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smoking law debated tracy kibble staff reporter preventing citizens from lighting up in whitchurchstduffville pub lic buildings may be a difficult task council decided last week and mayor fran sainsbury said several residents have called her in response to weekender coverage of the issue if a nonsmoking bylaw were passed we must be willing to enforce this ive had calls from people who are wondering how you tell a 300pound plumber or someone else not to smoke mayor sainsbury said it will keep us busy if you thought street numbering has kept us busy just wait mayor sains bury warned the issue of a communitywide nonsmoking bylaw was brought up last week when resident lorna turner told officials the town lags behind neighboring municipalities in enforcing the matter mrs turner said 90 per cent of citizens would comply with a non smoking bylaw if signs were erect ed in public buildings but ward 4 councillor wayne emmerson said he is not sure to what extent the bylaw could be enforced i think mrs turner wants a bylaw to prohibit smoking every where in the whole town including restaurants and doctors offices mayor fran sainsbury said meanwhile ward 5 councillor doug alles said mrs turner is concerned about the recreation complex a public building where people can smoke in the lobby what happens if someone smokes at the rec centre and someone says you cant smoke here what recourse would we have councillor emmerson enquired town chief administrative offi cer bob panizza told officials the town currently doesnt have a no- smoking bylaw in place he said he will meet with mrs turner and explain the towns regulations we should be able to come up with something plausible mr panizza said but mayor sainsbury joked a nonsmoking bylaw will mean another grey area for council to deal with on the downslide from left katharine headland 9 joanna purina 8 and patricia headland 9 take a fast ride down the hill at the sierra clubs snofest at bruces mill on saturday afternoon councillors want to be heard loud and clear whitchurchstourfyille residents who attend council meetings cannot hear what is going on council heard last week ward 4 councillor wayne emmerson said people have complained they cannot hear discussfonsiat council when sitting in the audience people have said to me why dont you spend some of our hardearned tax dollars on a amplifier system so the public can hear what council is saying councillor emmerson said people tell me they cant hear any thing and this should be pushed ahead of the budget we need this right away he added the issue was raised last year and council debated purchasing a 16000 speaker system that would amplify their voices loudly and clearly through out council chambers people often have puzzled looks on their faces when discussions are held in council and sometimes have left the chamber not knowing what final decision was made on an issue councillors said we should get this now not just look into it its undemocratic when we make decisions that people cant get involved in councillor jim sanders said town staff said a report will be presented to council at its feb 5 meet ing with recommendations to purchase an amplifier system for council cham bers wayne emmerson need right away sexual assaults up 1 7 in york tracy kibble staff reporter sexual assaults against women in york region have increased by 17 per cent from 1989 said york regional police sergeant norn miles according to police statistics there were 193 sexual assaults ranging from fondling to rape in 1989 and 227 offences in 1990 of the 227 offences 74 per cent or 169 suspects have been arrested by police sgt miles said but sgt miles said its not nec essarily that sexual crimes are on the rise but that there is now an easy forum to report such crimes instigator victims are no longer looked at as an instigator in sexual crimes and therefore more are being reported each year he said miles is urging victims to call police immediately after an attack but added the offence will not be taken any lighter if the victim waits for several days however we dont want the story clouded sometimes when victims are in an emotional state its difficult to get the whole story out so we like the offence to be reported as quickly as possible sgt miles said the notion that police officers take rapes lightly is false officers are sympathetic to victims he said hot lines policemen are ordinary citizens wearing uniforms with lives of their own i have never heard of an officer turning down a rape situa- tion or belittling a person who has just been sexually assaulted he added sgt miles said there are crisis hot lines in stouffville and sur rounding areas but said the police should be notified first we are one of the few agencies open 24 hours and we have many female officers who can talk to a victim he said the markham distress centre number is 8829393 and the sexu al assault care centre in scarbor ough serving local residents is 4952555 ask for colleen illegal dumpers sought an unknown construction company has illegally dumped scrap building materials on a local road and taxpayers will have to pay for the removal the town of whitchurchstouffville is encouraging residents especially in the rural areas to notify the bylaw department imme diately if it appears a truck or resident is dumping garbage on the side of the road brenda lumley of the town public works department told the tribune that two truckloads of building materials were dumped off on bethesda sideroad between warden and woodbine avenues last thursday she added illegal dumping is happening more and more fre quently when this happens the town has to pay to have the garbage picked up and dumped in the landfill anyone is encouraged to get the licence number off the truck or to see if they can read a name and write it down right away mrs lumley said in the meantime the towns bylaw enforcement offi cer will investigate the scene and the garbage contents in search for clues that will lead back to the culprit