counts)
Possession of marihuana (2counts)
Ken GARVIN (42 years) of Burlington.
Possession of marihuana
Production (marihuana)
Susan ESTEY (41 years) of Carlisle.
Possession for the purpose (Marihuana)
Possession for the purpose (Cannabis resin)
Possession of Cocaine
Possession of Oxycodone
Possession Hydromorphone
Produce a controlled substance
Sarann CHAN (23 years) of Hamilton.
Possession for the purpose (Marihuana)
Possession of property obtained by crime
The accused parties will appear in Milton Provincial Court Criminal Division June 26th, 2013.
Investigators remind the public to utilize Crime Stoppers to report any illegal drug, gang or gun activity at 1-800-222-TIPS(8477), through the web at www.haltoncrimestoppers.com or by texting “Tip201” with your message to 274637(crimes)
 By Staff
BURLINGTON, ON. June 26, 2013. Shortly after midnight , last night, a group of friends were visiting the Burlington Pier when they started conversing with another group of males.
Without warning, the group of males grabbed one of the men and one of them struck him in the head with a bottle.
The group then ran off, pursued by one of the victim’s friends. Police were notified and located the accused near the intersection of Burlington Avenue and Lakeshore Road.
The accused was arrested and held for a bail hearing.
ACCUSED: Mohammed ISSE, 31 yrs, of Brampton
CHARGES: Assault Cause Bodily Harm and Assault with a Weapon
The victim, an 18-year-old Stoney Creek youth, was taken to Joseph Brant Memorial Hospital, treated for a head wound and released.
 The public has taken to the pier – trey love the place. Others that don’t have a lot of love in their hearts throw bottles at one another – let’s beef up the security. The pier has been open for less than two weeks – clearly it’s become the place to be for people from Stoney Creek. Is it a safe place to be? Of course it is – but some security presence wouldn’t hurt and video surveillance might be a good idea as well.
 By Pepper Parr
BURLINGTON, ON. June 26, 2013. Remember that meeting that was to take place at the Court House in Milton; the one where all the lawyers involved in the pier lawsuits were to meet and get their ducks lined up; the one that was going to be open to the public and then at the last-minute got switched from an open court to a teleconference call – that one?
Well, they figured some of the stuff out. The presiding judge determined that all the discovery stuff has to be completed by September. The consensus of all the suits was that a trial date would not be any time before May/June of 2014.
 Will the citizens be out marching in the streets along with the Burlington Teen Tour Band when the city announces they have settled all the pier related lawsuits in a closed mediation session? Somewhere in between everyone has to at least make a stab at considering mediation, a process where everyone goes into a room and looks for a way to settle their differences behind closed doors. Everything said during mediation is confidential and never gets released and that would certainly suit city hall.
Given the position the city is on – mediation is their best hope. They are going to have to settle withHenry Schilthuis and Sons Ltd., the contractor who came to the conclusion that the pier could not be built with the plans he was given – Burlington will be giving them a cheque and then work at getting as much they can from Aecom.
June of 2014 is when we begin to learn who is going to run for office in 2014 and the last thing this city council wants is a public trial in the middle of an election.
Will the city do the right thing and tell you how much they spent on legal fees before the election? During the election remember that it was Mayor Goldring and Councillor Marianne Meed Ward who voted to release those numbers – the rest voted no – don’t tell the public how their money was spent.
 By Pepper Parr
BURLINGTON, ON. June 25, 2013. The banking business has changed. There was a time when they wanted rights to your first-born and they would loan you a reasonable amount of money. Now securing everything that is near and dear to you isn’t quite enough – the banks want to know what you are going to do with the money and if they feel you are making a contribution to society then they will lend you some money with the understanding that they still have a lien on your first-born.
Banks now have a second level CEO – this one is a little softer with not quite the same number of stock options that the real Chief Executive Officer has but it is seen as a socially responsible position while the real CEO had better improve the assets on the books and keep the costs down – even if that means throwing the well qualified Canadian technical workers under the bus and outsourcing all that code crunching work to some guy in a cubicle somewhere in Mumbai where there isn’t a Labour Standards Board because there are no standards.
 This second level CEO is the Chief Environmental Officer. TD Bank has one and she had quite a bit to say for herself in a Globe & Mail interview she gave awhile back.
Karen Clarke-Whistler is Toronto-Dominion Bank’s other CEO – its chief environment officer. The role doesn’t exist in any other large North American bank, and gives her unique power to influence TD decisions in every aspect of its business. Ms. Clarke-Whistler, who spent most of her career as an environmental consultant, joined the bank in the newly created role in 2008 and has helped turn TD into an environmental leader.
 By Pepper Parr
BURLINGTON, ON. June 25, 2013. That the meeting actually took place was a surprise to many. Vince Rossi, owner of the Burlington Executive Air Park showed up and listened. Tim Crawford was with him.
