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Bp. | 3 LZ Belgie La Six per cent budget hike { ot a a a a a Hospital cut-backs unlikely - Hospital administrator Dave Brown is cautiously optimistic -that ministry of health budget guidelines will not mean a reduction in staff or health care services at the Community Memorial Hospital in Port Perry this year. - In an interview with the Star last week Mr. Brown said the hospital can expect a budget increase for 1978- 1979 of about six percent, and depending on the out- come of upcoming contract negotiations with two em- ployee groups, he added that "we should be able to Vol. 112 No. 16 manage reasonably well" with that six percent in- crease. , Mr. Brown pointed out that he will have a more clear picture of the finan- cial situation by the end of the month when the exact increase -is expected from the province. However, re- cent guidlines from the ministry of health classify the Community Memorial as a "small hospital, and thus subject to an average increase of six percent. Small hospitals in the prov- ince are those with less than 50 beds, or an annual budget of less than $1.7 million. Large hospitals are going to be held to budgets of less than five percent. The budget for the 12-month - period ending March 31 for the 46-bed Memorial Hospi- tal was $1.47 million. --During- the interview Mr. Brown clarified a recently published article in an Oshawa newspaper which implied that the Memorial Hospital would not be sub- ject to the six percent annual increase this year. Whether there will be cut- backs in staff or service depends on the outcome. of a Wednesday, February 22, 1978 new CUPE contract ex- pected in March of this year, and an Ontario Nurses * Association contract expect- ed in September. If these two contracts re- main within the Anti-Infla- tion Board third year restrictions, said Mr. Brown, the prospect of lay- offs or cutbacks is slim. If not, he added, referring to possibility of lay-offs, "we'll just have to cross that bridge if we get to it." Salaries and wages make up about 80 percent of the Continued on page 7 32 Pages [Port Perry the Beat A Prete toot illustrated edition. the photographs in the old issue. Beautiful", the Star hopes our readers will life in the not too distant past. F g : : i i x © i] pais " ; Noith Ontario. Ob. ve fit! E.. Charming County E Flashback into History Exactly 72 years ago today [Wednesday, February 22], the North Ontario Observer, a newspaper published in Port Perry, printed this In this issue, Joseph Bigelow, Esq., wrote at length about the history of Port Perry and area going back to the mid-19th century, and the paper is a valuable record of interest to the arm-chair historian or anybody who wants to know what life was like in the community in years gone by. Starting this week and continuing for the next ten issues or so, the Port Perry Star will be carrying the contents of this special edition of the Observer as a feature on Page 8. And we will also be re-producing some of Under the heading "Port Perry, the enjoy the accounts of community vk Heart Queen i Trish Sleep was crowned Cartwright High School Heart Queen at a dance Saturday night at the recreation centre in Blackstock. [See page 14]. Scugog wants action now on Official Plan With 1978 construction season fast approaching, Scugog Township is becom- ing concerned that develop- ers could face unnecessary delays unless the Durham Region Official Plan gets formal approval from the 'Ministry of Housing in Toronto. | The Township council ex- pressed these concerns at its last regular meeting Febr- uary 13 in the form of a resolution calling upon the new Housing Minister Claude Bennett to put his signature on the document. The Durham Official Plan, which designates land uses such as industrial, resident- _ ial, agriculture and open space, was passed in July, 1976 by the regional council and has been waiting formal approval at Queens Park ever since. The reason for the hold-up in getting this approval has been objection to the plan by-the City of Oshawa. It is understood that some of these objections by Oshawa have been re- solved in recent weeks. The concern on the part of the Scugog council involves a proposed industrial and resi- dential development north of Regional Road 8 near Port Perry. The land under the old Reach Township official plan is zoned agriculture, and while the Township has recommended modifications to the Durham Plan to allow for industrial and residential zoning, any development this spring could be held up unless the Plan gets Queens Park approval. Without that approval, . the developer, Carlan |, Industries would have to first get an amend ment to the old Reach Plan for the necessary zoning changes, a process which could be costly and time consuming. hE Scugog Mayor Lawrence Malcolm said in an interview last week that Scugog is not the only municipality in Dur- ham becoming concerned about the possible hold-up of development because the Official Plan has yet to re- ceive formal approval. He mentioned Ajax as one other municipality, and said others are likely to pass resolutions urging Housing Minister Claude Bennett to approve the Plan. Under the terms of Bill 162 which created Durham Region on January 1, 1974, the Region was to have dy up an official plan for provincial approvement within three years. Durham met its commitment to have this done in less than that amount of time and local municipalities are now start- ing to express their concern at the province not fulfulling its part of the bargain. No leads in bank robbery Durham Regional police are continuing their investi- gation into a bank robbery in Claremont February 13 which netted three armed men an estimated $5,000. The three men, two armed with knives and a third with a gun, entered the Bank of Commerce about 2:00 p.m., came out a few minutes later, and made their geta- way north on the Old Brock Road in a white Ford pick- up truck. Man charged after two car accident An Uxbridge man has been charged with failing to stop following an accident Saturday afternoon that sent a Lakefield man to Sunnybrook Hospital. Allen E. Garnett, 30, of Lakefield is in serious con- dition in the intensive care unit at Sunnybrook after his westbound car was struck by a pick-up truck at the intersection of Regional Roads 23 and 21. ~ Garnett's wife and two children were treated for minor injuries and released from hospital. The family dog was killed in the accident. A police spokesman with the OPP ment said that Brian Buck- ley, 23, of 40 Brock Street East in Uxbridge, driver of the northbound truck has been charged with failing to stop. A female passenger with Buckley was not seri- ously injured in the accid- ent. Police estimate damage to both vehicles at about $4,000. Whitby detach- res