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Mayors mid- term look at town The Acton Free Press Wednesday January 7 1970 With council in the middle of a twoyear term Mayor missed annual opportunity to report to the people of town at a nomination meeting or to restate councils hopes and plans at an inaugural session The mayor instead happily questions put to by the Free Press on regional government immediate town plans Acton centennial annexation and specify problems Join the finely conversation Q Do you suppose this will be the last year for a local council to operate and do you see Acton as one unit with A If things t being so well planned for us there are one or two possibilities for Acton Its my considered opinion that the Minister when he stated January 1971 meant what he said and he not going to make his program any easier by deferring it I think the information that he will require to make a decision will have been in by that time and a decision will be made by January Do you feel that there a real need for regional government a need for planning around regional government A There no question about this Planning is such a part of our life today that planning on a regional basis is the only answer We have had to concede this point as of some two or three years ago because the local scene is controlled by the extent to which they can tax the local resident for certain services education being the major factor The desire for regional government though is very broad because of the common sense approach to the broad base of assessment being required to alleviate the high cost of todays means of Irving development and transportation Q Do you feel that Acton will have to annex any parts of Esquesuig this year A No certainly not in If regional government docs not take place in 71 as proposed ttiore is a possibility beyond the year 1970 we may have to make application for annexation of small areas if it makes sensible planning and on the basis of proposed regional development What happens in Acton and should be related i think that the Minister would support statements he has made in the past that he would consider small requests for annexation to conform to town planning In no way will they consider mass annexation until regional government any given area is defined Q What in your opinion will be the biggest change in Acton in 1 A It become rather obvious that he major thing that will take place here is residential development Unless there are certain restrictions placed on development should move ahead very rapidly with residential growth will have new shopping areas will have a new pollution control plant in operation providing a better service to the municipality and industry We will move ahead with our search for additional water supply to support our new development may have certain controls on the extent to which can glow but wc arc going to grow more rapidly than have in the past We should also sec some improvements to Mill St West whether wc do the whole project as proposed or probably one pjrt of the twophased program It s been Certainly be subdivision development deferred for many years and most certainly must get something done there tins year Q Do you feel would be wise for the mayor to sit on planning board and be to introduce their recommendations to LP A Yes think firs is a good recommendation 1 have always myself an ex officio member of any board or commission Because of the heavy load of all other committees and boards which I must sit on beside council I was reluctant to be the representative on planning bo because many times I would be prevented from attending the meetings due to other commitments Therefore we members of council lo sil on the board by being ex officio I could attend at any tunc and comment accordingly Q In your opinion do you think some housing subdivisions will get started this year A It quite possible that a major subdivision development will not take place but there will certainly be developments such as the south of Churchill Road In my opinion it should move ahead very quickly in the spring because preliminary inquiries and applications have been made at the present time and with the advent of good weather this should move ahead very quickly don feci that the problems holding up the development of the Scynuek and Vysc farms arc so critical thai they can be ironed out by spring and that perhaps these will move also Q hear a lot of comment here about Senior housing and geared- housing on Cobble Hill When do you expect this to get going A With the exception of course of tcrtain objections may still through have taken our stand as a on the matter and my personal view is that the proper hearings will be held the criticisms and objections will be heard and without question it must go ahead Q Is there any hope for new Industry hi the industrial pork thb year What is being done about the industrial park A of all guess I should remind you of the stand taken by council at the closing of 1969 The council was determined to move ahead with whatever is required to develop the land to make it acceptable to industrial development In the length of tunc have held this land as potential industrial land not too much of a definite nature lias been done in that area because of the financing All of our good intentions mean very little if wc tan t get the approvals required to have monies and plans for development of the area In our five year projection wc have asked for and hive approved the amount wc felt would be required in any given year to make progressive development in the industrial park Wc hive been very concerned about the local industries who have been wanting to but it just a simple matter of saying Fine come on move in II give you two acres must make certain tint it acceptable to the Ontario Municipal board who will be providing the monies to develop the area I know the council having made the last year will move ahead very quickly in in fact it on the agenda for the first administration meeting I hive no way of tint will get new industry I am not overly concerned 1 could be quite happy with development in its stead if wc can t get