Loading...
HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Exeter Times-Advocate, 1976-02-05, Page 1Pipelines to supply Exeter with Usborne township water won't affect Usborne farmers ac- cording to Exeter PUC manager Hugh Davis. Hugh says water drawn from the Cudmore and Morgan well sites in Usborne would not dry up farm wells in the immediate area because of the lay of the land. Apparently, water filtering into the proposed wells comes from a different aquifer than the aquifer supplying water to surrounding farm wells. Usborne examined a Ministry of Environment report Tuesday and told the T-A in a phone in- terview that Usborne is not hostile to Exeter's use of Usborne wells provided Exeter guaran- tees the river flow in the Ausable Layoffs at Bell Aerospace Bell Aerospace, Grand Bend, will lay off 24 of 77 employees as of Friday, according to managing director James G. Mills. Problems in landing new contracts are cited as the reason for the layoffs. Bell will not name the company involved in the contract tie-up. Bell Aerospace has been in secret negotiations with a large foreign business interest, government backed, for some time. Last December 18, Mills told the T-A that Bell Aerospace would be hiring additional workers if the negotiations panned out. He said a contract with the un- named nation would spread over a five-year period and necessitate major expansion of Bell Aerospace. Bell says they will call the 24 employees back to work if the contract problems are worked out. JUVENILE ACTION — Brion Penhale, left, Brian Campbell, 9 and Randy Regier move in on the net against a rec team on Minor Hockey Day. photo by Robinson More minor hockey pictures and stories can be found on the sports pages. Table Town Hail priorities, grants can't be 'horsetraded' *People and events, EXETER RODEO MEETING — the next Exeter Rodeo meeting will be on Wednesday, February 18 in the Exeter Public School library at 8 p.m. THE MARCH OF DIMES total to date is $1,287. Donors who have been missed and would like to give should contact Dorothy Pfaff, 235-2013. Marching Mothers will be calling in Stephen and Usborne townships during February. THE LUCAN OPP was so far behind this week writing accident reports after the big snowstorm, that they did not have a report ready by the time the T-A went to press. WINTER GOLFING is impossible even with the amount of snow we've had this year. Don Brown of Grosse Point Woods, Michigan and Southcott Pines managed to play a few holes at Bayview Saturday. The exceptional weather has curtailed this year-round golfer's activities otherwise he would be spending most winter weekends on the course. LOST MONEY, or money that has been paid out by Exeter Council for tax purposes that could have been retrieved through overlooked tax concessions may turn up again if a consulting tax firm has any success. They will attempt to bring the "missing" money back. The charge? One-third of whatever monies are recovered and no charge should the firm be unsuccessful. $279,128 worth of building permits were taken out in Exeter during the month of January, according to building inspector, Doug Triebner, A TWO-WAY. RADIO SYSTEM being considered by Exeter's PUC and the Exeter public works department, would cost the town of Exeter approximately $5,000, according to works superintendent, Glen Kells. The two departments would like to share the system using a base station located in the PUC building. Costs would also be shared. THE FIRE LANE located beside G & G Discount in Exeter may no longer be considered a fire lane, The town is checking its by-laws to see whether it is legally required to keep the lane free of snow at the request of the Exeter Area Fire Department, THE CLOCK AIN'T FOR SALE — Exeter Council unanimously turned down an offer by Gerald Scott of London to buy the Town Hall clock. Mr. Scott is an antique clock collector. erx-eferiniesatwocate One Hundred and Third Year EXETER, ONTARIO, FEBRUARY 5, 1976 Price Per Copy 25 Cents AUTOGRAPH TIME — Steve Rogers of the Montreal Expos was one of the most sought after celebrities Tuesday night. Here he signs autographs for David Shaw, left, and Bruce Shaw, behind John Vandergunst. photo by Youngs Plan meeting runs smciothiy, Council soothes concerns A SIX CAR COLLISION --- on Highway 83, Monday morning caused over $16,000 in damages but caused little injury to the persons involved, The highway was blocked for a better portion of the day and was impassable by car, but Mike Hunter, vice-president of the CB radio club in Exeter took a T,,A reporter out via snowmobile to get this photograph, photo by Youngs The fate of the Exeter arena is in the hands of the Ontario Ministry of Labor, at least for the time being. Several weeks ago the Ministry of Labour sent a letter to all municipalities, asking that they respond with regard to the structural safety of their arenas. Exeter Council asked RAP to meet with engineering con- sultants from London, who had assessed the arena about four years ago, and get a report as to the present safety of the building, The original report from the consultants indicated that the roof of the structure was below the standards of the National Building Code and suggested that the roof should be repaired to withstand heavy snow loads and wind pressure, especially at the southeast corner. They proposed reinforcing and strengthening the • t roof at a cost at that time of about to decide on Exeter arena $30,000 to $35,000 No decision was made on the original report of 1.972 and no action taken, as it was felt that the building was structurally sound and able to withstand fairly severe weather conditions. Now the RAP committee has re-evaluated the significance of that report, based on