Most of those there didn’t come away with the feeling that there were measurable bankable gains; but Rossi did hear what the group of about 25 people, meeting in the hayloft of a barn that had been swept bare, had to say.
 Barbara Sheldon reads her 12 requirements to Vince Rossi at a Rural Burlington Green Coalition. Rossi did not respond. Barn doors were left open to let in fresh air and a breeze, as well as the sound of a small aircraft that looked as if they might fly in through the openings. The Gazette had agreed beforehand not to attend all of the meeting but to show up at the end to pick up some comments. Getting the meeting to take place was the objective. Everyone hoped Vince Rossi would show up – and he did – which will be seen as a success for the politicians and the Rural Burlington Green Coalition plus the residents who took part.
Scott Stewart invited people to make comments and gave Vince Rossi an opportunity to respond. Most of the comments that had an ask to them were taken ‘under advisement’ by Rossi.
Along with Stewart there were two additional city staff and five Council members in attendance: Marianne Meed Ward, Blair Lancaster, Jack Dennison, Paul Sharman and John Taylor.
Many had not met Rossi before and wanted to get the measure of the man and observe how he handled himself.
Scott Stewart pointed out that the meeting was a part of a several layer approach the city was taking to the issue of landfill on Air Park property. City council will hear what the legal department thinks the possible options are and what the strategy should be.
Meanwhile, there are no trucks entering through the south gate but there are certainly trucks entering through other gates onto the property.
When the last person had spoken Appleby Line resident Barbara Sheldon asked if she could read a statement that set out what her requirements were. While speaking for herself Sheldon made it clear that she had the consent of her neighbours as well. Barbara Sheldon speaks in capital letters.
 Vince Rossi, owner of the Burlington Air Park, seen by many for the first time, listened to what the Coalition had to say, shook some hands and left the meeting. BARBARA SHELDON’S CURRENT EXPECTATIONS FOR AIRPARK’S REMEDIAL ACTIONS
1) IMMEDIATELY STOP ALL LANDFILL DUMPING.
2) DECONSTRUCT THE LANDFILL HILLS ON ALL SIDES TO RESTORE THE SCENIC VALUES TO MY PROPERTY – AND MITIGATE ALL NOISE, DUST AND DIRT TO MY LAND AND HOME IN THE PROCESS OF DOING SO, TO MY REASONABLE SATISFACTION.
3) REMOVE ALL OF THE LANDFILL WITHIN 30 METRES OF MY PROPERTY LINE – AND MITIGATE ALL NOISE, DUST AND DIRT TO MY LAND AND HOME IN THE PROCESS OF DOING SO, TO MY REASONABLE SATISFACTION.
4) RESTORE THE LAND, INCLUDING HIGH-QUALITY GRASS (NOT HIGHWAY GRADE), WITHIN 30 METRES OF MY PROPERTY LINE – AND MAINTAIN REGULAR GROOMING OF THIS LAND.
5) INSTALL PROPERLY GRADED BERMS, WITH PROFESSIONAL LANDSCAPING CONSISTING OF HIGH- QUALITY GRASS SEED AND MATURE EVERGREEN TREES, TO BORDER THE AIRPARK’S REMAINING LANDFILL, THEREBY RESTORING PRIVACY TO MY LAND AND TO MITIGATE AIRPARK NOISE AND UNSIGHTLY VIEWS OF ITS OPERATION FROM MY PROPERTY. MAINTAIN REGULAR GROOMING OF THESE BERMS.
6) RESTORE ALL THE NATURAL STORMWATER DRAINAGE PATTERNS TO THEIR ORIGINAL PATTERNS – AND ENSURE THAT NO PONDING EXISTS WITHIN 30 METRES OF MY PROPERTY LINE.
7) THOROUGHLY TEST MY WELL WATER FOR CONTAMINENTS, AS GUIDED BY THE MOH, FOR THE NEXT 10 YEARS.
8) REPAIR AND RESTORE MY SOUTHERN ACREAGE TO ITS ORIGINAL CONDITION AND GRADING INCLUDING FULL REPLACEMENT OF THE RICH, FERTILE SOIL THAT WAS THERE BEFORE THE LANDFILL DUMPING OCCURRED.
9) REPLACE AND PLANT ALL VEGETATION, TREES AND BUSHES ON MY PROPERTY THAT WERE DESTROYED BY THE FLOODING CAUSED BY THE LANDFILL DUMPING.
10) REPAIR AND RESTORE MY LANEWAY TO ITS ORIGINAL CONDITION BEFORE IT WAS DAMAGED BY THE DUMP TRUCKS.
11) REPAIR ALL ECOLOGICAL DAMAGE TO MY PROPERTY INCLUDING INAPPROPRIATE GRASSES AND WEEDS THAT HAVE INVADED MY LAND, AS ASSESSED BY A QUALIFIED ECOLOGIST (AT AIRPARK’S EXPENSE) – AND RESTORE MY LAND TO ITS ORIGINAL, PRISTINE STATE PRIOR TO THE LANDFILL DUMPING.
