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Test well could solve hamlet"s water woes 'Drilling of a test well in the community of Manchester _got underway last Friday, and the well should be com- pleted by the middle of this week. That's good news for the people of Manchester, many of whom must truck their drinking water several miles because their wells have been contaminated. The test well could be a major step towards cleaning up the well problems in Manchester which have been more than just a nuisance for some of the residents for several years. A few months ago, a dele- gation of angry residents told Scugog council the salt contamination in some of the wells is so bad, the water is not fit for drinking and even corrodes the inside of electric kettles. The test well was drilled on the Township works garage property for the provincial Ministry of the Environ-, ment, which is paying the costs. Ross Duncan, a consultant with Morrison Beatty Ltd., the firm which is supervising the test drilling, told the Star on Friday, the test well should determine three things: the quality and quan- tity of water at deep depths in excess of 100 feet; and whether the poor quality water at shallower depths Council ponders painting tenders Scugog Township council- lors were a little perplexed when tenders were opened for painting the exterior of the municipal offices on Perry Street. Six bids were received, and they ranged from a low of $800 to a high of $7600. The difference between the high and the low bid was in fact so great that councillors wondered if they even re- ferred to the same building. Administrator Earl Cuddie assured council that all those who bid for the job had picked up specification sheets from the Township office. Council decided at the meeting June 15 not to make a final decision on awarding the contract because of the wide variation in bids. The matter was referred to the finance committee which will study the four low bids and then award the contract. It is expected this will be done in the very near future. can be sealed off by grouting to prevent it from seaping down to the deeper water supply. Mr. Duncan said recom- mendations will be made to the Ministry of the Environ- ment based on the results of this test well. He could not say exactly how long it will take to analyse the results and come up with recom- mendations. However, there is more than one course of action available to provide the community with better drinking water. Each resident could have a new well drilled; there could be several "communal wells" to serve the com- munity; or lines could be extended from Port Perry to give the community munici- pal water. The problem of well contamination in Manches- ter has been well docu- mented. A study completed over a year ago by the Environ- ment Ministry checked 33 wells in the community, and found problems in 32 of them. Fourteen had chloride levels above the recom- mended limit, five had nitrate levels above limits, and 13 had "'elevated nitrate levels." The report states that sodium and chloride (Turn to page 2) Block Parents will start school attendance checks The Scugog Block Parents organization will operate an attendance check program at R.H. Cornish School when classes start again in September. Block Parent chairperson Claudia Little said about 30 adult volunteers will be in- volved in checking atten- dance sheets for about an hour each morning and afternoon. However, Mrs. Little stressed that if the program is to be effective, co- operation is needed from all parents if they have kept their children home from school for a day. "It is important that parents phone the school and let us know if their children will not be attending class that day," she said. The volunteers will check the class attendance sheets against the list of names of children who will not be at school that day. If a child is not at class, and the parents havé not notified the school, the volunteer will then phone the parents at home and let them know. Mrs. Little' said similar programs are carried out by Block Parent organization in other communities with success. Mrs. Little said that if a child is not at school or at home, the police will be notified. : The program was con- ducted at the school for a few months two years ago, but was dis-continued last year. Mrs. Little said school officials support the pro- gram, and a special phone will be installed at the school at the expense of the Block Parent organization. It will cost the organiza- tion about $300 yearly for the phone line. Scugog Block Parents has about 200 members, with about 115 of them in Port Perry. Mrs. Little said that while many of the phone volun- teers for the attendance check program will be Block Parents, they don't neces- sarily have to be members of that organization. } She said that anyone in- terested in working as a volunteer for this program can contact her at 985-3375. Five team captains have been appointed, and each will be responsible for organizing the attendance check for two months during the 10 month school year. And the volunteers will undergo a training period. More information about the program will be given to parents when the school re- opens for classes early in September. Mrs. Little said the pro- gram is important as there is always a possibility a young- ster could get lost on the way to school, or worse, be lured into a strange car. Vol.115 No. 30 Wednesday, June 24,1981 ; 36 Pages Down, but not out Art Brunton has been raising and breeding Rhode Island Red chickens almost all his life and has won numerous show awards. But recently, a dog got loose in one of the pens and killed most of the prime breeding birds, wiping out any chance of showing at fairs this year. However, Mr. Brunton is optimistic the birds not killed by the dog can be bred later this year, and he'll be back in business in 1982. [See story on page eight]. High price delays work on new Regional garage Construction of a new Regional works department depot at the intersection of Regional Roads 23 and 1 has been delayed because bids for the project came in well over budget. Durham council went along with a recommenda- tion from the Works commit- tee that a contract for construction not be awarded at $605,000. Durham has budgeted about $450,000 for construction of the new depot this year. The new depot, which will be built in Scugog Township, will serve Scugog, Brock and Uxbridge Townships. Once the depot is finished, the present garage in Manches- ter will be closed down. Storage facilities for road sand and salt have already been constructed on the new site. In deciding not to award a contract, the Works commit- tee has recommended that alternative types of building be investigated, and that several companies be asked to submit firm prices for design and construction. Once a contract on this basis is awarded, construction will take about 26 weeks. And in order to further cut costs, work such as land- scaping, fencing, septic system and water tank will be handled directly by the Region. Despite this delay, it is still expected the building will be completed by the end of this year. RAE py SNCIRR So TERK ES a " ~ ve -. ~ ee = 3 A gal, nN i Y ARE wi. «* a Tr --_----C AN ew Toes Wry ~~ - '> - 3 oy! SR iT SR ain ' own Wan dk) A at, i TI - 2 Toh WP