Water and sewer rates to climb

Every drop of water – in and out – is going to cost you more this year, as the large rate increases are set to continue.

Woolwich residents will see significant jumps in both water and wastewater fees under a new rate structure approved in principle by council Tuesday night.

For 2011, Waterloo Region has pushed water rates by 6.9 per cent and wastewater 7.9 per cent. In Woolwich, which buys water from the region and runs the distribution systems itself, council has given preliminary approval to water rate hikes of 6.75 per cent, to $1.43 per cubic metre from $1.33 (a jump of $18 to $24 per year for an average household) and wastewater increases of 7.9 per cent, to $1.76 per cubic metre from $1.63 ($23 to $31 per year).

The Woolwich fees reflect the fact regional billing is the single-biggest component of the township’s costs, director of finance Richard Petherick told councillors.

Given that the region plans similar increases over the next few years, water and sewage rates are likely to climb accordingly.

The prospect of large increases prompted Coun. Allan Poffenroth to suggest the township should look at cost-saving measures such as contracting out meter-reading, currently done by staff members.

The service could be carried out by Waterloo North Hydro or Union Gas, for instance, which already pays people to read meters, he said. The job would also fit into retraining or welfare programs such as Ontario Works, where the pay would be much less than keeping the job in-house.

“It doesn’t take a real star to read a meter.”

Acknowledging that staff is looking at costs, Petherick said the current system is very labour-intensive, as it isn’t automated. A person goes out to read the meter, writes down the numbers in a logbook and that information is in turn typed into a computer for billing purposes.

New metering equipment might streamline the process, making it more easily done by contract workers.
For Coun. Bonnie Bryant, the across-the-board price hikes seemed to make less sense in the smaller communities in her Ward 3, where the water is drawn from local wells rather than piped in from elsewhere.

Petherick explained, however, that all nine water systems in the township are treated the same, with everyone paying the same rates. In fact, the bigger ones are probably subsidizing the smaller ones because of the economies of scale of operating larger systems.

While acknowledging the rate increases are large – “this has increased the cost of watering your lawn by 15 per cent” – Coun. Mark Bauman noted residents can work on lowering consumption to save money.

“This is something we have some control over,” he said of conservation measures, adding municipal water remains relatively inexpensive by comparison to bottled water, for instance.

“Anyone who buys bottled water has no reason to complain about the cost of water in Woolwich Township.”

The rate increases are expected to be formally adopted next month.

Tags: Steve Kannon

There’s more to debate than rising prices

Food prices have gone up of late. They’re likely to continue to do so. We’re certainly going to gripe about it, but Canadians are much better off than much of the world when it comes to the affordability of food.

As Jeff Stager of the Waterloo Federation of Agriculture pointed out to Woolwich councillors this week, most of us pay out $7,000 a year on food, about 10 to 12 per cent of our incomes. That’s far lower than the international average.

Feb. 12 was Food Freedom Day in Canada, marking the date when the average Canadian family has earned enough income to cover the cost of food for the entire year.

By comparison, according to the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization, food consumption accounts for 45 per cent of household expenses in Indonesia, 39 per cent in China, and over 13 per cent in the United States. In Egypt, food inflation has risen above 20 per cent, with the price of common food items such as tomatoes surging as much as 300 per cent last year. The price for a kilogram of meat has risen to as much as one third of a monthly wage.

Looking to the year ahead, BMO Economics expects a moderate increase in food prices for Canadians.

“The agriculture sector should experience solid growth over the next two years,” says Kenrick Jordan, senior economist, BMO Capital Markets. “The prices of grains and oilseeds, which have soared lately, should remain fairly strong over the medium term as a result of low inventories, healthy demand from developing countries, and continuing expansion of the global biofuels industry. This should be a constructive environment for crop production.”

The local food movement hopes some of those strong gains come as consumers turn to local farmers to provide what is seen as fresher, safer and more wholesome food.

Safety plays an increasingly important role in food choices, particularly as it relates to imports from countries such as China – a hotspot in the quality-versus-price debate.

According to the Canadian Federation of Agriculture, the connection to China isn’t always obvious to the average consumer. Much of what’s what we buy is sold as “Product of Canada,” but is processed in China or contain ingredients from China.

