Residents Protest... Councillors' actions- A Great Honour Ontario provincial Command of the Royal Canadian Legion first vice- president Joe Kolosolak presented Dorothy Ormiston recently with a medal for meritorious service. The medal is the highest award given out by the legion. The Town of Whitby also recognized Dorothy by presenting her with a sheaf of red roses. Free Press Staff Photo By MIKE JOHNSTON Free Press Staff Two Whitby residents expressed their displeasure with the way the proposed nor- thern recreation com- plex for Whitby was railroaded through council last week at a meeting of the town's operations committee Monday night. Dennis Fox told coun- cillors Marcel Brunelle, Gerry Emm and Ross Batten he had picked up an agenda for Monday night's council meeting and specifically asked the deputy clerk if Iroquois Park was to be discussed and was told it was not on the agenda. "Imagine my surprise when the motion was brought forward," he said. Mr. Fox said he could not believe a motion to decide the policy and direction for years to come could be brought forward and passed in such an inappropriate manner. "The way the motion was passed with a total disregard for public view was ridiculous, agreed Dave Wall. Mr. Wall said he is not against the motion but the way it was handled. He called the motion "deviously contrived" and asked how such irresponsible actions could be stopped from happening again. Councillors Emm, Batten, Joe Drumm and Joe Bugelli voted again- st a proposed $6.2 million expansion of Iroquois Park and then two weeks later voted to spend $2.5 million for a minor expansion of Iroquois Park and to pursue a new facility to be built north of Rossland Rd. "The amount to ex- pand Iroquois kept rising and when the total reached $6.2 million the bubble bur- st," said Mr. Emm. Councillor Emm said he did not enjoy both evenings but there are some matters council has to deal with in private. "I wish I could truly give my reasons for backing the motion," he said. Councillor Ross Batten agreed. "That was not the best way to proceed and not the sort of thing that should happen on a regular basis. "But there were a lot of circumstances which led to the motion and believe me it was done with good intent and for the majority of Whit- by," he said. Mr. Fox told commit- tee members the motion ignored two years of previous study at tax- payers expense. "If your reasons are good why can the public not have fuIl access to information the council does?" he asked. "All I can say is a lot of things happened to bring that (passing the motion) down to a crun- ch last week," answered councillor Emn. Mr. Wall also questioned councillor Emm when he said one of his reasons for voting against the Iroquois ex- pansion was his fear that the cost would escalate from $6.2 million to $8 million. He pointed out that the $2.6 million for Iroquois and the $4 million for phase 2 is closer to $8 million that $6.2 million, the amount that was to be spent on the original Iroquois proposal. However, councillor Ross Batten pointed out that the motion he in- troduced "is an open ended motion which calls for public input as additions are added to phase2. People threaten Vol. 16, No. Il Wednesday, March 19, 1986 town over 24 Pages U new bus route For the first time, a Whitby Indoor soccer team has come away victorlous from the Scarborough Soccer Association's Annual Indoor Tournament. The Whitby Iroquois Soccer Club's under 12 mosquito team captured first place at the 14th an- nual tournament held in Scarborough recently. In ail, some sixteen teams competed in the weekend tour- nament. The mosquito team, coached by Donnie Allen, went undefeated throughout the tournament and beat a tough Wexford squad by a 4-2 score in the finals. Displaying the trophy they brought home are, back row: assistant coach Howie Bevan, Sean Edwards, Chris Thomson, Ryan Sufrin, Doug Whyte, Richard Bokorand coach Donnie Allen. Front row: Frank Stefanowicz, David Tibbo, Shane Bevan, Paul Siciliano and Jeff Bazley. By MIKE JOHNSTON Free Press Staff Residents of Renfield Cres. in the Otter Creek area have issued an ultimatum to the Town of Whitby to re-route the transit bus off Renfield Cres. or they will not allow it to enter the crescent. Threatening they would block the bus or have a mass car break- down, residents have given the town till next Wednesday to move the bus. The ultimatum was delivered by Frank Allen, a resident of Ren- field Cres. and spokesman for a group of citizens, at an operations committee meeting Monday night. "If the bus is not off Renfield by next Wed- nesday it will not be going down," Mr. Allen told committee menm- bers above the cheers of an angry group of residents. The residents are up- set with a decision by the public works depar- tment to use Renfield Cres. as a turning point in the Otter Creek area. "We are worried for our children," said one resident. "How many kids have to be killed before you get off your duff and do something." The residents also complained to commit- tee members about the size of the buses and the driving habits of the bus drivers. They said the buses have been speeding on the street and one passed a school bus with it's signal lights flashing, barely missing a child, maintained one resident. The residents produced an alternate bus roue which they said wGld not- cost the town any money, would mean a difference in run time of only a few minutes and would ac- tually benefit other Whitby residents. The route A bus at present enters the Otter Creek area on Bonacord Ave., turns up McQuay Blvd. and turns at Ren- field Cres. heading back down McQuay then out of the area via D'Huiler St. The residents proposal calls for the bus to enter the Otter Creek area from Rossland Rd. through Goodfellow St., along McQuay Blvd. and leave the area via 'Bonacord Av., and then on to Cochrane St. Mr. Allen, a metro police officer who con- ceived the new route, told committee coun- cillors he had driven the bus route and there is no problem with turning or backing up. While Councillor Marcel Brunelle, chairman of the operations committee, thanked the residents for their input into the problem he told them that at present their was a transit study going on in the Whitby area with the results expected in June. To change the route before then, said Mr. Brunelle, would take at least three weeks if not longer. Councillor Ross Bat- ten said he knows there See page 3 A Winning Team R-E S