Page 18, Whllby Fr.. Pre, Wodnedy. Februîy 9, 199 Council supports DBIA, tax PROM PAGE 1 bigner companles start leaving the. downtown because they no long$er want Wo pay this tex,» h. saïd. Ple;ock, who operates a sports equipment store was one orffive peopi. permitteA W oaddress the. special council session. Whitby Fr.. Prese publisher Doug Anderson and îneura ce agent David Meadwe1 also spôke in suport of the. petition, while DBIAchair Sean Hogue Iland treasurer Grant Souter were opposed. Last Tueeday's meeting was held ini response Wo a petition circulated azong DBIA members last faîl. Demanding a two-year suspen- Pi# 2al tkfor e/&6,On#/ Lcet ibdo it for yod :pzz GS T & PST încludecf 15 "x21'l 20 Suice, 3 toppng 15OOFF i FOOTLONG Su B One coupon per customer per visit.y rulmv ffr expires: March 15194.107D n a St * lO70undasSt )OMM kRdN. 430-782 sion i'f the.let that muet ho paid by aIl reta1 outlets and poessional offices within the. DBLA' boundaries, the potition aIea required a two-thirds maority vote of DBIA membore ho fore tho tax can ho roinstated. (The money is ueed Wo improve the. downtown's appeerance and Wo sponsor promotions elmod a t attractingehoppers.) Poaco grouP attempted tW pruent the petition W council fast Novembr but woro prevon- ted ftom doing so. Rather then deal with the matter thon council optod Wo wait until iter DBIA members had a chance Wo debat. it thm- solves. J'iat meeting wae held three weeks ago, but the two factions could not resolve their dif- ferences. Although bas then 20 pole attendod lest week's session, tii meeting was not without its share of excitement. At one point, Mayor Tom Edwards thueatened Wo caîl the lcewhen Whitby resident Pat or epersieted in heckling him duning Peacock'spresen- tation. Quotig from a letter written by Edwards which status that downtown merchants have the '«righ to Wend the DBIA, Peacock asked coimcil Wo heed the peti- tion's request. Money for DBIA purposes should como from genoral busi- ness taxes or individual stores could band together on a volun- tary basis mucii 11ke a chamber of commerce or service club, Pea- cock said. "It siiould not como from a penalty tax for doing business downtown,» he seid. Councillor Dennie Fox was srrsed W hu, lPaock"ealr to4h.1dBt) levs "pkealt tae. Fox said, the money ie specifi«- caîly set aside for projecte sololy for the. benefit of DBIA members. «I have 26,00 peoplo in tho oast ward who'd 11ke every penny of their taxes put inWo tho oast ward," he said. Peacock suggested that; Fox contact some of the. downtown chain stores and non-retail business.. Wo heer their viows oi (Although the average DBL assessment in about $7 a week, i- varies. Gonerally, the. larger th4 businesstho higiior the. taï.) «I th*ikit harming our down Wown and driving business out, eaid Peacock. Councillor Don Mitchell wai flot impressed with Peaock'i argument that the. petitior retIcted the. wishes of mow DBIAimembers. aI don't put a lot of stock ir . 90saidMitchell, notini Iaatii 'a wording in oftei mIlaI~ W.hd on. circulated in Brooklin that made it ratheî herd not W sign » said the. north ward represn a .v. «Ijt dont caeo about it," he said.Uo As someone who, is a «big supporter of protecting down- towns, M ill add.d, «I dont know i you can do that without nome vehicle that doesn't have everyone working together.» Councillor Judi Longfield alec challonged the. petition s validity, focused. "Yf I was a businessmnan, 1 would sign somothin; saying I didn't want Wo pay ta.,14 she said. Longfield said a legitimate sur- voy would offer alternatives such asrCmering some aspects of the DEBI wleg doing away with others. «We did that two yearsea and got nowhore," Peacocnk replie&. Anderson told. council that until two yoars ago, h. still believedin thîeDBIAand didnot sign Peacock's provious potition. 'ulny" ha vo chenged. Its gotten t point where the frustrations are so open,» h. said. «Wiion you've got 85 per cent Of downtown businesses sign somothing like that, you'v ot problemse. accor&W to Anderson, council adisprodeceesore are ta blanie for tiie current inmpasse. Wliereas most BIA boards else- where in Ontario are electod by the. members, «Iyou appoint the niombers and approve the. budgets »iie seid. <¶Peoe can't holieve that our counci? appoints members i such a parochial fashion." Anderson said DRIA opporients are constantly told Wo take their concerne Wo the board, but the complainte are rarely heeded. "The. reason wiiy thinge are not happening here is that whonever someone has an idea, ;hey are referrod Wtii.h DBIA,» he said. «But