PAGE 2. WEDNESDAY. JANUARY 27, 1982, WHITBY FREE PRESS Estimated cost $3.4 million.... Farview Lodge renovation s to be tendered Mayor Bob Attersley (left) and Town of Whitby adrministrator Bill Wallace (right) are seen here ad- ministering the oath of office to the 1982 President of the Whitby Chamber of Commerce, Howard Smith. The ceremony was held last week at the chamber's first luncheon meeting of the new year. -Free Press Staff Photo Attersley challenges chamber Mayor Bob Attersley has told the Chamber of Commerce that he wan- ts their help in promot- ing Whitby during the coming year. Speaking at the cham- ber's first luncheon meeting of the year last week, Attersley said that the chamber and its members have a lot to contribute in making new residents feel at home. He said that Whitby experienced a six per cent growth in assess- ment during 1981 and had a population in- crease of some 3,500 people. "They are all poten- tial customers in the commercial atmos- phere," he said. Attersley also told the chamber that they are usually the first people to make contact with new residents and the impressions they made are the lasting ones. "You people make more impact on our new people," he said. "It's you people who can turn the tide." The mayor said that he wants to promote Whitby as a town - stressing not only its commercial and indus- trial potential but its residential potential as well. "We need you people to make this a reality." Attersley .also had a specific project pro- posal for the chamber. "I'm challenging the chamber to put together a map of the Town of Whitby and sell it." Such a map would be available throughout the town and especially at the new tourist in- formation centre which should be constructed later this year. Attersley told his audience of about 50 people that it would not be proper for the muni- cipality to sell adver- tising for such a venture so he requested that the chamber adopt it as a project. "I can assure you that we will certainly do the leg work in putting together the map. The purpose of the map, he added, was to show that Whitby is "great for shopping, a friendly town and that we have a great town." While new chamber president Howard Smith seemed r'eceptive to the idea no official response has been made to Atter- sley's proposal. New DO'C could open in'83 if province ok's thefunding A new Denis O'Connor High School could be ready to open its doors by September 1, 1982 according to the chair- man of the Durham Regional Roman Catho- lic Separate School Board. However, Jim Brady added that this could only be a reality if the provincial government agrees to finance its construction. Brady made the state- ment last week to about 200 people who attended a meeting at the Giffard Street High School. The chairman said that Durham West MPP George Ashe is working on setting up a meeting with Dr. Bette Stephen- son, the Ontario Mini- ster of Education. "We want to make sure up front that she knows we need the money," Brady said. "We know, of course, that if the government says 'no', it's going to be very difficult to pro- ceed." The trustee also told his audience that when the new school is finally constructed it will have many of the "luxuries" that other Catholic high schools have sometimes foregone. "Sometimes we scrimped a little too much," Brady said. "We failed to put in gymnasiums and cafe- terias, but we have learned. We would in- strut the people who designed the school to put in everything we can. "We will not leave anything out," he ad- ded. The Catholie school system only received public funds for con- struction or operations up to the Grade 10 level. Af ter that, they are essentially private schools and receive no public monies from property taxes. In an effort to over- come financing difficul- ties, the Durham Catholic Charitable Foundation was established in May, 1980. Its primary function is to raise money for the separate school board and its main supporters to date have been par- ents. However, Father Thomas Malady has said that the foundation cannot continue to rely on contributions from this source solely. "We have to seek a wider base of support," Malady said. The foundation will attempt to seek support from corporations, businesses, school alumni and other sour- ces. When Denis O'Connor first opened its doors in 1967j it had a student population of 55 stu- dents. Ir, 1982, that figure has jumped to over 500 and is, for all intents and purposes, overcrowded. Earlier this school year, the board made the construction of a new high school its "number oné" priority. There is only one other Catholic high school in the region. It is Paul Dwyer High School in Oshawa. Brady said that the board has been survey- ing sites for a new school although one has yet to be chosen. Sites under considera- tion are throughout Whitby, Ajax and Pick- ering. When the school opened, 50 per cent of its students were from Whitby but now more than 50 per cent come from Ajax and Picker- ing. It is possible that the new facility would be in one of those muni- cipalities. If the current facility is no longer used as a high school, it could be used to take in the over- flow from St. John the Evangelist Separate School which is right next door. Bishop Robert Clune, auxiliary bishop of Toronto, told the aud- ience that .Catholics "have a legal right un- der the British North America Act" to public funding for schools. Bomb threat A bomb threat caused the Cadbury's Limited plant to be evacuated for a short time liist week. According to Inspec- tor Doug Bulloch of the Durham Regional Police Force, the secur- ity guards received