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One Hundred and Second Year No ACTON ONTARIO WEDNESDAY MAY 1 1977 Sixty PagesFifteen People power saves historic town hall People power won out day night and a stay of lion for the old Acton town hall was granted More than too Actomtes men women and children jammed Hills council chambers some carrying signs with Why All the Haste People before Money and many other catchy slogans made it clear to council they wanted to pre serve the old building George Elliott spokes man for Ihe enthusiastic group said the citizens felt they must do everything to save the last historic building in from the wrecker s hammer Quoting from Allan consulting engineer report he said the building is a fine example of 1800 architecture with the first and second floors appearing to be in good order He said the defective brickwork can be removed and replaced The report said there is only one crack in the foundation and there are no floor def in the first or second floors except at the rear of the stage stated the plaster and wood is in very sound condition pointed the Ontario Heritage Act helped municipalities to protect historic buildings The spokesman said more than older residents with memories of the building were eager to preserve the building said young people who had learned to appreciate historic buildings during their travels had also signed petition He said of the almost names on the petition were from young people of high school age Turning to the practical aspects Elliott Bug jested the financing does not have to be burden on the taxpayer llesiid the WO slated for demolition should be used constructively and mitclnne grants from and the Ontario Heritage invest filled He claimed other are available if recreation component such as senior citizens centre little theatre or choral group are included Acton has a history of funding in large part the things it wants by public sub scription rather than tax ation Elliott said everyone recognizes the need for more space for the fire department He urged council to complete the second storey of the fire hall at once and make the outside facade compatible with the present own hall lie claimed the auditorium could be made available lo the fire department by changing window to a doorway To ease parking problems the doctor suggested the police station be moved to another location and the property to the south pur chased for parking In conclusion the brief gested the setting up of a committee to investigate all aspects of the town hall restoration with the Ontario Heritage Foundation lo begin construction of the second storey of the fire hall to restrict parking around the fireball to firefighters and have the Hills Parking Authority investigate the purchase of property for parking Councillor Miller said his mam concern was space for the firemen He said the Acton firefighters want this location He claimed the stage could not be left when the second storey is added to the fire hall He said he was also looking at the tax dollars and the amount of money regional government is costing We re not proposing the taxpayers pay for it feel die people will be willing to Continued on page 2 SUN POURS IN from the ceiling skylight to brighten the front foyer in the new high school Workmen high atop scaffolds paint the ceiling bright yellow Stairways lead up to locker bavii the only place in the school the compartments will be located The school will be completed in time for September classes and an open house is planned for October pal Dean Fink Disston union out on strike Decoration Day is cancelled Hard pressed to even find enough members for a meet ing of the Decoration Day committee those attending agreed lo cancel the parade and service this year Dwindling attendance and lack of interest re suited in the decision Jessie Coles who headed the committee reported Ihe decision with regret Cm ida Union members walked off their jobs noon Monday and arc preparing for i strike to Union man Br an Workers re asking for package Mr told the tree has offered no cost of r hut i five shifts Mr McDonald said he hopes there will be mass picket a few limes week with all the part The police been notified of the strike inL lo the union member He told them the strike would be one and there Mould le no trouble Cruisers pass by the every few hours lo mike sure Ihe scene is quiet Union members have lire started tightening their belts in anticipation of lone strike Mr McDonald said eompany officials hue no comment on par ide here lias accepted an engagement elsewhere Both the Legion and the Lakeside chapter of the have agreed they will continue to plant geraniums on the graves of deceased members as they have done for For a parade has been followed by an inter service in Fanview cemetery donee has been falling with last years the lowest ever Actonians for action preparing their brief The for Action committee is prcpinng a on Bill 151 which set out regional government The deadline for acceptance of brief has been set ahead Committee members under chairman Papillon had difficulty at first obtaining topics of Bill 151 but have ob tained them and are meeting to compile their presentation per eent way hike but not retro letne I I when Ihe old contract was up The public relations man said the union is for an Ml cent an hour increase retro active but this is negotiable Mr McDonald told newspaper the company laid off of its I2r staff last Wed ncsday citing slack work Mr Donald slid the company said they would not lay the I J off if the entire company work week Union members turned Ihis he said Mr McDonald lined the union hopes to have these employees on the job when the strike is over Picket lines In ihe meantime picket lines have been set up at he plant Crews will be on six hour shifts to picket the building hours day Move to purchase Hotchens Hills works will recommend council proceed the third and reading of a by to purchase the s cry property on Willow for municipal parking lot Nielsen Hills arking reminded the eommittee Monday two reidings of the by 1 were given last year have been good enough not to iccept other offers so Ihe Candidates meet set A Meet the Candidates night will again be sponsored by Acton Chamber of Commerce It will be held Monday evening May 30 in the Robert Little school auditorium All three candidates have indicated that they will attend