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Page 8- REALITIES 91 Friday May 24 1991 Citizens groups aware they can change their world The environment and develop ment are two of the issues that have caused many Halton Hills residents to stand up and be counted over the past year On the subject of the environ ment local ratepayer groups Protect Our Water Environmen tal Resources POWER and In- cineration Counteracts the En vironment ICE have led the way in letting local government officials know where a lot of peo ple in the community stand on what should be done to make Halton Hills an environmentally safe place to live Barbara president of POWER which has imately members says stopp ing the Acton dump proposal dominated the groups agenda last year and will continue to do so throughout the rest of 1991 Ms said POWER will spend this year encouraging every resident of Halton Hills to join the groups fight Milton- based Reclamation Systems In corporated is behind the proposal to establish a landfill in the Acton dump located south of Highway 25 Ms Halsall anticipates there will be a hearing later this year on the Acton dump proposal and if POWER is to fight the application at the hearing money is needed she said Wellknown Canadian nature artist and environmentalist Robert Bateman has donated three prints valued at to the group to help raise funds for the hearing said Ms Halsall She is hopeful Mr Batemans support will also further legitimize the groups cause and therefore en courage other people to lend their support While POWER is still engaged in its battle Incineration Counteracts the Environment has achieved its goal the provin cial ban of municipal solid waste incineration ICE member Diane van de Valk said she thinks the pro vinces recent ban on municipal waste incineration projects was influenced by the groups inces sant lobbying efforts aimed at the New Democratic Party govern ment to implement the ban ICE formed last summer in the wake of the Regions plan to Halsall vestigate establishing an Energy From Waste plant somewhere in Halton and perhaps Halton Hills Ms van de Valk expects the Region to scrap that plan given the provinces recent announce ment With their goal ac complished Ms van de Valk an ticipates the group will be dissolved The 500member ratepayers Diane Van Valk group Residents Against In discriminate Development was formed last spring in the wake of the demolition of a Maple Avenue house located next to the North Golf and Country Club in Georgetown The house was demolished to make room for a highrise con dominium development President Gail Gail Rutherford ford said the demolition awoke people to the fact that some of the development proposed for Halton Hills may not be in the best interest of the community Since the groups inception focus has been on encouraging people to vocalize their concerns about development and what is suitable for the Town Hydro Commission aware of concerns Housing market is recovering Halton Hills Hydro Commis sion similar to last year will focus its attention in 1991 on lob bying HaltonPeel MP Garth Turner to have the government stop charging the Goods and Ser vices Tax on hydro electrical power says Commissioner Bill Smith Mr Smith points out peoples utility rates would only have in creased by per cent last year but because of the GST the percentage increase was in the low teens All last summer and fall leading up to the govern ments enactment of the new tax legislation Commission argued hydro power should be ex empted because it is an essential product Mr Smith compares hydro power to basic grocery products which are exempt from the tax The two types of products are similar because everyone needs food and electricity he said Although the commissions lob bying efforts showed no positive results Mr Smith believes the commission and others across Ontario have better ammunition to fight the government during this year in the GST battle During the first quarter of this year said Mr Smith the govern ment announced it would receive more money from the GST than originally anticipated Mr Smith estimates the final sum of unan ticipated money will total in the millions The commission will use the miscalculation to show the government should exempt power from the GST he explain ed Mr Smith said the plan will on ly succeed if the public joins the cause The Chairman went on to say the high 1991 increase not only hurt members of the general public it also hurt business If business continues to be hit hard with high hydro rate increases more of the general public will feel the GST impact in their pocket books he predicted Mr Smith also predicted that people should expect an 86 per cent increase in their hydro bills in 1992 Another important issue facing the commission and its customers this year is that of conservation of energy said Mr Smith Aside from the GST another hydro rates are increas ing by so much is because a lot of people take electricity for granted be said People will have to start turn ing off those lights and television sets if they expect their hydro ex penses to drop he pointed out Bill Smith April marked the third month of recovery in the Halton Hills housing market says Georgetown National Real Estate Broker Gary Brand The market has been very ac tive since February said Mr Brand He predicts the upswing in the local housing market isnt a blip but rather the beginning of a normal market Mr Brand describes a normal housing market as one in which houses are being bought and sold with some frequency but people arent acting under pressure He refers to a pressure buying situation as a frenzy market This type of market characteriz ed the period preceding the reces sion he said At that time house buyers were told if they didnt make a decision on a house in 15 minutes it could be gone said Mr Brand Todays market situation benefits the public as well as the agents said Mr Brand For agents 1990 was a bad year The slow real estate market devastated a lot of agents said Mr Brand He said that during 1990 500 agents left the Brampton Real Estate Board of which agents are members Those who survived the bad economic times last year said Mr Brand are that much more seasoned and therefore will be better able to service buyers and sellers Because the market isnt hyperactive agents will have more time to spend with their clients added Mr Brand One of the big reasons for last years market slump was a lack of confidence on the part of the public People didnt have the confidence to either buy a house or sell the one they already own ed explained Mr Brand However that all important confidence is returning he said He listed several reasons for the change These include spring time is a traditional time to buy or sell a house the release of pentup demand and the return of housing affordability be said The current decline in mor tgage rates means potential first- time home buyers can enter the housing market he said Mr Brand went on to predict the up coming year will also see greater housing affordability for first time There is a good chance mortgage rates will sometime hit single digits this year said Mr Brand APPLE Autodass pickle WINDOW TINTS BOX LINERS TRUCK RUNNING BOARDS ALL MAJOR AUTO WINDOW REPAIRS Call 8731655 g An al1 Canadian Company I OUR SERVICE WILL Autociass THE 354 GUELPH ST Unit 27 GEORGETOWN