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ma10 wednesday september 14 1983 chairman a veteran veteran employee has seen changes f when arnold thomas joined the mar- xkham public utilities commission puc in 1964 the utility had four outside em- ployees two trucks and serviced the water j system as well as hydro today as safety manager for markham 3ydro mr thomas oversees the worker safety program for more than 120 staff em- rployed by the utility mr thomas started as a lineman and worked his way up to general superinten- dent before being named safety officer in the early days puc outside em ployees were on call anytime 24 hours a xday seven days a week mr thomas said fun a recent interview i lie recalls a spring snow storm in the i5midseventies when snow and wind com bined to plug roads in the area parts of a m subdivision east of wootten way had rtheir hydro cut off for sometime before local crews could restore power it seems that the electrically heated homes were requiring too much power and every time the crews tried to restore pow er a main fuse would blowagain i the puc staff was hampered because hmr thomas had only a small crew to help him during a holiday period he said that osnow on hwy 7 east of wootten way was at least four feet deep to solve the prob- j lem puc employees went doortodoor to tell residents to turn their heaters down kuntil power could be restored l its part of the job that you answer the calls mr thomas said of the incident ino matter when they are winter or vsummer as growth came to markham the hydro screws did their best to keep up t- when mr thomas joined the puc crews operated from an old house on water street in 1965 conl in motors moved from 1 main street to hwy 7 and the puc purch- ased the building at the corner of main street and ramona blvd h healsowas involvedin installation of hiservices to several largesubdivisions in cluding areas south of hwy 7 east and west of main street and the large development north of hwy 7 east of main street although outside contractors did much 5of the work puc crews installed a lot of the plant ourselves mr thomas said i mr thomas was appointed supcrinten- vdent in 1968 and held that position until v markham hydro was formed in 1978 when he took the title of general superintendent in 1980 he was named safety officer the it- position he currently holds r i although he has been in markham for 19 syears mr thomas- hydro experience vdates back well over 30 years a nova sco- ytia native he worked for maritime electric win fredricton new brunswick prior to coming to ontario in 1960 i after working for a number of hydro con- tractors he answered an advertisement i and was hired by markham puc in 1964 as safety officer mr thomas holds monthly safety meetings for operational staff and also conducts field visits to in- j spect safety wise i j all hydro employees more than 120 of them must take part in the safety program i because we dont want our people to be maimed or disabled for life he said r he feels that most accidents are caused jby lapse of memory on the part of em- fployees however stricter safety laws are jforcing the construction industry to be more responsible for safety mr thomas said a resident of markham for many years mr thomas and his wife eileen have three arnold thomas veteran hydro employee grown children two boys and a girl and seven grandchildren they have been mar- tiedfor33 years in his spare time mr thomas enjoys the outdoors with crosscountry skiing in the winter and fishing in the warmer months he also enjoys travelling and restoring old automobiles then selling them c by eileen atkinson v thechairman of markhams hydro commission don v mcnabb first ran for office in 1966 and waselected to serve on the markham public utilities commission puc with the late joe fry who was reeve and warden of york county and veteran utician alma walker who was mayor of arkham il was the upstart back then says bb but it turned out alright we de- good relationships all round rovears later he was returned by acclamation and has served continuously since then when he first ran as commissioner mcnabb had worked for north york hydro for six years he joined them straight from school and worked as a meter installer and service lineman by the age of 22 he was running his own service crew and had learned a great deal about hydro in 1965 he started construction of the house he still lives in on church st in mar kham and became annoyed with the pucs service entrance regulations they were archaic he says when he voiced his complaints to friends in markham they suggested he run as hyd ro commissioner mr mcnabb says when he gets annoyed with anything he likes to get involved and make changes whenever possible so after careful consideration he decided to run he said it was a good opportunity for him to contribute the expertise he had gained at north york hydro the system needed total rebuilding he said everything was in poor condition almost falling apart the overhead system in the old town needed replacing the transformers needed updating the con ductors were inadequate for the load and there was no backup if the feeder from ontario hydro went down the whole town was out if was costing more to maintain than it would cost to change said mcnabb the commission and the general mana ger of the utility david mcvie started re building the system it took a long time to get it in shape said mcnabb but by the time markham hydro took over it was second to none he said markham puc only had one line truck when he first served on the commis sion the brakes didnt work well and the steering was shot we had a tractor that was a museum piece but we couldnt afford to fix it or to buy a new one today markham hydro has the finest equipment including bucket trucks cars and many other small vehicles mcnabb said when regional government was created the region of yorks commis sioners were advised by the ontario gov- i- i 17 years don mcnabb served for 17 years ernment to prepare information on muni cipal versus regional utility systems a study team was formed consisting of four commissioners four regional council lors two union representatives the chair man of the region and resource staff from ontario hydro and various other utilities they began gathering information and preparing recommendations mcnabb was one of the four commissioners the teams final report to the minister of energy recommended municipal hydro systems for newmarket aurora rich mond hill vaughan and markham and suggested that the rural areas of georgina east gwillimbury and king would be bet ter served as a regional power district under the operation of ontario hydro bui 66 was prepared forming the new systems just as the study team had recom mended it took effect jan 1 1979 the commission hired ray ewasiuk to be markham hydros first general mana ger in october 1978 and the takeover was accomplished with a minimum number of hitches said mcnabb he credits the