The Ottawa Citizen from Ottawa, Ontario, Canada • 19

THE OTTAWA CITIZEN TUESDAY, JANUARY 17, 2006 B3 CITY Rush-hour collision 12 buys sifevlfe wdlaM. Ontario appeal board go-ahead prompted community to look for other ways to curtail subdivision development 'if PQ I vmmmmm mt ramgmau SC. 'V -S -fVK II '-y Va i 1 Forgoing development on 40 per cent of a site I think is un- -heard off, but we're prepared to do that because we think it's for the good of the community." Stittsville Village Association president Shad Qadri says the deal is an example of how re- sponsible growth can occur if -those involved are willing to negotiate. "I feel Stittsville has lost too much green space already," he; said. "It's important to protect; as much of our natural land as possible for the future enjoy-ment of our residents." He also commended the city having the foresight to put -aside funds to buy this type of land, even if the municipal board doesn't think the land is important.

"Too many OMB decisions' have gone against the natural environment in favour of developing in this community," he said. "This is money well-spent for the future of the community." Christine Hartig, chair-" woman of the Goulbourn Wet-lands Group, which has worked for years to preserve the area's environmentally important -lands, said what was particularly satisfying in this case was that land her group considered' important could be saved from development despite the municipal board's ruling. She said often in such cases' as these, her group has strug-, gled against development com-" panies. But, in this case, it really was-" n't a "fight" because of the flex-" ible position DCR Phoenix took. "Luckily, the developer had the foresight to see this- was the right thing to do," she said.

"Sometimes, it's not all about the money, and in this case, they seemed to see that." Mr. Buchanan said he hopes the company's subdivision proposal will be approved at next week's planning committee meeting so that construction work on the site can begin this summer. Ms. Stavinga, meanwhile, said it was unfortunate the city has to pay to "rectify a short-' sighted decision by the OMB" allowing development of the wetlands. At the same time, she praised DCR Phoenix for work-' ing with community city staff and council to come to a compromise on the issue.

"The OMB decision under- mined council, but the compa-" ny worked well to find a resolu- tion," she said. "Residents across Ottawa have noted that- protection of the natural environment is important, and, in this case, it was achieved." leaves one man dead A Morrisburg woman is in hospital and a man from Win chester Springs is dead follow ing a collision on County Road 31, north of the Hamlet of Winchester Springs in North Dun-das Township last evening. The Ontario Provincial Po lice said the 27-year-old woman was travelling southbound on the road about 5 p.m. when she attempted to pass another vehicle. Her car collided head-on with a northbound Jeep, which was being driven by the 46-year-old male.

The woman was seriously hurt, and was airlifted to the Ottawa Hospital The man was pronounced at the scene. Police did not release the names of either of those involved in the crash. The road was closed shortly after the accident and reopened about 9 p.m. An investigation into the incident was still ongoing late last night. 43 firearms come in before amnesty start In his verbal report to the city's police board, Ottawa po lice Chief Vince Bevan said last night that 43 firearms have been turned in to the police in advance of the announced gun amnesty.

Although the amnesty itself does not officially begin until Wednesday of next week, none of the people who has turned in a gun faces charges, the chief said. Chief Bevan added that information from the public that came in after the announcement of the gun initiative has led to the seizure of several more firearms, including a sawed-off shotgun, a Taser, another loaded shotgun, and a "large quantity" of ammunition. ElfChantiry returns as police board chair Eli El-Chantiry was re-elected chairman of the Police Services Board at last night's meeting of the board. Board member Henry Jensen, a retired deputy commissioner of the RCjMP, was elected vice-chairman. Members of the police board are paid $8,000 a year for their service, the vice-chairman is paid $10,000 and the chairman is paid $12,000.

The exception is Mayor Bob Chiarelli, who sits on the board, but is not paid for doing so. School board choses new board member David Primeau has been selected to serve as Ottawa-Car-leton District School Board trustee in Orleans-Cumberland until the end of November. He fills the vacancy created when Sheryl MacDonald resigned to seek municipal office in a by-election. ETIENNE MORIN, DROIT Paper mill workers protest job losses Paper mill workers across the country rallied yesterday to demand political candidates address a "jobs crisis" in the forest sector. Members of the Communications, Energy and Paperwork-ers Union of Canada including Domtar employees from Ottawa picketed on the Chaudiere Bridge, above.

At the end of November, Domtar workers at the Ottawa-Hull mill learned 185 of 475 workers would lose their jobs on March 31, when the company permanently closes two paper-making machines on Chaudiere Island. The Cornwall mill, which employed 500 people, also closed. ymvw rzm Lmj 1 3 -t 1 Jli I MIKE CARROCCEnO. THE OTTAWA CITIZEN Stittsville Village Association president Shad Qadri says the deal negotiated with DRC Phoenix is an example of how responsible growth can occur if those involved are willing to negotiate. BY JAKE RUPERT A plan for the city to buy a portion of Stittsville wetland from a developer in order to preserve it is a winwin deal, say those involved.

The purchase of three hectares of wetland is set to be today at the city's corporate services and economic development committee, and will then go to council next week for final approval All those involved the area's councillor, the community association, an environmental group and the company applaud the deal. Goulbourn Councillor Janet Stavinga, in particular, said the deal is the result of hard work by community members and flexibility on the part of the development company, DCR Phoenix. "We have come to a conclusion where everyone wins, and the environment comes out on top," she said yesterday. The company owns the land near the corner of Main Street South and Fernbank Road. About three years ago, it filed a plan for development, but city staff rejected it because the land and an adjoining parcel were designated wetlands.

