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.. Based on 1980 market values Scugog assessments to be up-dated Members of Scugog Township council ex- . pect there will be some grumbling - when prop- erty assessments are updated to reflect 1980 market values. At the regular meeting November 27, council agreed unanimously to give the provincial ass- essment department the green light to update properties in Scugog in time for the 1985 taxa- tion year. Property assessment in the Township is presently based on 1975 market values. "We are going to get some complaints, but this (updating) is a necessary step," said Regional councillor Lawrence Malcolm at the meeting last week. Ward 4 councillor Har- vey Graham agreed, stating that it is impor- tant that the Township not allow assessment discrepancies to get too far out of line. Walter Parnell, an official with the provin- cial assessment office in Whitby, told the council meeting that updating to 1980 market values will not increase the overall assessment within any property class (i.- residential, commercial, agricul- ture, etc.) and it will not take assessment away from one class of pro- perty and add it to another. But property owners: within an individual property class will have their assessment in- creased, while others will have it decreased. "Ratepayers will be better able to relate to the 1980 figures (market value) for their prop- erty, than those for 1975," said Mr. parnell. While the overall ass- essment in the Town- ship won't go up be- cause of the move to Dump transfer hours cut back drastically In an effort to cut down on rising costs, the garbage transfer station just east of Blackstock will no longer be open 24 hours per day, seven days each week. Durham Regional council this week will endorse suggestions made recently by Scugog -Township council that the station be open from 8:30 to 4:30 your list. He's waiting Hey kids! There is still time to get a letter off to Santa Claus and get an answer back if you sit down tonight and make up The Star spoke with Santa last week and he said that if letters are mailed to the Port Perry Post Office this week, he would still have time to answer. There's not much time left until Christmas, so you'd better act fast. And don't forget to include your name and return address for Santa. Address your letters to: Santa Claus, c/o The North Pole, HO HO HO. Task force The initial meeting of the Lake Scugog Water Quality Task Force will be held this Wednesday evening (Dec. 5) in the municipal council Chambers on Perry Street. Scugog Mayor Jerry Taylor, who is chairman of the Task Force said Monday morning that technical reps from several government ministries will be pre- sent at the meeting, including the Ministry of the Environr ent, Natural Resources and Agriculture and Food. Also present will be the director of the Kawar- tha Conservation Authority, and it is expected that politic- ians from municipal- ities bordering the lake will be at the meeting as well. Mayor Taylor said his hopes for the first meet- ¢ meets Wed. ing will be to establish 'some directions" for long term action to help improve the quality of the lake. There are three problems concerning the lake which Mayor Taylor hopes will be addressed: the weed growth, water levels and the overall quality of the water. Although the meeting will be open to the public Mayor Taylor said members of the general public will not be per- mitted to address the initial meeting, but they may get a chance to have their say at future meetings of the Task Force. Mayor Taylor said that whatever rec- omendations eventually come out of the Task Force, action to improve the lake is (Turn to page 2) Monday to Friday, and from 8:30 to 12:30 Sat- urdays. Included in the change of regulations is a recommendation that the station be fully supervised during the hours it is open. It is expected that the changes will come into effect on January 1, 1985. Durham Region, which operates the tran- sfer station, expect that the regulations wtll result in a 20 per cent reduction in the amount of garbage at the site. Scugog council has expressed alarm in recent weeks that con- tractors and commerc- ial trash haulers have been using the un-super- vised station to dump large quantities of gar- bage and thus avoid the "tipping fee" at regular Regional landfill sites. The transfer station is supposed to serve resi- dents of Scugog Town- ship especially Ward 4, for disposing of light garbage from homes and yards. When the issue came up for discussion at the council meeting Nov- ember 26, Ward 4 councillor Harvey Graham wanted to know if the supervisor would have the authority to turn people away at the gate, especially con- tractors and commer- cial haulers. He was told the answer is yes. They will be directed to the Scugog landfill site where a charge is imposed for dumping garbage. The change in the regulations is not designed to stop the householder from gett- ing rid of a few bags of garbage, leaves or brush from around the yard. Council also discussed the possibility of asking Durham Region to apply for a burning permit so that leaves, brush, paper and scrap wood could be disposed at the site. 1980 market values as a base, Mr. Parnell said that provincial legisla- tion demands that a two per cent increase in the total assessment be built in to "buffer' the Township against ex- Vol. 119 No. 1 pected appeals by rate- payers which could re- sult in court-ordered reductions in individual assessments. Several members of council wondered why 1980 is the year selected for market value ass- essment, when property values may have de- creased in some in- stances since then. Mr. Parnell said 1980 is the most recent year that all data and stat- Tuesday, Dec. 4, 1984 istics on market value prices has been an- alyzed. The assessment de- partment has prepared a preliminary impact study of the 1980 market (Turn to page 3) Pre- Christmas smiles A sure sign that Christmas is just around the corner is the annual visit by Saint Nick fo the Seagrave Store. Santa spent most of Saturday afternoon listening to what the kids want to see under the tree December 25 (Cabbage Patch Dolls are the most popular). And judging from the smiles on the faces of ' these two youngsters, they can hardly wait for the big day. That's three year old Julie Turnbull and her brother Mark, 5, from Seagrave, two of the many youngsters who met Santa on Saturday.