WHERE TIRES ARE A SPECIALTY, NOT A SIDELINE. Farm - Auto - Truck - Industrial - Lawn & Garden - On The Farm Service
ELMIRA, ON | 519-669-3232
AT PARTICIPATING STORES
07 | 19 | 2014 VOLUME 19 | ISSUE 29
YOUNG FAMILY TAKES OLD HALL TO NEW GROUND LIVING HERE PAGE 21
COMMENT PAGE 6
DOING THE MINIMUM SETS BACK MORE WORKERS
New entrant In sync with makes it a summertime race in Ward 1
Provincial budget gets mixed reviews locally
Dan Holt sets his sights on council seat, becoming third candidate vying for two seats available in Elmira
Woolwich likes stable infrastructure funding, worries about other cuts; opposition pans lack of movement on deficit
SCOTT BARBER
SCOTT BARBER This week’s re-released provincial budget, now with a majority Liberal government in place, met with mixed reactions from local groups. While the legislation – identical to the plan put forward on May 1 that triggered the June 12 election – contains numerous infrastructure allotments for Waterloo Region, including two-way all-day GO Transit service to Toronto and a new Highway 7 between Kitchener and Guelph, local officials say the proposal creates uncertainty regarding provincial funding to small, rural municipalities. “On the one hand, we are very encouraged by the government’s commitment to infrastructure funding, especially considering our infrastructure deficit and other municipal BUDGET | 4
An active member of the community since leaving a teaching post at the University of Pennsylvania for Elmira in 2008, Dan Holt feels prepared to take on a leadership role in the Township of Woolwich. Having joined the race with Scott Hahn and Ruby Weber for council’s Ward 1, Holt says taking a measured, pragmatic approach to growth is his top priority. “One of the things I think we need to be careful of is we don’t want to grow so fast that we outgrow what we all love about Elmira,” Holt said at his home on Spruce Lane. “We need to make sure that we take care and plan the flow of traffic, we plan for the sewer systems, the lighting of the streets and the way that the community interacts so that we don’t become what people who come here want to avoid. … Elmira is
Dan Holt a growing community and we need some leadership into the future, we can’t stand still because if we do we will fall behind.” Holt moved to Elmira when his wife Colleen Willard-Holt accepted the position of Dean of Education at Wilfrid Laurier University. The pair fell in love with the area, and with plenty of spare time upon retiring from his own career teaching education and psychology, Holt put his expertise in social ser-
BLOW-OUT
The Waterloo Sync or Swim Camp played games outside the Woolwich Memorial Centre this week in between learning the basics of synchronized swimming at the Waterloo Regional Syncro Club across the street. [WHITNEY NEILSON / THE OBSERVER]
2 Kitchener: 68 Webster Rd.
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