Recommended Parking remedies limits ticketing He said landlords have agreed to the mill rate hike which will pay for the off slreel parking while another haven Nielsen explained these are absentee landlords who will likely never say yes or no bo the town can go ahead and pass Ihe by law and they will have days to take up a petition against the plan He said if two thirds of the landowners in the down town area representing half of the assessment object then the plan will go down drain Nielsen added 42 of 53 merchants support the pur chase of off street parking He warned further delay could cause the property to slip out of our hands Obligation Councillor Pat said council should fullfill its obligations to Ihe parking authority and proceed wilh the purchase Mr Nielsen suggested a conditional offer be given to property owner subject to Ihe landowners not objecting and Ihe Ontario Municipal Board approving the plan Councillor Marilyn said if landowners do object he council is sure to hear from Ihcm so the plan should proceed It was noted the meeting most landlords already informed merchant they will pass the tax hike on to them In higher rents Mr Nielsen said it muy have cost the as much as lo hold onto the properly for year so the offer of in last year by law may need to be Mike Armstrong said the can be amended CROWD OF ACTON protesters packed the council chamber Monday night applauding loudly as council reversed its decision to demolish Acton s town hall Standing in the centre are George Elliott who read the brief to council Robert Little teacher Kathy Sanford who brought a delegation and petition from school children Ted Tyler who also spoke to council and Louis Charlebois president of Aeton Chamber of Commerce Over 2 signatures were presented to the mayor PROTESTERS PILE off chartered bus to attend the special meeting of council which was called to consider the decision to tear down the town hall By the end of the evening the busload went home jubilant Final tax Hills works iltet is gome to review park in downtown Acton and also tic mother look at pro posed remedies put forth by engineer Austin rejected in One of these recommendations called for a in on parking on one side of Mill Street Don 1 inds chairman of the Acton Business parking and traffic committee suggested Mon day night that parking be limited one hour on Mill and Main and two hours on side streets He also suggested studenLs be hired to ticket ears many of which belong lo merchants and their employees which vlolale parking limits The committee decided besides reviewing Ihe park ing situation hiring of a by law enforcement officer should be considered Mr said the association is trying to en courage merchants and their employees lo park In church lots hut some won He suggested a summer of tickets and their cars towed away might teach Ihem lesson and result in an end of this problem by next fall He said someone is needed to do the ticketing since ean gel the police to walk downtown let alone hand out tickets Councillor Peter Marks said he didn t think one hour limit was enough time for people to do all their shopping and Lindsay said that could be changed lo two hours What the association won la is some enforcement of a time limit Dill said before the property Is pur chased for off street parking he would like to sec the street problems cleaned up He said he isn t convinced Acton docsn have enough parking If parking is left for shoppers Our main priority should be to use what we have now efficiently Mr Yundt dec la red Councillor said improvements are needed on he streets but off street park ing is also needed Mr Austin noted he called for no parking on one side of Mill back In 1974 and a two hour limit on side street back in but It was rejected Mr Lindsay he thought that might be a good solution Right now parking is limited to three hours in Acton but Isn enforced Average tax up 3126 Actons average taxpayer will pay mare than last year and average citizen will pay more In Acton the average figure used Is 460 assessment and in 599 Georgetown average tax bill will be 10 higher than last year This is based on a house assessed at These are final figures with the town Ihe region and the board of education Included Region brought down its budget last week with an average increased for Georgetown of and a decrease In sewer charges of 12 Acton will pay 16 more to the region but also has a decrease in sewer rate of 5 while the hardest hit urea will pay til more to the region In dollars the average Georgetown taxpayer who paid last year will pay 62 this year who paid SO last year will pay 12 this year and residents who paid 423 33 last year will pay this year Education still takes the largest bite of he tax hike with increase of in Georgetown in Acton and JIB in The town of Hills raised their share of the taxes in Georgetown 12 In Acton and In The special lighting levy in the hamlets of all went down this year with Glen Williams dropping from from to from 1 19 to and from to Treasurer Ray King said the town had been fairly successful in keeping their tax raise down to an overage of 5 4 percent in and Georgetown and pointed out s higher jump was partly due to the decrease in provincial grants Councillor Hoy Booth at finance administration com mittec Monday night said he would like to clear up some of the reasons s taxes have gone up He said It Is not directly due to regional government He said all rural were paying far less than their share of facilities such as libraries arenas and swimming pools When we went Into regional govern ment the province did what they could to lessen the blow by giving transitional grants but everyone knew the taxes would go up In Esquesing when he grants were grad reduced taxes for a comparable house In the towns and wilh sewer and water taken off are still lower In the town ship Councillor Peter Morris said I too get awfully tired of hearing Ward Two Is getting short changed by regional govern men I He claimed the road program this year shows a great proportion in the for mer township How do you lell a man whose taxes have gone from 450 in to in 1976 thai demanded Councillor Miller He said he was concerned only about Ihe lower income and fixed in come group The treasurer pointed out Hills has a lower per capita debt than any municl in region He pointed out that meant town did not have debt charges pay in any great amount