I met with Durham Region's Finance and Administration Committee on May 1st and gave a seven page presentation that covered the following points: history and value of the site scope of the concern which centered on 7 day/week access, permits and fees relevant background including how other municipalities respond to birders [143 lagoons - 17 actively permit birders, 4 have permits, 123 passively allow birders in, one refuses entry to birders and two are under review [Durham Region - none charge fees], waivers, due diligence, & risk management. summary of the response from the birding community and the advantages of working cooperatively with us, including acting as a passive vandalism deterrent at the site because we are there I closed with the following recommendations: (1) Allow birders unlimited access to the site, except during construction periods; (2) Require birders to pre-register and obtain a permit from the Region and to carry it on their person at all times; (3) Require birders to sign a waiver before receiving a permit; and, (4) Do not charge a fee for this service in keeping consistent with all other municipalities in Ontario. If a fee is deemed essential, then consider $5.00 which is in keeping with the information provided by Regional staff throughout the consultative phases. The result: They supported the staff recommendation to permit birder access to the site 7 days/week for one year under a pilot project with a $20 fee/year/person to cover insurance and security costs. Next steps: Next week [May 8th] I'm on the agenda for the Regional Council meeting and will speak to cooperatively working with the birders during the pilot project and asking for a reduction in the fee based on a variety of factors. I believe this is necessary based on the number of respondents who have told me how unreasonable they think the fee is. The Region has not been able to justify how they derived the number. I believe they will support the Committee recommendation and allow access under a permit system, but can't anticipate their response to the fee issue. I don't want to jeopardize the deliberations but I think it's time for a gentle lobby .... may I suggest that we should NOT bombard them with emails, but that anyone who has an "in" with any Councillor should speak to them directly or you consider sending a supportive email to them that encourages their deliberations, thanks them for their continued efforts and suggests that working cooperatively with the birding community will show benefits for every one. Please do NOT be too aggressive, this is a very sensitive group of people who are a little unpredictable. To obtain their email addresses, go to the Durham website http://www.regionofdurham.com when you call it up, click on "Council", then "Members 2000-2003" and you have the list of Councillors and their email address. Finally, please stay away from Port Perry for now .. we're almost there! Geoff Carpentier Ajax, Ontario "Geoff Carpentier" <geoffcarpentier@rogers.com>