Re: Letters, April 11 edition
What does it say about our township when a 90-year old lady is asked to clear ice on her sidewalk while the Town can find enough funds to pay for a new Pump Park?
Citizens in Uxbridge are required by law to clear their sidewalks the folks in Oshawa, Whitby and Ajax have theirs cleared by their works departments.
In Roger Varley’s Town Hall report (page 2), he notes that a cheque for $725,000 arrived from the provincial government, plus two cheques worth more than $1,200,000, surely now we can have our sideways cleared and get rid of the onerous by-law requiring homeowners adjacent to sidewalks to clear snow and ice within 48 hours.
Helen & John McKenna
Uxbridge
The by-law officers should have offered to salt Donna [Knox]’s walk instead of threatening to ticket her if she didn’t attend to it (she is 90)!
The by-law officer also complained (to our neighbour) about ice on our walk. I checked with the person who looks after our home (walks by every day), and he feels our sidewalk was fine.
As a senior, I feel that the town should take responsibility for sidewalk clearing, or, at the very least, salting the ice on already cleared sidewalks, if needed.
Go after those who do nothing!
Susan Elliott
Uxbridge
To the residents of Ward 1 who think that Councilllor Gary Ruona, who represents Ward 2 but lives in Ward 1, is a traitor to Ward 1 – if he had voted ‘No’ [to the rezoning by-law] then in Ward 2, the farmers he represents could have called him a traitor. Damned if he did, damned if he didn’t!
Gail Sanderson
Mount Albert
It is really unfair for those people living next to the new Grainboys’ mill in Goodwood. For no fault of their own they are now adjacent to an industrial zone; good luck trying to sell their property and they are million dollars homes, or they were.
They lost hundreds of thousands of dollars while that insufferable Mr. Varley wants them to be civil and smile. Their property has to be reassessed for the lower value and the property tax has to be dropped accordingly. But how are they going to be compensated for their crushed dream of retiring peacefully in a little quiet village ? How could the zoning be changed from rural residential to industrial and a mill be built in between houses?
Doru Olaru
Goodwood
I have lived in Uxbridge Township for almost 70 years. I am now a semi-retired farmer who, as a taxpayer, does care for the idea of Grainboys coming to Uxbridge.
I do realize location is the issue. For years and several different councils, Uxbridge keeps trying to entice industry to move here. A lot of us tax payers grumble every time taxes increase. More industry may not lower taxes, but may at least make increases smaller. I guess there are some who don’t mind paying more.
I applaud the council for trying to accomplish what has rarely been done in past years. If I was a business owner wanting to relocate, after hearing about all the hassles Grainboys are getting, I would definitely look anywhere but Uxbridge Township.
Alex Sanderson
Uxbridge
Re: Letters, April 4 edition
I agree with Mr. Walters!
This major downtown redevelopment project is an ideal opportunity for implementation of the “vision.” It was initiated by Mayor [Bob] Shepherd, developed by an appointed committee, and enshrined in the Official Plan. Lower Brock Street has lagged behind its neighbour up the hill in creating and maintaining attractive facades and common areas for people to gather and enjoy themselves.
Conversion of the Coffee Time and Circle K parking lot and building from asphalt and brick to grass and flower gardens would be a wonderfully attractive addition to the downtown core. The area would welcome residents and visitors alike.
As far back as the mid-80s, council could see the benefits of open community space on lower Brock. It designated the area between the former Ballinger’s Better Buy and Coffee Time “Catawissa Parkette” to honour our twin town in Pennsylvania.
Let’s make lower Brock Street more attractive and inviting. As a community, let’s make a statement that our downtown is a welcoming place we are proud of.
Tom Robinson
Uxbridge
I would like to thank everybody who attended my violin recital on Sunday afternoon at Trinity United Church. The concert raised $1,181 for the Uxbridge Music Scholarship Trust, plus $100 and 126 food items for the Loaves & Fishes Food Bank.
