Loading...
HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Exeter Times-Advocate, 1966-06-02, Page 1Price Per Copy IS Cents MPPs deny reports of Hydro of office relocation Ontario government officials stoutly denied this week recur- ring rumors that the Exeter area Ontario Hydro operation will be relocated. Huron MPP C. S. MacNaughton was ada.inent Tuesday in a state- ment that no relocation of the local office "is presently con- templated nor is anything im- minent for the foreseeable fut- ure'''. He was supported fully by R.J, Boyer, M. P. P., vice-chairman of Ontario HEpc. Suggestions of centralization of hydro operations, probably in the Clinton area, have been made off and on for a number of years. Rumors of such a move became rampant again in April and were discounted at that time by the Huron MPP, The latest reports emanate from a recent meeting here at which, it's indicated, regional Hydro officials told area em- ployees that a relocation to Clin- ton will take place within two to four years, Although the employees were told that this information was confidential, it soon leaked out to the community. Both Mr. MacNaughton and Mr. Boyer told the T-A Tuesday that the suggestion by the regional of- lice, if it was made, was not correct, The regional office has declined comment. Mr, MacNaughton said the situ- ation remains exactly the same as that outlined in his letter to R. Ross Tuckey, chairman of the Industrial development corpora- tion, on April 28, The MPP said he had discuss- ed the matter with Mr. Boyer. "I have his assurance that no reorganization, regrouping or relocation of any kind involving the Exeter area is presently con- templated nor is anything im- minent for the foreseeable future. "I have no knowledge of where such rumors really originate oth- er than to say that regrouping has taken place in certain areas of the province and probably this has led someone to assume that it would take place in our area, However, I am able to assure you that such is not the case. "Ftixther, Mr. 'Boyer „assures me that if at any stage Of the game such a move Is contem- plated that I will be the first to hear of It which,. of course, will provide us with ample ,00por, tunity to undertake appropriate representatIons, "I think we cap all safely as- sume that any reason for the natural concern this would. cause ourself- anti members of your commission does not exist," About 24 employees are on Staff at the area office here, Ninety-third Year EXETER, ONTARIO, JUNE 2, 1966 Lions put town on the map Exeter Lions Club float in the pre-convention parade in London Sunday was 254 in a line-up of over 300 entries, but could measure up to any from the smaller centres, Hundreds of flowers, pretty girls, and a good design were the result of hard work and planning on the part of Jack Smith, the man in charge of publicity for local L,ionism. (Citizens News Photo) OMB CONFIRMS REJECTION OF HS Townships question Exeter's position not be reached Wednesday to comment on the situation but it appears that no action will be taken until the board's regular meeting June 13. In answer to the board's re- quest for clarification, the OMB informed business administrator E. D, Howey this week that Ex- eter's decision to rescind its motion supporting the addition is regarded as a withdrawal of the town's original application for debenture issue to erect it. "The application of the Town of Exeter having been withdrawn, the board's record has been en- dorsed accordingly," wrote Sec- retary B. Vickers. Said the property chairman of the high school board, John C. Boyne: "1 think the town has made an awful mistake which they will come to realize later". The board, he said, was almost Ontario Municipal Board has confirmed that application for ap- proval of the long-proposed Sli- DHS addition has been withdrawn. And where that leaves the high school board seems to be an unanswered question at the mo- ment. It would appear, however, that: (a) The board's latest request for approval from the dep't of education for a modified addition, agreed on at last week's meet- ing, will be held in abeyance; (b) The board will have to await the outcome of meetings of other district councils who are expected to discuss their support of the addition at their June ses- sions; (c) If over 50% of the partici- pating municipalities continue their support, the board will have to request Exeter to submit an- other application to OlvlB for approval. The town would have no alternative, it appears, but to re-submit the application. (d) In the meantime, it's likely that delays will force the board to call tenders again since the 60-day deadline for acceptance of bids will have lapsed. Chairman K. H. Johns could unanimous at the last meeting in its decision to proceed with an addition. "Now," said Boyne, "if we have to call for tenders again, they'll come in at a much higher price. We'll probably end up with less school, which is