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WHITBY FREE PRESS, WEDNESDAY, MARCH 27, 1974, PAGE 13 Pickering Council Briefs The Pickering Town Cou.. ncil accepted "with deep regret" the resignation of the Town Treasurer C.E. Ettinger. Mr. Ettigner tendered his resignation effective March 29th, 1974. The Council accepted therecommendation of the Executive Committee who had deait with the res- ignation at a closed Session on February 25th. The Cou- ncil wished Mr. Ettinger "every success in his new venture." Mayor George Ashe and Tqwn Clerk Noel Marshall were authorized by the Pickering Town Council to petition the Ministry of Trans. portation and Communica- tions for subsidy on the amount of $1,015,292.85 for the 1973 road and bridges expenditures. ** *** ******* * **** ** The Pickering Town Cou- ncil also passed resolutions dealing with the estimated expenditures for road and bridges work in the Town for 1974. The Public Transportation and Highway Improvement Act requires the submission of a statement of the propos- ed expenditures for Roads be sent to the Ministry of Transportation and Commun- ications for approval. The normal expenditures tor 1914 for road construction and. maintenance is estimated at $685,000 with subsidies estinated at $350,000. The supplementary ex- penditures for 1974 for road construction and main ten. ance is estimated at $433,000 with subsidies estimated at $217,100. Tiese estimates have been submitted to the Ministry for approval. *** * ** ** * ** **** ** ** The Town of Pickering is involved with a legal pro- blem that has been develop- ing for some time. At a recent meeting of the Town Council resolutionswere pass- ed authorizing the Town Solicitor and his counsel "to assume and take over the defense of the Township of Uxbridge in Supreme Court Action as set out by a res- olution passed early in 1973 by the Pickering Township Council. The action involves "Muirhead V. Timbers Bro- thers et al." The Executive Committee also recommended that the Town Solicitor be authorized to retain senior counsel to assist him\"in the Ltigations presently outstnading as out- lined," in an earlier report. The Pickering Town Cou- ncil passed a by-law authoriz- ing the stopping up and clos- ing off of "part of the road allowance in Lot 18, Con- cession 9, of the Town of Pickering." The Council also passed a resolution authorizing the re- taining of an appraisal firm. The Firm of R. Kellough & Associates are being retained to prepare an appraisal of that part of the road allow- ance previously known as Industrial Road in Lot 22 Concession I and closed in 1973 by the passage of by- law at .the Pickering Town- ship Council. The Town Solicitor is to be instructed to offer the property to the abutting owners at the app- raised value. This. was a recommendation that had been made by the Executive Committee at a meeting held carlier in February. * * ** * **** ** * ** * * *** The Pickering Town Cou- ncil passed a resolution accept- ing a proposal put forth by the Town of Ajax last Nov. In the letter Mr. A.T. Hodges suggested that use of the Fifth Concession works yard be continued. The Pickering Town lzngineer was directed "to continue the maintenance of the Third Concession Rd. and Riverside Drive as detail- ed in William M. Campbell's memorandum of November l5th, 1973 * * * ** ** ** * ** ** ***** Municipal Business A Multi-Million Dollar Affair Looking over the resolutions passed by the Councils from time to time one soon realizes that the cost of operating a municipality runs into the millions of dollars. This can be amply illustrated by the resolution passed by the Pickering Town Council, adopting the accounts as presented. The Council adopted the accounts for the month of January 1974 as presented which is as follows: Capital S 13.812.01 General: Social Services 4,772.6 1 General 4,045 ,625.28 4,050,397.89 Roads: non-subsidizable 3 1,378.99 subsidizable140,206.82 171,585.81 $4,235,795.7 i The Social Services include those on welfare and several other aspects of social assistance given to those who need it at a time of stress. The General portion of the account means; the general funds and operation of the Municipality such as office- work, this includes the cost of office supplies and salaries for employees in the various departments of the municipal administration. The cost of operating a municipality is where the most of the taxpayers noney goes as indicated by- the $4,045,625.28 total in the accounts presented to the Council. These accounts are received by the Council each month. The upkeep and construction of roads is another large hole into which the taxpayers money goes. But there is one consolation the non-subsidizable amount is what the municipal taxpayers pay for the upkeep of their roads. The other portion titled subsidizable is the portion of the Road accounts for which the municipality receives a subsidy from the Provincial Government. This includes the percentage portion for the cost of construction of new roads and bridges in the boundaries of the municipality. This to some extent is where a portion of the gasoline tax collected by the province goes. The portions of the Provincial Roads that go through the municipality are maintained by the Province. The former County Roads now under the jurisdiction of the Region of Durham come under the Regions Department of Roads.