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(e"".;.'- "it'ili':'i_'iaritiltsrsp sees austerity m 1 976 Mayor Epp said he would like to see the skating rink constructed in 1976 but C"tee're not sure it can be seen as a priority item for next year. We're entering " tight year. The province may make the decision for my I'm not overly aptimistic that we're go- ing to get the grants." t'We new hoping to get _Wintar.io lottery funds and a grant from the ministry of culture and recreation tar the skating rink. but with the tightening of the Looking ahead to the sec- ond half of his two-year term. Mayor Epp said pro- posals for a figure skating arena and {picnic shelter in Waterloo Park may have to tte, dttferred for several years if the provincial gov- ernment doesn't loosen the purse strings of its grant By Mary Stupart / 1976 will be a year of belt-tightening and auster- ity for the city of Waterloo predicts Mayor lied: Epp. Installation of an elevator in the Adult Recreation Centre. a decision on the restructuring of hydro com- missions in the region and the final drafting of Water- loo's official plan are some of the events Mayor Epp predicts for 1976. JANUARY 1 The University of Water- loo's School of Optometry will begin its second half century next summer with a new director. He is Dr. M. Emerson Woodruff. former director of the school's public clin- ic. Dr. Woodruff will sue- ceed Dr. Edward J. Fisher who has served as head of the school since 1948. Dr. Fisher will continue as a member of the school's faculty, following a sab- batical leave. , JANUARYS In his inaugural address Monday, Waterloo mayor Herb Epp called for down- town redevelopment. public disclosure of campaign funds. a plebiscite for the ward system. an indoor swimming pool to serve the city. dial-a-bus service to meet the needs of two subdivisions in Waterloo. and the purchase of addi- tional lands for industrial expansion. John Greenlaw. presi- dent of the Waterloo Re- gional Sports Council. an- A member of the commit- T Looking back at the year that wasf191§ (' ‘ -. "s, _ V I T _ "1- " _ H, _ n r _ l r ets " '1‘ l I c),',..,--:----,")"'"""',"'. _i‘:?:;""";:x anada 6 [ "rs T _ _ y "s 4 y , _ _P7L3, ' I L _ - - _ u _ if,“ '. ?'j V T _ . .1 F g. l T - _watijlteir' oo 0 lllr0llll1t ' Fr C Ecr2'Giia Ilu", LI ' 12Oth Year No.53 Tuesday, December so. 1975 Waterloo, Ontario 10cm: WW te.e that is studying hydro commission reitru%tiing. the Mayor would not com- ment on whether the com- mittee members would opt for a one tier or two tier Itystem but "we will defin- iter come to some con- clusion on hydro commis- sion restructuring in the first half of the New Year". Mayor Epp, who has been a proponent of the two tier system for . some time, hopes the committee will recommend a system that will preserve Waterloo's autonomy. The main argument for a single tier system is the saving that will accrue from buying transformers and equipment in bulk. But the Mayor is not convinced of. the validity of this argu- ment. "Bigness isn't always the answer. What we're look- ing for is the most econom- tear way to serve the people ...In the past. Waterloo Hydro has served the people of Waterloo econo- mically. There's no rea- sorrwhy this trend shouhin't continue in the future. _ . Members of the hydro commission restructuring committee haven't closed their.minds to any options but are waiting for a report to be tabled by a study group composed of hydro commissioners in the re- nounced Monday that a 35.000 grant has been re- ceived from the Budd Auto- motive Company of Canada Limited. JANUARY IS According to statistics presented to council Mon- day night by the building department. housing con- struction dropped drasti- cally in Waterloo last year. Waterloo city council ap- proved an administrative committee report Monday that will give Project Life a four month grant of $5.- 790. Only 497 permits for dwelling units were issued by the city in 1974 compared to 1362 in the previous year. While housing con- struction dropped by close to two-thirds in one year. the construction value of $12.1 million was more than half the $21.9 million for 1973, and the value of all permits issued was about $7 million less than the 1973 figure 01:27.7 million. Close to 100 fires in Wa- terloo last year caused an estimated $352,604 in dam- (1 giom he said. - “I have no idea what the committee will recommend. We are waiting for a Jeport from the resource group.... We haven't closed our minds on it yet." Mayor Epp admitted that the two recommendations most likely to receive fa- vour With the committee call for a single tier sys- tem or seven -individual commissions. After the report is tabled. the committee's recom- mendations will be Ir: warded to the ministry of energy in Toronto for a final decision. Mayor Epp could not predict 'whether two shop- ping plaza projects pro- posed in 1975 would receive final go-ahead in 1976. _ The north-end shopping plaza. proposed by Select Properties Ltd. eartr- last year. received council's approval but is presently in a state of limbo. wait- ing for the minister of mu- niciparatfairs to give final assent. "The proposal has been sitting there for six months. Ws very frustrating when the file is being passed from one person to another with no decision being