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The Exeter Times-Advocate, 1977-03-10, Page 1JUST IN TIME — Firemen are shown battling the blaze at one of the rear Genttner, right, looks on. The large door in front of him is to the warehouse gallons of motor oil, naptha gasolineand kerosene. This photo clearly shows reaching the inflammable materials. windows, while owner Ralph which contained hundreds of how close the flames were to Newcomer says stubborness exemplified in hall rent delay c‘ahe exeferZainesaitwocate One Hundred and Fourth Year EXETER, ONTARIO, MARCH 10, 1977 Price Per Copy 25 Cents. PROMPT ACTION AVERTS DISASTER Appoint interim rec group Approve hall rental scale Advertise for recreation director CAR TURNS OVER — Due to very slippery road conditions Thursday evening this vehicle driven by Russell Clarke of Creditors left the Crediton road and overturned. Mr. Clarke was not injured but was trapped in the car for several hours. 1-A photo being conducted in the upstairs and council approved the motion hall, turning the matter over to the At this point,' the debate ended finance committee. MOVE TO SAFETY — Fireman George Pratt, an employee of Genttner Fuels, climbs down from one of the delivery trucks after checking the damage incurred from the flames. Jerry Hartman drove this vehicle and another one to safety. They were loaded with fuel oil and gasoline and were inches away from the flames. Exeter council have still not approved a lease for the police office in the town hall, and they delayed the matter further this week when they turned it over to the finance committee for their consideration. Property chairman Ken Ottewell said he had been in negotiation with the Exeter and District Heritage Foundation in the past Couple of weeks and the rental for the facilities had been set at $351 per month for the first year and $379. per month for the' following two years, After that, the rates would be adjusted on the basis of the increase in the cost of utilities. Council would pay the cost of the•hydro and water, while the heat would be provided. Ottewell said he had checked out the prices for other ac- commodation, and said that while the town hall may appear a bit steep now, it could be low in six years. He said he felt it was the proper place for the police in that it was a good location and afforded proper parking facilities. "It would be mutually beneficial," he said of the agreement between the town and the Heritage Foundation. However, he then said he was not prepared to make a motion supporting the lease agreement. He urged later in the meeting that a decision should be made as it wasn't fair to keep the Heritage Foundation "hanging in abeyance", Mayor Bruce Shaw pointed out that Ottewell knew the situation best, and if he wasn't prepared to make a decision, it would be hard for the rest of council to know what to do. Councillor Steve Pfaff was critical of council in delaying a decision. He said the big hold-up was "the stubborness of people on this council". He charged that some members never wanted the Heritage Foundation to have the town hall, Pfaff said the facility was "tailored-made" for the police. "If we turn it down, where do we go looking for something else?" he asked. Reeve Si Simmons wondered what Was wrong with the old lease. It calls for a rental of $200 per month. Foundation member Art Whilsmith, who was at the meeting on another matter, said it went without saying that the old lease price was too low in view of the fact the Heritage Foundation would be completely renovating the facility and doubling the space to be used by the police. Councillor Ted Wright won- dered if council were satisfied with what was being offered. He said the question of what other activities would be held at the hall had to be considered, noting that it was difficult to work downstairs when activities were Present offer for easement Exeter council will attempt to reach a settlement with Huron Street resident Ed Hunter-Duvar for the easement provided across his property for the Anne Street drain. At last week's meeting, Hunter- Duvar advisedIwould settle for a fee of $500 pi s his legal costs and a bill of $435 he had for an appraisal of his property. Council decided to make him an Offer of the $935. Two weeks after terminating the services of recreation director Jim McKinlay, Exeter council approved advertising for a new recreation director. That was one of three decisions made from recommendations presented to council this week by the South Huron Recreation CentreBoard of Management. The others were the naming of an interim recreation committee for Exeter and in advertising the rental fees for use of the hall in the new facility. Board chairman Bruce Shaw brought council up to date on what the committee "have been doing and where we are going," announcing that a detailed report and budget would be presented to the four councils in Exeter, Usborne, Stephen and Hay in the first two weeks ofApril. He indicated the board would recommend that they act as the "supreme authority" for the management of the hall and the operation of recreation in Exeter and the surrounding area. , The recreation director would work directly under the board and there would be three sub- committees under that. These would include (1) the present sport and recreation clubs which operate in the various municipalities, such as minor hockey, figure skating, baseball, soccer, etc; (2) a group to operate the recreation services such as the playgrounds, swimming program and ballet, etc; (3) the manager and staff hired to manage and operate the rec centre and other recreation and community facilities, Shaw said there were still "a lot of ifs" about the type of person they wanted to name as recreation director, but indicated the person Would be responsible for planning and developing various cultural, community and recreational services. The person would probably have a type A or B certificate With at least five years' experience in a similar position. He gave no indication of what salary the board