Under Canadian law, the ingredients can come from anywhere in the world and still get a “Product of Canada” label. That’s because “Product of Canada” only means that at least 51 per cent of manufacturing costs were incurred in Canada. Apple juice concentrate from China, for instance, can be mixed here, packaged and declared Canadian made, and you and I are none the wiser.

In such cases, the product flies in the face of a growing desire to buy food as locally as possible. The practice also hides from consumers information that might lead them to choose another product because of safety concerns about goods from suspect parts of the globe. And when it comes to Chinese food products, we have every reason to be cautious, says James Morehouse, a senior partner with A.T. Kearney, a global management consulting firm, who recently penned a report about food safety and the supply chain in China.

“The problem is that in China food safety standards are not consistent, enforcement is not very effective, and there is no real integrated distribution capability. For instance, there is no cold chain system of refrigerated trucks, warehouses and retail space that can guarantee cool temperatures for meats, vegetables, vaccines and similar products,” he reports.

Consumers are at risk both in China and in countries where Chinese food products end up, including Canada.

Beyond poor handling practices, the threat extends to environmental pollutants and the use of chemicals deemed unsafe here. Farmed fish, for instance, has been found to contain malachite green, used to prevent infections in crowded ponds. Canada has banned that practice, and seafood so treated can’t be sold here, yet there have been cases where such products have slipped by the Canadian Food Inspection Agency.

In fact, the CFIA, as with consumer agencies monitoring for such things as lead in toys, relies on the manufacturers and importers to follow the rules: they’re just aren’t enough inspectors to cover all of the goods shipped to Canada. In 2006, more than 368 million kilograms (812 million lbs) of food from China made its way to this country. The trend is upwards, as many companies opt for cheaper, even as Canadians say they’re concerned with quality and with buying local food from local farmers.

Ultimately, however, it’s we as consumers who are to blame for the situation – we’re voting with our dollars, and we’re getting what we pay for.

The solution involves watching what we eat. With fresh food, supermarkets usually indicate the country of origin. With prepared and mixed foods, the situation rapidly gets cloudy. The key there is to pressure government to force proper labelling requirements on the industry: only full disclosure of ingredients and their origins will allow consumers to make the right choice when it comes to protecting their health.

Tags: Steve Kannon

Life & death and everything in between

If life is what you make it, shouldn’t that be true of the other side of the coin? Even if death is what you make it doesn’t roll off the tongue in the same way?

Really, who wants to dwell on that subject? Students in the drama department at Elmira District Secondary School, apparently.

Death, specifically how we come to terms with it once we’re there, is the focal point of Dreaming of Life, the school’s entry into the Sears Drama Festival. Written by department head DJ Carroll as a collaborative effort with his students, the one-act play will be performed for a preview audience next week.

A dozen or so spirits/souls/call-them-what-you-wills find themselves in purgatory, waiting to see who’ll go on and who’ll go back for another crack at life on Earth.

“It’s about these people coming to terms with death,” said Carroll. “The point is that people will see there are many interpretations of death.”

Three of the 15 cast members play Death: one is a kindly figure, the second is pragmatic – it is what it is – and the third is a cold Death. That reflects some of the varied cultural takes on dying, said Carroll, noting some people mourn, some celebrate and others simply accept it as a part of life.

The story evolved from the students themselves as Carroll began discussing preparations for the annual Sears Drama competition. Rather than going with a classic play or other commercial script, the students opted to go with something home-grown, as has been the case in the past. A brainstorming exercise laid the foundation for the script put together by the teacher.

“I let them decide what kind of show we would do. They were very excited by the idea, and got right into the process,” he explained. “We brainstormed ideas, and had probably 30 of them on the board … including the topic of death and how people deal with it.”

Obviously, they wanted to tackle a fairly serious subject. And that’s the case with their characters dealing with death and the transition from life to what comes after. Accordingly, the centerpiece of the staging is a giant tree, drawing on the tree-of-life analogy and the tree as symbol of growth and change.

“The students are really getting into character with the play. It’s really coming together.”

