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the HERALD Community news page 19 NEC planner resigns page 15 Home Newspaper of Halton Hills IIIHU l rtrdic SECOND SECTION CVCA celebrates 25th anniversary Grass roots movement maintained in spirit Some people no think si ficl Ihil Hurricane Hazel and meeting of Credit Valley look in samt ik to Both nils look place J years igo this The CVCA celebrated its anniversary last week hut Hurricane didn t hit the area until the nil Tin mo to form the authority actually began about the inaugural meeting its formation wis not a smooth nc ft took three voles the member before required two thirds majorilj igreemtnt wis reached and the was firmed Thi lit Valkj Authority has luihor iiv over of Georgetown Acton and the surrounding unlets most of which were built along Credit River ind its various tributaries To the pie authority is one of I hi lew bastions against thi or the concrete jungle while to others the is just one more level of government with Ihe government granted rghl to tell people in whit they can and can do with their properly bather way the has played a major part Hills throughout its veir Th week thr Herald took a look at the formation of the Credit Valley Conservation Authority and first years of opention lOHITWimt Herald The formation of the Credit Valley Conservation years igo was result of i grass roots move ment that almost didu I it I think It important for people to i authorities iren I torn mg down from on high information officer Joan lings The imptlus come from the roots The mumupihties must igree apply to pro vince for a charter It look five years 1 diffirinl meetings with municipil re Mori i it finally gave the required two thirds majority of agreement among the 16 municipalities in the Credit River watershed the margin was a slim one process started Mrs Rollings but i when the conservation look off World War In 1949 the lions Club the Credit Villey held meelmg with represent from clubs m Georgetown Ion Port and tin towns to d conservation in the I IONS 11 of the who belonged to the I Club were interested in lion they he club as a focal point for the interest together Mrs Hoi lings said After the first meet moving force for the formation of authority rest with a few members i mong them Alec of Georgetown who iventuully a charier number of authority I think what prompted formation of the was fact hills in tilt don and other lands were being well don like the word but essentially they were being looted Mrs lings People win cut ting down trees lo form glnal land ind dung olhir things that wen bid water management As a resull were massive floods in the spring dry river in the summer and pollution pro The first meeting of pal representatives discuss proposed forming of the v as held in Georgetown obtained wen i series of meitins tin meet mj April 1954 it thi Junior farmers in Br imp I when the two Ihirdsmajor Georgetown Toronto wnslup requested the for a parks li n i mmitlee The pruent advisory ire information ind education parks reiriation records minage mini and reforestation land use wildlife Tin auilonly has mem now with member municipalities having repre n based on the number surveys urban ill mentally sensr hazard lands The studies an expensive Mrs Rollings said but thty provide authority with information to decide when water can be channeled developments while do amount if dim if it of li the LINGS iK voted in favor of mendation form the An order Miy 13 established the authority and inauguril meelmg was held 19j4 The original executive was headed by Douglas m as chairman lorn as vice timer lot assecretiry The chairman and members are by the province and firmer chairman It I in has been an i rary lifetime membership The first full lime staff member il was lured in at cents an hour in manage Terra Cult C Area The had field resources officers one all lime hut they wen employed by Ihe Ministry winch hud responsibility for authoritv time I think the goals of the lulhoniy hive come full Mrs Rollings said The purpose of is to common sense approach Ever won be spending money down he road to correct poor phnmng she In the Sixties Ontario had a wholesinesof droughts and tin luthorilyoriginallyslarted wilh a land management for Credit Mrs Rollings said They did a lot of work because it was predimimntly idea wis lo manage land improvemenl of than to its I PROJECT One of the first major pro jcis of the In Ihe of tor we n got off track little when we got into he business although still The lei two lefl the an operating Al Ihe end of the first yiar the authority had spent inly of Us budget leaving them wilh half unspent Mrs out ih il the id no full lime si iff it that point 1 hi w from his home ind the iiilhonly only hit ye buy a lugi firhim she said mi up Ihe in a Utile diffcrmt from the riseni nes Originally Ihere is control committee Inch also looked pollu n f planning I ind ise public reh and reforestation Al nd meeting of Hit luth r the represti I m Hie thinking has come full from the lime an swer ill ihe problems was to build i Mrs Rollings continued The thinking has changes from Hit engineering way of handling a situation by a dam and controlling water he environmental of planting trees to slow d iwn run off repair where you ha to and to plan mil- so you don have to make repairs Much of the engineering solutions authority has undertaken has been done repair done in the Mrs Rollings said In pist the towns win built on around the mills ind tin authority now has problem that tin towns are all in she added One of authority pro jects over the ycarc has been the mopping of linds the gullies ind They ilso stream dims along the Credit was intended ensure a walcr supply to Georgetown and other tow river as well as controlling In 1962 the started out a phn for six dams one In one of Cataract one at Silver Creek one below rgctiwn ind two more fur her south Mr McMillan and Mr Park ir visiled each of member municipalities sell hem Ihi project Mrs Rollings slid They had to promise the authority would hold the line on levies she said and Ihe dims fur funds The was to he funded joint ly by the fcdiral and governments per cent f the costs and hi municipal Hies through the it per The projeel was approved by the municipalities and and was sent to the provincnl for was sent back to authority rid be re worked to include d nd plans lo buy land around the 1 forthcoming They said all the riservi rs being created by these dams we should plan for the recreational use which wiuld iccrue around