the threat by telephone at about 6:30 p.m. last Wednesday. The plant was eva- cuated for about 45 min- utes after that but no bomb could be found. The plant is located at 1610 Champlain Ave., just east of Thickson Road. Dur.ham Regional Council will call for tenders to begin the pro- cess of renovating Whitby's Fairview Lodge Home for the Aged. In a 26 to 1 recorded vote, councillors agreed th undertake the tender- ing process for the $3.4 million project. Prior to making that decision, Social Ser- vices Commissioner Doug Johns said that the renovations will solve many of the problems that have been encoun- tered over the past few years. The plans cail for the construction of a new wing in the west side of the building, near Coch- rane Street. Once this is constructed, then beds will be moved frorim other wings to permit the installation of more washroom facilities. The lack of proper washroom facilities led to an outbreak of sal- monella poisoning in the home just over a year ago. That outbreak con- tributed to the deaths of two elderly residents. To emphasize the lack of washroom space, Johns told council that "as many as 30 people have to use a commôn washroom." "That is a condition that should not be toler- ated," he added. The renovations will provide for a washroom in each room or ajoining it. The commissioner told council that the renovations will also provide a little more pri- vacy for the residents. Johns said that many residents - especially fe- male ones - have com- plained about the lack of privacy. He said that one lady told him she had never undressed before any- one but her father and husband and she'did not like having to undress before a complete stranger. "Well, you can ima- gine that," he added suggesting that councill- ors think about their own parents in that kind of a situation. The renovations will also provide for the im- provement of the home's heating system, including the installa- tion of thermostats in each room so that temp- erature can be con- trolled. Currently, tem- perature cannot be con- trolled. The renovations will also provide for the removal of a hydro sut> station in the building. The sub-station uses the potentially dangerous chemical PCB's (poly- chlorinated biphenyls) as part of its cooling system. These will be removed and a "dry" trans- Tom Edwards former will be installed in its place. The estimated cost for this work is $10,000 While the tenders will call for work estimated to cost $3.4 million, regional council will probably only approve $2.4 million this year. - The balance will pro- bably not be approved because the region is not guaranteed that it will receive the 50 per cent grant from the provin- cial government that is usually given for this type of work. The other work may be tendered at a later date. While he did not vote against the move, Regional Councillor Ed Kolodzie (Oshawa) called the $200,000 paid in consultants' fees "staggering." "It bothers the heck out of me~that we're spending $200,000 on consultants' fees," Kolodzie said adding he did think the figure was "realistic." Regional Councillor Doug Wilson (Oshawa), who was the only not present to vote against the measure, said that spending $3.4 million would be a burden on the taxpayers. He wanted to know why to build a single bed, the region was looking at a cost of $60,000 when a house could be built for the same price. Regional Chairman Gary Herrema said that this was an unfair com- parison since the home is more like a hospital than anything else. Johns told council that the cost was increased because of standards set down by the provincial government. "These are ministry standards, with which we don't necessarily agree," he said adding that - they must be followed if grants are to be obtained. "We have no choice but to include them otherwise the ministry will not give us a sub- sidy,"he said. Whitby Regional Councillor Tom Ed- wards, a member of the social services committ- ee, said that he was more than pleased with council's decision. "I'm dictated by the fact that the administra- tive staff of Fairview Lodge, the region's social services staff in- cluding Doug Johns and the professional people have been warning us of this danger for a num- ber of years and their warnings were not heeded," he said. Edwards is especially pleased with the fact that the PCB's will be removed. "I get some personal satisfaction because I divulged that informa- tion with extreme trepi- dation," he said. "I did so only because the pro- posed refurbishing was endangered." Edwards made the potential PCB danger public a few weeks ago. "I now feel com- pletely vindicated in my actions," he said. However, he stressed that the job is not done yet. "There is a long way to go yet but we're over the first hurdle and I, hope to see Fairview Lodge refurbished and resume its place as a leading example in caring for the aged." Christmas mail arrived Monday sent Stories about ficiencies and of governmen too numerous tion. It see everyone hasa tell in this reg the Whitby Fr is no exception. In the mail morning we re media informâ from the Onta stry of Consu. Commercial R that had been r January 11 t the inef- Januaryl1. bungling While there is nothing t are far strange about this, the to men- package contained al ms that kind ofhelpfuhints for a story to the consumer. gard and What is interesting is ee Press the name of the pack- age: "Five Ways to Monday Keep the Joy in Christ- eceived a mas." ation kit We're wondering whe- nrio Mini- ther or not this informa- mer andethion is for Christmas, lelations 1982 but somehoW, we nailed on just don't think so.