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VOL 14 NO PAGES Since ONTARIO FEBRUARY NEWMARKET CENTS Oklahoma alive at Huron Students at Huron Heights are not spring but doing something about it The schools production of Oklahoma is designed to beat the winter blahs A picture appears on Richardson returns to SLSCA chair George Richardson has been returned as chairman of the South Lake Simcoe Conservation Authority For this and other articles see page Pressure clinic a soaring success Organizers of fast weeks blood pressure clinic at Upper Canada Mall were overwhelmed by the response feature writer Alice reports on page Tigers roar into playoffs The Aurora Tigers launch Ontario Hockey Association Provincial Jr A playoff action this week A rundown on the schedule for their quarterfinal series with North Bay Trappers appears on page IB Careers Day a success Newmarket High Schools Careers Day has been described as a suc cess For details see page volunteers are busy Ever wonder how active those hospital volunteers really are Mary McGouen has the answer on page Huron scoops loop title Huron Heights defeated Newmarket High last week to finish in first place in York North senior boys basketball Details appear on page DIRECTORY Athletic briefs IB Chess game of week Classified Court news Entertainment Roy Green Spurts Topics Town Back off or out chief tells Twi n n ey By BOB MARTIN Era News Editor NEWMARKET York Regional Police Chief Bruce Crawford has called for the removal of commission member Ray Twinney if he Newmarket commissioner doesnt apologize for or retract charges against the force In an Era story last week Mr Twinney charged that of ficers are under orders to charge everyone that moves and walks I just find those statements so disturbingly irresponsible because theyre all lies Chief Crawford told The Era Friday Mr Twinney had charged that the forces traffic en forcement program is as rigid as hell that officers are not allowed to use discretion and must charge all drivers travelling seven miles over the speed limit Prior to leveling the charges Mr never sought figures to back up his claims Chief Crawford said While Mr Twinney was also critical of a newlyintroduced spot check program he claimed placed a heavy emphasis on charges against drivers not wearing seat belts figures released Friday by Chief Crawford show only seat belt summonses have been issued since the program started Jan A total of cars have been stopped said the chief with drivers cautioned for seatbelts and impaired charges laid He didnt even ask for those statistics Chief Crawford said Hes had his last free shot at his force Chief Crawford said three men were handpicked for the twoman spot check team The officers were selected on their ability to deal with the public he explained They are out there see CHIEF page 3A v- I fi a could go 43 higher AURORA Newmarkets public school supporters face a to increase in their educational taxes on a home assessed at if York County Board of Educations budget is accepted as presented here last week A homeowner who paid 358 in public school taxes last year would pay between and 401 this year according to current projections t i i JH ST ANDREWS ANNIVERSARY St Andrews Presbyterian Church in Newmarket marks its anniversary Sunday with special services at II am and pm A highlight of the anniversary year was dedication of a stained glass window to the memory of former minister Rev Dugald and his son Bill Current St Andrews minister Craig rear admires the window with John an Aurora resident and grandson of The highest possible in crease is still less than that in when public school education taxes on the same Newmarket home climbed In East Gwillimbury the projected budget represents a to increase on a home assessed at The increase represents a to per cent mill rate jump projected by board officials During the Wednesday night session trustees were presented with preliminary spending estimates totalling 743 million up per cent from 68 million Such an increase in spend ing coupled with the jump in grants and assessment would normally limit the mill rate hike to eight per cent board finance and administration superin tendent George Ford told trustees Mr Ford however estimated mill rate increases in the 10 to 12 per cent range due to the use of deficit and surplus accounts to offset 1976 lax increase Last year trustees approved a per cent tax increase using about million from the 1975 surplus and the reserve for working funds to cushion a projected per cent lax hike Last years action has been felt in this years budgeting education director Sam Chap man old last weeks session In we did not pay our way he explained We spent more money than we raised Aurora trustee Norm Welter said last years decision to use the reserve and deficit accounts will haunt us 4 million and was the biggest single mistake the York County board ever made he added Theres no way this budget can go through without major surgery Trustees have an op portunity for that major surgery at least three more scheduled sessions beginning Monday and con tinuing Wednesday Feb 23 and See SCHOOL Page nfb man Committee rejects YR council expansion nominated for Oscar NEWMARKET A documentary film made by a Newmarket High School graduate and former Keswick resident has been nominated this year for an Academy Award Tony is producer of the halfhour documentary on Canadian artist David Black wood of Coburg Entitled Black wood the film deals with the etching process used by Mr Blackwood to turn out his dramatic scenes depicting Newfoundland life Among Mr Ianzelos other awardwinning films is one well- known in Newmarket Goodbye a documentary made several years ago on the cen turyold Newmarket Citizens Band During his career with the film board he has been cameraman director and producer and has made films in many parts of the world NEWMARKET The York Region administrative com mittee rejected the concept Monday of a southern- dominated region Although urged by Ontario Treasurer Darcy McKeough to adjust council representation according to a population base principle the committee will recommend no change to council Markham Council appealed to the province last year after it lost in several attempts to have its representation increased on regional council to reflect in creased local population The major concern is whether council is doing a good job noted Newmarket Mayor Bob Why is there need for change period asked the Newmarket mayor who claimed an adjustment for the sake of a numbers game was not an adequate reason Mayor Tony Roman and Richmond Hill Mayor Dave Schiller were outvoted Monday at the predominantly northern com mittee Although the administrative committee comprised of mayors of the nine municipalities plus Chairman Garfield Wright is heavily weighted in favor of the north representation at council is evenly divided Chairman Wright tips the council balance toward the north Of the nine municipalities only Markham has called for change to date However if council backs the committee recom mendation it is unlikely Markham will let issue die Mayor Roman said his council would