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HomeMy WebLinkAboutClinton News-Record, 1970-11-19, Page 1MAYOR DONALD SYMONS JOE ATKINSON BILL CRAWFORD Inside Town Talk Benmiller story Editorials Sports High School Sports Ballet in a basement- Shirley Kellar .,.Pg. 2 ...Pg. 3 ...Pg. ...Pg. ...Pg. 7 ...Pg. 1A ...Pg. 6A Clinton News- Recor 105 YEAR — NO. 47 CLINTON, ONTARIO — THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 19, 1970 PRICE PER COPY 15c Tuckersmith to deepen well BY WILMA OKE A well, to supply water to one hundred homes in Egmondville, is to be deepened approximately 60 feet from its present 187 foot level. A new pump will be installed, either a 3 h.p. or 5 h.p. unit, depending on the need when drilling is completed. This decision was reached by Tuckersmith Council in consultation with Neil Hopper, RR 2, Seaforth, a well driller who was present at the meeting held in Brucefield Tuesday night. He reported on his recent inspection of the two wells which supply Egmondville residents. The other well is drilled to 235 foot level. The 14-year-old 187 foot well at present produces nine gallons of water per minute and it is hoped after deepening, it will produce 30 gallons per minute. The cost will be $1,532.00 or $1,187.00 depending on the size of pump needed. This does not Election necessary 8 run for council, 5 for PUC January 1 will not be passed on to Clinton consumers. John Wise reported that improving and replacing of the old sewage system kept the PUC busy. Mr. Garron said that work on " There will be an election in Clinton this year, That was assured Monday night when eight men offered themselves as councillors with six positions to be filled and five ran for four positions on the Public Utilities Commission. Members of last year's council who seek to return are Clarence Denomme, Mel Steep, Norman Livermore, Russ Archer, Cameron Proctor. Another familiar face returning to politics is that of James Armstrong, former reeve of Clinton. New New faces the standpipe will have to be done next year to keep it in good shape. He also spoke of the need for a new building for trucks in the PUC and for inside workroom for the employees. , The first column. include pipe, well seal and cost of building up a ramp roadway for well drilling equipment. In other business, council passed a by-law authorizing Mrs. Sterling Graham of Staffa to plant trees on four acres of reforestation plot. This must be fenced and no trees cut from it for 20 years. Clerk James McIntosh read the Gibbings Drainage Works report. It is a Hullett drain which affects six Tuckersmith ratepayers and requires a five-foot culvert under the CNR. Assessment against Tuckersmith amounts to $4,896.00 of the total estimated cost of $24,600.00 of the 11,058 foot drain. A CNR engineer at the meeting reported the railway would install the culvert under the railway with their own workmen. Council passed a cash -law for the drain which Means Tuckersmith ratepayers make cash payments for the drain upon its completion. Court of Revision for this drain was set for December 15 at Huron Centennial School, Brucefield. Requests for grants from the Huron Plowmen's Association and Clinton Recreation Committee were filed for review by Council in the new year. A letter from the Department of Highways cautioned that salt be put On the roads with cam only when necessary, because of the possibility of pollution from salt when it is washed off the roads. Approval was received on the recent road subsidy application for $18,900.00 from the Department of Highways. Council approved a motion to ask Huron County to have "No Parking" signs placed on the western side of, the newly reconstructed county road through the hamlet of Egmondville. Some car owners persist in parking on the grass boulevard on the western side instead of the paved area for parking along the eastern side of the road. One member of council will , not seek re-election but all other members indicated they will be candidates for re-election at the nomination meeting to be held at Huron Centennial School on November 23 at 7:30 p.m. with a ratepayers' meeting at 8:30 pan- Councillor Ross Forrest, RR 2, Kippen, said he will drop out this year aftec serving six years. Others seeking re-election are: Reeve Elgin Thompson, RR 2, Kippen, who has been reeve for nine years and five years before as a councillor; Deputy-Reeve Alex McGregor, RR 2, Kippen, (See. Page Two) Changes in Classified page to improve effectiveness He said he was also a member of the planning board and expressed concern over the fact that the chairman of the board was also a subdivider. He said he was not suggesting a conflict of interest but said there was a possibility that there was a better way of doing things. He said he would like the school board to take a long hard look at providing a smoking area on school property so students would not be congregating on lawns of persons in the area of the high school. He said he would like to see more cost sharing with the surrounding townships when discussing the location of industry so that Clinton didn't pay for all the facilities without getting some of the benefits. Hal Hartley, seeking his 16th year on the!PUC complimented the management and staff of the PUC for work. well done in the past year. He said they had done many large and extra jobs