what they want, but it will cost them that much more". Following last week's board meeting, at which the decision was made to cut two classrooms from the addition plans, the architects submitted the revised proposal to the department of education. No word has been re- ceived regarding this submission and officials doubt that there will be, in view of the OMB's decision. The school board's latest pro- posal provides for a rated capac- ity of 1130 students, compared to the 1190 capacity contemplated — Please turn to Page 2 HS principal decries critics of addition motion to rescind its support constituted a withdrawal of the appl ication, Exeter's original application was made as the initiating muni- cipality for the expenditure on behalf of the school district for the first addition planned back in February, 1964. While the town's rescinding motion was taken as a single municipality, the board apparent- ly sees it as a withdrawal of the initiating body and, therefore, of the application. Councillor Jack Tinney of Hay interpreted the situation this way: "Unless some other municipality initiates it now, it will just stand still". And Reeve Etherington felt that Exeter had stopped the project. Reeve Hayter said Stephen council had discussed the ad- - Please turn to Page 2 gglariERMAMeiggiNein.24&MB:i Summer winter resort in parade Grand Bend Lions decked the boards of a truck owned by Lee Jennison applied liberal amounts of sand, and included lawn chairs, lifeguards and, pretty girls to make the summer resort scene come alive. They did not omit winter sports from the thought, either. (Citizens News Photo) Teacher shares honor Town seeks higher rates for area fire protection A teacher shared the honors Friday night when the Archie Etherington family celebrated the end of eight years of successful university study. The dinner followed the graduation of John, last of the Osborne township reeve's three sons to receive a degree from UWO. Mrs. Mervyn Carter, now on staff at the township's central school, taught all three graduates at Hurondale school. She was one of the guests at the dinner, John graduated in geology. He plans to study for his master's degree at University of Alberta. James, the eldest, received his degree in journalism in 1961, He's now chief of the London Free Press bureau in Sarnia. His wife and son, David, joined the family celebration. Bill, the middle son, graduated in engineering and now works for IBM in Toronto. He was accompanied by Miss Barbara Stewart, Cornwall. The three sons presented their parents with a framed scroll expressing their appreciation for the sacrifices made on their behalf, Other guests at the dinner were the sons' grandparents, Mr. and Mrs. Albert Etherington, and their mother's sisters, Miss Mary Abram and Mrs. Margaret CoundweIl, and niece, Miss Maxine Abram, all of London. PICTURES OF AREA GRADUATES APPEAR ON PAGE 3. Fire Chief Ford reported that each time the brigade goes out some members must remain as a standby crew for a possible second call in the town or other municipalities. He said these standby members were paid for the first hour only. Mayor Jack Delbridge of Ex- eter, who reminded the councils that "this is a non-profit deal", chaired the meeting, Principal L. D. Palmer con- tended today that some members of his HSDHS staff are opposed to the provision of vocational facilities here for area students. He suggested this as one of the reasons for Exeter's move to stop the addition. "Some of the' people on the staff do not believe this school should become a composite school," he said Wednesday, "They think we should remain strictly an academic school and ship our slow learners off to Clinton." The principal announced the resignation of the HSDHS tech- nical director, Percy Atkinson, a key person in the development of the vocational program. Mr. Palmer suggested the director is leaving because of the pos- sibility that the addition will not proceed. Mr. Atkinson's resignation poses the problem that there will be no one on the staff who has had experience with the operation of a composite school, The principal also commented on reaction to the number of shops proposed for the addition. Exeter council received some reaction from area municipali- ties Monday night over its with- drawal of support for the propos- ed addition to Huron South Dist- rict High School. Reeve Jim Hayter of Stephen suggested that the town repre- sentatives shouldn't be telling the school board what to do. Reeve Archie Etherington, Us- borne, also appeared to object to Exeter's move. "You can go to the cities and see schools that make this one look like a brick barn. And we're helping to pay for them", he said. Mayor Jack Delbridge defend- ed Exeter's position. "If they come up with some realistic enrolment figures to 1972 and a realistic addition, we'd go along with it. We're not objecting to an addition." The town's original position was that the addition