the industry There no way can people to come here think that wc have an ideal for industry to be interested but these people themselves must determine if they want to come to Acton Wc have made as attractive as possible for them have promoted to the extent it is possible at the human level will what time have available as part time politicians and board and committee members Some towns have staff to work at tins continuously and naturally they get progressive results The town of Acton is in no position to hire a fulltime industrial development manager Acton has made a very good move in making the land available Wc are ready when someone else is interested Never tried to dictate to parks board HOLIDAY CLEANERS MILL STREET ACTON HOURS Monday to Thursday- 8 AM to PM Fridays 8AMto9PM Saturdays Closed at 6 PM CLOTH COATS 139 MENS BUSINESS SHIRTS MENS 2 PIECE SUITS IAD PLAIN DRESSES Prices effective Jan to FOR ALL OUR FINE FEATHERED FRIENDS Wild Bird Seed gram seed in 100 pound bi la from Price Sale Kernel Reg no off Bud teedcr with aluminum pole Reg Mil now JO off DoK bud bud etc Now oft HENTONS TO I STORE HOLIDAY CLEANERS 14 Mill USED CARS CHECK OUR FINE SELECTION OF USED TOYOTAS And VOLKSWAGENS PARK MOTORS Georgetown East of Acton No way to guarantee new induriry Q What was the major factor that held up work in Acton sidewalks for instance this year A The proper applications were midc for the grants and subsidies required to move ilicjd with these prujcUs never move ahead into major capita works expecting he local to provide the monies for the town to spend out of current fixation So we ike whatever time is required by the politics the vinous departments of the government make application for subsidy In sonic cases there are supplement il grants ind so on Dunne the course of l9 whether it is because the idvcnt of regional government or not it has taken longer than normal to hive certain things approved Kir last yen expected to receive grants in the area of which should have been informed by mid May finally learned in lite July that our was about half this amount Therefore sec that many of our proposed works which wc spout many hours on had to be cancelled out bee iusc of the reduction caused by the provincial budget being affected by the federal budget and in turn have paid the price However works that wcrcn completed in 1969 should now move ahead readily with the advent of good weather in 1970 Q Have any plans been made for the owns centennial A Here go again If regional government comes inside of the two yens prior to our centennial which will be in 1973 can only say thai I would hope that retain enough of our identity to be ourselves as a community There no reason why we in proceed with pi lor our centennial year It lias been mentioned by myself and others in the past two years that a special committee should be formed to do some planning for this special event in the history of our town I would highly recommend now that perhaps the council the Chamber of Commerce and other organisations thinking about this and put it on their early 1 agendas and plan something very concrete hat can be held as a special function in 1973 Q Council hat had some problems with parks board this year at least some members of the board and they seemed to think that council was assuming some control of parks and recreation where really it belonged to them Have you any comment A My only comment would be this its my personal opinion there just nothing at all in the association between council and the parks board I think that the bisis of most of our problems is comments being certain appioaches in communication may be breaking down here and there But we have our liaison with the board and commission our council members are appointed to these As members of these boards and commissions they are councils icprcseiitatives the aid in like fashion they are the board s liaison with However as members of council their position is to convey to the board and the commission council position on all matters I don recall of any single incident in past year where council has in any way tried to dictate to the parks board or the recreation commission Council is simply their role as the provider and when recommendations arc made and certain things arc requeued then council must consider these properly and this in my opinion is all council has ever Have any plans been made to do something about the arena A Most certainly justify again council s position with the parks board and recreation commission that they must ask questions when recommendations arc made A great number of our councillors have been on council for many years and recall other requirements in this area They re familiar with the needs of the building One comment made already is that on our insurance reviews we found that the steel structure was absolutely sound Now this changed in the past three or four years Any recommendation being made by the board with requirement for underpinnings or wall structure will be considered only on the of what wc can provide by budget The people of our town arc concerned about mill rates and on then behalf council is likewise concerned about mill rites the only way you can show your concern is to consider the merits of what you re going spend Whatever is required sure council finds some w and me to provide Q Do you feel there a lack of common or liaison with the County Board of Education A No feel is good from the bo to the municipality support tins by saying that we vc had vinous of correspondence from them and to comply with their requests with regard to communication it would almost be necessity to add staff to our office to irnmuuic itc properly with them So I feci that as fir as personally concerned the boatd has shown desue to beyond what the municip liny cope with I think Hi it any require wc will and is far as replies ire concerned get comments of council personal by myself or il members of council if and when required by the board Q Do you feel that local councils hove not enough influence over he decisions made by the Haltnn County Board of Education A Outside of bigger centres 1 suggest tint it i feasible