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- - , Y '~- ~ -. ~ - - Menmgitis Caims life i .B Trudie Zavadovics A four-year-old Whitby girl died of a rare form of meningitis on Wednesday, March 22. Durham's medical officer, Dr. Jean Gray, said that the cause of death, pneumococcal meningitis, is not contageous. "It is more rare than the oth- ers and chances of a second case are so remote we needn't worry," said Gray. Principals Pat Prentice of Florence M. Heard (French im- mersion) public school and John Hinch of Dr. Robert F. Thornton publie school sent a letter home to all parents informing them of the death of the girl, and assur- ing them that "pneumococcal meningitis" poses no threat to the communit.» Hinch confeed with Gray before writing the letter. "I was anxious that my parent body get accurate information from a medical point of view," said Hinch. Children from all a Whitb attend F.M. H Frene immersion. Pr concern that parents b caily informed prompted send the letter. "In Canada this str meningitis has claimed ni Whitby in 10 years, "said Gray. reas of "It is a complication to an eard for infection present somewhere else rentice's in the body with the same organ- e medi- ism. It usually focuses in the her to inner ear, middle ear, sinus or lung area. net lives ine lives SEE PAGE 9 Local firm gets contract By Mike Johnston After controversy last Novem- ber over a staff recommendation to select a Markham firm to oversee construction of Whitby's new $14-million recreation com- plex, council decided Monday to select a Whitby firm. Before Monday night's commit- tee meetings, councillors held a special council meeting during which they voted 5-3 in favor of accepting a tender from CDS Ltd. of Whitb as construction management irm for--the com- plex. In November parks and recrea- tion department had recommen- ded the hiring of J.S. Watson and Associates which had bid $398,765. CDS had bid $294,000. ( Parks and recreation depart- ment has set a budget of $435,000 for the job which in- cludes $101,000 for indirect costs.) At that time west ward coun- cillor Joe Bugeli noted that CDS was the low bidder and should be given the opportuntiy to prove they could handle the job. Parks and recreation director Larry Morrow noted, however, that CDS had no experience designing pools. Bugelh successfully. argued that the companies De inter- viewed a second time for the job. In a report to council Monday night, parks and recreation recommended CDS be hired if they could meet 10 requirements. But three councillors disagreed with the recommendation. Councillors Marcel Brunelle, Dennis Fox and Tom Edwards voted against CDS. Mayor Bob Attersley and coun- cillors Bugelli, Ross Batten, Joe Drumm and Lynda Buffett voted for CDS. Fox noted that J.S. Watson did not take part in the second set of interviews. "We should have had other alternatives. Because of the delay during the fall and winter Watson took on other work," said Fox, who said he did not want - get into "bashing" a local com- any, but he felt CDS did not ave experience. "They have no experience in pool construction. I have nothini against a local company but didn't feel they came prepared to do the job,"he said. Brunelle also said he did not want to "bash" CDS but noted their submission to council was brief. He said he preferred staff's original receommendation of J.S. Watson. For his part, Bugelli was con- fident that CDS could handle the job. "Staff looked at the low tender and they can do the job," said Bugelli, who noted CDS had to meet a number requirements before they had the contract. Requirements include: - daily supervision on site; - the hiring of mechanical and electrical consultants acceptable to council; - develop a cost reporting sys- tem for the project; - their price will be set for the estimated construction time of 36 to 42 months (the original pro- posal was only for 30 months); - an on-site trailer will be provided; - provide security against loss, damage, or failure tough an insurance broker; - conduct safety training and set up a safety committee. Staff reported that through the second interview they felt that CDS, while not involved in the construction of a swimming pool, had enough involvement in other SEE PAGE 12 Science fair JAMIE HUNTER of Dr. Robert at Henry Street High School. His Thornton public school measures project, "Aeration Produces Better growth of his plant at the Durham Plants,' demonstrated the effects of regional science fair held last week acration on foliage. Vince Ohprecio-Free Press photo Couneil considers 911 system ,By Mike Johnston Durham regional council will be asked today (Wednesday) to give approval in principle for an enhanced 911 emergency tele- phone system. The Region's finance and administration committee recently gave approval to 91.1, subject to budget negotiations. The motion is to be considered by council today. The system will cost $l.7--mil- lion to set up and an estimated $1-million a year to operate. The Region has set aside $1-million towards the cost. Staff have recommended the additional amount be included in the 1990 budget. It will cost the 120,000 house- holds in Durham $10 each, or 20 cents a week, to pay for the annual overating cost of the sys- tem, committee was told. Ajax mayor Jim Witty asked why Bell Canada would not finance 911 and charge the rate on monthly phone bills. Bell spokesman Ian Smith said Ottawa has asked Bell to look at that possibility and it is cur- rently under review. "My personal feeling is that 911 is a community service and they are the people who should pay the bill," said Smith. There was some discussion at the committee level as to when the recommendation should be sent to council. It had been su ested that committee wait until budget dis- cussions on May 1 to present the motion. But the Region's finance commissioner did not favor that idea. 'm a little concerned that by May 3, council will have other priorities such as waste disposai or roads," said Jack Gartley. Chief administrative officer Don Evans suggested that com- mittee wait until the Region had dealt with the budget. "When you go to council it should be a clear recoinmenda- SEE PAGE 12 pages 19 &20 Whitby council has been adv- ised not to support a proposal by the Royal Canadian Naval Heri- tage Association to moor at Whitby harbor the HMCS. Ottawa a soon-to-be-decommis- sioned danadian destroyer. A report from the planning department was presented to operations committee Monday night, detailing numerous rea- sons not to su pport the plan. Members of the association at the meeting received a copy of the recommendation 15 minutes before the meeting started. "We would like to prepare a rebuttal but for most of thesé objections we have solutions," Norman Galka, executive officer of the association, told commit- tee. Committee agreed to give the association time to respond and SEE PAGE 8 see 18, »HM EE Canadian destroyer bits planning obstacle L- AUTONEWS l