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HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Exeter Times-Advocate, 1969-08-14, Page 1BASE AT AT CLINTON WILL BE .CLOSED Ninety-fourth Year EXETER, ONTARIO, AUGUST 14, 1909 Price Per Copy 15 Cents Stephen residents pay .very little more in1969 S existing debts on the new fire hall facilities, The total commercial rates in the three villages are as follows: Centralia, 98.57; Crediton 103.57 and Dashwood 93.57. AWARD CONTRACTS At recent meetings, Stephen Township council awarded contracts on six municipal drains. The Centralia contracting firm of Essery and Roestel were successful in obtaining three contracts. They are the Regier-Dietrich drain, $1,008.20; McCann Drain, $3,923.50; Glavin Drain, $1,487.90. Hodgins and Hayter of Parkhill will do the Martens Drain for $4,563.80 and the Regier Drain for $7,045.40., Harold Litt of Thorndale was awarded the Isaac Drain repair contract for $2,977.50. The Base Commander said there has already been, some interest expressed by non-DNP agencies in the use of the extensive training and support facilities once the base is phased out. "I can assure you that the Minister of National Defence and his most senior staff members will be vitally interested in any valid proposals to use Clinton's training facilities to provide employment and income to the citizens of the area." The move came as no surprise for most of the personnel. It had been rumored for some time, and once they learned that an announcement would be made yesterday, they figured the axe would fall. NOT SO GOOD The Hon. C. S. MacNaughton, who played a leading role in having the Ontario government take over Centralia, has already indicated to the people of Clinton and area he would do whatever he could to overcome the economic loss if the base should be closed. However, he also advised that the base had no large hangars such as those at Centralia which were easily altered to house industries. industrial complex. Another difference noted by Morrison was the fact Clinton will be phased out over a two-year period while Centralia was closed down in about eight weeks. Colonel Ryan told the military personnel he expects no major change in the training operations of the Radar and Communications School until September 1.970, at which time this school will probably transfer to Kingston or Borden. He said he did not expect any major change in the School of Instructional Technique of the Warrant Officers' school for two years. No specific bases have yet been chosen as the future homes of these two schools. "With the transfer of military training to other bass, certain of the civilian positions in direct support of that training will be transferrred also," Col. Ryan stated. He said civilians employed in those positions could transfer if they wished and the government will pay the expenses of a move normal to such a transfer. "One cf my tasks during the immediate future will be to identify the civilian positions which will be transferred with the schools," he added. Lad suffers YEGGS BUSY, HIT 5 SPOTS critical burn A large percentage of the ratepayers in the township of Stephen will pay very little more in taxes in 1969 than they did a year ago, At its first meeting for the month of August, council lowered the general township rate for farm and residential properties by five mills and this came close to making up for increases in several other departments. An increase of two mills in the County of Heron rate, a rise of 2.59 mills in the high school rate and a public school rate of 18.6, 2.8 mills more than last • year means that the average farm and residential owner paying public school support will pay 2.39 mills more than in 1968. The Separate School rate has been brought to even terms with the Public School mill rate. With this equalization move, Separate • School supporters in Stephen on farm or residential property will only pay .69 mills more than they did a year ago. Similarily, the commercial rates for Public and High Schools have gone up while the township rate was dropped by • 4.25 mills to 19.5 for 1969. Public School supporters assessed for commercial property will be charged 3.73 mills more than 1968 while Separate School supporters in the same commercial category will find their rate up by 1.22 mills. • The police villages in the township are facing much higher increases than their farming neighbors. Centralia residential property owners will pay a rate of 89.65 mills, an increase of 9.39 mills • from a year ago. At Dashwood, while the total rate is the lowest of the three at 84.65, the increase from 1968 is 12.39 mills. The largest rise, 14.39 mills will hit Crediton ratepayers where the total mills payable