thine Since the seho il board is set tip on a county basis which in some sense is i regional system it s not go be until such lime is wc hive reckon government to correspond to our region il school boards This wiy on region there should be a degree ol influence over the school board s dcusiuns But when ynu consider the numerous small municipalities who to have a voice it not feasible in my opinion that wc should my concrete opinions as to the decisions of the board Of naturally there has been some comment about the establishment of salaries and so on but this of course comes within their jurisdiction and not These in be questioned lrom time to time but unless you can do something constructive about it there no point in even discussing the mutter In your opinion what is it that held the town expansion back in the I few years A It bee iusc of the last few yens bill our tcoyaphical locition that had some bearing on the matter not because of our location in the county but because of the terrain Our town is built on series of three lulls involving rock and sand those things costly for construction of cither homes or industrial development ivc one or two directions we with reasonably economic means of development thinking of installation of services and so on Im sure that all the development will be required in the next few years can easily be handled in the ireas available in town it the present time without annex moil If required after this ycir perhaps some annexation of a small nature be moved into There also the problem now of the region government process which is slowing down every municipality Tlie development of homes of course is a necessity today and in most areas adjacent to Acton they have been rip idly built up Wc have the area available wnh our new pollution control plant well have the means to support residential development as well as some industrial dcvclopmenl I can sec no reason for Acton not to grow now but these are the things which have held us back in the past Certain problems have arisen because wc ire a small town development requiring heavily increased staffs increased budgets and so on These things arc relative are the only things which have really held Acton back Minuter meant what ha Town centennial Here we go Q What do you think was he biggest change in he past ten years A Well most the biggest change wc seen within the confines of the town has been the residential development the completion of subdivision additional homes and areas being developed improvements our mam thorough faro Cert mi have been paved that paved before Weve moved ahead with new water service a supply of water which should be adequate for some time with regional development This of course docs not relieve us from the problem of seeking additional supply winch wc arc moving into tins yen I think also of the building of a new library the hydro office modifications to our town office providing a better service to our people We most certainly have enjoyed almost 10 years now of dial telephone exchange and various other things which have been natural improvements as the years have advanced Nothing sensational his happened in Acton because Acton isn I largo enough to accommodate those things winch have been happening elsewhere I think some of the more important points in the past ten yens have been those things which have created problems for the town of Acton bee iusc of its see em t have our cake and eat it If we want to stay small there must be a price such as not having a very large voice the county let alone the province If wc want to grow then wc seek that stronger voice that some of us wish to have but wc forfeit the other things that people moved to Acton for Those people continue to move to Acton for the small town life but it would no longer be a small town and what they moved here for would be gone Do you think the plan for the longdelayed pool will be feasible soon A I can recall the campaign that was held here some years ago to have a swimming pool developed in Prospect Park and I tnmpcd the town with many others to Iry and solicit the funds required o do this Unfortunately all that was realized from this was the children pool We must be reasonable in these areas For people can have all the amenities sec other towns of 10 15 or 000 I think this is the basis of most of our problem I like everyone else would like to have the nicer things of life a swimming pool would be very nice But can actually support this with people Once again we have to settle for what is reasonable for a town the size of Acton Q At a recent meeting the subject of No highway came up Have you any thoughts on the condition of thia road and the many recent fatalities along one particular stretch A No highway has been a source of concern for council and myself personally for a number of yean Since the came into operation No 7 highway is no more than a service road and a very poor one at that The contours and the hells between and Georgetown have made it a very hazardous road for many years It has never been in my opinion a good highway I recall our need improve Young and Queen Sis a few years ago following about three or four years of continuous cancellations of proposed works on No and now at this late date at least two and a half years have gone by since we met with Esquesuig township council to approve the proposed plans of development on No 7 Quite ruturally the effect of the federal budget on the provincial budget has in turn had its effect of stalling the reconstruction on No 7 It of growing concern to the town of Acton not only from the standpoint of the fatalities that had recently but because of its importance to the town in the areas of growth and development The very fact that No 25 services us to highway is not the total answer From to Acton must have more and better means of approach I think thai we wdl have development because of highway and its proximity to there has been much talk about a proposed expressway from the pel field area in Toronto to bypass Acton in some area north of the town The sooner we realize when and where this will be located the more advantageous to us in our planning