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Whitby tirm maokes a comeback page 10 Works begin on new French schOOl page2 8 OurreaerswrMite about vanous issues pages% 619,21, 24930 Scam attempt made locally page 4 VVTTI1 Chinatn funding art of budget Whitb4y council has earmarked "Surely this town can be big Lp dt o 750 for a* controversial enough im its heart and mind to $275aio to Weifng sedor three, four, five people China in thé 1995 budget. (in return),» argued east ward As lreported il stecouncillor Denis Fox. Prssmoney for the excur- mW neg Services of sio wa ted i the budget Whitby has dn about $2 mil- under "municipal cost for econo- lion wvorth of business with mie alliance but no further China over the lest year or so. dotails were given. KW rsdn i kibe, Despite criticismi from un- who attended lest week's budget' .uccessful mayoral candidate Pat session, said "At this point I Perkins, councillors decided to think it would be an embarrass- leave the moneyin the budget ment if we did not go.» but promised tobigteatr Finance chair Don Mitchell Up again for a vote. suggested Whitby send an econo- Ferkins argued that itr mic delegtion that would ini national economics is beyond clude Whitby mayor Tom Whitby council's mandate. Edwards3, someone fromn the mar- «Ladies and gentlemen, please keting and economie develop- ý taeyu edoto h lusment office, and an interpreter. S and come back te earth with He stitd the1o2,woud0b your thinking» she urged.aond$20. A 20-merdelegation from KWS and eight other com- Weifang visited Whity last year pamesl have expressed interest i CHRISTINE BLUNDELL shows Trevor tir recently in Glen 'Dhu'Public School's and somte local businesses have Dei]? art Of the trade mission, Steffler her tiger shark display, one of Il rary by the Grade 3 class. made inroads into the Chinese which in expected teo oeur somne- manv Canadian animal habitat displays set Photo by Mark Reesor, Whltby Free Press, market. time during the latter haif of this year. By MIk.Kowalski One down and two te go. As expected, Town council last Tuesday unanimously approved a 1995 buîrt which froze taxes for the thirdl consecutive year i Whitb. hntrehuso Wit liessas he h so discussion and without mkn any ch« council adopteda $26.7-mllion current or oparat- ime budget. lthougýh more than last yearls $25.7-million budget, a three par cent growth in proparty assess- ment and additionpal revenue ByJroh Dujay The Pickering-Ajax-Whitby (PAW) animal conitrol comrittee will study other area bylaws and corne up with a Wbitby bylaw te allow for domestic ferrets. On Monday night, Whitby council passed a motion directinf staff te, make a bylaw amend- ment te shlow Launie Williamson of Brooklin te keep Kizzit. from user fees once again allowed council te avoid hiking the milI rate. The last time Wrhitby's share (about 25 per cent) of the overal property tex bill increased was 1992. Still te be determined are 1995 budgets for Durhamn Region (about 20 per cent) and the two school boards (about 55 par oent). In addition te the current budget, council also approved a $10.3-million capital budget which covers such items as road construction, facility improve- On Jan. 20, Williamson was given an order to get rid of his pet or face a $5,M0 fine. Howe- ver, coundil showed some mercy afler receiving a positive report about ferrets. In the coming weeks, staff will canvass municipalities in the Greater Toronto Area te form a loca bylaw. mente and equipment purchases. Unlike. the current budget which is funded largely from Eproperty taxes, the capital bu dget is financed through a combination" of reserve funda, development charges and deben- tures. I recommending the buges accetance,- finance chair Don Mitcell pointed out that Whitby residents would have enjoyed a tax reduction for the second straight a nt for matters beyod âr muncipaityscon- trol. (Lest year,' taxes dropped an average of 1.2 per cent in Whitby3.) Mitchell referred te declining revenues from the Ontario goenent coupled with the proin eàcsion to Iass on more coots te local taxpayers such as a new eharg o ses- ment services t at added $150,WO0othe budget "f you eliminatedi the provin- cial impacts, we could have had a 10 par cent decrease in the budget, he said.' "That illustrates the efficien- cies we"ve put in place the last three year. But as Mitchell noted, these nefficiencies» can only go so fer, because for the first time in recent years, the budget provides for the Ïbiring of additional staff. New positions include three full-time flrefighters, eight school crossinggpards, a bylaw enforce- ment officer, two public works engineers and extra staff at the senior citizens' centre and Ross- land Road recreation complex. Despite a population mncrease of 15 par cent from 1991 te 1994 the number of municipal employees decreased bX. nearly 12 er ntMitchell sa 12"Remta, it is no lonfer ouibl to cntiuete provide reasonable service levels in this growing town without additional hium an resources,» he said. Mitchell said counccil and staff were "very cognizant" of the pub- lie's desire for no further tai SEE PAGE 27 Man dies in accident One person was killed and another irdured in an early morning collision Saturday on Rossland Road between Ander- son Street and Thiickson Road. Police say a 1994 Chev auto- mobile was eastbound on Rlosa- land Road around 2 a.-m. when it colhided with a westbound 1987 Ford pickup truck attempting te turn left onto Overlord Street. They deecribe the crash as a « 'major impactr - Whitby fi-t- flgters needed an hour te get the car' driver, who was alonie, out of bis veile. Robin Scott Adams, 33, of South MiwaLy, Msisuawas airlifted to Sunnybro e osital in Toronto in critical condition and died Sunday. The driver of the ickup, Ettore' Sciulli, 39SIof Cynthia Crescent, Wbitby, was tein ýt Oshawa General' Hospital and later transferred te St. Michael's Hospital, where he's listed in fair condition. The accident is being investi- gated byr Durham Regional Police Who are asking witnesses teo l them at 579-1520, ext. 255 -or leave a message at ext. 254. Kizit may become'*-'..... a lega resident