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bcmmiif4samtii6aiwa- crews through town staff photosjoerd w1tteveen woodbine avenue in vandorf was closed to through traffic tuesday while construction crews worked to build a culvert at the whitchurch stouffville museum the work is part of a regional road improvement program town additional costs for station will come from reserve funds chief eyes operating budget to hire more firefighters 0 from page 1 than anywhere else in whitchurch- stouffville carroll said ballantrae will be the fastest- growing part of stouffville in the next five years he said and that forecast was a key fac tor in planning the new fire hall brown agreed hiring additional firefighters all depends on what money is available chief bill brown the growth in this area will be phenomenal itll be more than anyone realizes he said next year the first phase of ballantraes mature adult community made up of 900 homes will be complete as well an 80home subdivision is being built close to the hall brown said bh while the new facility will not include an ambulance service it wul be equipped to accommodate an emergency operation centre mark carroll ballantrae to have most growth including an emergency standby power system in the event of a disaster whitchurch- stouffville will be ready brown said the one- andahalf storey fire hall includes a 36- vehicle parking lot some fur nishings will be moved in september while the entire station should be up and running some time in october carroll said the hall design includes a garage with equipment rooms a two- storey administrative office and a training room with a secondfloor central emergency command cen tre despite the cost the project will not impact on taxes additional money will come from the towns reserve fund council may have to look at adding a few more volunteer fire fighters brown said hiring all depends on what money is avail able he said the hall design includes a garage with equipment rooms a two administrative office and a training room with a secondfloor central emergency command centre while amalgamation is the way of the future for much of the greater toronto area fire stations in small municipalities are not about to close and be swallowed up by the largest departments he said a recent york region study sug gests fire services be amalgamated in the regions larger municipalities including markham richmond hill newmarket aurora and vaughan smaller towns including whitchurchstouffville will contin ue to operate independent fire departments growth ballantrae in midst of mini building boom plans stay on course purchasers buy into complete lifestyle by joan ransberry staff writer its work in progress in ballantrae this summer developerbuilder schickendanz brothers is taking full advan tage of the recent dry spell its weather fit for a builder and when youre building a mature adult lifestyle community every day counts the over 50s are taking an interest as well as residents of the hamlet potential buyers are keeping an eye on construction of the ballantrae golf and country club on hwy 48 at aurora road its well under way any day now the 18hole semiprivate course will be seeded itll be ready for play in the spring of 2000 said bob forhan jr spokesperson for the forhan group the championshipstyle golf course managed by john mclellan includes numerous storm water ponds the ponds are huge the water does not come from the communal well forhan said construction of the projects sewage treatment plant will also get under way soon it all seems to be happening now forhan said and construction of phase 1 made up of 250 homes starts in the spring meanwhile the marketing begins this fall the first house should be occupied one year later people have been calling yes theres inter est forhan said the first of the planned 25000 trees have beenplanted on the 422- acre site which includes walking trails the development managed by the forhan group will involve five phases spread over 15 years about 90 cluster condominiumstyle hous es will be built each year when were finished this will be the greatest thing that has ever hap pened to whitchurchstouffville coowner gus schickedanz said each of the housing units will be situated so that it backs onto a nat ural or recreational feature leaving the impression of a seamless rear yard he said of the entire development 75 per cent will be open space some existing woodlots will see minimum encroachment and the develop ment of some golf course holes will occur on the edge areas so that the internal woodlots will remain fully intact forhan said last year audubon international chose the ballantrae golf and country club as the first project in canada to be accepted into the signature status program staff photosjoerd witteveen john mclellan manager golf operations for ballantrae golf and country club now being built off hwy 48 and aurora sideroad stands on a hillock which will be a parking lot at the new clubhouse the site views the ninth and 18th green with and one pond la re a ire imi the frederick horsman mamljam varley art gallery of markham wssifit 951 i markham museum historic village new this year courtyard art apy the gallery p i v july3lst- coun jamts several local artists will sell their masterpieces on patio drop in july 3lst august 1st tofy s mmh back by popular demand 1 pm to 5 pm pioneer games wagon rides and farm animals