updated information from the consultants who filed it and has decided that Exeter "should lay the cards on the table" when responding to the Ministry's request for assurance that the arena is structurally sound. Rep director, Jim McKinlay explained that RAP's position was based somewhat on the heavy snowfall that Exeter has received so far this winter. "RAP wrestled with the moral responsibility to present all of the information to the ministry and won't be affected. Usborne Reeve Walter McBride says the ministry report suggests the river flow should be maintained at 100 gallons per minute. Exeter began test drilling in Please turn to page 3 Radio dispatcher contract approved By LEIGH ROBINSON Exeter Council formally ap- proved a two-year contract with Mrs. Lorna Dale to continue her radio dispatch service to town police and fire departments at the regular meeting Monday night, Mrs. Dale had signed a con- tract last week with Reeve Derry Boyle who negotiated the matter for the town. Although Boyle had also signed the contract, the document could not be con- sidered until considered by Council at open session and then signed by the Mayor. When asked whether he had signed the con- tract prior to the' formal vote being taken by council, Shaw answered that he had not signed. Council's vote to approve the contract formalized the agreement and allowed Mayor Shaw to sign the document. The contract calls for Mrs. Dale to provide her dispatch service for the next two years at $9,000 per year, which includes the cost of renting space in Mrs. Dale's home to house the radio and telephone equipment, etc. The radio dispatch service had been an issue in council in past weeks because another couple had offered to take over the service for less money, although they apparently never made their offer in writing. Mrs. Dale has received numerous recognitions throughout the area for her ex- cellent dispatch work. also felt that it would be better to engage them in a joint meeting", McKinlay said, Two recommendations regar- ding the building were made to Council Monday night. RAP asked Council to write a letter to the ministry explaining the facts and ask for a meeting. Building inspector Doug Triebner, suggested that the recommended repairs be made to the building and that council should inform the ministry of that decision. McKinlay explained that the RAP committee felt that the Ministry should be involved before a decision was made to repair the arena. 'We're concerned not only with the structural adequacy of the building but with the physical adequacy as well': McKinlay said. The rec. director added that RAP was not essentially in By LEIGH ROBINSON Although most of the concerns voiced at the first public meeting to consider Exeter's proposed official plan were cleared up at the second meeting held last Thursday night, a few questions remained, including an objection One accident in Exeter Although the roads outside of Exeter were the scene of many accidents during the snowstorm earlier this week, there were no accidents in town until Tuesday, when a vehicle operated by James Nelson, RR 3 Exeter, collided with a vehicle operated by Susan Blommaert 212 Andrew St., Exeter. Damage was reported at $400 by investigating officer, Const. Fice. On Monday during the snowstorm, Exeter Police aided the Exeter O.P,P. in rescuing accident victims after a six-car pile-up on Highway 83 about a mile and half east of town. Five citizens with snowmobiles also aided in the rescue, as the high- way was impassable for con- ventional motor vehicles. Two persons received minor injuriesin in the pile-up. Police also checked the homes of elderly citizens located in remote areas of town to make sure they were not having dif- ficulty during the harsh weather. The snowstorm on Sunday and Monday kept officers of the Exeter O.P.P. busy. Fifteen accidents were in- vestigated during those two days, five on Sunday and 10 on Monday when 25-mile an hour winds swept snow into swirls that cut visibility to nil, The most significant accident was a Six-car pile up on High- way 83 about a mile and a half east of Exeter. Two persons sustained minor injuiries and were brought into South Huron Hospital via snowmobile. in all, over $16,000 in property damage was caused by the pile up, which included two snowmobiles and a trailer being pulled by one of the vehicles. 13ecauSe Highway 113 was completely snowbound and conflict with the building in,. spector's report, but was con. sidering the arena in terms of the town's recreational requirements in coming years, citing needed repairs to the floors, and failing refrigeration system con- tributing to difficulty in main- taining a good ice surface as reasons why the town might think twice before proceeding to repair the 41 year-old structure. For the past three years, RAP has been involved in a study to determine whether a community recreational complex should be built. Upon approval from Council, RAP engaged engineering consultants from Toronto to come up with plans for such a complex several weeks ago. "The analogy of a second-hand car comes to mind", McKinlay said. "How many times do you from Frank Kints and Bev Skinner, co-owners of Mather's Motors at the north end of town regarding the c-2 zoning designation for their property. Their concern is over the dif- ference between commercial property regulations in the downtown area of Exeter and the new regulations on commercial properties located along what has been termed the "highway commercial strip" at the north end. Under the former zoning by- law, which is still in effect until the new one gains final approval, all commercial properties come under the same regulations. Under the new by-law, owners of commercial