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Want Acton hack seek meeting with The Actonlans for Action Committee will seek a meet with Provincial Treasurer and Minister of Intergovem mental Affairs to discuss the sibillty of having Acton severed from Hal Ion Hills and a fifth municipality created within the Region of Norm Elliott Vice Chair man of Ihe group made that statement alter filing a brief on behalf of the group with Regional Council Bill 151 Committee Thurs day The Bill 151 Committee is currently reviewing regional government In Mr said he was dis appointed the Bill 151 com had not endorsed the brief or supported the call for an enquiry Into regional government He slid his group was particularly interested In a study that would probe the workings in Hills and determine whether or not a fifth community centred the urban centre or would be feasible While the Bill 151 Commit tee did reject a motion that would have referred the Acton brief to on independent task force to study regional government in it did approve of a request for an inquiry later during the same meeting If the task force is formed it would in all likell hood give serious con to the Acton brief and the problems the brief addresses Mr Elliott said per cent of the problems in Acton are local in nature He said that after three and a half years of regional government there is still no strong community of interest between the gammed parties in Hills Provincial theoreticians claimed that a strong com of interest was a necessary if not vital ingredient and yet proceeded to legislate the amalgamation of two geographically ate urban centres Acton and Georgetown which histori have had very little if any community of interest between them the brief says Elliott says that since regional government the gap has widened instead of between the two areas There Is some feeling in Georgetown that supports the idea of dividing the two urban centres We re not like Cam bridge where you drive from one centre Into another with out realizing you crossed a boundary It is a 10 mile trip he said The loss of identity is a serious area of dissatisfaction with Regional Government particularly in Hills The urban areas of Oak viilc Burlington and Milton all retained after the of Bill 151 autonomy over their own councils Such was not the case in Halton Hills The merging of the two urban centres of Georgetown and Acton into one council ture has hod far reaching repercussions The brief presented by the committee complains about Continued on Page Hundred Tnird Year No ACTON ONTARIO WEDNESDAY AUGUST Pages Fifteen Cents Firemen get hall they dont want STACY grimaces as a wet sponge is hurled towards her in the sponge throw game at the summer playground grand finale penny carnival Thursday evening For more pictures see inside today s paper Hydro expropriation hearing ends in split Months or expropriation hearings into Ontario Hydro controversial 500 corridor down the centre of Hills ended yesterday with both sides only slightly closer than at the start The hearings which ended yesterday afternoon were held in the Acton Legion For more stones see page Hearing officer Donald refused last ditch attempts by opponents to line the Interested Citizens Group ICG for time to study recently acquired com putcr documents In the hearing officers opinion the ICG has had eight months to present evidence The hearings into expro priation on the southern section of the line started November but about ten sitting days resulted The information which the ICG hoped to analyze and present to the officer came from Ontario Hydro after a secret summer meet at Toronto Ontario Hydro lawyer Tom Marshall told the hearing he considered the government decision to build the Bruce to Milton line as inflexible He contended that contrary to the ICG s claims Hydro considered alternate routes ICG lawyers on the other hand maintained that the force of law is on their side They argued decisions six judges two former ministers of energy and at least one hearing officer Favored their contention that studies of routes can not confined to the narrow swath across the province that Hydro chose Arson suspect Arson is suspected in a Milt SI E home after the owner wife returned about pm August 11 and smelted smoke investigation of the house revealed a double mattress in the bedroom was on fire Regional Police are investigating firefighters dropped a bombshell it Hills council meeting Monday night whentheysaidthey fell was too much to spend for an iddition to the fire hill when there would still be no The stalcmcnt was made to stunned council just as the motion to authorize Alan Zee- gen to goto tender was put forward Despite the firemen objections the motion to tender wis passed after a lone Chief Mick Holmes said the firemen felt it should be more thought He asked the tendering motion be held up until the parking problem could be solved The firemen are willing to wait I know this is a surprise and wl appreciate what ell has been do for Councillor Miller who has worked closely with the firelighters obviously taken iback said it would cost just to buy another piece of land Phil head of the firefighters association said the firefighters were satisfied w hen the figure was supposed to be around He said the firemen had repeatedly asked the committee to help solve the parking problem We re only getting twomore truck bays for said the town owns on Mill Street by the high school that could be used for a fire hall He pointed out he renovations at the old town hail would in crease demand on the facility and increase parking pro blems Councillor Pat McKcnzic claimed works committee has been working an parking for the firemen There never has a negative on this He claimed the pro perty mentioned by Mr Me is ideal for building lots and could yield Councillor Pete agreed with the firemen that the- matter be given more thought He pointed out it was big decision for the firemen to come and speak against he cost 000 is a lot to spend if there no plicc to park Miller he had met with the