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Baetz turns down review of 500kV hydro corridor Neither the hydro corridor or the Ontario cabinet are being moved by a plea for a rerouting of the line to cheaper and what some experts considered a better route than proposed from the Bruce gener ating station to Milton In a letter to William Mann chairman of the Interested Citizens Group Tuesday Energy Minister Reuben said the Ontario cabinet this week reaffirmed its decision to run the corridor from Bruce through and connect with the east west corridor near Milton The cor ridor with its foot high towers will march up the middle of the Fifth Conces of Halton Hills The minister said the letter would be dls appointing and frustrating for the ICG but he said It was Impossible to turn back the clock far enough lo reroute the line a theme used for the last four years both by Ontario Hydro and the Government said the cost of replannlng and re building the line on a different route would be so large he In good conscience recommend a basic change BUI Mann chairman of the ICG said he was naturally disappointed by the decision He said he could understand the minister feelings that the clock could not be turned back nut We ve been working on this for four years now they keep changing the game and changing the ministers if they had realized the errors they recognize now this line would be in the correct location The ICG was given some consolation in the conclusion of his letter said For whatever consolation it might be I do believe as one who has been active in citizen organizations for many years that your citizens group should sustain as art iculate efforts have made a permanent pact on the planning and routing of future transmission power lines Therefore while in your view you may have lost the battle you have contributed enormously to win ning the war of increased citizen part in public decision making The full text of the letter follows March 13 At the conclusion of the meeting with the Interested Citizens Group on March called to enable you to discuss the Slater report with representatives of Ontario Hydro I said I would respond to your request for a review of the alternatives to the Bruce to Milton transmission line no later than today As I promised I have given the matter top priority and have reviewed in detail the sequence of events and decisions made In respect to the line I have also personally flown slowly be helicopter over the whole length of the line as well as much of the alternative transmission line routes which have been proposed at one time or another As you know since February 14 I have met with tbe ICG on two occasions and I have had an opportunity to appreciate your concern and to learn of the alternates which the ICG would propose to the Brad ley Milton line I hope you would agree that the meeting on the Slater report provided ample oppor tunity for everyone present to question both Ontario Hydro officials and Mr Slater on Continued on Pago 11 One hundred and Third Year No ACTON ONTARIO WEDNESDAY MARCH 15 1978 Forty Pages Fifteen Will not assume liability Speakers take top honors Acton students swept the Georgetown Optimists public speaking contest at North Halton Golf and Country club Tuesday evening In the girls competitions In first place was Victoria Rodriguez of Bennett school a grade five student In second place was Janet Reast a grade four student at M Bennett school In third place was Mary Vlloof Holy Cross school in Georgetown In the boys competition there were three speakers and in first place was Steve Saxon a grade e student at Doug Magwood phoned the Free Press at lo p Tuesday so the good news could be published Smoke detector alerts residents What could have been a major disaster early Sunday morning was professionally averted by two nurses at Home for Senior Citizens At approximately 4am a burst of smoke caused a smoke detector in one of the bedrooms to buzz alerting the night shift of fire in the building Sandra Ross registered nurse and Doris Jones a qualified nurse woke up all residents of the home and led them to the sitting room where they sat prepared to leave the building if necessary Acton Volunteer Fire fighters arrived at the scene seven minutes after the alarm was put in but were unable to locate any fire although they could smell smoke A complete search of the premises revealed no fire or sign of one having taken place They reset the detector and left Fire chief Mick Holmes pointed out each room has a detector but only one was set off He still docs not know what activated it Mr Holmes said the two nurses should be commended for their quick thinking Had there been a fire he said the two would have saved many lives Fernandes owner of the home is also very proud of the women Within minutes of the buzzer sounding all v ore safe by the door ready to escape into the night