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HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Exeter Times-Advocate, 1973-10-18, Page 1IT'S CORN, NOT SNOW — A portion of Exeter's Main street was showered with corn last week when a tire on a form wagon blew and the load upset. In the above picture, Constable John Goarley directs traffic while Mike Horner, RR 3 Parkhill, moves the corn to one side. T-A photo GB plans interim payment for collection of 74 taxes A SUCCESSFUL CANVASS — This week's canvass for the Canadian National Institute for the Blind spon- sored by the Exeter Lions club was an extreme success. Returns Tuesday afternoon were listed at over $2,600. Canvass chairman Larry Snider is shown seated in the above picture surrounded by co-workers Gerry Webb, George Busche and Lloyd Henderson. T-A photo Bylaw being contravened, but won't take any action HENSALL AREA HIT, TOO — The windstorm which hit the Hensall area Saturday night blew a verandah roof off at the home of Oliver Jaques. Mrs. Jaques is shown in the above picture pointing to where the destruction took place. T-A photo Fire Chief gets two days Resignation forces issue One Hundred and First Year EXETER, ONTARIO, OCTOBER 18 1973 Price Per Copy 20 Cents Leaves, incinerators, bonfires Exeter to ban burnin 11. Municipal taxes in the village of Grand Bend will be collected three times in 1974, Monday night council passed a bylaw authorizing an interim payment of taxes for 1974 and each preceding year before the adoption of estimates and a budget for the year. Beginning next year tax payments will be due on February 15, May 15 and Sep- tember 15, The bylaw provides taxpayers will receive a notice for the first collection at least 14 days before the clue date. The interim tax bills are not to exceed 50 percent of the previous year's full taxes, The move was made to cut down on the amount of money the municipality is borrowing early in the year. Reeve Bob Sharen commented, "we are now paying over $3,000 in bank interest per year and this should certainly help." After a lengthy meeting members of the planning Although the use of the former Ausable Bayfield Conservation Authority house in Riverview Park as a residence is a con- travention of Exeter's zoning bylaws, council decided this week to take no action on the Matter, That decision was made after Authority officials sent a letter listing eight reasons why they had decided to rent the house for residential occupancy. They explained the house was vulnerable to vandalism, may be needed for future expansion and also the' council had come up departments of Huron and Lambton counties, council decided to establish their own planning committee, The motion proposed by councillor Tom Webster resolved "that a planning committee be formed to provide a viable plan No new clues in area murder Provincial police investigating the murder of a 93-year-old Hensall widow, Mrs. Jane Burton McMurtrie, indicate there have been no new developments this week. They are still conducting in- terviews with Hensall residents in an effort to uncover further information which may assist them in finding the killer, Mrs, McMurtrie was found naked in her upstairs bedroom October 5. Tests revealed she had been strangled and sexually assaulted. with no ideas for its use when the matter was discussed with local officials, The letter also explained that council had approved a building permit for renovations to alter the house for residential pur- poses, Actually, it was Exeter Planning Board members who pointed out that the bylaw was being contravened and this prompted council to so advise the Authority. l'his week, however, Mayor Jack Delbridge Who is a Member for the village for years to come and give input for future good planning." Attending the meeting were Huron County planner Gary Davidson and Mel Winch of the Lambton planning department. Reeve Bob Sharen has asked for the meeting because Grand Bend is on the edge of the two counties and hoped for closer liaison between the village and the two counties, Councillor Webs tdr suggested Grand Bend was being left out in the cold saying, "about two years ago, the provincial government came out with a plan for the Bluewater area and no mention was made of our village. Gary Davidsot of. Huron; said , urban growth shOuld be in Grand. Bend. He added, "I support your point of servicing and the idea of a sewage system for all area municipalities. Councillor Murray Des Jardins suggested that Grand Bend was — Please turn to page 3 of the planning board, said he couldn't see too Mich wrong with the house being used for residential purposes, "They have some good points there," stated Councillor Ben Hoogenboom, while Reeve Boyle and Councillor Tom MacMillan pointed out a bylaw was being contravened. "We should have been advised (as to the planned use)", Boyle remarked. After the debate, council decided to let the matter drop with no further action, Exeter council members have changed their mind regarding the burning of leaves. However, not only did they decide this week to ban the burning of leaves they plan to pass, a bylaw prohibiting any open fires within the community. That will include incinerators, apparently, although there was no indication that outdoor bar- becues would be banned. The action was taken after Councillor Harold Patterson said he received complaints from one local mother over council's decision at their