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Vol. 128 No. 9 PORT PERRY, ONTARIO - TUESDAY, JANUARY 18, 1994 | NL Copy 65¢ 61¢+aeCsn 36 Pages Police downplay report suggesting closure of station By Scott Anderson Port Perry Star Rumors of a plan to consoli- date police services in northern Durham is without substance, police and municipal officials say. A report obtained by the Port Perry Star entitled "Organiza- tion and Deployment" revealed that Durham Police is contem- plating a number of changes to the style of policingin Durham's 26 Division. These changes include clos- d ing two of the three detach- ments in the northern commu- nities and introducing Village Consfablos ee Unrider the plan, both the Port Perry and Uxbridge detach- " ments would be closed with the officers being briefed for duty at divisional headquarters in Sun- derland. The number of police consta- bles would be cut by 11 as well, reducing the number to 31. But police and municipal offi- cials are downplaying the re- port. "I haven't seen the report yet," said Deputy Chief Alex McMurray when reached for comment Monday afternoon. "I haven't seen anythingonit." Deputy Chief McMurray con- firmed that a task force has been struck to study all aspects of the police department and speculated that this report was one portion of the study. A full report is expected by the end of February. Jim Witty, chairman of Dur- ham's Police Services Board, also downplayed the impor- tance of the report noting that none of the department's top brass had seenit. "Until it sees the light of day, it has no official status at this time," he said. Although he has yet to see the report, Mr. Witty speculated Turnto Page 13 The Scugog Snow Flake Festival got underway on the weekend despite sub-zero temper- atures. One of the highlights of the first weekend of activities was the ice sculpture exhibi- tion in Palmer Park. The artists braved the frigid climate on Friday and Saturday to carve six unique sculptures. Professional sculptor Ross Navarro of Toronto sculpted Geese in Flight during the ice sculpture exhibition in Palmer Park. The sculpture is a tribute to local artist Bill Lishman. The Snaw Flake Festival continues this weekend. : | Snowmobile thefts a a Lake Scugog is the place to be regardless ofthe weather. 'That was obvious during the opening weekend of the Scugog Snow Flake Festival. Despite sub-zero tempera- tures Rolled by biting winds, hundreds of people ventured to Palmer Park and Lake Scugog to take in the many festivities planned for the first weekend of the four-day event. "The activities planned over the next two weekends indicate without doubt that Scugogis an exciting place to be summer or winter," said Durham Riding MP Alex Shepherd in a written statement read by his wife Car- ol at the official opening of the winter carnival on Saturday. Scugog Mayor Howard Hall commended the organizers on their efforts and said he looks forward to the festival becoming an annual event. Regional Chairman Gary Herrema joked that Mayor Hall had been promoting the Snow Flake Festival at regional coun- cil. "Howard told everyone to 'Come to Scugog 'cause we walk on water," Chairman Herrema said. "As usual in Scugog, every- hody involved has done a terrific job," the chairman added. "The name couldn't be better and the day couldn't be colder, but what the heck." Events held during the first Turn to page 2 Queen Street will go to the dogs this weekend during the dog sled races. Weather permitting, the races will be- gin at the corner of Queen and Perry Streets. The action starts at noon on Saturday and 11 a.m. on Sunday. on increase in area By Scott Anderson Port Perry Star Snowmobile enthusiasts are calling for increased vigilance after a string of thefts have been reported in the area. Since the season opened a few weeks ago, Scugog has been hit hard by the thefts. According to Durham Region- al Police, in six weeks 13 snow- mobiles have been taken. As of last week, six were reported sto- len in January and seven in De- cember. Sergeant George Scott said the . numbers "are running about average." But others argue the num- bers are a lot higher than what 1s being reported. A local snowmobile dealer told the Port Perry Star her company has written four to six replacement orders for snowmo- biles last week alone. She esti- mated they have been asked for at least 20 replacement orders this season. "It's disgusting," she said. "There's a lot going from this area." Andit appears the thieves are being choosy in what they take. The popular item this year seems to be the Polaris model which falls into the $6,000 to $7,000 range. Ferdie Borgardts knows all about this. Last week he had his 1991 Polaris sled taken from his Stephenson Point home while he was sleeping. This incident has him con- vinced the thieves knew what they were looking for. There were four models to choose from at his home, all lined up togeth- er and the only one that was dragged away was the $7,000 Polaris. "I think it's organized," he said adding that the vehicles are probably stripped for parts. He notes the vehicles are "worth twice as much their val- uein parts." As a result of this increased theft, Mr. Borgardts is calling on the police to step up their pa- trols of the area to ensure that stolen snowmobiles are not making the rounds. But Sergeant Scott said Dur- ham Police, in conjunction with the local snowmobile clubs, are out on the trails checking Snow Vehicle Act contraventions in- cluding registration, owner- ship, insurance and equipment offenses. Impaired operators are also being sought. The officers will be out on the trailsevery weekend, he said. It has already paid off as a 24- year-old Port Perry man was charged with possession of sto- len property and stolen markers after police recovered a snow- mobile reported missing in 1991.