Fire damages townhouses A fire destroyed two townhouses, caused $200,000 damage and sent one fireman to Whitby General Hospital Saturday evening. The fire started in the Byron Estates Condominiums at 100 Mary St. W. owned by the Sorichetti brothers. The call ·went out to the fire department at 5:30 p.m. and when they arrived on the scene two con- dominiums (units 17 and 16) were already engulfed in flames. The department had the fire un- der control within one hour, but not before a firefighter was injured. In one of the condominiums, Capt. Bob Marshall fell from the top floor to the basement when a staircase to the top floor gave way. Marshall was taken to hospital but was treated and released later that evening. No one else was hurt in the incident. An investigation has begun into the cause of the fire but- a propane heater being used to dry plaster is believed to be the cause. Town should consider school space: resident CLEAN-UP A FIREFIGHTER begins the arduous job of cleaning up after a fire at Byron Estates Condominium Saturday evening. The fire, which is believed to have been started by a propane heater, caused $200,000 damage and sent one firefighter to hospital. More housing development west of the recently announced Monarch subdivision has prompted further concern about student accom- modation in the area. Hobbs and Jaciw Investments Ltd. has made application to per- mit a subdivision on a 10-hectare (25-acre) property immediately west of the proposed Monarch sub- division, north of Dundas St. W. At a public meeting last week, a nearby resident, Geoff Fox, says more school facilities are needed because existing schools are filled to capacity. He suggested that the Town and Durham Board of Education con- sider the effect of development on student accommodation. "The total plan should be taken into consideration," he said. Councillor Gerry Emm agreed that there is a problem since the board "cannot build schools as developments come on stream " and has problems later "trying to get schools. "We have to try'and face that problem with the board," he said. Mayor Bob Attersley said, however, that committee can't comment on school facilities. Administration committee chairman Marcel Brunelle told Fox that the Durham Board of Education has the opportunity to Further cuts possible in sehool budget The Durham Board of Education finance committee will review fur-' ther cuts to the 1987 budget that so far projects an average mill rate increase of 10.3 per cent over last year. - Whitby trustee Ian Brown, finan- ce committee chairman, presented an update on current budget projections at Monday night's meeting of the board. Pending further revision, he said board expenditures would increase 15.4 per cent over last year but that "higher than expected" provincial grants and the overlevy reduce the mill rate impact to 10.3 per cent for the region overall. The impact on individual municipalities ranges from a low of 9.5 per cent increase on Whitby ratepayers to a high of 11.19 per cent for Pickering. He proposed three areas in which further cuts could be made - the $21 million budget forecast for capital construction; a reduction in the 68.7 additional staff positions approved earlier by the board; and a reduc- tion of $400,000 in general expen- ditures such as for the block budget and textbooks. Oshawa trustee Don McIlveen said any mill rate increase of more than 10 per cent is "unacceptable" with the inflation rate at only four per cent and increased grants from the province. "I don't know that there is any magic number," said trustee Dun- can Read. He argued that cuts in staffing and capital spending have to be regarded "with a fair amount of care" since some projects are "vital" for quality of education. He added it would be "political folly" to eliminate one project to finance another. Brown says the committee will make final adjustments to the budget April 1 and will then bring forward the budget for board ap- proval April 13. comment on applications before the Town. 'We have our job and the school board has their's. If we do their job and they do our job, then we're going to have a mess," said- !Brunelle. He added that the Town.. does discuss concerns with the board. Planning director Bob Short said the board will be consulted about school sites. He noted that students from the future Monarch sub- division will be going to E.A. Fair- man School. The board made no request for a school site in the Monarch sub- division, which will have 345 homes, since a walkway is to be provided. On Monday night, the board SEE PAGE 3 IAt'* $' 4 4 4 4 4 * 4~~~ 4 4i $ 444 4 ~ ~ 4$4i 4t II. 44'~4$~'j$' $ 4$ 44 t.f~, ~ $ 44 4* 4 444 $ $44 I¶ 4 t 444 44 4$ ttV4? 4~ *4~1 ~ 4 44 4 **...~*,~44A 4 44 44 ~4 $ 4 4 4 4 4444A 44 1 4$ *.44>.'..T . . AL ~ 444O 444 4 4*4 **s4*e t4 4444t4$4 I44 j I At Local NDP to soon announce candidates Candidates for the NDP nomination in Durham Centre will likely be announced within the next two weeks. "We're looking forward to more than one çandidate," says Don Stewart, president of the riding association. "We have some people who are interested." He would not identify possible contenders but said some are "high profile locally." The nomination meeting will be held Monday, April 27 at the Canadian Auto Workers Hall on Bond St. in Oshawa, just within the Durham Centre riding boundary.