3 the acton fr press wednesday august 7 1968 our readers write defies authorities fonowldc is the trt of the reoort jo roas submitted to tha fraa press recently in which he mad foown hi a in tention to reopen his rosslake resort it la situated three miles southwest of georgetown on lot 17 t dear sir u before auboiltunt this report to those who llstenod 16 my vote i shoulil uk to describe the hosslaksproett briefly the complex which bears my name commenced development late in 19m and was completed in 186 the- most important feature of the project la the awlm area wtfch waa developed from a ravine of bjshlike pro- portions wasteland atudden with shrub trees as well as larger trees which were used later aa lumber most of the lafaebed waa shaped by buudosers as this project progressed we found it to our advantage to create an island in this ravine thus saving some wonderfully developed old willow trees and we decided to surround these trees with an artificially builtup island so to apeak this island when completed bad the proportions of about 185 feet long by roughly 60 feet wide and now after two years time the grass has been established the trees are still living the experiment has been successful in relation to the survival of trees under these conditions now surrounding the island is a depth of about six feet of water and from the mainland reaches a footbridge approximately 75 feet long of sturdy construction and was built high enough to allow a pleasure craft that i later built and operate around the lake all of this development was artificially constructed and took months to complete i might cay the various depths of water rang from the beach level aloplng down to depth of over is feet in the main swim area the approximate sis of this area is in the neighborhood of from five to six acres of irregular shore- una aid is a colorful develop ment it has the background of a large and beautiful bush which presents a strikingly pi chireaojue view in the autumn the beach oa the rosslake swim area is roughly about zoo feet long andlseompletely sand ed as mentioned before it was constricted and designed to con form with safety ideals as an objective the beach line has a gentle slope from aero to swimming depths a cordon of buoys mark ing the four foot depth isancbor- ed along the entire swim area the red cross safety water services assisted in designing the beach the important feat ures of this area include spring fed water source with added source of lakebed springe rising from the bottom there are so currents and no sudden drop offs or rocky crevices so much for the description of rosauke swim area as devel oped in 195 in 19w further improvements were made on the beach ares more sloping and grading was completed more sanding done snaelal attention is being paid to a childrens play yard with sand and slides etc this yard will have a safety fence erected this year and we believe will be aa added safety feature rotsuke resort was opened la july ims many surprises followed which were not contem plated in revealing these sur prises i should like tobeerapat- le explicit and honest the surprises i mention come in the form of a closure the closure was approved by the hattw health unit being signed by atst lied officer of health or stuart la absence of dr ball la the report submitted by inspector sullivan dealing with eondiuoas that were found on this swim area at this time and as reported by ur sullivan in fluenced la part tha closing or der what this resort contained has never been divulged i have repeatedly tried unsuccessfully ta discover what was the contest of that report it was later pointed out to tat that i bad not complied with cer tain standards contained la the bosk of rules and regulations it seems that because this area was artificially developed it must tall into the category of a small swim pool of the indoor type tad must comply with rules stipulated la the booklet as fol lows 1 the beach must be provided with shower bath facilities i the water must be period ically chlorinated x there must be llfegusrd supervision at an times mow it is practically impos sible or impractical for a swim area such as rosslshe toeomply willi those regulations which apparently formed the basis of the closure now the question arises where ao we go from here as a result of this closure this wim area part of the rosslake complex hss remained closed for two years two seasomi it is for this reason that ihaveunder- takeo this prpbeanlhvestlgatlon into the justification of the clos ure so far in the investigation it has proved interesting but frus trating the usual bureaucratic buckpassing has men encount ered thus no one seems res ponsible no one remembers no one wsats to associate them selves with the context dr stuart the official who signed the closure expressed his sympathy in connection with the problem was not in favor with the rules and regulations that are in the booklet constantly i am being asked why is this fine swim ares dosed in view of these circumstances dr stuart promised a revision a further inspection to be con ducted by an assistant from the red cross water safety of tor onto i subsequently received a copy of this the report wss lengthy and describes in detail the area in assessing this re port i note there was no mention of hasards that might exist