property north of the river will not be able to erect buildings that cover more than 30 percent of the total property area, while owners of com- mercial property downtown will be permitted to erect buildings that cover up to 70 percent of the total lot area. Kints questioned Dave Keenan, representing Damas and Smith, the planning consultants from Toronto who drafted the official plan, about the difference in regulations. Keenan told him that the c-2 designation was devised to provide adequate parking for highway traffic and said that the volume of traffic along the high- way generated a different parking need than in town. When questioned about the parking lot regulations from impassable, the O.P.P. used snowmobiles to reach the ac- cident scene. They were assisted in their rescue of accident vic- tims by the Exeter Police and also by several private citizens mounted on snowmobiles. The detachment was busy checking out abandoned and stuck vehicles on all major roads in its jurisdiction during the storm, In other news, a break-in was reported at the Bean Pot in Henson on January 30. $15 in coins were reported missing. In another incident that same day, police learned that someone had gained entry to the public washrooms in the Hensall municipal offices. Const. Al Quinn is investigating both incidents. put money into thatcar before you start getting a diminishing return on your investment?" Council's decision was to send a letter to the Ministry of Labour informing them of the consulting engineer's report and asking that they inspect the arena and advise council what should be done with the building. Council omitted the request for an actual meeting with the ministry. Plans to renovate the arena were o- mitted from the letter as well. After the meeting, McKinlay commented that a decision could be made by the ministry to close the arena without town representatives having the op- portunity to ouline their plans. Two arenas in Bruce County were closed last week when an inspection team from the ministry found them to be structurally unsound, members of the audience, Keenan said that a c-2 designation prevented multi-store complexes because of the portion of property required for parking, but suggested that it should not limit commercial enterprises from providing enough floor space because owners could always build more than one floor. He added that 30 percent building and 70 percent open space was the general policy in zoning by- laws covering "highway com- mercial properties". "I think that they're way out of line", Kints commented. "I wouldn't mind quite so much if I was restricted to say 40 percent building and 60 percent parking, but you can't build a very big building on only 30 percent of a lot." Kints suggested that there was something unfair about allowing businesses downtown to cover 70 percent of their lot with a building should they ever decide to rebuild, while limiting existing commercial businesses at the north end to only 30 percent of their lot, if they rebuilt or added on. "I'm very disappointed that they can just go ahead and change the zoning by-law without even notifying the property owners involved", he said, noting that he would not have been aware of the zoning change to his property, had he not attended the public meeting. "It annoys me because we are the taxpayers. Please turn to page 19. A list of priorities for re- novations to the Town Hall, prepared by the Citizens' Town Hall Committee was apparently tabled by council Monday night when agreement could not be reached on the neccessity of the repairs recommended. Included among those priorities were sandblasting the exterior, restoration of the belfry, removal of the addition on the northwest corner, the bricking in of the fire hall door and installation of a window, painting the exterior trim, restoring the clock, shoring the east wall with brick repair to the belfry, and reshinging the roof. The estimated total cost for the projects would be $9,300, ac- cording to the committee. The committee has a $11,400 LIP grant to finance the re- novations. Lot resizing is questioned A request from Gib Dow, president of Manx Developments Ltd., that he be allowed to reduce the frontage on several lots in his subdivision along Eastern Avenue brought a response from Exeter Council that the changes might result in the necessity for a new subdivision agreement with Dow. The lots in question run along both the east and west side of Eastern Avenue. According to Dow, they are all serviced for .sewers, and water. He requested that loUrontages on several lots be reduced from 100 ft, widths to as small as 60 ft. in same in- stances and as wide as 75.5 ft. in other instances. The reduction in frontage would allow for more lots along Eastern Avenue. Explaining his request by letter, Dow said that he decided on the change after he was requested by Council to reduce the width of Eastern Avenue from 86 to 66 ft., allowing him to give 120 ft. depth to the lots. According to Mayor Shaw and Clerk, Eric Carscadden, the request amounted to more than a minor variance and therefore might result in the necessity for a new subdivision agreement. "These are substantial changes that create a whole new ballgame", Shaw remarked. The agreement that the town has with the Dow Subdivision came prior to current subdivision agreement policy which calls for impost fees for services provided by the town and chargesfor sewer installation andpaving of the streets in the subdivision by the town. Shaw estimated that providing these services to the Dow Sub- division will cost the town some $5,000. If the changes requested by Dow amounted to a complete new plan, it was felt by the Mayor that a new subdividion agreement would