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v3n the HERALD Wednesday Januarys Council Briefs Permission granted for trades people directory At the urging of Acton councillor Hick council gave per mission Monday to the Hills Construction Association to establish a directory comprised of the local tradespeople Speaking on the association behalf Kent said the group supports Mr s idea and is willing to put together the directory at no cost to the town The initiative is meant to local trades available to public and developers Mr assured councillors all tradespeople will be included in the directory whether or not they are association members Council gave approval for copies of the directory to be placed at the town Building and Planning Depar tments as well as at all Site Plan Committee meetings Application deferred At the request of David McNally of McNally Construction in Georgetown Council Monday deferred dealing with an ap plication to build a shopping plaza on Street beside Neilsons Construction is requesting a resuming and an amen to the town Official Plan to build a 10 square foot shopping plaza at the Street location The property is currently empty Mr McNally requested the ap plication be deferred a month because the owners of Georgetown Market Place want to meet with Mr to discuss the proposal The request was also made he said because several town cillors wanted more time to review the staff report on the application Mr McNally said if council even tually approves the application construction wouidn t go ahead for at least two years Crossing guard requested Georgetown resident lorn Politi requested Monday council hire a full time crossing guard for Rex way Drive at Harrison Public School While acknowledging council is facing budgetary constraints Mr the children s safety should be of utmost concern town Engineer Bob Austin told council staff is investigating the possibility of installing a full time crossing guard on Drive and a report is forthcoming Declarations At the request of Hills Chamber of Commerce and Jack Carpenter of Radio Station town council Monday declared Feb as Lighten up Canada Day in Halton Hills In celebration of the day people are being requested to wear a red nose Other declarations approved Monday include the month of April as Cancer Month and April 6 as Tartan Day in Hills Region taxes could Increase A fairer way of determining the combined Regional and educational tax rate will require local residents to pay in total an additional in taxes Regional Council learned Wednesday The system which Peel Assessment Office Commissioner John Yeoman outlined at Wed nesday s meeting is based on property tax assessment reflecting the market value of all houses across the Region For example under the proposed assessment program owners throughout the Region of a house would pay the same amount in Regional and education taxes Under the current tax assessment system the amount of Regional and education tax the owner of a 000 house pays depends on the house s location The reason being each of Halton four municipalities base their tax assessment on different figures In other words the value of particular properties depending on their location reflect a market value in accordance with a base year The base year for Halton Hills is 1980 while Milton s base year is 1975 The overall result is that those owners with homes valued at the same price in Halton Hills Milton and Oakville have been paying less in taxes than their counterparts in Burlington The new system would result in Burlington residents receiving a reduction in the amount of tax they pay Regional Council requested in 1990 that the Halton Peel Tax Assessment Office Com missioner outline the new system to council as a possible way of ad dressing the inequities in the current system While the new program calls for Hills residents as a whole to pay additional money in taxes local owners of commercial space viV see a drop In the of tax they pay space owners will pay a total of seven per cent less in Regional and educational tax under the new system Regional council will wait to hear from local councils about the new system before considering if it should be adopted If adopted the system t take effect until The new system is expected to be presented to Hills Council sometime next month conference Hills Regional Councillor Johnston will be able to attend the first multidisciphnary con on victimization and recovery in Victoria British Colum bia after all Regional council approved Wed nesday the expense to send Coun Johnston to the conference However not all were in favor of the expense Burlington Regional Councillor Tony said the matter should be deferred to budget com mittee for consideration It didn make sense to approve a 1992 expenditure before the budget had been passed said Whit worth The conferences purpose is to provide ways municipalities can adopt to deal with family violence according to a Regional staff report While acknowledging the con ference s importance Burlington Regional Doug opposed the expenditure saying in these tough budgetary times fiscal restraint should take priority However the majority of agreed family violence is such an important issue that a councillor should be allowed to at tend the conference Coun Johnston s intention to write a comprehensive report on the outcome of the conference also attributed to council approving the expenditure Hearing requested As a result of a Regional Plan and Public Works in camera meeting Regional council directed staff Wednesday to request the province hold on Environmental Assessment hearing on the Acton dump proposal An in camera meeting is closed to the public and press Questioned why the meeting was held in camera Regional staff said it would have been unwise to prematurely expose the Region legal strategy to fight the dump proposal Budget sent back Regional council Wednesday or the proposed Region Police 1992 budget increase of 12 per cent be sent back to the Police Services Board Regional council wants the board to make cuts to the proposed budget thereby decreasing the 12 per cent increase he police budget comprises over 50 per cent of the Region total operating budget On the matter of a related issue Regional council rejected calls for staff to draw up an operating budget scenano in which there would be no increase for 1992 A majority of coucillors agreed the request would be a waste of staff time It s up to the political will of Regional council to come up with this type of budget councillors decided Finally council rejected a proposal for councillors salanes to increase by no more than two per cent this year Council rejected the request because Regional budget com mittee is already what if any salary increase councillors should receive this year HYDRO BALLOT The Herald as outlined in last week s editorial supports Halton Hills Hydro Commission s objective to have residen hydro rates exempted from the GST We have no problem with theGSl being applied to non residential rates as it is a flow through tax in this case Indicate below if you agree or disagree with the local utilitys objective Then let the Hills Hydro Commission know your position by including the ballot with your next hydro payment YES OR NO ON THE GST I I YES I agree with Hills Hydro Commissions objective I I NO I disagree with Hills Hydro Commissions objective Mail to HILLS HYDRO COMMISSION Alice Street Acton Ontario 2A9 Traffic light reiected Hills learned Mon day the provincial Ministry of spoliation refuses to fund the in stallation of an amber flashing light at Highway and Regional Road 15 in According to a staff report the ministry believe the light is warranted Council made no decision on whether it would fund the project Application received Based on legal advice town coun voted Monday to receive an ap plication from Reclamations Systems Incorporated to establish a dump in the Acton quarry Receiving the application means town staff will circulate it to various agencies for comment As well council at some later date will hold a public meeting on the proposal Although the town opposes the ap plication failing to process it would be considered obstructionist said town Planner Ian Keith own Rob requested staff investigate the posssibihty of the town passing a bylaw requiring RSI to pay the town SI million to process the ap plication Mr Keith said he would report back to council on this possibility Monday Bylaw requested Town Coun Ron Chatten requested Monday the town Snow Clearing Committee in the possibility of establishing a bylaw requiring people to clear their sidewalks All people but especially seniors can t get around if sidewalks t cleared said Coun Chatten Promotion plan In order to promote Georgetown s core councillors agreed Monday regular meetings should be held between the Business Im Area the owners of buildings on Main Street and coun We have to work together to improve the area said Mayor Miller For her part Coun Marilyn Ser issued a challenge to the to adopt a motto saying down town merchants provide service Resolution approved At the urging of town Coun Pam Johnston council approved a resolution Monday calling for those trees destroyed by road widening projects to be replaced whenever possible Coun Johnston said she in the resolution as a way of protecting Hills rural at target food stores OPEN 24 HRS 7 DAYS A WEEK 51 ST GEORGETOWN POSTAGE BLOWOUT YEARS POSTAGE AT LAST YEARS PRICES ft j l New Prices Effective Jan 1 1992 Can4K USA48 International Buy 1040 stamps Can now and receive remaining postage FREE value DELREX SMOKE SHOP GEORGETOWN MARKET PLACE 8779284 We offer businesses 5 discounts on stamps J