last meeting to allow leaves to be burned, He said the woman had a young son with an asthma problem and he is forced to wear a mask during the fall when leaves are being burned in the neigh- borhood. Last year, the youngster had to be taken to hospital and Pat- terson said the woman had trouble getting there because of the smoke-filled streets. Reeve Derry Boyle said another person with asthma, an out-of-town resident, questioned him on the advisability of per- mitting leaf fires. "Many leaves are burned just so the kids can see a fire," Mayor Jack Delbridge opined, adding that council would now have to be prepared to haul away the leaVes bagged up by ratepayers. Councillor Tom MacMillan also added that council would have to be prepared to enforce any regulation prohibiting the bur- ning of leaves. Councillor Ben Hoogenboom, the lone council member to op- Refuse permits for three homes Permits for three new houses in Riverview Estates were turned down by Exeter council this week because the lots are not large enough for septic tanks. Sewers are not available. RiVerview Estates is the name of the new subdivision being planned by Len Veri and the lots in question are on existing roads so could be built on before the subdivision is approved. However, the lots must be 7,500 square feet in size before septic tanks can be approved. One new house permit was approved, that to Gregus Con- struction Ltd., for a home on Victoria St. West. Other permits approved were as follows: Burkley Restaurant, to erect commercial sign; W. Weigand, to extend garage 12 feet; Donald Lee to build a house addition. Permits for renovations were okayed for Don Webster, R. Morley, Exeter Pharmacy, W. Davis, G. Hodgert, C. Livingston and M. Neil. All are subject to final approval of the building inspector. Exeter council this week ap- proved "in principle" an engineer's report which will possibly see the local PUC spend close to $600,000 in the next two or three years. Included in the expenditure is $296,870 for a new water tower on Nelson St. and some $272,500 for a new ground water supply. Council approved the content despite the fact only two mem- bers had read the report which was circulated among them a couple of weeks ago. There was some confusion as to what the approval was. PUC manager Hugh Davis was told council had approved it in principle. Councillor Bruce Shaw, who found that difficult to understand when members hadn't even read the report, was told they Were merely sending it along to the ministry of the environment for the latter's opinion on the report, "It bothers me," Shaw stated in reference to the fact Davis had been told council was approving the report, in principle "when most a us haven't even read the thing". The report, prepared by Engineer B,M. Ross & Associates, is a comprehensive study of. the existing water system and supply. It suggests that Securing ad- drti n 1 rnund water Supplies in the area would be much cheaper than hooking into the Lake Huron pose burning two weeks ago, said he had been approached by 20 people supporting his argument. He reiterated his contention that some day a youngster would he killed due to motorists being blinded by smoke on the roads. He then moved that a bylaw be prepared to prohibit burning and it was seconded by Boyle. MacMillan then suggested to he fair, people "in the centre of town" should be prohibited from burning materials as well, — Please turn to Page 3 Gary Middleton, a member of the recreation-arena staff for the past nine years, resigned his position Wednesday but was given new duties with the town at Monday night's meeting of council. That move ended weeks of debate over Middleton's position. It all started when the Exeter area fire board asked council to make Middleton available for two days per week to perform duties pertaining to his position as fire chief. Members of council recom- mended in August that RAP take steps to make him available, but they decided to wait until pipeline feeding London, although Davis indicated to council that costs of the lake water are not known. An adequate supply of water is available within five miles of Exeter, according to previous test drilling, Water at one location could supply the town with an ad- ditional 330 gallons per minute, or enough to supply the community for the next 25 years, The water tower need has been known for some time. The existing facility behind the town hall was built in 1910 and has a capacity of only 35,000 to 40,000 gallons. It is in a bad state of repair. The new tower will probably be built next year and will have a capacity of 250,000 gallons. Davis said that with the debenture cost of the new storage facility, water rates in Exeter would jump 40 percent to around $49 per household. Present rate is $35, If the new ground water supply Was started, the water rates Would jump an additional 25 percent above the $49 to $57.75. "That's still cheap for those who know anything about maintaining a farm water sup- ply," Councillor Ted Wright opined. Davis said it would cost ratepayers over $100 per year for water if Exeter had to "go to the Take". November to make a decision in view of the committee,study now taking place regarding RAP's entire operation. Several people expressed regret at the delay and Middleton apparently decided to bring matters to a head and filed his resignation with RAP secretary Elizabeth Varley on October 2 . It was to be