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HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Exeter Times-Advocate, 1977-10-27, Page 1I LIKE TEDDY — Jennifer Morrison of Varna was pleased to pose with this Teddy bear at Thursday's rummage sole sponsored by the South Huron Hospital Ladies Auxiliary. T-A photo Horse is victim in area collision Ion With A core location, "It is recognized that this approach is difficult to define precisely, and, hence, constant monitoring will be required." . Davidson said the new plan tries to protect the core area and still provide space elsewhere for large commercial users who can not be accommodated due to space limitations and costs in the downtown area. "I don't see any provision for protection (of the core)," com- mented local bweenessman Bill Huntley, He also noted there was no provision to allow parking areas behind the stores in the core. Please turn to page 3 A CORRECT FACE-OFF OHA president Hugh Mclean of London, a former referee mode sure the Official face'off for Prickly s first tome at the South Huron fZec Centre was legal, Mclean placas the sticks of Hawks coach Ron Bogart and Mr. Hockey in Exeter Derry Boyle. look- ing on are captains Steve Jennison of the Hawks and goody Kroul of Luton, Imes au Serving South. Huron, North Middlesex dvoc & North Lambton Since 1873 One Hundred and Fifth Year OCTOBER 27, 1977 ..,,kzer4mmerrteMW Price Per Copy 25 Cents DOCTOR AND JEWELLER CONSULT ABOUT TOWN CLOCK — 'Dr. Wally Read and Earl Campbell are both interested in the restoration of the clock from the town hall belfry. Mr. Campbell has offered his ser- vices free of charge to the Heritage Foundation to get the timepiece working again. Here, the two men are shown with two of the faces of the clock which require new numbers and a paint job. The clock is one of the facyous timepieces designed and built by George Hess who emigrated from Germany and settled in Zurich during the early 1820's. T-A photo Radios and grader operate in Stephen Considerable debate over. new One fatality was reported in the four accidents investigated by the Exeter OPP this week. The victim was a horse owned by Fred Steele, RR 1 Kirkton. It died after being involved in a collision with a vehicle driven by Helen Shute, RR 1 Kirkton, The incident occurred on concession 14-15 of Usborne just north of Highway 23. ,, COnstable' Dale Laireint in- vestigated and set damage at $1,100 in the Friday collision. There was one accident on Thursday, it involving vehicles driven by Marilyn Rohde, RR 1 Hensall, and Doris Baxter, Lefroy. They collided on High- way 83, west of Huron Road 11 in Usborne township. Damage was listed at $1,300 by Constable Jim Rogers. On Saturday, a vehicle driven by Douglas Barrett, Huron Park, struck a water hydrant on Canada Ave. in Huron Park. Water, at the rate of 225 gallons per minute, gushed from the broken line for almost an hour. Hallowe'en starts early The Exeter OPP report that Hallowe'en pranks have started early again this year. Mail boxes have been damaged in Stephen township, one road sign was cut in half and there were reports from some area residents about youngsters knocking on doors and soaping windows. Windows were broken in a home owned by Bill Elliott near Huron Park and a window was also broken at the Zion United Church in Usborne township. Damage in that was listed at $40, It was also reported that windows were broken in the Agripress office in Hensall. Motorists making power turns in the gravel were believed responsible for the damage. Two incidents involving the runway lights at the Huron Industrial Park were reported, On Monday, it was discovered that $160 worth of lights had been stolen, These have subsequently been recovered, Earlier, vandals -switched several runway lights from one side to the other, An official noted this was extremely dangerous as it could cause an aircraft to crash into the field, One dog bite was also reported this week. Howard Schenk, RR 1 Creditor], was bitten by a pup owned by Neil Stanlake, RR 2 Creditor]. A boy's three-speed bicycle was found in Huron Park. The owner may claihi same by identifying it at the OPP office, SKATE RESCHEDULED The skate-a-thoe scheduled for the new South Huron Rec Centre last Saturday waS postponed because of poor lee conditions in the new facility. It will be held this Saturday afternoon under the Sponsorship Of the Exeter figure skating elute Proceeds will go to the club and the Rec Centre, Two major concerns kept cropping up during the diScussion Thursday night on Exeter's proposed new official plan, Over 70 people attended the public meeting at SHDHS and their objections to the plan centred mainly around the large area of land zoned as highway commercial along Highway 83 and the fact that the area on Main St. between Victoria St. and the river was zoned as residential. There was some indication that the latter designation was not dyer) the one proposed by the Exeter planning board. Vice-chairman Wally Burton, who started the meeting off in the absence of chairman Bruce Shaw, said the planning board had decided three and a half years ago that the Main St, area between Victoria and the river should be zoned as commercial, with. the exception of the block north of the Presbyterian Church. County planner Gary Davidson said that this area was in an "interesting phase", noting that much of the commercial development was home related businesses and there were still many well-maintained homes in the area. He said that if the land was zoned commercially, the people who would benefit the most are those who sold their homes im- mediately. Davidson said the commercial uses now in existence could be given "status zoning" whereby they could continue to operate and even expand. He said the residential properties could be given status zoning if it was decided to zone the area as commercial. Mayor Bruce Shaw said that it was the general feeling of council and the planning