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Buy Hotchens for parking Off strew parking In down town Acton will soon become a reality after years of dis cussion The much talked about pur chase of Bakery property on Willow street was approved at a price of plus expenses at a special meeting of Halton Hills last Tuesday night Councillors met behind closed doors for about an hour reviewing a report from a special committee set up to examine parking in ward one The report was kept and there was no ex nation for council decision The clerk was directed to contact Acton s Business Area to arrange construction of the parking lot once the purchase is com pletcd Councillor Roy Booth said he was opposed to the pur chase He explained funds gathered from the sale of town owned land can t be ear marked for a specific project but instead must be added to town revenue and allocated In the budget The town hopes to use money from the sale of the unused pump house on Main Street South to finance the entire project Mr Booth also said the lot may not be necessary if the town hall Is torn down He said no decision should be made until the citizens report is on the fate of tho town hall A report was due the last day of he noted If the town hall saved a parking lot could be built beside expanded fire hall Mr Booth was Joined In opposing the Bakery purchase by Councillors Peter Morris Walter and George Mayor Tom Hill Councillors Arm strong Pal Lea Peter Marks Peter and Marilyn supported the pur chase Councillors Russ Miller and Pat Patterson were absent At tho same meeting parking on Bower and Willow Streets were designated by council for volunteer fire fighters There will be five spots on the south Bide of Bower between the fire hall and John Street Another five spaces will be on the north side of Bower between the post office and restricted parking area Seven will be reserved for firefighters on the east side of Willow from Bower to the north side of St Albans The spots will be for both firefighters and emergency vehicles Different methods of covering the cost of pur chasing the building had been debated over the past year Some merchants favored the purchase strongly others opposed it During the course of this discussion Parking prota gonists Paul Mike Kinal and Don Lindsay pur chased the building from the so they would no longer have to wait for a decision They paid and held on to It In the hope the town would soon take over The property is beside the bank parking lot and there Is also the possibility the new lot could run t through the block to John Street The need for parking has been constant concern at businessmen meetings the past years The fire fighters have also been stressing to councillors their need for more parking spaces Family Pages ami ACTON ONTARIO JANUARY 1978 Noisy welcome for young 1978 Depending on how you look at it New Years Eve wos either very noisy or very quiet To the hundreds or people in silly hate blowing horns and throwing streamers 1S7S came in with a terrible racket But the police who were on duty say it was quiet There were dunces and house parties all over town and the district New Year Eve as many people gathered with family and friends to welcome in the new ear Not all the dances were sold out perhaps showing a trend toward house parties The largest crowd was at the Legion where celebrated together Then were dances at the Music Centre curling club golf club and arena as well as special parties at a hotel and restaurants Acton Minor Hockey again organized their New Years dance at arena which had sellout crowd All GO couples tickets were sold Six couples organized the special dance Mr and Mrs Fred Buchanan Mr and Mrs Barry Inscoe Mr and Mrs Don Van Fleet Mr and Mrs Weir Mr and Mrs Frank AlIsouandMr Mike Kinal Mr Inscoe is Minor Hockey Association chairman Mrs Van Fleet secretary and Mrs Weir treasurer Over per cent of those attending were young people and everyone had a terrific time they reported Henry was disc Jockey There was a large buffet prepared by the Acton Delicatessen and the com Profits if any are donated to a charity The big band sound came to the Music Centre with the band Eli from Guelph One of the players is Ralph of Acton district There were about 45 couples attending and a mid night buffet was served This annual dance is run by a committee of Acton Citi Band Snowmobile grounded An unmanned snowmobile belonging to a Highway man was given a rough ride on the Fourth Line Thursday evening Frank Jones Lot 2 of Erin was north bound on the Fourth Line with a snowmobile in back of his pickup truck The snow machine fell to the road after it came loose and broke through the rear cover of the truck according to Regional Police Damage to the snowmobile amounts to about police say Also the canvas top in the truck was damaged for say police The Dominion Hotel had a special party New Year Eve attended by over people Tickets were sold in advance covering all costs and there was a buffet Music was by the band Ron Lane Everyone was very pleased with the party the hotel management said The Station Hotel did not have a special party The Legion hall was crammed on New Year Eve with people there All rooms were open to all those who attended this year as on innovation There was one single cover charge Two different groups played appealing to different age groups J Wright and Company and Bob and Cory There was a delicious hot buffet The organizers were very happy with the success of the evening At the curling club Kent Tocher for the New Years revellers and there was a good crowd although not a sellout A full crowd was reported at the golf course dance at the Acton Meadows golf course Saturday night Some people attended Another large crowd spent an enjoyable evening to gether at the Centre seeing the New Year in Police report nothing usual on New Year Eve with liquor offenses about average Driving conditions were OLD FRAME building will be torn down to create a municipal parking lot council has decided The old structure was originally known as Matthews hall and town council met here before the town hall was built It was also the first home of the Free Press now 103 years old The building was moved from Mill St and most recently housed Hotchen s Bakery Two dozen house breakins suspect professions thieves Halton Regional Police seeking public assistance in tracking down a professional crime ring responsible for more than two dozen solved housebreaking and theft Incidents the last year Isolated country homes in and Esqueslng Milton and area have been the targets of a highly organ and profess breaking ring according to Keith Robertson senior detective In the Crime Investigation Branch of Regional Police The two dozen cases in lost year each involving between and to worth