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Engineer warns against delay on necessary arena repairs Although the steel structure of the arena is in excellent shape timbers are rotting engineer Art Johns told members of Acton Board of Parks and Recreation Committee Thursday night Mr Johns who recently completed a report containing recommendations on inadequacies in the building which should be given immediate attention would not say the building should be condemned but warned against delay on top priority repairs In answer to a question from councillor Orval Chapman on why one wall only of the building could not be repaired this year Mr Johns warned It boils down to how long have you got To say will it go today or tomorrow you cant predict You re putting this off for a year and it might go next winter When chairman Peter Marks asked Mr Johns opinion about carrying out repairs over a two year period he replied he t see how work could be done piecemeal Everything recommended in he report is interlocked he said Once you move your work force in you might as well do it all he advised According to the report areas requiring immediate attention arc as follows of columns must be cleaned of alt rust and painted with zinc rich paint Cross bracing in roof must be tightened South wall must be rebuilt below seating and new footings installed North wall must be partially rebuilt below seating Walkway must be relevelled and resurfaced Ninety Fifth Year No ACTON ONTARIO WEDNESDAY APRIL 22 East and west walls must be strengthened Drainage below seating must be improved Mr Johns went on to say the south side of the building sliould not be used at events attracting large crowds 25 000 of the total estimated cost of repairs would be used on the south side he said The entire building would not have to be closed down in orderjfor repairs to start he said Stands would have to be closed down but the arena surface could still be used Regarding condemning of the building Mr Johns suggested the board contact the Department of Labor for a decision Because so many unknown factors exist Mr Johns recommended the board not go to tender I don t think you could get a good lump sum bid on this he said Twenty Pour Paget Fifteen Cent Deputy Reeve upset by education levy POSSIBLE MILL TWP TAX HIKE Possibilities of a 10 mill tax rise for Township residents loomed Monday as members of Council approved estimates for 1970 spending Mill rates will be formally set for approval at May meeting The amount to be raised by taxation for general purposes rose from SIS 400 last year to this year Last year the Department of Municipal Affairs had grunted approval to reduce working capital by 000 Similar approval was not available this year official explained Total spending for general purposes is estimated at wilh revenue of in grants licenses permits and 000 from the capital reserve fund decreasing the amount to be levied by taxation Expenditures for roads are estimated at 129 and this amount reduced through grants to the township s share at 000 Last year the township share was The county rate will require from the township compared with last year s 40 Education costs of 067 Weve cut and sliced everywhere says reeve this year show a major increase over last year 278 the only part of the Finance Committc report submitted to Council Monday come under attack Deputy Reeve Gordon emphasized he could not support the Board of Education levy He pointed to a county increase of 000 000 which he maintained he could He conscicnt support suggested as lung as the municipalities keep collecting the cducat on rate it would keep Reeve A Mac Arthur just back from discussions with the Minister of Education told members ihc Minister had indicated he felt the Hal ton Board had done a good job Councillor A Ackman pointed Hear hear Railway hearings shadow boxing Standing up for the people is like being in favor of motherhood in the eyes of Railway Transport Committee commissioners Rud Whiting told the House of Commons last Wednesday April In a many faceted speech Mr Whiting called for a national transportation policy that would take into on the loss of railway service to smaller communities There is a growing transportation problem in this country and the railways must provide part of the solution said the M Highways cost money and if the railway will lessen the need for highways why should we demand that every branch line and every station has to pay its way he asked It would seem that in any decisions that arc funded down by the Transport Commission the benefits that would accrue to the railroads arc always upheld Of course the plea of the railroads at any of these hearings is the need for economy but arc the railroads the only cons deration in cases of this kind I believe that decisions of this nature have broader implications and go far beyond the Canadian Transport Commission Mr Whiting told the Commons that over the past two years ho had been called upon by three munic pahtics in s id ing- Acton Milton and Georgetown which have received what might almost be termed ultimatums from our national railways It would appear that when either of the railways set upon a course of action there is little that be done to slop them It true that hearings are held but having tended and participated the hearing held in Acton I am convinced it is little more than shadow boxing Whiting charged The communities have really no facilities at their disposal while the railways appear with their experts armed with their slide rules and brief case loaded with data and statistics but not necessarily relevant facts It all looks very sincere honest and impressive but it thing always seems there is overlooked the people Mr also scored the lack of cooperation between i Iways and the province underlining the astronomical cost of building highways which the railways aggravate by taking away many of the services Hear hear some MPs interjected when Mr Whiting called for a national transportation policy Select 60 from crowd for further drug session The excellent turnout of the Addiction Rescan at the first meeting of drug education necessitated a re think Monday of the planned program With Peg Palmer the county consultant from ch Foundation strongly recommending a smaller group 60 were selected from Monday on Page out the Board was bound by provincial legislation He noted the province sets the provincial equalization factor used in calculating the percentage municipality pays of the total cost Mr maintained costs should be levied on the basis of per pupil cost rather than assessment Deputy Reeve Agnew argued that if the province can give forgivable loans lo ndustnes they can come up with the money to assist municipalities like Nassagaweya The spending for the Eden Mills Police Vllage wll be Special meet for budget Acton Board of Parks Management and Recreation Committee has decided to call a special meeting of the administration committee in an effort to determine ways and means of slaying within their budget Acton council finance committee recent slashed 500 off community centre operations budget SI off parks operation