if they (board) dont like it, it doesn't go eanywiiero." Meadwelî rejected the, ariçu- ment tiiat a mandatory associa- tion in vital Wtii.h downtown's uturo. "I cent holieve the. lack of feith of business people in this com- munity W put togother a busi- nees association that je entirely oluter,' e said. Hogu, hoovercleim.d that iout ti.DBIK,"tii.down- ýown doesn't stand a chance" of urviigthe. throat poeed by n In thie vomn, the board han t formed two committees to addree outatandîng concerne A and explore now initiatives, t Homue said. » «For the DBIA to work wo neod consietency and unhty,» he Lsaid. t h eea After listening t h ee a tions, council Withdrew behind à closed doors for 30 minutes Wo la ponder its docision. n Upon resuming the meeting gt councillor John Doistra, the' Town's ropresentative on the n DBlA board, put forward areso- g lution ini support of the. associa- ri tion. "I believe we muet have stabi- lity in the downtown core, esaid rDoîstra. Ufflij motion sonde out« a aood. positive message to te peple of Whithy and the downtown businesses » hoe said. While he sup ported the »motion, «it's not without a lot of tdoubte and questions in my tmind,» admittedl Fox. «I really believe that the down- town business people have Wo resolve this themselves,»ho said. «I want to make sure the. rdowntown ie viable, but it won't happen as long as you're con- tinualdly flghting,» Fox added. 1 Cunel or Joe Drumm concur- red. "I think the DBIA can become more viable with the co-operation of al .of its mombers,» said Dnimm. "I appeal to you to try and get together, theres too much ta be lost with separation,»"he said. uWhatever your' differences, bury the hatchet,» Drunm plea- dedf." Councillor Rose Batten eaid that despite thoir differences, both sides share a common goal. 'They want tho downtown and their own businesses. W grow and bo viable,» said Batten. «But Wo put a moratorium 'on an organization that's set Up tW bring those people together i their best intereste would b. wrong,» lho said. Followig the meetin Pea- cock said hie group 1would con- tinue its opposition, býUttlho was not prepared Wo indicate what form it will take. However, ho reminded couricil that 1994 in an eloction year. «I dont know iiow 85 per cent could ho ignored,» ho said. COUNCIL MOTION ONTEDBIA That 1his counc i ndlcate lis strag support mmdsemfi t forth conlnohed. on a lorig-1.r bauis, of Whltby's DownUlown .Buslnes Improvoment Aia and boud of manaemenrogzWn the boud as ,.. mktngpromotion, and vAIlllofaiacltlu eIn 1du downm. And hJr1h& huMcounci bellevo dm th h.makfniumof aidomn Whisylaan esentwar t aofldm wlbong of iis emumurgiy «d wlahles Io cwomuai lbobad andlis prdoeears fr Il eentaMd paeu AMfurihu, lbIs ouncilbas alway LWItsd 5 est VoraID enaure lb. apqpoinomof aScmpon kidMduals adw@i onftne op do m. nid bohvs #m he presont baud bamacmd ea ii ilmos witha visa t1»lbm cdkhciveberne Intrnse ofldmdowntawn merchwiw. And hudbo, du councimncau- nuai du baud or lb iihalapInmw? ylb aud I --- UY ONE --- Footlong Sub At Regular Price MT ME 0f Equal Or Lesser Price For FREEi OSA AWiff hehpurchaseof.alarge soft &iric * One coupon per customerpef vie LOller expes Match 1W.& 30OPark Rd. N. *Ml:lluu -, -"r% 404-1249 1017 DundS 2.j.~30Park Rd. N. Because (if you, newvspJer antiLlyer insert recovcry in hIouscliolds with l3Iîîe Box service is an icrcditIc 75'X. Because of yoti, tiiose newvspapcrs - 250,000 tonines of tliem - dicin't end up in landfiII. HowV incli mioney did thiat save Ontario mmnicipalitics las ye-ar! Millions of dollars. Add that to the more than $6 ilflion revenue gecratett frein hie sale of a quarter of a million' tonnes (if old niewspapcrs, andi the cost of collecting ncws- patiers thirotlglhe 3e'Blue Box 15 more thmi covered. Surprised? \Veil, ln.nV duit yen kneow, take a 'ov. Recycling newspapers andt flyer inserts is a reai Ontario success story. 'Thanks to you. The Newspaper Publishers of Ontario Answers to Whitby Trivia from page 15 1 . On June 5, 1890, a violent storm wiped out ail road and rail communication with Brooklin and inflicted heavy damage on the community. 2. James E. WilIis, mayor of Whitby in 1913-14, was defeated in the 1915 election because it was felt that ho spent too much public money installing Whitby's f irst sanitary sewer system. 3. A monument ta Bishop Phiander Smith (1 796- 1870) is Iocated in Groveside Cemetery at the corner of Church and Albert streets in Brooklin. 4. Rousseau Heritag e House was buit about 1875 as a machine shop for Major Harper (1835-1917). who was mayor of Whitby in 1879-80.