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jour tetters to santa ciaus see page 10 ec0n0 taxi jyou dine we drive its christmas party time reservations 6405466 ihe inbune econo taxi 6405466 vol 105 no 49 a metroland community newspaper wednesday december 81993 24 pages 50 cents towns skating prices under fire tracy kibble staff reporter local families are being forced to pay an outrageously high price this season for less than one hour of pleasure skat ing at the towns recreation complex several residents com plained last week stouffville mother anna bartell told the tribune she is appalled at the 8 family fee now being charged by the recreation department to take her family to the arena for 50 minutes of skating bartell who hopes to start a petition opposing the fee said the cost is about 3 higher than what the town of markham charges and about four times higher than scar boroughs 250 family fee she said the town shouldnt place a lack of funding on the backs of small children who have nothing else to do in the town bartell said if the town thinks hiking the fee will cre ate more revenue the opposite will likely happen people will stop going if they want to raise money they should lower the fee to get more people out eight dollars is a lot of money bartell said the resident said if the town wants to raise revenue it should place parking metres along main street or create other means of fund raising without taking away from fam ily time recreation director marlane mckee wetheral who acknowl edged the fee is high is asking the public to be patient while she works out a better more fair system for everyone mckee wetheral said the 8 fee is not a flagrant charge to deter people from pleasure skating but a backlash of the newlyimposed user fee system that council passed this year to please see page 2 tribune special downtown plum waiting to be picked editors note this is the first in a series of articles on revitalizing stouffvilles downtown core in the com ing weeks we will be turn ing the spotlight on mer chants surveying their thoughts on downtown and gathering ideas to improve the retail core of stouffville bruce stapley correspondent for veteran stouffville mer chant tom thompson the downtown business district is a plum waiting to be picked thompson who operates the villager a mens and womens clothing coffee and specialty foods store on main st would like to see the downtown core transformed into an aesthetic focal point sidewalk cafes a pond and the proposed antique railroad would draw both local residents and weekend passer by motorists thompson who first opened in stouffville in 1982 believes the existing merchants in the central area are more than accommodating they have a wider variety of products and better prices than most people give them credit for but while efforts at beautifi- cation have been made in the past five years by business improvement area bia mem bers he would like to see some thing more done to liven things up flowers on the street are all well and good but grave yards have flowers too dont forget he told the tribune recently the little tributary of the river could be dammed up like theyve done in unionville put a few swans in it and make it a real attraction then they could put the sculpture walk there instead of off the main st where it is now and youve got your focal point thompson said such an please see page 3 staff warns against policy town staff is suggesting politicians not approve a draft policy on special events or outdoor concerts on private property the policy which outlines terms of agreement the appli- cant must meet to hold speical events was spearheaded by ward 6 councillor ken prentice after he stressed concerns that the towns current bylaws are inadequate when deal ing with the issuebut staff this week will tell officials a special policy is not necessary because it duplicates restrictions imposed by other agencies officials were expected to discuss the matter at the council in committee meeting tuesday kinsmen club looking to restore town pool the stouffville kinsmen club wanted to make a splash at town council this week by presenting politicians with a plan to restore the towns pool in a letter to council kinsmen brian daley told officials their main project for 1994 is to finance repairs to the park st outdoor pool it has been brought to our attention on numerous occasions that the town pool building and grounds are unsightly and as a result has proven to be a deter- 14 11 rent for those residents who would oth erwise use it the club would provide skilled and unskilled labor for a complete restora tion at the pool facility starting in april 1994 i the towns committment would be to provide enough money in the next bud get to supply the materials to complete the project council was expected to discuss the matter tuesday