made," he said. "We would like to see it go ahead. but the province obviously doesn't see any ages. according to statistics presented to city council Monday by the fire de- partment. The report notes three of the five largest fires of 1974 were the result of ar- son. Fires at the Goodyear Go Centre on Weber St. t$200.000 damage), the City Hotel on King St. ($37,000) and the Waterloo Family YMCA on Lincoln Rd. ($32,000) were all the result of arson. JANUARY28 Residents in the down- town core of Waterloo are not interested in large scale development. accord- ing to a presentation to city council Monday by Howard Smith of Drydan and Smith Planning Con- sultants l Kitchener I. The presentation. a pre- view of an in-depth study of the core area commis- sioned by the city at a cost of 840.000. indicates the vast majority of the more than 10,600 people in the area prefer to see little or no changes in their neigh- "Were studying a pro- posal from Oxford now and will have a staff report sometimein early 1976. It's possible that the project could go ahead in the New Year, but the proposal might be slowed down by - an Ontario Municipal Board hearing or the provincial guidelines on expenditures." urgency to it." Plans for" an addition to Waterloo Square. proposed early in 1976 by Oxford Developments Ltd.. are currently in the negotiation stage between city staff and Oxford. chener Jan. 6 to discuss the provincial guidelines with local politicians, A - Mayor Epp 'said Darcy McKeough will be in Kit- chener Jan. 6 to discuss Original plans for the expansion of Waterloo Square famed for the con- struction of a large depart- ment store. But the city and Oxford have now ruled out this possibility he said. ' "There is no chance at the present time of a major department store coming into Waterloo. They have eliminated the department store aspect of the plan in favour of smaller stores. .. A committee has been appointed by Waterloo city council to investigate the possibility of hosting either the 1975 Ontario Summer Games or the 1976 Ontario Winter Games. Plans for a $40,000 rail- way relocation study to make the expansion of Wa- terloo Square more%rtheti- cally pleasing and eliminate traffic problems with the JANUARY” Waterloo Arena will have protective glass installed around the ice surface. council's committee of the whole decided Monday. The glass, which will cost $6,000 when installed, was requested by the executive and directors of the Water- loo Siskins. The Sitkin management noted in -a letter to council that sev- eral accidents could have been prevented over the past year . if protective glass has been installed. Council's committee of the whole reluctarttly ap- proved in principle road construction totalling $799,- 000 for this year. The work, proposed by the engineering department under the 1975 local im- provement program. in- cludes 15 separate projects tracks were abandoned by council when it became ap- parent that the railway was not interested in moving the line. "In discussion with the railway. there was no en- couragement to indicate that we would get funds from them in the near future. We decided to abandon the study when we realized it would be in moth- balls for three or [our Years. We saw this as real waste of money." \ affecting roads. curbs and sidewalks in the city. FEBRUARYS t Alderman Mary Jane Mewhinney's charge that Waterloo is eroding its park- land prevented a council decision to grant the Uni- versity of Waterloo the right to use a portion of Wa- terloo Park for a football practice field. The land. a small parcel west of the CNR tracks on Seagram Drive, was re- quested to be used by the university football team between August 25 and November 25. , The City of Waterloo and the local professional fire fighters association will refer the 1975 contract negotiations to a board of arbitration, council decided Monday. This year the association. representing 67 f ire fighters in Waterloo, have request- ed salary increases of 24 per cent for first class fire fighters and up to lo per cent additional increases for each successive higher rank. " Mum Mayor Epp said Oxford is willing to go ahead with the Waterloo Square ex- pansion without the rail- way relocation. He ditr. counts rumours that the ford is less enthusiastic about the project now. "We've had very good diScuSsions with them. Both sides have been very open. If they are a little less re- luctant to proceed now. it interest rates and the econ- omic slow-down. .. could be dilate the high FEBRUARY It According to a proposed five year capital expendi- ture forecast the City of Wa- terloo expects to spend be- tween 81.5 million and $1.75 million each year to FEBRUARY " Waterloo City Council has approved a report from its administrative com- mittee recommending a study be undertaken re- garding the possible re location of the Canadian National Railway tracks in downtown Waterloo. The report, submitted at Monday's council meeting, calls for council to approve the expenditure of $O,000 so that CN can proceed with its re-location study. Waterloo residents will soon be able to use the fa- cilities at Marsland Park. located near Hillside Park. as Waterloo City Council approved the purchase of the 6.71 acre site for 8137,- 500 at Monday's council meeting. (Continuod on noon 1”