of stolen goods ore typified by careful organ and planning with the majority of the thefts eluding stereo and television sets coin and silverware and some jewelry he said They arc pros and know exactly what lhe want when No grant fire hall council views cited Ron Second record for Ron Waples s Ron who two weeks ago became the first harness driver to win more than million in purse earnings In one year of driving In Canada last Tuesday broke a second mark in racing as he won his race of the year driving A to victory in the ninth race at Green wood Waples won five races that night Including the daily double Having reached his goal Waples Is casing off from the driving pace he hat set In the last few weeks in his stretch run for the win mark He will II race the wn session at Greenwood but will not be jumping from track to track loget extra rides In his record sett drive he took Katoomba A to the front at the start and set fractions of 15 and on the way to the length win Mayor pays bet Mayor Tom Hill is not a man to welch on a bet His secretary Cathy found that out themnyor paid off a bet made in September The mayor bet she could not quit smoking from September to the end of the year She did and plans to stay away from cigarettes from now on By telephone members of the Town Hall Restoration Committee learned that their request for a grant had been deferred until the town council shows more support The letter with the formal decision has now been received and reads as follows December 1977 Mr C George Elliott Chair man Acton Town Hall Restoration Committee Bower Street Acton Ontario Dear Mr Elliott At its recent meeting my Board of Directors con your Committee application for an Ontario Heritage Foundation grant of towards tho rehabilitation of the Acton Town Hall The request was discussed at some length and It was decided to defer a decision until after the receipt of more information concerning the municipality Increased contribution to the project While my Directors com mended your efforts to con serve this heritage property they recognized that the Town of Hills as the has the major responsibility for Improving managing and maintaining this facility Unfortunately the recent developments on the adjacent site coupled with the Towns rather modest financial role In this project would seem to Indicate a none too sub stantial interest on the part of the municipality Under these circumstances provision of funding from the Ontario Heritage Foundation limited resources would be to However Directors ex pressed the wish that the Town of Halton Hills will accept a much greater role In supporting ih s project and If this proves to be the case then I will be glad to place the matter before them for re consideration Sincerely Water overflows New Years Day A on the res- voir on the Third cauoid a bit of concern New Years Day when it mal functioned causing the water to overflow onto the road A Halton Region spokes man sold a spotted the water overflowing onto the road around 11 a and called workers Ted Curtis operator of the sewage treatment plant who also looks after the town wells and Brent Marshall a region employee shut down the Davidson the Fourth Lino wells tor a few seconds each to alleviate the problem The spokesman explained the mercury switch which controls how much water is flowing into the reservoir had failed to shut off causing the water to overflow There is no alarm system here to warn anyone of the mulfune tlon An alarm system Is in the works but Installation by Bell Canada has not been done After the switch was fixed workers called the regional sand trucks from Milton who came up and sanded the roads to avoid any possible accidents was spotted right away and workers arrived on the scene in less than minute ONLY OPEN water on the lake is this patch behind the arena cramped quarters for the wild fowl who must have water to survive Swans are also visible in the feathery crowd around the water hole The birds are fed regularly by town Workmen and by neigh friends Beardmore bubblers usually keep Water open on the other arm of the lake but officials say they have no need to Dogs kill fox test results soon A fox suspected of being rabid was killed by a couple of dogs belonging family on Boxing Day Results from tests by the Deportment of Agriculture health of animals division are unknown at press time Ralph Billings of Line Two north of Sideroad Is sure the fox had the disease Rabies works through the nervous system unUl It attacks the brain The head of the fox was sent away for testing The fox came up to the Billings home and the two family dogs killed Itaboutg isp No humans were bitten by the fox Mr Billings said The Iwodogshavehadthelrrabiesshots The odds of them the humans contracting are pretty remote Mr Billings said Mr Billings noted the fox carried porcupine quills in its note and lips The attack took place on the Monday and Mr Billings they enter a home said Ser Robertson All homes have been entered during the day he continued when occupants are at work or away on holiday They walk if the door is open or else if it locked they break the glass and open the lock from the inside The houses arc never ransacked they know what are lookii for A policeman for years and a detective for the past three years Sergeant ertson considers the case as one of the more difficult and serious cases he has encountered To date none of the stolen items have been recovered We have to have the help of the public If people know their neighbor is away an eye should be kept with routine checks Neighbors are not as close as they used to be continued the Sergeant and thieves readily able to take ad van of lack of supervision One of our major problems lies with the cation of the goods taken We are recommending householders to keep a list of stereos television sets and other valuables with the model number make color and serial number written down The thieves generally strike in one particular area several times before moving into a new area according to Sergeant Robertson Maybe every week for two or three weeks they will hit one area and then a month go by before anything is done again he said On Wednesday Dec the thieves struck at an area home on Fourth Line taking them a stereo and set It was the work of the same group confirmed the Sergeant adding that police do have Ideas of how the ring is operating 1 really cannot tell you certain things we do know Install the bubblers and arent considerine Wednesday before he got the government to answer phone He phone the inem soon Regional Police and others in an effort to determine If the animal was rabid THE ROTARY CLUB presented Mauri Vallee left with a cheque for the Arthritis Society in the amount of last night Gary looks on while Mac Sprowl hands over the cheque