firemen and the citizens committee repeatedly ind this was the way the firemen wanted it said it was never too to realize a mistake might have been made and said the firemen have a valid point Councillor Peter Marks there was unrest and among the firemen on the issue claimed it would be foolish to proceed if the firemen don want He said it seemed they now want a different location Councillor George the tendering should be held up He said the fire men also pay taxes and are concerned about spending so much money when there no parking this location He urged the matter be sent to works committee for review Councillor demanded How is this council ever going to anything when we come up with negative decisions all the time He urged the parking pro Jem be tackled right away and commended the firemen for their concern about taxpayers money Councillor Booth said council had bent over back wards for the firemen He said he had tried to be parochial and to give the Acton firefighters quarlers he George town department long as the cost was 000 parking such hie problem when it to ill of a sudden is urged the build be erected first an the parking problem solved after He contended if he 000 figure had not been bandied iround in the first place the higher figure would nol have been such He said he supported goinj ahead with he tendering pointed out it the rccommenda lions to take parking off some streets in Acton arc put through it would make matters worse for the firefighters Mr McCristall said there had been a special meeting of the firefighters where they decided it would be a waste of money if no parking is pro- Chief Holmes praised Councillor Miller and the special committee for their efforts on behalf of the fire fighters hut said he felt it was too much money to ask the public to pay Miller contended w is less than the salaries of a paid department He sold the present location was the best site ind promised council would look parking He said he had tried to get works committee to act on the park problem many times A motion to hold up the tendering and send the matter to works with the firelighters in attend was put forward by He said it would give the firemen time to gather their thoughts and maybe come up with more positive suggestions He said a couple of more would not hurt since the firemen are so con said the firemen had made their point as reason able people He We spend 000 for fun and eames in recreation and this is for protection of life and property He said the park ing problem cannot be ignored and has to be dealt with anyway Marks warned should listen to people who are saying put the brakes on He said it would be good judgment to hold It for a couple of weeks and meet with the firemen Man consulting engineer said if the fireball wis going to be built before winter it would have to be started almost immediately He said the delay and result ing winter construction might up the price The motion to hold up the tendering was lost Anothering motion to give the goahead to call for tenders immediately was passed on a recorded vote Voting against the motion were Councillors Marks and The mayor was 5 to receive Queens medal Silver Jubilee medal According to a letter from Five residents of Hills will receive medals marking the anniversary of the Queen s accession to the office of Premier Bill Davis quotas have been established and on a popula will have the job of basis Hills will selecting the recipients of the receive five medals THREE MILITIA soldiers from Acton defend their position during summer concentration with the Lome Scots at theLake Left to ri Pnvates Clayton Bigelow 17 of 6 Mill Street Charlie Payne 17 UP of Rosemary Road and J 20 of R and nearly citizen soldiers from the Hamilton Milttia District spend two weeks at the camp training and perfecting their skills in weapon handling and field tactics MABEL surrounded by friends and relatives celebrated her 93rd birthday at the Cher Rest home On Mrs s left is her friend Mrs Cole Behind her are her daughter Margaret Rae and her son Edward with his wife Margaret Ninety three year old Mrs McDougall was born Mabel in Ospnnge moving to Guelph in 1910 when she married She later lived in Toronto and Erin She has four grandsons and three great grandchildren Loss of identity is major concern Loss of Identity emerged the greatest single issue that the for Action Committee is concerned with when the committee pre sented a brief to the Regions Bill 151 Committee Thursday The 151 committee has been investigating ways to prove the operation of Re gional Government since the new council took office in January The Acton committee members said they wanted a study carried out to see if a town could be created around the urban centre of Acton and if it would be feasible under regional system Several members of the 151 committee that most of the problems cited were local in nature and could best be rectified at the local level in Hills The Bill 151 Committee referred the brief to Hills Council That council is currently carrying out its own review of Bill 151 and will be reporting back to the regioml committee The Acton committee was disappointed to see the brief referred Spokesman Norm said he hod hoped the committee would have passed a agreeing with some of the points made in the brief or endorsing the brief But winning the commit Ice endorsement that easy Jack chair mm of the Public Works Committee said percent of the problem seemed to be a feeling of a loss of identity the problem with Acton in its relationship in Hills Their concerns were mostly local in nature things like arenas fire departments and recreation They ore a community of and they want their own council but then they say they want to cut down on the cost of govern The brief was conflict ingwhen it got to costs cited several ex where Acton had saved money being able to share staff with Milton or consolidate several opera lions in Hills into one He said the meeting was an excellent beginning to communications and there should be more meetings like it according to suggested