Thanks also to Sue and Lisha at the Cosmos for their help with advertising and publicity.
It was amazing to see so many classical music lovers. I feel lucky to have had so much support, and I look forward to playing for you again in the future.
Duncan McDougall
Uxbridge
I received a reply to my letter [to the editor] of April 11 from Mayor Dave Barton.
My letter tried to make people think what Uxbridge IS and WHAT it will be. My question was “Why would anyone come to Uxbridge?” Commercial buildings and black tard roads don’t do it. It’s the peoples’ character and the town’s warmth that draws visitors. Uxbridge residents are slowly adopting the mental attitude towards their surroundings and their neighbours as the residents of Toronto have – “ME!” “ME!” Just look at how we drive, how we relate to our neighbours. Friends say to me, “The people of Uxbridge must be nice.” I say yes they are, but they will cut you off on the 401 when you’re trying to get to work. Surroundings influence people. In my 13 years here, ours is slowly changing.
Our mayor replied with: “This new council has to live and trust the decisions of past councils;” “This is the design we must continue with;” “One hundred thousand people per year visit our trails;” “We now must bring some of them an additional 10kms north;” “We need people working and living in downtown;” “We need a more aesthetically pleasing downtown,” (attached was a drawing of a hotel on the site of the old Shell station on Brock); “I love Wynn’s ideas.”
What if we spent $10,000,000 more to correct past councils’ decisions? We are spending $20 million to keep it the way it was! It would take 55 new visitors a day, spending $50 each over a 10-year period, to recoup this “correction” money.
We would then have a town that would attach the trail people, might get people to work downtown and have a more aesthetically pleasing downtown.
In my opinion, a hotel will not bring people to Uxbridge. We need to have the people first who will rent rooms before anyone would want to invest in this project. Port Perry’s hotel is now a Shopper’s Drug Mart.
We could run Thomas the Train 365 days of the year. It’s been our largest draw so far and looks like it will remain #1.
I can’t get Forrest Gump out of my mind when thinking of this whole situation and what happened in Goodwood last week. Are we running out of land? The farmers won’t go, say, four km north, east, west of Goodwood to do business? Scarborough had to get rid of their mushroom farm on O’Connor Dr. It sounded like a good idea at the time.
Churchill said “A nation that forgets its past has no future”. Could that apply to Uxbridge/Goodwood?
Donald G. Irwin
Uxbridge
Since the present council of Uxbridge appears to have little or no interest in such matters as heritage, environment or aesthetics, here is a suggestion to help resolve two current dilemmas.
Dilemma one: The proposed construction of silos and a grain mill within the township to augment tax revenue. Dilemma two: What to do with the property recently purchased on Brock Street to facilitate culvert construction, once the culvert is completed.
Suggestion: Solve these two dilemmas by having the Grainboys’ mill located on the site on Brock Street. This would solve the problems and serve to provide the desired tax revenue. Such a project would add a significant new landmark in the downtown core. This could be another step in the ongoing uglification of Uxbridge.
John Fraser
Uxbridge
Re: Peter Puhl’s Letter to the Editor, April 4 edition
Bev Northeast’s letters are in the newspaper quite often due to the fact she volunteers for the Friends of the Thomas Foster Memorial, she is volunteer chair of our local Salvation Army Uxbridge unit, and sends out thank you letters and notifications for both groups.
Bev was also chair of the Energy Conservation Committee for four years and wrote articles on climate change and saving energy.
She is also volunteer chair for the Ward 1 Ratepayers association, she organizes the craft show at the Goodwood Hall, which originally raised funds for the community centre, and now for the Foster Memorial, and she organizes two registration fairs (February and September) for groups who run programs in the township. She writes the Goodwood News for this newspaper, and last but not least, was chosen by Attraction Ontario as volunteer champion of tourism for 2017.
So I guess this is the reason there are letters and information from her in the newspaper.
Barbara Johnson
Uxbridge