Dreaming of Life will be performed for the Sears Drama Festival judges Mar. 1 at Eastwood Collegiate Institute in Kitchener. Carroll expects some steep competition – “practically every high school in the region will be there” – from the 17 entrants that will be staging productions through the week.

Prior to that, there’ll be one public performance next Saturday, a chance to stage the show for a local audience.

The show for the judges is the first of three levels in the Sears Drama Festival. The district competition will be followed by regional contests and then the provincial showcase to be held at the University of Toronto in May.

Now in its 65th year, the drama festival involves some 10,000 students and teachers from more than 300 secondary schools. What started as a small Toronto drama presentation in 1946 has evolved into one of the largest student festivals in the world.

At this point, however, it’s one hurdle at a time for the EDSS entry.

The drama department’s production of Dreaming of Life will be staged Feb. 26 in the high school gym.

Showtime is 7:30 p.m. Tickets are $8, but just $5 for students and seniors. Due to the mature theme, the play is not recommended for very young children.

Tags: Steve Kannon

Adults needed for debate on immigration

Immigration policy is back on the public agenda. Maybe this time we can have a rational discussion about the shortcomings and what has to be changed.

The failures are obvious. Economically, new immigrants cost us far more than they add to the economy – about $16 billion a year. Yet we continue to hear that unsustainably high immigration levels are needed to offset an aging population or to counter declining birthrates or to provide skilled workers or to provide people to do work Canadians don’t want to do … and the list goes on.

Few of the economic arguments stand up to scrutiny.

Worst still are the impacts to our culture and social cohesion. That topic, however, is a political hot potato, rife with accusations of racism, which stifles debate.

In announcing some changes to immigration policy this week, the Harper government is walking a fine line. It wants to reduce the number of family-class immigrants slightly, focusing on those in the economic class. Cracking down on illegals is also part of the plan. Its stance attempts to mollify the majority of Canadians increasingly worried about immigration’s negative impact on the country while continuing to pander to immigrant votes, a mainstay with all political parties. (The idea being that immigrants are grateful to the government that brought them into the country.)

At the heart of the latest tweaks is the realization that the majority of immigrants don’t meet the already-weak economic rationale for immigrants in the first place: the need for skilled workers who already speak one of our two official languages.

In fact, only 17 per cent of immigrants fit that bill. Another 26 per cent are the immediate family members – spouse and children – of those immigrants, although they, too, are lumped into the economic class, which officially makes up about 60 per cent of immigrants. That class also includes “business” immigrants, the kind that come here to open businesses, typically small ones that pay
poorly rather than the occasional splashy ones governments like to trot out for public consumption.

The numbers are obviously padded to hide the fact that more than four-fifths of immigrants – including the 13 per cent who come as refugees – don’t contribute to the economy, but in fact draw far more social services than they provide in tax revenue.

Immigration has long been detached from Canada’s economic needs, argues the Ottawa-based Centre for Immigration Policy Reform.

In 2010, for instance, the government allowed in 280,000 immigrants, the largest number in 57 years, despite a recession, growing unemployment, increasing demand for social services and a record-high deficit.

“We’re paying an arm and a leg to bring immigrants to Canada. The research shows that it’s costing us a fortune without any benefits,” says CIPR board member Martin Collacott, a former ambassador and currently senior fellow at the Fraser Institute where he studies immigration and refugee policy, national identity and multiculturalism, as well as related national security issues.

The organization says immigration numbers should be cut dramatically. Drawing on British studies about its immigrant problems, the number here should be somewhere around 70,000, centered on skilled, ready-for-the-workplace immigrants and their immediate families.

The family-class programs – parents, grandparents, siblings – just doesn’t work, and runs counter to the way immigration occurred historically. In my own family’s case, one set of great-grandparents made a one-way trip to Canada, never again seeing any of those they left behind. Of my immigrant grandparents, there was the occasional trans-Atlantic trip in later years, but that was about it.

Today, with cheap travel, e-mail and phone service, immigrants have ample ways to stay in touch. But apparently that’s not good enough: many want to bring the entire extended family over with them.

“The older immigrants knew there was a price to pay for immigration and the opportunities it provide. New people want it both ways,” says Collacott.

“Immigration is supposed to be about what is good for Canadians. And bringing in parents isn’t good for us.”

