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What is expected to be a long and intensive examination of a major residential development in Scugog Township got underway Monday morning in front of an Ontario Municipal Board hearing in the Township council chambers. At issue is a proposed 76 lot estate residential development and a nine hole golf course on some 234 acres of land just north of Concession Road 2 and east of Regional Road 23 in the southwest corner of the Township. The project by Ridge- land Developments is being opposed by the Rapsey Subdivision Lot Owners Association, a group of about 60 people who own property New school It is now almost a cer- tainty that a new Separate elementary school will open its doors to students in Port Perry in September 1986. Grant Andrews, an of- ficial with the Durham Separate Board of Education said last week the Board received ver- bal assurance April 28 from the Provincial Education Ministry that funding for the new school will be allocated in 1985. There are still several approval stages to be completed, but Mr. An- open in '86 drews said financial ap- proval is the major hur- dle. "We are confident the new school will be opening in September, 1986," he said. \ Catholic children fro Port Perry and area now attend classes in por- tables on the grounds of Immaculate Conception Church, and the Church Hall is also used for school purposes. There are about 160 students at- tending classes there now, and in recent months parents have (Turn to page 3) Cooke. $300 $3000 that $50 or increase it. in Port Perry. Help on the way Help is already on the way for Larry Last week, the Star carried an article on Larry's hope to be able to take expensive treat- ment for multiple sclerosis. A trust fund in his name has been establish- ed at the Bank of Commerce in Port Perry with friends and relatives pitching in with more than But the hyperbaric oxygen treatment which he hopes to be able to take costs about Bob Prentice of the Orange Lodge (3272) in Port Perry says that organization decided to contribute $50 to the Larry Cooke Fund and Mr. Prentice has issued a challenge to other service clubs and lodges in Scugog to match "We'd really like to see this go over the top,"' said Mr. Prentice. Meanwhile, plans for a fund-raising dance for Larry are moving along with June 23, set as the date. It will be held in the Masonic Hall by Cathy Robb His headaches start somewhere around mid- afternoon and get pro- gressively worse as the day winds down, but the lower back pain is there all the time, twisting his kidneys in a wrenching knot. Tom Coghill"s pain has been wearing on him for the past decade and it shows no sign of slackening off. He's only 27 years old, young by many people's stand ards, and yet his mind isn't clear as it used to be. "The back pains are a real hassle," he says. "It's hard to be in a vehicle for long periods of time, even to drive to Toronto and back. 1 remember being in tears with the pain when I was '7 or 18. It was really hard and it really took a lot out of my life. Despite the physical problems Tom has Hearing starts over Ridgeland around Chalk Lake. Lawyer Kathryn Rob- inson, who is represent- ing - the Lot Owners Association, said Mon- day the main areas of concern about the pro- ject are on environ- mental reasons, and the fact that 76 homes and a golf course is too large a development and would have a detrimental impact on the rural characteristics of the area. The project has rec- eived the approval of Durham Region council in the form of an Official Plan amendment and Scugog ~ Township council through a change in the zoning by-law. Under questioning by Township solicitor Michael Fowler Scugog Township's planning consultant John Mec- Dermott told the hear- ing in his opinion the development would not have an adverse nega- tive impact on the site or surrounding area, He said the lands in question have little or no agricultural value as the area was once used extensively as a gravel pit with about 600,000 tons of sand and gravel taken out during the late 1960's. He added the gravel pit sites have not been rehabilitated. Mr. McDermott said about 150 acres of the total would be used for the residential develop- ment with the remain- der (80 acres) used for the golf course. The 76 lots would average 1.7 acres in size. There would be no public access to the development from the Chalk Lake Road as the development company has agreed to provide access to Durham Road 23 by opening a stretch of unused Township road allowance on the north side. The develop- er would also extend the Plunkett Side Road to provide access to the Ashburn Road. This is the first estate residential development (Turn to page 3) suffered over the last 10 ys, it's difficult to feel sorry for him. It's easy to pour out sym- pathy when someone is faced with a disease like cancer, but it's not easy to feel for someone whose pain is self- inflicted. Tom's is self-inflicted. His headaches and kid- ney problems stem from years of abusing just about every illegal drug on the market, including marijuana, hashish, Vol. 118 No. 23 Tuesday, May 8, 1984 A 1975 Pontiac was destroyed by fire last night as gas ignited when the car's tank was being removed at the Port Perry Radiator Service shop on Durham Road 8, west of Port Perry. Fortunately, there were no injuries as the burning vehicle was quickly remov- ed from the shop. Scugog firefighters were called to the scene and a spokesman for the department said just how the fire started has not been determined. Damage to the inside of the shop was described as minor. Eels a no-no, but lagoon may be fine for muskie Trying to raise eels in an unused sewage lagoon in Port Perry is not a good idea, but minnows, walleye or muskie would be just fine, according to the Ontario Federation of Anglers and Hunters. In a letter to the Ministry of Natural Resources, Federation executive vice-presi- dent Rick Morgan says the proposal for raising eels in the sewage PCP, speed, MDA and heroin. At the height of his drug-induced night- mare, he was smoking up or doing some other drug every day. The memory lapses he had been experiencing were growing in frequency and intensity, while a haze of depression set over him like a dense fog. His business teeter- ed on the brink of bankruptcy, his family relationships strained, lagoon should not be allowed to proceed because of the possibil- ity some could escape and make their way into Lake Scugog. The proposal to rasie eels in the lagoon for commercial use has been rejected by Dur- ham Region, which operates the sewage treatment lagoon system. But Mr. Morgan says there is no reason why One guy who knows the pain o and he contemplated suicide. "I was going through a lot of hell at the time. A lot of loneliness," he recalls. 'I don't know how many times I cried when I was younger. It was a sad part of my life. Sometimes I saw things that were abso- lute hell. 1 weighed like 98 pounds. Never slept. Never ate'. The turning point in the Oshawa resident's life came in Port Perry, minnows and other fish native to Lake Scugog could not be raised under controlled con- ditions at the lagoon. The eels culture pro- posal was made about eight weeks ago by a Toronto consulting firm who wanted to see if 12,000 young American eels could be raised in captivity from June to September as a pilot project for raising eels in captivity. If the project had been given the green light and proved successful, the company believed it might have led to a multi-million eel export business. The eel fish- ery in the Great Lakes and St. Lawrence has been wiped out because of pollution. In his letter to the MNR, Mr. Morgan said the "Meaningful altern- ative: to the eel project should be encouraged." drug abuse when he was installing aluminum siding on a house occupied by a Christian family. "This lady asked me if I was a Christian and it suddenly sparked something in me," he says, pausing over a cup of tea. "l became a Christian almost by accident in Port Perry. | had always had a relationship with God, 'but I could never get close. 1 fasted and prayed but I couldn't get close'. Whatever it was that transpired between the woman and Tom chang- ed his life. He stopped taking drugs, legal and illegal, including booze, prescriptions and even caffiene. He began working his body back into shape and started going to a St. John's Catholic Church on a regular basis, where he met Peter St. Pierre, a 25 year old Whitby (Turn to page 3) - cnn We SRR ning hy Pn