smooth transition to an interested staff and to mr ewasiuks organizational abilities 4we were criticized for not hiring an en- gineer when we hired ray ewasiuk said mcnabb but he looked great to us and there is no doubt in our minds today that we made the right decision v mcnabb says the commission which to- day consists of the mayor and four elected commissioners has one scheduled meet ing a month with mr ewasiuk but plans for the new building have required 23 meetings a week he and ewasiuk are in daily contact by phone he said sometimes talking four or five times a day- the commissions responsibilities in- elude accepting recommendations for equipment approving purchases approv- ing the hiring of senior staff members and making decisions regarding wages and be- nefits a they are a policy body and are constant ly reviewing and changing policies uvan effort to improve the system said mcnabb they also represent markham in district and provincial meetings mcnabb served on the district four ex ecutive of the ontario municipal electrical association as vicepresident president and is now its past president he said the association provides contact with senior people in ontario hydro leaders in the electrical field throughout the province and visitors from all over north america hydro is so big now he saidtnat we must know what is going on in other areas markham is growing rapidly andjeant stay selfcontained mcnabb is now a 33year veteran at north york hydro he is an industrial ser vice coordinator advising industry on electrical services mcnabbs wife fran is a receptionist for dr wayne auyeung of markham they have two children kevin 24 who is a police officer with york regional police and kelly 21 a third year education stu dent at brock university mcnabb is a onetime president of mar kham boy scouts he has been a member of the lions and masons and he served on the initial board that put thethornhill com munity centre complex together he was also chairman of the markham centennial board which put together the pool and fitness institute complex and su pervised the arena when he has time left over mcnabb says he loves to go to the cottage or just putter around the house and garden he said the prime thing in his heart right now is to do the best job he can as a hydro commissioner i want markham hydro to be number one in ontario he said- a bright light among utilities he guided hydro from the start m ijf by eileen atkinson v i one of the proudest occupants of mar kham hydros new offices on warden ave is raymond g ewasiuk its general man ager and chief administrator he has guided the utility from its birth on jan 1 1979 to its coming of age with the official opening of its new headquarters this week mr ewasiuk 53 a native of saskatch ewan was hired in 1978 by the markham hydro commission just before bill 66 came into effect giving markham its own muni cipal utility service the area had pre viously been served by ontario hydro and the markham public utilities commis sion it was his job to organize the new utility and his major responsibilities included negotiating the takeover of equipment and other assets from ontario hydro setting administrative policies assembling a staff and housing the new utility it was one of the largest restructuring jobs in ontario markham hydro took over more than 16000 customers from ontario hydro at the outset markham hydro was housed in one unit at 50 bullock drive it quickly expanded to two units and then several at 60 bullock it eventually occupied all of 60 bullock and still had equipment stored at the old public utilities building on main st and in the town of markham yards it was obvious that the growing utility needed its own building to operate effi ciently with the approval of themarkham hyd ro commission the elected policysetting body governing the operation of markham hydro 33 acres of land on warden ave south of highway 7 was purchased and serviced and construction began the official opening this week will be the culmination of years of planning and meet ings involving mr ewasiuk the hydro commissioners senior staff and advisors mr ewasiuk sees his biggest challenge now in the continuing arbitration with ontario hydro over the transfer of assets almost 9 million is involved he says and we dont agree with the figures sup plied by ontario hydro the assets include overhead lines trans formers and substations mr ewasiuk visualizes total involve ment with this issue for at least the next year a major project currently under review is the purchase and installation of a super visory control and data acquisition system scada a computer assisted system cap able of isolating electrical problems in the field it can do the switching necessary to get customers back into service quickly mr ewasiuk said he would like to see the system installed at markham hydro ray ewasiuk came to markham with a solid hydro background he worked in the financial dept of etobicokc hydro he is a certified general accountant and was secretary and treasurer at mississauga hydro for five years ewasiuk was an interna tional consultant for- the world bank in washington dc and travelled extensive ly in africa the middle east and far east advising on sewer water and hydro pro- jects he returned to canada and became assistant general manager at sudbury hydro where he remained until moving to markham mr ewasiuk and his wife doreen have two sons rick 25 and drew 20 rick is an engineer and lives in calgary drew works in the stores at vaughan hydro when he is not working ewasiuk enjoys skiing in europe when its possible and in the barrie area when its not he also has a personal project nearing completion he has written a novel a spy mystery that is almost ready for pub lication and should be available by the end of the year thea bray mr ewasiuks secretary at markham hydro typed the manuscript and she reports that its a good story but will not divulge the plot or title ms bray who has worked to mr ewa siuk for the past four years also worked for him 14 years ago at mississauga hydro she says he is a good boss and easy to work for as long as you dont mess up too much she says they are very pleased with their new offices interdepartmental com munications are easier things generally are running more smoothly and it seems as though everyones spirits have been lifted by the new surroundings she said rayewasiuk hes guided utility f congratulations to the markham hydro electric commission its managerial staff and employees on the opening of your new facilities from the management and staff cam tran co grafton utility supplies grafton ont s congratulations to the markham hydro electric commission on the official opening of their new facility from amp of canada ltd 20 esna park dr markham tel 4756222 congratulations to the markham hydro electric commission onithe opening j of their new facility w from conomistsun i 2942200 v v -i- the tribune 6402100 k iv mbmmiiiik wjj l maum a v ipx v i 2i