effective October 10. Prior to doing that, he had discussed the matter with several town officials and his intentions to resign were discussed at a closed session of council on October 1. RAP never did publicly discuss his letter of resignation. In fact, they didn't discuss the matter until their regular meeting of October 9 had been adjourned. At that time, chairman Gard Baynham asked that only the members of the committee stay after the meeting. CONNIE STECKLE Girl dies under tractor wheels A three year-old Zurich area girl was killed Wednesday af- ternoon when she fell from a tractor and was run over. The youngster was Connie Christine Steckle, daughter 'of Mr, and Mrs. Paul Steckle, RR 2, Zurich. The mishap occurred on the farm of the child's grand- father, Gordon Erb. The Erb farm is located about five miles, northwest of Zurich. The girl was riding on a tractor driven by her aunt, Marjorie Steckle when the accident oc- turfed. The T-A reporter and Mid- dleton's boss, Alvin Willert, left the meeting after it was ad- journed. Reports given at this week's meeting of council indicate RAP discussed the resignation after their own meeting, but no final decision was made. Middleton was not advised of RAP's intent on the matter and he left his employ on October 10 as he said he was doing without having been approached by any RAP member or employee. Thursday night, he was ap- parently advised that RAP had accepted the resignation on a tentative basis on the hope that he could be persuaded to remain part-time on the recreation and arena staff, Meanwhile, at a special meeting on October 9 of council (with RAP members Derry Boyle and Bruce Shaw absent) "after some discussion concerning the advisability of hiring more help for the works crew, it was moved by Wright and Hoogenboom if RAP accepts the resignation of Gary Middleton from the recreation, arena and parks board, Middleton be offered a position on the works crew for three days per week and two days per week be spent in connection with duties as fire chief". At this week's meeting of council, some debate errupted when it was stated that plans call for Middleton to work one specified day as fire chief and the second day be at the discretion of works superintendent Glenn Hells, That brought suggestions from two members that Middleton may not be required for two days per week in his duties as fire chief, Oddly enough, the suggestions came from two members of the fire board, Mayor Jack Delbridge and Reeve Derry Boyle. Noting that one day was at the discretion of the works superintendent, Boyle said perhaps Middleton was only needed for two days per month as fire chief. Boyle said later he raised the point to emphasize to council that some guidelines were needed to avoid conflicts similar to those which had arisen over Mid- dleton's time for fire duties when he was employed with RAP. Mayor Delbridge said he Please turn to page 3 Wind batters Hensall area High winds swept off Lake Huron Saturday night and caused extensive damages along a narrow strip through Hay township and Hensall and con- tinued into McKillop township. The most damage in this area occurred on the farm of Harold Willert on Concession 3 of Hay township, about a mile west of Hensall. A 12 by 65 foot mobile home was blown off a cement block foun- dation and was completely demolished, The home valued at about $10,000 was owned by Richard Willert, who is to be married in November. The strong winds picked the home up and moved it about 40 feet in an easterly direction. The loss was covered by insurance. At Hensall, a camper trailer owned by Mr. and Mrs. Oliver Jaques at 72 Brock street was blown over onto a neighbour's hedge. The camping vehicle was extensively damaged. Also at the Jaques home, a verandah roof was blown down. Across the street, doors of a Hensall Co-Op shed were damaged. Many trees were blown down in Hensall including one on the property of Herb Stretton. It fell across a railing. At Cromarty, the same storm upset and damaged a camping trailer owned by Robert Laing. The storm continued into McKillop township and ripped the steel roof from a barn owned by Harold Price. Further north damage was reported at Bayfield and Seaforth with hydro being off for some time in both communities. MRS. JIM BELL Name assistant at clerk's office Mrs. Jim Bell, Exeter has been named by Exeter council as assistant to clerk Eric Car- scadden. She replaced Mrs. Lox ne Keller, who held the job in the clerk's office for several years. Fourteen applications were received for the position and a total of six were interviewed. Reeve Derry Boyle described all applicants as excellent, Mrs. I3ell's salary has been set at $6,000 per annum. Resort juveniles face theft counts A number of Grand Bend area juveniles have been charged in connection with several instances of break and enter in the Grand Bend area. As •a result of an extensive investigation by Constable P.A. Gardiner of the Pinery Park Ontario Provincial Police detachment, a total of 11 charges are being processed. Stolen property valued at approximately $125 has been recovered. HOME DEMOLISHED — A mobile home which was just put on cement completely destroyed in Hay township Saturday night. At the left of the a the remains of a 65 foot trailer which was to be occupied by his son blocks recently was blown off and bove picture Harold Willert looks at Richard. T-A photo PUC projects will cost near $600,000