INSTEAD OF WASTING taxpayers' dollars on a legal dispute as to whether Orangeville's representatives on Dufferin County council can vote on the proposed sale of the former CP Rail right-of-way north of Orangeville, the parties involved ought to look seriously at the alternative of a 99-year lease.

Long-term leases have often been used as a railway-building tool, and in this case would seem to offer some advantages and few, if any, disadvantages to both the County and the proposed purchaser, the Highland Rail Group.

The county's continued ownership of the rightof way could assure its continued availability for recreational purposes, particularly on weekends when the rails would not normally be used to transport freight. It might also free up infrastructure money for the proposed northward extension of the tracks, which now end just east of Veterans Way. The only downside we can see for the County would be a need to substitute lease payments for a sale revenue.

As for Highland, the advantages might include less exposure to property taxes, which CP Rail cited as the main reason for abandoning the line between Orangeville and Owen Sound.