which would jeopardise the swimmer his comment regardlngtbe beach conditions first aid post safety ropes and life rings etc were in order in his report he inserted two improvements i might make re lative to signs and safety fence in area of the dam it was this report submitted to him as being instrumental in prolonging the closure his comment you have not as yet removed the safety baxards existing at your swim area when questioned be wss unable to describe these hasards auow me to degress momentarily pertinent to ur sullivans re port two days prior to the closure this gentleman present ed me with two carefully docu mented advertisements asking if these were mine i answered yes ha said you must immed iately erase your swimming signs you must stop advertising and from now until llonday your position is embarrassing you win regard yourself as being liable for any mishap in that water and the same gentleman inspector sullivan was equipped to take pictures presumably to support bis findings the life guard station was incompetent and criticised me for accepting gate admission under these circumstances au this seems to reveal that the halton health unit is privil eged with dictatorial powers it would also appear to me that these officials have in a vague way admitted blundering i re gard these gentlemen as being responsible for the twoyear closure of this swim area what is the future of privately owned swim enterprises with me llfegusrd problem always facing the operator not only from a financial standpoint but from the safety standpoint it is virtually impossible to regu late your crowds it is not possible to supply according to the ratio of ooo lifeguard for every 60swlrnmers as suggested almost impossible tp coijiply with this both from the standpoint of financial re turn by the simple process of mathematics it would take all of the admission derived to pay for the lifeguard supervis ion and also h is not possible to forecast the number of swim mers each afternoon orweekend it is not possible to forecast the weather on cool days few swimmers turn up whereas on hot days it could become overcrowded realising this it is extremely difficult to supervise a swim area according to the suggested rules now all ares owners agree that the ufeguardtng is import ant very important it is my belief that each operator is aware of this significance and we are agreed that supervision be maintained and improved however it must be paid the private operator must pay for the lifeguards from the revenue derived from his establishment now lnthe government operat ed areas an operating deficit can be overcome by taxation in other words a certain rate is established for the admission this dossnt cover the mainten ance cost of swim areas how ever in a government project the question of these costs is not important apparently deficits are overcome by taxation each of us assist in contributing to ward their maintenance this cannot be applied to privately owned areas such as rosslake thus the problem facing us what is the future of swim areas to be it would seem to me that the rules and regulationspresent an impossible situation are these rules designed to cripple or strangle the type of swim area such as rdsslake the onus is being put on the small artificial pool which is easier supervised yet with all possible safety methods employ ed there is stiu a risk and people must be taught to respect a large swim area and projects larger than the artificial pool will be prohibited to the swim public it is my opinion that the maj ority of swimmers prefer the deep waters of large expanse the public will seek out these waters even though they lack supervision or responsibility any body of water must bo res pected let us take a closer look at the small swim pool located on your private property is it safe it has a safety fence it has a gate nontheless to me it presents a haxard to children a death trap has this been assessed by safety authorities w1u the erection and develop ment of these private swim pools be allowed to continue where there is water there is risk and so the investigation con tinues let us go back to the rule book in our democratic society rules and regulations form a basis for decision inspectors kidges officials have flexibility in inter preting these regulations and are allowed to take a rational approach in arriving at a decis ion to be handed down it is my opinion that this de cision to close rosslake without proper warning and cooperation from these officials depicts a rather calous and sadistic ap proach to their duties there fore i would ssk you was this closure justified before concluding my report let me just add a note of com ment all is not gloom snddootfl at rosslake this whole com- pies has been a dream come true tew of us he built castles in sijalrtwuhput them come tumbling down for the most part my castles still re main as i travel on the journey road of life pari of it is on the stones of adversity part of the journey is on the sands of vic tory along the way we meet up with challenges frustrations and achievements on this same journey we sre bound to en counter defest adversity builds character i hope i have inherited a porilon of the courage of my ancestors who were early settlers onross- iske farm who must hsve en dured many hardshipsalongthelr