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By Mike Kowalski Forcing Town employe to take four unpaid holidays this summor has already caused pro- blema for the municipality. Mha y or Tom Edwards admits tt Town council'a recent cost- cutting decision is creating "diffi- cultios" for Whitby officiais. "We just don't have the staff to cail upon," said Edwards. "The Town is having a lot of difficulties,» he aaid. Two weekýs ago, council im- posed a temporary wage rollback on the Town's omployesa h resuit of a shortfall inantipa- ted revenue from the Ontario government. -Ail workers, union and management alike, were ordered te take four days off without pay durgJuly and ugust. lhe moasuro is oxpocted te save the municipality an estima- ted $140,000. Although ho did not specifi- cally indicate how it has hurt the Town, council's docision (which ho opposed) has croatod staffing problems, Edwards sai d. During the past few years Whitbyhad roduced its work- force te the point where «we are down te the bare minimum now," ho said. As a resuit, there are net sufficient workors available te replace em ployeos net working that day, Edwards explainod. For oxamplo, on the first day that Whitby's program tee eff'ect, three workors who callod in sick were roplacod by om p lyeos laid off that day. Th e roplacements wore then paid at a rate of time and a haîf. Whilo the cutbacks have net yet forcod tho Town te close or reduce tho operating heurs of any of its facilities, that day may seen ho at hand, Edwards war- nod. "As the grass grows, as woods grow, peopl1 will notice " he said. Meanwhille, both the Iiwn and Canadian -Union of Public SEE PAGE 2 SARAH LAWES tries out the new splash pad at Kinsmen Park- The pad went into operation Iast Wednesday, giving area children a way to cool off now that the Kinsmen Pool is gne.Photo by Mark Reesor, Whh;by Free Presit Wage rollback cause of 'difficulties' Council rejects apartment plan By Milke Kowalski Town council will take ita chances with the Ontario Municipal Board rather than permit an ýapartment building beside the Gardon Street railwyay tracks. By a vote of 5-3 Monday, council denied an application te build a seven-storey apartmnent complex on Gardon Street, immediately south of the Canadian Pacifie rail lino. In se, doing, council aise rejected a proposed compromise by its planning department that a four-store y building be allowed. It di deieanns that refusging the comprms a resuit in the eveloperasking temncplboard (0MB) te apprve a much larger structure. Te mjorit of council agreed with Mayor Tom Edwards that a passible 0MBearing was a risk werth takîng. Originally proposed as a 10-storey, 100-unit building in 1987i the prjoct bas been opposed by area residents fromn the outset. Trfel congestion, ovorcrowdod- achoëls and proxinity to the railway tracks have been the main concerns of residonta over the years The proposaI was revised in 1988 te consist of two fivo-storey buildings containing 100.units and subsequontly revamped te a sevon-storoy, 141-unit devlopment. Following a public hoaring last year into- the new application filed by devoloper Michael Zygocki, Town planners recommended that it be Iinitod te four storeys and 93 units. Although counclls planning and development committe SUSPAGES Mayor criticized for bis opposition to measures By Ike KowalskI Mayor To Edwards' opposi- tion to Whitby'swage reatraint programn has dra the wrath of his colleagues. With only Edwards dissenting Town council Monday affirmed its recent decision te impose a temporary aerollback on municipalemployees this aumn- mer. In so0 doing, council also critie- ized the mayor for publicly oppsin te cost-cutting mrea- sure adotedtwo weeks ago. Ilis comments, which were Car- ried in local newspapers last week, were cited as giving Town employeea and. the opublic the wrong impression o council'a position on the issue. By a margin of 7-1, coundil supported a motion from council- lor Marcel Brunelle that it affirm- the «expenditure control pro- gram"» announced by budget chief Denni, Fox on June 28. Ail Town emrployee, .m anage- ment and'union alikernust talc four days of without pay during July and August. U&e resuit of cutbacks con- tained in the Ontario govern- mn*ent's Ma y budget, the measure is expected te save the municipa- lit y n estimated $140 000. However, the Canajan Union of Public Employees,. which representa Witby's inside and outeide workers, has filed a grie- vance against the Town (see sepaate stery). In brin gin g forward, his motion, Brunelle said Edwards' commenta «left some uncertainty amiong staff and the public.» While counciller Joe Drumm said the mayor's opposition caughthim by surprise. Irthought -everyone was on board, obviously they weren,,t," said Drumm.- "]PM pleaaed te see it (motion) brought frward,» lho added. Counci1lr Rosa Batten said that although Edwards' romarka did not undermine council's deci- sien, there was a concern that it waa diluted aomewhat.» Batten said council did net want te lay off omployees as a resuit of the provincial cutbacka and that this was the beat alter- native. 1SU PAGE 9 Imm 1 r nm- yvP, Vol. 23, No. 28 Wednesday, July 14,1993 24 Pages p 1 li