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p8 tribute december 31 1996 st ii a i 2 j t r 4 mayor wayne emmerson sends new years greetings the year 1996 marked the towns 25th anniversary with many special events being held to recognize the many changes which have occurred over the past 25 years and focussing on our achievements my personal thanks to all who volunteered their time and efforts to make these events so successful as 1996 draws to a close council can look back with a feeling of satisfaction council and staff worked hard to maintain a 0percent tax increase in 1996 and at the same time maintain the same level of services to our insurance according to ruth residents in addition our hydro rates have been substantially low ered however many difficult deci sions had to be made least of which was the downsizing of staff this was accomplished after many hours of deliberation and although it was a difficult time for those concerned we feel we made the right decisions the ballantraemusselman lake water project was a major achieve ment with the roads structure now nearing completion in addition consumers gas is being installed in the ballantraemusselman lake area and 1997 will see the following projects come to fruition the second ice pad should open athlete of the week ed hakonson ruth boynton colley borland vale insurance brokers limited 6420651 ed has proven himself to be one of the best sports in town in 1996 sticking with his spirit of stouffville junior a hockey team through a trying second season hopefully he wmi be rewarded with even better fan support in 1 997 way to hang in there ed stouffville 6327 main st sponsored by wff stouffville emmerson in february the stouf fville sec ondary plan will be com pleted in the spring at no cost to the tax payer a new fire hall in bal- laritrae york- durham her itage railway will be in full swing new train station new public school and i also intend to set up a com mittee consisting of a representa tive from each ward to investigate the possibility of an indoor pool council in conjunction with the chamber of commerce is happy to announce the hiring of an economic development officer whose salary will be divided 5050 between the town and existing businesses this enterprise is the first of its kind in ontario the economic develop ment officers main function will be to encourage new businesses to locate in whitchurchstouffville and also to help existing businesses wherever possible we have had our share of disap pointments over the past few months much controversy has taken place with regard to the librarymunicipal office project and to date council together with the library board is still trying to reach a satisfactory conclusion we were also disappointed that the youth centre at the recreation complex in spite of the hard work by all involved has not been as suc cessful as anticipated but we will continue to consider other pro grams for our youth major development is taking place in town and council is looking forward to negotiating hookup to the big pipe and a new well to supply our east end however industrial development is still very slow in the gormley area but the economic forecast for 1997 looks promising so hopefully we will see an improvement in that area the mayors youth committee has proven to be very successful having raised over 20000 through the mayors annual golf tourna ment and generous donations many residents have voiced their concerns over the possibility of amalgamation let me reassure you i am working hard to ensure that whitchurchstouffville will not lose its identity and will remain a municipality in its own right for many more years on dec 31 1 will once again host the second annual mayors new years eve celebrations with sleigh rides and fireworks in the town park this proved to be a great success last year and we are hoping for a bigger turnout this year with lots of fun for the whole family let me assure you that council will continue to work together as a team on behalf of you our resi dents i wish each and every one good health prosperity and much joy for 1997 happy new year