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Possible Library Site? OLD ARENA COMING DOWN The old Port Perry Arena on Water Street will not open for hockey this season, or any other season. . Scugog Township council decided unanimously last Friday afternoon not to spend any tax dollars for necessary repairs this year, and the old metal and wood structure, which is nearly 30 years old, will be torn down in 1980. Vol.113 No. 48 Actually, the decision was an easy one for members of Scugog council who learned October 9 that at least $4000 would have to be spent on repairs just to get the arena through this 'season, and even then, a consultants re- port raised serious doubts about the safety of the build- ing. That report stated that in addition to the $4000 for repairs, the building would have to be inspected every month this winter, and it should not be used during high wind storms or if there is more than a few inches of snow accumulated on the roof. It was this safety factor of the building that prompted council last week to vote no more money for repairs and to have it torn down in 1980. During the discussion last Friday afternoon in the Township council chambers, councillor Don Crosier sugg- ested that the building is unsafe from more than just a structural point of view. He said that the concrete floor is sinking in places, and that could be putting press- ure on the cooling pipes under floor. Ammonia gas is used in these pipes, and 32 Pages The firemen of Scugog No. 2 Fire Hall in Caesarea held their annual Open House last Saturday, and as usual a number of local residents came out to see the equipment and facilities used by the men. Among those attending were Jay and Peter King, seen here sitting in the driver's seat of one of the fire trucks wearing firemens' helmets. functions of the truck to the curious young boys was fire captain Ray Gould. Explaining the councillor Crosier said that if one of the pipes broke while the rink was being used, 'escaping gas could prevent a lethal situation. From a structural point of view, a report prepared by consultants last month indi- cates that many of the sup- port beams have rot in them, stands on the south side would have to be roped off - because of rot, and in addi- tion the concrete pads along the south wall which the upright support beams sit on are sinking and tilting away from the building. The status of the old arena was the centre of discussion at a meeting October 10 of the Arena Board, and in light of the consultants reports, the Board passed a resolu- tion stating it had no opposi- tion to a council decision to close the building. Certainly, the decision not to open the arena this year has thrown a bit of a crinkle in ice scheduling for minor hockey and ringette at the New Scugog Arena. Reps from these and other organi- ations met on Monday night to try to work out some kind of a solution to the problem. (see separate story) Also, the closing of the building presents a problem to the local Community Care organization which has been occupying a small office near the main foyer for the past two years. (Turn to page 3) Board revises ice times at Scugog arena With the decision made to shut the old arena down, the Arena Board wrestled Mon- day night with the difficult problem of re-scheduling ice time at the new arena and finding times for groups who would have used the old arena this winter. After a two hour meeting with representatives from six organizations which use the arenas, the Board delib- erated another hour and passed a-resolution offering these groups ice time at the new arena. Minor Hockey stands to lose about three hours per week in ice time; broomball stays the same at three hours, but loses its practice time at the old arena; ring- ette loses one and a half hours per week; figure skat- ing stays the same at nine hours per week ; the Junior C loses one and a half hours practice time at the old arena; and the Sunday morning hockey league loses (Turn to page 12) Townships launch OMB tax appeals Concerned that a new method of determining assessment values of proper- ty could result in higher taxes in rural municipalities, the Townships of Scugog, Uxbridge and Brock have decided to launch separate appeals to the Ontario Muni- cipal Board. A joint meéting of mem- bers of council from the three northern municipali- ties in Durham Region was held in Port Perry last Friday afternoon. Under discussion was the new equalized factoring system, which will be used for the 1980 tax year to deter- mine the assessment value of all property. While the final impact on taxes of this method is not known at this time, the three Townships decided to join other rural municipalities in appealing to the OMB "to keep their options open," and because the cut-off date for appeals is now less than two weeks away. The new method of assess- ment, which is based on the market value of property, could present problems for municipalities like Scugog, Uxbridge and Brock which do not have broad industrial tax bases. The reason is that the increase in the market value of residential properties and farms has been more drama- tic in the past few years than the increase in the market value of commercial and industrial properties. Thus, there could be a shift in the amount of tax collected from residential property owners. A second fear expressed by reps attending the meet- ing in Port Perry last Friday is that the provincial govern- ment has not yet announced whether changes in the grant payment structure to muni- cipalities will off-set or com- pensate for any increase in residential taxes because of the new factoring system. The grants to municipali- ties are presently paid on a per capita basis. If there is no change in that policy, a municipality like Scugog with a relatively small popu- lation and a low industrial assessment in comparison to residential and farm, could be a double loser. At the meeting last week, members of Uxbridge Town- ship council said that preli- minary calculations for that Township indicate that with the new system and the present method of paying grants to municipalities, Uxbridge may be looking at an increase of as much as 25 per cent, and Scugog and Brock would likely be facing the same. This figure (Turn to page 2)