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acton development report vol 107 no 4 acton ontario thursday june 2 1966 special report section mayor duby reports on council procedure from the mayors chair comes this information and farseeing report the municipal act section 211 gives the duties or a hod of council mayoi t a town reeve ol a township warden of a county duties aie as follows a to be vigilant and active in causing the laws for the gov ernment of tihe municipality to be dulv executed and obeed b to oveisee the conduct ol all subordinate olliceis in the government of it and as far as is practicable cause all ncg ligeiilc caielessness and viol dlion ol dun to ix piosecuted and punished and c to communicate to the council liom time to time such infoi mation and lccommend such measuies as inn tend to the impiovement ol tmances health seuiitv cleanliness comloi t and oinamciu ol the mumcipalitv there are no sikii duties stat ed in the municipal act loi councillois i would like to in tci ject a peisonal note heie b iclciung lo the duties ol a town cleik which has this gem am ong other things the act savs a development commission seeks additional industry acton development com mission is particularly inter ested in future industry the commission report follows in 1964 the town of acton established a commission to as sisl in the tutuic development of acton council decided that it should consist of ten membeis live of whom would be from council and live of whom would be citi zens the commission promptlv proceeded to take steps to deve lop the industrial lands in ac ton and to encourage luither in dus trv acton has an official plan ap proved by the department of economics and planning of the province of ontario which has zoned as industrial lands the lands tormerly known as the somerville farm the beard- more property the mccutcheon arm the switzer farm and the dan young farm charles 1eatherland chairman the first step taken bv this new commission was to arrange that the town should purchase all ol the b tcr tiim which is also known as the hutnagcl larni with the exception ot that portion theieol which is now used bv muro plastics and one ot the town wells after the land had been acquired the town engineers did all the prelimin ai woik to hae it naclv foi speeds development this was completed in 1965 and the commission- in 1966 is seriously endeavoring to inter est industries in locating on this land which is now owned bv the town of acton joseph hurst represents the town on the county industrial commission and mam contacts and meetings have oeen held with the depaitments in toi on to the chief water supplv of the town ot acton is at churchill and a main has been construct ed across the industiial piopei- ty to main st everything is now in readi ness to carrv on with the plans ol anv future industrv the commission was ougmallv call ed the acton industiial com mission and in 1965 the name wis changed to acton develop ment commission the members of the commis sion in 1964 and 1965 included john gov paul nielsen robert dnnkvvaltei mavor les dubv aldo braida beit wood rav arbic albeit iiwin reeve bert hinton fred salt and neil bowles and the 1966 members are charles lealherland qc chairman paul nielsen vice- chairman john gov neil bowl es aldo braida fred salt earl masales deputvreeve bob par ker joe huist and mavor les duby ham peal was a member ot the commission for five months in 1966 at which time le moved to sarnia and mr hurst was appointed as his suc cessor although acton has a 49 per cent industnaf and- commercial assessment the commission feels that acton must advance w ith the rest of ontario and at the same tune maintain the pre sent ratio ol assessment lands now available for in dustrial development are the duval and papillon propertv consisting of a acres the van gils farm consisting ol about 50 acres and the hufnag el or switer tarm which is now owned bv the town of ac ion consisting ot 75 acres there is also 18 000 square leet ot building space available in the formei wool combing building which is now known as the acton industrial centie the commission salutes all astonites and in particulai those who have oeen torccd to move to distant fields and urg is them to send tor statistics ot the town box 936 acton and to suggest to their fi lends the advantages ot establishing then enterpnses in acton the commission points out that everv citizen ot acton should be a booster of acton the members ot the commis sion would be glad to take anv call or lend anv assistance with lespect to present industries ex panduig or other industries lo cating in acton cleik is to peiroim such olhei iulies as max be issincd to him bv council lcl me sav they aie manv and vaucd the responsibilities ol a mun icipal council aie like doing what comes naturalk the peo ple pi ovule the stimuli b then demands and complaints the most common pioblem lot uiembcis ol council is that a council mav onlv do what the statutes ol the piovince say it mav do ioi most ihinjs thcic is an act oi a section ot an act that giants