The following text may have been generated by Optical Character Recognition, with varying degrees of accuracy. Reader beware!

1 150 YEARS RONO Weekly Times Volume 66, Number 9 GST Included Wednesday, March 6, 2002 Serving Kendal, Kirby, Leskard, Newcastle, Newtonville, Orono, Starkville and Tyrone since 1937 Public transit buses rolling by September A deal hammered out with the Oshawa Transit System could make a local Bowmanville public transit system a • reality by this September. Clarington is now in the market for two refurbished 40 ft. diesel coach transit buses for no more than $450,000. These buses, combined with expertise from our neighbours to the west, Oshawa Transit, who are willing, to sell their experience, to ' Clarington for $555,700 a year, should have the buses ' 'rolling by September.. ' f .Councillors approved a motion at Monday's General Purpose,'and Administration Committee Meeting waiving the normal purchasing agreement agreement which involves-a tendering tendering process, to purchase two buses and to buy transit services services from Oshawa, Transit. Mayor Mutton told councillors councillors he was extremely proud of their decision to move, forward in what he viewed as one of the most significant significant accomplishments this municipality has made in the past decade. Councillors Schell and Rowe. attempted to add amendments that would restrict the Oshawa Transit agreement to a period of no more than three years without going through the tendering process. "From the outset, I'm very uncomfortable that we are waiving the bylaw on such an expensive issue," Schell stated. The amendments amendments met with zero support from fellow councillors. The normal purchase agreement was also waived for the purchase purchase of the two buses. Clarington will be purchasing purchasing public transit service from Oshawa because they do not have the expertise presently to' operate such ' a service. If over the next three' years Clarington gains the' necessary , expertise to run their own public transit system, system, they could choose not to renew the contract with Oshawa Transit. Funding for the transit sys- (continued page 3) And the band played on Conductor Barry Hodgins load the Clarington Concert Band in a program of Broadway Classics in the Orono Town Hall last Sunday afternoon. 1 Enhanced ambulance system arriving soon Clarington will soon have two ambulances assigned to cover the Municipality round the dock. Durham Region's ■Emergency Medical Services hope to have the enhanced ambulance service in place by the end of April of this year. Along with the additional ambulance coverage, the , Region will start introducing advanced care paramedics to staff the vehicles. The advanced care paramedics will be trained to perform additional treatments for Cardiac Cardiac problems, including intubation intubation -T inserting a tube into the patient's windpipe to pro- i tect the airway. The Region's Emergency Medical Service ai'e continuously continuously striving to reduce the average ambulance response time in Clarington to the provincial standard of 12:48 minutes. The average response time for ambulances in Clarington last year was 13:56 minutes. Off to Russia Mayor Mutton was successful successful in postponing the regularly regularly scheduled April 22nd General Purpose and Administration (GP&'A) committee committee meeting till he returns from Russia. Upon questioning questioning from Councillors Jim Schell, and Jane Rowe as to the necessity of such a move, the Mayor responded that if the meeting was not changed he would not go to Russia. "If we keep the meeting, I'm not going to Russia, simple as that," stated the Mayor. The Mayor and Planning Director David Crome will be leaving-on April 17th, for a one we'ek trip to Russia às part of Canada'^ ITER delegation. delegation. ' Mayor Mutton put forward , a motion on Monday to move the April 2.2 nd General Purpose and Administration Committee Meeting to ' .Monday morning of the fol lowing week-,, to be followed by the regularly scheduled full council,' meeting that , evening. '■ ' "I ' wouidi feel extremely uncomfortable not being here for a GP& A/meeting," stated '■ ' (continued page 3)