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HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Exeter Times-Advocate, 1976-04-15, Page 10 `Zile erniferZinesakwocale One Hundred and Third Year EXETER, ONTARIO, APRIL 15, 1976 Price Per Copy 25 Cents Swimming pool would attract greater support for arena, say reeves of nearby municipalities 'THREE LITTLE MISSES, just a bit shy, walk down the ramp at the Brownie .and Guide Fashion Show, Mon- day night at SHDH,S. They are Lisa Ellerington, Janie Giffin and Angela Cottrell. A large crowd of ladies offended the show T-A photo by Yvonne Romanruk RAP may cut summer playground Firram back NbiliI teNOMNERUMI".NeWeNetetieeMailMeRVAMT People and events EXETER LIONS will be learning about Income fax incentives at their April 22 meeting in Hensall. Guest speaker is Neil Klasson of Kitchener, an estate planning specialist. IF YOU ARE ON THE BEACH in Grand Bend this summer, having parked your car, and you leave it will cost you the ad- mission fee again to get back in. The plan is being im- plemented said Councillor Harold Green in order to stop peo- ple coming in the morning, leaving for lunch and coming back in the afternoon and overcrowding the parking lot because the space has been sold again. Green also said it will stop people leaving and giving their ticket to someone else who comes in on the' same ticket. Signs will be posted to advise patrols of the new ruling. A JOINT MEETING OF EXETER COUNCIL, Usborne Coun- cil, Exeter PUC, and a representative from the Ministry of the Environment is scheduled for today at 3:00 p.m. in Exeter Council chambers to discuss the use of well sites in Usborne to meet Exeter's growing water requirements. ALF WILLIAMS OF LUCAN, an experienced tennis player, will be Exeter's tennis instructor this year if either RAP or the Exeter Tennis Club is willing to pay his salary, THE O.P,A. CAMPOUT which was to be cancelled when the arena was closed is definitely, going to be held in Exeter on the weekend of May 24th. The campers have informed the RAP committee that a bake sale which could be put on by some community group would be welcomed and that the sale "could make a mint. For further information, contact the Ex- eter rec. office at 235-0391. THE ANNUAL UCW SMORGASBORD is coming up. If you want o good meal, circle the date May 6, NEVER KNOW WHAT TREASURE you might find at the Heritage Foundation's Garage Sale, Saturday, at the Town Hall. If you have any treasures you don't want, the Founda- tion would be happy to have them, Phone: 235-1995. TENNIS NET IS UP at the courts for those tennis buffs wlio just can't wait to get the season started, DESSERT AND PLANT PARTY is being planned, April 21, in the basement of Cavell Presbyterian basement. Get your tickets from members, HAVE YOU GOT ANY OLD PHOTOS of the Town Hall? Architect Nicholaus Hill needs them to do his feasibility study. Phone 235-2473. S tip Up and down, round and round for of town hail by LEIGH ROBINSON! There seems to be a little trouble down at the of Town Hall again, folks. According to Doug Gould, president of the Exeter and District Heritage Foundation, the group is being stalled in attempts to obtain a building permit in order to begin overall renovations. Gould reported that two attempts to gain a renovations permit from Town Building Inspector, Doug Triebner, have resulted in Tejection. When the T-A called Triebner to verify the story, hd denied that he had received any application from the Foundation, "An ap- plication for a general renovations permit has never been turned down", Triebner said. "The only application that we have ever received from them was for a re-roofing permit and that was approved." Gould disagreed with Trieb- ner's assessment of the situation. Ile told the T-A that both he and architect, Nick Hill, who is conducting the feasibility study on renovations to the Town Hall, had been turned dpwn "flat" by Triebner when they asked Air a permit. Gould ,commented that Triebner's statement to the T-A might have been based on the fact that they had not made their application in writing. "If this was why, ,Triebner said that he had received no application from us then he is just playing games", Gould stated. Gould said that he had been told by Triebner that no building permit for general renovations would be issued to the Foundation until the group had complied with recommendations from the Exeter Area Fire Department that fireproofing of the basement and furnace room be carried out. The recommendations came frobt the office of Fire Chief, Gary Middleton, two months ago. Middleton was away in Ten- nessee all this week and was unavailable for comment as to whether his recommendations would necessarily take priority over other renovations, as long as they were carried out at some point in the restoration, Ironically, Triebner issued a Permit to the Foundation for re- roofing of the Town Hall on April 6, some six weeks after