and wc ha done that Mrs Rollings said The plan After getting provincial pr vnl Ihe proposal was sent to tltlawi for s And here it sal for two wilh members making flying Ottawa to talk In lucil MPs to and gel iject approved In the finally received word on Ihe project Ihi federal government lid decided not to pnrlicipilt be cause there was too much recrealii involved in it Thi whole thing was dropped at that point Mrs Rollings said although the authority did go ihead with a low level dam at Orangcvilli The dam penid in hut not without some slringe side steps along the w ly DIAMOND Stringer still wis the I Id by a welldressed genlle in in who came the before wis I mil and told stiff members of i he id had during Honorary lifetime member swears he could write a book in wh eh hi saw ready for find liking in in be by risirvur He isked Ihi only ni I to close the floodgites i I ft he i eonduct i search Ihi man lefl the office and A member staff checked with in to determine if the soil the geology in the ire would conducive to hrmatiin of dnmonds and is lold it was very unlikely So floodgates were closed I sometimes wonder if linn ire di Ijing somewhere undiscovered tin der ill thai water Mrs s Tin CVCA owns about acres along the Credit River I miludmi Tirra Con square miles th it not much Mrs Rollings In C there are BOO leres in forest areas while vir Area w vir I acres Tern iivcrs Tin is working on Ihe of Ihe river and its tributaries as come on thi market bee when you lose your he you lose your riv Mrs Rollings said upcoming projects in area include the second ph ise of Melcilfe Ravine pnject iroson and tree planting along Regin and tin spillway in paper mill d im and dredtiiL of in Glen Williams One of the biggest projects undertaken in the Acton area was the dredging of Fairy Lake About cubic yards of fill was dredged out of the ike hid formed behind the mill dam experiment find ally feasible dredge behind dims ind I guess it wasn 1 never did Mrs Rollings said The problem facing the au Ihoniy il moment Is Hit of development going on Onngevillc Brampton especially Mississ luga Mrs Rollings Slid It s created a massive run off after rain storms down storm sewers that outlet inlo small streams Mrs Rol lings said These small mean dering have been there f r not bothering hut this runoff all kinds of problems with erosion and pollution People hive to have plnee to live but there has pro she said There has lobe i ippy medium between no development it all ind in all out It is Ihi fill rcgulilions were introduced in l fin illy authority lie il inn to have its siy whil oes on in the floodplain The ill regulations siynoomcin fill construct or permit from this authority The fill rcgulilions give us the right to make sure it s done properly first lime a round Mrs Rollings said The decisions on whether or a permit will be issued ore mode by the executive com mitlce of he authority with technical advice from the staff It still a mailer of judge for the executive based idviee from the engineering si iff mil planning slaff and also from people in Ihe Minis try if necessary Mr Mm people have question for the authority vcr the Mrs Rollings Rut ifter thai big storm in Pennsjlvinia two or three when they had oil Ihi flooding it i big storm people You know it 1 ere she said Roy McMillan honorary lifetime member of ihe Credit Valley Conservation could write a book about his days with the authority Mr McMillan was chairman until 1974 He was then appointed honorary lifetime member He was on Toronto Township Council when vole was held which authorized the forma tlon of CVCA in 1954 and was a voting delegate il that meeting He didn become a member of until 19SB however Mr McMillan was chairman of the parks and recreation committee for three years be ore being elected the posi Hon of chairman by author for three years For the next ten years by Ihe province Mr McMillan takes great pride In his attendance at authority meetings He only missed a meeting If he was out of town on authority business My attendance record be close to 100 per cent AN he said I used to come from my ei gt north of Or I to attend a meeting And being chairman of the authority I was an ex officio member of all the advisory boards loo Mr McMillan Is also a of the CVCA foundation which lo ks after donations the authority ir fimni in the way if antiques The nit ho has amassed a size collection I antique items for use in conservation areas Mr McMillan said he is disappointed Willi the way is Silver Creek Conservation Arm be cause it had been intended to have antiques wl h in valuable firm equip it I be found anywhere else on display those plans appear to have fallen by the wayside In the meantime he said pie have slopped making i their antiques RUNOFF People ore willing to give is hut there are no plans for that kind of thing at Silver Creek now Mr McMillan Mr McMillan said he Is not strongly in favor or the plans for the Silver Creek Conserva Area which call for en Irance by public in some of its sen Mini lo be limited roups pe pie wilh a guide I don think the Niagara Escarpment or ihe province can own thousands of acres of land and close off from the public and say you can take a few children through for a wilk he said in reference to the proposed education centre il Silver Creek Mr McMillan said the rea son he authority has been weeding so slowly on the Sliver Creek Conservation A rea is because it has so much of lis budget Invested in other projects the moment I m not sold on the idea of building out inlo Lake On or io he added I vc always felt the valley lands along River would be more beneficial to people at a much lower cost than build a park out into Lake When Mr McMillan be i chairman the lull only ilready owned the land construe the Orange villi dam the federal withdrew rim its lOmmitment I shin in Mr lie province ask over cent of the jul He said hi simply pointed mil that Ihi re wis I provincial election coming up and in view of tint the province might ml n tike another look at possibility of their Fund their own and the fedir share of the dam project The province agreed and the dam was built In time I was chairman I got the very best of coopen lion from every member who on the author Mr McMillan said I trtoinly hope the work of Ihe conserva authority will continue and the people will stand be hind it and try to preserve what is left for the future generations tn the ibe Credit Mvr hat a violent nature the year when flowiluR Urge block the a resident In the at NorraL the damage