The following text may have been generated by Optical Character Recognition, with varying degrees of accuracy. Reader beware!

THE HERALD Wednesday August 1M0 30 Years Ago Councillor John D Kelly an nounced possible changes to Georgetowns traffic bylaws at the Aug council meeting Possible changes included Street and one block of Market Street becoming oneway streets as well as prohibition of parking in front of the post office There will be an expected drop in the volume of traffic on Highway through town when an interchange under construction where Highway 6 crosses Highway just south of Guelph is completed shortly This con nection will provide a direct route to Metro Toronto from Guelph and should have an effect on reducing traffic flow on Guelph Street and Main Street North A local resident made a strong appeal that the due date for tax payments be extended to mid- month at Monday nights council meeting The resident whose in come is dependent on rentals said if it is impossible to pay taxes on the first of the month The mayor said he should discuss the problem with the tax collec tor as the matter comes under his jurisdiction The owner of Dairy Queen was told this week to remove a sign in front of of his business because it contravenes a zoning bylaw The mayor said although it is not councils intention to put stumbl ing blocks in front of a business he said sign regulations are being reviewed by council 20 Years Ago Mayor Wheldom Emmerson confirmed rumors last Monday by making it official that he would not seek reelection At the end of the council meeting he an nounced that he would be retiring at the end of his term as Mayor Mayor Emmerson said he felt it was only fair to give the early an nouncement because it gives anyone who wants the opportuni ty the time to make plans for their campaign An unknown person dumped more than 1000 pounds of chemical waste on the Bruce Trail who lives just above the nearlycompleted Scotch Block Dam reported the pile of chemicals to township authonties and the OPP in late May Mr main con cern was that ram would wash the chemicals down into the water supply Mr and a neighbor bagged up the chemicals and took them away themselves when officials did not respond to complaints was the name sug gested for the unit senior citizens apartments which open ed last Wednesday The name was suggested by Kinsmen Bill Hewitt Years Ago The Herald Newspaper opened up in its new office located at Guelph Street in Georgetown Moe construction foreman who oversaw the renovating of what was once the farmers cooperative outlet and legal office said it was the nicest building he has ever worked on In the process of rebuilding the interior workers had to knock out part of a wall and the base ment ceiling so that the new presses would fit in the building The Herald moved from its loca tion on Main Street A new school board trustee position will go to Acton and Es- Township council decid ed The position was allocated to Halton Hills following a shuffle of representatives from the Board of Education It was designated to Acton and Esques- after representatives from the four municipalities sat down and recalculated representation on the member board Contrary to a story which ap peared in a Toronto newspaper last week Georgetown and District Memorial Hospital will not be closing for three weeks Hospital business manager Brian Pollock was quoted as say ing the facility might be closed for three weeks in an attempt to keep this years deficit down Councillor Paul Armstrong said that at no time did the board ever even consider such a notion 5 Years Ago A plan by Region is designed to reduce the amount of public school trustees from three to two if accepted The three areas Acton Georgetown and will be combined to two- Georgetown alone with Ac ton and Esquesing combined The boards proposal is expected to be aired at the next local council meeting on Aug 26 Georgetown will be undergoing a second cooperative housing development set for completion by the end of the winter The Glen Mills Coop will be on property bordering River Drive Mountain- view Road North and John Street It will consist of 26 threebedroom houses Kim Pratt of Homestarts Inc said the sewage water and electricity on the site have already been completed A proposal was recently made to Halton Region to look at a Cabs on Patrol program which would look at the feasibility of cabbies helping police in their efforts to fight crime If the program was undertaken cabbies would get decals for their cars and pam phlets would be handed out to the drivers instructing them on what to do if they witness a crime Costs would include a hotline hookup for dispatches plus written literature about the program High taxes equal economic mess Dear Editor A recent S survey that it did not matter in which part of the United States north south east or west a state was located those states with high taxes were in financial difficulties more businesses were failing and people were leaving the state As a result low tax states were enjoying much better economic conditions Canada is a part of the North American economy whether in dividuals like to admit it or not The people of Ontario living under the rule of two spendthrift governments not to mention the municipal jurisdictions are burdened with the highest taxes in North America This is the basic reason for the economic mess we are in today Both Federal and Provincial governments deserve to be kicked out of office at the first opportuni ty The Mulroney government assumed power from a spendthrift regime promised reform but continued s wasteful ways It now proposes forcing the GST on the country in a manner as ruthless as the Chinese tanks at tacked the students in Tianamen Square The PetersonNixon forces assumed power from a provincial Conservative dynasty that had for a government given Ontario food financial management and pro bably would again This enabled both industry and the people of On tario to prosper The Peterson- Nixon team operates in a com pletely different manner to their present federal counterparts more like the Lamprey eel that at taches itself to a large salmon and continues to quietly extract the life blood out of its victim until it is dead For example increased automobile and drivers licence fees especially for and the rest of the Greater Metro Toronto area much higher automobile in surance costs which will continue to rise yet virtually no money spent on transportation facilities to help alleviate the traffic conges tion around Toronto Where has this money been squandered Has it been on the additional 9000 non productive provincial civil ser vants that cost us about a billion dollars extra annually I havent noticed any extra services Have you Some other changes The greatly increased land transfer tax which increases the cost of housing The Commercial Concentration Levy which cost 100 per square foot for enter prises with over square feet of property and building This in cludes parking lots The householder pays for this in the form of higher grocery prices etc Like wages and realty taxes etc it is part of the cost of doing business The one per cent in crease in retail sales tax it is not much each time you pay it but boy does it add up quickly In total