An immediate drop in numbers should be the first step, the rationale response to current economic conditions. Perhaps even a freeze is in order, providing time for exiting immigrants to integrate into our society, both economically and culturally.

Changes are needed on both fronts.

Economically, where immigrants once assumed a comparable standard of living after about 10 years in the country, that trend stopped almost three decades ago. Today, immigrants now earn considerably less – as little as half of native-born Canadians – with little prospect of improvement. That in turn leads to some of the societal problems increasingly associated with immigration.

Record numbers streaming in add to overall GDP and taxation levels, but that does not translate into
greater prosperity for all. Just the opposite, as quality of life takes a hit, particularly in larger cities.

There are plenty of reasons to discuss immigration policy and the attendant and equally-flawed multiculturalism programs. We just have to get past the politically correct nonsense and be adults about if for the sake of the country.

“We have to figure out how you can have an informed and engaged debate without descending into name-calling,” says Collacott, hitting the nail on the head.

Tags: Steve Kannon

Car-share group seeks support for Elmira service

A group hoping to bring car-sharing to Woolwich is looking to the township to provide a $30,000 loan to smooth the process along.

The line of credit, similar to arrangements in Waterloo, Kitchener and Cambridge, would allow Grand River CarShare to put three cars in Elmira.

Parked in accessible public locations, the cars could be rented by the hour to those who join the not-for-profit cooperative. The idea is to provide a section of the population with the benefits of car use without the downside of car ownership.

Matthew Piggott, the organization’s membership services co-ordinator, told councillors Monday night the service is aimed at a variety of users: families feeling pressure to have a second vehicle; those without cars and for whom public transit isn’t always an option; younger drivers without cars; and seniors who no longer wish to own a car, especially an older vehicle that may be starting to cost a fair bit of money to keep on the road.

In essence, it becomes a way to augment other sustainable transportation options.

“Car-sharing is all around the world. In every major world city, and we would like to put Elmira and Woolwich Township on that map,” he said.

Founded in 1998, Grand River CarShare (GRCS) now has 400 members sharing 16 vehicles.

In Woolwich, 17 people have already joined. The group is looking for 50 to support three vehicles in Elmira. Locations have already been arranged at the Elmira Mennonite Church, Elmira Service Centre and Foodland store in the south end.

Typically, GRCS buys off-lease cars that are about two years old. Vehicles are chosen base on what’s most suitable for the location, said Piggott.

“What we’re hearing from Woolwich is that a pickup truck would be nice.”

The $30,000 line of credit, paid back with interest of two per cent, provides the working capital and helps keep costs down, explained board president Jason Hammond in making the request at council.

As with other municipalities, Woolwich would be asked to provide parking spaces if necessary and to join the cooperative as a corporate member, allowing it to expand its fleet economically while acting as an example to others.

When Coun. Bonnie Bryant asked why the organization didn’t simply go to a bank for money, Hammond explained the non-profit cooperative has some difficulty with conventional financing. Municipal support helps keep costs down, and provides an extra layer of confidence for members.

That said, the venture is on firm financial footing, he added.

“We are self-sufficient and we’ve been operating as a business for 13 years.”

Elmira resident Jeff Windatt, a car-share member who gave up car ownership two years ago, said extending the service into the township would have many advantages, including a cleaner environment, healthier residents and reduced traffic.

Having a car available on an as-needed basis would allow others to reduce the number of vehicles they own even if they don’t go the same route as his family did, he added.

“What we really want is the transportation, the freedom, without all the hassles of the ownership of the car – the pollution, the cost of having the car sit there – and our answer is the car-share,” said Windatt.

“We could rent it for an hour, just like we could a power tool from Home Depot.”

Mayor Todd Cowan asked staff to investigate the support options for Grand River CarShare, with a report due back at a future council meeting.

Tags: Steve Kannon

The distinctive sound of a dobro guitar

He’s been in the business for decades, and his work appears on an assortment of CDs, but it’s only now that Bob Tremblay has recorded an album of his own. Dobro is an ode to the instrument that’s been his passion for all these years.

The dobro, an acoustic guitar with a bowl-shaped metal resonator built into its body, has a distinctive sound that’s been adapted into country, bluegrass, western swing and blues music.