12) PROVIDE COMPENSATION FOR EVERY YEAR OR PART THEREOF THAT THE AIRPARK LANDFILL DUMPING OPERATION HAS DESTROYED AND/OR DIMINISHED MY PROPERTY VALUE AS WELL AS DESTROYED OR DIMINISHED MY ABILITY TO ENJOY, LIVE AND WORK TO THE FULLEST EXTENT IN MY HOME AND ON MY LAND.
It is fortunate that the Sheldon requirements were read out at the end of the meeting. Rossi might well have let his well-known short fuse get lit and use its force to propel him out of the room.
The meeting closed quietly, it wasn`t a screaming match and there were no bodies on the floor when it was all over.
But you will not win any bet that there will not be trucks on the road Tuesday morning.
 By Pepper Parr
BURLINGTON, ON. June 24, 2013. They will apparently meet in a barn – during one of the hottest days so far this year. The barn is in a direct line with the north-south runway the Air Park wants to extend once it has acquired the land to the north of the existing Air Park. That land will become a runway ending at the edge of Vanessa Warren’s property where she expects to develop an equestrian facility. Vanessa is not pleased nor are the members of the Rural Burlington Greenbelt Coalition, which is made up in part of LARA, Lowville Area Residents Association, PERL Protect Escarpment and Rural Lands and CONE , Coalition on the Niagara Escarpment.
 Landfill from the Air Park crowds the fence of the Cousin’s property on Appleby Line. The meeting is the first event since the Regional government heard delegations last week from both the Coalition and Tim Crawford who was representing Vince Rossi, owner of the Air Park.
 Barbara Sheldon walks to the south side of her property – only to look up at a 30 foot + hill of landfill that touches the edge of her property and there is apparently nothing she can do about what a commercial operation has done. At that Regional Council meeting Burlington Councillor John Taylor pulled five undertakings from Crawford, who admitted that while he was speaking on behalf of the Air Park he had no authority to actually bind the corporation.
The five undertakings Taylor believes he has from the Air Park are:
1. “Shave” the earth piles back on Cousins and Sheldon properties to improve views;
2. Conduct well and surface water testing under MOE supervision of the surrounding properties for contamination;
3. Provide verification that the 58 soil samples provided are a complete set of all sources for the last five years and are fully representative of each source; if not complete provide other samples;
4. Provide a drawing where each fill source is located on property; and
5. Agree to provide a site development plan for review by City and Regional Planning Departments; and conduct a public meeting to get public input on the plan and review results.
Crawford’s apparent willingness to provide this information and to have the Air Park make the changes set out – is a significant step away from the position that corporation has been maintaining for the past five years and that was that the Air Park is a federally regulated operation which does not have to respond to the wishes, by-laws or rules of either the province, the Regional government or a municipality. They have maintained they are responsible to the federal minister of transportation only and for the past five years they have managed to get away with that story.
Oakville Mayor Rob Burton advised Vanessa Williams that she had rights that had been trampled upon and that there is jurisprudence and precedent in place that suggests her property and that of any other resident can be returned to its pristine condition if damage is proven.
 The Warren property has not yet been damaged, just threatened, but the Sheldon and the Cousins property has certain been severely damaged.
This evening Vince Rossi is expected to meet face to face with the steering committee of the coalition. The meeting is being held in a private home and will be chaired by city of Burlington General Manager Scott Stewart who knows how to manage a meeting with any number of hot-heads in the room.
Many don’t expect the meeting to last much more than fifteen minutes before Vince Rossi blows a gasket and storms out. Others don’t think he will bother to show up but send the hapless Tim Crawford again.
The Regional council meeting certainly, as Mayor Goldring put it,” left Rossi badly overdrawn on his public relations account.”
The attempt at a meeting with the community was to be a first step on the part of the city to begin a dialogue with Rossi. The hope was that if a first meeting could take place then possibly there would be an opportunity for a larger community wide meeting.
Meanwhile the city’s legal department is working through its options and expects to report to a city council meeting with recommendations as to what the city can do. Given the way the legal department in Burlington operates they will ask to hold the discussions in a closed session. This might be one of those instances where the lawyers will be right. Get council approval on a direction, file the papers at the Court House in Milton and have them served on the Air Park and then advise the public on what has been done.
 Air Park Counsel Glen Grenier wasn’t prepared for a city manager like Jeff Fielding who supported his legal team to the hilt and basically suggested the Mayor send the lawyer packing – which he did. Here Fielding and Grenier spar verbally while city lawyers Blake Hurley and city solicitor Nancy Shea Nicol look on. What is abundantly clear is that the different political jurisdictions have Vince Rossi on the run. He can no longer maintain that he is responsible only to the federal government. That position was lost when Burlington’s city council balked at the Glenn Grenier, the Air Park’s legal counsel of the day, tried to push past them when he delegated. Rossi appears to have parted ways with that lawyer. There will be others.