consider petitioning Mr McKeough to set up a review of the regional operation Several alternatives were suggested by the committee including eliminating municipal Winter Carnival Sunday NEWMARKET Water slowly began to return to Fairy Lake Monday but authorities doubt the ice will be useable for this Sun days annual Winter Carnival The carnival will be held anyway say its sponsors the Newmarket Kinsmen Club and although free skating Is off the agenda there will be plenty of food drinks and activities and they will all be free this year South Lake Conservation Authority officials closed the gate on the Water St dam Monday but with the return of cold weather that day Peter Selbert admitted there is a good possibility the lake will not be safe for skating for the remainder of the winter He said this is the first attempt to refill the lake during the winter and officials dont know when it will be back to normal The lake has been drained since last November to permit repair work on the dam boundaries in favor of a wards system or shared representation between smaller municipalities One recommendation would weigh votes according to population in some issues particularly financial Opponents to representation by population arc concerned that northern municipalities would be dominated by a southern voting block With urban centres having the greater council represen tation council would become urban oriented Mayor commented He reminded the committee that there is nothing in Region of York Act requiring representation by population Mayor Roman recom mended council adopt representation by population based on one councillor to population which he claimed would not greatly change council According to that formula Markham would gain a coun cillor and in the near future Richmond Hill and Vaughan REJECT Page 2A to get petition on sewers NEWMARKET Two housewives who have gathered names on a petition opposing the January increases in the municipal water and sewer rates here were not mollified by Regional Councillor Ray Twinneys justification of the increases last week but they have discovered an awful lot of other people were Mrs Carol Green and Mrs Susan Jones both of the Bayview Hills area arent quitting though They plan to send their petition to Bill Hodgson in the hopes that the Ontario government will do something to lower their rates Last Wednesday Mrs Green still had hopes of collecting signatures from at least half the homes in town before shipping the petition to Queens Park but Monday night she said hey would send the collected early in the campaign and leave it at that She indicated no signatures have been added since the petition was tabled at the Feb 7 council meeting It drew a detailed explanation for the higher sewer and water rates from Mr Mrs Green who stressed the petition is an independent effort by herself and Mrs Jones said during their canvass of four streets in Bayview Hills in late January early February they signed up almost every home contacted But she said people arent signing now When a spokesman for the two women Ray Snow of spoke to town council last week Mr maintained that the new user- pay billing system which links sewer charge to the amount of water used each month is the only fair way to pass along the towns increased costs on the two services He said the new rates are guaranteed until 1980 and that the userpay formula guaran tees large commercial in dustrial and institutional users will be paying their shares Mr Twinney also contended that water used for gardens and swimming pools eventually seeps into the sanitary sewer system Mr Snow contended it is unfair to charge a sewer rate on water put to such uses Newspaper theft charge is dropped NEWMARKET The case against a woman charged with the theft of a copy of The Era was withdrawn without ex planation in Provincial Court here last week Edith Mae Stamper 28 of Main St was charged after a woman was spotted by police removing a paper from a box on Main St in front of the post office without payment Finalized off icial plan could set off miniboom NEWMARKET Ontario Housing Minister John Rhodes signed Newmarkets official plan late Thursday afternoon opening the door for a start on construction this summer of two major projects and several smaller ones The major subdivision likely to get off the ground is the 369lot Paramount Developments Ltd project on the north side of Davis Dr east of Huron Heights Dr The Ontario Housing Cor porations third apartment building for senior citizens could also be started in Mayor Bob has A municipal aw to implement the new land use policy spelled out in the official plan must still be completed and approved but Mayor Bob indicated Friday he sees little to hold this process up He said the council com mittees working on the new bylaw should have their jobs completed by the end of March and council should be ready to present the zoning bylaw at public meetings by late May or early June I cant see any problems with the zoning bylaw it basically restates existing zoning said the mayor when asked if he foresees any delays similar to those which have afflicted the official plan over a six year period The ministers signature on the official plan does not in dicate the contentious downtown flood plain question has been resolved however said the mayor Although at press time he still had not received a copy of the plan signed by Mr Rhodes he thought Queens Park had simply excluded the downtown area from the plan leaving a solution to the problem to be negotiated later He said an East Gwillim town council objection which will require a minor wording change to a policy ef fecting land use along the Green Lane will also likely be referred to the Ontario Municipal Board for ajudication However since Newmarket has no objection to proposed change the mayor regards the hearing as a formality Mr said he was not upset by the provincial decision to simply leave the downtown area out of the official plan A town lawyer advised him that the move leaves the old official plan policy in force and the town is in control He said he feels the Timothy St site for the proposed senior citizens building will not be included in the portion of the downtown removed from the plan and thats the only major development down there in the next two or years The issue arose when the Ontario Environment ministry demanded that the South Lake Simcoe Conservation Authority an appointed body controlled by the ministry be given a veto over development on flood prone lands along the Holland River It wanted this policy written into the official plan Large areas of south Main St business district as well as commercial areas on Davis Dr would have been effected and the town council refused to give up control over them It argued controls must remain with the elected local council and not be given to the appointed conservation authority The Environment ministry refused to approve the official plan effectively stalling it and the mayor appealed directly to Housing Minister Rhodes whose ministry held final authority in the matter Lengthy negotiations were held prior to Thursdays signing by Mr Rhodes