is 94.65. Some of the additional • money gained from Crediton taxes is to be used to pay off WHAT'S LEFT OF THE LEGION SAFE — The R. E. Pooley, Exeter Branch of the Canadian Legion was one of five Exeter premises broken into early Monday morning. Above, Constable Jim Dingwell is giving the battered safe an examination. About $200 was taken from the Legion hall. T-A photo Richard Hunt, four-year-old grandson of Mr. and Mrs. Herman Hodgson, Grand Bend, is critically ill in Sick Children's Hospital, Toronto. He was badly burned in an early morning fire on Thursday at Shakespeare. His father, Norman, was also burned, but is listed in satisfactory condition at Stratford General Hospital. The youngster's mother is the former Marie Hodgson, who was attending summer school at the time of the fire. Mr. Hunt awakened during the night and found his mattress afire. He threw it down the stairs, but the springs caught and blocked his exit and thwarted his attempt to get it outside. The Kitchener lawyer went back up to the upper floor of the home and lowered his son out a window and then jumped out after him. discovered shortly after 7 a.m. by caretaker Horace Pfaff who lives directly across the street. Entry at Exeter Frozen Foods was made through a side window and a cash register that contained $85 was ransacked. For the second time in three weeks the office of Tuckey Beverages was broken into but thieves were unable to break into the safe. The first break-in at Tuckey's netted the thieves more than $2,000. At the north-end location 01 Exeter Dairy, thieves entered by a west door and made off with $50 that was in delivery men's pouches in an office filing cabinet. Chief Day said investigations on the break-ins are continuing and he would appreciate hearing from any resident that may have some information regarding the illegal entries. Burglars were busy during the early hours of Monday morning when five premises in the town of Exeter were broken into. Police Chief Ted Day said Tuesday afternoon a total of $335 was taken in all the break-ins. Heavy crowbars and hammers were stolen when the tool shed of the Canadian National Railways was broken into, about one-quarter mile south of the CNR station in town. At the Royal Canadian Legion on William Street, $25 was taken from an upstairs canteen drawer and $175 was missing from the main canteen when the safe was broken into. Entry at the Legion was made by way of the front door. In the main bar office at the Legion papers were strewn over the floor as the thieves were apparently looking for additional loot. The break-in was Huron County lost its second military base within three years when the Minister of National Defence announced yesterday afternoon that.CFB Clinton will be phased out of operation within two years. Some of the military and civilian personnel who lined the parade square to hear the announcement from Base Commander Colonel E. W, Ryan were among those who heard similar news about CFB Centralia in July of 1966. Also being phased out is the Highbury Ave, Logistics Depot London, where some former Centralia civilian employees secured jobs after the Centralia closing. Clinton is the only base to close at this time, although the Hon. Leo Cadieux indicated more announcements would be expected in the fall. At the present time there are 400 military personnel at Clinton, 300 civilian staff and 350 students. The complex also contains a 216 - h o use subdivision, a 14-room elementary school, a large ice arena and swimming pool. There are only a couple of brick buildings on the base and two of the messes are permanent buildings. Opened in 1941, CFB Clinton has been a major factor on the economy of Clinton and other surrounding communities since then. Personnel at the base have an estimated disposable income of $5,000,000 per year. Lt. Colonel L. C. Morrison, assistant director of information for National Defence headquarters in Ottawa, who made the announcement to a press conference shortly before the base personnel heard the news, said the capital assets of CFB Clinton were listed at $40 million. The release given to the news media quoted Mr. Cadieux as saying his department is working with other federal departments, provincial and local authorities and interested civilian bodies, to develop plans to minimize the disruptive effects on the communities concerned. Lt. Colonel Morrison indicated the department had learned some lessons in closing down Centralia and some of the mistakes made there would not be duplicated at Clinton. Among the mistakes referred to, was the fact the base was stripped of many components which later had to be replaced when the Ontario government purchased it and took steps to develop an educational and * Hay , taxpayer faced with sizeable increase Approval on this matter must be received from the Minister of Municipal Affairs. • FLOOD LOSS OVER HALF MILLION $ Hospital may reopen soon • • CHOOSE ROYALTY also the crowning Finnen, shown above program concluded Saturday with a penny carnival and queen. Recipients of the honors were Neil Wright and Kelly Burke and Peter Mason. T-A photo — The Exeter playground of this year's king and being crowned by Joanne provided as yet, but the board decided at a special meeting Monday not to make any claims from the special Disaster Relief Fund, Board treasurer Charles Smith explained that the board felt that because they were receiving special assistance, it would be unfair to seek further help from the fund. A special announcement regarding the board's decision appears elsewhere in this issue, as well as their appeal that area residents generously support the Disaster Relief Fund, The board again expressed its appreciation to the many people who have contributed of their time and money to restore the hospital to normal operations and they also expressed their appreciation to the Hon. C. S. MacNaughton for "his very special attention in the recent losses sustained by the community." Mr. MacNaughton was instrumental in having the area declared a disaster area and as such will receive provincial assistance. The province matches each dollar raised locally for the fund. H. :on MP Robert McKinley has .dicated to the Relief Fund con nittee that he will seek ass' ,tance for the area from the .radian Disaster Relief Fund. • U.S.A. STEEL BUYS BOATS South Huron Hospital may reopen its doors for service to the public early next week. Both the hospital administrator, Miss Alice Claypole and the hospital board chairman, Walter McBride, indicated Wednesday that the hospital would likely be open Monday. That cannot be a definite estimate because not all the supplies have arrived. "The orders are coming in fairly good," stated Miss Claypole, "and we are hoping for a Monday opening." She quipped that the nursing staff would be glad to get back to regular duties after more than two weeks of cleaning and painting. "Our nurses have painted every wall in that basement," Miss Claypole said. "They used about 40 gallons of paint." Most ratepayers in the township of Hay will be faced with a sizeable increase in their 1969 municipal taxes. Farm and residential owners paying public school support will pay a total mill rate of 85.02 mills, an increase of 13.12 mills from a year ago. The increase for commercial properties will be 13.6. With an equalization of public and separate school rates, Roman Catholic owners will have a slightly lower increase in their total rate, Residents of the police village of Dashwood are the hardest hit, facing an increase of 21.55 for residential properties and 22.55 for commercial taxes. The due date for payment of Hay Township taxes has been moved up to November 28. In other business, council: Awarded the Aldworth Municipal Drain contract to Alvin Litt of London for $9,440 and the Dougall Drainage contract to Roth Farm Drainage of Gadshill for $6,418. Under the subdivision control bylaw gave permission to Ontario Hydro to purchase 1/4 acre of land at Lot 20, Concession 14 from Glenn Thiel to construct a sub-station. • Only modest tax rise to Hensall ratepayers Hensall's mill rate for 1969 taxation purposes took only a Modest jump this year according to municipal clerk Earl Campbell. The residential rate for both separate and public school supporters Will be 80.7 mills, an increase of 1.7 mills over last year. The commercial rate for both separate and public school supporters will be 93.8 mills, up 2.4 mills from 1968. Campbell said the increase might have been from seven to nine mills this year had it not been that a water works debenture and a PUC deficit were paid off last year, At the regular council Meeting last Monday evening, council granted permission to • erect a street light on Oxford Street, The new light had been requested by Ed, Fink, A contract was let to Direct Painting and Decorating Company, London, in the amount of $650 to paint the town hall. Village tractor rental to the department of highways was raised from $1,20 per hour to FIRST 60 PITCHER baseball Sales of the Hughes craft tripled in the first year at Centralia after moving from Scarboro and the president expects production to increase by another 100% in the next year. Of the 60 persons now employed 80% are from the local area and this figure could rise to 90 by the end of this year. Howard Hughes told the 'I'-A, "We are happy with the local help that is available. It is trainable, conscientious and hard working. Our labour turnover is low. We have good