would consider paying such an individual. "Do you need him right now?" Deputy-Reeve Don MacGregor asked. Shaw said that the person would be hired as soon as possible, but indicated this would probably not be before May. In answer to a question from Councillor Ken Ottewell, Shaw said that the motion approving the ' advertising for a recreation director would not have to be approved by the other councils as no hiring would be done before A Crediton man was trapped in his overturned car for about three hours early Friday mor- ning after it ended up in a field east of Crediton. Russell Clarke had been proceeding west on the Crediton Roa'd around midnight when his vehicle went out of control on the slushy road and came to rest on its roof in a field owned by Maurice Haist. Clarke attempted to attract the attention of passing motorists by flicking his lights and sounding his horn, but no one came to his aid. He finally managed to free himself from the vehicle and walked to his residence. OPP Constable Bill Osterloo reported damage to the car at $1,500. There was considerable drifting on the road at the time of the Mishap. The accident was one of five investigated by the Exeter OPP this week. There were two on Tuesday,the first involving a vehicle driven by Jo-Ann Palmer, Sarnia, Her vehicle went out of control on Highway 21 south of Highway 84 on an icy patch. Damage was listed at $425 by Constable Jack Straughan. On the same day, William Peckitt, RR 2 Grand Bend, lost control of his vehicle on an icy Quick action by Exeter volunteer firemen has been credited with averting what could have been the town's most disastrous fire, when Ralph Genttner Fuels Ltd. office on Sanders St. was gutted by flames. The fire which broke out around 1:00 a.m. Wednesday, was one of the most serious in some time and damage has been estimated at between $25,000 and $30,000, , However, Fire Chief Gary Middleton said he hated to imagine what could have hap- pened if the brigade had not done such a "tremendous job" in controlling the fire, the cause of which has still not been deter- mined. When firemen arrived, flames were shooting out of the office portion of the cement block building and were licking their way towards the warehouse at they had approved the board's budget. Ottewell also wondered if a breakdown on cost sharing between the municipalities had been worked out by the board and he was advised that this had not yet been done. "We should know the cost breakdown by hiring time," Shaw commented. Set Rates In announcing the rates set for the rental of the hall, Shaw said patch of the Crediton Road. Damage was listed at $1,500 by Constable Osterloo. On Wednesday, vehicles driven by John Hogan, RR 3 Dashwood, and Robert Latta, RR 8 Parkhill, collided on concession 10-11 of Stephen. Constable Bob Whiteford invstigated and set damage at $55. The other crash occurred on Saturday when Larry Fulton, RR 3 Exeter, lost control of his vehicle in a slush section of concession 6-7 of Usborne. Damage was set at $800 by Constable Al Quinn, During the week the local detachment officers charged 11 people under the Highway Traffic Act and another 11 under the Liquor Licence Act. There was one charge under the Narcotic Control Act. They investigated reports of two damaged mail boxes in Stephen. They were owned by Wayne King and Charles Glan- ville, The door at the Centralia post office was also damaged. One theft was reported, that being a CB antenna from the car of Terry Gibson, Hensall. Other occurrences included: five wilful damage complaints, one disturbance, One snow vehicle complaint, one dog complaint and one bus complaint. the rear which contained hun- dreds of gallons of motor oil, naptha gas and kerosene, The firm's two delivery trucks were parked inches away from the flames and contained both fuel oil and gasoline, Middleton reported, He said it was probably lucky that both trucks were filled, explaining that there would have been more danger with partially filled loads, An employee of the firm, Jerry Hartman, drove both trucks away from danger. The unit closest to the building was badly scorched from the flames and heat, "He deserves ar lot of credit," Middleton stated, He was also high in his praise for the fearless efforts of the firemen. Asa former employee of the firm when his late father was a partner with Genttner, Mid- some committee members felt they were too low and the chairman indicated they were only tentative and could be changed at a later date. Rental of the hall alone will be $150, while the hall and bar will be rented for $175 or the base hall rental and a profit sharing arrangement with the board and the renting party. The kitchen will be rented for an additional $25 or 10 cents per . plate, whichever is the greater. Shaw said this would work out to a fee of approximately $200 for a wedding reception or similar function at the new facility. In addition, the board would provide the ice, mix and cups for all licenced functions and this would result in an additional "modest profit" for the board. Council approved advertising the rates as suggested without any comment. They also approved naming an interim group of four people who will act as a recreation com- mittee for Exeter, They include two former members of RAP, Councillor Lossy Fuller and Fred Simmons, along with Arn Mathers and Kenley Campbell, The committee will be responsible to the board of management. dleton said he knew of the dangers involved as soon as he found out where the fire was. "I was scared," he admitted, adding that after the blaze was brought under control, several firemen expressed the same thoughts in view of the quantity of flammable material in the building. He said it was easily the most hazardous fire the bridgade has been called to and said it was fortunate there were no casualties. "In another few minutes, we never would have stopped anything," he said, predicting that had the flames reached the warehouse stock the surrounding buildings would have been en- dangered and explosions likely. Genttner was also high in