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Serving Kendal, Kirby, Leskard, Newcastle, Newtonville, Orono, Starkville and Tyrone since 1937 Empty garage goes up in flames Thirty-one firefighters responded to the Tuesday afternoon blaze that quickly engulfed the abandoned abandoned garage in the gully just north of the Village of Orono. No cause was determined for the fire, which will not be investigated due to the zero dollar property loss. Durham says 'no' to hospital funding In spite of the warning that a 'no' vote would mean a cut in services, a death spiral of which there is no escape, Regional councillors did say 'no' to funding hospital expansion. . Regional Council voted 21 to 5 in favour of not putting putting the cost of hospital expansion on the property tax bill. The vote came late in the day at last Wednesday's regular meeting of Durham Regional Council, after two presentations by medical staff and hours of debate. In his presentation, Dr. Robin Davies, Chief of Staff at Lake ridge Health said, "Without expansion, we're bordering on disaster. Without expansion, this will be a dangerous place to live." Lakeridge Health had asked the Region of Durham to fund $100 million of a $409 million renovation project project slated for-all their sites in the Durham Region. Under their current 50% funding formula, the Province will pay $215- million, and the various Hospital Foundations have committed to raise the remaining $194 million. ' Regional Cquncillor Jim Schell was pleased with the outcome of the vote. He felt that once the cost of hospital expansion was put on the property tax bill, it would never come off. ' The Region is prepared to become a partner in funding Durham's hospital capital requirements if the Province increases their share of the funding, and if they allow municipalities to levy development development charges to pay for growth related pressure. Hospital officials say they - are devastated with the outcome outcome at Regional Council, a decision which brings future plans for expanding hospital capacity in Durham Region to a halt. • "This is a serious blow to medical and nursing staff already straggling to ensure that quality care is delivered," delivered," said hospital officials in a statement: released the following day. The Board will continue to aggressively pursue funding for expansion, expansion, which will include continued continued efforts at the Regional level in recognition of their responsibilities for approving growth. "We do not believe the Ministry will change their funding formula or introduce development changes just for Durham," said Lakeridge (continued page 6) Mill Pond area residents feel the Ministry of Natural Resources (MNR) has not come up with the best possible possible plan for the future of the Mill Pond. The mill pond dam is the subject of a Class Environmental Assessment, to ensure the dam is safe, requires no manual operation, and is secure from upstream flooding. When these conditions conditions are satisfied, the Ministry will divest itself of the Dam, and it will become a Municipal responsibility. The Mill Pond and Dam were used historically to run a Grist Mill, and then as an irrigation reservoir for the Provincial tree nursery. With the closing of the Provincial Forest Station in 1996, MNR feel there is an increased potential for the Dam overtopping during a significant storm event, putting putting the public at nsk, as well as potentially damaging public public and private property. MNR proposes to construct construct a rectangular concrete fixed weir, out into the pond, to control the flow of water Water would flow over the three- walls of the weir, the top of each wall being set to the same elevation as the top of file existing dam. This would maintain water levels in the Pond during low flows at the same level as exits cur rently. With this option, all stop logs will be removed thereby eliminating the need for manual manual operation. The primary disadvantage of a fixed weir, according to the MNR report are the disruption disruption to local residents during during the construction phase, and the potential need to dredge part of the Pond to facilitate construction. John Slater and Dave deGraaf ponder MNR's recommendations for the Mill Pond Dam.