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S$ PORT PERRY STAR -- Tuesday, June 19, 1990 The Port Perry Star 235 QUEEN STREET - PORT PERRY, ONTARIO PHONE 985-7383 FAX 985-3708 The Port Perry Star Is authorized as second dass mail by the Elsewhere $60.00 per year. Single Copy 50¢ EDITORIAL Publisher - J. Peter Hvidsten "Editor - John B. McClelland News/Features - Julia Ashton News/Features - Kelly Storry Darlene Hlozan BUSINESS OFFICE Office Manager - Gayle Stapley Accounting - Judy Ashby Billing Department - Louise Hope Post Office Department, Ottawa, for cash payment of postage. PRODUCTION ADVERTISING Second Class Mail Registration Number 0265 Annabell Harrison Advertising Co-ordinator - Valerie Ellis Subscription Rate: In Canada $20.00 per year Trudy Empringham Advertising Sales Representative - Anna Gouldburn [= Member of the Canadian Community Newspaper Association Ontario Community Newspaper Association Published every Tuesday by the Port Perry Star Co. Ltd. Port Perry, Ontario Retail Sales - Kathy Dudley, Linda Ruhl, Tracy O'Neil Editorial Comment SCUGOG CENTRE Some time in the next few weeks or months, our Town- ship council will have an important decision to make; perhaps the most important decision this particular council has had to make since elected to office two years ago. We are referring to Scugog Centre and the proposal for expanded recreation facilities for the community of Scugog. The consultants report has been tabled. On June 11, the council opened the issue up for a public meeting to give all a chance to express their concerns and views on this topic. Now, the ball clearly is in the court of the council. Briefly, the consultants have recommended that Scugog proceed with new recreation facilities; namely a second ice pad, an indoor pool, a banquet hall that could seat up to 450 people, and a fitness facility for squash, aerobics, weight train- ing, etc. The consultants recommend that this multi-use facility be constructed on land now owned by the Township near the Scugog Arena. That Scugog needs these new recreation facilities is not the issue. Even the opponents of the proposal agree these fa- cilities would be a welcome addition to any community. The issue is cost. The consultants estimate the proposed facilities would cost between $6.5 and $7.5 million to con- struct, based on current estimates. Even with grants from sen- _ ior levels of government that could be as high as $1.2 million, the municipality .of Scugog does not have the financial re- sources to raise the balance from the mill rate.. Having said that, we would hasten to add that the need or demand is not going to vanish over thre next few years. If any- thing, it will increase. What council is faced with in this complicated issue is not so much a simple "yes-no" decision, but a.creative plan on how to proceed without placing too much of the burden squarely on the shoulders of the property owners whose tax bills have climbed enormously in the last five years. There has to be some room here for compromise. Per- haps, if the project is to proceed in the forseeable future, the three main components could be phased over a period of five years, starting with the component that has a chance of oper- ating "in the black" i.e., the banquet hall and fitness facility. Obviously, if the project is to proceed without placing too much of the costs on the mill rate, some serious fund-raising plans will have to be developed. The Township owns some 60 acres of land in the vicinity of the Scugog Arena. Fronted by two main roads (Simcoe St., and Durham Road 8, this is valuable real estate. Maybe the Township could consider selling some of the land for suitable commercial development, or medium to high density residen- tial development; or both. Some may think it folly for the Township to consider sell- ing publicly owned land, but what is the alternative if the peo- ple of Scugog are to get new facilities? Does Scugog need 60 acres of land for recreation facilities? If the new facilities are going to be built, the value of part of that land for commercial/ residential development would go up considerably. At very least, this is one option worth serious study. The way that land is now, it is of no value to anybody. Another option that must be examined closely by the Township council involves the proposed new residential devel- opment in several areas of Scugog. There are large tracts of land north and south of Port Perry held by the private sector for future development. The key is servicing, more specifically, sewer capacity. If, and it's a big if at this time, the capacity of the Port Perry sew- age treatment system can be double or tripled, this would mean concentrated residential development on full services. And there is no reason why the Township could not ex- pect a hefty levy on each new lot created to help pay for the "soft services" like recreation facilities. Again, this is but one more financial option that must be examined closely. Finally, community fund-raising. Granted, one is not going to cover the cost of multi-million dollar recreation facilities with (Turn to page 8) ") JusT HAD A MORRIBLE THOUERT -.- SOMEDAY J#/% COULD ALL BEMINE ! © | © *MEECH LAKE | ~ If I'm anything like the average Canadian, it's my guess that even after countless hours of televised coverage and thousands of stories in the national media, most Canadians still do not understand the impact Meech Lake will have on our country. But one thing is for certain. There is grave concern by many English speaking Canadians that Quebec is being given too much power through the "distinct society" clause, which will have a devastating effect on anglophones in Quebec, and ultimately across the nation. An article in a Toronto newspaper last week explained in brief the current language laws in Quebec, and | must say | was surprised at the powers already contained in that province. According to the article, under the present law, "you are forbidden: To post an English sign outside your place of business; to advertise in English in the French media; to freely write a business contract in English; to bill your busi- ness customers in English; to teach English to a French student in Grades 1, 2 and 3; to enrol your child in an English school if you did not at- tend an English school in Quebec yourself; to correspond in English with the government of Quebec, professional associations, and busi- ness in general; to avoid forming a Francization committee in your business of 50 or more em- Jloyses; to post the name of your company in nglish; and to require an employee of a hospi- tal or medical service to speak English." When was the last time Canadians in any other province were forbidden to put up a sign, speak or write in "any" other language but Eng- lish? Never, to my knowledge! So while these unjust laws are being en- forced on anglophones in Quebec, Mr. Mulroney is telling (he never asks) English speaking Cana- dians we have to be bi-lingual. There appears to be two separate sets of rules, one for Quebec and one for the rest of Canada. That my_fellow Canadian is wrong. Very wrong! The laws of this country should apply tg everyone. It's very obviously our present government is more concerned with Quebecers demands than the rights of all Canadians. RECREATION | attended a portion of the meeting at Scu- gog Council chambers last week, and was im- pressed by the overall presentation by those op- posed and for a new recreation facility. From my vantage, not being strongly in fa- vour or against, | could not help but be sympa- _ thetic to the many user groups who explained to council the critical n for a new ice pad and banquet facility at the arena. . It would appear that the need for additional ice time by Minor Hockey, Ringette, Scugog Men's League, Broomball, Figure Skating etc. has come to a critical point. Not only are these groups short on availa- bility of ice time, there is absolutely no room for expansion of teams. As an example, there is a 6 to 12 year wait for new players to get into the men's hockey league because they can't ex- pand the number of teams and the turnover is slow. The same scenario is true for some of the other groups. What | did find surprising, aside from one, quote, "selfish" viewpoint, there were no strong presentations for a swimming pool and other recreation facilities like the squash courts and fitness room. Perhaps these are premature. Council has a tough decision to make in re- gards to the proposed Scugog Recreation Cen- tre. To turn it down now means that six years of studies and work goes down the drain, and Scu- gog is still left with inadequate recreation facili- ties for its growing population. On the other hand, to say yes to the propo- sal means finding a way to finance a $7.5 mil- lion proposal at a time when people are getting tired of digging into their pockets. Although the decision is a tough one politi- cally for members of council, they must consid- er the future growth of the Township and get a jump start on this project. The n for at least parts of the facility have been outlined clearly by the user groups and any further delays will only add to the severity of the situation. I's a problem that is not going to go away on its own, and can only be remedied by a pro- gressive council ready to "bite the bullet®. Not necessarily the whole bullet, but at least part. a a I aia Lodhi SERIO a