pciniission it must be understood that council must have the approval loi ccilain local bv laws bv pro vincial depaitments toi example a a stop sticet oi stop light bv the depaitment ol tianspoit b monev and hollowing bv laws the ontano municipal boaid ca health pioblcin b the mimslct ol health etc this could be imstialing and disappointing to a menibei ol council who mav have been nil prudent in election promises the head or council should be the public relations otficei ol the municipalitv olficial state ments should be issued onlv thr ough him backed b icsolutions ot council and oe rounded on fact these are all factual state ments which mav be appieciat- ed bv our ratepayers a very important rcsponsibil- it of the head of council is to create an atmosphere in which council can do its best work most impoitant ol these is the committee structures lor the new tei in riuic- aie seveiafl wavs in which council committees aie chosen in this piovince i do not iccommcnd tossing coins loi committee chairmanship it is also not piactical tool for a choice ol chiiimanship to one who mav be loi lunate enough lo head the polls at election time continued on page 8 mayor les duby editor stresses need for progress community nears 100th birthday free press publisher david dills sees the towns position this way as we approach the 100th an mversary of confederation in canada and in 1973 the 100th anniversary of the organisation of acton as an independent mu nicipal entity it is well to con sider and in a small vvav ut tempt to project what mav he in store for acton as a community manv factors some of which we as local citizens have some influence over as well as a great manv more over which we will have little or no influence will determine the course for acton as a local government regard less ol what form of municipal administration we as citizens mav progiess under it remains a certaintv that acton as a com munitv and a home for manv of us will continue to be the iden tifiable area in which wo will live and piospei of the many influences over which wewill exercise little or no control will be anv astion in the reorganization of municipal and counts government along icgional lines the plunkett commission which held public hearings and is conducting an indepth studv of local govern ment in peel and halkmi coun ties will exert a great influence over acton s future the commission studs is spon sored by the province of ontano in coope ration with the coun ties of halton and peel it is anticipated the report of com missioner punkett will be sub mitted to the ontario govern ment some tine this fall the date oi method bv which the public in halton and peel will become acquainted with the commissioners findings will not likelv be for some time estimating the publication date and anv implementations of its proposals on the ontario government s performance on a like studv and legislation for metro toronto it can not be expected any major changes will be forthcoming in the immedi ate future other important factors which will influence actons develop ment include the ontario gov ernment transit and the ontario governments highwav develop ment piogram announced this vear development of the govern ment transit program to be in itiated bv a rail commute sv s tern through south malum could have a very piotound in fluence f the project is success tul and is expanded to utilize rail lines radiating from toion to along the cpr rightol wav through milton and alenn the cnr right of wav through biamptonand acton to guelph the tntroxluction of a com muter service through acton would unqiiestionabh upset anv present predicted growth pro jection of acton the still veil ed ontano highways depart ment plans for highway develop ment in the acton area could have a profound effect on ac tons rate of growth if the de partments plans are anywhere near as extensive as those an nounced for the southern por tion of the county jast week the key we feel to an order- iv planned and vibrant com- munitv of acton rests on two fields first acton must continue to plan wiselv for its anticipated natural growth which may be predicted relatively accurately iiom its past performance we must as citizens and members ol the local municipal govern ment displav hose qualities of foresight and progresssiveness that have sparked the progress ol oui 93 vears of development our second objective must be to look at and to attempt to in lluence lor the benefit of ac ton the developments of the senioi levels of government provincial and countv over which we have less direct con trol we must recognize that these outsuu influences will have a veiv piofound effect on acton but w can ensure through an understanding and pai ticipation in these wider developments the future and piogiess ol acton as a place to live and work in meets the rosv picture envisioned bv all cana dians it may well be that in the fu ture acton as a municipal gov crning bodv mav cease to exist it will without doubt alwavs be a geographicallv designated area such has been the case of continued on page 6