“It’s a real sound all of its own – completely different,” said Tremblay of the instrument, part of his guitar-oriented repertoire.

In putting together the album, he narrowed it down to 19 songs from an assortment of styles, all of which have meaning for him after decades of playing with a variety of artists. Given the number of years he’s been playing, choosing was no small task.

Like a lot of kids, he took music lessons, starting with the guitar at the age of 9. Unlike most kids, he had a professional gig by the time he was 14. Call it good timing, but the Silver Bar Ranch Boys had just lost their steel guitar player when Tremblay happened along.

“They hired me on the spot. Two weeks later, I was playing on TV for them.”

The show was a staple on Kitchener’s CKCO-TV through the mid-1950s, airing every Saturday evening from 7-7:30 p.m.

Later, he and his two siblings would tour North America as the Tremblay Brothers. There was also The Sherwoods, a trio that would lend its name to Sherwood Music in Kitchener, which he co-founded.

Through the years of working outside of the music industry, he always kept his hand in it, refining the style that would make him perhaps the finest dobro player in Ontario.

Today, he plays regularly at the Commercial Tavern in Maryhill, which will host his CD release party Feb. 20.

Paul Weber, owner of the Maryhill fixture, appears on the album, playing bass and rhythm guitar. Dan Howlett, on fiddle, mandolin and guitar, and Grant Heywood, on drums, round out the lineup.

On the day of the release, Tremblay will be playing with the musicians who recorded the album with him.

Songs from the album will be mixed with other favourites. And other musicians will be invited up for a jam session.

One musician who’ll be there in spirit only is fiddler Mike Slauenwhite, to whom Tremblay dedicates the album’s cut of “Amazing Grace.”

Slauenwhite, who died in December after a battle with cancer, was part of the Silver Bar Ranch Boys all those years ago, and they’d played together frequently over the past three years or so. In fact, Tremblay played on Slauenwhite’s debut album released last spring. Like that CD, Dobro comes at the prodding of Floradale’s Lynn Russwurm, a tireless songwriter, performer, producer and advocate for the genre.

“I’ve been on lots of other people’s albums. Lynn kept saying, ‘Bob, you should be cutting something yourself,’” Tremblay explained. “When I go out and play, people ask me for CDs. I guess it was time.

“In this day and age, it took quite a bit of nerve to do an instrumental CD, especially dobro,” he added with a laugh.

The CD release party for Bob Tremblay’s album is set for Feb. 20, 1-5 p.m., at the Commercial Tavern in Maryhill.

“It will be some good family fun for the long weekend, since Monday’s a holiday. It will give people a place to go if they’re not heading away for the weekend.”

Tags: Steve Kannon

Revenge might feel good, but not advisable

Does privatization of public sector services work? In many cases, no. But it is ever so satisfying.

Just look at the public reaction in Toronto, where new Mayor Rob Ford wants to privatize garbage collection. Those who had to put up with a messy, unhealthy strike in 2009 are eager to lay a figurative beat-down on the city workers involved.

Unfortunately, revenge will not be as sweet as it could be given a previous administration’s ill-advised agreement to find other work for those displaced by outsourcing. They may eventually be forced out, but the city can’t simply fire the lot of ‘em, to the chagrin of fed-up taxpayers.

Moving to private garbage collection is probably inevitable in Toronto, as Ford made it a campaign promise and the idea has plenty of traction. As Toronto is one of the few cities still using in-house staff to pick up the trash – more than 80 per cent, including Waterloo Region, use private services – there are plenty of examples showing that outsourcing works for this service.

In some ways, it would be gratifying in Toronto and elsewhere to see a wholesale swing to privatization simply as a means to counter unfair and unsustainable property tax increases, largely fueled by wages and salaries, along with poor decisions at the council level. But, and you knew there had to be a but, that could easily backfire.

Fact is, there are enough case studies to wave a yellow flag before we get rolling too far with that notion.

Few people outside of those with profits in mind would care to see water services privatized, for instance.

