Over 5 0 Homes hit... -Whitby Flooded- At Ieast 50 Whitby households were flooded in the early morning hours of August 27 when 3.26 inches of rainfail caused sewers to back up in a nurnber of neighbourhoods throu- ghout town. Victlms of the floodlng are stifi adding up the costs of the damage and town and regional works crew as weIJ as thxe Whtby Fire Department were out flrougb the nlght and the ensulng days assistlng with the clean- Up and openlxxg clogged waterways to ailow the waters to pass. Accordlng tb town administrator BiB Wallace there Is no ap- parent pattern to the floodlng and households were affected in many parts of town. Included in the list of streets where flooding was reported are Lupin Dr., Raglin St., King St., An- nes St., Chestnut St., Green St., St. Lawrence St., Mcuilogh St., Cassefls Rd. in Brooklln, Walton Blvd.,' Hutdxinsn Ave., Brock St., Star Ave., Miia St., Dundas E., Beilwood Dr., Henry St. and Rosedale Dr. Wallace said the floodlng was probabiy the worst, the town bas experlenced since 1971 when many downtown households were flooded followlng-record raina. In some cass, he said it was the sanitary sewers whlch backed up wbile In others it was the storm sewers. According to a press release issued last week by regional councillor Gerry Emin, acting Mayor, I"there ib no evidence to incicate that the municipality was negligent in the repair of any of the services under its junisdlction and therefore it does flot appear tbe town would bave any liabllity for property sustained as a resuit of tbe rainfalls." However, ini an inter- view last week, Emm said tbhey are instructing anyone wbo believes the town as negligent to submit a written notioe to the Town Clerk, Don McKay. Emm said the notice, should contain a detailed description of damages and photos where possible. Al dlaims are beîng referred 10 fixe town's iability Insurance people for further In- vestigation. Town works director Dick Kuwahara said fihe town is responsibie for storm sewers whlle Durham Region is responsible for Whtby's sanitary sewers. Accordlng 10 regional works director BiH Twelvetrees, as many as 500 households acros thxe reglon experienced similar floodlng. Like fixe town, fixe region bs referring ail liabllity dlaims to ils insurance people. However, fixe region also provides an ex gratta grant of $250 to assist victim~es of sanitary sewer problems with fihe dlean-up. Twelvetrees said cases of sanitary sewer back-up in fixe town ap- pear to be lsolated and are not restricted bo any one area of the town. Annes St. resident David Spencer said he and bis wile woke Up oni fixe mornlng of August 27 to find that' their basement had been flooded wlth two and a bal feet of santtary sewage. "My wile was fixe one who found il and she let out such a loud scream I came downst.airs bo see what bad bappened and tbought ob my god wbat's happened,"' said Spencer wbo was s1111 cleaning up Friday. SEEPG. 10 eVol. 16,No.35 Wednesday,SePtember 3,1986 24 Pages This year's Whitby Chamber of Commerce Marigold Contest winers in the residential eategory were William and Marg Bird. Marg is seen here with one of the many clumps of marigolds that grace the couple's property. Other winners in this year's competition were the BIA in the comnmercial category, Fairview Lodge in the institutional category and Andrew Antenna in the industrial category. The winners will be honoured at a special dinner at Cullen Gardenis September 5. Free Press Staff Photo Whltby Hydro Electric Commission workers are stifi on strike af 1er talks broke down last Friday between the utility and the 18 workera who-belong t0 the International Brotherbood of Electnical Workers Local 636. Manning the pickets outside the Hydre offices last Tbursday were workers Cec Jordison and Gord Mifflin.* Free Press Staff Photo Hydro workers still on strike Employees of fixe Whitby Hdyro Electric Commission are stiil on strike this week after talks broke down Friday between workers and fixe utility. The workers, wbo. are represented by fixe In- ternational Brotherhood of Electrical Workers Local 636, met witlx tbe local utility management and a provinciaily appointed mediator Friday in Osbawa. "I hope we can resolve Ibis thing but there's sill quite a gap there," said Local 636 business manager Lor- ne Barr. Barr said the union represents 18 Whitby Hydro workers wbo are seeking parity with Hydro workers in Ajax. A journeyman lineman with Ajax Hydro earns $17.18 an hour wbule in Whitby they earn $15.90. Altbougb tbe utility's workers have neyer gone on strike before, Barr said tbe workers deserve the same pay for performing fixe same job. They are also unhappy witb the fact that the utility wants to freeze the wages for meter readers, Barr said. According 10 Whitby Hydro generai manager Tom May, there are hopeful signa that the dispute can atml be set- tled but fixe strike will probably continue until talka resuine. [n fixe in- terim, May said fixe uttlity b endeavouring to provide a bigh level of service with as littie in- teruptions as possible. However, in the event of a major storm or power outage, May aaid it wiit take longer 10 reatore power than il would il the workers were on the job. May said there are two workers in management who are qualified to handie live wires and others wbo can work on fixe system once it bas been de- energized. "There have been no interruptions in service 50 far. I'mn sure they are trying to look after problima as beat they can but tbë' have 10 be falling behind," said union apokesman Barr. "They only bave fixe two qualified people in management so tbey're only dealtng with the immediate problema. If there's a serious. stormn and there are four or five poles down they could be in real trouble," said Barr. Apartment fire An early Saturday morning lire gutted an apartment and caused an estimated $35,000 damage, at an apar- tmnent building at 1625 Charles St. inWhitby. Tbree engines from the Wbitby Fire Station on Brock St. S. respon- ded b fixe lire and fireligbters bad the blaze out in 10 minutes, said Wbitby Fire Chiel, Ed Crouch. Crouch said the alarm was turned in by fixe oc- cupant of the apartment above the apartment with fixe fine, when a amoke detector went off. "This is a good case for amoke detectors saving lives, " said Chief Crouch. Croucb said the lire atarted in the living room of the second floor apartment, but fixe exact cause is stili un- der investigation. The building, wbicb, bouses 12 apartments, bad to be evacuated. Owner of fixe building and former publisher of the Wbltby Free Press, Michael Burgess, said damage wouid be clouer to $40,000 tlan $35,000. "There bs notblng left of that apartment," said Burgess adding that "the, fine department did an excellent job." No one was hurt in tbe fire. The occupants of the apartment, a busband, wife and two children were not home when the lire starteci. They are now staying with relatives. Marigold Winner