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Volume 72, Number 28 GST Included $1.25 Wednesday July 15, 2009 Orono Town Hall Publications Mail Registration No. 09301 Agreement No. 40012366 Serving Kendal, Kirby, Leskard, Newcastle, Newtonville, Orono, Starkville and Tyrone since 1937 `No waste by 2038' Mayor Abernethy reintroduced a motion at Monday night's council meeting which had been tabled at the January 12th meeting. In the motion, the Region of Durham, the level of government responsible for waste management, is requested to develop a formal strategic plan which achieves "no waste in the Region of Durham by 2038." The objectives of this plan are to include developing a municipal waste management strategy that the Province can replicate throughout Ontario. The Municipality will ask the Ministry of the Environment to develop a provincial and federal strategy that results in the increase of waste diversion rates for all municipalities in Ontario. It will also seek to include a policy which requires each municipality to process all residual waste within its own boundaries. "The concept of zero waste is more or less a goal," Abernethy said. "Whether or not it is achievable is questionable at this point in time." The 30-year timeframe is not important, according to the Mayor; his motion is an effort to get all parties involved in working towards a common goal. Abernethy said he did not include references to incineration or landfill in his motion because his purpose is to increase diversion. "If we can get to zero waste, we can all be happy and we won't have a problem," he said. Neither landfill nor incineration are acceptable waste management options according to the Mayor, but something has to be done with the garbage, he explained. According to Councillor Willie Woo, the Mayor is a bit late in presenting this motion. "The horse is already out of the barn," Councillor Woo said. "We have already accepted an energy from waste facility in our backyard." WASTE see page 4 Town orders Mutton audit as court case launched Clarington Councillors have granted a request for a new compliance audit on former Mayor John Mutton's 2006 election campaign finances, but the Municipality still faces a court date. Councillors instructed the Municipal Clerk to find a qualified person to conduct a new compliance audit, following a confidential verbal report from the municipal solicitor, at Monday night's council meeting. The auditor retained by the municipality to conduct the original compliance audit pleaded guilty in December 2008 to four counts of negligent performance of his professional duties. Since then, the group of Luke and Cynthia Prout, George Van Dyk and Sean Keane has sent two letters to the municipality requesting a second audit be performed. These letters were sent in December 2008 and January 2009. The group requested the original audit, as in its view the financial report filed by Mutton regarding his 2006 election campaign finances was inconsistent with the Municipal Elections Act. In June 2007, the Municipality hired James Horn CA of the firm Horn Almand to conduct the compliance audit on Mutton's campaign expenses. In November 2007, Horn reported to the Municipality that there was no significant contravention relating to Mr. Mutton's 2006 campaign filing. The Prout, Van Dyk, Keane group then filed a complaint with the Institute of Chartered Accountants, charging that Horne had not properly AUDIT see page 4 Andrew Oster, age five, created a clay sculpture at Newcastle's Artist & Artisans Show and Sale at Bond Head Parkette. CAO instructed to trim budget There is no fat to trim off Clarington's budget, according to the municipality's Chief Administrative Officer, (CAO) Frank Wu. Trimming Clarington's budget will mean cuts in service, he told Clarington Councillors at Monday night's council meeting. "I recognize that something drastic has to be done," Wu said. Council approved a motion put forward by Mayor Jim Abernethy which instructed Wu to report back no later than the end of August with a comprehensive report dealing with all cost cutting measures. Wu was instructed to look at service level reduction, program elimination, temporary layoffs, elimination of positions, uncommitted capital projects, and any other measures deemed appropriate, in order to address the 2009 budget shortfall. "The tough economic times require difficult decisions to be made and not postponed," Mayor Jim Abernethy said, when he introduced the motion. Last week the Mayor introduced a motion authorizing Wu to immediately take appropriate action to effect possible remediation measures in the 2009 and 2010 budget process. That motion failed. When the 2009 budget was approved, council directed staff to spend approximately $32 million with the expectation that approximately $33 million in revenue would be generated, according to the Mayor. "We all thought it was a realistic and conservative budget," he stated. As of the end of May the projected shortfall in developBUDGET see page 3 What's Inside See page 10