be delayed until the uncertainty over the closing of CFB Centralia is clari- fied. The mayor introduced the sub- ject at a meeting with Usborne, Stephen and Hay representatives, called primarily to discuss fire protection. He said he wanted to clarify an impression, suggested in The T-A report of last week's board meeting, that Exeter might be acting for all of the municipali- ties involved in the school dist- rict. "All we did", he explained, "was rescind our portion of the share of the cost which we ac- cepted some time ago. You peo- ple are free to do what you want and we will have to go along with our share if you go ahead with it', Clerk Eric Carscadden read a copy of the letter from the On- tario Municipal Board to the high school in reply to the board's request of last week for clari- fication of the OMB's acknow- ledgment of Exeter's action. The OMB's letter indicated that, since Exeter had applied for approval of the capital ex- penditure in 1964, the town's "The community and teaching staff don't understand that you need so many shops as we have, to provide a fairly well-rounded program in the technical and commercial fields. Even with a 1200-capacity school, we know that we can't hope to provide all the courses. All we can hope to do is give the students a ground- ing in grades 9 and 10, then send them to Clinton or to Beal in London for the other grades." The principal emphasized the point he made at last week's board meeting that area students will not go to Clinton for the vocational training. This is shown, he stated, by the fact that 54 students entered the four-year business and com- mercial course last year when it was started at the local school. This year, however, after it was made known that students would have to go to Clinton to start the same course next year, only 15 have applied. Advancing his case for the ad- dition, the principal said he felt that students in this area should have the same opportunity for vocational training as do children in other districts. MODA fetes former heads Discuss possibility of adding tank truck Jack Tinney, said his township charges the cost of the fire back to the owner. He indicated, how- ever, that the township had had difficulty in making its collec- tions. Under the original agreement, Exeter and Usborne each contri- buted 40% of the cost of the truck, Stephen paid 12% and Hay 8 %. Exeter is responsible for maintenance and operation. The agreement called for a review of the rates charged the townships every three years. Since this June 30 will be the fifth anniversary of the agree- ment, there was some discussion over whether the town could ask for the increase at this time. Exeter council agreed that, if the townships accepted the proposed increases, they would remain in effect for another five years. Councillor Ross Taylor opposed this condition but it pass- ed by a large majority. Reeve Jim Hayter of Stephen estimated from the cost figures presented that the Exeter brigade must pay almost all of its mem- bers on each call. Town Councillor Joe Wooden said the average would be 15 men for two hours at every fire. Possibility of securing a tank truck to supplement Exeter area's f i r e-fighting equipment was discussed briefly by local councils Monday night during consideration of the long-propos- ed Huron County mutual fire aid system. ' The province, it appears, might pay 45% of the cost of the ad- ditional equipment if the area joins the mutual system. Mayor Jack Delbridge and Fire Chief Irwin Ford reported to Three neighboring townships who share ownership with Exeter of the local fire truck were ask- ed by town council Monday night to consider higher fees for fire runs. The town proposes that the rates be increased to $75 for the first hour and $60 for suc- ceeding hours at calls in the rural areas. The former rates were $60 for the first hour and $35 for the remaining time spent fight- ing any one fire. The three township councils involved — Usborne, Stephen and Hay — will consider the request at their June meetings, The town based its need for an increase on the higher wages now being paid to the volunteer fire brigade which operates the mutually-owned truck. The fire- men receive $3.00 per hour now, compared to the $2.00 rate which was in effect in 1961 when the agreement was signed. Figures supplied by Fire Chief Ford showed that a total of $3,- 600 has been paid in wages for the 39 fires which have taken place in the townships over the past five years. Revenue from the townships has totalled $3,775, leaving a balance of $175 toward cost of gas, oil and maintenance of the equipment. The chief's figures showed that, since 1961, the brigade has answered 26 calls in Usborne, seven in Stephen and three in Hay. He did not include the number of calls the brigade has answer- ed in Exeter because, he said, "I don't think that has any bear- ing on the situation". However, the township repre- sentatives felt they