the pro blem is a local one Hills Council should try to come to grips with it by meet with the people who are concerned and by perhaps holding council meetings in He supported the pro vince move to reduce the number of municipalities There were about in the province They had to get it down to a manageable level You do lose something and people resist change resident and Milton Councillor Jim Watson said the problems set forth were mostly philosophical and the delegation wasn t able to identify any real icant probjems in specific Fire truck soccer grants Two Acton projects wilt receive grants the Ministry of Culture and Recreation announced this week A grant of is to be made to the Acton Minor Soccer club to add in the purchase of soccer balls and nets first aid kits and line markers Acton Firefighters Association will receive a grant of to aid in the costs of restoring their 1927 Studebaker fire Iruck Merchants split over Hotchen parking lot purchase The business people of Acton seem to be split wide open on paying for parking In area Monday night Mrs Shoemaker presented a Hon signed by owners and tenants stating they do not want to pay for property for public parking Another petition Is In ell s possession saying exactly opposite and the acquisition of land for parking Mrs Shoemaker contended the other petition had been left in stores and signed by customers This petition I have brought signed by the people who will pay The people who will pay should have more say than customers coming into stores She claimed her own revealed many parking spaces are taken up by em ploycrs and employees of the downtown businesses The petition stated they arc opposed to increasing asses sment to purchase land in the downtown area She said out of a total of commercial businesses per cent of the owners and 74 per cent of the tenants Councillor Peter Marks said It was a real problem since the other petition has signatures saying the town needs parking He said it was a difficult position for elected officials be in and said the need in the future would be more acute He pointed out the engineer was recommending bonning parking on one side of Mill Street This would create more problems He said the fire department wants 30 spaces for their own use What do you think of the long term need he asked Mrs Shoemaker suggested land behind the Dominion Hotel was too far away for customer parking and should be used for employer and employee parking There s no reason we should provide parking for employers and employees She said an area behind the post office is not used to any great extent Marks predicted land would only increase in cost if it is not picked up now The town missed the boat by not buying the Legion pro perty retorted Mrs Shoe maker Marks admitted there could have been an error but said the same error repealed years hence Yes but don ask me lo pay for It replied Mrs Shoemaker Councillor Pat said the costs to the benefit ting area have not been set as yet He said plan of the Business Improvement Area recognizes parking as a problem He claimed Hole hens Bakery land for example would have two hour meters on it and would probably not be used by employers and employees If the downtown mer chants want to survive thoy w ill have to provide off street parking I like to concur with your wishes but we have another petition saying some thing else commented Councillor in parking in Acton would hove to be dealt with ally since it was a long stand problem Councillor Booth said as a member of the George town Business Improvement Area executive he was on Page 2 Bicyclist hit by car A Main Street North youngster was hurt when the bike he was riding and a car collided at Main and River Streets last Wednesday evening Charles of 76 Main St fell off his bike from the collision police say Police also say Charles suffered slight injuries from the crash Robert Kartchener of Kitchener was attempting to turn his car left onto River Street when the mishap police said They said they lost their municipal office but so did we in They were concerned that decisions were being made by outsiders but that is something they have to settle in their own municipality Watson said I took the minutes of a North Halton meeting before regional government when they were discussing the boundaries in Acton representatives scorned Brian Best for want ing to preserve Milton and the Acton representatives were well represented and they were unanimous in wanting just one whole town for north Now these people are saying just what Brian Best said then You can t attribute all of the rising costs to the regional structure The problem in Hills seems to be two urban areas Acton is a small fish in a big stream now Milton came together very well I wouldn t want to see it dismantled even though Milton and Nassagaweya al ways fought They were received sympathetically but the com mittee felt it was an Acton Georgetown fight and they should settle it themselves Mayor Harry Bar rett was more supportive of the Acton people They have some real con he said The concerns seem twofold level of service and cost But Barrett agreed the main problem is the loss of identity Once they had a viable community and then all of a sudden all of the facilities and services are in Georgetown To some extent wc had the same thing when we took Bronte in but Bronte will ways be Bronte Barrett who serves on the regional police commission said the commission had established a precinct in Acton and he felt the police service is as good or better as it was before The Mayor has al ways opposed having hard service sewer and water at the regional level and he feels that causes problems under regional government He said that and Burlington had always had more sophisticated service than in the north where people don need it don want it and can afford it in some instances Under Bill 151 and re gional government though everything goes to the highest common denominator There shout be a hierarchy at the region and hard services should never never never have gone there Continued on 2