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st- th triettjjdayaugust 2 1997 3 town customers rewarded by hydro joan ransberry staff reporter jordan hcreenli staff writer we started it five years ago said rob shannon the marl ian- ager it was to bring elvis fans to the market it was something dif ferent its official stouffville has the lowest hydro rates in ontario the provinces municipal elec tric association has just published its annual comparative monthly rate report listing stouffville as the leader in delivering low hydro rates the average stouffville customer gets a 7663monthly average rate compared to 8102 in new market 8115 in markham 8212 in uxbridge and 9230 in toronto in terms of electricity stouffville out shone 306 utilities across ontario said local electric utility manager nick tatone eighteen months ago whit- churchstouffville hydro electric commission introduced a radical change including a restructuring program it involved eliminating six jobs selling assets and con tracting the work out results were immediate an instant 11 per cent rate reduction was realized last february local hydro com missioners predicted theyd see 344000 in saving this year they were wrong they saved 650000 customers reaped the rewards the towns 3200 customers each got a rebate a 100 credit ap plied to the monthly bill tatone stressed that there are many issues facing the utility in dustry today changes in the elec tricity industry are taking place world wide said tatone restructuring is needed he stressed its a must to survive said tatone the local commission is looking at extending its boundaries to ser vice such hamlets as musselmans lake amalgamation with others within york region is being con sidered town we have to move forward the ratepayers have to benefit he said the macdonald report commis sioned by the province to look at the delivery of electricity recom mends that ontario hydro gets out of the retail business altogether ontario hydro is trying to replace utilities as the retailers of electrici ty said tatone he added ontario hydro has developed a 60 million customer system that duplicates the services offered by local utilities utility officials across ontario are waiting to see how the govern ment interprets the reform of ener gy services the province will look at size boundaries new roles and respon sibilities and ways to ensure effi cient performance of utilities said tatone town reps help draft report on yorks environment joan ransberry staff reporter when york region took the first step last month to prepare a major environmental report designed to protect our tomorrows stouffville was at the table the report expected to be final ized in 18 months covers key environmental factors air land water and social aspects whitchurchstouffville council lors mike johnson and ivanka bradley along with local resident ken jobe representing the sierra club of canada joined 70 others in the oneday task of coordinat ing the process linked to the regionwide state of the environ ment report this document is expected to set the standards for improving the environmental quality of the com munity said dr dean middleton epistemologist with the region of york through a letter written for the participants the health services depart ment in partnership with other governmental and nongovern mental organizations hopes to produce a document that describes the condition of the biophysical environmental as well as factors that affect or are affected by the state of the biophysical environ mental middleton stated middleton invited environmen tal leaders from government and nongovernment organizations to be partners in sharing their exper tise bradley said the release of this document should initiate an improved attitude by our munici pal administrators that to prioritize and include measures to enhance sustainable ecosystems within future planning proposals is a necessity to do otherwise would be to jeopardize the future health of residents living within our com munity she added the group includes the ministry of the environment and energy ontario ministry of agriculture metro toronto conservation authority ministry of natural resources ontario ministry of health university of guelph rouge park alliance and the environment municipalities of markham king and vaughan watson said while it is refresh ing to see someone trying to iden tify and document the environ mental concerns and in the future hope to have them dealt with it was very disheartening to speak with many representatives from the conservation authorities who have an abundance of information that is either being ignored or underutilized by our municipali ties harris gets an earful buying baubles candice rabe 10 helps sister kirsten 3 with a jewellery purchase at the recent fran sainsbury garage sale on ninth line in stoufiyille photo by sjoerd w1tteveen from page 1 really unbelievable the amount of change and the amount of work ahead municipalities outside metro are challenging the numbers presented by the province on the cost of ser vices they will soon be forced to pick up housing welfare child care go transit ambulance and police to name a few there is a 47 million differ ence in the numbers in york region alone cousens said we have to challenge that and we have to look at all the numbers in total the task force which plans to have its first meeting by the end of this week hopes to come up with a set of figures all stakeholders can agree on as they move towards implementing the provinces mas sive changes once we all agree and get those numbers on the table we can work on how to implement the changes cousens said also on the table was the thorny issue of tax assessment another responsibility municipalities will be expected to shoulder come next spring but cousens said harris seems sincere in not wanting to save money by raising property taxes he seems committed to the idea that property taxes remain revenue neutral he said i dont know how hell accomplish that water restrictions in place from page 1 residents with even house numbers can water their lawns on even days while residents of odd numbered houses can water their lawns on odd days from 6 to 10 am and from 830 to 10 pm while the restriction is in place an all out water ban has been averted in whitchurchstouffville so far residents of neighboring commu nities are hot as fortunate in new market and aurora a total ban on the outdoor use of water was put in to place yesterday this means resi dents of newmarket and aurora must stop watering the lawn filling the pool and washing the car houston ford mercury 1 998 contour bill houston ford mercury sales ltd 1 1 769 highway 48 stouffville 64q4541 auto air sport pkg 15 alum wheels leather wheel power mirrors windows locks cruise control wing spoiler remote keyless entry 24 month36000 km lease 2000 down 26863 taxes incl oac 5 vi to choose from see dealer for details oisll 7 mercury 6 a z 1 0 0 0 2 bloowngton i j z i j stouffville rd major mackenzie 1 our customers are tjhe focus of everything we do 1