i- nf m jhtt nlrvary- kourtfi ywno 28 acton ontario wednesdayjanuary 8 1 twelve pages yen cants snow block lan fire destroys koine contents firefighters powerless to aid acton firefighters could only ttind by helplessly as the farm home of mr and mrs floyd craven on the third line five mites north of acton was comeletely destroyed by fire sundayniiilit both the rural fire truck and a snow plow were unable to get up the long lane to the house deep snow plugged the lane up solid and prevented traffic mr and mrs craven had just returned from a vacation in florida early that afternoon and had no opportunity to get the lane open both they and their three children aged seven six arid four were in bed when mrs craven smelted smoke the couple bundled up the children and carried them oul to a car and then notified the fire department acton firefighters responded quickly to the alarm and arrived on the scene about 1030 pm the blaie looked to be confined to the rear part of thehouse and firefighters figured they could have saved the front part of the remodelled home if they could liave flot the numispr rim however flames soon enveloped the entire structure and it burned right to the ground with most of the furniture and possessions into the farm formerly the lieorge mitchell place and commonly known as the old harding farm last april mr raven said he had no idea what cauieil the blare he remembers setting the alarm clock about 025 pm he was in bed only about 20 or 25 minutes when his wife detected smoke the cravens with the help of some neighbors got a few possessions out but most of the contents were destroyed- along with the house the family spent the night at the home of mr ajid mrs rckerich r r 2 acton directly across iheroad they got enough clothes together so the children were able to attend school onmonday morning fortunately the wind took the intensejieal and sparks from the blazing house away from the barn and other outbuildings a covey of ducks diitrubed by the fire took refuge in a snowbank spectators came from miles around attracted by the glow a small plow mounted on a pickup truck owned by norm turner cleared the laneway and later the township truck widened the road but by this time the house was beyond hope of saving firefighters stood by until the house had burned itself out early monday morning loose volkswagen a few possessions wcro lelvaaed from the craven homo but most of tho couples lurnitura and clothing was destroyed by hamotistoif photo the blae was also fuelled by two oil storage tanks one in the cellar and another ul the side of the house huge logs which comprised ih ot the hum burn the cravens ii original front part were the last to id just moved in spite of the slippery treacherous roads acton detachment of the opp reported only two minor accidents the past week one or them unusual the first occurred at the glenleu plaza friday january 3 at 94s pm when a 67 dodge taxi driven hy don grein and a 69 pontine operated by patricia appoint committees name priorities at inaugural meeting acton council four new members joined acton council at their inaugural meeting monday in the council chambers taking the oath of office for the first time were bui coats peter marks and otval chapman jack greer returns to council after an absence of tome years clerktreasurer joe hurst also administered the official oath to returned mayor lcs duby reeve dr frank oakes deputyreeve ted tyler jr and councillors c w mckenzic uiul karl masales kittling from the new council arc the two former members who challenged the mayor hcrt llinton and nob dhnkwaltcr former councillor dili williams and retired member charlie perry alter the declaration ot office and oath of allegiance rev harry dawson read scripture and led in prayers he brought greetings from acton ministerial association saying they hoped thw might he of assistance only observer ut the meeting was deputyclerk grunt usher with new name plates at each place and an absence of yeaicnd hies the meeting included many explanations for he benefit of the four new members mayot duby recommended all the council appointments during a prepared report explaining lie had given each one considerable thought all but one were accepted by the council this was the parking authority which- had been suggested by the mayor to include five council members chairman of no 2 committee fail masales submitted it would be much simpler to meet if the parking authority comprised the members of his committee which bus jurisdiction over roads this was agreed to the mayor explained the committee system no 1 committee is lot the administrative side of council operations and meets the first and third motidiys if required on no i committee with the fust named as chairman urc administration chairman g w mckenie finance and personnel chaiiniau dr oakes assessment anil development chairman hill coats welfare and property chairman petct marks no 2 committee which meets the first and third tuesdays is for general works and maintenance lust named is ask bylaw the fwe prats was inform od by mayor let duby this morning wednesday that a special muting ol tho roads committee