Junkin on six months in office page 3 Voice wins national awards page 10 Cannabis committee in the weeds page 17 EXCEEDING EXPECTATIONS
The Voice
Larry “BILKO” Bilkszto Your Local Sales Representative 905-563-3330 • 905-641-1110
SELL phone: 905-321-2261 www.pineSOLD.com
DEBBIE PINE SALES REPRESENTATIVE 905.892.0222
RE/MAX® Garden City Realty Inc., Brokerage
www.bilko.ca
NRC Realty, Brokerage
Independently Owned & Operated
debbiepine@royallepage.ca
THE PAPER THAT PELHAM READS
bilko@rgcmail.com Vol.23 No.24
Wednesday, June 12 2019
Darcy Richardson, CPA, CA | Broker
DARCYRICHARDSON.CA darcy@revelrealty.ca 905.321.6292
FREE
Council approves arches' return
Column Six
No alternatives proposed after public consultation
A smile to die for
BY JOHN CHICK
BY COLIN BREZICKI
Special to the VOICE
Town Council voted 5-1 during their June 3 meeting to endorse the Rotary Club of Fonthill’s privately funded plan to rebuild the arches over Pelham Town Square. Only Ward 1 Councillor Marianne Stewart voted against the endorsement, which came after she led an amendment to the motion which would have required the Rotary Club to sign a binding written agreement detailing their plans to fund the reconstruction of the arches through charitable donations, and provide a reserve fund for ongoing maintenance of the new, taller wooden structure. The Town of Pelham had attempted to solicit public response for alternative public decorations rather than the arches, but received none. “I believe we need to enter into a binding agreement,” Stewart told council. “I just want everything to be documented in writing as to what their responsibilities are, and what ours are.” However, Rotary had already submitted to council their intentions to construct the new arches with private funds and maintain it, and in the end the amendment to hold them to a binding le-
S
no longer drive underneath them. Public Works director Jason Marr said plans for the new arches call for stronger wood and supports than the old ones, which at a previous council meeting he noted were made of “not even construction-grade plywood.”
H E ’ S B E E N worshipped, abducted and assaulted. She’s dwelt in palaces and in the hearts of kings and emperors. She’s toured the world and gone to the moon. She is likely the most famous, instantly recognized woman in history. Artists have been obsessed by her, and one even committed suicide because he couldn’t have her. Her name is Lisa Gherardini del Giocondo, sometimes referred to as La Joconde for her enigmatic smile. She is Leonardo’s Mona Lisa. In real life she was an ordinary Italian woman of no great standing who married well, bore six children, three of whom died before she did at the age of 63. But that’s a whole other story that you can read in Dianne Hales’ enthralling new book, Mona Lisa: A Life Discovered. She’s the Sphinx of beauty, according to one art critic. “Lovers, poets, dreamers go and die at her feet,” a French curator wrote in 1861.
See COUNCIL Page 16
See COLUMN SIX back page
"OODLES" OF GIANT STRAWBERRIES DeVries Fruit Farm gets set to hold its annual Strawberry Social this Saturday, and the berries are bigger than ever. From left, Dan DeVries, Andrea DeVries, and Camryn Page. Story, page 10. BOB LOBLAW PHOTO
gal agreement was defeated 4-2— with only Stewart and Ward 3 Councillor Lisa Haun voting for the idea. “I don’t understand why we would ask Rotary for this,” Ward 2 Councillor Ron Kore said, given the club had already outlined their plan. “I think it’s a gift … we should appreciate the gesture and move on from it.” Rotary’s stated plan includes a minimum reserve
fund of $2,000 per year— raised through private donations —specifically for the ongoing maintenance of the new structure. Stewart pointed out, however, that the Town was on the hook for cleanup when the old arches blew down in a windstorm this past winter. “We were responsible for the last time they came down,” she said.
People are planners by nature. We make big plans, small ones, and the most important plans we reserve for our loved ones. Want to make it easier for them emotionally and financially? - plan to call us today.
Haun asked if the new arches would be included in the Town’s insurance policy, which Interim CAO Teresa Quinlin confirmed they would be. “Those arches would fall under that same umbrella for coverage,” Quinlin said. The new arches will be built with a higher clearance for trucks, a point of contention with the old ones after certain vehicles could
Special to the VOICE