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by Doug Reed If Tuesday night's regular meeting of Port MecNicoll's new council is any in- dication it is likely meetings will be long but productive. This week's session, before a full house, wrapped up just before midnight however plenty of business was completed, ac- cording to Reeve John Moreau. Council made a number of appointments to fill vacancies on at least three com- mittees. Audrey Head and Cathy Hall were named to the public library board. Jack Zummack was appointed to the committee of adjustment while John Wadge and Roy Head were added to the village's property standards committee. No decision was reached by council as to whether to make a grant to the Canadian Mental Health Association. The matter will be reviewed again. Lions' share However councillors did agree to pay $1,500 to have the municipality's zoning bylaw update. It is hoped a provincial grant council is seeking, will pay the Lions' share of the bill. The usual complaints were heard of snow-removal problems in the community while at the same time council agreed to install a new street light in the school yard as well as one on Simcoe Avenue. And there was some good news for two taxi company operators in Port McNicoll. Council gave the green light to issue two new taxi license. to Ace Taxi. Meanwhile Rick Hanes, whose milk store was destroyed by fire on Triple Bay Road several weeks ago will be allowed 60 days to operate his taxi business out of a residential area in the community, councillors agreed. Intent is to allow him time to get back on his feet after the devastating blaze which totally gutted his well known landmark. In other business before council this week, members agree to send 60 Port McNicoll residents registered letters giving them until September to hook up to municipal sewers that were installed some years ago. Bylaw They'll all receive copies of the official bylaw which spells out their requirements to hook up to the system. Meeting long but productive ...packed house watches Council will act as a committee-of-one in determining what village-owned land is available for potential industry council would like to attract to help bolster the work force and provide additional tax dollars to the community. An inventory of land will be prepared before council starts a full-out campaign to seek new industry. Bank And Reeve Moreau would like the bank in the village, the Commerce, to stay open at least one more day a week. At present the bank is open Tuesday and Thursday. The reeve thinks keeping the bank open Mondays, Wednesday and Friday would be more beneficial to both those people in Port doing their banking in the community and to the bank itself. Efforts are to be made in the future to try and persuade the bank to change its office hours. Co-operation the key to _growth,Lynn Midland's mayor called this week for greater co-operation among this area's municipal bodies and private interests in order to better improve the economy of the whole area. Together is much better than separate, Moreland Lynn told Midland _ Shriners, Tuesday night. The mayor said the acceptance of an area plan is very important for the future well-being of _Huronia. "Tt is shortsighted and somewhat foolish for us not to embark on a full area plan," he said. Tiny Township is one of the local municipalities that will suffer eventually for lack of participation in an area plan, Lynn predicted. (Tiny Township and Tay Township are trying to withdraw from the Tiny Tay Penninsula Planning Board. A Tiny Township outside of an area plan will eventually either "one day flow gently into Little Lake Park", or the taxpayers will be faced with costly ser- vices that will prove to bea very large financial burden, the mayor suggested. Uphill battle An individual municipality faces an uphill battle in the competition to attract new industries to locate within its borders, he explained. Midland for example Port to put its is just one of 35 municipalities in Ontario which have roughly the same benefits to offer an industry, and is only one of hundreds of similar municipalities in North America. : Lynn said that while about 250 industries a year locate in Ontario, the bulk of them settle in or around Toronto, with the result that the odds of new _ industries locating outside of that area are reduced to one of eight industries locating outside of the Toronto area once every three years. The concept of 'our town" is outdated, he said. Lines between municipalities are only recognized by politicians. The problem faced by the area municipalities will only be solved if the municipalities work together. Co-operation Mayor Lynn would like to see similar co- operation among the local tourist attractions. It is "tragic" in his opinion that the numerous government- run. private, and commercial tourist operations of the area do not pool their ad- vertising funds and promote themselves as a group. Such group promotion, the mayor believes, would be much more effective than each attraction going its own way. Want your fez read? Midland District Shriners President Murray McComb left, had his fez read Monday evening by Mayors Moreland Lynn and Ron Bellisle. mayors addressed the Shriners in their temple at Sunnyside. + $750,000 The two What's your excuse? Parking Authority hears them all bv Murray Moore "T was only a few minutes late but I got a ticket anyway." "That meter maid must have been lying in wait for me." "T'm from out of town. I should get special treatment." : ; "TJ didn't know that you had to turn the meter handle." "These are some of the excuses often heard by employees and management of the Midland Parking Authority. Authority Chairman Bud -Lewis shared the above lines and others with