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VU -- 0891 XC anol. \yeb29uT -- SIAT2 YAAIG TROY é -- PORT PERRY STAR -- Tuesday, June 27, 1989 EDITORIAL @he Pout Perey Ste 235 QUEEN STREET - PORT PERRY, ONTARIO PHONE 985-7383 FAX 985-3708 Elsewhere $60.00 per year. Single Copy 50¢ Publisher - J. Peter Hvidsten Editor - John B. McClelland News/Features - Cathy Olliffe News Reporter - Rob Streich BUSINESS OFFICE Office Manager - Gayle Stapley Accounting - Judy Ashby Billing Department - Louise Hope Retail Sales - Kathy Dudley, Linda Ruhl Member of the The Port Perry Star is authorized as second class mail by the ADVERTISING Canadian Community Newspaper Association Post Office Department, Ottawa, for cash payment of postage. PRODUCTION Advertising Co-ordinator - Valerie Ellis Ontario es My fwapap Association Second Class Mail Registration Number 0266 Annabell Harrison Advertising Sales Representative: Published every Tuesday by the Subscription Rate: In Canada $20.00 per year Ing Empringham Anna Gouldburn Port Perry Star Co. Lid. Port Perry, Ontario Editorial Comment TIME OUT If last Thursday's public meeting in the Township council chambers is any indication, it is very clear there is a lot of anger among some residents about their 1989 property taxes. The public meeting, called to give a consulting firm a chance to inform residents about a study into the feasibili- ty of new recreation facilities for Scugog, was punctuated many times by loud complaints about taxes and at least once the meeting threatened to get out of hand totally and break down. Barb Walton, the chairman of a newly formed rate- payers group, Citizens Against Unjustified Taxes, de- manded that the meeting hear her statement on property taxes. Glenn McCoy, who chaired Thursday's meeting for a recreation committee, threatened to adjourn the meet- MR WILSON... ! * ing, stating it was not the right forum for people to air their complaints about taxes. Ms. Walton pushed ahead and read her statement, anyway. Shades of deja vu from a decade ago when the Township was embarking on a plan to construct a new 'public library. In fact, there are a lot of similarities between what happened then and what is happening now in Scu- gog. x Many people will remember the so-called "library af- fair," and how it tumed mean and nasty, creating huge splits in this community of Scugog, splits' which even to this day have not healed over totally. When plans for a new library first started to become public, it happened to be a year when there was a fairly Sigh property tax increase, and a lot of people were upset angry. : : That is pravissly what has happened this year. Scu- gog residents were hit with an across-the-board property tax hike of 14.8 per cent, and some residents whose prop- erties were re-assessed have discovered their tax hikes to be higher than that. And this just happens to be the year that Scugog Is Uider-aking a study of the feasibility of new recreation fa- The feasibility study will go ahead this year, despite an strong request from the ratepayers group that ft bo Frankly, the last thing we need in Scugog is another library affair, but sadly, the writing is on the wall. period, & Bm out Jf yor wil, before Boos teen raion , a time out, if you will, 8 : sides and positions become too solidly entrenched. i We see no harm at this time in the feasibility study going ahead. It is just a study, and the information collect- ed will be of value to som , someday. And the $28,000 cost for the study will not impact on property tax- es. Half the cost came from the lot levy fund of the Town- ship, the remainder from a Wintario grant. The study, once ted, will tell us exactly what the cost to build new facilities will be and how much they will cost to operate. As for the need, that is not the debate : who are opposed to the study of need. The 'question is the cost, can this Township afford to be constricting new ; And once all the studies and recommendations are in, final decision will rest with the seven men and women elected by the people of this community. "We are not going to tell people to cool their anger over . fhe tax hikes this year. Their concerns are genuine. There i : (Turn to page 10) | , Chatterbox by CATHY OLLIFFE POOL DAZE - The Wokaners I still wasn't Soap ed on the oooh | was taking to Pa 2 Councillor Marilyn Pearce about Scugog Township's minimum standards by-law. Sn po So , OX e former se certain standards for our Ti that or, . . ugly. : And for awhile there, the pool sure was ugly. A big hole and several piles of dirt consumed our ard for a or so. Eventually, with a lot of help from family and friends, we got the wall up and on one fine evening, my beloved and | attempted to put in the liner. Unfortunately we discovered we had made mo. boo-boo. The explanation is compli- ed, 80 suffice it to say we had to take the whole confounded wall again and move it around a few feet. Before we started the nightmare pool, my parents (who had put one up themselves and hus are pool experts) warned us the prope) would "be or a few fights at least." Y were they right. You should have heard the li tie "discussion" between this h couple when we realized the pool wall would have to come down. We were not pleased. , Anyways, the day after we found out about the primo ,» Marilyn Pearce was in my office and she was telling me how the by-law was being better enforced because of the Jowns i s number one by-law officer, Bill enshall. In fact, she was ra about this guy. And | When asked me if the pool was done a something like, "Maybe by Christmas," and | wasn't i However when things finally started movi ond | finarke to Conn of gu Yio o $9 us f n , "Ma hankapiving 2° peop And then one day | came home from work and aaa ay | cama Com- pletely dole. Tie was hii n it. Seems a 'S en masse and completed the whole mess. y | wept with joy. The nightmare pool is now a dream come true. In the las fow Mungy da 8, the tempera- ture of the water has risen dramatically. es. terday we went home for lunch and stole a w. ting caught what an absolutely Quick swim. Doug got a bunch of neat inflata- wondortul Job Waris dong whew my They ble toys for his bith, buzzed. ; me, oy X Liloctylos o fe Rich & kay " . re en. hig " na Hirde. blisters are healed. Now wore worsen y olio," | said. we didn't get a'pool a long time ago The voice on the other end was deep and