this year with one man less than in former years. He noted that half the town still remains to be .converted from the old series lighting to more modern lighting. He said the PUC would present a two or three year plan to council in the new year for the updating of back-street lighting. He said-6.6 per cent increase from Ontario Hydro in rates which will take effect on The News-Record has re-classified the classified pages this week in order to make them less complicated and more effective for readers and users. Changes were necessitated by ' new regulations from the Ontario Department of Labour which make it illegal to specify sex in advertising for help wanted. Thus our Help Wanted Female and Help Wanted Male had to go. So, while we were making changes, we decided to re-organize—the whole page to make it more effective. Articles for sale have become the no. 1 classification since it is often the most used and most widely-read classification. It will now include pet stock which previously had a separate classification. It was felt that wider readership will be offered to sellers of these specific items if they are sold in a general column which everyone is likely to read. Classifications can be carried to extremes and the temptation is to begin a new classification for every "different" product someone wants to sell. It is possible to have a column for brown spotted cocker spaniels, but anyone who uses that column can expect only those interested in brown spotted cocker spaniels to read the ad. Thus, our attempt to simplify the page and reduce the number of classifications which over the years have crept up to 30. All advertisements for accommodation wanted, for rent and real estate have now been grouped together for easier reading in groups 4-6. All help wanted ads are now Mayor in by acclamation combined in one category, no. 8. There are two classifications for notices, one for public notices such as . weddings, and personal notices and one for business notices which will include tenders and other notices of interest to businessmen. We hope you will find the new system convenient to use and read' and continue to use it as an effective medium for selling whatever you have to sell. In times of inflation, *hat else can you get for 75 cents. Crown attorney denies changing charges William G. Cochrane, Crown Attorney for Huron County defended himself last week against charges leveled at Clinton town council that he had changed charges laid by Clinton town police. Mr. Cochrane said that he has never changed a charge without first discussing it with the policeman involved or his police chief. He said it was difficult for him to reply to the complaint because it was the first he could recall. The ' Clinton council complained at the November meeting earlier last week, that the crown attorney was the person responsible for the laxity of penalties for conviction of as the best equipped force in Huron County. On county council, he had been a member of the county panning board. -Mr. Lawson indicated he would stand on his record as the reason he should be re-elected. Councillor Cook, challenging for the position, said that he has been in charge of sanitation and waste in his three years on council. He described it as a dirty job, especially persuading people to comply with a by-law which was enforced at the beginning of this year that made it necessary for them to wrap their garbage. The councillor blasted businessmen who did not show any interest in coming to the meeting. "In the next two years this town needs the best council it can get," he said. Reeve Lobb in his remnrks said he would like to see the program of rebuilding ' town facilities continued in the next two years. The reeve said he felt three-quarters of the sidewalks in town needed to be replaced and he hoped to see`' this- accomplished. He said the time was coming fast for major expenditure in expansion of the sewage disposal plant. He also hinted that there was good news in the offing in the industrial front but did not elaborate. Deputy-reeve Lawson noted that he had been in his present position for three years and had ' been on council for three years before that. He had been in charge of the protection to persons and property committee and in that time the Clinton Fire Department had been described Clinton will continue to have the same mayor and reeve for the next two year term: Mayor Donald Symons and Reeve Harold Lobb both' won another term by acclamation Monday night when there were no challengers for, their jobs at Clinton's nomination meeting.. A fight has developed, however, for the position of deputy-reeve where incumbent Gordon Lawson is being challenged by Councillor Frank Cook. In his acceptance speech the mayor said that Clinton must face one of the challenges of the 70's, the fact that with larger and larger units of, government, we are paying more and getting less. He said the municipalities had lost their autonomy, that boards are getting big and farther removed from the people involved. In discussing the importance of a conservation area for the Bayfield river, he sited the benefits of co-operation exemplified by the fine new land-fill sanitary site which, he said, was costing a little more, but was receiving no complaints about pollution. The site is shared by Clinton, Goderich township and the town