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Vol. 116 No.3 Wednesday, December 16, 1981 36 Pages ealth Unit guideline may hinder groups * A series of Health Unit guidelines for all public out- door activities has come under criticism from Durham Region and Scugog Township councillors. The guidelines cover such things as drinking water supplies, - food - service, sanitary facilities and garbage disposal at any out- door event to which the public is invited, no matter how large or small. These include fall fairs, plowing matches, sporting events, carnivals, shows or musical festivals. When the list of guidelines were circulated at the meet- ing. of - Scugog Township council December 7, Ward 4 councillor John Wolters expressed dismay, . saying they will add greatly to.the expenses of any organization trying to stage an outdoor event. "Some of them might even have to shut down," he said. Scugog Mayor Jerry Taylor agreed that some of the guidelines could present *'problems" and even Region change i Durham Region council last week asked for changes in provincial legislation which will permit local . municipalities to spend money to. promote and' attract new industry to their areas. The request had been made by Oshawa City council, and it was agreed to by the Durham council last week. Under the terms of the Durham Region Act, only the Regional municipality has the . power to spend tax' dollars .. for industrial development and promotion, and this has long been a sore point for several municipalities such as the city of Oshawa. The Durham Region development and industrial promotion department currently has a budget of about $300,000 yearly, and from time to time it has been hamper some groups or organizations. The guidelines call for a supply of drinking water to be provided from an approved source, pre-tested by the Health Unit, and if drinking water is transport- ed to the site of the event, the equipment must be inspected and approved 'by the Health Unit prior to the event. For outdoor events up to 1200 people; - the guidelines - $d call for three toilets, three urinals and four wash basins for males, and six toilets and four was basins for females. For events with over 1200 people, the guidelines call for one sanitary fixture for each 300 males and one for each 300 females. And the guidelines state that "adequate'" means of sewage disposal shall be provided as required under the Environmental Protection Act and its regulations. The guidelines contain 18 provisions governing the (Turnto page?) seeks in law the object. of open criticism from some councillors who feel their own municipalities could do a better job promot- ing industry, if given the chance.. ~ At the Regional council meeting last week, it was made clear that if the provincial agrees to change the legislat- ion, this will not mean that local industrial development departments will have the power to over-ride the Regional department. And Newcastle Mayor Garnet. Rickard, who is chairman of the Region management committee told council that the process of attracting new industry to Durham could be strength- ened by having local departments working together with the Region's development and promotion department. government , 139 Hydro electric rates in Port Perry will be going up 13.4 per cent in January for both residential and general service customers. The Scugog (Port Perry) Hydro Commission had made an application to Ontario Hydro for the rate increase and: Commission chairman Bert Dejeet said last week there is no doubt they will be approved. EG LL A aa AE eX hy Mr. Dejeet estimated that for an average home in Port Perry without electric heat, the impact will be about $65 per year. The impact for homes with electric heat will be higher. Mr. Dejeet said that part of the reason for the increase this coming year is that in 1981, the Commission under- estimated its anticipated revenues. This was due Tough way to wash the car just east of the intersection with Highway 7A near A 20-year old Little Britain man escaped injury last Friday morning when his car went out of control, down a steep embankment and plunged through the ice of a pond on private property on Regional Road 57 Water bills may climb 14% Water and sewer rates are expected to go up 14 per cent when Durham Region council meets today (Dec. 16) to approve rate increases for 1982. For the average res- idential customer using 50,000 gallons of water yearly, the increase will add almost $24 yearly to the water and sewer bills, based on fia ietly billings. 'or those customers using a water but without sewer service, the increase will be about five per cent. Actually, if Regional council approves these increases, customers will be a little better off than originally expected as the increase proposed by Regional staff was -in the neighbourhood of one-third higher. However, the user rate was reduced as a result of deferring debentures in 1982, 6 increase in rates partly to conservation, but mainly to the unseasonably mild February and spring in 1981 which reduced con- sumption. He notes that last year, Port Perry customers were hit with just a three per cent increase in their hydro rates. And he said that when the increase over the two years is averaged at eight per cent, (Turnto page 3) Blackstock. Durham Police scuba divers were called to help recover the car from about 15 feet of water. (Story, more photos on page 8] lowering the operating expenditures by $300,000 and lowering the capital from current expenditures by $500,000. Without these reductions proposed by the joint finance and works committees of council, water and sewer customers would have been facing increased rates of 21.2 per cent in 1982, Even so, the 14 per cent increase is substantial, especially coming on the heels of a 20 per cent hike in 1981. A report from the Region's finance department says that in 1981 revenues from the water and sewer rates were about four per cent less than anticipated, due partly to a decrease in consumption by high volume industrial customers, and also to a generally wet summer which helped reduce residential consumption.