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hiiiirv jiim cnme rate in york v s mmwmgmmmmm m s reiorvthis w6e anti vjrbblemsandible remedies police are examining to combat the statistics see page 3 ihe lnbune fo 105 no 13 a metroland community newspaper wednesday march 31 1993 20pages 50cents user fees to be charged in 1994 for local groups tracy kibble staff reporter local childrens baseball and soccer organizations will have to pay for rental of the towns diamonds and fields starting in the 1994 season starting next year the towns 65 house league teams for chil dren aged five to 16 will be charged about 4000 in user fees to cover maintenance and operating costs the town loses each year in a private meeting last week parks and recreation superinten dent john crawley presented officials with a 15page report out lining the scheme expected to be ratified in council next week crawley said he is also investigating ways to recoup costs of lighting andmaintaining publicrun tennis courts he said the plan wont pose hardship on parents whose children sign up for seasonal sports adding the fees will mount to about 4 a child for unlit time 6 for evening games needing lights there is an estimated 1000 kids that sign up for summer sports each year organized by about 150 volunteers and parents reports show the user fees wont however affect this years season and will begin in 1994 crawley said group organizers had asked officials last month to shelve the user fee plans altogether but requested one years reprieve if the town decided to go ahead with the plan group organizers including minor baseball president cathy bennett said the sport has died in communities like oshawa and aurora after user fees were applied crawley told the tribune last week that user fees are not some thing new in whitchurchstouffville pointing out that hockey organizations have paid ice rental fees for many years crawley said this plan merely expands the existing program in order for the town to recover costs for maintaining and operating the outdoor facilities the towns maintenance budget last year amounted to about 22000 user fees have been applied to groups for a number of years in whitchurchstoufrville this just broadens the plan to reduce the general tax burden on the general ratepayer he said crawley who began his post with the town aug 31 1992 said he- hopes to work closely with group organizers to establish the levels of maintenance they desire and still remain within the towns budget i hope to find a common ground and work cooperatively with these groups crawley said young offenders act strongly by yorks top cop york regional police chief bryan cousineau is one of the biggest critics of canadas young offenders act cousineau said the act which protects the rights of young criminals between the ages of 1217 is certainly a main con cern for the police force york regional police officers and most other forces want the age of a young offender dropped down so older youths face stiffer penalties he said some older youths and repeat offenders should be tried in adult courts he said depend ing on the severity of the crime cousineau said the act treats a 17 year old the same as a 13 year old which offers no incen tive for the former to steer clear of crime cousineau a 26- year police veteran says 16 and 17 year olds arent what they used to be theres an awful lot of streetwise youths out there today and they are at the age when they should be taking more responsibility for their crimes he said a 16 or 17 year old knows if he gets caught in a crime situ ation he will likely get only get two maybe three years proba tion theres not a lot of per ceived deterence to crime cousineau said people army recognizes rochacewich kate gilderdale correspondent tim rochacewich who was recently named salvation army chairman for the town of whitchurchstouffville is a strong believer in community service the stouffville lions club member chaired the clubs christmas drive project and is heading up the local east er seals societys 199293 fund- raising campaign im chairman of our health and services committee and of the sight and hearing commit tee he noted rochacewich has also taken on i the position of chairman for a i new initiative campaign sight rochacewich first this is a worldwide lions international pro ject to fight blindness around the world it start ed in the fall of 1992 a stouffville resident since 1976 rochacewich was recommended for the salvation army posi tion by outgoing chairman ged stonehouse my job is to help in organizing the canvassing and help coordinate activities for the salvation army and the red shield appeal for the town ship the 1993 campaign takes place on the evening of monday may 3 i certainly enjoy doing this type of thing he said with easter seals the thing i like is that you really get to help the little kids who are at a dis advantage because they cant help themselves anyone who is interested in helping out with the red shield appeal can contact rochacewich at 6404588 photonom muersoti help for steve the legions dave mcquaker presents a cheque from the pro ceeds of a nevada draw to motorcycle accident victim steve old ham to aid with recovery expenses sunday vv v vvivt v j i js i it