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C ouncil to re- exami&..ne cab ieense fees, Whitby council will take' another look at increasing cab license fees after Whitby's two Cab Compaâmes opposed the in- crease at council Monday night. .«We should have the clerk ait down and review. the fees, num- ber of licenses and license fees,» aaid counciflor Roaa Batten, after hearing opposition to the in- crease which would see a taxi cab owner's fée increaae to $50 per cab annually from $10 per cab. A cab driver's license would have increased to $30 from $10 if the increase had been approved. 'You may have a legal rigIht, but what about your moral obli- gation to the people whose earn- mngs you control,' said Chris Pel- grima, co-owner of Bell and Bow- -man taxi. He noted that while council can increase license fees it also has the power to increase cab fares which hasnt happened in threeyears. He noted that a cab driver's license in Oshawa costs $5. "Drivera will go there (Osh- awa) and we have enough trou- ble getting new drivers. Why make a bad situation worae? said Peigrima. .Councillor Joe Bugelli dis- agreed, saing «It is hard to believ tha for $25 a year aomeone would move from one community to another te 'get a job." With 17 cabs, the increase would cost Pelgrims $850 com- pared te the $17-0 he pays now. The license increase, according to the clerk's department, is required te cover administration coats and time spent inspecting vehicles. But Pelgrims argued that the last time the Town checked the vebicles they checked the meters of seven cab's ini one hour. "That means we would pýay $350 for the inspection,"he said. "Our cab rates can't go as high as this 400 per cent increase," said Rob Reiger owner tof Circle Taxi, who ageei with Peigrime. "People are nottotepay $30 to drive a cab, said egr Bugelli arguedý in favor 'of the license increase, noting that fees SER PAGE 4 $2: ilion raisedi campa ign By Mike Johnston Whitby General Hospital is well on the way to reaching ita $5.5-million campaign fundrais- ing goal, having received dona- tions topping $2-million to date. The amount, $2,085,250, waa announced at. the public kick-off of the campaign at Cullen Gar- dens last Thursday night. More than 200 people invited to the hour-lon~ ceremony heard why the campaîIgn waa launched and what the money will be used for. With $7. 1-million from the Province and $2-million from Extendicare, the hospital ia plan- ning a $12.6-million expanaion which will include a new, wing, expansion of health care facilities and equipment. f The audience heard from cam- paign co-president Ed Buffett, who related the story of bis travels to Sunnybrook bospital in Toronto recently to viait bis mother who died this past year. 'Four and five times a week I drove out to see bier. And I started thinking about the people in Whitby. "Unlesa the hospital expands and upgrades, the citizens of Whitby may have to deal witb that situation. "Let's make that the exception, not the rule,» said Buffett. A nine-minute video followed, with residents of Whitby detail- ing their experiences with hospi- tal staff. Next to speak was mayor Bob' Attersley who blasted t he Pro- vince for its lack of funding for Whitby General. "inm not happy that the Pro- vince doesn't recognize tbe growth of this community. "There is only one way to grow and that bas te be a rounded community,» aaid Attersley. Pointing at Durham Centre MPP Allan Furlong, Attersley said "When we raise the funda SEPAGE23 TRIHE ANDREWS Sisters, as por- trayed by Whitby Psychiatric Hospi- tai business office employees Pat, Freeborn, Pou Gray and Laverne Rousseau, pe orm 'Apple Blossom. Time' as part of the 'Mouth-Off- lip synch conteet held last week to kickE off the hospital's United Way cam- Chris Bovie-Free Prew photo Secondcom post* site to oe Durham Region will open a second leaf composting site in Brock Township now that Metro- Toronte bas banned leaves from the Pickering landfill site. Durham opened a leaf com- posting site in Whitby last year. The ban is to belp prolong the life of the landfil -ite, exp ected te be full in 1991. To help p ublic works employees of t hejRegion's eight municipalities idèntiygarbage bags ýrith leaves.- Durham Region istaff will! bý providing special tags to res,îdents to place I NTERIO-RS Pages172 on those baga. The leaves will then be picked up with the regular garbage but will be delivered te a composting site. In Whitby, Oshawa, Pickering and Ajax, homeownera will 1'be able te use regular garbage baga to hold the leaves. But in Uxbridge,- Scugog and Brock Townships, the Region will be - distributing biodegradable bags it plans te .buy from the Ontario Corn Producers Associa- tion. Durham had been using biode- gradable baga last year but stop- ped after learning tbat they did flot decorîipose within the. five year estimated time frame., The Corn Producers Associa- tion, along wit St. LawrencE Starch Co. Ltd., bave assured the Region that tbeir baga will decompose. The Region'.s waste manage- ment conimitte wss to decide late Tuesday (after The FreE Press deadline) whether or not tc bu y 30,000 of the baga at a coat of $6>600. Should tbe baga not decompose they will be removed from the composting sites by tbe com- aIe at no expense te the Th aga will only be distribu- ted to residents' in Scugog. Uxbridge and Broclc Townships. Mouth- off f