We’re already seeing rate increases far beyond inflation, largely due to provincially-mandated cost-recovery models that means we’ll be paying for infrastructure upgrades directly through water and sewer fees. Facing the same costs to deliver services, plus the desire for profit, private companies would either boost rates faster or cut corners to trim their costs. Our schadenfreude over turfed municipal workers being replaced by lower-paid employees wouldn’t be enough to make up for that.

In such cases, we’re better off keeping the services under public control. Better still under political control, where we can bring pressure to bear on our elected officials to keep prices under control. Well, that’s the theory at any rate. We have a long way to go before politicians listen to what citizens are telling them, but every once in a while we get really fed up and the result is what happened in Toronto’s municipal election.

Closer to home, we’ve seen some shift in the policy on public transit. In last fall’s election, voters sent a strong message to council that they believe light rail transit will be no more than a white elephant. More recently, plans to shift spending to transit far beyond rates reflected in usage numbers by those who pay the bills are meeting with a growing backlash.

All too often, budgets and spending decisions go only one way: up. Case in point? The province has uploaded $11.8 million in welfare payments, removing that item from Waterloo Region’s budget. Instead of cutting their baseline budget – 3.2 per cent or $47 per household in tax savings – administrators have already decided to roll that money into other spending. A further tax increase – aka the usual – will soon be announced as the region moves along in its budget process, handcuffed by pay raises it committed to while ignoring the province’s request to free public-sector wages.

The problem with simply returning to the well for annual tax increases is clearly on display in Kitchener, where the city is proposing a stormwater user fee that will amount to about $123 a year on average. That’s the equivalent of a tax hike of 6.4 per cent. On top of that, it’s looking at a 1.94 per cent jump in property taxes. The bottom line? The average resident would be paying an additional 8.4 per cent to the municipality, receiving nothing more in return.

There may be some relief, however, as new councillors there are pressing for reductions in those numbers. They’ve done the math, factoring in water and sewage rates pushing double-digit increases, and see quite clearly that everything adds up to removing money from residents’ wallets at a pace that far outstrips the rate of replenishment.

Local officials need to see the big picture. That proverbial one-and-only source of tax money is under attack on multiple fronts. Something’s got to give. For municipalities, that means reducing spending on other programs – and thus overall tax rates – to compensate. If Kitchener, for instance, needs $123 a year from each household to deal with stormwater infrastructure, it had better find a way to reduce property taxes by a commensurate amount. The same applies for water and wastewater fees, projected to grow at three, four or five times the rate of inflation for several years. Want another $60 a year, as was the case with increases in Woolwich in 2010? Find a way to chop that amount from general taxes.

That would be far more satisfying to taxpayers, and might even stem the call for privatization … or for the heads of non-compliant politicians.

Tags: Steve Kannon

Load limits adjusted on two Woolwich bridges

Recent tests have prompted Woolwich to change the load limits on two of its bridges, part of an ongoing assessment of the township’s road and bridge inventory.

An analysis of the Peel Street Bridge in Winterbourne reveals its load capacity should be dropped to three metric tonnes rather than 10, severely reducing the types of vehicles that can cross it.

It was a different story for the Middlebrook Place Bridge, where the load limit is set to increase to four tonnes from three.

The changes were approved by Woolwich councillors meeting Feb. 1.

In the case of the Peel Street Bridge, the township has already contacted agencies, including ambulance services, notifying them of the restrictions. The Waterloo Region District School Board, for instance, has already altered its bus routes, as the vehicles are too heavy for the new limit.

Though small, the change on the Middlebrook bridge north of West Montrose would allow a full-size pickup truck to use the crossing.

Director of engineering and planning Dan Kennaley said the moves came after the most recent round of ‘coupon sampling,” which consists of laboratory analysis of steel samples taken from the structures.

Over time, the goal is to have load limits on these and other restricted bridges either removed entirely or at least raised high enough to allow normal traffic flows, he said.

In response to a question from Mayor Todd Cowan, Kennaley said the lower limits on the bridges preclude farm equipment from using them, which is problematic in an agricultural area.

Such improvements, however, will come at a cost. A report tabled last year shows Woolwich will need more than $6.8 million to repair or replace bridges and culverts over the next decade.

Required by the province to inspect bridge structures – bridges and culverts – every two years, the township had an engineering consultant determine the state of its inventory and the come up with a cost for tackling any deficiencies. Remediation work was ranked as high, medium or low priority.

