School budget cutting hits snag Learning the new metric system isn‘t so hard when it's a game. Here at the 0. M. MacKillop Public School open house Thursday mother and child try out the bean bag toss with distance (continued from page 1) this year's budget was for in excess of $60,000,000. A subsequent figure called for $56,367,398. Mafia-type crime fight Barrett‘s motion would pare $695,605 from that last figure and it was that Barrett figure Chapman and staff were unable to meet. ‘ Couldn‘tbe done It just couldn’t be done without a disruption in services, Chapman said. They could cut down on utilities. of course, having it colder in the schools in the winter and hotter in the summer. “That would save a bit of energy,†Chapman said. 7 In his stand against the proposal to defer. Houghton said he was “upset when I hear that we‘re cutting for the reasons being given." Cutting out textbooks plus certain programs. for example. was "absolutely disgusting." Wider perspective “It‘s time we looked at York County as a whole and not just our own areas." Houghton said. overpoliced.†Such things as cost of living and extra services required money. As a parent he was concerned about his child getting “an inferior “I don‘t see it as holding a gun," replied Judge Lyon. “It indicates we’re prepared to carry out our responsibilities." ’ Minds open He said, however. he didn‘t want the region to think “our minds are closed and that we wouldn't listen if they said we were (Continued from Page 1) with the commission‘s decision. “I don’t think the board should take that stand," said Commissioner Twinney. "We don't want them (the region) to think we‘re holding a gun to their heads.†Bean bag game teaches metric The Liberal is published each week by Metrospan Pub|ishing Limited, This newspaper is a member of the Canadian Community Newspaper Association and the Audit Bureau of Circulations. VOL. 98 NUMBER 45 10101 Yonge Street. P.O. Box 390. [AC 4Y6 Ontario TELEPHONE â€" 884-8177. 881-3373 CLASSIFIED â€"- 884-1105. 881-3373 CIRCULATION - 884-0981 Home delivery of The Liberal is 80c every four weeks: by mail $9.90 a year in Canada. $15.00 a year outside of Canada. No local mail delivery where carrier service exists. EtcldA 013112 liberal Advertising Director â€" Murray Skinner Production Manager â€" Norman Stunden Business Supervisor -â€" Mrs. Dorell Stong Circulation Director â€" Peter Line Art Director â€" Louise Zavarella Second Class Mai! Registration No. 0190 education." because the cuts proposed _werre ip tha_t area. George Ford, superin- tendent of business. said they were “beginning to hurt now†in the area of supplies. 'l‘imeimportant He said. also, it was im- portant to set the budget before the end of June, so that they could requisition the municipalities for their payments. ' He said the board “was concerned only with dollars and not with education.“ Fellow Richmond Hill Trustee Douglas Allen said the board couldn't set the budget until it knew what the teachers‘ salaries would be. - At the moment. the board was $1 million under requisition. Government grants were based on the 1974 budget and wouldn’t be adjusted. so were also below normal. At present, the board was “running around in circles. lopping off hererandAthgrer.†He also wondered if the board had enough money to operate for the next few weeks. If the board would give staff permission to spend up to 85 percent of last year‘s budget instead of the present 50 percent they could get by. May 14. 1975 marked out to 200 centimetres or 20 decimetres, whatever your choice of measuring unit. The players are Mrs. Anne Austin of 163 Altamira Road and Chris. Commissioner Roman recommended any talks with the region should be done “in closed shop.†“A lot of councillors won‘t ask questions when the press is around,†he said. When the motions were passed, no recommendation was made to hold a closed meeting. “Well, they asked a lot of questions at the last meeting,†remarked Commissioner Twinney. No date has yet been set for the discussions. \‘ID Ford said A subsequent motion to this effect was approved by the board. The mbtion to defer was lost. He said he “hdd enough confidence in the staff" to feel they couldn’t reduce the budget by $695,000, if that’s what they had said. Deferral defeated Also objecting to any deferral of the staff report was Trustee Donald Cameron of Vaughan. Trustee Donald Cousens of Markham then moved that the committee of the whole get together on the budget again before May 23. Meeting May 26 The motion was approved, but the date was later changed to May 26. the date of the next board meeting, when it was felt everyone would be able to be there. Trustee Gary Adamson of Markham said the board could set the budget at $56.1 million, as per the revised draft, “and tell the staff, teachers and everyone that is the amount they can spend†The meeting will start at 6 Need careful look Before striking the budget, EARLY ADVERTISING DEADLINES Due to the Monday. May 19 (Victoria Day) Holiday. advertising deadlines for The Liberal are advanced for the Wednesday, May 21 issue. Please note these deadlines for the coming week: The Liberal wishes you an enjoyable long weekend. SPACE RESERVATION . . . . . FRIDAY, MAY 16 12:00 NOON copv DEADLINE . . . . . . . . FRIDAY, MAY 16 2:00 PM. Wednesday. May 21st Issue These were the first questions asked by Ward 4 Ratepayers in an informal meeting with Richmond Hill Council in the auditorium of Richmond Hill High School Monday evening. What will they mean to us in terms of time, bulldozers and end result? What are the im- provements which are about to be made at the Mill Pond? (Continued from Page 1) “Many people in Vaughan would like to have an MPP." he added. “This is where the action is.