of council was catted last night to discuss tho acuta tnow removal problem the road committee resolved that a rocommondation qo to the next meeting of council tuesday for approval of a local highways and sidewalk maintenance bylaw highways rotors to all local thoroughfares intersections and sidewalks as defined in tho act according to tho highway trahic act and sections 476 and 379 of the municipal act the mayor said tho committee now found it necessary to ask for tho bylow duo to an obvious lack of cooperation from many individuals to assist the town in its sqow removal program certain liabilities hove been placed on the town due to improper placing of snow or dobris from private properties bn town thoroughfares the mayor said council was always roluctant to impose unnecessary bylaws but ho felt tho lock of cooperation made it imperative we now have no recourse but to recommond to council passing of the proposed bylaw with added penalty as a deterrent which will be ehective if and when it is approved by council he stated town workmen were engaged in removing snow from the main business section of town tuesday from 8 am to 0pm priority is given to this section of town since most traffic is generated in these areas chairman and members arc roads and maintenance chairman earl m amies sewer and water ted tyler lights and sanitation jack greer fire and police orval chapman on the budget committee oakes mosaics mckenzic tyler duby on the court of revision which meets periodically to deal with tax rebates chairman duby mckenzic coats greer chapman dr oakes is again councils representative on the band committee named to the board of parks management and recreation arc earl musales and peter marks on development commission ate coats mckenzie tyler greer and duby on planning board are mckenzie and masales named representative to hydro is mayor duby with dr oakes us substitute and to library board the mayor with orval chapman as substitute priority items were recommended by the mayor for the various chairmen o consider before budget e by april 1 s for administration with chairman mckenzie the mayor suggested special meetings on bylaws be held in junuary that the subdivide agreement be completed and that the retention of legal aid drafting schedules for agreements be considered foi dr oakes finance and personnel he recommended continued on page 3 fire completely destroyed the house and contents of mr end mrs floyd craven rr 3 acton- sunday evening acton firefighters could do nothing to uue the farm- home into which t the crmfent movfd iwtipfing snow blocked the long laneway making tea to evwything except- pedestrian traffic and farm tractors impossible mr end mrv creven had just returned that afternoon from holiday trip to florida cauteof the tfire is urtknownstatf photo bowles of rr i limehoute collided police said the taxi was parked and the bowles vehicle backing un failed to tee it constable nick farion estimated damage to the uxi at 30 and s20 to the bowles car one of the most unusual accidents ever to occur here happened on tuesday at 930 am on main st s two vehicles a 63 chcv owned by james morrison rr i acton and a 60 volkswagen owned by william dustan 506 glenlake ave toronto collided a third vehicle unknown wis alto involved the morrison car was narked on main st s and the dustan volkswagen was parked on mill st e behind another car police said the third vehicle locked bumpers with the volkswagen unknown to the driver and pulled away with it in tow the email carwent part way down the street where it came loose and smashed into the morrison car constable nick farion assessed damage to the trunk lid of the volkswagen at s7s and estimated 50 damage to the morrison vehicle the unidentified driver of the third car went merrily on his way apparently unaware of the accident in which he was involved breakins police reported wo cases of break and entry over the past week when thieves collected a few dollars in change lovells meat market was reported entered on tuesday dec 31 with approximately sis in loose change taken from the till entry was made by breaking a window in the rear door monday at 140 arri another break and entry was reported at blow press on perth st police said entry was made through a rear window left open and report a possible theft from the pop machine police are investigating both breakins two new teachers in public schools two public school teachers muve soon from classrooms to the new resource centres mrs kavanaugh will make the switch in the robert little school and miss sandy mcdonald of oakville is teaching now in mrs kavanaugh place mrs smith will he in charge of the new m z bennett school library mrs grant usher wife of the new deputy clerk has been engaged to fill the teaching vacancy j knil is the new school caretaker fire hydrants out of sight help sought fir chief mick holme appeal this wwek to householders and business owner to harp the firefiohten local tisa towns fin hydrants thar are about 12s red hydrant throughout town but moat of tham are completely buried beneath banks of tnow thia w if paopi within easy reach of tha hydrants would shovel tham