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New bail diamond end of Poplar Ave Acton will have a new ball diamond next summer Monday H til ton general committee learned the recreation department has reached a verbal agreement with to pot a ball diamond on property the firm owns at the end of Poplar Ave There will be parking on this land too Originally the recreation depart ment wanted to move the soccer from Prospect Park to land behind the Acton Club leaving Prospect exclusively for ball The most pressing need for now sports fields is for ball However after a proper survey was done on the Curling Club property it was discovered It was too small for a soccer or ball field and poorly drained The recreation department con tacted Beardmore officials and after coming up with a sketch of the proposed ball diamond and parking agree the firm gave verbal approval to the project No work will be started until a lease agreement is nailed down Recreation director Tom Shepard reported he contacted 11 residents living in the area and three living adjacent to the property objected Strike up the band the band and Ac Two Yugoslavs charged noise bylaws violations Two of the six owners of the Can adianYugoslav Cultural Centre on Highway south of Acton have been charged with noise bylaw violations for last summer Halton Hills bylaw enforcement off leer Jack Lusty said Nick and were charged December and If they are served their summons in time will appear in court for the first time on January has been charged with noise bylaw violations for July and August while Orbovlc is charged for July Last month appeared in court charged with five noise bylaw of- from last summer but three were withdrawn after the own fatted to secure a conviction in two cases The court had agreed the municipalitys noise bylaw had been broken but the charges were dis missed because it hadnt been satis factorily proven that Cajic was re sponsible for the noise Police were called to the site several Sundays last summer and council received a petition from neighbors on the Third Line com plaining about loud music and public address system announcements almost every Sunday after the huge picnic grounds opened A Community Newspaper One hundred and seventh year ACTON ONTARIO WEDNESDAY DECEMBER 16 Pages Twenty hive Cents Doberthien Reed meet Snow symbol may be on 83 licences Santas helpers Saturday at the Christmas parly were certainly run nip Kymm La kin helped Santa wish Natalie Cameron a prettier than your average elves Mis Cindy and Irs I Christmas also helped greet the children Hall restoration backers say Acton won t foot entire cost Local groups backing the restoration of Iho own hall arc worried residents think they It have to foot the bill of over will cost to restore the town hall entirely and that simply isnt the case Thursday representatives from the Town Hall Restoration Committee Actario and the Acton Business Improvement Area met to dis cuss the town hall issue and decided to release a fact sheet to the press as well as send fact sheets to the nearly citizens who signed petitions opposing restoration if tax dollars are used Their fact sheet notes taxpayers wont pay the whole plus equipping furnishing and finish ingof the hall plus architects fees All taxpayers in Hills will share in the approximately which must come from tax dollars for restoration In fact or per cent of the tax dollar cost will come from Georgetown and ratepayers just as Aeton contributed 17 or 13 per cent of the tax dollar cost of the Hills Library and Cultural Centre project in George town the four groups noted Also a large chunk of the cost of restoring the hail will come from Wintano Community Centre and Heritage Foundation grants as well as the raised already by local groups More money will bo raised locally too They point to the presenceof a Heritage Foundation official at the last council meeting as a sign that body s financial support will be forthcoming The groups state in their fact sheet that some peo ple view the town hall as a mouldering pile of junk which is decayed and falling down but all studies show the town hall is basically In good shape and structurally sound What Is needed is a faclift The restoration committee originally said the building could be fixed up without tax dollars but then they found out the municipality had to secure provincial grants a private community group couldnt In the time It took for the municipal government to move from a position of opposition to one of tentative support restoration costs escalated but grants didnt so some tax money is needed They suggest almost will come the town in grants If restoration is approved by council grant money that wont come to Acton if the hall isnt saved Docs it make sense to throw it A restored town hall will cost money to operate year to year just as the taxpayers of the whole town including must support operating the Hills Library and Cultural Centre which will never be self supporting Just as Acton helps pay to run that Centre then Georgetown and Esquesing would help pay to run the town hall The groups suggest to build a new facility to house the operations which will take place in the town hall would be of the same order as the SI 7 million and Cultural Centre which was about a square foot while the town hall will cost only to 60 a square foot to restore They point out the town hall has historical as the centre of and political life in Group against town hall contemplating next move The group of eight citizens who sparked a petition signed by nearly residents against tax dollars being used to restore the Acton town hall met last night Tuesday to contemplate what next moves might be Spokesman Pat McKenzlc said they may do more sampling of public opinion or possibly send a delegation to council next Monday when a final deci sion on the fate of the town hall Is to be made Over M per cent of those people who were home when the sampling of community opinion was taken recently signed the petition opposing tax dollars go ing towards restoration said He felt was representative of Actons feelings noting most neighborhoods were covered C Harry Otterbeln Leonard Art Gordon Ed Footltt Joe Hurst John Krul and McKenzie were the organizers of the