probably have to be drawn up. The new agreement could possibly include charges for the various services that the town is now committed to for free, It could also affect any zoning restrictions that have changed since the original agreement was made. The matter was turned over to the town planning board for further consideration. The report stated that the last phase of work to the structure would be renovation of the fire hall for revenue purposes, in- cluding a meeting place for small groups and a cultural centre". The report indicated that this phase of work could be completed with possible grants from the ministry of recreation and the Ontario Art Institute. Council's indecision on the matter was probably influenced by a report from Gary Middleton, fire chief of the Exeter Area Fire Department that a number of safety measures should be un- dertaken to the structure. Mid- dleton's list of recommendations included fire resistant material being installed to walls and ceilings of the furnace room and the basement from the first floor, as well as walls along stairwells leading to all floors. In addition the report suggested the in- stallation of exterior stairs to the second floor, made of fire resistant material be carried out. In other matters pertaining to the Town Hall, a request from the committee that they be allowed to exchange funds in the LIP grant which it administers for funds in the town grant, ad- ministered by the property committee of council, was turned down by property committee chairman, Garnet Hicks. Hicks stated that the property com- mittee was "not prepared to begin horsetrading" just yet. The Alexander Street ex- tension, which would have been used to develop the street into a community collector road has been scrapped for the time being, according to Exeter Mayor Bruce Shaw. It will not be included on the official plan that is pending second and final readings by Council now that the second public meeting to consider ob- jections to the plan and by-law has been held. The apparent reason for shelving the extension for now is that it was developing into more of a hindrance than a help to industrial plants adjacent to the area which the extension was supposed to serve. First Len Veri, owner of the Veri subdivision objected to it because it would have cut through his property in its descent southward. After the plan was tentatively amended and the street extension moved eastward on the drawing board, Bill Smith, owner of Custom Trailers opposed it on grounds that it would cut into his back property now used as a tur- naround for trucks loading and unloading materials into the plant. Commenting on the decision to leave Alexander St. alone, Mayor Shaw said that the street may still be developed inthe future but council deemed it best to leave it the way it is for the time being. About 15 persons attended the second and final public meeting and most of the concerns and objections expressed at the first meeting seemed to be cleared up According to the citizens' committee, the shingling of the Town Hall roof is hampered because they are not allowed to purchase shingles for it until a certain number of man-hours have been completed under the terms of the LIP grant, Ben Hoogenboom acting as spokesman for the group, ex- plained that at present, two men had been hired and that it would take several weeks before enough actual working hours had been built up to enable the committee to purchase the needed shingles. He suggested to council that by trading money allocated for materials in the town grant for money allocated for labor in the LIP grant that the problem could be overcome. Another problem confronted the citizens' committee when Coun. Ted Wright suggested that they would not be able to obtain a proper building permit, due to plans for renovation not being spelled out specifically enough. Mrs. Huntley, a member of the committee, commented, "We're undertaking the work that you requested we do. Its pretty tough to come up with a plan to do as you suggest, Mr. Wright." Reeve Boyle remarked that the building inspector base his decision on granting permits upon the merit of the project and suggested that the matter be left with the inspector. Several recommendations from Exeter's RAP committee were appproved by council. The specific designation of park lands will be included in the official plan document, The green belt along Riverside Drive will be changed to correct an error that designated that area as park land when it was actually privately owned. These changes were made to make the official plan a more specific document, preventing possible errors in the future with regard to zoning and development. A provision which would have required RAP to erect five ft. fences around all public park lands was also amended to read as a desirable action rather than a mandatory one. RAP had felt that in some instances, par- ticularly smaller recreational areas that a fence could be substituted by shrubs or in some instances no barrier at all to protect the aesthetics of the land. Another question put to Council by RAP concerned parking regulations. It was noted that while other types of zoning required parking regulations, none had been spelled out for recreational areas. Council took the suggestion back for recon- sideration. It was determined by council that three alternatives exist for the town when a subdivider develops his property. The town can take five percent of the land for use as parklands, or five percent of the developer's land anywhere else in town if the original site is not suitable for Please turn to page 19. Exeter pipeline won't affect Usborne wells Area snowstorm keeps OPP and town police busy Official plan drops lexander extension