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PORT PERRY "WEEKEND STAR" - mee, FRIDAY, JUNE 30, 2000 - 3, Region will proceed wit police station By Chris Hall Port Perry Star A new community police station has been approved for North Durham, despite its $3.6 million price tag. Durham Region politi- cians gave the new facility the go-ahead Wednesday morning in Whitby during a special meeting between the works and finance com- mittees. There has been concern over the station, with the cost of the building increasing dramatically over the past six months by more than $1 million to the tune of $3,624, 252. "Where is the account- ability to the public? As a mayor in the municipality | have a total, total concern with this project," said Uxbridge Mayor Gerri-Lynn O'Connor shortly after the meeting adjourned. During the meeting, the Uxbridge mayor continual- ly stressed the project's messy financial picture. "Now the cost to the public will be between $800,000 and $1 million more than we projected. How can I justify this to the residents of Uxbridge? How can we justify this to the residents of Durham Region?" said Mayor O'Connor. She also expressed anger over the process of the selection and purchas- ing of a new site for the sta- tion. The Police Services Board had sent out a ten- der for a new site and con- struction of a new building more than a year ago, and a potential site was select- ed. But negotiations came to an abrupt halt after it was ruled that the process should be conducted by the regional works depart- ment. As a result, the process was scrapped and began from the start once again, this time with regional offi- cials at the controls. It had been rumoured that a site at the intersec- tion of Hwys. 12 and 47 was selected in the first process; that parcel would have come at a cheaper cost and with more land. "It was dealt with the wrong way. The whole process was totally, totally wrong, and now taxpayers have to come up with more than $1 million extra Fre O'Connor because of it," said Mayor O'Connor. She called for better communication between the Police Services Board and region- al politicians. Agreeing with the need for better lines of commu- nication was Scugog Mayor Doug Moffatt. "In the beginning, we didn't care where the sta- tion was, as long as it was efficient and effective. The estimated price has nearly doubled, and we (regional politicians) all have to learn something from this, and the Police Services Board too," he said. "There is very little communication between the two, and we spend mil- lions and millions each year on policing and we have no idea how it is man- aged. We need a five-year plan to see which direction they're going in." Regional Chair Roger Anderson pushed for the project to go ahead at the proposed cost of $3.6 mil- lion. "Today's today, yester- day's yesterday. Let's build it... we need a station in the north, let's build the station and get on with it," he said. "You want to cut the cost of the project in half? Use (the existing) Sunderland (station)." Scugog Regional Councillor, Ken Gadsden, also urged that the project proceed. Plans call for the new North Durham community police station to be locat- ed on a five-acre site on the east side of Hwy. 12, south of Reach St. The 11,400 square-foot facility is designed to serve the needs of the three north- ern municipalities: Scugog, Uxbridge, and Brock. Construction is sched- uled to begin next month and completed by January 2001. County's two-tier system: to the new restructured o municipality. th _Acomplete listing of the wk orcas andi thicirimeny. : 'The task forces will deal with such issues as police bers ison the gy website at hep/vwderkavartha) ¥ ' te E ¢ ND EEL ES f Ka --- £0 a a 150 la tat on fd : RUG got Jorces will look 3 olf aspects of service S, Bc h CAO of dod city, says that the 'done by the task forces is key to developing a system that provides ; a smooth Hanation from Victoria ay wee and fire service forth the Whole = municipality a as well as lakesonca = | ENT Re CANADIAN FLAGS IN THE STORES AND SAVE! (0) pL 2) 2 wo IPG Bumme? 00) ordinates, SelgR lol oe) Swimwear sale ends Tuesday, July 4, 2000 BR@ 7/18 KS "Ont MURR! PICT BIRR E Te] ! { | ASIN & yiieol ) 1 N)S-UXS AY |