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Ilteatrtrmill news and views Ontario's Premier Wil- liam Davis told a meet- ing of the Ontario Associ- ation of Riral Municipal- ities last week the province will not create any new re- gional governments in the near future. . Page " - Waterloo Chtonjcle, Wednesday, February 19. 1975 While "unequivocally" stating there will be no more new regional govern- ment in this. province, Mr. Davis defended the, gov- ernment's decision, to im- plement regional govern- ment in areas of the prov- ince where it has already been set up. The Premier admitted the goyernment has made iiRi0CEE5E)jE%l If you saw this headline in your local newspaper you'd take the time to read it-- all of it. So would your friends and neigh- bors. And that's what local newspapers are all about: you and the people in your Your local newspaper's prime function is to present the news . . . honestly and fully. Local newspaper reporting includes everything from what's going on at City Council meetings, to the luncheon menu at your local school, Local newspapefs deliver. where other news sources leave off. What's happening GoodthingshappehmtaHttna. 884-1210 Will not create new regional governments 380 King St. North, Waterloo, Ont. N2d 223 CY 0 J0 CYCLE PALACE LTO. Honda Sales and Service EVERYTHING You x l, EVER WANTED To f Know . ABOUT You. some mnstakes and added, "improvements .can be made." In response to a question, Mr. Davis said tttgovern- ment was ready to recon- sider the December munici- pal voting date if that was what the municipalities wanted. Many municipal of- ficials have been critical because of the probability of He said Metropolitan Toronto would not be the great community it is now if the Progressive Conserv- ative government had not instituted regional gov- ernment in 1954. Who wants to know what's going on in your community? You dot And, your local newspaper is the news medium that reports it--in full. in your community is just as important to your local newspaper as an epic ioumey to the moon. Newspapers deliver the local story Waterloo Chronicle inclement weather on vot- ing day. 7 - - A 7 Elf we bulk ot the muniei- pal people feel there is mer- Public utility commis- sioners in Waterloo Region are likely to continue to press for retaining local hydro systems. Bill Smith. vice-chairman of Waterloo Hydro, said last week. A joint committee of pub- lic utility commission rep- resentatives across the Region will be called to- gether again soon, as the result of a provincial prom- ise this week to proceed with local hydro re-organiz- ation, Mr. Smith, chairman of the joint committee. said. While the debate. about regional versus local hydro systems has been dormant for a year, the PUC dele- gates' vote in favor of a lo. cal solution still stands. Mr. Smith said in an inter- view. The delegates from 13 PUC systems in the Region went counter to Regional Likely continue pressing to retain local hydro it m reassessing it, we're more than prepared to do it," said Mr. Davis. Chairman Jack Young and regional council. The Re- gion favored one hydro sys- tem for the Region. Mr. Smith agreed with Mr. Young on ohe point: That it shouldn't take long for a local task force to" put together a plan to re-or- ganize hydro services. Hydro customers could expect a solution by the end of the year, Mr. Smith said. Mr. Young expected that a plan could be drafted in three months, and that the plan could be put into ef- iectsoortafter. Car rental agencies . no longer\show need. 375,000 communications for Waterloo Region police munications system put the Waterloo regional po- lice department last week into the transistor and computer era. floor of police headquarters on Frederick Street, the new communications cell- tre was “if for the first time on esday of last week. The system was to have been in operation last September but delays in equipment delivery post- poned the switchover. The force switched from two frequencies to four fre- quencies which iiiiG a policeman in one end of the Region to talk to an- other officer at another end, through the use of a num- Regional council's li- censing committee last week dropped a proWsion which requires applicants for vehicle rental licenses to show a public need for their services. . Regional chairman Jack Young said future applica- tions for car rental li- censes will no longer be subject to a demonstration of need. He also said the govern- The committee's require- ment to show a public need had been challenged by Coach Rent-a-car Ltd. of Windsor. who were refused permission last year to operate in the Region. Coach has notified the Region it intends to appeal the decision and will at- tempt to have the bylaw thrown out. The committee also recommended the dropping, of a. SIGaday minimum charge for renting cars irr the Region. This move will require either a new bylaw or a council amendment to Ontario Energy Minister ' Day-care home rate hiked 25% ment intended to continue ing further growth in other with its intentions of limit- . .. . ing the growth of the Toron- regions, but the impact to-centred region, mean- won'tbefelt overnight." Dennis Timbrell said Tues- day the government was ready to set up a local task force to reorganize hydro in any region that wanted it. _ A set of guidelines, on re- structuring that was recom- mended by a special com- mittee a year ago was al- most unchanged when Mr. Timbrell presented them in the legislature Tuesday. Mr. Young said the min- istry already has letters on file complaining about de- lay on the hydro question. and he intended to send off an immediate request to ber of satellite transmit- ters. By equipping all police- men with portable radio units, instead of just those on foot patrol, head- quarters can keep in con- stant touch with a police- man when he leaves his cruiser, which is also equipped with a mobile unit. The network was inaugu- rated officially a day' after going on the air by Gerald Martiniuk. chairman of the regional police board. aWe've been waiting a long time for this," Mr. Martiniuk said. In the old communicar tions centre, in cramped, makeshift quarter: on the police building's main the existing bylaw, while removing the requirement to show need is a commit- A 25 per cent increase for mothers who operate day-care programs in their home was approved by re- gional council last week. Council endorsed with- out comment a health and social services committee recommendation that will raise the rates to $5 for an eight-hour day. The committee acted af- ter welfare administrator Art Pope said women were dropping out of the home- care program because of low pay. The Region operates the home program as an alter- native to regional day-care centres in Kitchener. Cam- bridge and Elmira. Rates in the centres are $6 a day. . set up a task force in Wa- terloo Region. Spokesmen on all sides said Mr. Timbrell's action would likely bring a solu- tion to the outdated PUC system still existing in the Region. Hydro was left out of the regional government changes two years ago. Thirteen separate agen- cies are still operating hy- dro services in old munici- pal boundaries. Cambridge has . three commissions operating in the former Galt, Preston and Hespeler sections. fldor, operators, dispatch- ers and police supervisors often took turns at doing everything. In the new centre, hm ever, dispatchers do not take phone calls, but con. centrate solely on dispatch: ing, while operators take details of a problem and re- lay. it to dispatchers. All calls are recorded and can be played back instantly in case there is doubt about directions or aproblem. tee policy change and, re- quires no bylaw amendment. When the 911 emergency system for police, fire and ambulance in the Wa- terloo Region starts next January, calls will be handled in the communica- tions centre through a separate console. 7 Protests from automo- bile repair shops which pro- vide courtesy cars to cus- tomers, prompted the Re- gion to exempt garage own- ers from the minimum rate provision last October. The recommended change will mean that rental agencies now will set their own rates. The minimum charge, in- stituted last September because of pressure from the Waterloo Region Auto Rental Association. barred at least one agency. Rent- a-Bug, which had intended to rent Volkswagens for $5 a day, from operating in the Region. Only one licence for a rental agency has been granted since the formation of regional government. The application had been submitted in Cambridge prior to regional govern- ment. The applicant never opened for business and the permit no longer is valid,