his praise of the fire department. "For a volunteer group they're tremendous," he said, while After the meeting Mayor Shaw said that the committee would not be empowered to spend any funds on recreation at this time, but would be dealing primarily with organizing recreation programs for the upcoming months, Snow costs at new high Exeter's snow removal costs are running more than 20 per cent higher than last year and are almost triple that of 1975. Clerk Eric Carscadden reported Monday that snow costs during January and February of this year have already hit $9,441 and he said there still may be some bills forthcoming. In 1976, the total for the same two months was $7,694 and in 1975 the same period cost only $3,234. The Ministry of Transportation and Communications has an- nounced additional help for communities hit hard by snow removal costs and Deputy-Reeve Don MacGregor and works Superintendent Glenn Kells were to attend a Ministry meeting in Stratford this week to find out more details of the program, viewing the damage Wednesday morning. He said most of the firm's records were stored in a safe and were not damaged by the flames, although the contents of the safe were still hot when it was opened several hours after the blaze, Even some of the records stored in cabinets were discernible, although slightly scorched. An indication of how close the fire was to reaching the warehouse stock was visible .in the scorched rafters of the building just a few feet away from some of the drums con- taining motor oil. Middleton said everything was in the firemen's favor as only a light breeze was blowing at the Stephen township clerk- treasurer Wilmar Wein told council at Tuesday's regular meeting that the amount of tax arrears for the year were almost twice as much as a year ago. Council authorized the transfer of $49,603 unpaid in 1975 taxes to the County of Huron for collec- tion. The figure sent to Goderich at about the same time in 1976 was $25,670. Also outstanding at the present time are $3,315 for 1974 and $9,206 for 1975. A land servance application from Lawrence Dietrich at Lot 9, Concession 18 was approved and Richard Bird was given a building permit for an addition at Lot 12, Concession 20. Permission was given to John Bierling to establish a beauty shop business in the Police village of Centralia. A request from a real estate firm to establish a commercial garage on property owned by Harold Tripp, at lot 5, Concession 1 was turned down. A resolution from the city of Nanticoke asking the Province of Ontario to provide funds from the lottery schemes to cover the District farmer buys JF facility The two buildings on Highway 83 previously owned by J. F. Farm Machinery have been sold to Peter Oud of Oud Farms, The transaction was recently completed through GK Realty, Exeter and Alexander & Chap- man Realty Ltd., Goderich. A spokesman for the latter said that one of the buildings will be offered for sale again and the other will be used for warehousing purposes, time. He said a strong wind would have proven disastrous. He was still amazed Wed- nesday morning at the short time it took firemen to knock down the flames and bring the blaze under control. They stayed at the scene until 4:00 a.m. to be certain it was completely extinguished. The blaze started quickly. The door at the office had been checked by Exeter police Con- stable Ron Fice about an hour before the alarm was sounded by three ladies returning from a birthday party. One neighbor thought she heard what sounded like a small explosion, but other neighboring property owners heard nothing. Please turn to page 3 extra costs experienced by most provincial municipalities from the extreme weather conditions. Three new members have been added to the Stephen township No. 2 (Crediton) fire department. They are'Larry Jones, Eric Fink- beiner and Doug Lightfoot. Approval has been received from the Province of Ontario for a Stephen borrowing bylaw of $500,000 for tile drain loan ap- plications. The township recently was granted" permission to allot loans up to $428,000. Guidance is being sought from the Ontario Ministry of Agriculture and Food office in Clinton regarding the Ontario Agricultural Code of Practice as it applies to the issuance of residential building permits near feedlots. Plan sewers for north end The public works committee recommended this week that the sanitary sewers be finished off for the north of Exeter in con- junction with a storm sewer project being undertaken in that area. Total cost of the sanitary sewers, which would complete the system for the area south of Highway 83, was estimated at $79,000 by Reeve Si Simmons. His committee recommended that $24,000 of that be provided out of the current tax levy and the balance be debentured. The suggestion was turned over to the finance committee for their consideration while preparing the budget. Weather curtails building projects "The weather has put a damper on building," Councillor Harold Patterson reported this week in presenting the monthly building report for Doug Triebner. Only 10 permits were issued at an estimated value of $14,150. Construction is running con- siderably below that of last year. Residential renovation and addition permits were approved for Roland McCaffrey, Scott Burton, Robert Clarke, June Moore, Jerome Hartman and Larry 'Bieber. Angelo's Pizzeria, Wally's Restaurant and Mel Gaiser were given permits for small com- mercial renovations, while the Pentecostal Tabernacle received an okay for two changing rooms and a baptismal tank, I Trapped three hours in auto MAJOR CONCERN — One of the major concerns of Exeter firemen was the proximity of two delivery trucks to the burning building. The one pictured here was scorched by flames. Owner Ralph Genttner is shown looking in the front window of the burning building while firemen battle the blaze. BADLY CHARRED — The interior of Ralph Genttner Fuels Ltd. was badly charred in Wednesday morning's fire, as evidenced by this photo of the desk in the front office. Stephen tax arrears d uble revious year