over 30 tax increases more than doubling tax revenue Ontario and Canada are in much deeper financial trouble than most people realize I hate to think of the consequences We simply have to find competent alternatives to the present groups of people in power Pinkney Georgetown Town should leave Main St South alone Editors note The following let ter was forwarded to the Herald for publication Dear Mr Bob Austin Town Engineer Town of Halton Hills- A recent drive from Georgetown to the heart of Oakville via Trafalgar Road has left me with a question I hope you can answer As you know Trafalgar Rd makes a dramatic character change just south of the W as it ap proaches the city core It goes from an 80 km thoroughfare built straight and stark for efficiencys sake to a narrow treelined meandering road bordered closely by historic and new homes chur ches etc It is almost as though the road purposely slows the traveller down in preparation for enjoying the quaint charm of downtown I was struck by the fact that the Eighth Line Main Street South is now very much like that peaceful stretch of Trafalgar Road It is hil ly narrow and treelined One is made to slow down and enjoy the surrounding scenery It is the only northsouth entrance to town left to enjoy Road and Trafalgar Road north having already been sacrificed to pro gress My question is if a great section of major arterial road like Trafalgar Road can be left unadulterated for the pleasure of the people of Oakville why must we be forced to have our lovely Main Street South turned into a four lane highway Imagine utilitarian style light poles where trees fields and lawns now exist Surely traffic studies rapid development the doubling of population as well as Trafalgar Road obviously being a major connector between the Speers Road and the must have indicated that widening straightening etc were called for How did it escape Could it be that the Town of Oakville put its people and its character ahead of big city effi ciency Isnt this discrimination Oakville can keep a pastoral set ting in the midst of a development boom but Georgetown cannot There is no need to widen Mam Street It is just fine as it is to transport the future people of Georgetown South into town Trafalgar South proves that The extension of Princess Anne Drive will handle any future residents of the downtown core The residents of Georgetown will suffer if Main Street South is widened The accident rate will rise as speeding cars meet residents and farm vehicles ex iting from the many driveways Speeding will be encouraged town Our environment and drinking water will be threatened as road salt and other materials flow into already over burdened Silvercreek Indeed knowingly allowing a situation to occur where substances get into a water source is a direct violation of the Federal Fisheries Act The downtown core will die as people keep up the pace and race around it Mr Austin lets just bank the 6 million dollar donation from developers to make them a highway and use the money for future repairs instead I look for ward to your reply Gail Rutherford Georgetown Write us a letter The Herald wants to hear from you If you have an opinion you want to express or a comment to make send us a letter or drop by the office Our address is 45 Guelph St Georgetown Ont L7G3Z6 All letters must be signed Please inclue your address and telephone number for verification The Herald reserves the right to edit let ters due to space limitations or libel Failing to relax can ruin your vacation Its great to see that psychologists have just confirmed one of my longheld convictions- going on vacation is always a dreadful mistake Well perhaps 1 shouldnt overstate this Psychologists a notoriously cautious group havent yet condemned vacation ing utterly Still a of Nova Scotia researchers have just published a paper claiming that far too many of us defeat the entire purpose of a holiday by miserably failing lo relax Well What a revelation huh Surprise surprise To be fair I should try not to sound too scornful about this research paper After all the authors make some valid points They argue for instance that too many people come to grief by embracing the work hard then play hard syndrome Theyre absolutely correct of course If you believe in working hard and then playing hard you trap yourself in a vicious circle Its much belter to avoid the whole thing by just phoning in sick in the first place But after this promising beginn ing these Nova Scotia researchers make a terrible blunder They pro ceed to argue that a vacation can if properly planned be relaxing and refreshing Yeah sure And Saddam sein if understood properly is just a guy who longs to make other people happy The fact is hat vacationing violates the two principles ab solutely fundamental to human relaxation and happiness since go ing on holiday requires you to lone go somewhere and two do something Going anywhere at all is an iffy enough proposition lo begin with Doing something when you get there just compounds the error The problem of course is that people have an almost infinite Ian Weir Weirs View capacity for deluding themselves Ik n any street for in stance and youll actually meet people who claim to camp ing I havent done a of camping myself being I he sort of person who defines roughing it as a motel without But I spent a night in a tent 10 years ago so know what its like poured rain The tent leaked I lay in a puddle and tried to console myself with the thought that the downpour might at least drown a few of the mosquitoes As dawn broke my companion leaped to her feet smiling brightly and admir ing the sunrise There are probably people who enjoy rootcanal surgery too But at least such people are willing to admit theyve got problems Another terrible delusion is the belief that vacations bring families closer together In a sense I suppose this is true Vacationing can certainly bring a family closer The question is closer to what As any anthropologist will lell you our genetic coding was deter mined at a time when there were very few of us and lots of wide open spaces to rattle around in As such its hardly surprising to observe what happens when two or more people especially two or more people who happen to be related to each other are required to spend more than 15 minutes together in a car I suppose its theoretically possi ble to believe that a family can spend a happy week in an idyllic little cabin by the lake but only if youve conveniently forgotten two Universal Truths One setting off to drive anywhere will be followed by the discovery that Billy has to go to the bathroom Two arriving anywhere and preparing to relax will be followed by the discovering that Billy is throwing up But lets not be too cynical Besides the fact remains that no one can avoid vacationing forever Sooner or later youre going to have to take two weeks off so lets try to define the surroundings that might make two weeks bearable If its summer well need someplace cool and shady This cool and shady place will need to offer refreshments and it would be nice to have some pleasant compa nions on hand As an extra perk it would be lovely to have a TV set or two broadcasting baseball games and How extraordinary I think weve just defined a pub Happy camping