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a or eR shiuicinataneee In decision PAC abolished- Councillors in the Village of Victoria Harbour who voted in favour of abolishing the municipali- ty's Planning Advisory Committee (PAC) are satisfied with their deci- sion despite the opposition by Deputy-Reeve Catherine MacKenzie and some village taxpayers. In an interview last week, Councillor Paul Charlebois, who voted in favour of the bylaw to res- cind the committee, said he voted the way he did on March 9, because he felt there were too many issues being studied by PAC that council was not well enough informed on when it came time to vote on. "Council should be mak- ing their decisions just on the recommendations from that body,"' said Charlebois. "There are too many serious issues that we vote on that we don't have all the facts." Deputy-Reeve Catherine MacKenzie, who was chairman of PAC, said she was very disappointed over the decision adding she was unhappy with the way the bylaw was brought forward. "Tl am chairman of PAC and I had no idea that the bylaw was going to appear at that meeting," said MacKenzie. 'Usually there isa notice of a bylaw at the prior meeting and then the bylaw is passed at the next meeting. When I got to council I hadn't seen anything about the bylaw." According to MacKen- zie, councils decision to place PAC with a planning board made up of council only, will not only increase the five-members workload, but eliminate public participation in the village's planning matters. "With PAE we had equal representation of council and the public," said the chairman. "Public input in- to planning matters gave merit to our approach to planning." Village Reeve Bill Varney who voted against the bylaw in a recorded vote said he was opposed to the move because he felt coun- cil could not handle all the projects, such as the village's review of their Of- ficial Plan and their Emergency Measures Plan, that are presently on the PAC's plate. Despite the MacKenzie's Arts Council's resignations 'neglible' The effect of the resigna- tion of three volunteers and an employee on the North Simcoe Arts Council is "negligible," its presi- dent said. Kamran Khozan was commenting last week on the resignation of manager Carol Dimcok, and volunteers John Hartman, Jim McMillan, and Erma Newhouse, earlier this year. Hartman said _shis resignation stemmed from a disagreement with the style of management. 'I just didn't find it accep- table and I decided to leave.' Dimock and Newhouse had no comment. Khozan said, "I regret these resignations but life goes on." One year after its creation, the arts council has more than 100 volunteers serving on its committees, and more than 2,000 members, he said. Hartman's comment on the newness of the non- profit cultural group was that the arts council is a young organization in the process of putting together its management system. "Tt will work. At this point I don't see it working with me in there." The arts council's larger goal, to build an arts cen- tre, "is steaming right along.' Hartman said. The arts council has two equally important goals, Khozan said: the building of an artistic and cultural centre, and promotion in the area of artistic and cultural activities. The arts council has departments: building, programming, three and administrative. Enershare looks at Midland arena Enershare Technologies Inc, of Toronto has an of- fer to make to Midland. Enershare thinks it can make a profit by reducing the town's utility bill for Centennial Arena. In the long term, the town is sup- posed to benefit from Ener- share's investment. Enershare Technologies is in the business of signing agreements with municipalities. A municipality agrees to send its utility bill payments for a building which Ener- share improves to Ener- share for 10 years. Ener- share guarantees a small reduction through the 10 year period of the agree- ment. After the conclusion of the agreement, all of the physicial improvement created by Enershare - im- proved insulation for ex- ample - becomes the pro- perty of the municipality. Enershare's profit is the difference between the slightly guaranteed amount of money it receives from the | town, and the amount of the utility bill after the im- | provement made by Ener- share. Enershare beomes responsible for paying the municipality's utility bill for the building or buildings included in the agreement, through the 10 , years. After the Board of Park management and the town solicitor have reviewed the proposal, the town will discuss Enershare's pro- posal with Enershare. Enershare looked at other municipal buildings, but the arena is the only building it is proposing to improve lowered | suggestions that there will not be any _ § input Charlebois said residents of the village will have the opportunity to voice their opinions at planning board meetings the same as at a PAC meeting. Councillor Bob Atkinson agreed with Charlebois saying that just because council feels that they are ready to take over the plan- ning for the village, it doesn't mean that council isn't going to listen to what the public is saying. Atkinson, who describes himself as "grassroots" said part of the reasoning behind his voting in favour of abolishing the PAC was to save the village money. "As council we don't get paid for meetings,"' 'said the councillor. "If we cut out the PAC we are not paying people to go to the meetings and cutting back on spending." i Mitt WSs J ty THR LTTE ASS Zana aus RY Nears completion The addition to Tiny Township's municipal building is nearly complete. With work on the exterior finish- ed, all that remains is drywalling and interior decora- tion. The expansion will give staff a welcome change from their present cramped quarters. Why wait to have the PLENTY OF IN-STOCK SPECIALS TO CHOOSE FROM enjoyment of that new carpet [) A ; S On Approved Credit ; Min. 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