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1 PAGE 8THE CANADIAN STATESMAN, MARCH 14,2001 JASON LIEBREGTS/ Statesman photo It's all in the cards BOWMANVILLE - Anne Thompson ington Beech Centre, Bowmanville. The watches carefully as Helen Bickele makes centre offers numerous activities for se- her play during a bridge game at the Clar- niors. Share and Please recycle this newspaper ' C FABRICLÆND V CANADA'S LARGEST FASHION FABRIC DISTRIBUTOR 4 DAYS ONItlfM Thursday Marsh 15 to Sunday Marsh IS *0UR ENTIRE STOCK : : T; u, ■ . ■■ '\i TA. vv wmm ..'.I:; , ' • -> ' ■ V-v gyggi WW" !3 . > ' <§ : V,- : ' ' 1 Ul sum HSHtOH FiBMC, | Is** lUftlMIIV Blfl/f O HXCIMHS ONLY ENOS, PROMOTIONAL ITENS4JVD BOOKS ; neiie -- - - - - " -- SKOAL SELECTION AU IMSTOCK N.S.O. OECOKATIVE K00 UTS llAflimil MAM RE6ULAK PRICE SPECIAL SELECTION BROADCLOTH umuSSÀtm NOW HO UNIT ova Emms stock .... - l I T rwnr if : ■, ; ••■P*'- UNIT or TO -- . ■ * 1101 DimdasSt. i. f 721-9152 \ TABRICLÆND CANADA S LARGEST ^ FAIHIOX FABRIC D15THIBUI0B 600 Grandvi ■Sawn ■ % tytfKT LOTS Of HIE PAIKIN6 '4 Mm. * frt. 9 a.m. - 9 p.m., Salinhv 9 fl.M. ■ 6 Saniay 12 • 5 p.M. 1 Ftowe iwto to mw tocNttow News eey be mH of etowor pike *eBwri»pitoriàw*i «ter# pik». While All. r tewperitiv» prkhg otwre Ae odvertlied wHegrwM beeWeer reader chile «tore pike. / Clarington discusses service partnerships with Uxbridge, Brock and Scugog BY JACQUIE McINNES Staff Writer CLARINGTON - Fewer politicians politicians and better service levels were thrown on the table for dissection when four municipalities came together together to look at sharing resources and streamlining local government. Mayors and councillors from the municipalities of Clarington, Scugog, Uxbridge and Brock Township convened convened Thursday afternoon to decide if combining their efforts could end in better service or a savings of money. "We should be proactive not reactive," reactive," Uxbridge Mayor Gerri Lynn O'Connor said following the meeting. "Sharing services, sharing equipment, purchasing in bulk and buying compatible compatible equipment are all good things," she said, noting the municipalities municipalities should come up with their own streamlining policies instead of waiting for the provincial government to do it for them. The municipal representatives have stated unequivocally they are opposed to any amalgamation, based on a consultant's consultant's report prepared by The Randolph Randolph Groiip and Enid Slack Consulting Consulting Inc., released in January. The report report stated amalgamation would not be in the best interest of any of the municipalities but concluded there may be some service sharing opportunities. opportunities. The four councils and senior staff members discussed cost savings in areas such as recreation facilities, ice maintenance, fire services, shared. planning and joint purchasing based on the findings of sub-committees formed after a January meeting. "There's a willingness to share ideas. The more ideas there are the more opportunities there are," suggested suggested Scugog Mayor Doug Moffatt. For Clarington, the meeting was an opportunity to show the three northern municipalities what it had to offer, said Mayor John Mutton. Clarington ■ has expressed an interest in selling services it already has in-house to the other three. Clarington could save Uxbridge, Scugog and Brock some money while making some for Clarington, Clarington, suggested the mayor. "I think the three northern municipalities municipalities have been doing a fair bit of window shopping to see what services they can purchase from Clarington," he said. "Then Clarington will have a new revenue stream." The mayor suggested Clarington could also benefit by teaming up with the northern municipalities for "joint purchasing and collective tendering opportunities" to save money with bulk buying. Scugog's mayor wasn't certain there's a lot of money to be saved through shared services. On the other hand, he said, it could definitely improve improve the services provided. "I don't think we'll save a ton of money. We may save a bit. We're looking at ways to improve service. The fire chiefs' report said that. We can spend the same amount of money and get better service. Isn't that good?" While the three northern mayors said they would all be reflecting on possibly purchasing services from their southern neighbour, they were also interested in hiring a shared staff person to accomplish together what they've been unable to do on their own. For example, said Mayor O'Connor, O'Connor, the three could possibly hire a new planner which, on their own, none of the three municipalities could afford. Another issue the representatives discussed was the possibility of fewer politicians to satisfy some of the concerns concerns of the provincial government, said Mayor Mutton. He noted Clarington Clarington went from 74 politicians to 25 in 1974 and then dropped again to seven. In 1997, Clarington's regional representation went from four regional regional councillors (including the mayor) to three to satisfy regional governance recommendations. There has, he said, been some discussion at the Region that the northern municipalities may be over-represented. The mayor said he believes the northern municipalities municipalities may be willing to reduce some representation providing their southern southern neighbours are willing to go to a representation by population system which would mean an equal number of representatives per capita. That would not affect Clarington because because it has already reduced and has one of the lowest ratios of representation representation per population in the Region, he said. The councils will be meeting again to discuss other ideas, including sharing of public works services. Brock Mayor Terry Clayton added his support to the discussions, stating, "We should be doing this no matter what happens with governance," at the provincial level. "I don't think the issue is going away." 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