Middleton made his recommendations known in a letter addressed to Gould and Exeter Council, dated. ,January 26, 1976. This would raise questions as to why Triebner could issue a permit for the Town Hall on April 6 but could not issue one two. days later when Gould says he went to Triebner's office and requested a building permit for plastering walls, replacement of old wiring, and installing insulation in the top floor of the building, Triebner was unavailable for further comment when the T-A phoned for an explanation of why a building admit could not be issued and a verification of Gould's and Hill's appearance in his office for a permit. According to Middleton's report, the furnace room is to be separated from the remainder of the building by means of fire- resistant material and closures to this area via fire doors with steel frames and self-closing device. A number of other recom- mendations are included in the report, pertaining to all levels of the building. Gould said that the building inspector also told him that a building permit could not be issued until Ontario Hydro has inspected all the wiring in the building. Gould says he called Ontario Hydro and was told, "they aren't interested in in- specting the wiring until an electrician calls them to inspect a rev' iring job." The problem then becomes circular .because in order to do the re-wiring. a building permit must first he issued. So far, ac- cording' to Gould, such a permit has been denied. He said that the building inspector bad also told him that the department of health had been called to inspect the premises, including washrooms and plumbing. Gould gave his reasons for not wanting to go ahead with fire- proofing of the furnace room at this time, although made it clear that the Foundation had every intention to carry Out all of Middleton's requests before the restoration is completed. The Foundation feels that they may have to put in a new furnace this summer and if new fire- resistant walls and a ceiling pre installed in the furnace room at this time, they would have to be ripped out again to accommodate .installation of the furnace. With the current money available for t he project ,including the LIP grant which must be used up by June 26. the Foundation would rather push ahead with less costly renovations first, making full use of the men hired under the grant. One question that remains is why the building inspector is taking such an intense interest in the Town Ball at this time. if it is the safety of the occupants that concerns him, namely the Exeter Police Force, then why were these lire and building safety investigations not carried out by the Town some time ago and why were the proper repairs never made when the building was still owned by the Town of Exeter? Strangely enough, it was Gould. acting for the Foundation, and not the Town of Exeter, who originally called the Ontario Fire Marshall's office, requesting that t h e Town flat I be inspected for any possible fire hazards. And at that time, the Foundation didn't even own the building. Recreation Centre Committee 1110011*, In addition to getting That debenturing is not the most donations from private citizens desirable solution to fund raising, and businesses in Exeter, however. members of SIIIICC and Exeter The "ifs" come into play when Council are hoping that there will a t empt ng to estimate how much he contributions from the money can he raised from other surrounding municipal govern- ADDING THEIR HARMONIOUS TUNES Huronia Choir's Minstrel Show, featuring the works of Stephen Foster were these four straw- hatted figures who appeared right out of the 19th century especially for the evening performances last week at South Huron Secondary School. ' T-A photo. SHRCC happy, but not raising funds yet The South Huron Recreation Council meeting, including a pool Centre Committee was pleased in the centre project could in- with Exeter's Council's decision crease the financial support base to go ahead with an arena and and make the committee even hall, but as chairman John more happy. Stephens pointed out at the Council has not completely closed the door on the possibility of a pool being included in the proposal, but that will depend to a large extent on the outcome of the meeting between Exeter Council and area municipalities to determine how much financial support lthere is for the centre. In , meantime; Stephens says that the finance committee will not proceed to raise funds, alt bough authorized by Council to do so, until it has been made final what the centre will include, "We have to know what is going to be built'', Stephens said. Whenever it is decided definitely what the centre will include, then we will hit the road with a fund-raising ca m pa ign." He explained that asking people to contribute to a centre without knowledge as to whether t he centre would include an arena and hall or an arena, hall, and swimming pool was not ethical, as some potential