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THE ERA South Shore PREDICTS FANFARE Mayor expects writ soon POOR HEALTH Councillor Coles resigns Novitiate for administrative Councillor Coles was one of the six councillors to vote in favor of the purchase in the A special meeting of council be held following tonight s Planning Board meeting to discuss the procedure for choosing Era he received a letter last Monday from Councillor Coles indicating his intention to vacate his seat for reasons of poor health The mayor said he hadnt yet formally presented the matter to council because Councillor Coles hadnt in dicated in his letter the effective date of his resignation Later in a conversation with the councillor the mayor learned the resignation will be effective a thus unavailable for comment According to the mayor the Municipal Act provides that if can either appoint a or hold a special by Want R im election was John Hastings of Pefferlaw who is presently president of The Committee for Democratic Government a citizens group opposed to the Novitiate Mr Hastings finished about 200 votes behind Coun cillor Coles in Ward 6 and has already indicated his intention to run in the next election Mayor Dales said Councillor Coles who has high blood and a heart condition ago He said he persuaded him to stay on because he was needed while council was setting its budget and the township was his council job the mayor said Mayor Dales also said that Councillor Coles has been terrorized and intimidated recently by opponents of Sutton sewage plant expansion approved 8500 people would cost about and would begin in 1964 or 1958 the report stated If required Stage Three NEWMARKET A three- stage expansion of the Sutton sewage treatment plant to ac commodate population growth to the year received preliminary approval last week from York Regional Council An engineering report estimated the total cost of the three stages at but noted that he third stage may or may not be required Stage One would expand the plant to accommodate a population equivalent of people which an engineering report predicted would be reached by Cost of the first stage is estimated at The second stage designed to accommodate a growth to would be constructed in A technical study by Engineering consulting engineers recommended a process using chemical- physical treatment and em ploying alum to remove 80 per cent of the phosphorus in the effluent Council authorized its engineering staff to negotiate with the provincial Ministry of the Environment on such matters as financing staging of he expansion and scheduling of PEFFERLAW A writ declaring Georgina Townships recent purchase of St Garrard Novitiate for an administrative building invalid has been issued and will be served on the township sometime this week or early next week that a writ has been issued in the Supreme Court of Ontario He predicted that it will be served on the township with a lot of fanfare from the Com mittee for Democratic Government in the near future possibly at Monday afternoons council meeting If I were staging a melodrama thats what Id do he said According to the mayor the alleges that the six members of council who voted to purchase the Novitiate exceeded the townships calls for the six council members to be disqualified from holding a seat on council for a period of two years asks that the in township monies already paid for the Novitiate be paid back out of the councillors own pockets If the writ is received the mayor said the township will file an appearance with the court to defend itself in the action Township solicitors would immediately begin preparing councils case he Mayor Dales termed the personal liability aspect of the portion as engineered to up last years machinations Last years council ex ceeded its borrowing limits as set out in the Municipal Act by over Members of council who authorized the could be disqualified for two years although no one has taken action to seek a hearing on the matter The accusation of this year equals the fact of last year said the mayor With threats of a writ in the wind several weeks ago the mayor sent a cheque for to the Novitiate owners to close the first part of the deal He said the cheque was accompanied by a note from township treasurer Fred stating that the township was not exceeding its borrowing powers by making the payment The writ is an hour attempt by the Committee for Democratic Government a group to NoviUte purchase Only last week CDG presidentelect John C Hastings of told a public meeting that his group had been advised by Its lawyer BS to sit back and wait while the legal strategy was being prepared The also claims to have a petition signed by over 3000 persons opposed to the Novitiate It was to have presented it to a council meeting several weeks ago but now says It will serve its purpose best not to present it at this time Mayor Dales said that Mr Hastings is one of the plaintiffs to the writ Meanwhile the township takes possession of the Novitiate on Monday Dec Mayor Dales said an open house is tentatively scheduled for Wednesday Dec 19 from to pm to enable township citizens to tour the new civic centre TEACHERS RESIGN AURORA While four Dr GW Williams Secondary School students plotted ways to keep their classes going next month more than York County secondary school teachers turned in their resignations to the York County Board of Education Friday The mass resignations climax what were at the best at the worst bitter negotiations between the Federation Shortly after 4 pm Friday Jim Bethune chief negotiator for the teachers since the office was called into the talks last month and Cliff Morris provincial field secretary for the OSSTF arrived at the boards Church St Administrative a brief wait they were led to an office occupied by board superintendent of operations John Kippen who received the resignations in the absence of acting director of education Ron Hall Following a meeting lasting only several minutes the OSSTF representatives returned to the main lobby of the building where they indicated during a press interview that resignations had been turned into the board They said some resignations had been received from a total of 816 inschool members in York but the balance had been screened and returned apparently to protect the teachers In a statement Monday board chairman Marvin Hunter acknowledged the resignations but said only school board trustees are authorized to of ficially accept the resignations This presumably will come during the next regular board meeting Monday unless both sides can come to an agreement when negotiations resume tomorrow night With the threat of mass resignations that would cripple the York County secondary school system in January thus forcing a longer school year School in Aurora have mapped informal plans to educate themselves One of the four Carol Rank emphasized Monday that formal plans have been established but subject should any or all of the students attend classes despite the teachers absence Miss Rank and Bob Keys would teach French Hanna Wagner would instruct the While some Williams teachers have reportedly scoffed at the idea the quartet appears determined to make bring the two Bides together and if necessary force an nt pro Jim Nuttall a special assistant to Mr