of Goderich. Bayfield council learns Meeting called on Conservation Holmesville principal gains • degree . Question period shortened at board meetings ' faces are Joe Atkinson, local bowling alley owner, and William Crawford, owner of a , new meat market set to open in December. Charles Brown, Harold Hartley, John Wise and A. (Red) Goron of the PUC have all sought to retain their seats and are , being challenged by Pat McMahon. In a meeting following the nominations, the candidates stated some of their policies before the 40 or more present. Speaking in order of nomination for each position they told of their work in the past and their plans for the future. Councillor Clarence Denomme stated that a year ago , he had figured he would not be running again for council, that he didn't have the time to give aside from his business. He said he still wasn't satisfied with the amount of time he could spend on town business but the establishement of the county co-ordinators office at CFB Clinton had taker' off some of the burden in his job as head of the industrial committee. He said he still could not report any further progress on the base but said that the rumors were good. Building up industry he said, was a long-term project. He said that government officials had told the town that it took five years of work to show results. Results were about to show for past hard work the councillor said. He said it was important for the town to continue to improve its facilities in order to attract industry. Councillor Livermore stated that as head of the general government committee he had tried to stay within his budget for the past year. He promised that he would work hard to get a replacement for the armed forces at CFB Clinton. He pledged that he would da everything he could do "to look after your dollars". Mr. Atkinson declared simply, that he would do his utmost to serve the town to the best of his ability. Mr. Crawford said he felt it was important for the town to have an' election since an, election was a healthy situation. He felt Clinton was on a teeter-totter at the present time and he thought a healthy council might be the added weight that would put the town over on the good side. He said that something must be done to stop the flow of young people from the community since, he said, less than three per cent of last year's graduates from high school remained in the area. He pledged to do his best to rectify the si tuat ion. Councillor Archer described himself as the disturber on last year's council in his position as chairman of the finance committee. He said that although he was very busy with his new business he would make time for council work. Councillor Proctor, in the longest speech of the evening, said there had been two or three disturbers on the 1970 council. He said he had served on the public works committee and was disturbed at talk of amalgamation of water and sewerage works with public works. Better, he claimed, that public works should be taken under the PUC as water and sewerage were now. The PUC had more experience in these areas he said and had the administrative staff already on hand to handle the works. As chairman of the health and welfare committee he said he could see merit in the proposal that the provincial government take over welfare since it would mean a saving in time for local officials, but he said it would probably cost more. the old town hall to store articles of historical value. The Community Planning Branch of the Department of Municipal Affairs has suggested that the Bayfield Planning Committee continue to work on an official plan for the village and that a committee of adjustment be appointed to administer minor variances in the zoning by-law. Council authorized rental of a 66-foot strip of land on the south side of the Bayfield river at the old bridge site to Mr. Elfers of London at one dollar per foot. The sale of a strip of land crossing property owned by the Bayfield marina was also authorized for $500 plus legal fees. Four street lights are being installed around the village completing this year's budget for additional street lighting. Council approved a reminder notice of the nomination meeting to be held November 23 from 7-8 p.m. that appears in the News-Record. BY ERIC EARL A meeting to disciiss the future of conservation in the Bayfield River basin was announced when Bayfield village Council met Monday night. Municipalities along the river have been invited to the meeting in Goderich on January 14 in order to discuss what conservation area, if any, will cover the region. Earlier this year in a' meeting at Goderich, the municipalities turned down a proposal to have the area included in the Maitland Valley Conservation Authority in a close vote. Proposals have also been made for union with the Aux Sable conservation area, and a separate area for the Bayfield. In other business, Reeve E. W. Oddleifson was authorized to request the Ontario Provincial Police to police the village now that the new traffic by-law has been approved. Permission was granted to the Bayfield Historical Society to use the former club's office in BY SHIRLEY J. KELLER The question period at Monday evening's board of education meeting in Clinton was much shorter than usual, due to the fact that members were allowed five minutes to write their questions on paper