contributors would only be interested in a certain kind of centre, Asked about the future of the SHRCC, Stephens indicated that the practical thing for Council to do would be to keep the com- mittee in existence,. perhaps adding a few new members from other areas to "balance out the representation." , When Council gave the finance sub-committee of SHRCC a mandate to begin fund-raising, nothing was stated expressly that the entire committee . would be kept on to supervise the project. Stephens feels that this was probably a minor omission on the part of Council, however, and believes that SHRCC will remain in existence to see the recreation centre project through to core- plet "Our committee feels strongly that this has to be set up as a South Huron project, particularly if a swimming pool is included", he commented. !bents and also from citizens, especially those who have used the old Exeter arena and intend to use the next one when finished. II was pointed out at last week's Council meeting by both Mayor Shaw and John Stephens, chairman of SIIRCC that it might be wiser for Council to commit itself to a ,centre that included a swimming pool because it would encourage more municipalities to participate in the project. The reasoning behind this is that several of the municipalities which Exeter hopes to receive donations from, already have their own arena or make greater use of arenas other than Exeter, , Exeter Council is planning a meeting • with the councils of Stephen, Osborne and I-lay townships, the villages of Hen- salt, Zurich, and Grand Bend in order to determine hoW much 'financial commitment they can expect from each one. Meanwhile, John Baker, Reeve of Hensel], went on record last week, sidling that Exeter shotiQ-1 not expect a contribution to an arena from that municipality, as the village recently undertook a $50,000 renovation of its own. In an effort to get some in- dication of the outcome of the upcoming meeting between municipal councils, the T-A polled the reeves of Stephen, Rend. Usborne' Hay, Zurich and Grand Their reaction to the current Exeter prdposal and predicitions as to how their councils would vote on the question seemed to coincide with the theory that an arena would have a more limited appeal to neighboring areas than would an arena and pool com- plex. "I think that Usborne will go along with either a one or two mill increase on assessment. That's what we kind of decided on," stated Walter McBride, Reeve of Usborne township. The Reeve indicated that one mill represented about $3,000 in revenue. lie said that the in- crease would probably be authorized for a period of three Clinton confused by new proposal The reaction from Clinton Hospital to reports that the provincial government would keep the facility open as a day- care without hospital beds, was mixed and somewhat bewildered as to what the government is proposing. Hospital administrator, Douglas Coventry, told the T-A, "We want to find out just what they mean by 'day care centre." Ile said that Clinton Hospital received a letter from the Ministry of Health Monday night that went out to Durham, Paris and Doctor's Hospitals in Toronto, as well, stating that the four hospitals must stopad- mitting patients as of May t and close the hospital down by June The management committee of Clinton Hospital met the same night and expressed disap- pointment with the an- nouncement. According to Coventry, the committee still hopes a bed-care facility could be retained, including out-patient services. "We hope to meet with the Ministry to have their propsals clarified", Coventry said. He said that he had discussed the matter with Huron MPP Jack Riddell who remarked that he was an- noyed with the Ministry's decision and would attempt to have the matter reconsidered, Reports indicate that the. Ministry of Health has deeided to Please turn to page 3 ears. That would represent a pproximately $18,000 in potential funds for a sports centre coming from the municipality of I 'sbnrnc'. McBride suggested that t'sborne was probably more interested in an arena than a pool at t he present lime. "Costs on a pool would he pretty high to my way ()I thinking", he said. Ile did comment. however, that the costs for adding on other lacilitk's would probably he more expensivi, than building the entire complex at one time and Please turn to page 3 investigate robberies Several instances of break-ins and vandalism were investigated by Exeter O.P.P. this week.' April 6, Const, J, Straughiin investigated a break and enterof a collage located at Poplar :-13each. The cottage is owned by , Archie Wright, 232 Oakland Ave., London. Nothing was apparently taken. Seed corn valued at $813.75 was stolen from a drive shed on the farm of Ralph Geiger, Con. 12 Hay township. Const. Whiteford is investigating. Eight cottages located at Schade View and the Ridgeway Sub-division on Highway 21 were forcibly entered during the past week. Items valued 'at $550 ranging from TV sets, sleeping bags, a piggy bank, table cloth, and a picture were taken from the various cottages. Thieves caused approximately $150 damage to doors, windows, and locks, during the break-ins. The theft of four wheelcovers from a new truck and an alter- nator from a car are being in- vestigated by Const. Larry It $ CIhrils8t0h.ien.Value of the property, owned by Snider Motors, was set Pellet guns were used to shoot out nine street lights at various Huron Park locations during the past week. Ontario Hydro gesht)ibmesa.tes damage at $100 to the A child's tricycle was found in Huron Park last Friday and is being held at Exeter detach- ment pending identification by the owner. The summer playground program could become a casualty of the war on inflation this year, as 'Exeter's RAP committee considers ways of trimming extra expense from its budget. I Although chances are probably slim that the entire program would he done away with, the program and finance sub- committees of RAP will take a look at costs for this year's proposed summer playground and could recommend a reduction in the number of weeks that it is offered. The matter came up for discussion at last Monday night's RAP meeting after it was an- nounced that the summer playground staff had been hired pending final approval of the RAP budget for 1976 by Exeter Council. Rec. Director, Jim McKinley told the committee that five girls had been hired, Latn-a Johns was selected as the playground supervisor with the leaders being Tracy Camp- bell, Marian Adams, Elizabeth De ichert, and Elaine Overholt. Bob Pooley, vice chairman of RAP, questioned McKinlay's authority to proceed to the hiring of a summer playground staff when RAP's budget had not yet been approved. "This is one area where I thought we could cut Doerr one of five judges Photographer Jack Doerr, Exeter, was one of five eminent °titanic) photographers asked to make up the jury for the annual print show staged by Ontario Community Colleges. This year's show was held at Fanshawe College, London, and st odents submitted over 360 prints for judging. back a bit on expense," Pdoley commented. McKinlay responded by saying that it was difficult to put together programs without a budget to work with. He added that last year the RAP budget was not given final approval until June 10 and by that time it would he too late to have a summer playground, unless the staff had been tentatively hired and a program planned. Lassie Fuller, a Council representative on RAP wondered if the program was needed. Observing that Goderieh had recently decided to cut out a summer playground program, she said, "I think that we are so organized in the winter with hockey and figure skating that when it comes to summer it should he a time when a kid can do what he wants to do without programmed supervision." RAP chairwoman, Ruth Please turn to page 3 DURING INTERMISSION at the Guide and Brownie Swing into Spr- ing Fashion Show, Monday night, the Brownies hod an Easter Bonnet Parade. They are shown above modelling the hats they designed themselves and are front, Kathy Coates, Sandi McDonald, Sara Patter- son, Karen Rowe, Heather Jamieson. Second row, Amber Grindlay, Brenda Waldeck, Andrea Pearce, Lynn Dawson, Alexandra Zivkovic, Back, Margaret Hackney Lisa Blue, Judy Coates, Kelly Livingstone, Debra Brunslow, Kelly Jones, Melissa Seldon, Janice Bishop, Lynn Stevens, T-A photo. There are many "ifs" in the propbsal for a new arena and sports centre for South Huron. Although Exeter Council has now committed itself to an arena and hall at a ceiling cost of $1 million, questions still exist with regard to how much financial support the town will get in addition to government grants and whether a swimming pool should have been proposed as well to increase that sueport. Dehenturing by the town has been suggested as one of the more obvious methods for raising the necessary funds. It would appear from recent discussions in Council and from recom- mendations of the South Huron Costs high to reopen arena Requirements ordered by the Exeter Area Fire Department and the Ontario. Fire, Marshal's, office before the existing Exeter arena could be allowed to reopen were made more . specific this week when areha manager, Alvin Willert, outlined a report that he had received from Fire Chief, Gary Middleton, to the RAP committee Monday night. The arena would not be allowed to reopen under any cir- cumstances unless it was brought up to 1976 Ontario Fire Code Standards, the same standards that would apply to any newly constructed building. Among the requirements is a sprinkler system, upgrading of the wiring system, fireproofing of the ceiling and arena seats, plus a fire exit for the concession booth. "off hand, if the work was to be done, the sprinkler system alone, would probably cost between $15,000 and $20,000 to install", Willert observed. The fire chief's report was filed and no action was taken by RAP.