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fcvf st the tribune thursday march 26 1998 p 3 community has will to keep gallery alive from page 1 library program for 19 years while library board chair jan williams cited finances as a rea son for closure gallery supporters are insisting that over the history of the gallery the facility did not pose a burden on the taxpayers rather the gallery brought a cul tural enrichment to the town stressed gallery supporter sharon maude maude said she didnt know if mondays meeting would attract sharon maude standing and linda giles address the crowd gathered at the monday evening latcham gallery meeting photo by sjoerd witteveen eight or 80 people it was neither well over 100 turned up after the audience was given a brief history of the gallery and an update on its recent closure those attending put their heads together to iron out the first stage of a plan designed to establish an indepen dent gallery well pull this off said maude linda giles suggested the inter est the passion and the knowhow for a gallery to thrive exists in stoufrville when theres a will theres a way said giles with the full backing of the audience an agenda was struck a business plan including a budget will be presented to council as well a request for a municipal grant will be made a board will be set up and a townwide mem bership drive will be launched latcham gallery may be closed but its still very much with us said giles its an important asset to this community said giles when the library board ceased operations of latcham gallery it had 213 members its estimated that 9000 visitors passed through the gallery doors last year an independent gallery would cost about 90000 a year the financing could be a costsharing endeavour between the province the town fundraising individual donations and membership fees an independent gallery is whats been needed for a very long time said mayor wayne emmer- soh im pleased to hear that the meeting was so positive he said municipal funding for the gallery could be a reality within two weeks council could agree to the grant on the spot on april 6 said emmerson those attending the information meeting included stouffville and area artists as well as art teachers art lovers and many concerned cit izens jane warren art teacher at stouffville district secondary school stressed that the gallery is a cultural facility that doesnt cost the community rather it brings money into this community said warren the gallery should be governed by an independent board with an independent identity said doug alles an agreement with the library could be worked out he said stephen sword suggested the group sign a positionstatement to emphasize the desire to have a local art centre within stouf- fvilles boundaries artists have a reputation of being passive said artist gus wiesman its time the artists stood up for this facility he said dr ralph pohlam said the peo ple bent on keeping the gallery need to remain confident that it will work while most suggested latcham gallery remain where it is other options included locating it in the existing municipal office if this building is turned into a theatre centre maude reminded the audience that attending the april 6 meeting at latcham hall is critical to the gallerys future come to the council meeting on april 6 at 7 pm sharp lets show council were united and intent on keeping our gallery said maude zero budget depends on provincial figures joan ransberry staff reporter whitchurchstouffville deliver ing a zero increase budget might hinge on ontario premier mike harris keeping a promise while town council is expected to deliver its 98 budget on march 30 property owners will have to wait until late april or may to find out how it impacts on taxes the local mill rate will not be set until late april or may said mayor wayne emmerson the harrisled provincial gov ernment is expected to release the final figures for the cost of trans ferring responsibility for some services to municipalities until this is done council cant set the mill rate stressed emmerson harris did promise a revenue- neutral outcome for ontarios municipalities harris promised that the changes will be revenue neutral im holding harris accountable said emmerson in january the town learned that the revenueneutral promise translates into a 180000 shortfall in provincial transfer money for whitchurch- stouffville the big catch is the shortfall figure changes week to week town treasurer ed black burn reported even if the final figure is in the range of 200000 which reflects two per cent of the budget the town does have money in reserve blackburn pointed out provincewide harris is demanding that ontarios 815 municipalities cut more than half a million dollars from their bud- gets last year councils 132-mil- lion budget reflected a zeroper cent tax hike for whitchurch- stouffville ratepayers the aver age homeowner in whitchurch- council stouffville paid about 525 for the municipal portion of the threeway tax bill this year council is expected to earmark more money for roads than in previous years emmer son said 500000 is itemized for capital works this represents a 170000 increase for roads over last year in terms of road main- library expansion meanwhile tenance weve been keeping the proposed indoor swimming pace said emmerson pool will likely find its way into the big ticket items on this the 1999 capital budget said years capital budget are the emmerson alleged illegal clumping alarms pit neighbours i b from page 1 shut the operation down ago the gravel pit has caugh itention of the local mpp julia munro plans to visit the gravel pit next friday nei h ir d fockler wants home gravel operations at this pit ceased in 1984 at that time the owner was granted a licence by the ministry of natural resources to rehabil itate the site however in the past year it has been used as a dumping site taking such materials as road and construct r material v sabistonusedjt for different purposes reported kathy douglas of the mnr sabiston did however voluntarily surrender his pit licence i to the ministry of the natural resources a cleanup plan is hopefully being ironed out now said don mait- landof the ministry of the environment susane deeder of the moesaid theillegally dumped material will be hauled away by a certified hauler and placed in a ministry- approved land fill site sticky business hal horton spends time with visitors ester doucettc and david crosby at hortons tree farm where the sap is running photo by lori emmerson entertainment furniture 4747 hwy 7 east of kennedy unionville 9054775524 hiwkhwwwbbwbwlbpptiwiwwhbii until march 31