We're not taking sides on this. Just sayin'...

    In a debate as polarizing as the one now going on about the proposed west-end Brockville asphalt plant, it's significant when someone says they are not taking a position.

   So says the Upper Canada District School Board, which on Monday outlined “that it won’t be taking a position for or against the proposed asphalt plant in Brockville because it is a municipal issue.”

   "The board expects that all the mandated safety studies will be completed and that all regulations will be followed to ensure that the proposed facility will not harm our students and staff," board chairman Greg Pietersma states.

   Which is interesting. How many times does an organization, or an individual for that matter, stand up amid a heated debate to say: “I'm not taking sides in this”?

   Unless, of course, the board was urged to take a position against the development, which would have been a major coup for plant opponents. The UCDSB's head office is a neighbour of the proposed concrete/asphalt complex.

   Board chairman Greg Pietersma says there were indeed "questions" and "correspondence" on the issue.

   Still, it looks like we won't have a battle-of-the-public-bodies on our hands.

   I'll have more on this in tomorrow's paper, and later tonight at www.recorder.ca.