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_Albert St. gets O‘ for widening project _ City approves shoot _â€"to remove starlings A twoâ€"year controversy over the widening of Albert Street between the city and the â€" Waterloo â€" Downtown Residents‘ Association endâ€" ed in a compromise during Monday‘s committee of the whole meeting. Council accepted a report from the city engineer, James Willis, calling for the widening of Albert Street to 28 feet from its current 26 foot width. Mr. Willis had suggested a 32 foot width for the street in January. Mr. Willis made the 28 foot suggestion to minimize The John Street starâ€" lings may meet their end within the next two weeks as Waterloo city council has approved a shoot to remove the birds from the area. Ald. Robert Henry, Brian Turnbull, Mary Jane Mewâ€" hinney and Harold Wagner all voted in favor of the bylaw calling for the birds to be shot. Ald. Rudy Kominek and Marjorie _ Carivii _ voted against the bylaw while Ald. Charles Voelker and Roy Bauman were absent from â€" Monday‘s meeting. Mayor Herb Epp did not vote. Council learned of the starling problem two weeks ago when Lorne Musselâ€" man of 49 John St. approachâ€" ed council and told them of the high noise, the droppings and the smell that resiâ€" dents had suffered during the past three years. _â€" waterioo chronicle = Mr. Musselman said that the birds created a great Building starts up by $1,887,700 Building starts for June in Waterloo are up by more than $1.887.700 with the largest increase being % residential permits with a value of $3,712.500. While the total picture for theâ€" first six. months does not show a great inâ€" crease, the June figures for this yvear show a subâ€" stantial gain. In 1974 building permits for the first six months amounted â€" to _ $12,001,036 For the same period in 1975 there was a $985.914 inâ€" crease to $12,.986.950 The biggest jump for June was _ residential _ permits with 9 being issued comâ€" pared to the 66 issued in June. 1974 Of these 96 permits. 52 were for sinâ€" gle famuly houses, nine were for _ semiâ€"detached _ units. one was for a 79 unit town 120th Year No. 30 the environmental impact of the reconstruction. The work is needed to replace the 50â€"yearâ€"old pavement and allow more room for cyclists. The work will be carried out under section 8 of the loâ€" cal improvements act inâ€" stead of section 12. Under section 8 only one person has to object to the work to force an Ontario Municipal Board hearing. Under the other section 50 per cent of the residents must object to stop the work. deal of noise from 8:45 to 9:30 pm. every day and that the lower branches of area trees had turned white from the bird‘s droppings. He said the birds would start to wake the neighborâ€" hood at about 4: 15 a.m. and that their droppings were creating quite a problem for area residents. ‘‘The smell is really bad if it is humid or it rains, said Mr. Musselman. He said residents could not shoot the birds because of a gun bylaw nor could they use loud noises to scare the birds off due to another byâ€" law. James Willis, the city‘s engineer. said the regional medical officer of health had said the dropping may contain parasites that could be carried into homes on pets and then transferred to humans. Law Ayers, the deputy clerk, told council that the Waterloo Rod and Gun Club house project, 13 were for additions or alterations and 20 â€" were for accessory buildings. One permit was issued for commercial â€" buildings amounting to $3.500 comâ€" pared to none in June, (74. Industrial _ permits _ were down by $656,000 comâ€" pared to last year as only one permit was issued for $70,000. _ Last year there were seven permits with a value of $726.000. vadiuo U7 $120, 000. + L Ald. Wagner said that ‘(.nvernment and â€" instituâ€" if the birds moved to anothâ€" tional â€" permits â€" accounted _ er area of town then counâ€" for $150.000. $60,000 _ for _ (;] should just hold another officesand_ classrooms at _ shoot to rid the area of the 75 â€" University Ave_ West _ pirds. and $90.000 for additions to Ald. Turnbull felt the adâ€" an _ existing building ONn _ ministrative committee Benjamin Road should continue to investrâ€" No permits were issued _ gate the problem and see if under _ this â€" classification _ a better solution was availâ€" in June. 74 able "We ran into all sorts of Wednesday, July 23, 1975 trouble when we switched it from (section) 12 to 8," said Mayor Herb Epp. "It‘s my feeling that if we switch it back to 12 we‘ll have trouble."