and hand them to the administrative staff. It is understood that the administrative staff will provide individual answers to the questions as soon after the meeting as the complete answer is known. The questions and answers will then be typed up and contained in the `back-up' material for the next meeting. During the question period, Chairman John Lavis told the press that its petition to have a five minute oral question period allotted to them had not yet been put on the agenda with a recommendation concerning it from the Director of Education. Mr. Lavis termed this an error. Mr. Cochrane told the board it had not been an error, hut lie agreed to include a recommendation on the agenda for the next meeting. Since the publication of a plan for development of the area between Clinton and the CFB Clinton in last week's News-Record, we have had several favourable comments by people who should be in a position to know something about problems involved in this sort of development. We' are happy to report that we have heard no bad comments, although some may have been made out of our earshot. We would like to hear more reaction about the proposal, good or bad. Send in a letter either for publication or marked just for personal comment, or give us a call and express your opinion. Discussion is important in this sort of, planning. One of the problems of having to work on a Wednesday when others have a holiday such as last week on Remembrance Day, is that it's hard to contact people. We found that problem several times last week. The outstanding example was trying to reach Crown Attorner W. G. Cochrane for comment on charges made against him by Clinton council earlier in the week. Knowing it was a holiday we first called his home. We were informed he. had gone to Remembrance Day ceremonies and would be in his office later. After attempts to reach him at his office later in the day failed, time just ran out before the paper had to go to press and so we were unable to present Mr. Cochrane's side of the story. We regret this because we feel both sides of every story should be heard. * * Parents who would like their children to know what an old-fashioned washboard is like, might find the closest thing these days on Queen Street. Heavy traffic due to the street being used as a detour for Highway 4 has the street so rippley it nearly shakes a car apart. We may not be giving those driving through Clinton on the highway a royal tour of • the town, but we certainly are giving them the royal bumps. * * This is Young Canada Book Week so take your children to the library to let them see some of the wonderful world books offered. * We hope those in other municipalities will• turn out better for nomination meetings that will be held in their area next week than Clinton residents did for their's. One point they could copy however, is the fact there will be an election in Clinton this year. Welither 1970 1969 Hi LO Hi LO Nov. 10 56 48 50 45 11 50 45 53 45 12 52 44 47 37 13 47 32 41 33 14 34 28 36 31 15 34 29 33 21 16 36 31 38 26 Snow 3" Snow 1" Rain ,6" John Siertsema of Hayfield, principal of Goderich Township Central School, Holmesville, was among the graduates at the Autumn Convocation at Union contract ratified BY SHIRLEY J. KELLER A Union contract for custodians in the employ of the Huron County Board of Education has been ratified according to a report from Dan Murphy during an in-committee session of the board Monday evening. Terms of the contract are not immediately known, Waterloo Lutheran University held in the Kitchener Memorial Auditorium November 8. He received his B.A., majoring in Geography. crimes in the county. They moved to have a meeting with the attorney general's department to discuss the problem. One of the complaints centred around an injury to a Clinton police officer and resulting reduction of the charge. Mr. Cochrane said this was really not much of a reduction since the penalties were the same in each case. Mr. Cochrane said he was not certain which case the mayor was referring to. But he recalled an obstruction charge laid against a young man who scuffled with Clinton police outside a dance hall some time ago. The young man stepped on a policeman's foot in the course of the struggle and broke a bone, the crown attorney recalled. He ordered the charge changed because the offender was "hardly the same as someone who deliberately punches a policeman in the face." When police are intentionally obstructed in the course of their duty, then the prosecution goes ahead with obstruction charges, Mr. Cochrane said. But when a policeman is pushed or shoved "in the heat of a moment," the Crown takes a different view. If Crown attorneys did not have the discretionary power to screen charges, the courts would never be finished, Mr. Cochrane said. And, he added, it was perhaps "easier" for a crown attorney to consider charges "in a cool light." "I don't think there is any real problem," he said. "Police are not getting assaulted with reckless abandon." Meanwhile, during his acceptance speech following his acclamation to another two year term as mayor on Monday night, Mayor Donald Symons said that he was not backing down from the charges made at council: He said that council was not satisfied with policing the area and that there was more than one side to the administratiOn of justice.