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Objections flood Transport Commission hearing on halting last passenger trains iJMIIHH lHllfHIHUfflHIlhlhlll I i I Illll Ml I III 1 III h i lhe Transport Comrr j presided over hearing of passenger turns between Guelph and Toronto 3 3f I I Objections were registered by MP Alfred Hale I Harry Sudbury Eta Soph who presented HI HI IT MBIKBBmfA PI I I J In I l I I f0 he Ontario Liberal caucus lawyer David Duncan with SI wffj U US I l he Ontario government mayor Ralph Smith in individuals some armed with lists of hundreds of sign Not objecting was a representative of Cray Coach Unci Ninety Fifth Year No ACTON ONTARIO WEDNESDAY APRIL Eighteen Pages F ftean Cents Will jump hydro rate For the first tune since 19S4 Acton will have an increase in hydro rates At their regular meeting Thursday Acton Hydro Commission agreed to a special meeting with Ontario Hydro officials Bob Henry and Jim Monday meeting on slated drugs Worried about drug abuse in Acton and parents lack of information on the subject a group of concerned citizens formed a committee recently to talk over the problem Theyve decided now to hold a scries of three meetings so anyone interested may obtain correct information to discuss the problem intelligently with their children First meeting will be at the Robert Little school on Monday evening April the next at the M Bennett school on Monday April and the third at the high school on Monday evening May 4 All meetings begin at and there will be qualified resource people present to assist in the program and discussion School children have taken home the first of a series of infornutive pamphlets provided by the Addiction Research Foundation and parents are asked to sign a form indicating if they will attend the three meetings Mrs Peg Palmer of the addiction research centre at Oakvillc has met with the local group several times and will be bringing up three films The first to be shown next Monday is Drugs and the Nervous System and the subject of the first meeting will be Facts About Drugs Rev Harry Dawson heads the informal committee set up just for the temporary purpose of helping provide information Stevens to discuss proposals for implementing the rate increase Mr Henry and Mr Stevens suggested the increase claiming the Commission would soon begin to lose money on the sale of power if they did not Mr Henry said he thought the Commission would have been wise to increase rates a year ago As you delay rate increases you save people money now but not ultimately he warned Ontario Hydro raised rates they charge municipal hydro commissions 6 per cent January 1 but Acton commissioners felt at the time they could hold the line on increases to consumers Power rates have risen for the Commission five limes since 1951 but the Commission has been able to absorb increases on every occasion except one when a few consumers were billed under a different system Others found their rates were lower balancing that raise The Commission now appears resigned to implement the increase We re going to have to do it sooner or later chairman Wilf McEachern said Commissioner Ted Tyler agreed We have to do something now he added Mr Tyler suggested the rate increase be introduced so that each half of the town would receive it at the same time Mr Henry has suggested August 1 as a date for the increase to begin The Commission will meet with Ontario Hydro officials Thursday April 23 to hear proposals Charges laid An Erin town si up man was stopped at Speyside by Acton 0 officer Roy Wood Friday afternoon and charged with impaired driving driving while his license was under suspension possession of a dangerous weapon and refusing a breathalyzer test Added to this were two charges laid by Guclph polite A complaint was laid here and Cons Wood followed the or FIRE CHIEF MICK HOLMES and members Duval and Harold fight the fire which completely destroyed the home of Mr and Mrs Robert on the Blue Springs Line last Wednesday afternoon The family of three lost all their possess except the clothing they wore A fund started to aid tho McDougalls and ghbors and friends are rallying around with furniture and other fts Staff Photo family loses home possessions in fire Wednesday Neighbors and friends are rallying to aid an Acton district family who lost their R Acton home and possessions Wednesday in a fire that raged out of control before firefighters arrived Homeless arc Mr and Mrs Bob McDougall and their son 11 year old Andrew who lived near the corner of Sidcroad and the Line Nassagaweya Blue Springs Line Their frame home was a total loss as flames of unknown origin fanned by high winds levelled it in little more than an hour Mr McDougall a pensioner was outside cutting wood when he glanced in the direction of the house to see it in flames He tried to enter the blazing home but the intensity of the flames drove him back singeing his hair Free Press misleading public Councillor McKenzie charges Councillor Garnet Pat McKenzie accused Free Press of misleading the public with its coverage last week of the 1970 budget meeting concerning the condition of Acton arena and asserted