The following text may have been generated by Optical Character Recognition, with varying degrees of accuracy. Reader beware!

t was a night of celebration at Ici(y council as councillors and local environmentalists conâ€" gratulated each other after coming to an agreement on the long conâ€" tested McNally lands. _ The easing of that tension came after city council approved a plan which changes the zoning of the contentious McNally lands. The new G1 zoning bans any development on the environmenâ€" tally sensitive site, and limits the land use to walking trails or a nature reserve. The lands had been a controverâ€" sial issue as local activists fought for the lands to be deemed enviâ€" ronmentally sensitive in order to keep development away from the large tracts in Waterloo‘s north end. Both councillors and activists seemed pleased that the ordeal was settled. Soccer group needs lit fields Continued from page 1 But finding land to build a cemetery will not be easy, Anderson said. ol ledarle T leAatarets "Before we remove (the fields), we need to move (them) to another location," she said. That factor should be the impetus the city needs to get moving and find a site for a new cemetery, said Coun. Jan d‘Ailly. â€" â€" â€" s _ "The consequence if we take too long is that we lose sports fields at Bechtel Park," he said. The city currently owns no land which could be easily converted to burial grounds, she said. ~â€"______ _ That means either purchasing land within the city or partâ€" nering with neighbouring municipalities to find a solution, Anderson added. Coun. Diane Freeman suggested that staff find a solution quickly, so that the city won‘t have to pay more than it has to by filling the Bechtel Park fields and then building both a new cemetery and replacement sports fields. We should be striving not to be spending more money on building sports fields elsewhere," she said. "We should be savâ€" ing the city money." _ No matter what the outcome â€" whether the fields are moved or not â€" the city needs to have lit fields in order for some leagues in the Waterloo Minor Soccer Club to survive, said Paul Van Damme, president of the organization. "Our concern is that (the fields that could be annexed) are two of the three lit fields in Waterloo," he said. "We want to make sure our rep program has a place to play." s _ The same goes for the Waterloo Minor Baseball Associaâ€" tion, which doesn‘t want to see its stadium torn down in order to make room for more graves. While it is not in the current plans to make any alterations to the stadium at Bechtel Park, if it does come to that then the city will have to make another gradeâ€"A ball park, complete with change rooms, lights, a scoreboard, a broadcast system and a host of other amenities, said Steven Furino, the organiâ€" zation‘s treasurer. Council voted 4â€"3 to approve a strategy that would see a new cemetery in place in just over a decade, but the plan was not binding â€" Monday‘s decision merely set out guidelines for how staff should proceed. City staff will bring back the issue to council later this year and multiple times throughout the process, Anderson said. McNally fight finally settled with new zoning for area By Greo MacDonaiD Chronicle Staff "For a year and half this has been on the top of my toâ€"do list, from the time I got elected," said Coun. Karen Scian. "I was thrilled to find that my coâ€"councillors shared that goal." Mayor Brenda Halloran said the outcome was a result of good comâ€" munity teamwork. "I really appreciate the work the citizens have done with us. This is the real meanâ€" ing of community," she "I can see there‘s a lot of emotion around the table: This has been a big issue for all of us." The issue is still not clear of controversy, of course. City officials decided not to include a laneway and alley that give the city access to the land in the G1 _ _ OO L\. enc trer ata s eraturer se urer mreere upe te nrgpemerernrer nemenngce ar ce mepme mermng y wene grare und Wt is‘ al al se ul al adabalt ts t i o as as ts on as c is m Abh ut us w ud mt uhi us as 20 0t t We ue us wivnd w ut ut it wl ud ncudt uind uh us ut ut ced it l tiad, ho l ts e it ns ue o. 990 Victoria St. North, Kitchener teside tim norton‘s) ! MWWIR®®N 8 519.571.0550 Mon & Tues9â€"6, Wedâ€"Fri9â€"9, Sat9â€"5:30, Sun 12430 â€" (Bpro="23 .. designation These dirt trails are in the same tract of land as the Owen Lands, which are immediately adjacent to the McNally property. Those lands are currently under an Ontario Municipal Board appeal and the city wanted to make sure MEPHISTO M Days Join us this Friday & Saturday * Gift with purchase * Michel Trafikant & Dylan Parton with reps that the McNally lands couldn‘t be seized as part of that review. Activists called on the city to designate the laneway and alley once a decision was made. But mostly they were happy that the land is safe and will be put to the uses that Doug McNally origiâ€" C o n WATERLOO CHRONICLE * Wednesday, May 7, 2008 « 5 nally envisioned when he donated the land to the city, said David Wellhauser, who has been at the forefront of the issue. "Doug McNally was a pillar of our community and has definitely left a legacy for future Waterâ€" looians," he said.