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Council refutes char Members of Whitby Coun- cil Monday refuted last week's allegations by Patrick Dooley that reòords of a June 12 planning meeting were altered before they appeared in sub- sequent council reports. Mr. Dooley made the allegations in a deputatiõn to council's administrative committee, citing what he felt were examples of errors and omissions in reports of the June 12 meeting at which public input on a proposed development was invited by the planning department. He said that he felt the person ýor persons who mani- pulated the minutes of the meeting should be censured and that a fail-proof method of recording the proceedings of such meetings should be implemented. Mr. Dooley had contended thatthe errors would hurt the Corridor Area- Ratepayers Association when it took its objections to the development before the £ ntario Municipal Board. Members of council refuted Mr. Dooley's charges last week and re-affirmed their stand on Monday. "I felt the statements were less than credible",said Mayor Jim Gartshore. However, Mayor Gartshore did investigate the matter, and he said that,_ifter making a number of inquiries, he was "satisfied conpletely" that the minutes of the plan- ning meeting were "in no way, shape or form" tam- pered with. "The notes taken at the meeting were reflected with-ý out any alteration", he said. To Mr. Dooley's staternent that public input is ignored, Mayor Gartshore said "public input is definitely listened to and acted upon". To Mr. Dooley's suggestion that a fail-proof method of recording the minutes of such meetings be implèmented, he said "I find it impossible and unnecessary". Mr. Garth'-ore pointed out that "the concept of public meetings is to take notes of substantive items. It is ab.i: lutely impossib' to take notes of everything said". To Mr. Dooley's concern that the association's appeal to the OMB would be adversely afýected, he pointed out that the board does not care what occurred at public meetings such as the one in question. It only takes into account what is said to the board by way of personal deputation. Councillor Tom Edwards termed the complaints made by Mr. .Dooley "minimal" and said some of his state- ments were "ridiculous". He said that councillors should be able to take criticism and that he was upset "when he (Mr. Dooley) took to ta::k members of our staff and did not name them" Councillor Don Lovelock said that he felt the planning staff, whose job it was to record the minutes of the June 12 meeting, performed that duty better than most organizations that he knows of. Councillor Joy Thomspon said "nobody is perfect. We ges (people in the Town's admin- tratioi) are tryiÎig our best. We are all honest". Councillor Bob Carson sug. gested that the person who took the minutes of the June 12 meeting be given a vote of confidence by the members of council. Mayor Gartshore pointed out that he had already done so. The members of council took to task an editorial in last week's Free Press which unintentionally and incor- rectly implied that Town Administrator Bill Wallace had recorded the minutes of that meet! ig. SEE PAGE 4 Plant approved An $8.5 million expansion of Whitby's water supply plant received regional council approval, last week, after nearly two years of debate. . The project, a 26-million gallon a day expansion of the existing facility, was orginally approved in the region's 1974 capital works budget, but some council members were reluctant to give final approval because of financial considerations. Gore and Storrie, a con- sulting firm employed by the region, stated the expansion was necessary to accommodate anticipated growth in the Whitby - Oshawa - Courtice area, and if not constructed, Whitby's development poten- tial would be virtually halted. Since capital works pro- jects were then &harged back from the region to local municipalities, the represen- tives of Whitby, Oshawa and Newcastle were reluctant to approve a project which might cost their towns too much. The problem was resolved by the adoption of aregional water rate :o finance capital works on the water system, but the councillors then won- dered if the plant would be too large if the growth which might corne to this area, is less than anticipated. It was later announced that the proposed project would be financed with an interest- free provincial loan, and the works committee advised the councillors that it would be less expensive to build a larger plant with this loan than a smaller one with conventional financing. Once assurance was pro- vided that the region could re-negotiate repayment terms if the projected growth was not forthcoming, the council- lors' doubts were resolved, and the final approval by regional council 1,ast Wednes- day took only 10 minutes. Bus proposal Extension of Oshawa ·public transit into Whitby may be a step closer. Last Wednesday the Durham region public works committee re- commended that the regional council establish a technical staff committee to investigate such an extension. The proposed called for the committee to include representatives of the Region, Whitby, Oshawa and the Oshawa Public Utilities, which operates the city's bus system. The extension of the Oshawa transit system into Whitby is not a new idea, for it was first proposed in May 1971 in a consultants' study to the Whitby town council. A second study, by Totten Sims Hubicki Associ- ates in 1974 supported this proposal and suggested that Whitby's growth and adjusted provincial cost-sliaring plans must reduce the costs. The region in 1974 rejected the idea of running a transit system for Whitby Whitby Regional Council- lor Gerry Emm, said last Wednesday he first suggested the study team proposal last year when he was a member of the regional works corn- mittee, but Oshawa councillor Allan Pilkey objected to this approach, stating that only Whitby and Oshawa Transit should be involved. He indicated that a letter will be sent to the region stating that Oshawa Transit is not prepared to enter into a study team as proposed by the regional public works committee. Whitby's Mayor Jim Gart- shore called the provision of public transit in this town an urgent matter, and said lie did not care who did the study as long as it was done. Two King Street School students try out cross country Sce page 10. skiiñg at"Camp Samac during a Week of Outdoor Education Free Press Photo by Blake Purdy i -,--.,-..