 While the city works on two fronts: determining what their legal options are and what they can develop in terms of a strategy, while at the same time doing their best to work with the people most impacted by the damage being done as a result of thousands of tonnes of landfill being dumped on Air Park property, there is a much bigger question the city and the Region as well as the provincial government has to ask and answer and that is: should there be an airport in north Burlington.
Do we want a “Buttonville” West? There are those who think that would be a super idea and great for economic development for the Region. Oakville’s Mayor Rob Burton tried to draw those for the idea of an airport out of the bushes at the Regional meeting but they chose to stay hidden. Make no mistake – there are those who think an airport would be great.
Rossi certainly has his supporters who have helped him get away with his antics for the past five years. That gig of Rossi’s is over – but the bigger question has yet to be asked publicly and then answered.
We will return to that question.
 By Staff
BURLINGTON, ON. June 24, 2013. If you were out and about on the weekend – and who wasn’t – you were at a BBQ with friends and family or perhaps at one of the events in the city.
The kids were “knocking themselves out” at the Norton Skateboard Park; Ward 6 Councillor Blair Lancaster was not exactly serving tea – but she was on the street meeting and greeting her constituents while the Friends of Freeman Station were proudly showing a model of the Freeman to anyone who passed by their booth set up in the Burlington Mall.
 Just hanging out on the street with the girls – a lazy summer afternoon in Alton Village.  The Terry Fox Run to Cure Cancer people were out trying to attract and involve people from the Alton Village to take part in the event in September,  The stage certainly wasn’t city issue – shows what you can do with a couple of 2×4’s and a sheet on canvas if you have to keep the sun off you. Music was OK. Lancaster hosted the first of the Car Free Sunday’s held in the northern part of the city – and the turnout was better than the first such event held on Appleby Line last year. Despite close to blistering heat people turned out. The Rotary was on hand with plenty of cold bottled water.
It was a chance for people to get out and mingle, take in some of the events and just enjoy themselves – and see a street with nary a car on it.
 Did he make it? If you were one of many at the Norton Skateboard Park on Saturday you would have seen some impressive acrobatics going on. On Saturday the younger set were out at the skateboard park showing us what they can do when they fly around on those boards with wheels on them. My generation used orange crates mounted on a plank that had old roller skates screwed onto the bottoms.
The Saturday event was frenetic, the Sunday event was paced and easy-going.
 Bob Chambers points to a detail of the Freeman Station model he built in his kitchen in a short 4 1/2 months. The model got its first public viewing at the Burlington Mall on Sunday. For those at the Burlington Mall is was cool inside. The Friends of Freeman Station (FoFS) were proudly showing off the new model of their project built by Bob Chambers, a former photographer with the Spectator. Bob’s wife Grace who paints with water colours was quite pleased to see the model out of her kitchen and on its way to its first public viewing. It took a very short 4 ½ months to complete the model which has a lot of detailing. The shingles put on the roof of the model came in at more than the cost of the shingles on the original station. It is a very attractive model built to scale. Worth looking at.
As for the station itself – it still sits on steel girders waiting for the move to the new location. The FoFS now have their building permit which they proudly display to anyone who asks. Don’t ask for details on how long it took to get the document – sad story.
 By Pepper Parr
BURLINGTON, ON. June 24, 2013. The city is getting creative. They are totally revising the way parking is going to be managed and paid for starting with a fee increase of 25 cents an hour. BUT – parking will be free on Saturday and free for the full month of December.
The city manages 1400 parking spaces in the downtown core. People in this city have complained for years about having to pay for downtown parking – “it’s free at the malls” they will say, to which those commercial establishments downtown scoff. Free, not a chance – the cost of parking at the malls is built into the rent the retailers pay.
 The new high tech parking , meters come in all sizes – they can be pretty pricey as well. But the perception is still there – so the city has decided to do everything it can to make parking easier. “People don’t come down to park”, Brian Dean told a council committee meeting. “They come downtown because it is a destination they have chosen and we want to move the experience to the destination and not putting money in a parking meter”.
To make all that happen the city will be installing new parking meters. You will no longer park in a space that is set out by parking spots – there won’t be any parking spots. You park your car wherever there is space and walk to the nearest parking meter and make payment. Meters will be conveniently located.
 The units chosen by Edmonton came in at a reported price of $12,ooo EACH. Given the buttons on the thing one might have to take a quick course at city hall to learn how to use the thing. And – making that payment is going to be a lot easier. Cash, credit card, debit card and via your Smart phone are all options that will be part of the new parking meters.