pro test McKcnzle explained he instigated the protest after talking with all three of Actons councillors He was upset by the attitude of one of the who staunchly behind restoration and implied I was the lone dissenter McKenzie said he had heard enough concerns around town that he knew he wasnt the only person worried about tax dollars on town hall restoration While there was no reaction from Hills councillors last week when they received the peti lion McKenzlc said there has been a reaction since then He has received calls from several councillors who said they were pleased to hear the other side of the story on the communitys feelings about the project Their presentation stated too much publicity we feel has been given the group that favors Iho restoration or this building without due consider to all the taxpayers In Halton Hills McKen said publicity was a poor choice of words since those In favor of have been active ly promoting their cause while those opposed haven t spoken up until now I i yi The province will be looking at possibly putting a symbol for the handicapped on vehicle licence plates for 1983 For minutes Friday afternoon local resident Lome Doberthien and Halton Burlington Jul Ian Reed met with Minister of Transportation and Communications Jim Snow to discuss the need for reserved parking for the disabled Doberthien said he and Reed received a very receptive audience from Snow and were encour aged very much so that the province will be tak ing positive action on the problem of parking for the disabled Reed said he came away feeling pretty good about It Himself handicapped Doberthien has been spending the last four months writing various tions and officials at the federal and provincial levels of government about the parking problems faced by the disabled His cause has also been taken to regional and local council by Hills coun cillors He believes all recreation attractions government buildings and shopping centres should have reserved parking near the entrance for the handicapped has also been champaign for a sign or slicker system to identify cars used by the handicapped and strict enforcement of disabled parking regulations to prevent those who arent handicapped from taking advantage of these parking spots closer to en trances Acton The groups feel the town hall can remind the community it Is still Acton despite the fact Its now part of Halton Hills if the town hall goes so docs Acton The town hall can be the centre of act In downtown Acton and the BIA Chamber of Commerce and support restoration be cause It Is important for turning Acton into a tourist centre Tourists must see Acton once was a munic ipality on its own Hills has never done any thing In Acton to promote Acton in the way it prov ided the Culturol Centre in Georgetown The necessary housekeeping things water streets sewers have been done but nothing for Acton as Acton Isnt it about time it did The town hall at the centre of Acton life would be a good start They also suggest that acquiring the Stone School won accomplish the same thing as saving the town hall because while It is a substantial and Interest building it is not in the centre of Acton and is not an historic public building It is a private home The groups believe the only thing historic about the building Is Its walls since it was gutted by fire early this century and has been changed a lot over the years Snow told and Reed that there will be some changes In Ontario licence plate system coming a year from now instead of following the car licenceplates will follow the driver from vehicle to vehicle The minister if the province was going to opt for Identifying the cars the time to do It would be when the licence plate system changes a re made pointed to the system in Nova Scotia where the handicapped can apply for licence plates with the handicapped wheel chair symbol on as on example of what could be done in Ontario The three discussed the problem of some hand capped people not wanting to be identified because they could then be subject to harassment Also a large proportion of the handicapped don drive themselves but do travel around in cars with Tarn ily or friends Doberthien suggested to Snow that the province consider developing a sign or move able sticker also that could be displayed in cars the handicapped travel in Snow noted many aspects of providing parking for the disabled and enforcement are municipal mat ters so he can only make suggestions to other ministers Already the Provincial Secretary for Social Development Margaret Birch has her stuff working on a sample bylaw municipalities could en Continued on page 1 Give the gift of life at blood clinic Tuesday Santa and his helpers are urging residents to turn out In droves for next Tuesdays Acton Red Cross holiday season blood donor clinic The clinic will beheld at the Acton Legion from to The clinic is being held so close to Christmas for the blood bank to have enough supplies for the Yule season Extra supplies are always need at this time of the year because there are so many accidents Santa and his helpers will be on hand to enter tain donors children and parents arc to bring along their cameras and snap a photo of their children with Santa This Christmas the Red Cross asks to give the gift of life by attending the clinic For more call Alice Schreiber Isabel and Anna Milter had a great time with Santa Claim at the Villa Christmas parly Monday evening About per cent of the residents enjoyed a complete turkey supper and Santas visit Free Press out next Tuesday The Acton Free Press will publish one day earlier than usual next week to give readers a chance to take advantage of advertised Christmas specials The Free Press will be delivered to homes and available In stores next Tuesday afternoon Decem ber instead of Wednesday Because of this change advertising and news deadlines ore moved ahead Display advertising and news and sports deadlines arc noon Monday while the classified advertising deadline Is Monday The Free Press will publish on Wednesday as usual following week December and news and display advertising deadlines will be noon Tuesday and the classified deadline Tuesday The Free Press of will be December and and January during the holiday season