journey of life which would make my problems appear infinitesi mal what are my remaining cas tles i can share with my guests the saddle horses and ponies facilities of our riding school i can relax with the campers and absorb the tranquility ofple- nle island from here i can view the beauties of water and trees who of us would not like to bo captain of his own ship and on bis own lake and so i am grateful as i travel on captain j ross dear mr editor a few yoars ago a community sorvica council was formed in acton to look after the needs of tho unfortunate in response to an appeal by these ladles a large supply of infans clothing now and used children and adults clothing boots and shoos and all kinds of bedding as well as somo furniture was donated by inter ested people for needy folk unfortunately the two ladles hoadlng this group mrs deng- el and mrs r mcmurray re moved from town a few months aftorwards and sirwthe service council has bnome inactive i believe the clothing bedding otc are stored in the upstairs of tho town hall most of tho articles are in good condition hi re quire caro to loop thorn froe from dust files and moths it is too bad to seo these good thing deteriorate for want of a little care wten there is so much poverty around possibly if not required locally thoy could be shipped away to where thoy could be used avlbn appreciated could some individuals or or ganizations take ovor the job of look ng after these many articles it the former organization is not able to carry on one who is interested opp report dills stationery store 56 mill st acton let us aaaut you with your plans for that all important 8532030 v sal oolts in and sq oui coimctt stuqionor utrttajioss mnovnciuints nrnuuis mxtttoua t tttumiitm eljw v fmu selets year mtuies lumjiiiwei uuusuiuels aae aueaetiie wth rowpliu edelieut u to lef bna- wc aim kavt httsonaluxd wibdinc napkins uaycmfct and cam boxes quiet week our reporting period of july 28 to august 3 1968 was fairly calm only two occurrences were noted one involved a distur bs ice and the other pertained to an insecure business premise traffic patrols of 7ij miles accumulated during 176 hours worked resulting n seven traf fic summonses being issued 19 warnings given and one motor vehicle accident being invest igated this accident resultedln f 300 to the vehicle and 80 to other property this weeks court docket ac cumulated over most of the hol iday period produced 27 con victions with total flows of 628 this week being one of few occurrences police wouul like to think bad habits tempers and the like are held in cheek but due to the amount of people away on holidays it would be hard to assess this situation said cor poral r mason eeeaai avis rentacar and truck rental phone 8775323 special weekend rates free delivery acfah ladies fair board plans events at picnic mrs w jmc donald washos- tess on the evening of august i to the ladles of acton fair board picnic held at loch gtiormac the weather looked undecided so the cabih was used in cape of rain si won ladles and one lono gentleman sat down toadellclous picnic supper and wasthoroughly enjoyed by all along with good humor good appetltos and an old fashioned coaloil lamp for light a short bislness session fol low id supper mrs w llnham the presldont callod the meeting to order and mrs d mutthows read the minutes of the last moot ing and gave tho financial report november 12 will be tho date for tho hydro cooking demon stration october 22 is the date of the district annual mooting in actcjn tt u davidson has the balcjf cases roady but the will a coat of shellac and varrw lsh there are to be three contests for children this year at the act- oo fair 1 cracker eating contest children 12 years snd under 2 the- most freckled face children 12 years and under 3 balloon blowing for child ren 1 year and under so children get busy and practice tho lades are to have a ftoa ths year with mrs mtl m-cul- lough mrs w llnham and mrs c storey on the committee after discussions and suggest- tiots for ihe float the moollnc was nifivad adjourned mrs w llnham thanked mrs mcdonald for making it possible to have the picnic when she is so busy announcing the opening of the office of a t mclaren ontario land surveyor rr 2 freelton ontario telephone 6896900 going places see hfc before you leave on that needed family vacation get a traveloan from household finance that way youll be sure to haue enough money to pay for everything along the way meals transportation lodging extras and before you borrow from hfc household will tell you what your traveloan will cost in plain dollars and cents going places travel worryfree with a traveloan from hfci before you sign on the dotted line know what your loan will cost borrow up to 6000 take up to 60 months to repay alk iboul crtdlt lift insunnct on loins it low group rlltt household finan mobgitown 41 main street north telephone 8775221 itexl le silvers department slat ask about our evtnwg hours iga foods iga foods iga foods iga foods iga foods iga foots if a i oods iga ohs a iood mbmnds 33- fboien foods orange juice ix hit tawat mat strawberries mifbh chips ioitmrfes wrlepies 5 99 he 4ume it si the iga label is your key to extra savings in the dainr case iiireimtk slices 3 1 whip t0ppin6 mmcmme tf 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