out firelight could find tham immediately in the event of a fin to shovel out the hydrants at your own home is for your own protection the fir chief pointed out this week it could save the firefighter precious time it could even save a home the town workmen have been ejttramely busy with a burden ol tnowplowing at well a their regular work and shay have not bean able to dig out each hydrant separately tttmmtmttmmmmmmu miii opp report tickets removal in store for cars feff on streets general occurrences during the opp reporting week of dec 2 ilhh to jan 4 iw show a variety if nothing else one break and enter and theft was reported and is under investigation as is a report of a stolen car on new years lvc liquor charges m a i icious damage and the removal of three vehicles from town streets to allow snow removal make up the remainder of the occurrences the town cruiser has patrolled 42 miles during the week while the six man detachment worked a total of loh duty hours one minor traffic decide nt was investigated live motorists were issued traffic summonses and three more were warned for infractions of the highway traffic act there were no charges of impaired or drunk driving laid by the detachment over the holiday season in fact generally sneaking the town was quiet there were no acton cases slated for magistrates court on dec 301kxal milton during the holiday season the town got its first real winter recover car a car stolen from the station motel parking lot on new yeofs day was recovered by milton opp on the 4th line of fsqucsing the vehicle a 5h ford was owned by stewart richardson storm the snow removal equipment was out in full force trying to clean up the streets so traffic coould move around some vehicles were left sitting in the middle of the streets locked up light and others were partially off the streets three of these vehicles were removed at the owners expense no doubt there is a parking shortage in certain areas of town however if the carsare interfering with snow removal they will be towed away at the owners expense cars left parked on the town streets overnight can and will be issued with parking tags during the winter months with so much snow piled on the side of the streets we would ask motorists to pull in as close as possihle to the snow band when parking otherwise the street becomes a narrow little alley in which traffic accidents so easily occur dances till both halls new years lvc dances at both the lcgiun and music centre drew capacity crowds last week the bund runs the dance at the music centre with the band auxiliary preparing the midnight meal about 75 couplet attended there were many house parties as well with cars out on the streets well on into the night mmmmmt weather outside frightful council discusses snow in the mayors chair let duby presided monday for the inaugural meeting of council left to right seated are councillor g mckanile reeve f oak the mayor deputy reeve t tyler jr councillor j grew left to right tending councillor e masales w coats o chapman p mark clerkadministrator j hurts my telephone is turning to jelly on the wall groaned mayor let duby at council snow removal was the subject as members nodded in agreement at the many problems while more tons of jnow dropped outside a demonstration of a tnow blower will be arranged as soon as possible milton has agreed to tend up one or their two blowers for acton to test another blower will be brought from elmira to be tried out here v the work staff is- to be commended they do the best they can and they know that despite their best efforts therell be criticism said the mayor exchoed by councillor mckenzie its inevitable that walks and driveways are filled by the plows yet the town superintendent is being harassed by calls of complaint we have to determine whats the responsibility of private enterprise said the mayor its ridiculous to keep answering irrational calls he explained that the nine town men collecting garbage in the midst of their plowing program were suddenly faced with opening- two graves it toolc- half a day to even get through the cemetery to the grave tiles the plows have been damaged on manhole covers and the tracks v extra chloride was purchased to add to the saltan expensive propositionand almost half of the stockpile of sand is used up already councillor coats inquired about the plowing pattern wondering if churches could be plowed out for sundays the mayor explained priority is given to the shopping area then the fire hall and doctors offices a regular pattern is followed to there will be a minimum of overlapping one of the police office was particularly concerned about the corner of mill and young where high banks impede the view of school children crossing a iked about the towns previous snowblowerpurchaaed while councillor greer was on councilthe mayor explained the town now has proper equipment to run one despite improvements the price of snowblowers has come down considerably mr greer was surprised to leant thats a switch he said it takes people from out of town to bring to our attention that our streets are oetterthal the streets in other places the mayor muted a