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PAGE 4, WEDNESDAY, J ULY 4, 1984, WHITBY FREE PRESS whitby Michael Ian Burgess, P Published every Wednesday By M.B.M. PUBLISHING and Photography Inc. Ilftone 6684111 The Free Press Building, ublisher - Managing Editor 131 Brock Street North, - - --P.O. Box 206, Whltby, Ont. The only Whitby newspaper Independently owned and operated by Whitby residents for Whltby residents. MICHAEL J. KNELL Community Editor CONWAY DOBBS Advertising Manager Second Clus Mail Registration No. 5351 Study says we lack recreation faciities but do we have to spend $5.2 million? According to a report prepared by the con- sulting firm of Jean Monteith and Associated Ltd., the Town of Whitby's recreation facilities are not meeting the current demand. Furthermore, when compared to other municipalities of similar size, our recreation is substantially below par. After chiding us for our backwardness, the con- sultant then told us what we had to do to come up to the expectations of the 1980's. She suggested these facilities be concentrated at the Iroquois Park Complex and include the construction of another indoor ice pad; a gymnasium; a meeting room; and exercise room; squash and raquetball courts; and a host of other related kinds of facilities. The consultant's estimated price tag: $5.23 million. And that, is a bitter pill to swallow. At the same time, the Whitby Iroquois Soccer Club, in conjunction with the Whitby Optimist Club, has asked the town to develop a park on Rossland Rd. near Cochrane St. This park would cost approximately $500,000 according to their study and would include seven soccer fields, two baseball diamonds, a running or jogging track complete with exercise stations and other facilities. Both of these clubs have offered to kick- in $150,000 towards the cost of developing their park providing that the town provides the rest. It is really no longer news that Whitby is growing at a furious pace. Our population has been growing by 2,000 to 3,000 a year every year for the past three years. There has been an in- creased demand for recreational facilities. If Whitby Town Council was to adopt both of these proposais as submitted, they would be looking at spending almost $6 million in the next two, three,,maybe even four years. The major issue before both council and the residents of Whitby is the cost of these facilities. Nobody is about to say that these facilities are not worthwhile. No one is going to say that they would not be made use of by the people who live in this community. The question is: "Can we af- ford it?" And the answer is clearfy: "No, we can't." According to parks and recreation director Wayne DeVeau, the one major financial advantage of the Monteith proposai is that it will reduce the operational deficit of Iroquois Park substantially. Instead of kicking in some 52 per cent of the cost of Iroquois Park, the demand on the taxpayer would be reduced to about 33 per cent. This represents a decrease of about $500,000 a year. This means that it would take ten years for the Monteith proposai to pay for itself. In terms of major capital expenditures that is probably not a bad situation. But where are we going to find the $5.23 million to make these improvements? In today's. tight money market, the town could not realistically debenture the project. In fact, several members of council have already said that they won't support debenturing this kind of project. This money probably could not be found in the town's reserve funds. In fact, the four year capital projections for. the recreation department only calls for about $2,8 million to be spent over the next four years. Most of this money is not commit- ted ta Iraq uois. There are, after ail, other parks and facilities throughou~t the Town of Whitby that also require improvement and maintenance. There is a possibility that some money for the Monteith proposai coulid be made available by the provirncial government through its various grant programs. Weil, this leaves only one other source of fun- ding: the property taxpayer. While the town has done an excellent job of keeping tax increases down over the last three years, we don't believe that the taxpayer should be asked to sheli out almost $6 million over the next four or five years. The increase in his taxes would be astronomical. It is not difficult to imagine property taxes for town purposes jumping by 50 per cent during this time. That is definitely too much. We would also like to point out, simply as an example, that the general public can only use the existing ice pad at Iroquois Park 2.7 per cent of the time it is available. The minor hockey association and the figure skating club use the ice over 54 per cent of the time. If these figures or ones close to them apply to every recreation facility within the municipality, then there is no way that average residents of the town should be asked to bear 100 per cent of the cost of these facilities. Dear Sir: On behalf of the staff and students who par- ticipated in the produc- tion of our weekly report "Action Anderson", I wish to express to you our sincere ap- preciation for publishing our articles regularly. Through your co- operation, a large num- ber of students have gained a better under- standing of how a column is produced, and why sometimes long This newspaper is also of the opinion that if we are going to build facilities such as these then other methods must be found to generate revenue. Perhaps Whitby could make itself a can- didate for an American Hockey League or Triple 'A' baseball franchise. Either one of these kinds of teams would bring more people to Iroquois and would help to bring a better return on the tax- payers' investment. Before so much as a dime is spend Whitby Town Council is going to have to think long and hard. Its members are going to be faced with some tough choices. Not everything proposed and demanded in the study is going to build right away. A number of local sports oriented organizations are going to be unhappy. Council must do what is in the best interests of the taxpayer being ever mindful of the cost. The bottom Une must be the impact on the taxpayer, not the whims and desines of the many special in- terest groups operating in Whitby. deadlines are necessary. The report provided an extrinsic reason for writing and an exercise in writing for a specific audience. At the same time, the students enjoyed seeing their names in print! We hope that we can again be a part of your weekly report on the schools in our region next academic year. Yours very truly, Casey P. Daleman, Co-ordinator, Public Relations Voice of County Town Letter to the Editor Students appreciate experience r ai . »1 a