†He is not overlyâ€"confident about his chances of being nominated and then elected because he is not known in the more populated areas of the riding â€" Newmarket and Aurora. The riding is now held by Progressive Conservative Bill Hodgson, who will be seeking his third consecutive term in the election expected some time this year. In 1971, Hodgson polled 15,556 votes while Liberal candidate George Timp§on, an Aurora Councillor, received 6,094 and Bob Lewis of the NDP received 8,043. [The riding boundaries will not be the same this time, however. A new electoral map, approved in the Ontario Legislature May 2, puts Vaughan in York North for the first time. Other municipalities in the riding include King, Aurora, Newmarket and Whitâ€" church-Stouffville. The Thornhill portion of Vaughan, east of Bathurst Street, will remain in York Centre which is now held by MLA Don Deacon. Deacon the board should examine carefully the salary situation at the secondary level. Chairman Donald Sim said. York North Grits They should also “take a .hard look†at the 15 percent salary increase proposal. If they ended up with a surplus, so be it; ditto if a deficit. Adamson said they need the negotiation figures, or “an approximate guess†of the salary figures. Chapman said they had usually done it that way and had to “stand or fall on their estimate." Victoria Day came to Rich- mond Hill a little early this year -â€" on May 13 â€" when the Ontario Safety League conducted a fireworks supervisors’ course in the arenas in the town park. Teachers' salaries At the previous budget meeting, at which staff was asked to cut $695,000, teachers’ salaries were estimated at $33 million. Anyone handling firew0rks in a major display is required to have passed this course by provincial legislation. It got underway at 9 am and after three hours of classroom instruction the students put their newlyâ€" gained knowledge of the correct method of handling fireworks to work outside the arenas with loud bangs and puffs of smoke‘in the sky. At that time, Chairman Sim said the figure represented 60 percent of the bu’dget Having experienced the same thing a year ago, the residents and workers in the neighborhood went about their regular routines un- disturbed. ouncil explains Mill Pond improvement By Mary Dawson Sounds of war More than 50 ratepayers attended the meeting to take advantage of the opportunity to freely ask questions of council. York North Liberal Association meets May 21 in Aurora High School but will only nominate a candidate if an election is called before then. has announced he will not seek re-election. Mayor Britnell was first elected Mayor in 1972. It was her second try for the seat. Hollingshead has been a councillor in Woodbridge and Vaughan since 1949, but lost a bid for Vaughan region council seat in 1971. He recently closed his Woodbridge men’s wear shop. Ward 4 Councillor Marylo Graham came prepared with a photographic map of the Mill Pond area and with the help of Ward 6 Councillor Mike Burnie she explained the work which will begin within the next few days. Already the water level in the pond has been lowered, she pointed out, and a Store Hours: Monday thru Friday 9:30 9350 Yonge St., Richmond Hill - 884-0444 ratepayer commented, of surviving their trip “And there’s a lovely through the hose. stench". Mrs. Graham agreed and warned there would be more unpleasant odors while the work progresses, but it is hoped to control this as much as possible by the liberal use of lime. Building dam Heavy duty equipment will be moving in within the next few days to build a cofferdam at the north end of the pond and the scrub bush which is decaying and adding to the pollution of the pond water will be cut. The “very good“ swamp will be preserved for nesting grounds. she said, and mature trees which exist will also be preserved. Once the cofferdam is built, the sluice gates will be closed and the water level will go up again. A big sucking machine will suck up the sludge from the bottom of the pond and deposit it behind the cof- ferdam, where it will dry out. The machine has no blades, she said, and although some fish will be lost, it is believed that if any small ducks are sucked in they will have a good chance Hillcrest Mall. Limited hours Mrs. Graham told the ratepayers that the con- tractor had wanted to operate from 8 am to mid- night but the town had had this reduced to a 12 hour operation from 8 am to 8 pm and the whole process will take 18 to 19 weeks. “By that time all the sludge will be packed in behind the cofferdam and when it has dried out, it will be seeded and will become part of the intensive use area of the park," Mrs. Graham said. “We know it will not be altogether a happy ex- perience for those living in the neighborhood but are assured the duck eggs should be hatched andthe young ducklings well on the way to development. When the work is done the pond will be restocked with fish." Better fence Residents of the area reported on the need for a better fence around the play area, to prevent small children from dashing out into traffic on Mill Street and the elimination of a road which was installed at the “We have dogs. we have jeeps, we have motorbikes, in fact we have everything in the park right now. And it‘s adults who are involved not children," said one woman. time the island was built in the pond. Mrs. Graham promised to take these suggestions back to the parks department. Othei‘ ratepailers wanted to know if policing of the park will impi‘ove. Later she commented the only recreational pursuits in the shelter built some years ago in the north end of the park by the Rotary Club is wine and beer drinking. Conservation contract Mayor David Schiller noted the contract was let by the Metro Conservation Authority and bidders were allowed to choose the method of cleanup. The successful Bidder had based his proposal on the suction method. “From the amount of stuff that has been dumped into the pond over the years, including an old .furnace from the town hall," said Councillor Andy Chateauvert, “this is no doubt the best way of dealing with the problem."