Depending on which technology they go with a system might allow a merchant to give you token you can put in a meter or validate your parking receipt and deduct the cost from your purchase. Much of that will be worked out when the decision is made as to whose equipment will be purchased. The city has set aside $487,000 to buy new parking meters and instructed the Director of Transportation Services to have them in place and operational by the end of the year.
 One will need a sense of humour to fully appreciate what the new high-tech parking meters are capable of doing. The new parking meters are expected to have a number of payment options – how many will determine on who the equipment provider chose. The city has decided to go high-tech and make parking much less of a hassle and have you focus instead on the reason you came downtown in the first place and not on that parking meter.
Currently the time limit at a meter downtown is two hours – that will be upped to three in January 2014.
When will all this wonderful stuff happen? Assuming Council passes the recommendation July 2nd – the units will be in place and operational the first of January – unless they count that as a holiday for parking purposes.
Now if they’d let you put your election ballot into that card slot you could tell them how you really feel about the new parking deal coming your way.
 By Ray Rivers
BURLINGTON, ON. June 24, 2013. I grew up in the back woods of Ontario with a party-line phone. Everybody listened to everyone else’s conversations, and the rumour mill churned faster than Coronation Street. At university, we spent more time speculating who the narcs were tapping than we ever did smoking. Working in Ottawa, I recall a well-placed senior bureaucrat, who despite his high-level position in the Canadian government was a self-avowed communist, and so convinced his house was being bugged he refused to talk politics.
 So I got used to people listening in. When the story broke recently about the Obama administration continuing the Bush electronic surveillance program, I initially just shrugged it off. I mean wasn’t that the kind of program which caught the Toronto 18 and almost got the Boston 2. If you’re not planning evil, then you have nothing to worry about, I reassured myself. And it’s the authorities who are doing the monitoring – they wouldn’t abuse their power. There must be something more important to worry about.
 Listening has something to do with freedom of speech? You don’t say. How can listening in on conversations have anything to do with freedom of speech? And how could a meta-data computer be more intrusive that the cameras catching your every move in a public toilet cubicle? By comparison, the streets in the UK are blanketed with closed circuit TV cameras, according to the TV show MI5. Surveillance is just one of those compromises we need to make for security in this crowded, complex world that has evolved. So what is the big deal?
The big deal is the slippery slope. Big Brother is really here! Thank goodness for whistle-blowers, like Edward Snowden, who are forcing the debate about how far a state can go riding roughshod over our constitutionally guaranteed rights to privacy, and by extension, freedom of expression. But now, that everyone knows the state is listening in, how effective can this snooping be? The professional terrorists will just find other ways to communicate, like the burner cell phones used in the TV series The Wire. And the government will still be collecting troves of personal information on the rest of us – and looking for another way to use it?
Back home, it is no surprise that Canada is in-step with the Americans, conducting warrantless electronic surveillance, started as part of the Anti-Terrorism Act back when Canada was heavily engaged in the Afghanistan conflict . The snooping was put on pause over privacy concerns in 2008, but Mr. Harper brought it right back after his election victory in 2011 – at the same time he was killing the long gun registry.
Stephen Harper would not suffer the long gun registry because a handful of hunters and farmers thought it violated their privacy. It seems government recording a rifle’s registration number is dangerous. Yet, the Harper government has no trouble recording and listening in on our every personal conversation. Indeed, there is silence among the Tory libertarians, who don’t give a stuff about this violation of privacy and where it may lead. Or, are they just being a bunch of desk-thumping seals that according to former Alberta backbencher, Brent Rathgeber, best describes the Harper Conservative caucus?
 Ray Rivers writes weekly on both federal and provincial politics, applying his more than 25 years as a federal bureaucrat after which he decided to write and has become a political animator. Rivers was a candidate for provincial office in Burlington where he ran against Cam Jackson in 1995, the year Mike Harris and the Common Sense Revolution swept the province.
 By Pepper Parr
BURLINGTON, ON. June 24, 12013. Chris Haber is a personal injury lawyer with a strong ability to promote. The name of his law practice is seen on buses and on ball point pens.
Things were going very well for the firm and Haber thought he would move up market and put his name on a building. While it wasn’t quite that simple – come September we will see the words Haber Recreational Centre, as part of the new complex being built on Tim Dobbie Drive in the Alton Village.
The complex consists of three buildings strung together consisting of a High School, to be named after Frank Hayden, a Library (they’ve not come up with a name yet) and the Recreational Centre that will have Haber`s name on it.
 From the left, Ward 6 Councillor Blair Lancaster sitting in for Mayor Goldring who had to remain at Regional Council to assure quorum, as she signs the 20 year $1.3 million naming rights deal with Chris Haber in the Centre. Chris Glenn on the right is pleased with that much cash The idea of putting the family name on a public building got to Haber when his daughter, who runs the administrative side of the law practice, opened an envelope from the city detailing the new sponsorship program. Stephanie thought it was a good idea – took it to her Dad and, it happened.
