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The Goderich Signal-Star, 2009-11-25, Page 7• Goderich Signal -Star, Wednesday, November 25, 2009 - Page 7 Priority is to use existing land at Parsons Court To the Editor, Media coverage of the town council meet- ings is greatly appreciated . In the article headed "Harbour, Parsons Court top town list of priorities." The comment about the road extension and service hookups slated for Parsons Court — which indicated that a councillor was wondering if "the work was premature" — I am compelled to correct. I would like to be on record — that what I be- lieve I said was "the plan to extend Parsons Court was unnecessary". With all due re- spect, the economic development commit- tee and municipal council felt it was a good plan 25 years ago, to use this land to create manufacturing and industrial lots. In present day circumstances, with . the new situations and what weknowtoday —we have to adjust our priorities. It has been my consistent position at the council table since the election in 2006 - to respectfully represent our council's obliga- tion to maintain, repair and improve un- derused and vacant lands and buildings. We have accomplished much in the past 10 years especially — but in the past two years, the picture has changed drastically. The plan to provide new lots that intrude upon the Maitland Urban Woods and valuable buffer area has many issues unresolved. We find ourselves in a new age and new circum- stances. Our Comprehbnsive Land use study of 2008 requires a major update because of the major increase in available industrially zoned land in the town, as does the priority list of the council. This is the time to hear from citizens as we begin the 2010 budget. We have enough `underused and previously used' - land and buildings to keep us busy for many years. Our priority in my opinion - is to intensify and use to the maximum — the existing land within the municipality where our tax dollars have already provided servic- es. We need to maintain, repair and improve existing infrastructure before we pave, light and run sewers to new land. This is smart growth and the way to protect our physical assets, increase jobs and bring more resi- dents to the town. It is the opinion expressed in our recently adopted official plan for God- erich, and the County official plan update, as well as the directive of the Provincial Policy statement. Respectfully, Councillor Heather Lyons Bureau needs gifts, volunteers To the Editor; The 2009 Christmas season is fast ap- proaching. The Goderich branch of the Huron County Christmas Bureau is look- ing for donations and volunteers. Students of the Goderich District Col- legiate Institute are organizing a Food Drive on the morning of Tuesday, Dec. 8, and all food collected is being donated to the Christmas Bureau. We ask the pub- lic to check expiry dates on items to be donated and please, do not donate dented cans, as they cannot be distributed. Donations of clothing, toys and cash are also being received at North Street United Church the week of Dec. 7 to 11 between the hours of 10 a.m. and 4:30 p.m. The success of the Bureau is dependent on volunteers. If you are able to assist for two or three hours during the week of Dec. 7 to 11 to help sort donations, please contact Karen Kirk at 519-524-4624 or Barbara Anne Ottewell at 519-524-4653. Karen Kirk and Barbara Anne Ottewell Bureau Managers Share your Christmas stories To the Editor; The Huron County Christmas Bu- reau would like to hear your stories! Have you been one of the thousands of people whose Christmas was made happy by the Christmas Bureau over these past 40 and more years? If you have a "good news" story about your past experience with the Christmas Bureau, please call Joan at 519-524- 7356 or 1-800-265-5198 x3270 and share your story. Let your community know that their caring and their gifts can make an enormous difference in the lives of children! Your words can give hope to struggling families now in the same situation you once faced and hope is a gift. Do call Joan. Gail Grant, PR Chair Huron County Christmas Bureau Writer convinced his dog is trying to kill him It's a plot. Whereas I have, for almost a year, been giving my dog Jake the best, most comfortable death a dog could possibly deserve, I now believe he is trying to kill me. Approaching eighteen years of age in a hurry, he seems to know that as long as he can walk, eat, smile and do his business outside he's living pretty good on borrowed time. He walks like a drunk with his back legs apart to keep them from crossing and I suspend him by the tail to take some weight off the back end but still, he walks. More im- portantly, he's in no pain from the ar- thritis that's warping his spine. So my dog, he's good and hangin' in albeit some days a little precariously. Me? I'm sleep deprived, up four and five times a night to get him outside to conduct said business. At night I'm cranky having to wake up from a deep sleep and by day I'm punchy. I feel jet - lagged and generally loopy. Sleeping in shifts I feel like a lab rat with a light over my cage set to go off every couple hours. Many nights I sit on the edge of my bed promising, no-one in particular that I will confess to terrorist activity and heinous crimes if they'd just let me go back to sleep. I've broken five wine glass- es in less than a month, every- thing I pick up lands on the floor and I've got the attention span of Paula Abdul. I also find myself cleaning off my shoes with a stick a lot, so my eye sight isn't what it used to be as late as a year ago. So I kind of stumble through 24-hour fogs, the only light ra- diating from the look of con- tentment on my dog's, aging face. How unfocused have I become? Yes- terday I began to write a column about a local ferdl cat problem and it ended up being a treatment for a movie titled Catastrophe 2012 starring Will Ferrell and a bunch of local actors. How tired am I of lifting Jake in and out of bed? Very, very tired. Exactly how desperate am I for any sort of pleasant distraction? Lately I've taken to watching hockey players on figure skates dance on ice. And enjoy- ing it! How unstable have I become? I now carry two plastic poop bags in case of a middle -of -the -night accident . and only one of those bags is for the dog. When exactly did I start interviewing All the World's A ircus... myself? Five paragraphs ago? Okay, I'm fine with all that because suffering through this period of zombie -like behav- iour is the very least I can do for all those years of joy and companionship this handsome mutt has given me. But last week...last week I think he tried to kill me. Lately he refuses to eat his breakfast because he tastes the Metacam I've been slip- ping into it. Metacam is the anti-inflammatory wonder drug that re- lieves the pain in his joints and muscles and enables him to walk or at least hob- ble around with help. At this point, it's the Metacam that's keeping him alive. So in order to get it into his system I shoot a small amount into a half piece of toast and slather it with peanut but- ter. Like myself, Jake loves toast and peanut butter. So last Thursday he's finishing his breakfast out on the lawn and I'm standing at the kitchen counter having my mid-morning coffee, listen- ing to CBC Radio and liberally spread- ing peanut butter on a piece of toast for myself and a half piece for him laced with his meds. The radio interview was with the di- rector of the new movie Precious which I' m dying to see, in rental of course be- cause I no longer get to leave the house for more than an hour at a time and... And when I focused back on the task at hand I noticed I still had half a cup of coffee but all the toast was gone. All the toast — meaning Jake's and mine! That's. right, I ate my dog's wonder drug. Then I panicked. I didn't know if I should call the vet or drive to the near- est emergency ward. So I just stood there bPrking, hoping a neighbour would come to my rescue. I quickly went to the lawn where Jake was innocently asleep on his blanket. I did not go to the hospital or even call the police although there is some sort of "injection of a foreign substance" law in our criminal code. For the rest of the day I eyed that dog with great suspicion, noting his every move and deliberately drinking water from a glass instead of his bowl. By the end of the day I can honestly say that although my brain still func- tioned in a sort of light-headed giddi- ness, my body felt rather spry. You read it here first — if I should die before my dog does, I insist on a full investigation.