publishers of the newspaper should be informed and the editor the deputy reeve said Discussing the controversial engineers report on the condition of the arena Mr McKenzie wondered whether Free Press representatives had read the engineers report Discussion at Tuesdays council resulted from an amendment to minutes of the budget meeting which council changed by resolution to read that further money would be available to fix tlie arena if safety becomes a factor Most members of council are convinced there is nothing unsafe about the arena part of the community centte In no way would we sit back and watch if there is any danger at the arena Mayor Duby asserted Now is it to be determined asked Councillor Greer You have to read The Free Press to find out They seem to be experts said deputyreeve Ted Tyler What Peter Marks is trying to get across said Mr Greer is whos going to make the decision The Free Press is the public declared Councillor McKenzie who enquired whether they Free Press representatives had read the engineers report Councillor Marks rose to the defence of the Free Press telling council this newspaper representatives had an ovcrjll PATRICIA TUCKER clutches a pink bunny at Rockwood Home and School fashion show last week See inside for story and more pictures Staff Photo picture the matter attended parks and recreation meetings as well as meetings of council Mi Marks extended an open on to alt members of council to attend this Thursday s meeting of parks and recreation to hear a first hand report on the arena condition from the engineering firm The engineers t say the buildi was unsafe declared the reeve d be labelled a bunch of if it was unsafe The deputy reeve amended pikers to a word he thought more appropriate Councillor Marks said die engineers had never asserted the arena would fall down but safety standards hovered around the minimum Further discussion on the issue resulted in the reeve again asserting the engineer had not stated the building was unsafe in the report Why would he change his mind he asked We told the engineering firm to draw the specifications up to keep the arena safe for use Mr Marks told council They came up with the recommendations Maybe you know something we don t about this the deputyreeve told Mr Marks but I didnt get the same urgency out of the report as you seem to Discussion concluded with an amendment to the minutes opposed by Councillor Marks Nothing was salvaged from contents Acton firefighters responded quickly to the call but were helpless to do anything but apply preventive measures The frame building was an inferno when they arrived They were also handicapped by the lack of water Two trucks ferried water for hoses from he nearest source It took nearly two hours before the brigade extinguished flames Mrs employed as a housekeeper in Acton was summoned home by her son Andrew who alighted from the school bus to sec Ins home in flames A neighbor turned in the alarm The purchased the home from Mr and Mrs Hill four years ago and the Hill family nearest neighbors were quick to assist the stricken family The McDougalls have got temporary home at the res of their son Mornston They had insurance on the burned home Fire chief Mick Holmes was at a loss to explain the cause of the fire which also destroyed a new Consider lifting dump charge s new measure control dumpuig with a system of charges may be altered if Deputy Reeve Tom Hill and Councill Ken Marshall are involved My phone is ringing off the wall confessed the deputy reeve suggesting council should consider a system of collection which woutd mean the whole township ay the same erasing all other charges Its not fair to penalize the guy with a half ton truck who ham t got a car he declared We 11 have to consider taking charges off if the man with the half ton truck is only taking Ins own garbage the whole idea was to catch the guy with the half ton truck doing custom work Mi Marshall said Cbasetf charged Acton and two Guelph cruisers were involved before a local man was apprehended and charged with careless driving Tuesday morning at 1 The nun drove into a farm lane and ran from lus car garage the family was building adjacent to their home Meanwhile neighbors and friends hive been rallying to aid the family Saturday Mr Bell of Milton lent his truck and several pieces of doi furniture were picked up for the Neighbors arc having a shower th week and private donations to come fur the family John Coniglio if Milady Hairstyhng in has started a fund to aid the McDougalls and is accepting donations at his stoic on Mill St Donations may also be sent top 0 Box Not much hope for Haltononly region Darcy McKcougli won I be giving any thought to regional government for this area cither or Peel until after May 1 he announced last week And he t give much hope for a regional government area containing just The Minister of Municipal Affairs was speaker at the Association of Counties and Regions of Ontario conference in Toronto and Oakvillc Deputy Reeve William Gillies asked Mr McKcougli if he would consider a region Halton County Council had endorsed the county region after Mr announced the proposed marriage of and