‘ The project will be carried out from Bridgeport Road to Bricker Street and will cost $101,700. Of this amount the province will pay $25,000, the city will pay $38,500 while the remaining $38,200 will be assessed against property owners along the street. Mayor Herb Epp felt the media should not publish the dates of the shoot as he felt hundreds of persons would invade the area to watch. was prepared to hold a shoot to rid the neighborâ€" hood of the birds. Council has also agreed to replace any trees that are Ald. _ Marjorie â€" Carroll said she had approached the Humane Society and it was opposed to the shoot. She said she had conâ€" tacted the ministry of natâ€" ural resources and it sugâ€" gested using traps for the birds. "I‘m a little bit uptight about holding a shoot," she said. Ald. Wagner said he atâ€" tended a successful shoot a number of years ago while Ald. Carroll wanted to know how many would be killed and how manyâ€"birds would just be scared away. Ald. Kominek said he would vote against the shooting bylaw because he felt the shoot would not be effective in removing the starlings. Ald. Henry said he had seen this problem in Ohio and questioned local resiâ€" dents about the birds. He told council that sprays and traps were not effective. ‘The only thing that is in any way effective is shootâ€" ing."‘ said Ald. Henry The spray suggested is used to remove the protecâ€" tive oil from the bird‘s feaâ€" thers. This causes the birds to die from exposure. Ald. Mewhinney suggestâ€" ed that the city conduct a study following the shoot to see just how many birds have been killed and how effective the shoot was. destroyed during the proâ€" ject. The replacement trees will probably be three for four inch hardwood trees and cost from $100 to $150 each. F Five trees will have to be removed during the project while another 10 trees are in poor condition. Bob Rowell of 131 William St., the president of the WDRA, told council that the association was happy with the engineering report but their main concern was still the trees along Albert Street. He said that a tree study, carried out by Ecoplans Ltd. of Waterloo, showed 15 of the trees were of poor qualâ€" ity. He suggested to council that the work be carried out under careful superâ€" vision so that healthy trees will not be damaged by heaâ€" vy equipment or accidental cutting of their roots. ‘Heavy machinery could cause damage below the leâ€" vel they are digging to if they‘re not careful," said Mr. Rowell. Mr. Rowell also suggested that new trees be planted in areas destined for reâ€" construction â€" projects _ so the new trees would have an opportunity to take root. He was referring to four trees between Central and Bricker Streets earmarked for removal during the secâ€" ond phase of the widening project. **My feeling is the trees should go in on public proâ€" perty and not on private property," said Mayor Epp. "If that‘s the case I want some trees on my property ,"‘ he joked. Marg Kerrâ€"Lawson of 137 Albert St. asked Mayor Epp if he would like his street widened. In his report Mr. Willis suggested the use of ordinâ€" ary sidewalk construction instead of special methods because of the tree roots. He said that he had not found any roots under the sidewalks and felt the roots must be near the waterâ€" mains He said that Mr. Willis had discovered the roots were not near the surface then there was no need for special â€" construction _ meâ€" thods of the new sidewalks. Sid Amster of Ecoplans said the roots must be someâ€" where and. during the tree study. felt they were under the sidewalks. The new sidewalks along Albert Street will be five feet in width on the western side of the street and six feet in width on the east side The â€" engineering _ report also recommended a widenâ€" ing to 36 feet at Central Street to provide separate leftâ€"turn lanes for east and eastbound traffic Boxy shows some apprehension as he stands on Erik Sebastion‘s feet during the Canadian Interâ€" national Circus held at Seagram Stadium in Waâ€" terloo on Monday and Tuesday. Mr. Sebastion, an Hungarian animal trainer, was just one of the many acts featured during the threeâ€"ring circus The show was sponsored by the Waterloo Siskins Junior B Hockey Club. For more photos see page 14 ntario 10 Cents Photo by Vicki Gough