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Council asks voters to decide extended franchise Are you in favor of extending the right to vote at municipal elections for members of council to all persons of full age who are British subjects and who have resided in the municipality for at least one year in accordance with the Municipal Franchise Extension Act the question eligible voters will be asked to decide on at Acton next municipal election in December By a narrow margin of to Acton Council voted last night Tuesday to allow the question to be placed on the ballot next year Councillors Marks Coats Elliott and Chapman voted in favor of holding the plebiscite Mayor Reeve Deputy reeve McKenzie and Councillor Greer opposed the move If the plebiscite shows a majority of electors are in favor of the extended franchise it will mean the end of present restrictions which require that citizens be either landowners or tenants in order to vote at municipal elections Explains reasons Councillor Marks who authored the motion to put the question to the people explained his reasons We want to give the people of Acton a chance to decide if this is a good idea or not We all have our own personal reasons why it is or why it isn he said He denied the move wis designed to have more young people vote claiming a survey proved that two thirds of the town population who would be allowed to vote if the plebiscite is approved are oldsters and that only one third are in the age bracket Marks was replying to a suggestion by Councillor Greer that if the group decided to pack council with a lot of young blood they could If they decided they were to put in a dome in Acton all the people would be voting for it Greer suggested One list Seconder of the Marks motion Councillor Bill Coats said one reiaon he supported it was that there be a number of plebiscites coming up including those on liquor and fluoridation at which all persons of leal age must be allowed to vote If we had the extended franchise we might get down to having only one voters list for all elections he said Deputy reeve Pat claimed council would In effect endorsing the extended franchise by allowing the question to be placed on the ballot Wo d be saying as responsible elected people we re supporting this We d be saying to the people on the street we think this is right he suggested Mirks disagreed council would endorsing the question by approving the motion to place It on the ballot we re saying to the people is we need help to decide on this what do you think Marks said Councillor Masales discounted Greer suggestion that all people vote in a block A lot of people were fooled by the provincial election reminded council I don t think can say young people are to go against the grain Councillor suggested the oldster was a ridiculous one This may sound silly but maybe the people in town t like to set so many oldsters given a vote he said More responsibility Reeve said he thought oldsters have a greater sense of responsibility because they been around longer and have learned more Restating his reasons for proposing the motion Marks said I was concerned about some of us who have parents who are no longer home owners people who are an intricate part of the community are In fait contributing greatly to the welfare of our community he claimed Greer said he didn want Acton to be a guinea pig Not enough municipalities have tried this yet he said Before the motion was voted on Marks said he was not personally in favor of the phrase who are British subjects In the motions but that it was part of the wording of the Municipal Franchise I Act Sevenfh Year No ACTON ONTARIO WEDNESDAY NOVEMQER fie Moose pasture goes for Acton Council has accepted In principle the sale of acres of town land south of CobblehlU Road to Alteo Construction at a price of In spite of Councillor Peter Marks charge that council arc doing local taxpayers a great disservice by selling It so cheap Alteo made an offer to purchase the property but the offer became null and void when the purchaser failed to make the down payment by the required date according to a legal opinion secured by council s ad ministration committee Mayor Duby said at a recent council meeting council is every bit as much to blame the deal was not closed because It failed to come up with a zoning decision on the land Council applied to the Department of Municipal Affairs to have the land residential months ago but the department conservation branch wrote back to say a certain amount of it must be held for conservation Marks maintained the land has increased in value since the time the original offer to purchase was made He said the committee felt at the time was a fair price for farm land We advertised farm land and that what we thought we sold We now have a new ball game That prime residential land he claimed The land has been described by some as a moose pasture Estimating 32 of the 48 acres will be zoned residential Marks said the town would receive less than an acre for the land In view of the fact they re already committed to a brokerage fee Land sold in Acton recently has gone for as high as W an acre he said It on Page Eight Bell asks for hike Increases in telephone rates proposed by Bell Canada could mean much as cents month for indivtduil line residence service in Acton with simihr increise for business service Present proposed residential rates for the Acton Rockwood and Georgetown exchanges arc as follows ACTON Individual Party Present Proposed 465 3 3 AND GEORGETOWN Individual Party 15 335 365 CHRIS TMAS SFAL campaign supplies have been distributed at the schools by Hilton County TB and Association president H Hinton centre and Acton board member Mrs David Swetmin left Receiving the seals and counter display trees at the Robert Little school are Becky Baxter jinet Adair of Eden Mills and principal Photo SI folders restaurant plan mats and tret decorations are bunt supplied in town the Tuberculosis and Itcspiratorv Disease Association Appoint Mrs Mann to help unemployed Efforts of Halton M P Whiting to obtain some form of unemployment officer Acton was rewarded this week by the announcement that Mrs A K Mann of Arthur St has been appointed a claims agent for the Unemployment Insurance Commission Mrs Mann will assist in filling out claims for unemployment insurance at no charge Claims will then be forwarded to the Unemployment Insurance Commission office The new service will commence as soon as Mrs Maim completes a course with the Unemployment Insurance Commission Mrs Mann main duties will be to assist applicants with the initial application but she will not be empowered to interpret the Act Having problems Unemployed people in Acton and district were having a problem with