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Mif : U s 11 m i / <.> v v wrl ky £. . Z-rr,V r V rif/( . k M' rf% Total Market Coverage ofClaringtonfrom the Publishers of The Canadian Statesman A James Publishing Community Newspaper Saturday, July 4, 1998 144th Year Circulation: 20.600 GO Bus to Roll Into Newcastle By Fall of 1998 by Lorraine Manfredo Staff Writer Newcastle residents waiting for public transportation transportation to points west can look forward to hopping on a GO bus this fall. GO Transit officials have announced the extension of the eastern bus route along Hwy. 2 to Newcastle by September 5th. Newcastle will have the designation as being the last easterly stop on the GO bus service line, a line that now stops in Bowmanville. Once up and running, Newcastle riders can plan trips into Bowmanville, Courtice, Oshawa, Whitby Pickering, Ajax and all Toronto stops on the way to Union Station. The plan is to have buses run hourly during normal service times, and every half hour during weekday rush hours -- roughly 6:30 to 9:00 a.m. and 3:00 to 6:30 p.m. ; Exact details concerning schedules, fares and the location of bus stops and turnaround points within the village are yet to be decided. ■ Presently, GO and regional transit authorities are co-operating on a transportation study to determine how city transit authorities can work in conjunction with GO to make a smooth transit network across Durham. GO would like to operate as a "spine" along Hwy 2 with the various PUC's feeding into it. This would result in the most efficient infrastructure infrastructure with minimal wait times for passengers, says GO's A1 Robinson, Director of Bus Services. If all the transit authorities work together "the passengers passengers will be the big time winners," says Clarington Mayor Hamre. According to Mr. Robinson, GO was able to extend the bus service to Newcastle because of time savings achieved by cancelling stop-overs into Oshawa's downtown terminal. Riders from Bowmanville and Courtice wanting to catch a train to Toronto, had to transfer from the GO bus to an Oshawa transit shuttle bus which took them to the GO railhead further south. These transfers were not conducive to good customer customer service, Robinson said. In the fall, the GO bus will carry Hwy 2 passengers along King Street, and will stop outside the downtown terminal arid then coti- tinue down Stevenson Road to the GO rail station, Wooden Boat Festival Returns to Newcastle ; The Port of Newcastle \ is one of Lake Ontario's , most picturesque spots l any time of year, but it : will truly be a sight to ; behold later this month \ when the marina fills up | with nearly 100 wooden ; boats and their skippers, v The Wooden Boat j Weekend is scheduled for : July 25 and 26 and \ admission to the port will j be free. ! Allison Wollacott, j: marina manager, is antic- ; ipating at least 80 wood- : en canoes, sailboats and | power boats will arrive j from both Canada and the United States. "It will be similar to ! last year," she said, "but this year there will be a few more art exhibits and ; kids' games." There will be more i nautical clothing vendors Ï as well as a good-sized flea market where folks can find the perfect fix- ; tures to decorate their ; boats. A live band will perform perform pier-side. And, don't miss the demonstrations demonstrations by boat builders! Visitors who drop into : the Port of Newcastle ' restaurant for breakfast, lunch and dinner can pick up an event sheet. Other highlights planned for this summer include a "Christmas in July" dinner, scheduled for July 18. A ten dollar ticket buys a full turkey supper with St. Nick, complete with festive music provided provided by a live jazz band. Then, on August 15th, get set for a fabulous 50's and 60's weekend featur- : ing the classic cars of the Oshawa Cruisers and vocal music by the Oshawa Barbershop Quartet. All Aboard hr Canada Day Climbing aboard a late model fire truck at Pingle's Farm Market for Canada Day festivities were Alyssa Robinson, Alex Robinson and Michael Coulter. Pat Drumm, a part-time firefighter from the Courtice Fire Station, was among the volunteers showing children the truck and providing safety information. The special events at Pingle's were hosted by the Bowmanville Kinsmen, with funds donated, to Memorial Hospital Bowmanville. Taxes Jump Region Says Province is To Blame for 15% Increase Durham's regional council handed its ratepayers a - tax increase averaging about $128 per household on! Tuesday. ! And Council blames it on the provincial govern-; ment's failure to come through with funds to help; cover the costs of downloading certain provincial; responsibilities onto the regional level of government: Regional Chair Roger Anderson said the Durham; Region has a shortfall of about $28.5 million as a; result of the added costs assigned to Durham by; Queen's Park. ; Although the Durham Region had participated in- meetings with the province, the deadline for moving! ahead with the 1998 budget came and went without an! announcement from the provincial government. I "I have to say there is not a dime," said Regional; Chair Anderson on Tuesday morning. The regional; chair expressed hope that there will be some contribu-; tion from the Province of Ontario. ; If not, the $128 increase will stand. ; The increase amounts to a 15 per cent increase on" that portion of the property tax bill controlled by th& Durham Region. . < Examples of areas where // Thprp ! the Durham Region will . ! pick up costs previously jc nnl\/ nnP • handled by the provincial lo "/ '~' 1 ; government include n prcnn u/nr/c • social housing, GO r CI ' VYI ,U * ; 