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Two objections stali finance dept.move The removal of the Region of Durham's finance depart- ment from Whitby to Oshawa has been stalled by two objections which have been filed with the Ontario Municipal Board. On March 21, regional council approved the move from the regional headquar- ters on Rossland Road to five floors of an eight-storey office building at the corner of Bond and Centre Streets in downtown Oshawa. However, objections have been filed with the Ontario Municipal Board by Gord Burnett, a citizen of Oshawa, and Oshawa Councillor Ed Kolodzie. These objections halt the move of the finance depart- ment, pending an OMB deci- sion on the matter. Finance Chairman John Aker, of Oshawa, in a budget debate last Wednesday, stréssed that a major risk would be faced if the compu- ter system remained in two portable buildings at the re gional headquarters. He warned of possible vandalism, theft or arson, and referred particularly to the recent fire set in St. Andrew's School in Ajax which gutted the building. He predicted it would take two years to straighten out the region's financial records if the buildings burned and the records were destroyed. These records include more than $1 million in sewer and water bills, he said. In addition to the water and sewer bills in the por- table there are hundreds of records kept in a computer room in the headquarters building that is not secure from theft, said Councillor Aker. .Councillor Kolodzie, in his objection, stated he would like to have a professional study done to see if better use could be made of the crowded department's quarters. Mr. Burnett says he ob- jects to the cost of the move, and states that the Durham Towers in Oshawa is in receivership. "This leaves the impres- sion they (the region) are bailing out the developer" he said. Finance Commissioner Jack Gartley said recently the lease to the region "will probably help the new owners of the building to get on a better footing finan- cially." - Mr. Burnett contends that less costly space could have been leased in the Whitby Municipal Building, but Councillor Aker- says it falls 15,000 feet. short of require- ments. Mr. Burnett has also expressed concern that there would not be enough parking for the 92 finance workers at the Oshawa site. Councillor Aker repliedthatthe owner of the building has agreed to help pay for staff parking fees at the Oshawa munici- paf parking garage. During a budget debate last Wednesday, Whitby Councillor Bob Attersley, who was not present when the council voted to move the finance department to Oshawa, called for the dele- tion from the budget of $95,000 for relocation of the region's computer opera- tions to the Oshawa location. He was unsuccessful in his bid to get the money deleted. Emm calls for an assessment At today's regional council meeting- Councillor .Gerry Emm of Whitby will be asking council to have a mechanical engineer assess the downtown Oshawa build- ing whiëh is intended as the new home for the finance department. Councillor Emm said he would like to have a mechan- ical engineer assess the building to find out if it is able to properly house the region's computer system. He referred to a number of structural problems in the building, such as wet spots in the basement, and electrical circuits close to the area of possible flooding. Councillor Emm also said he was.irrdoubt if some areas of the building could electri- cally and mechanically han- dle the load produced by the computers. Ventilation is also a matter of concern, said Councillor Emm, as well as proper wiring circuits on each floor. "We need an unbiased opinion on these areas before the region takes a lease," said Councillor Emm. "Also we should know the exact lease dollar we will be obliged to pay under a nego- tiated lease," he said. Whitby Jaycees took part in the annual Georgetown Jayjees actually crossed the finish line before tipping over. crazy boat.race last Saturday. The Whitby entry came second Pictured in the boat about to be christened by Mayor Jim in the actual race and won the best presented boat award in the Gartshore are: AI McDougall (left), Joe Arbuthnott and Bob Jaycees and service club category. Last year Whitby spent Buchan. most of the time upside down, but this year the Whitby boat Free Press Photo by Mike Burpess Councillor Emm said the price quoted for the Brock Mary Building in Whitby was $5.40 per square foot for 18,700 square feet, whereas the price for the Oshawa Durham Towers Building is $7.10 per square foot. "It seems the Brock Mary Building has never been con- sidered seriously by the region," said Councillor Emm. "Before any lease is signed, all options should be open for the best cost for the region over the five years." Councillor Emm said he was bringing these matters to regional council because he had received a number of calls from concerned citi- zens in Whitby and Oshawa asking that the region check carefully into the proposed move of the finance department. Headquarters funds provided Durham Regional Council made a commit ment last Wednesday to expand the regional headquarters at a projected cost of $6 million. The commitment was made near the end of a nine-hour budget debate. The regional council agreed to spend $134,000 this year and a similiar amount in 1980 to draw up prelimi- nary plans and designs for possible expansion of the headquarters building on Rossland Road. Originally the $268,000was excluded froth the region's capital works budget despite recommendations from the region's chief administrative officer that expansion plans should be drawn up. John Aker, chairman of the finance department, said the design costs would be debentured over the next two or three years to previènt any additional impact on the taxpayers. Although most councillors appeared to view the deci- sion as one for design funds only, Councillor Aker saw the decision as a firm commitment. "By that decision, today council took the first step to expand the regional head- quarters and consolidate its four departments under a single roof," he said. Councillor Alan Dewar-of Oshawa said that although $6 million has been included in the region's capital construc- tion forecast for expansion of the headquarters, the pro- ject would not_be completed for five years. Regional taxes to rise 7per cent Regional taxes will increase 7 per cent in 1979 as a result of a $63 million budget approved by regional council last Wednesday. The councillors, in a nine- hour session, ended up cut- ting only $1,000 from the budget and adding $12,500. This leaves a current opera- ting budget of $55 million and a capital budget of $7.8 million. The budget is more than $5 million higher than last year and 91 per cent more than the region's first budget in 1974. By comparison, the region's population in that period has risen 20-25 per cent. Finance Committee Chair- man John Aker reported that most regional departments remained with a ceiling of three per cent for increases in their budgets, but assess- ment growth in the region dropped to only 3.7 per cent from 1978. He pointed out that provin- cial grants have increased only five per cent in contrast to the nine per cent inflation rate, resulting in a shift in the burden for services to the local property taxpayer. A significant compromise in the budget is an agree- ment to approve in advance the spending of $256,000 next year by the police commis- sion to hire 15 new police personnel. Previously the police com- mission had made a submis- sion for a $13 million budget, exceeding the spending ceil- ing by more than $700,000. Among the capital projects was the approval of $150,000 for expansion of the Whitby police station. In 1976 regional council had tried to close the station, and in 1977 the hours of the station were reduced to 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. from 24-hour service. Local man charged in $78,000 fraud Ross Thomas Purcell, 37, of 561 Reynolds Street, Whitby, has been charged by Metro Toronto Police with fraud in connection with the defrauding of more than $78,000 from a Toronto credit rating firm. Fraud squad investigators said four fictitious names were used on bills sent to Dun and Bradstreet Canada Ltd., approved and paid al- though no work was ever done. The scheme had been in progress for sik years, police said. Mr. Purcell was manager of marketing for the Carlton Street credit rating firm.