should have the figures to compare costs. Since the agreement was sign- ed on June 30, 1061, the fire brigade Cost to Exeter has risen from around $2,000 to over $5,- 000 In 1965. Last year's high total, however, included the ma- jor fire at the turnip plant here. Reeve Archie Etherington of Usborne revealed that ever since the agreement was signed the fire insttrance companies have reftiS- ed to pay a grant toward the cost of fire protection for the town- ships. Previous to that, at least one company was paying as high as $75 per fire, flay representative, Couneillor the area councils on a recent meeting at which the proposal for a county aid system was resur- rected. "It seems that Huron", report- ed the mayor, "is the only county which doesn't have this system". The mutual aid program estab- lishes a network of assistance under which neighboring fire- fighting units back up each other in times of emergency. A simple bylaw authorizing —Please turn to Page 2 Saddle Club hosts quarter horse show Cowponies are coming! "Cowponies" from all over Ontario and the eastern U.S. will invade Exeter the June 18 weekend in what may be a pre- liminary of a major western celebration here. The event will be the first an- nual Mid-Western Quarter Horse Show, sponsored by the Exeter Saddle Club. Entries already have been received from Michigan, Ohio and New York States. Exeter board of trade, at a Meeting last week, agreed to as- sist In the promotion of the show, A number of other town otgaidza- tions are to-operating. The quarter horse show will be staged Saturday, June 18, on the saddle Club grounds, 21/2 Miles west of Exeter on Huron St. Competitions include calf rop,, ing, barrel race, western riding and working cowhorse, Although it's the first such attraction here on the western theme, probably in connection with the rodeo in the fall. The June weekend is looked upon as a preliminary endeavour. Towns in the west and U.S. have had exceptional success with community promotions along the cowboy theme. Judge for the quarter horse show here will be Frank A. Carv- er of Crookston, Nebraska, The show has been approved by both the American and Canadian quarter horse associations. Show manager is Len Veri, town, who recently won the East- ern Canada quarter horse cham- pionship. His trophies, and those of other area owners, will be on display at Hopper-Hockey Furni- ture. Mrs, \Teri is acting as secre- tary for the show, John Burke IS president of the local saddle club. show sponsored in this area, it's expected to attract between 100 and 150 horses from the growing ranks of cowpony enthusiasts. It precedes by one day the Lambton county show at Sarnia and gives the quarter horse peo- ple an opportunity to enter two competitions the same weekend. Since Sarnia doesn't have much stable space, competitors will spend most of the weekend here. A major parade Friday night, June 17, is being planned to kick off the show. Most horse owners in the immediate area, in- chiding those with heavy teams, have Indicated they will partici- pate, displaying a vatietyof rigs, wagons and costumes. A number of floats are planned. Town stores have been asked to decorate their windows for the event. Sonic enthusiasts see a strong possibility of promoting a major Cubs provide tree for Centermid park Exeter Centennial chairman Ted Pooley assists Jeff Lindonfield and I3ruce Tuckey in planting the Cub tree, an almoy crabapple at Riverview Park, improvement of which is the town's project marking Can- ada's 100th birthday. The boys are members of the 1st Exeter A Cub Pack. Two past presidents from Ex- eter were honored Tuesday at the tenth anniversary celebration of Mid-Western Ontario Develop- ment Association at New Ham- burg. Murray A. Greene (1964-65) and the late William McKenzie (1960-61) were among the nine former chairmen presented with awards. Mrs. Stanley Love, the former Mrs. McKenzie, accepted the award for her late husband at the anniversary dinner. Two other Huron county men have been president of the four- county organization. They are P. S. MacEwan, Goderich, and R. Savauge, Seaforth, Guest speaker at the anniver- sary dinner was Stanley J. Ran- dall, Ontario minister of eco- nomics and development, who lauded the new "MODA means business" slogan of the organiza- tion, He said the Mid-Western On- tario region has been enjoying a booming economic expansion but not all municipalities are sharing equally, The anniversary comes at a time when IvIODA, which has had its struggles in the past, is undertaking an ambitious new public relations program. Mem- ber municipalities now stand at 67, compared to 27 a year ago. W, C. Gerth, Milverton, was re-elected president. Reeve O. J. Wassmann, Grand Bend, is a vice-president, Named chairman of the Huron county zone committee was Rob- ert Squire, Goderich. Mr. Greene is a inenther of the zone execu- tive. John Stephen, RR 1 St. Marys, is on the Perth tone executive,