The following text may have been generated by Optical Character Recognition, with varying degrees of accuracy. Reader beware!

Vol. 121 No. 12 Tuesday, February 17, 1987 Copy 35¢ Moving Fair could cost $1 million, lawyer claims The cost of re-locating the Port Perry Fairgrounds to a new site behind the Scugog Arena could top "$1 million, according to a lawyer hired by the Fair Board. Murray Stroud made the estimate during an emotion-charged meeting with Township council Monday afternoon which was attended by about 40 people, most of whom are opposed to re-locating the Fair to a new site at the Arena. Mr. Stroud, who works out of Toronto, made it plain that the Fair - Officials hope rabies level off Officials with the Durham Region - Health Unit are hopeful that the number of cases of rabies in the Region will level off this year, but they are continuing to step up a pro- gram of public information about this serious problem. Brian Devitt and Alex Connor of the Health Unit told Township coun- cil Monday afternoon that Durham ; Region has experienced a dramatic "increase in the number of confirm- ed cases of rabies in animals over the last four years. "We have reason to believe the numbers may peak this year, but rabies will always be a problem. The solution is better public understanding," said Mr. Devitt, chief inspector with the Health Unit. Last year in Durham Region, 414 persons were required to take the anti-rabies shots, 130 of them in Port Perry alone after a dog, later con- Although it looks as though Brock Township councillor Clair Bagshaw, left, has the advantage over Scugog Township councillor Neil McLaughlin, it was actually Scugog that beat out firmed to have the disease, wandered for several days through residential areas of the community last March. ' In 1985, the number of people in the Region taking anti-rabies shots was 222. Last year in the Region; there were 189 cases of confirmed rabies in wild and domestic animals. In the wilds, the most common carrier, of the disease is the red fox. But records show that skunks, rac- coons, ground hogs and bats have been found with the desease in the Region. And the number of confirm ed cases in cows hit 20 last year, a sharp increase over the previous year, and one that is causing con- cern for Health Unit officials. ~ In a presentation to the Township council, Mr. Connor said one frightening aspect of the desease is (Turn to page 2) Board is opposed to re-location to the site behind the Arena. "We (Fair Board) want to stay where we are," he told council. "We .will move if we are forced, but I : really have strapg doubts that the (Arena) site could be ready for a Fair in September, 1468. Mr. Stroud based his estimate for the $1 million price tag on moving for the Fair to that location on the following: $547,000 to duplicate the ~ facilities, including a full race track. And he said, in his opinion, the cost of preparing the site behind the Arena (grading and filling) *'would Several times during his presen- tation, Mr. Stroud expressed strong reservations that even if the money was available to re-locate, the ac- tual physical work involved could 'not be completed in time to prevent cancellation of the Fair for a vear. "And that he said, could have serious consequences for the on-going con- tinuity of Port Perry Fair. Scugog Township council, the .Fair Board and the Durham Board of Education have been involved in a dispute over the present Fairgrounds at Simcoe St. and Durham Rd. 8 forthe past year. The Board of Education wants six acres of she present site for a new public school and has launched ex- propriation proceedings to get that municipally owned land which is under lease from Scugog to the Fair (Turn to page 2) Brock in the Bowl For Millions municipal challenge held last Saturday. For details and more photos on the Big Brothers/Big Sisters fun- draising event, see inside. 40 Pages Under his hat Why is this guy wearing a hat these days? Well, aside from the fact, it's cold outside, Dennis Henderson of Scugog Island hds something else to keep 'under his hat these days." Dennis revea's the secret inside this issue of the Port. Perry Star. ? Rec study made public this wee The recommendations in the Scugog Township Recreation Needs Study will be made public later this week following a joint meeting bet- ween the Rec Study Team Commit- tee, Township council, and the con- sultants who prepared the lengthy report which examines recreation and cultural facilities and needs in the Township. That meeting is scheduled for this Thursday evening (Feb. 19) in the council chambers of the municipal office in Port Perry. The Recreation Needs Study was prepared last year by Sesquaig Inc an Ottawa based consulting firm which specializes in studies of this kind for municipalities like Scugog Township. A draft copy of the report was completed in December in which the consultants came up with 78 recom- mendations which touch on all aspects of community. However, the Township appointed Rec Study committee asked the con sultants to set priorities on the recreation in the recommendations and come up with some cost estimates on what the price tag might be to implement the most important items in the study. That additional work has been completed by the consultants and will be presented in report form at the meeting with council and the citizen committee this week. The terms of reference for the consultants in examining this sub- ject was "to develop a comprehen sive recreational plan for the Township. In particular, the plan js to address certain facilities: arenas, fairgrounds and banquet halls. The final report is designed to serve as a 'major planning tool for all areas of recreational and cultural activities and interests at the munic ipallevel in the Township of Scugog. ~ Several of the recommendations made in the draft report could be controversial within the communi ty. The consultants point out that the recommendations are not "'intend- ed to be taken as final or absolute Rather they are to provide a foun- dation from which a reasonable and responsible overall recreation policy can be developed." MoJacks win three The Port Perry MoJacks have taken a three game stranglehold in their best of seven Junior C playoff series with the Lindsay Muskies. The MoJacks won by scores of 8-2 and 5-4 on home ice and 6-3 in Lind- say. The team has a chance to wrap up the series this Wednesday even- ing in Lindsay. If a fifth game is needed it will be played Thursday night at the Scugog Arena. One _ more victory for the MoJacks will put them into the Division final against Little Britain or Uxbridge who are locked in their series at two games each. In other hockey news from the weekend, the Port Perry Bantams won the annual tournament held on Saturday. (For reports on these and other sports stories, see the sports section in this edition of the Port Perry Star)