2rvices and ambulancc going to pay hr- ' "Unfortunately, n // iL' nn/ J there is only one per- a11 rni5 U[1U mai 5-. the Durham fgsi EEj ■ mmi Regional taxpayers. // The pay increase for regional councillors couldn't couldn't have come at a worse time, according to councillors councillors who voted against the raises approved on Tuesday, June 30, at a regional council session in Whitby. Scugog Mayor Doug Moffatt warned that the 8.7 per cent increase over the next three years will become ammunition used against Durham in its battle battle with the provincial government government over downloading costs. "I think this timing is extremely bad," agreed Ajax Mayor Steve Parish. He observed that the political battle is about to begin over who is responsible responsible for a tax increase of about $128 per household. The Durham Region argues that the increase is the fault of the provincial In the Spirit of Canada Day ■ Members of the Topper Family donned red and white to march in the Orono Canada Day Callithumpian Parade on Wednesday morning. Among the many other attractions were camels Sam and Sally, from the Bowmanville Zoo and an antique lire truck Hying the flag, government which had not yet offered to pay the extra $28.5 million costs associated associated with downloading. Mayor Parish warned that the pay increase gives the provincial government the chance to portray regional councillors as the, villains in the the controversy, controversy, Mayor Moffatt said the decision could be used to the provincial government's government's advantage if an election is called this fall. "This increase would not play well in an election campaign," he observed, The Scugog Mayor introduced a motion to delay the implementation of pay hikes recommended by a five-member panel of citizens. He suggested that the report should be tabled until the impact of the provincial downloading is known. However, regional council rejected delays and went on to approve the new pay package in a vote of 20-5. The increase gives elected officials the same pay. hikes that Durham earlier earlier approved for its staff. There will be an immediate immediate increase of 3,7 per cent, retroactive to April 1st which brings the pay of a regional councillor to $22,648, This will be followed followed by a 2,5 per cent increase in each of the next two years, so that regional councillors will be earning $23,795 by April 1 of the year 2000. In addition to the money they earn at the regional level, councillors also arc paid for serving on local municipal councils. The salary for the regional chairman was raised from $78,000 to $81,000, after which lie will receive the same percentage percentage increases as regional council, By April 1 of the year 2000, lie will earn $88,249. In view of their workload, workload, the honorariums paid to chairs of Durham's standing committees and members of the Police Services Board will be increased from $3,000 to $6,000. The last pay increase for regional councillors came in 1992. The increase will amount to $808 per councillor in the first year. All of Clarington's regional representatives backed the raises, with Mayor Diane Hamre observing that there is no good time to make such a decision. "It doesn't matter matter when and how, this is something nobody wants to deal with and we stick Continued on Page 11 son who's going to pay for all this and that's the Durham Regional taxpayers," he said. \ The regional chair took exceptions to remarks in a radio interview interview earlier in the day where Labor Minister and Whitby MPP Jim Flaherty suggested Durham should have been operating more efficiently. "Over the past five years, the Region has downsized, downsized, met the social contract and restraint targets, dealt with the need to modernize, continued to deliver quality services, handled the demands of a recognized growth area and has done so with a zero or less Regional operating budget. The Region is proud of its fiscal management," Chairman Anderson affirmed in a written statement to the media. He told regional councillors that he favors a public awareness program to inform taxpayers exactly why the tax increase occurred. "They'll know that Durham Region has cut their budgets by over $25 million in the last five years," he said. Durham East MPP John O'Toole said he believes Durham will be treated no differently than any other municipality in its request for help from the provincial government. "The premier's office is dealing with it. as late as yesterday," he said on Wednesday, after; Durham had passed its budget. But, he also suggests Durham should be looking at trimming its own spending, especially in areas where duplication of services may exist. "I encourage the Region to look at their own purpose spending," he said. He said he had already received phone calls from members of the public objecting to Durham Region councillors raising their own salaries at a time when regional taxes were increasing by an estimated 15 per cent. Independent Flyers /instate? 'ï w mm 1 m, m- 'Allstate (Darlene Ferguson 987-1611) *A&P (Prices in effect from Sun., July 5 to Sat., July 11/98) Canadian Tire (Prices in effect from Sat., July 4 to Fri., July 10/98) *Graham's IGA (Prices in effect from Sun,, July 5 to Sat, July 11/98) *Home Hardware (Prices effective until Sat., July 18/98) Mumbo Video (Prices in effect until July 7/98) M&M Meats (Prices In effect from Sat., July 11/98) *Port Hope Value Mart (Prices in effect until Sat., July 11/98) *Port Hope No Frills ('Indicates partial distribution) For information about inserting flyers in EIic Clnvington/Courticc 3iibcpcnbent, please contact our office at 623-3303. 1