Proponents of development on these lands appealed the staff decision to the Ontario Municipal Board. The board granted the appeal, and ruled the land could be developed. However, members of the Stittsville Village Association, the Goulbourn Wetlands Group and Ms. Stavinga felt the land should be maintained in its natural state to protect the environment and to allow future residents to enjoy it So they started looking at other ways to protect it. They came up with a proposal to buy the most environmentally significant parts of the land from DCR Phoenix by tapping into a pool of money the city sets aside to purchase lands that are slated for development even when the city considers them environmentally important.

Under the proposal, roughly four hectares of the site considered less environmentally important would be left for the developer to build a subdivision. Unlike other situations where developers aren't interested in selling any land they have won the right to develop, DCR Phoenix agreed in principle to the idea. The two sides negotiated to determine which part of the Websites in one Retailers must grab impatient surfers or lose them as customers BY CHARLES MANDEL Fifty milliseconds the equivalent of one-20th of a sec ond is how much time a web site has to make a good first im pression on surfers, according to a new Canadian study in the British journal Behaviour In formation Technology. The study shows people ex perience an almost visceral re action to a site before they've actually processed what they're viewing, according to Gitte Lindgaard, the director of the Human-Oriented Technology Lab at Carleton University and lead researcher on the study. 'The bit (of the website) that's based on esthetics is really just my body telling me whether this feels good or bad," Ms.

Lindgaard said in an inter view yesterday. "Biologically and genetically, we are hardwired to make snap decisions." Ms. Lindgaard said her study shows if people take only 50 milliseconds to make up their minds, and if they don't like what they see, they won't hang-around long enough to see what goods or prices a business property would be sold and found common ground. The city and company each had the land appraised and settled on a price of $1,182,825, plus GST. As part of the deal, DCR Phoenix is giving the city three smaller parcels of land it owns at the site, which will allow for the completion of a semi-circle of park-like land surrounding must make good first impression 20th of a second, study finds lot more than we are," he said.

"But right from the start, from our perspective, it was a good idea for us to give them as much of the wetland as possible. "We'll have a very nice development surrounded by natural environment. We're staying the course on our philosophy of being a good corporate citizen. liseconds. Ms.

Lindgaard called the results "incredible," noting that the correlation between those results, and what people liked and disliked in the original test, was nearly perfect between 94- and 98-per-cent accurate. Ms. Lindgaard said the researchers conducted the study after they began considering the notion of user satisfaction with websites. They wanted to determine what that meant, and found one of the consistent components related to esthetics. "That was important because if that first impression is based on a physiological response, it's basically my tummy telling me whether this feels good or bad.

If that is made so quickly, then that is likely to have an impact on subsequent judgments." Ms. Lindgaard contends her findings 'mean people won't hang around a site they dislike, but if they do, they will be predisposed to "selectively look for information that supports (the) hypothesis of it being no good." Ian Rapsey, a senior design specialist with renowned Canadian designer Bruce Mau, said he didn't believe the study would have any impact on how the firm designed a site. "People don't go to a website for 50 milliseconds. Websites are a deeper medium of its planned subdivision of 163 single-family homes and 80 townhouse units. William Buchanan, the company's planning manager, said the total land being transferred to the city represents roughly 40 per cent of the land the company has "every right to develop." "We could have developed a ivy 7 LYNN BALL, THE OTTAWA CITIZEN pletely Ms.

Lindgaard said. The researchers then showed the websites again in a different random order and compared the first and second viewings. They discovered the results were similar. "People made up their mind. Once they had decided, they stuck with it Selecting the 25 most appealing and 25 least appealing examples, the researchers again flashed the sites past volunteers, this time for just 50 mil I I Galipeau resigns as library board -vice-chairman BY ZEV SINGER I -J Royal Galipeau, the Conservative candidate for the Ottawa-Orleans riding, has voluntarily given up his position as vice-chairman of the board of the Ottawa Public Library, explain- ing he expects to be busy with his duties as an MP.

In a letter he wrote to board chairman Councillor Rick Chiarelli, Mr. Galipeau, who served as vice-chairman for two terms, said he planned tof-; support public libraries "from another forum." Mr. Galipeau took a leave from the board to run in the federal election, and could return as a trustee. In the letter, Mr. Galipeau thanks the other trustees, "as I embark on a new form of public service." Despite the confident tone, however, Mr.

Galipeau didn't go as far as Walter Robinson, the Conservative candidate for the riding in the 2004 election, who guaranteed his supporters that he would win the riding before suffering a narrow defeat to Liberal Marc Godbout A postscript asks Mr. Chiarelli to inquire when Mr. Galipeau will be reimbursed for expenses he incurred while serving on the library board. Although the receipts were submitted late, they have been approved. Replacing Mr.

Galipeau as -vice-chairman of the library board is trustee Karyn Standen. Carleton University professor Gitte Lindgaard, the study's lead researcher, says people make quick decisions about websites because humans are hard-wired to make snap decisions. offers, or even if it's competitive. "They'll be out of there," she said. Ms.

Lindgaard and three graduate students showed 100 people a random sampling of 125 websites, flashing them over a computer monitor. First they showed the images at 500 milliseconds half of one second and asked people to evaluate them on a scale ranging from zero for "totally unappealing" to 100 for "com-.