Chris Glenn, Director of Parks and Recreation met with the Haber’s. The city put some numbers on the table, Haber being the superb negotiator he is put a number on the table and between those two numbers they found one that said $1.3 million spread out over 20 years – which is not exactly chump change. Much of the negotiating detail was handled by Stephanie Haber.
The deal went to council committee; they liked it and passed it along to city council. They liked it as well and all of a sudden Chris Haber will have his name in lights on one of the newest buildings in the city.
None of the Haber family has had a chance to tour the building yet and they don’t know exactly where the sign with their name on it is going to go – if Stephanie is involved in those conversations the family will be happy.
Burlington wants to do more selling of naming rights and is currently cataloging everything they have and determining what is available and what they want in terms of naming rights fees.
These are good dollars and there isn`t a municipality in the country that turns its nose up at this kind of thing. We might be seeing names on the Zamboni`s at the ice rinks soon.
So who is this guy Haber? He runs a law practice with seven lawyers on staff and a son who has returned to Burlington after a number of years in Toronto where he tried his hand at business and looked at how well his Dad was doing and decided to study law. Andrew is articling with his father’s firm and will write his Bar Admission exams next year and then be called to the Bar and become a member of the Upper Canada Law Society and be permitted to hang his shingle alongside his Dad’s.
 Chris Haber is one of ten children. His father ran an insurance company and was once the Ontario Table top Tennis champion.
Chris played a little hockey , left wing. Did his undergraduate degree at Waterloo and then on to Osgoode Law School and articled with Lang Michener, the firm that was once led by Rolland Michener who went on to serve as one of Canada`s more popular Governor’s General. It was Haber’s good fortune to be with a firm that was wonderfully connected.
Chris Haber is a litigator – these are the warriors of the law world. They live in Court rooms and they just love presenting a case to a jury.
“My job as a lawyer” explained Haber “is to do everything I can to get a jury to like me and to like my client. If I can do that – I win my cases”. Does he win them all? Unfortunately no, but he certainly wins enough of them.
Worst case he ever had to handle? Doesn’t want to talk about that one. Case that he will never forget? A young woman, a passenger in a car that was rear ended. “My client was sitting behind the driver who was a heavy woman. The force of the crash broke the seat the driver of the car was sitting in, which crashed backwards into my client who suffered very serious brain damage that left her epileptic and subject to small fits. She would never be able to work again and would need constant care. “We could not get the insurance company to settle. It took nine years to get that case into a court room. The trial lasted eight weeks. It was a jury trial held in Milton. There were more than fifty witnesses and I called three neurosurgeons to testify” explains Haber.
 We won that case for the victim – there was an award that exceeded a million dollars. I’ve never forgotten that case. These things stay with you.
 One of the top business promoters in the city, Haber & Associates is seen where they need to be seen and if that can get done with a ball point pen – then so be it Haber breathes the law. He has tapes of some of the great practitioners and spends some of his evening time listening to the best of the best. Who influenced his thinking the most? That would be The Lord Denning, who served as Master of the Roles in the United Kingdon. Denning is remembered for his role in the Profumo Affair that brought down a government over a spy and a sex scandal; juicy stuff. However, the Lord Denning was also one of the most progressive thinkers in British law, who, during his 38-year career as a judge made large changes to the common law, particularly while in the Court of Appeal, and although many of his decisions were overturned by the House of Lords, several of them were confirmed by Parliament, which passed statutes in line with his judgments. Although appreciated for his role as ‘the people’s judge’ and his support for the individual, Denning was also controversial for his campaign against the common law principle of precedent.
Asked who the best lawyer the country has ever had? Haber has no doubt about that – J.J. Robinette
John Josiah Robinette, was a Canadian lawyer who became a legal legend. In 1947, he appealed and eventually won the Hamilton case of Evelyn Dick after her conviction of murder in 1946. In 1952 he unsuccessfully defended the notorious bank robbers, The Boyd Gang. Robinette was also hired by opponents of the cancelled Spadina Expressway in 1971 to make their case at the Ontario Municipal Board. Haber either traveled with, read about or worked with some of the best legal minds in the country.
Haber hasn’t seen the recreation centre that is under construction yet. He didn’t even know it was being built but he knew an opportunity when he saw one – and his quick decision had his firm being the first to garner naming rights under the city’s new sponsorship program.
A sharp move.
 By Staff
BURLINGTON, ON. June 23, 2013. A fire in a large residence on Lakeshore Road has resulted in a joint Halton Regional Police and the Office of the Ontario Fire Marshal investigation.
Shortly after 10:30 p.m. on Friday June 21st, neighbours were alerted to smoke and fire coming from the house located at 2226 Lakeshore Road, close to the intersection at Stratheden. The Burlington Fire Department responded and the fire situation was soon upgraded to a four-alarm blaze. There were no occupants in the home at the time of the blaze and the owner was reported to be out-of-town.