filling out applications and it meant a trip to the Unemployment Insurance Commission office in Waterloo an inconvenience few relished The Acton Liberal Association was made aware of the problem and in turn notified M Whiting worked hard to get this service for us said liberal officer lu Bonnette It shows he takes an interest in this area and spares no effort to see we are accommodated We had a unique situation here with the shutting down of Mason Knit said Acton Liberal Association president Bra ida I be watching closely to see how it works out P Whiting told the Free Press Bell basic rates are figured on the number of telephones you can reich without paying a long distance chnrge plus of a formula based on distances between exchange centres Bell is pinning a great deal of its case on inflation when it appears before the Canadian Transport Commission to justify its for an increase in telephone rates The company says expenses are rising faster than revenues with present rates This is due to increased salaries wages and benefits increased research and development expenses and increased material costs and depreciation expenses the maintains Bell claims to hive done ill in its power to help fight inflation but it does not have revenues to rreet the current and projected needs of its subscribers Area manager LIod says two or three subdivisions in his area would have to wait a long time for telephones because the company does not have the capital to expand Mam feature of Bell s to the Canadian Committee is the percent increase in the cost of the basic monthly service Towns with under telephones will pi a higher percentage but the increase would not surpass GO cents because the bill for service is smaller to begin with In total Bell Canada is seeking 1 millions spread out over 000 telephones The company says it hopes to spend million over the next five years on improvements in rural service Mam aims of the rural program are to reduce the number of customers on party lines and replace almost miles of exposed wire mainly with below ground cible Bell applied for an increase in for million but the Canadian Transport Commission allowed the company 27 The company relumed in asking for million and was granted 22 500 The company expects its application will be opposed by the Ontario Mayors and reces who went on record before objecting to the increase I IRS SNOW or THE SFASON came Sunday and it wasn t long until children were out romping in the white stuff some of them for the first time Robert Jennings a relative newcomer to enjoys his first walking encounter by rolling a snowball to throw at his father behind the camera Sunday snow was joined by more Monday and Tuesday but the weatherman predicts Indian summer is due in today Wednesday Indian summer shrewd forecasters say comes after the first snow It allowed the Indians time to finish off their final chores before they climbed into birch bark lodges for the real cold months Jim Jennings Photo Money is available of obtaining money I m not guaranteeing anything he said but interested clubs or other organizations should submit an application Interested parties can either get in touch with Mr Whiting or enquire at one of the Canada Manpower offices which have Information on the program The M says that perhaps some people are not aware that there Is another program operated by the Department of Agriculture which has grants for erection of community buildings Acton service clubs and other public bodies should take a good look at the new federal government program Iabor Intensified if they want to build a new swimming pool or something else of an unprofitable nature Whiting told The Free Press this week The Government has introduced the program in an effort to employ more people and get the economy rolling Grants are available for community projects and Mr Whiting Ihinlts Acton clubs and other public bodies stand a very good chance Breakin foiled While John Turkosz was working in St Alban church night win low was broken and someone tried to entry through the kitchen The frightened the person or persons off and he notified polio On fnda at a police investigated an accident which involved one moving car and two parked cars Damage was estimated at A Milton man was with impaired driving November at 15 p m two cars were in collision and police investigated Drivers were John McMullen St Catharines and 1irry Dredge Milton Damage estimated at and there were no injuries A iir reported stolen from Mill St Nov was recovered the next on Boner Ave Owner was I- the Acton A small basement window at Pentecostal Tabernacle was broken and police Informed Two Rockwood women survive cartrain crash WEARING A black arm band protesting the atomic bomb blast is Cathy Ashley a student at the high school Many students wore the symbol Staff Photo A near tragic accident oc curred on the CNR railway crossing on Watson Road just north of No Highway inside the City Limits on Monday afternoon at when two Rockwood passengers were hit by a diesei Canadian National No as it travelled west into the city Under intensive care at the Guelph General Hospital with conditions serious but not believed to be critical are Mrs Jean Lucy Meadows of Division Street and Mrs Dorothy Bolton of George Street Both of the ladies have had operations for punctured lungs and are fering from face and head lacerations Jean Meadows has a broken nose and cheek bones with severe eye injury Or demolished Travelling west on No High way the driver and owner of the 1967 blue Valiant made a right hand turn on Watson Road and failed to sec the train approaching With a quarter of a mile clear vision Corporal Saunders of the Police Division cannot at this tune account for the accident but feels that it was a miracle that the passengers survived The right front of the lead engine struck the right rear quarter panel of the car spun it around and embedded it into the train traffic signal standards The car was completely demolished The engineer driving the train was Jack Hurley of Stratford Ontario Ironically Mrs Meadows and Mrs Bolton had successfully driven home from Southampton the evening previous and were happy to have arrived safely as driving conditions had appeared hazardous Mrs Meadows whose husband had met a similar fate in when his car rammed into another vehicle which cut straight across in front of him on the No 7 highway by Stevenson fruit market was considered to be a capable and reliable driver She was taking Mrs Bolton into Guelph to see a doctor when the accident occurred Guelph Police continue investigation BEANIE BRIGADE representing the four house league See teams at A H S are Gary Masters Bill DeHaan Shelly and Ron Louttet Colored beanies show who who Staff photo Seven