Mrs Fernandes also commended the volunteer firefighters and Mr Holmes for their service and efficiency upon their arrival Department declares town hall not safe Hydro employees to read water meters Acton Hydro Electric Commission will read water meters for the Region of Halton outside Acton limits for a fee At the present time hydro employees read the meters at the same time they do the hydrometers However Ihey only cover meters in town Many homes on town water up Churchill N and in a few other sections of the outer town limits are serviced by Ontario Hydro meaning the Acton workers do not read their meters Region sent Acton Hydro a letter requesting them to read the other meters The commission was KINDERGARTEN STUDENTS of Speyside school have been working for almost two months on a quilt for their teacher new baby The quilt was presented to teacher Mary Shier this morning Wednesday Front row Jenny Farmgan Melissa Harrington Tammy Landry Judy Eaton Catherine Reed Beth Cameron and Lee Ann Middle row Colin Ryan Weaver Stacey Sproule Laila Kahn Jennifer Lamon Todd Darryl Maxwell Back row David Henderson Jason Seads Tommy Tenjis Shawn Court Brett Gillett Steven McDonnell and Geoffrey Kosa A report from the Depart of Labor saying the town hall Is not safe was passed out to the three members of council attending the financeadministration meeting Monday night Clerk Delmar French distributed copies of the report saying the Ministry had condemned the old town hall He suggested the town pass a resolution saying they will not assume any Liability from now on and councillors agreed The recommendation will go lo full council next Monday Councillors Booth Biehn and Miller attended the meet ing with Mayor Hill coming from the works committee meeting later Councillors Patterson Marks and Morris were absent Councillor Booth said the police will have to find some where to go Immediately Mayor Hill agreed the town should not assume liability and suggested the treasurer and chairman of the finance committee meet with members of the police com mission right away to rent the building The police have been considering moving in to the front of the Y building for some time sharing space with the town offices Committee members agreed a letter should be sent to the senior citizens who use the building telling them of the report George Maltby said he was concerned that they were Just going to write and suggested they find another location perhaps the downstairs room In Ibe arena They will have nowhere to go Councillor Booth said their major concern is to advise them and said they want to continue meeting there but it their responsibility Mayor Hill said We re not telling them to get out just that we II not assume any responsibility The report from the Indus trial Health and Safety Branch of he Department of Labor followed an inspection Monday by an engineer and a safety inspector They wrote Acton town hall old town hall shall not be occupied until direction No 0379 has been complied with in ac cordance to the mendatlons of Alan Associates consulting Direction No reads Every owner of an indus trial establishment shall ensure that any floor roof or other part of a building or structure owned by him can safely support the loads applied or likely to be applied to It Alan Zeegen report referred to by the Depart Inspectors was made Jan and reads During the additions and alterations to the Acton Fire Hall It was possible to ob serve further structural deficiencies to the Town Hall building since some Hon of the building was necessary These conditions were noted briefly in Jobsile Inspections for the Fire Hall project item No of Report No and Item No 4 of Report No copies which are en closed Roof Structure There was extensive wood rot evident to all areas of the roof including sheathing rafters and main beams In addition the main beams at high level were not bearing on the wood post supports There Is a gap of about A between the bottoms of the beams and Ihe tops of the posts and a horizontal movement of about has also occurred Calculations Indicate that the main beams to the roof area arc all under current code of practice live loading conditions Wood Columns The central portion of the roof Is supported an four wood columns which run from the bottom of the ceiling beams down to second floor level and occur at the east and west walls of the building During demolition of the stage area it was noted that the columns were bearing on the brick wails at second floor level and that the columns were not connected to the wall This means that an unstable condition exists between lions of the roof and the sec floor The lateral move ment of the roof which has already occurred would to some extent have been caused by this lack of ity L Woodcock media liaison for the of Labor in Hamilton was contacted Tuesday by the Free Press and said the inspectors felt