and another 4 000 off the capital budget proposed for developing parks Vicechairman Bob suggested the special meeting There are some major shifts we re going to have to make he predicted Increase of fees and reduction of were two of the poss bihties he mentioned Mr was also concerned the board had not yet received a written document council had promised to supply explaining cuts n the budget It was volunteered there would be some guidance from council he recalled Chairman Peter Marks agreed We were counting on this correspondence we were promised he On the subject of government grants the vicechairman said that under the present circumstances the board should make sure it applies for the highest amount of grants possible Mr Marks volunteered to contact clerkadministrator Joe Hurst about the matter Change Sat PO hours Effective April port off hour in Acton wilt dung on Saturdays to 8J0 to 1230 MP Rud Wnhmg told tht Press this week Savaral Acton businessman requested a change in hours to enable them to gat thaw mail DAVE METCALFE OF ERIN receives the keys to a new Ford Torino from Acton Tncounty Minor Hockey Association president Hon McKnkjht while Thompson Motors Pat Patterson adds hi Mr Metcalfe the father of three children won the car in the minor hockey association club draw Staff Photo open in the mornings They that the previous hours from am to 1 mad it difficult for people with just one person tn the store or office to collect mail without closing down The Post Office Department made a compromise opanmg to instead of the suggested 8 to 12 noon comparable to last year but the estimate goes from 100 last year to an estimated Ihis year as a result of the project approved earl by residents AlI Tire Area contributions will go 4 to this year while Milton Fire Area rises from lo We vc and sliced everywhere we could Reeve A MacArthur suggested as she referred the report of the finance A request from ihc Milton Recreation Committee for consideration of a grant since township res dents were among the participants programs was denied It was noted similar requests had from Acton Councillor Alan suggested the groups be thanked it might be noted the townsli would be interested in discussing the proposal next year We have be pretty careful this year the reeve concluded ARENA MANAGER Harold throws little light on of the rotten timbers in the south wall of the arena A recently completed engineer report has listed the south wall at of the areas requiring immediate rtfpalr Staff Photo George favors waste disposal plant near Acton Accord to daily press the Minister of Energy Jnd Resources George Kerr told gn up of businessmen recently res dents of North should nut be o in turning away pioposed garbage disposal plants like the one planned on the farm south of Acton Mr Kerr was reported to have said such plants should be established in rural areas to handle the growing mounds of garbage from urban areas Processing the refuse in city would cause heavy air pollution the reportedly old the businessmen Plants such as the one on Highway south of Acton could handle ihouunds of gallons of proposed plant i from similar Toronto A toured similar plant lo ir planned near I ere at Corunna near and wasn t impressed Plans for the waste disposal plant in arc presently before ihc ship plann board If the firm is successful in building they would handle both solid and industrial waste from Toronto Hamilton Kitchener and Burlington as well as from Acton Milton and Georgetown Mr Kerr is also reported to have said the plants will clim ihc need of dumping industrial waste n the open Residents in this area have become increasingly concerned liquid waste coming from plants about establishment of the waste in Toronto daily Area residents disposal plant near their homes have protested establishment of and have formed a committee to plant as have people near a fight ihe project Drag strip trial in Milton May 11 A request for ihc continuation of a slop work injunction until tr on ihc Golden Horseshoe Dragway was dismissed by Mr Justice the Supreme of at Hall las week Lawyer Steven French made the request on behalf of in the or hem end of Esquesing who arc opposed to the construction of the However Mr French told the Free Press his week he applying for leave to appeal to Ontar o Court of Appeal and that work on the dragway will have to be slipped temporarily May 1 1 has been set as the date for a trial in Milton at which plaintiffs will claim noise nuisance and devaluation of property Mr French added Mr French had earlier secured a temporary stop work on from Mr Justice Haines Meanwhile Sixth Line resident Peter Bowman whose property borders on the proposed appeared at Monday night meeting of Esquesing Council question councillors about the township agricultural h bylaw The by law awaiting the approval of Ontario Municipal Board What s happening with the by law Mr Bowman asked council Clerk treasurer Delmar French replied he heard anymore about Mr Bowman said he had been advised by his lawyer plaintiffs could ask damages of council Then well go to the OMB deputy reeve Tom Hill snapped back That by law went down for approval reeve George assured Mr Bowman Deputy reeve Hill concurred You know as well as we do Peter that by law has been in the hands of the OMB for I don I know how long Mr Bowman next wanted to know if council had seen plans for the He claimed there had been no provision made for fencing between hit property and the Councillor Ken Marshall questioned whether council should have to worry about fencing He pointed out promoter Cait would be compelled to abide by very strict regulations laid down by the National Hot Rod Association Common sense dictates he won t get many entries unless he goes by the regulations councillor Marshall offered Councilor Miller suggested council pass a by law stating the times gates of the should be open and shut Councillor Marshall agreed certain restrictions should be placed on the He engines be allowed before 1 2 on Switch toDST Two dock the morning witching hour No hour Its 2 Sunday that clocks go forward an hour to start Daylight Saving Time for another season suggested r to start Sundays I don think there should be anything up there on Sundays whatsoever deputy reeve Hill added Reeve Curne was cautrous about imposing restrictions I not sine we should be doing anything when this is in the courts he said Reminding councillors Mr is talking about opening racing May IS Mi Bowman nude one final suggestion that council pass a bylaw saying they don want a drag strip in Esquesing The suggestion irritated deputy reeve Hill We gave hun permission to use that land as a drag strip the Continued on Page 3 Citation Saturday Tickets are still available for the Citizen of the Year douser dance this Saturday evening when young Steven be the guest of honor at annual event The he rescued from Fairy Lake be a pedal altender loo Scoutmaster Cordon read the citation to the brave young lad Scout leaden and the district consmissioacr will be here Rud Whiting it expected In charge of ticket sale an Don Lindsay and Dacve and anyone it welcome