The fire was suppressed by 11:30 p.m. Total damage is estimated to be in excess of $750,000. Due to suspicious observations made within the home, the Ontario Fire Marshal’s Office was contacted and an OFM investigator was dispatched to the scene.
The OFM has made a preliminary finding that was relayed to Halton Regional Police. Due to that information, Arson Investigators from HRPS have initiated a criminal investigation into the cause.
Any witnesses to any suspicious activity at or near the location are asked to contact HRPS arson investigators at ext. 5142 or 5124.
 By Pepper Parr
BURLINGTON, ON. June 22, 2013. Getting around King Road north of Plains Road is going to be different for the month of July. Taxi’s will play a role in the transit mix available to people.
Pedestrian traffic will not be permitted starting Monday June 24, 2013, while the next phase of the King Road CN Rail underpass gets completed.
Pedestrian access will be reopened Friday evenings through to Monday morning of each weekend. This schedule will hold until August 2, 2013.
Burlington Taxi will provide to/from transportation for residents that walk to/from their work place on King Road between the CN Tracks and the North Service Road. The point of origin (pick up) can be anywhere along the travel route, being Plains Road (King Road to Waterdown Road) or Plains Road (King Road to Brant Street). All charges will be billed to the City. Please call Burlington Taxi at 905-333-3333 to arrange for transportation.
During the construction of the King Road Grade Separation please note that businesses located along King Road will remain OPEN to serve their patrons.
 By Pepper Parr
BURLINGTON, ON. June 21, 2013. With a full 13 member Board of Directors compliment in place, the Performing Arts Centre focuses more tightly on the business of finding a replacement for the previous Executive Director.
The Burlington Theatre Board Inc., the organization that oversees the operation of the Centre, a not for profit corporation and represent the public interest. It is made up of 13 people who serve staggered terms of office.
 It’s an attractive building and a very people friendly building – it just doesn’t appear YET, to have enough friends. Last year was a tough one for the organization. Rental revenues were down and there was serious concern at city hall over the need for increased financial support – in excess of what was expected. Council wanted changes made and went along with the financial requirement in the 2013 budget but made it clear there was going to be a different business case put in place. Councillor John Taylor who chairs the Budget and Corporate Services committee, has the BPAC people back before him sometime in October. When he was arranging for BPAC to return he made it clear that “this was not going to be a simple 10 minute delegation with questions and answers to follow”. Taylor was going to get right into the sand box with these people and work to ensure there was a plan that the public could live with.
It was shortly after that meeting that the former Executive Director decided she would return to her roots in Alberta.
A number of resignations within the Burlington Theatre Board had taken place and there was a call made to the community for replacements. With that task completed the Board was able to focus fully on finding the next Executive Director.
The Centre has an excellent program that will take them right into the spring of next year
There were over 90 applications for the Executive Director position, which Chair Burgess believes “speaks to the positive reputation the Centre has developed in its short life within the industry”. That’s one way of looking at it.
The search committee includes Allan Pearson, Peter Ashmore, Ilene Elkaim, Burlington city manager Jeff Fielding and Chair Richard Burgess. They are down to their short list and expect to be able to announce a replacement before the end of July and ideally have the new person behind a desk for Labour Day.
 The first two people to enter the Main Theatre for a paid performance hand their tickets to an usher. The next twelve months are critical for the Centre. A new Executive Director will give the day-to-day operations a boost but the Centre needs more than some bucking up at the staff level. The place hasn’t caught the interest of the overall public – at least not yet. The Centre is not yet seen as “our place” with the majority of the population. It does have its advocates and a small core of solid ticket buyers but it isn’t seen as an integral part of the city that is supported by everyone.
The Brant Street Pier with all its troubles was clearly a place the public took to in less than two days once it had been opened by the Burlington Teen Tour Band.
 It was the Official opening night – the place was all gussied up – and it looked great. Cogeco Cable covered the event with five cameras. The Family Room, shown here, was a delight to be in. The ticket price of $400+ was a little too steep and some had to be given away to ensure all the seats were filled. While the economic growth of the city isn’t dependent on the centre if we are to be seen as a vibrant community – the arts are a large part of that equation and the focal point for the arts has to be the Centre. We do need however to stop talking in superlatives about the place. It is a fine building with a good Main Theatre as well as a smaller Community Theatre. The most outstanding aspect of the place is the Family Room with the balcony surrounding the space. It also has probably the biggest bar in the city, certainly the nicest – although they could pump up the wine selection a bit.
Will the centre become an election issue in 2014? Hopefully not – because the arts always seem to take it in the shins when it comes to funding. Burlington wants to talk about “shaving and paving” its roads and the massive infrastructure deficit we face.