Continued on Page 3 Council aims for 5000 grants cut willing to have their em do this but added they needed more money per house than the cents they were now receiving Hydro superintendent Doug Mason suggested the workers read the extra meters once and take note of their ad time In this way the region can be billed cording to actual time Instead of the commission estimating The commission decided to charge the region cents per meter plus and mileage They decided even at this rate It would be cheaper than the region trucks out just for the job Students make Jake hammering quilt for teacher Wee Cathy Shier does not know it yet but she Is the recipient of a gift sure lo be treasured by her mother and herself for generations to come Cathy was born on February to the school kindergarten class teacher Mary Shier Mrs Shier has been off on a leate of absence from December and return to the class room after the March break However this morning Wednesday Mrs Shier returned to visit her students and was presented with a handmade quilt with different blocks Each student drew a different design on each block in crayon and then It was ironed into the material It will be given lo the teacher on behalf of the baby The children have been working since February l on the project over region budget Hostilities and frustrations that have been building up for months were ushered to the fore last week during a heated meeting of Halton Re gion Administration Com meeting exploded when members of the committee battled in an effort to come to grips with the proposed budget Regional Chairman Ric Morrow and Regional Treasurer Don Farmer ab sorbed the brunt of the attack by committee members Councillor Carl charged that there Is a credibility gap and a lot of distrust between council and the chairman and the treasurer said there could be to trust placed In reports coming from the staff after what council has experienced with recent reports see no leadership at the top only confrontation and the chairman adds to this at every opportunity Eriksen said Burlington Mayor Mary Munro supported contention and said the bud get had been presented in a dishonest fashion When Chairman Morrow protested and took issue with a charge of dis honesty committee chair man Mac Anderson sug Continued on Page 3 Halton Hills council is aiming for a cut In the grants budget which has been tentatively set at the same as last year In a brief discussion at finance committee Monday night Chairman Russ Miller said the town would have to bite the bullet and bring it down to lis The largest Items on the grant budget are to the Acton C tlzcns Band to Acton Community Services Centre to Helping Hands and to North Halton Contact Centre A request from Acton Society to up the grant from to 200 was questioned by Miller who compared It to Georgetown Agricultural Society at He also suggested they query the amount to Acton Citizens Band and suggested Ihey speak to committee Councillor Walter Biehn said they could spend hours cutting bits from everyone but perhaps the easiest way was to cut one thousand from each of the five largest grants The grants were discussed fully at a budget meeting In camera Tuesday night Harry Main prize 90 A resident of Acton since Harry Mainprise cele brated his 90th birthday Thursday Mr Matnpriiewas wellknown as a barber with his business since in the shop adjoining their home at the corner of Mill and John Sts They came to Acton from Mr Mainprise worked for Sandy McLean before opening his own bar ter shop He retired in on his birthday at the age of 74 They have three children Bill Mainprise lives at home and daughter Helen in Their son Jack of Montreal is presently working in Brazil but his wife Ann made a surprise visit from Montreal for the birth day celebrations The Main prizes have six grandchildren and one great grandchild They will cele brate their wedding anniversary next Christmas Long life runs in the family Mr Mainprize father lived until be was lot They are members of the Presbyterian church Friends dropped by last week to extend EARNING WHILE THEY are learning Centennial students who live in the Eden Mills area cross country ski to school and back daily As they go they earn awards from tbe Canadian Ski Association for the amount of kilometers skied Left to right Sarah Brown Dave Levi Mark Godding teacher Bob Love Don Godding Dave Van and Brad Billings They ski a total of 12 a da For story and more pictures see page 9 Whats inside Page New Hi Neighbour lady Page 3 St Patrick recollections Page Ultra Easter eggs Page Where Easter candies come from Page9 top skiers Page Junior Farmers congregate Page Major Atoms in finals PageBl Basketball championships PageBl Gymnastic meet Winter break ideas Ross interview tchell Sharp lours HARRY MAINPRIZE celebrated his bir thday Thursday at his home on John St His wife of years wishes him Happy Birthday