Wells told The Era Monday that the minister will only intervene in the talks at the request of both parties Asked if arrival of the Jan deadline by which the resignations become effective would force the minister of education to impose arbitration the spokesman said Mr Wells has a policy of never answering questions about hypothetical situations Meanwhile the talks con tinue While the teachers report no progress from a session Thursday a Saturday meeting saw the board introduce a comparative position ap proach to the agreement which appears to have some promise an OSSTF press release states School board negotiating chairman John said each side has examined the others offer clause by clause to just narrow down the areas where theres no real dispute He added that proposals for the salary grid occupied the bulk of the discussion during Thurs days threehour session Mr Honsberger described the key issues as dollars and cents and power Dollars and cents are the easiest part he said The difficult part is to negotiate working conditions THE NO VITIA TE bargain buy or white elephant INTRODUCTION On Dec Me ilJm wifl To tor- 1 Si ta feci Ocl IS ooin Jen Joe 1 ales a 6 edit cit on ado- letting a white The mayor has also said that to have had an OMB hearing would have meant delays which would have jeopardized the townships chance to make the purchar campaign the vitiate purchase to this ye and the current deficit of estimates based on the items mentioned below Threatening to serve a writ on the township the CDG alleges that council entered into the contract improperly Township solicitor William has stated however thai in his opinion the township acted properly BY DANA COOK Era Staff Reporter The feasibility study by the township and relerred Director of Research Martin re plying to public criticisms his report Public statements and literature it- sued by the Committee far Democratic Gov ernment referred to as CDG Council debates of Oct ana Oct IS on the Novitiate matter The township will pay for the Novitiate building and 155 acres In its current budget the township has ear marked mills for an ad ministration building The same mills will be included in next years budget to raise another 180000 The balance of will be paid from revenue realized from the sale of the existing three township offices This Is the method of financing recommended by the report and approved by council The committee for Democratic Government objects to paying the full price out of taxpayers pockets in a twoyear period claiming future generations will be getting something for free The CDG feels there should nave bean Ontario Municipal Board hearings on the purchase and a plebiscite On the other hand Mayor Dales wanted to pay the price by the end of the present councils terra of office Dec of We shouldnt councils he has said Negotiating marjor target of opposition criticism The has charged In our opinion the entire circumstances of this deal were arranged in a hurried and secretive the ONLY authority to negotiate with the Redemptorist Fathers owners of the properly on behalf of the township without knowledge or consent of the council as a whole to have him conduct such chairman and councillors Bob Pollock Erik Larsen Jean Noble and Rob Coles which was struck by the mayor to study the Novitiate situation The last clause of resolution passed by council on March 26 read Now in principle the acquisition of the said lands and buildings situated thereon and directs that an immediate study concerning means of financing such acquisition be conducted and reported back to council by a special committee to be appointed by the mayor of the township The committee never met Why Mayor Dales has maintained that certain members of the committee ab dicated their rights as committee mem bers by publicly expressing opposition to the Novitiate purchase In a letter to a Toronto lawyer who has interests in the township which the mayor made available to the press he said It was my feeling that having publicly declared themselves against the Novitiate these councillors had disqualified them selves as members of any effective Nov vitiate Ways and Means Committee The mayor says in the letter that in March when the resolution striking the committee was passed and in April when an option was taken out on the Novitiate properly there was near unanimous support for the Novitiate concept And then the matter of the Sutton industrial park arose and divided council The mayor wrote It was during this terviews with the press against the Novitiate proposal Their design seemed to indicate to me at least that they were unalterably dedicated to defeat the will of the majority of council as expressed by resolution Subsequent events confirmed my belief In July council unanimously voted to commission Planning to conduct a feasibility study of the Novitiate The mayor added With this decision I sincerely believe we all felt the matter would be better out of the hands of any member or committee of council and would no longer be a political thing fraught with the natural prejudice and bias which inevitably accompanies opposing points of described by the mayor strategy calculated to destroy the practical means of keeping the Novitiate represents the ward in which the Novitiate is located the mayor and Regional Councillor Pollock represent Keswick and Councillor Coles represents Pefferlaw Did committee members ever ap proach the mayor and ask him why the committee wasnt meeting No according to the mayor They were too busy making figure quoted by the CDG However Mr ter also said They might very well be less feet of the building This would not include any major work like gutting work on floors or major mechanical and electrical work Township EngineerAdministrator Gerry Mintz has said he believes that the Novitiate as it is would be more efficient than the current situation of having staff scattered about three crowded offices Paterson has also recommended the township use the building for a while before it does any renovations and then proceed from its firsthand experience and as it is financially able to do the renovations Councillor Rob Coles chairman of finance committee feel we can make use of the building with a minimum amount of renovations We should hold off on any extensive renovations until staff has some ideas This gives us flexibility Mayor Dales has preducted that only in renovations will be required within the current councils term of office who reported that the threestorey brick building is in generally good condition advised paying for what Air conditioning Paterson didnt submit a cost estimate on air noting the building has operated in the past 15 years without it Its not at all certain this feature Is essential Mr Woort Bald However the CDG has estimated that the air conditioning will cost 100000 and ridicules the idea that the building will be cooled by Lake Simcoe breezes Maintenance The has noted that the Paterson report makes no mention of heating costs We attempted to obtain from the Novitiate estimates of heating costs but unfortunately these could not be provided Mr Woort said He added On balance we felt that a greater large building than three small buildings as is the present case No doubt overall heating costs will be higher for the See NOVITIATE page