Peel was off for lack of a concensus or opinion from the 17 municipalities involved The fate of Burlington is expected to be decided in May Reeves Alan Day of Ron Harris of Milton and Gordon Gallagher of Burlington and deputy reeves Gillies Art Speight of Georgetown and Gordon of attci the conference from The Challenges of Change was the conference theme and several speakers and panel discussions featured the Tuesday to Thursday gathering For three days in Guelph the Canadian Transport Commission presided over hearings into abandonment of passenger trams and which run between and Toronto Objections were registered by Wellington MP Alfred Hales Harry Worton Sudbury MPP Elma Sopha who presented a brief from the Ontario Liberal caucus lawyer David Duncan with a brief for the Ontario government mayor Ralph Smith as well as many individuals some armed with lists of hundreds of signatures Not objecting was a representative of Gray Coach Lines who said three additional buses could handle the extra commuters each day This was one of a number of hearings planned to Investigate CN and applications to discontinue passenger tram services on which they claim losses of more than 41 million in can order service Acton did not make a personal representation a hearing was held here in January but sent a letter of objection The Monday to Friday commuters stop at Guelph Rockwood Acton Georgetown Brampton Malton Weston West Toronto and Toronto The hearings were in county court chambers with chairman David Jones and commissioner John Woodard and Frank By statute the may order the railways to continue necessary services In the public interest but in such cases the federal treasury is expected to subsidize the loss to a maximum of per cent Still lose if fares doubled Douglas CNR vice president in charge of the Great Lakes region told the hearing the railway still would not break even if fares were doubled He said everything had been done to make the to Toronto service profitable The service showed a toss in 1968 of he said Half the passengers travel from on in to Toronto and only a small percentage board at Alternative means of transportation are available let commuters all along route Mr was the target for many questions and opposition was sometimes heated Rockwood Elora objections The railways owe us th s service councillor Nelson who listed mun pal grants to the CNR for development Approximately in grants was given in 1879 as well as large tracts of land One of the grants he listed included from fcrtn Mr and Mrs George of spoke against the proposals and presented a petition by Guelph to Toronto commuters Mr Loney makes the trip almost daily He said being forced to stand in the baggage car was common and complained of mallunctiunmg locks and dirty Mrs said the federal government should subs due the service It should not be a question of cost petition signed by 364 Elora res dents was submitted as evidence of public opposition A petition signed by Rockwood and district res dents objected Mrs R A Strong who submitted it said her son who was employed would be forced lo travel by car to another area for wurk an unnecessary danger Towns expecting to grow Georgetown said in their brief that the discontinuance of commuter trams would have a far reaching effect on thoir area where use of trains is substantial and preferred to other model of transportation A brief from Alan Ross reeve of township suggested the application should be denied The brief from the Mid Western Ontario Association stated removal of train service would slow down commercial development of the region Clean comfortable airconditioned coaches were recommended with a program of selling service to the public W Allan said no step should be taken which would interrupt development citing expected increases In Strcelsvillc population Representing Guelph Chamber of Commerce Gordon Stacey claimed lack of promotion suggesting no discontinuance of the service for at least three years a analysis to determine the future role of commuters and no subs dy on tl line until losses have been minimized Guelph wants GO service Guclph mayor Ralph Smith fell the was warranted and urged rail service He said lhe city feels transportation is so important it incurs considerable losses on bus service each year more predicted for than the CN claimed as their loss for he trains Elmer MPP for Sudbury representing provincial Liberals got Mr of CN to admit there was a tremendous potential for growth in the area but Mr Gonder insisted still that the could not break even Attack cant lose feeling J J a lawyer representing the Alberta government and a well known expert specializing in law to railways took Continued on Pag SEED CORN ANYONE Things were a bit of a mess on Highway 25 south of Speyside early Saturday morning when a tractor trailer jack knifed and rolled over into the ditch spewing its load of farm machinery and bags of seed corn onto the roadway and through the ditch and a nearby bush truck received damage and load most of which was ruined was valued at Driver John D Clare of Hill was only slightly Injured but it took a couple of days to clean up the mess- Photo by Ray