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Vol. 120 No. 23 The Merry Widow, Anna (as played by Bar- bara Taylor-Bone), is never happier than when she is surrounded by charming suitors such as St. Brioche (Hugh Baird) and Cascada (Bruce Wants Chamber of Commerc McMillan). it's all part of the musical action in The Merry Widow, now playing at Town Hall 1873. For a review and more photos, see inside. Property owners in Scugog Township will pay about $24 more this year in local taxes. That's about a 9.6 per cent hike and does not include increases in School Board and Durham Region taxes. Township council had been look- ing at an increase of over ten per cent in local taxes, but Monday afternoon, they trimmed $9,000 out of the 1986 budget, which reduced the tax impact to the 9.6 per cent - level. For rate-payers who have municipal garbage pick-up, the in- crease will be slightly higher. "I can't see us going through the budget again to knock out a few nickles and dimes," said Scugog Mayor Jerry Taylor just before council approved the local budget for the current year. He admitted he wanted the in- crease kept under the ten per cent level, but the council simply had no other areas to trim in the budget. "We are trying to meet the needs and demands of a growing com- munity and I guess we'll just have to live with it," (the increase) he stated. Ward 1 councillor Yvonne Christie said she too "hates to see a 10 per cent increase, but every item in the budget is defensible." Almost eight years after the com- pletion of a hamlet study, residen- - tial development may soon be com- ing to Nestleton. Township council was given an in- itial look at a proposed 16 lot sub- division on land behind a present row of houses on the south side of Highway 7A and west of the four corners. In unveiling his plans for the 16 lots, Don Frew told councillors that he was looking for initial indications of whether the proposal would be supported. "I would like to see development around Nestleton," stated councillor Harvey Graham. He went on to say that even though the land in question is not presently within the hamlet boundaries, "it is logical for houses Local taxes to increase 9.6 per cent She said she could not support any " move to take funds from reserve ac- counts in order to reduce the tax in- crease this year. As in the past couple of years, council has put $130,000 into -a reserve fund for municipal projects, along with $13,000 in the sick leave reserve and $25,000 into a working capital fund. One reason why council was so reluctant to dip into these accounts is that this money is used in lieu of temporary borrowing. In 1985, bank interest on temporary borrowing was $492, compared with $5700 the previous year. The Township's local budget this year will be $3,744,346. The major expenditures will be for roads maintenance ($1.8 million) general administration ($528,000) fire pro- tection ($360,000) community cen- tres ($174,000) parks ($140,000 library services ($93,000) street lighting ($66,000) and animal control ($32,000). Along with the $24 tax increase for the local budget, the average pro- perty owner will be paying about $50 more this year for education taxes and $14 more for Regional taxes. For taxation purposes in Scugog, an average property has an assessed value of $3,000. Lots proposed for Nestleton to be built there." Mr. Frew told council the lots would be approximately three- quarters of an acre in size and the development would require two en- trances onto Highway 7A. In October, 1978, the Township council of the day approved a hamlet plan for Nestleton which spelled out development of 32 lots on the east side of Nestleton Road, north of the highway; and a further 12 lots roughly behind the Communi- ty Centre. Neither of these parcels have been developed to date. While members of council stated no objections to the development proposal presented Monday after- noon, the land must be re-zoned from agriculture and the boundaries of the hamlet would have to be ex- tended by the council. e to sort out the issue first Council defers decision on Sunday opening Township council has thrown the issue of Sunday store openings back in the lap of the Scugog Chamber of Commerce. For the second week in a row, councillors declined to support a re- quest from the local Chamber of Commerce to have Port Perry declared a tourist area which in turn would allow stores in the communi- ty to remain open on Sundays and statutory holidays. And at the meeting Monday after- noon, several councillors indicated that they are losing patience over this issue and are upset at getting caught in the middle of what they consider is an "internal matter" for the Chamber of Commerce to sort out. "I'm perturbed that council is get- ting caught again right in the mid- dle," said Ward 4 councillor Neil McLaughlin. He went to say that on April 28 a request came from the ex- ecutive of the Chamber of Com- merce asking for support in the bid to have the community declared a tourist area. "Now, we have members of the Chamber coming in front of council asking us not to support this,' he gaid in reference to two local businessmen who at the meeting Monday stated their opposition to Sunday store openings in a designated tourist area. Ralph Ballard and Chic Carnegie, owners of Homestead Furniture on Highway 7A in Port Perry presented the council with strongly worded arguments why they feel the regula- tions governing Sunday store open- ings should not be changed in Port Perry. Reading from a prepared state- ment, Mr. Carnegie told council that Sunday is a "traditional time" for leisure activities, family life, and worship. "We all need this day off. It's a very precious day in the week," he stated. He went on to suggest that if Sun- day shopping was thrown wide open in Port Perry, it would not be of benefit to the local community in general. He said that in communities like Elora and Niagara-on-the-Lake, specialty shops that cater to tourists and visitors have pushed stores dealing in essential services off the main street and into plaza's, much to the dismay of local residents. Sunday openings, he said, could force businesses to stay open when they don't want to, and 'much of the employment generated would not be voluntary." Both Mr. Carnegie and Mr. Ballard said they are not opposed to the current regulations which allow some shops to stay open on Sundays like variety stores, drug stores and restaurants. He told council that he polled businesses in the Port Perry area and found that 41 owners were op- (Turn to page 2)