The Voice
Larry “BILKO” THE Bilkszto PAPER THAT PELHAM READS Your Local Sales Representative 905-563-3330 • 905-641-1110
DEBBIE PINE
CELEBRATING OUR 20TH YEAR
RE/MAX® Garden City
SALES REPRESENTATIVE 905.892.0222 SELL phone: 905-321-2261
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bilko@rgcmail.com Vol.20 No.52
Wednesday, March 8, 2017
FREE
North Pelham drain project flushed
Larry “BILKO” Bilkszto Your Local Sales Representative 905-563-3330 • 905-641-1110
RE/MAX® Garden City Realty Inc., Brokerage
www.bilko.ca bilko@rgcmail.com
Column Six
Talking about it
Petitioners say thanks but no thanks; Town still on hook for $38K
BY NICK SALTARELLI
BY NATE SMELLE
Special to the VOICE
The VOICE
Petitioners for the North Pelham Drain were given an opportunity to withdraw their names from the petition at a special meeting of Council on Wednesday, March 1. Members of the public filled every seat available in Council chamber to hear a report from K. Smart Associates Ltd. engineer Neil Morris, and to ask questions about the proposed solutions it was expected to provide. The meeting was short-lived, however ,and Morris didn’t even get the chance to present his report, because the last remaining petitioners, Kerri Hollinshead and Jamie Gregoir, withdrew their names from the petition, rendering it invalid. The couple was visibly upset, stating that they had sent an email 22 months ago, allegedly indicating that they did not want to proceed with the process, since their drainage issues had been resolved. “The truth of the matter is that since we took some legal action the problem has almost been solved,” said Hollinshead. “Here we are, 24 months later, and we are being told we are on the hook for $14,000, and we had to file a legal suit to get this problem to stop. And now the Town is on the hook for almost $40,000. It’s mind-blowing really. It’s all of our money, all of the taxpayers’ money being thrown out the door for something we said we didn’t need.” The North Pelham Municipal Drain includes an area comprised of lands mainly north of Metler Road, south of Kilman Road, between Cream Street and an area west of Maple Street, covering 51.4 hectares See FLUSHED Page 17
M
“I mean who do the Trustees think they are? They are representatives of the people, and to me they’re not doing that, so why are we paying them? No one is listening, and that’s the most disturbing point. It’s our money, it’s our world, and it’s our lives, and they don’t seem to live in it. They forget that they are public servants.” When Tennier learned of the memorandum of understanding between the Town and the DSBN related to “sharing” Cherry Ridge Park, she was astonished that it was
Y FATHER, and especially my father-in-law, wouldn’t talk about it. They'd both served during WWII but in different theatres. My dad’s was the North Atlantic chasing U-boats in the corvette HMCS Thorlock, named after Lock 7 on the Welland Canal. Her place in history is having accepted the surrender of the infamous U-190. Major action was otherwise sparse. A torpedo near-miss. A probable submarine sinking. Ninety-foot hurricane waves north of Bermuda. My father-in-law was a junior officer in the West Nova Scotia regiment. Italy and Holland. Imagine these two places in 1944-45 and you know why he couldn’t bring himself to talk about it, though it would have been better for him if he had. I never once saw him cry. Talking about it is cathartic but comes at a cost to the teller and, to an extent, to the listener too. Letting it all out triggers a flood of cortisol and adrenaline and causes one to re-live what he might rather forget. If it would stay out, well, that would be a good thing. An exorcism of sorts. But memory demons are tenacious. They cling like bur-
See NO NEED Page 12
See COLUMN SIX Page 18
Jace Cryderman, 2, gets his first taste of maple syrup taffy with his grandfather Julius Bartfai, and Patti Clark, at the Agape Valley Sugar Bush Pancake Breakfast last Saturday. Story on page 3. NATE SMELLE PHOTO
Teacher speaks out: No need for soccer field BY NATE SMELLE
The VOICE
Residents of the Cherry Ridge subdivision adjacent to the controversially renamed Wellington Heights Public School have been continuing their fight with the District School Board of Niagara (DSBN) regarding their plan to annex part of Cherry Ridge Park. Cherry Ridge resident Marcy Tennier, an elementary teacher with the DSBN, is one of a growing number of individuals compelled to speak out against her employer. Considering the resounding
Says official soccer program doesn't even exist public opposition to both the E. W. Farr name change and the DSBN’s attempt to poach part of the park, Tennier cannot understand the Board’s refusal to engage with the people they are supposed to serve. “This fight needs to happen because it’s about a bigger issue — it’s about democracy,” she said.
Robert DiCorrado
Sales Representative
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Carl Bégin
Sales Representative
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