Renascent approved The Renascent Foundation alcohol treatment centre could be operating in Brooklin within a year following Whitby council's decision on Monday to approve the use in the Carnwith mansion. In often heated debate, council voted 5-2 in favor of the centre after overturning a recommend- ation from administrative committee to deny the app- lication. Committee members had said the centre was premature, noting that water and sewer services are not fully extended to Brooklin. But at council Monday night, at least four councillors said that Renascent had satisfactorily an- swered any concerns about water anr sewer. There may be politics entering this issue. I see no documented reason why water should be a problem," said councillor Marcel Brunelle, who earlier said he couldn't believe the reasons given for rejecting the treatment centre. Renascent proposed to construct a 9,000- litre storage facility for drinking water that would be be filled from the A heat wa ve: By Debbie Luchuk, Mike Johnston and Veronica Colangelo The scorching heat wave that settled upon Southern Ontario has locally meant power failures, increased public pool attendance and beer sales, restrictions on water, and skyrocketing sales of air conditioning units and fans, as the heat oppressed attempted to cool off. More serious consequences have been the deaths of seniors due to their inability to deal with the heat and a near disastrous drought continuing for Durham farmers. Both residential and industrial areas in town faced power outages during the weekend, the longest lasting five hours. There were at least three blackouts during the weekend, according to. Whitby Hydro manager Thom May. At least one-third of the homes and businesses in Whitby were without power from 2:30 a.m. to 7:30 a.m., Monday morning, July 11, when a main feeder Une broke down. In the area of Wenthworth St. and Thickson Rd. industries were also without power twice on Friday afternoon. Houses in the West Lynde subdivision were also affected. According to May, a blackout in the area occured at 1 p.m. when a substation on Thickson Rd. broke down. "There was a tremendous amount of power being used and it was very hot," said May. The same substation malfunctioned A POLICE OFFICER directs traffic at Brock St. and Dun- das when a power blackout affected the lights on Friday afternoon. Whitby residents and businesses faced two power outages Friday, one at 1 p.m. and the other at 3:30 p.m. Both were caused by a substation "malfunction" on Thickson Rd. Free Press photo Brooklin water system during early morning, or off peak, hours, according to Renascent officials. Renascent will also construct a 20,000-gallon reservoir for fire- fighting purposes. "I don't believe this will impact on the water situation. The real issue is not water and sewers but a social problem," said councillor Joe Bugelli, adding that council "shot down" Bluegrass Meadows, a non-profit housing proposal, because of "less desirable" people. "I see the similarities," said SEE PAGE 21 aths at Hillsdale, dro interruptions two hours later causing another blackout. May said the problem was a temperature coil that had been incorrectly calibrated. While Whitby hydro cannot yet supply figures, May said there was a record peak of power used during last week's heat wave. "Air conditiomers are a very high energy user," said May, adding that Whl<tby hydro is capable of handling the demand. The beer store at Dundas and Athol St. reported large lineups of customers this past weekend. An employee of the store said, "It was like Christmas, about the same number of people." Bridlewood Heating and Air Conditioning Ltd. sold out of air conditioning units on Saturday. Nancy Hawley of the company said, "We sold out mostly through Thursday and Friday. The last few sold on Saturday. "This happened last year around this time, too. It was crazy. "It's never too early to buy an air conditioner. Most people wait to buy until the last minute. We're booked up (for installation) until next Monday or Tuesday." Carolyn Allen of Whitby Parks and Recreation said use of the Kinsmen and Anne Ottenbrite pools was "extremely heavy, with lineups" over the heat wave. "I don't remember any time like this. It seems to me to be heavier (than last year)," she said. Both pools are open at various hours from Monday to Sunday. There have been several more negative aspects to the heat. The beach located east of Whitby Psychiatric Hospital has been closed by the Durham Region department of health due to high fecal coliform counts,. elevated by the high temperat- ures. Flows from Lynde Creek have also been mentioned as a possible cause for the beach closing. Although Whitby has had no water restrictions, neighboring Ajax-Pickering has had restric- tions on watering of lawns and other' "unnecessary" uses of water, according to Durham Region works commissioner Bill Twelvetrees. Farmers in Durham Region are facing a "very severe situation,' according to provincial agricultural representative for SEE PAGE 4 Returnedfrom Germany BETHENEY MAHEU shows off the pins she collected while travelling in Europe. Maheu attended school in Germany last year under the Rotary Club's annual ex- change program. While in Europe, she travelled to Sweden, Denmark, Belgium, Austria and East Berlin. Seestoryonpage2. • Free Press photo Cooking grease stolen more than 1,800 Ibs. of used cooking grease worth $180 was stolen from both Pat and Marios and Kentucky Fried Chicken between July 3 and 5. The grease was stolen from holding tanks. Police are investigating the thefts. 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