Fonds - Barrie Public Utilities Commission fonds

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Barrie Public Utilities Commission fonds

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    • 1897-1996 (Creation)

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    2 m of textual material

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    Administrative history

    The Public Utilities Commission of the City of Barrie is the municipal body responsible for the distribution and sale of water and electric power to retail customers in the community. Under twin by-laws passed on April 15, 1878 the Barrie Gas Company and the Barrie Waterworks Companies were created. The waterworks system was constructed by Hinds and Bond of Waterdown, New York, on the franchise plan, with the Town paying a fixed annual hydrant rental and retaining the right to purchase the system at any time. Barrie saw its first electric lights several years after the by-laws establishing the gas and waterworks companies. Under Town By-Law No. 345, 1888, James Burton, George Ball and Samuel Lount were given exclusive rights to provide the Town of Barrie electric light and power. The formation of the Barrie Electric Company coincided with the expiration of the Barrie Gas Company’s arrangement with the Town. Electric street lights took the place of gas, and the company never recovered from this setback. In the mid 1890's the tendency of the times was toward public ownership, and both the Electric and Waterworks companies became the subject of heated debate. It was believed the companies were charging exorbitant prices for their services, and that the Town could operate its own waterworks and electric lighting systems at a much lower cost. After several years of negotiations the owners of the Barrie Electric Company finally agreed to an offer by the Town of Barrie of $22,501. The Town experienced even more difficulty in its negotiations with the Barrie Waterworks Company, which started in January 1897 when the company was asked to set a price on its plant. After a number of delays, the principal stockholders (who were absentee Americans) were informed that the Town would resort to arbitration. Arbitration hearings continued into 1898. In September, the arbitration board set the value of the waterworks system at $77,752.40, and on January 9, 1899, the Town of Barrie became the sole owner of the waterworks system. It was not too long before the Town Council realized that the operation of two such large scale operations as electricity and waterworks was more than it could properly manage. On April 15, 1901, a by-law to make the electric light and waterworks departments self-sustaining, and place them under the management of a Board of Commissioners, consisting of the Mayor and two elected members, was approved. The by-law was approved and the first Board of Commissioners, consisting of Mayor W.A. Boys, Chairman J.H. Bennett and Commissioner Simon Dyment, was formed in 1902. By 1910, the Commission was aware that the demand for power would soon outgrow the Town’s generating capacity. The answer was to bring Ontario Hydro to Barrie. Barrie became a member of Hydro in 1912. Over the years, the Commission became a full partner in the Hydro system. In January, 1919, it joined the Ontario Municipal Electric Association, the body which represented the member municipalities which comprised Hydro. In November 1927, the Barrie Gas Company decided to either sell out to the Town for $15,000 or close its plant because it could no longer operate at a profit. The takeover of the Barrie Electric Light Company by Town Council, and the coming of Hydro power, with subsequent decreases in rates, had a detrimental effect on the limited operations of the company, and it was taken over by the Canada Life Assurance Company on a mortgage. On February 7, 1928, the Town purchased the Gas Company, and it became part of the Water and Light Commission. In August 1938, proposed low electricity rates for commercial cooking were turned down so as not to take business away from the gas department, but, in spite of the Commission’s efforts, the consumption of gas continued to drop and the gas plant suffered another heavy annual loss. On March 31, 1939 the gas works was closed. At the time, there were only 227 gas customers. Ongoing confusion about the proper name of the Commission was finally cleared up in 1938. Since its inception, the Commission had operated under various names - the Light and Water Commission, the Water and Light Commission, and after 1928, the Light, Gas and Water Commission or the Water, Light and Gas Commission. Eventually it became necessary to establish a lawful name for use on legal documents. The Commission’s solicitors confirmed that the Commission had been properly set up under the Public Utilities Act, which stipulated that such commissions should be known as Public Utilities Commissions. In July, the Commission adopted the official name of the Public Utilities Commission of the Town of Barrie.

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    Scope and content

    Fonds consists primarily of financial records, along with some other miscellanous and administrative records of the Barrie Public Utilities Commission. Included in this fonds are annual departmental reports, ledgers and journals, union records and financial reports. Currently the fonds is described at the fonds, series, file and item levels with the records arranged into the following series: Fonds is comprised of the following series: 1) A financial records series, 2) A miscellaneous series.

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    The Barrie Public Utilities Commission offices.

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        Open

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        A detailed inventory is available for this fonds.

        Associated materials

        Related material can be found in the Barrie Gas Company fonds.

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        Further accruals are expected.

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        There are gaps within the dates given.

        General note

        Historical background for the creation of the Administrative History was taken from "The History of the Barrie Public Utilities Commission, 1902-1982", by Geoffrey White.

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