PAGE, 12, WHI-ITBY FREE, PRESS, WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 30, 1988 Committee eyes reductiion of con ,meial areas Whitby'si administrative commît- tee has directed planning staff te look at reducing the number of commercial area designations be- tween Rossland and Taunton roads. The direction came in reponse te a -planning report at last week's conimittee meeting. Plan- ning director Bob Short told committee there were 10 existing or -proposed commercial area designations between ýTaunton and Rossland. Itd be no problem to me if you removed six of tbem," said councillor Joe Drumm, later adding, "Let's take half of thein out." Forty-three of the 78 parks' and open spaces in Whitby will be changing or receiving new naines, with council's approval of a new poicy for naming the parks. Currently, of the 78 parks, only six' have been officially signed by the Town. The remain- ing parks assumed names used by Town staff and community Drunlm said the proposed m&Ajor commercial area at Ros- land and Garden wilI serve many residents. Counci;llor Ros Batten, who had originally suggested the study- on commercial areas in respouise to conceruis from resi- dents about proposed plazas, recommended removal of two proposed commercial areas, one on Garrard Rd. and one on Anderson, north of Dryden. Gerry Emm, the defeated mayoral candidate wbo was at bis last administrative meeting as councillor and committee chair- man before the new council takes office. aiso suggested reducing the users for reference purposes. The main criteria for a naine will be the main rad bordering the park. In the event that two roads border a park, the primary road will be given first priority. i-storical landmarks wilI alse, be included as possible names, as will service clubs who "adopt- a-park." number of plazas. He suggested that too, many plazas cou Id lead to empty stores. Short said bis department may require more funding, to carry out the appropriate mareet studies to determine the number of com- mercial areas and size of each to serve the area between Taunton and Rossland. Drunim also suggested that the population estimates by the department might be too high since the number of people pet household bas probably decrease5, from numbers previously used. Committee members agreed to have Short further review the commercial designations "with a view to reducing the number." The direction is the third made about commercial designations this year to planning departmient. Committee had first requested the review in June. In SeptemDer, committee requested a further report to look specifically at local commercial designations at Gar- rard Rd.fDryden BIvd., on Brock St. N., and west of CochranAsèît. Local commercial areas are small shopping centres (usually up to 20,000 sq. ft.) intended Ito serve the immediate local neighborhood residents with daily convenience goods and services. TAUNTON LU-Jz z- zzi 0 il < 0 n ail 0" M - - -Il -z ©LOCAL COMMERCIAL High lead levels in water at new B ellwood scliool- ~Itime to do somting constructive about aforabehousinlgo Tiiere is only oee way lu crate affordabte Iîousing ini this province-Ilirougli constructive action. The Ministry of 1 Iuusing is taking constructive action Ilîrougli various programs, incIuding our latest initiative. HOMES NOW This is the Iargest single - non-profit lioLsing initiative Ys. au( undertaken by the province. sofeti HOMES NOW wiil pro- 1*HOM ES me.,i vide the resources for non - f f profit corporations and i ILh I LHtOME couperaI ives to develop ICIVOMEP appropriate housing for Nre their corninunities. Nre Thtis housing wlii be Gmoup aftitiation i aîtl: creaîted tlhrough nev con Addes struction. and througiî___Tel, _________ the ptirchase or lease utf N4îifiir-o Fousîi. PO Box 17 existing buildings. M4Y 2VB Or ralt tol-ree 1- 800- area. calt 340-9203 L------------ For local organizations. iîîclud ing chu rclies, service clîîhs and other associations wlo wislî Io forni itou-profit corporations. HOMES NOW p rovides grants for incorporation, and boans to bel p finance housing proposais._ rt non-profit group wants loaado hing constructive about aftordable tg in ur community Please send 11 Eriql'sti. (rtrench- MES NOW informationI MES PNOW appliration for sponsors 236. Station F brania. Ontario, -669 8220 tnothe Torontoadialiog concert with te Miîîistrv of 1 tousing. ill lhelp mccet lie hiousing nc'eds of Ontarians. Today and tomorrow. Ail we need now is (lie involvemient ut your group. Mig (5)Hc Ontario CON liistry lusing haviva Hosek, Mîoister -----1 I Cominufuity action speaks louder than words.I By Debbie Luchuk Through an investigation by the CBC in Toronto, higher than ,acceptable levels of ]end have been found in the drinking water of' three Durham Board of Education scbools, including the new Bellwood school in Whitby. Bruce Mather, director of education for the Durham Board of Education, told the media on Monday that the CBC had contacted the Durham board to test the water of fi ve schools as part of an investigation into lead contamination of water. CBC had the water tested by a Mississauga firm and three tests %vere made at twvo drinking fountains in each of' the test schools. Rloland Michener schiool in Pickering had two eut of three tests prove the Nvater to contain higher than the recommended maximum of 50 partsg per billion. Maple Ridge, another Picker- ing school, and Bellwood were identifîed as having questionable waiter in enly one test on one fountain. The other twe schools, William Dunbar and Pringle Creek did not have any evidence of lead higher than the 50 ppmn. Approval given for wareho use Town approval bas been given for an industrial warehouse, with accessory retail, on Hopkins St., north of Burns St. Ramsay Chan is the applicant for development of the property, currently vacant. The building is te, be 1,550) sq. metres in size. The OBO team was trying te prove that the amount of lead in drinking water was related to new pipes, joined with leaded solder. The newer the school, the higher the lead contamination due to the solder, Mather said. Mather'said the CBC request- ed the right to test 10 days ago, and showed him the resuits last week. "The experts we've consulted with say there is no immediate health hazard," Mather said. 'We have inftiated our own private testing program. Last week we contracted with Ortech International (for the testing) and «e are starting today wvith these 3chools and seven more fairly new mnd a couple of oider schools. . 'We hope to have the resuits in i week." Mather outlined a four-step plan to deal with the problemn: 1) he hiring of an environmental consultant; 2) flushing of taps haif an hour before the students arrive in the morning; 3) testing of the drinking water in Durham schools; 4) the double-checking of plumbing instructions for new schools under construction to use Iow lead solder. "We wanted to let parents know, and have sent a letter to parents in schools affected toda-.y. "Wre concerned (about the figures) but we're not worried about them." Mather feels that tests done by the Ministry of the Environment yesterday in addition to the board's own testing and the CBC tests will provide a conclusive picture of the state of drinking water in Durham schools. 43 parks iin Whitby to receive names 1