Of the 48 structures inspected, nine were deemed to be of high priority, nine judged medium and 16 low. Fourteen was seen as requiring no action. Most of those with the highest priority should be repair or replaced within one to five years, with some falling in a 10-year timeline.

The nine most pressing projects include the Glasgow Street span that was dealt with last year. The list included a Floradale Road culvert (repairs, $150,000), another Floradale road structure (replacement, $630,000), a culvert on Reid Woods Drive (replacement, $430,000), a steel truss bridge on Middlebrook Road (repairs, $135,000), a similar span on Peel Street (repairs, $128,000) a culvert on Halm Road (replacement, $180,000) and a culvert on Bisch Street (replacement, $490,000).

Tags: Steve Kannon

West Montrose development freeze continues

The area surrounding the historic West Montrose Covered Bridge moved one step closer to a heritage designation this week, with Woolwich councillors agreeing to extend a moratorium on development.

The move gives the township more time to finalize a report on a proposed cultural heritage landscape (CHL) label. A report due next month is expected to recommend much of the land near West Montrose be granted that protection.

Such a designation would be welcomed by opponents of plans to excavate gravel in the vicinity of the village.

Gravel pits are precisely the kind of major development the CHL designation is aimed at. While it would not automatically prevent an application from going ahead, it would demand a heritage impact study. As well, the township would take the issue into account when studying any such applications.

Official studies of the heritage significance of the bridge and its surroundings pre-dates by several years, however, a gravel pit bid by Capital Paving for farmland immediately to the southwest of the bridge. (A second aggregate application for an adjacent piece of land is expected from the Murray Group.)

As Prof. Robert Shipley, who heads the Heritage Resources Centre at the University of Waterloo, noted in speaking to council Tuesday night, the issue of CHLs has been discussed in the region since the late 1990s.

A study carried out in 2006 by Waterloo Region and his own four-year study that was published in 2009 show the landscape around the covered bridge is provincially significant.

“The significance of this area is not a matter of opinion at this point, it’s a matter of fact,” he said, noting provincial regulations mandate protection of the landscape there. “The cultural heritage landscape designation for this area is not just justified, it’s actually required given the legislation.”

Built in 1881, the 198-foot span across the Grand River is Ontario’s last remaining covered bridge. At one time a provincial responsibility, the bridge is now owned by the Region of Waterloo, and remains one of Woolwich’s premier tourist sites.

Protecting the “kissing bridge” experience is the goal of the West Montrose residents’ association known as the BridgeKeepers, which supports the CHL plan.

Tony Dowling, the group’s co-chair, told councillors its members are prepared to live with certain restrictions on their properties in order to avoid development such as gravel pits that would mar the environment around the bridge.

“If a CHL designation will help ensure we don’t lose what’s so special about West Montrose, we’re all for it,” he said, noting that the rules should be flexible enough to allow for modest change on a small scale.

“We want to prevent inappropriate development, but we don’t want residents to get bogged down in lengthy and costly approval processes for appropriate development.”

His position was shared by fellow resident Hans Pottkamper, who said the CHL plan and accompanying Official Plan changes should be robust enough to stand up at the Ontario Municipal Board should developers challenge the township’s position.

Pointing to the development that was allowed to proliferate against an historical landmark in Kitchener, he called on councillors to avoid making the same mistake here.

“This is a very unique area, and we feel it should be protected, or long-term we’re going to end up with the type of commercial and industrial development that has forever ruined the pastoral setting around Kitchener’s Pioneer Tower,” said Pottkamper.

“We’re concerned about large-scale operations, not the much more modest enterprises operated by our farming neighbours who have to resort to greenhouses, furniture-making, farm-equipment stores and similar things in order to augment their incomes. We don’t want to stop that.”

In that light, Mayor Todd Cowan, speaking on behalf of an area farmer, asked what impact the CHL would have on farmers and Old Order Mennonites who live within the proposed CHL boundaries.
In response, director of engineering and planning Dan Kennaley said the document is drafted in such a way as to leave out from review the kind of small-scale changes common with farming, as well as minor home renovations and improvements.