 Councillor Rick Craven sits on the BPAC Board along with the Mayor. Better reports to the public on what’s going on over there would help – and not just how wonderful the program is.  Mayor Goldring can be direct and to the point when he wants to be – his public deserves better reporting on what happens at the BPAC Board. There is an interesting year ahead for the Burlington Performing Arts centre. If the Board of Directors can get the selection of a new Executive Director right and work out a business plan that is sound and satisfies the city – we will be off to a good start.
The politicians we place on that Board need however to do a better job of keeping their fellow council members and the public at large up to date on what is happening.
We hear next to nothing from Councillor Craven and the Mayor, who sit on the Board, about what’s going on over there.
 By Pepper Parr
BURLINGTON, ON. June 21, 2013 It’s an eyesore. It no longer works as a commercial entity and the owners of the property want to re-develop. Everyone agrees that something has to be done – but there is very little agreement on what should be done.
 Pinedale Plaza is all but abandoned; two tenants and a site that is covered with graffiti. An eyesore for the community but residents don’t like the number of units the developer wants to build on the property. The Pinedale Plaza, located east of Appleby Line north of New Street, served the neighbourhood for years but that day has passed. Small shopping plazas have seen their day. This plaza is now covered with graffiti and has few tenants.
The owners, they took possession in 2011, have come up with a plan to develop the site and put 19 street townhouses on the property with 7 of those units fronting on Pinedale and 12 fronting on Wedgewood Drive.
As is usual in these presentations, the residents see that as far too many buildings; something that will change the tone, look and feel of the neighbourhood – they want something smaller.
 That cross walk handles pedestrian traffic for three schools and a community centre. Residents feel that having seven units with driveways back onto the street is unsafe. The units that would front on Pinedale would each have their own driveways – which for the locals is a problem. There is a school crossing guard on the corner and three schools in the immediate area.
This project is certainly intensification – excessive? Not necessarily. Vehicle access from the units on Pinedale is a problem; some redesign might help.
What is close to exceptional is the depth of the lots. There have been development applications that have postage stamp yards. Many of the new, very expensive homes in Alton don’t have yards the size of those being proposed for the plaza.
 Large lots are a feature; the concentration of units on Pinedale is a concern – expect to see that cut back to five – maybe less. The presentation, at what was the required public meeting, where anyone can show up and put their like or dislike forward, is the first time all the parties, the developer, the residents and council members are all in the same place and a sense of the reaction to the development can be gained.
The residents aren’t excited about this one and the driveways that front onto Pinewood are a genuine concern – but every other house in the immediate area has a driveway.
The city’s planners take part in the meeting. The architect and the developer’s planner are usually at the meeting. The professionals listen, take their plans away and look for ways to make the changes that will keep the residents happy, satisfy the city planning department and leave a developer satisfied that the project will be a profitable one.
There is little doubt that the plaza has to go – is the intensification just a little too much? Maybe, but the city has approved projects where people are squeezed into small spaces with very little yard space.
 It is a property that no longer meets the needs of the community. It is time for redevelopment. A developer has proposed a 19 unit townhouse project that will have very large yards. Traffic in the area will increase. There is a senior’s home to the east of the project and three schools plus a community centre in the immediate area.
There is a concern with the quality of the traffic study that was submitted. Residents of the community pointed out that the intersection of Pinedale and Mullins Way is a gateway to three schools, a community centre and a seniors complex and that the study submitted was seen by a number of residents as inadequate at best and misleading (deliberately) at worst.
Expect the planners to be looking at that traffic study very carefully.
The development is located in Ward 5, Paul Sharman territory. He didn’t appear to have strong views one way or the other – which is unusual for Sharman.
 By Pepper Parr
BURLINGTON, ON. June 20, 2013. It was a pure photo-op. He with the hair and the strongest political pedigree in the country dropped into the Mapleview Mall in Burlington Thursday morning and let all those who gathered around him sigh and have their pictures taken.
Federal Liberal leader Justin Trudeau was in town. No policy statements – not a word about “it’s nice to be here and see all my friends from the last visit”. Just a passing through event.
 Photo op and just photo-op – he wasn’t talking to news people. This is politics in the summer. It is going to have to be better than that if this Tory bastion is to be breached. Mike Wallace, our current MP, can safely continue with his summer BBQ’s and use that flower he wears in his lapel that will squirt water at you.
 OK – there’s four votes. They are old enough to vote aren’t they? With Bob Rae, a once runner for the Liberal Party, resigning, Justin Trudeau now has two reasonably safe seats that will have by elections within six months. When that race takes place we will have a better sense as to how good an election campaigner he is.
 Convinced – maybe not but the audience at the Mapleview Mall was convinced. As photo ops go – this was a good one. The crowds weren’t great but they certainly weren’t embarrassing.
The faithful came out to be blessed – and the Liberal heir apparent laid hands on them. And then they all went home and Justin moved on.
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