basic pay and incentive bonuses," Purchase of the Centralia operation by the largest steel company in the world has been approved by the Ontario Development Corporation. According to government officials Ontario loans to the Hughes firm in the amounts of $58,000 will not be affected by the transfer. Several months ago, the Hughes brothers formed Centralia Aircraft Sales Limited a company that stocks and sells the American Yankee, a light two-seater plane made in Cleveland, Ohio by American Aviation that sells for $11,000. Pat Brabason, who is also chairman of the Huron Park Community Council, is manager of the newly formed company, TOSSES OUT teams of about of floodlights his brother Sale of controlling interest of Hughes Boat Works Limited of Centralia's Industrial Park to United States Steel Corporation was announced last week by president Howard Hughes. There will be no change in management with Howard Hughes continuing as president and brother Peter as vice-president of the Centralia operation. "The only change will be that Peter and I will be employees instead of employers for the first time in five years," said Howard Hughes. Continuing, Hughes said, "We plan to have controlled expansion here at Centralia to meet growing derra.nds for our products. There are many advantages to the move. United States Steel has unlimited resources in research, development and finances." While 80% of production is now headed for the United States, intentions are to develop the Canadian market, A 12-dealer sales network is now in operation in North America. The company manufactures fiberglas sailing yachts ranging from 25 to 38 feet. Monthly production is now four boats each of the 25 and 20 foot variety selling at $61500 and .11,00C respectively and two 38 oot craft selling at about $30,000, BALL Chester Gaiser, who was a top notch pitcher with years ago had the honor of tossing out the first ball at Friday's system at the Dashwood athletic field. Above, Chester is shown Herb of Detroit who was his hatter mate looks on. T-A photo Claims for damages from the July 24 flood continue to be submitted by area residents, and with more expected, the total damage from the flood could be higher than previously estimated. Stephen Clerk Wilmar D. Wein has received 61 claims from about 50 farmers and the total was listed at about $200,000 In Usborne, 24 claims have been submitted to Clerk Harry Strang and the total damage listed in the forms is $122,500. Only 10 persons have submitted forms in Exeter as yet. Residential and commercial loss listed in the claims is $5,939 and $27,747 in farm damage in the town. Combined with the damage to South Huron Hospital, it appears the flood damage will be well over $500,000. To date, the donations to the Flood Disaster Fund amount to about $4,400 including a $2,500 donation from Exeter council and $1,300 from the walk sponsored Saturday by the Exeter Kinsmen Club. Another $100 was raised in a special event staged by the Huron Pony Trotting Club. Several other special events are planned to raise funds for the victims of the flood which rampaged through parts of Usborne, Exeter and Stephen. The Exeter Legion and Ladies' Auxiliary are holding a monster bingo Wednesday night at the Exeter Arena with the main attraction being a jackpot game worth $1,000. The Federation of Agriculture organizations in Usborne and Stephen have indicated they will canvass their communities for funds and Women's Institutes in both townships plan special events to raise money. A general canvass is also being planned in Exeter. Other groups in the three communities have offered assistance through various appeals and projects and these will be outlined as they are finalized. $1.80 per hour. Building permits were granted to Louis Clark, W. Scrabuick, Harry Moir and General Coach for renovations and to Cook Bros. for renovations at the old grist mill, Licence money to local group Monies collected from the sale of resident hunting licences in the township of Usborrie over 'the past season will be turned over to the Usborne Pheasant Association. Council had been asked by John Morgan and Robert4lume for financial help in raising 250 pheasants, that will be turned loose in Usborne when they are full grown. A grant of $25 was Made to the South Huron Agricultural Society, sponsors of the Hensall Spring Fair and a grant of $28 was approved to support the calf club sponsored by the society. the the big lOSS while FORMER Dashwood official opening making HELP HOSPITAL The .Board of South Huron District Hospital has received assurances from the Ontario Hospital Services Commission that financial assistance may be expected from that body toward the, losses sustained. No specific figures have been