The document does not want to “unduly restrict” farming, he said, noting the township wants to see such farms continue in flourish, as they are part of the area’s cultural heritage.

That kind of flexibility was deemed essential by Coun. Mark Bauman, who said there’s no way to simply freeze the area in time – “change will happen.”

The area for the proposed CHL is bounded by Northfield Drive to the west, Line 86 to the north, Katherine Street to the east and an irregular line to the south to a point beyond a line extending from Maryhill Road.

Along with the bridge and older homes in the immediate vicinity, the CHL designation encompasses the surrounding environment and views that makes up the historical context of the structure.

That, argues a University of Waterloo ecologist, includes the woodlands and wetlands in the area.

Prof. Kim Cuddington, a West Montrose resident, suggested the draft CHL plan encompass more of the woodland area near the bridge, noting they are of local, and possibly provincial significance – “you have a mandate for protecting those woodlands.”

Kennaley said planning staff will be reviewing all suggestions prior to returning to council with a more formal CHL document and accompanying Official Plan amendment on Mar. 8. The extension of the interim control bylaw until the end of March provides enough time to get the changes in place should council adopt them.

Tags: Steve Kannon

A start that was anything but glamorous

Think of Carol Burnett, and comedy comes to mind. But it wasn’t always that way, as the fictionalized story of her early years attests to.

Hollywood Arms, to be staged by the Elmira Theatre Company starting next week, paints a less-than-perfect portrait of the iconic actress’ formative years. That’s not to say it’s without its funny moments, however, in keeping with who she would become.

Written by the comic legend and her daughter Carrie Hamilton (who died of cancer at 38 before the play hit Broadway in 2002), Hollywood Arms is based on Burnett’s best-selling memoir “One More Time.” Set in California in 1941 and 1951, it tells the story of Burnett (called “Helen” in the play) as she grows up in a poor and troubled family. Born in San Antonio, Texas, Burnett moved to a less-than-glamorous section of Hollywood, where her grandmother raised her and her younger sister.

“She had a rough childhood. They were poor, and both her parents were alcoholics.

She and a half-sister were pretty much raised by her grandmother,” explained David MacMillan, who directs the ETC production that opens Feb. 11.

“It was a rather trying time for them, but it’s a very interesting story about the human element.”

Given the circumstances, it might be advisable to bring along a hanky, he suggests.
“It’s not a flat-out comedy, that’s for sure. It has it’s comedic moments, but it’s more of a drama.”

Telling the story of three generations of women pursuing their dreams that often ended up in disappointment and tragedy – and ultimately triumph for Burnett – Hollywood
Arms is at times poignant, sad and funny as we get to see the fledgling Carol Burnett in the making and how she chose to become an entertainer.

“She was a very strong person. Despite all that happened to her, she had no resentment and kept a good outlook on life,” said MacMillan.

The play offers great roles for the female leads, he noted, particularly the roles of Helen – played as a child by Kate Short and later by Krista Hovsepian – and her grandmother, Nanny, played by Cathy Judd.

“Her grandmother was really important to her – this shows us why.”

Fans of the Carol Burnett Show, her long-running variety series, will remember the signature signoff: Burnett tugging her ear as an affectionate message to her grandmother that she was doing fine. Her grandmother’s influence is clearly on display in the story of her origins. In Helen, we see where she got her start.

In years that follow those portrayed in Hollywood Arms, Burnett headed off to New York, where she proved to have star power and strong comedic instincts. Appearances on The Garry Moore Show, The Tonight Show and The Ed Sullivan Show led, in 1959, to a starring role on the off-Broadway (and soon Broadway) hit Once Upon a Mattress.

An Emmy Award-winning concert special with Julie Andrews in 1962 drew critical acclaim and in 1967 Burnett was ready for her own series, The Carol Burnett Show.

What followed was a far cry from the Hollywood days of her youth.

The Elmira Theatre Company production of Hollywood Arms runs Feb. 11-13, Feb 17-20 at 76 Howard Ave. Show times are 8 p.m., except Sundays (2:30 p.m.). Tickets are $18, available at the Centre In The Square box office in Kitchener by calling 578-1570 or 1-800-265-8977, online at www.centre-square.com.

Tags: Steve Kannon