The. '88 Year In Review uNI SILi~E '88 REVIEW '88 REV]EW '88 REVIEW Attesle :a"e are now in a pxosition to Atterleye make things happen in 1989." Whitby residents should seeaa 1989 tax increase below infla- tion, according to Mayor Bob Attersley, when asked to look ahead on the 1989 year and reflect on 1988. "Thie Town has had an average tax increase of 4 per cent during the past five years and I think we could be lookng at a nominal increase in 1989, at least less than inflation," said Attersley. lie noted the arrivai of the GO train and progress on plans for Whitby harbor as two of the bigger accomplishments in 1988. "The GO train is going to change this munici tno doubt about that," said Attersley, althougch he did not predict the type of change. liesaid the ongoing study on W'hitbv's waterfront and the Gos- cen plan for residential develop- ment et the harbor have laid a frarnework for action during 1989. <'We are now in a position ta niakethingshappenin 1989. He also said the continued faith in Whitby's residential, commercial and industrial deve- =omnt during 1988 was also a hhight. "Growth is going to continue to happen. You can't run away from it," said Attersley. Hie referred to Whitby's geographical location and ongoing promotion as t-wo reasons for the phenomenal growth. The final tally in building par- mits issued by the Town (an indicator of the town's growth) was more than $205 million, the largest ainount ever recorded in one year in Whitby. On the disappointing side, Attersleyi quick to, mention the Town's faîIlure ta, have the tw,.o boats removed from WVhitby's harbor. (One was removed dur- ing 1988.) -rIm 50 par oent happy about that. We are stili putting press- ure on the féderai government to 1el1 us have the boat removed.7 (Acourt action 'eaist the owiners of the boats by Whitby wa.s thrown out of court because of a lack of support from the federal government.) Another disappointment is the failure of any progress onetting sewers and water to Brook lin. "That is my priority dur'ing 1989." Attersley also axpects to have a museum located in the Centen- niai building in 1989. "It has been disappointing that nothing was done on that last year, but hopefully we ,&ill have something in place this year" He also expects a revam ping of the Town's bus system, wh ich at times in 1988 was inadequate and has been unable to attract sufficient ridershixp. Other issues Attarsley expects to deal with in 1989 are the mobile sign bylaw, a new con- tract for Durham Regional Police and gas bars. A bylaw was expected in 1988 to handie the increasing number of mobile sins in Whitby. But Attersley Cad it is still under discussion. SEE PAGE '88 REVIEW '88 REVIEW Not enougli affordahie housing By Debbie Luchuk 1988 was the year of garbage for Durham regional council, wýhith rpcIing extended as a successful program and battles with Metro Toronto over appro,- priate landfill sites. "Ra-cycling has been a great success,» said regional chairman Gary Herrema on Monday. But he identified lack of resolution of the landfill question as a dis- appointment. Tfentative exploration was begun int.o alternative m ethods of dealing with the garbage cri- sîs, such as incineration and composting. A disagreement w.ith Oshawa over part ownership of regional headquarters that surfaced in February of last year has not been resolved, with Oshawa thr-eatening legal action to, force Herrema the Region to pay $2 million. Herrema said that ha hopas ta resolve the situation with Osh- awa mayor Allan Pilkey in the near future, perhaps by building a regional building in Oshawa for social services and kaeping the administrative body of the Bagion in Whitby. Anothar issue that Herrama felt was not adequately addressad in 1988 was affordable "0We'-re not building anough affordable housing," ha said, adding that thîs would be a significant issue in 1989. On the optimistic sida, the Region ratained its triple "A7 rating &cmi the Bond Bankers of New -York, despite a year of heavy spending, Iierrem a said. SEE PAGE 8