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535-03 Page 215Official opening set ■ for Tillsonburg rink — — TILLSONBURG — Official opening ceremo- nies for the town's second ice pad have Been set for M,UJ the manager f the Tillsonburg community Centre said. / Y 7�' 'Manager Stan Moore said the opening will be marked with special ceremonies and sever- al visiting dignitaries. Ice has been installed in the $420,000 struc- ture, and figure skating, rentals, and public skating are expected to be under way at the facility on Monday. About $20,000 of the fund-raising commit- tee's $150,000 goal remains to be raised, Ikioore said. 1L&LLLLLi&=40 By RANDY RAY® lJ Flo Free Press Woodstoc;-area Bu eau WOODSTOCK — A Salf dairy far- mer charged Wednesda he was misled and treated "almost 'rilie a criminal" by county council last year when the county bought a parcel of land from him for a landfill site. But after Grant Hutchinson's 20-minute pre- sentation at Wednesday's county council meet- ing, Oxford County Warden Perry Sibbick said council's actions were within the bounds of sound business practice. Mr. Hutchinson said he sold the county 60 acres in July, 1975, and was given the impres- sion it would be used as farmland. Shortly after the $60,000 offer to purchase was signed, Mr. Hutchinson said, he learned through rumors that the land was to become a garbage dump. "Had I known this at the time, I would never have sold the land," he said. The property is on County Road 46 in South- West Oxford Township. Mr. Hutchinson said the deed called for 60 acres "more or less," but after a county sur- vey of the land, the county demanded another five acres, which it eventually received -after registering a quit claim deed and'threatening to sue Mr. Hutchinson and his wife. Mr. Sibbick said Mr. Hutchinson was not prepared to turn over all t,: operty registered in the deed. "We felt the land was ours," he said. "We were prepared to take action if we did not get it." County engineer Don Pratt said there was more land registered in the deed than Mr. Hutchinson was aware of. "He fenced off five acres he thought he still owned," Mr. Pratt said. Mr. Hutchinson charged that council's deal- ings were secretive and should have been re- vealed to him and to the public. "Why was the land bought in a secretive manner and why was it purchased by lawyers and then transferred to the county?" he asked. "Council dealt unfairly with the situation," Free Press Woodstock Bureau Xe lab onen.�'it t y- vi The new $1 million Industrial ab ratories of Canada building in Tillsonburg was officially opened Friday y Oxford MPP Dr. Harry Parrott, provincial min- ister of colleges and universities. Parrott, standing, observes an egg powder test by chemist Cary Myny. he said. "Not one of you on this council had the courtesy to admit you bought the land se- cretively "Is this council fully aware of the tactics used by the public works committee (which originally recommended the purchase)?" Mr. Hutchinson said county council tried to enforce its demands with little or no regard for property holders. "You've treated me almost as a criminal. What kind of sportsmen are you?" Mr. Hutchinson said council acted contrary to its responsibilities when it bought the land for a dump. "The people in the area will put up a fight to see that the land is not defaced by a garbage dump," he said. He then asked council for a written apology for comments carried in the media and for ac- cusations made against him in the suit. Mr. Sibbick said council has no intention of apologizing. George Jakeman, mayor of South-West Ox- ford Township, rejected charges that having the transactions carried out by county lawyers was improper. He told Mr. Hutchinson that the public works committee had recommended on July 25, 1975, that a solicitor go ahead with the purchase. Conn. Kenneth Webster of Tillsonburg said the purchase of land in trust by agents, with- out the vendor knowing who the buyer is, is a normal procedure. "Prices of land will often escalate in a quick hurry if the purchaser is known," he said. "We're dealing with taxpayers' money and trying to buy land as cheaply as possible." Mr. Hutchinson said the "secretive" deal- ings put him in an undesirable position with lo- cal residents who thought he knew what the land would be used for. "It's going to lower the value of my property and that of those nearby." County council in August approved plans to expropriate a 150-acre farm known as the Naneekivell property, adjoining the 60 acres acquired from Mr. Hutchinson, for a possible landfill site. Drilling tests were being carried out to determine if the Hutchinson property was suitable for waste disposal. Mr. Sibbick told Mr. Hutchinson council would try to resolve some of the charges but that others would have to be resolved in court. "If you have some disagreements with the way things were handled by your solicitors, fine, but this is not the place to bring tip such innuendos. -There is no need to bring personali- ties into it," he said. The warden said Mr. Hutchinson's presenta- tion was "not worth the paper it was printed on" because he was not prepared to leave a copy of it with the clerk for council's further consideration. "If he had left it with us in writing I'd have had recourse to consider it," said Mr. Sibbick. "If he thinks we have done him any wrong ; why didn't he leave it with us and challenge us in the courts? "He sold the land through his solicitor and didn't even care whpre it went .... There was nothing improper about the sale." Mr. Sibbick said the county is prepared to; settle with Mr. Hutchinson those claims re- �-V garding installation of a line fence separating county property from another tract of land he owns. Mr. Hutchinson said he had contacted coun- cil members about the fence but was ignored. County engineer Pratt said that matter could easily be resolved. After Mr Hutchinson's presentation, council turned down a motion requiring spokesmen for future delegations to file copies of their presentations with the clerk. Conn. Walter Hulme of Woodstock said council shouldn't lay down ground rules about presentations. "Rules might discourage dele- gations," he said. "Written copies are too much of a restriction." Conn. Douglas Harris of Ingersoll said such requirements "would only curtail the chance . of those who are honest and don't 1%ve the op- portunity to present a written presentation." Conn. Leslie Cook, mayor of Woodstock. said: "I would hate to give anyone the impres- sion this council is unapproachable." some of the long -departed citizens of South West Oxford Township may rest a little easier thanks to the efforts of councillor Jim Brown and roads superintendent Lawrence Rooke. Mr. Brown pushed for improvements to the abandoned Waggoner cemetery two miles east of Highway 19 on Concession Three. Mr. Rooke, his wife Isabel, and the roads department fixed the fence of the cemetery to keep the cows out, planted 200 trees and set the tumbledown stones into a cement cairn. Mr. Rooke visits the cemetery now to cut the grass occasionally.