members of the Midland Rotary Club Wed- nesday. In answer to the second line, Lewis said best foot forward In an effort to Port McNicoll's best foot forward and to keep its citizens informed, efforts will be made during the next few weeks to find a couple of correspondents who can keep the community abreast through articles in the local media. That was the decision reached this week at a regular council meeting in the community. By the way that meeting itself proved heartwarming for Port's five- member council when an overflow audience showed up to watch council in action and provide members with a certain amount of input throughout the Tuesday night session which wrapped up just before midnight. According to Reeve John Moreau, he was pleased with the "'large tur- nout, especially since the weather was very poor." He indicated the interest displayed by ratepayers bodes well for future meetings in the village. that authority em- ployees pass any given parking spot between four and eight times a day. and that they take different routes to vary the time they pass the same spot. Despite the paranoia of some drivers who have received tickets, authority employees stop only if the red flag is up. They don't hang about if a meter is just a few minutes away from zero. he said. Parking ticket revenue iS a con- siderable portion of the authority's income. In the first 10 months of 1980 the authority took in $15,000 in fines. General revenue between 1974 and 1979 has increased 71 per cent while parking violation revenue has zoomed 164 per cent. Lewis told the Rotarians that the validated parking system that started in the fall has gained the acceptance of the public and of the downtown merchants. Two thousand tickets were turned in for refunds for the month of November. In defense of parking Lewis said that it is a user pay system that is self-supporting. If the town decides to dispense with free parking, the cost will be passed to all local taxpayers in the form of a two mill rate increase, he estimated. A priority of the authority is to replace the meters on the main street that don't tell how much time remains a few minutes after the dime is entered. The authority is run by a three person board appointed by the town council. Council has final approval over matters such as borrowing and rate increases. Village takes storm in stride Village of Elmvale took last weekend's storm in its stride and there were no serious complaints as a result of the low temperatures. Village Public Works department _ reported they received no calls or complaints regarding hydro or water problems said Clerk Faye Townes, and stranded motorists were given the opportunity to be lodged at the Com- munity Hall Friday afternoon at the peak of the storm. Road closures in and out of the village prompted Reeve Ken Knox to open the doors to the Hall for those visitors with nowhere to stay. is saved by SCBE by Doug Reed There's a good reason for members of the. Simcoe County Board of Education and its ad- ministrative staff to feel proud these days. According to recent information SCBE saved about $750,000 last year as a result of reducing fuel oil consumption in its 100 schools. Conservation A Ministry of Education energy conservation program set up for provincial school boards three years ago has resulted in fuel oil consumption going down by more than 10 million gallons. During the same period. schools in Ontario also were able to reduce their electrical consumption by 26 million kilowatt hours. All this, according to Education Minister Bette Stephenson, has meant avoiding an additional $14 million in energy costs in provincial school these past three years. SCBE's Director of Education Irving Harris and Midland's long-time trustee on the Simcoe County Board of Education, John McCullough, both registered their pleasure yesterday at how the board has implemented recommendations frorn its ad hoc committee on energy consumption in recent years. Committee McCullough who sits on the five-member committee observed, "If you can find ways to conserve energy in your home you should be able to find them in public buildings too." The trustee said competitions were held in county schools to see what school could come up with the highest saving. "We involved both pupils and teachers in for- ming committees to look into ways to conserve fuel and electrical consumption and in many in- stances they came up with some excellent suggestions." The founding chairman of SCBE added, "Involving students sets a pattern for them for the future." Education Director Harris says savings have occurred as a result of lowering thermostats in classrooms when they are not in use and on weekends. _ As well many school 'furnaces and boilers have been installed with computer-like monitors which better regulate the use of furnace oil. These units can cost as much as $10,000 but according to Harris, '"They pay for themselves in a few years." Energy Both Harris and McCullough cited the work of administrative staff member Dave Harvey "for constantly looking for ways and means to save energy." Harris agrees, "Most modern schools were constructed with more lighting than is necessary to meet Dept. of Health regulations. In many cases banks of lights have been shut off at considerable savings at no detriment to staff and students. In other instances lights have been put on separate circuits to create additional savings since only those required are switched on as op- posed to an entire hall, classroom or gym. Queen' s Park officials believe at the Ministry of Education office, Ontario school boards will likely save $158 million during the next two years if they continue to use sound energy management. Friday, January 9, 1981, Page 3 bute tte 4 omanadipenng-