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Lacrosse team stili. without place to play By MIke Kowalold Time mayb. running out on Whitby's entry in a new professionallacrosse lbague. The Whitby Steel Hawks are stili without a home arena and pi ay in -the Nation ai Lacrosse League is pianned to begin next month. Aithough team officiais remain hopeful arrangements can stili be worked ont for use of Iroquois Park Arena, chances appeared slim based on comments made at Monday's meeting of Town councii's operation commit- tee. Groups now using the arena are having difficuity finding ic time which can be reiinquished to accommo- date tt-'s yeas homne shedule. The groups are also opposed to having to compete with the team for ice time in the future. Team officiais first a-'ppeared' before committee last month to make a pitch for Town support of the franchise. Whitby wili join Guelph, Buffalo and Bran tf'ord in the fledging lacrosse league which wili play 18 games from January until ealru, ni. In addition to Ymrng time availabie. at Iroq'oi Park, committee members were asked to 'contributeè $120,OO towards the cost of an artificiai floor to cover the ice surface. Aithough the team is now Prepared to Purchase and SEE PAGE 27 Feds slap ciean.-u.p order on fe rry STEVE FODEN, along with daught- ers Stephanie, 1, and Jennifer, 4, display thefr award for private entry durimg the Whitby Winterfest p arade. The famiiy, including wife Cindy (not present when photo taken), dressed as clowns for the festivities. Chrin Bovie photo ýBy Mike Kowalski Environment Canada lias slap- ped a dlean-up order on the dereiict ferry boat in Whitby liarbor. Whitby businessman Art -Robinson owner of the Prince Edward Island ferry, has until Dec. 28 to remove ai i oiis, inciud- ing PCB-contaminated materiai, from the vessel. Failure te do so couid resuit in prosecution if Robinson fail s to obey the ministry's directive. Federai inspecter Randoiph Simmons issu ed the order to Robinson iast Thursday after the boat sank te the bottemi of Lake Ontario eariier in the week. Whiie the PCB-contaminated transformers are «higli and dry", said Simmons, an inspection determined there liad been *a release. of "deleterious sub- stances" inte the water. These substances could include bilge oul, diesel oul or iubricating oul, said Simmons. According te Simmons, Robin- son deliberateiy sunk the boat as a means of securing the vessel te prevent it from crashing inte the Whiarf. In the past, lines used te, tie the boat te the dock were cnt and it drifted away fromn its mooring, said Simmons. So in order te prevent further probiems "lie (Robinson) pur- ioey baliasted or sunk the boat Lýsecure it,» said Simmons. By taking this action, Robin- Confrontation over user fees By Mike Kowalsld Whitby mincir sports officiais are figlting back over having te pay user fees. Representatives of three groups opposed te Town councii's decision te charge permit fees for municipal bail diamonds and soc- cer fields, appeared before coun- cii's operations committee Mon- daÉe appearance before the committee was the first step in the 'Joint Youth Summer Sports Group' effort te, have council overturn iast month's controver- siai decision te coilect user fees. Aithougli the committee did not recommend that. councii res- - cind its decision, it did direct staff te prepare a further report based on the group's comments. George Clay, an officiai witli Whitby Minor Basebali Associa- tion,. spoke on behaif of the groups affected by council's deci- sion. (The Whitby Girls' Softbali Association and Whitby Iroquois Soccer Club are the other organi- zations affected.) Aithougli lie introduced him- self as a spokesman for the group, Clay said lie was "speak- mg most importantiy on behaif of my sons and the youth of Whtby,» in opposing user fees. '-Clay à ld ècoenntteet Whitby lias earned a reputation as a «peopie-oriented" community, attrbutable te a «partnership» that lias resulted from tlie Town providing its residents witli sucli ainenities as sports facilities. However, that partnership «deteriorated» wlien council im- posed user fees, said Clay. (The user-fee policy is a firet for Whitby. Fees wili vary depending on the type, of faciiity being used and wil increase 10 per cent each year. (A staff report estimates that $76,000 wil be raised from minor sports groups based on the nuniber of permits issued this year.) ... Stressing tliat the group is uphi1osophicaiiy» opposed to user fées, CIaë predicted a «mnarked decrease in the number of chl- dren registered for summer sports this year. «We liad 3,450 participants in 1990, or, for you counciliors, about 7,000 voters,» Ciay wryy noted in referenoe tetiecliii drens' parents. Using lis own sport as an exampie, Ciay said basebail offi- ciais expect a rate increase of 62 per cent per chid based on user msalone. "That's ont of the question for son not oniy caused a discharge into the water, dlaims Simmons, but he aitered the ship's con- dition. "It changed from a floating state te, a submerged state:.. that now poses a probiem," said- Simmons. Responding te a report from the Whitby fire department about the boat iying iower in the water, Simfmons and another ministijý officiai conducted an 5We oundthat the vessel had been sunk, it was sitting on the bottem,» said Sim mons. The inspectors discovered aimost tliree feet of water on deck and noticed a "hiuisli, oily sheen around the wharf," said Simmons. SEE PAGE 3 LiiiDLr vercoming adversity Page 2 Inter- sehool council Page 30