board that the area should' be zoned com- mercial. Davidson again said that the decision has to be weighed in the interest of the residential owners as well as the commercial owners. Gabby Mol •of Sherwood (Exeter) Ltd. said he would prefer to see they are left as open commercial. He said it would devalue his property if it was restricted to one use as a farm machinery dealership under status zoning, Another commercial owner in the same area, George Dobbs said that it had been zoned commercial and now it was all changed again. He likened it to teing issued a marriage licence, and after having seven children, having someone come along and question the validity of the licence. Ben Hoogenboom, who recently purchased Palmer's Flowers, said the commercial owners in the area were "probably in trouble again", according to the plan as outlined as it zoned the area as residential, Gib Dow told Davidson that the late Harry Sherwood had been assured by council that his property would always be commercial. "Now things are changing," he suggested. Norm Whiting, another com- mercial operator in the area complained about the residential designation, When asked by Davidson what the main use was at present in the area between Victoria St. and the river, Whiting suggested it was commercial. However, Davidson refuted that claim by pointing out there were only five commercial operations and there were over 20 residential uses. Former mayor Jack Deibridge said he realized there were more residential than commercial uses, but argued that the area should be zoned to commercial to save people from going through the rezoning deal when they wanted to establish commercial uses. Bryan Tuckey, a former Exeter man who spent the summer with the county planning It was intended as a meeting to discuss Exeter's proposed new official plan, but the Thursday night public session held at the SHDHS cafeteria covered a number of other unrelated topics as well. Those ranged from criticism of Exeter council over closed meetings, the cutting down of trees on Main 'St. and the preser,vation of the Carling home. Jay Campbell broached the subject of closed sessions when he charged council with making decisions in private and said it was often the inuendo of the unknown' that creates concern, "I don't want to be kept in the dark," he said and this was followed by an outburst of clapping from many of the over 70 people in attendance. All five town councils in Huron have now approved in principle the establishment of a central communication system for their police departments. Clinton council made their decision this week, while the other four voted in favor of the system at their meetings last week, The recommendation for the central dispatch system hinges on the province paying 75 per cent of the estimated $70,000 start-up costs for the purchase of radio transmitters and other equipment. The five towns would pay the remaining 25 percent and the board working on the official plan, suggested people were not looking at the social aspect Of the situation. He said many people come to Exeter because it is "nice small town" and the only area they see on their first visit was the Main St. Noting that the area between This weekend heralds the end of Daylight Saving Time. Area residents are reminded to turn back their clocks before retiring Saturday night as all His comment was primarily in reference to the fact that local businessmen were excluded from a recent council meeting when the proposed shopping plaza was discussed with the developer, Donna Livingstone followed up his remarks by a call for more open sessions of council. "There's never anything done in secret," Councillor Derry Boyle advised the audience. He challenged Chan Livingstone to name one thing that council had done in secret. "How should I know, they're all done in secret," Livingstone replied. However, Doug Gould, chairman of the Heritage Foundation offered one topic in reply to Boyle's challenge to name a time council met in secret. annual operating costs of about - 4,135 each. Last week, Ontario Police Commission chairman Elmer D. Bell, Q. C. said he doesn't know how much grant money will be available to assist in the establishment of the system. He speculated it may be two years before he would be able to complete his plans to upgrade police communication systems in the province and noted he did not know what priority the Huron system would be given. "Due to austerity, there has been a stretch-out (of plans). We originally had hoped to have all the province in by 1978 but it's doubtful we'll have that." Victoria and the river was the only one in which people could see houses, he suggested it was important to keep it as residential and avoid having the entire Main St, look like London's Wellington Road. "There's a very large social aspect involved," he told the audience. activities Sunday will be operating on standard time, Remember the slogan for changing clocks, "Spring ahead, fall back". "How about buying the house for the police office?" Gould asked. Following further debate, Mayor Bruce Shaw took the floor to say that "there's a certain feeling here I don't particularly like . . and it's the business of secrecy", He said with the exception of one incident (presumed to be the purchase of the new police office) no decision had ever been made by council unless it was done in public. •"It's unfair to say things are done behind your back," he added, although he noted that some matters are considered in private. Pete DeKoker reminded the Mayor he had attended a recent meeting with other businessmen and had been "kicked out the door". Earl Campbell, another businessman who had attended that meeting, said they had heard none of the discussion. "When I come to council, I want to hear what's going on," he said. Mrs. Livingstone said it ,ap- peared that many items are "cut and dried" when they reach the council floor and she wondered when and where councillors met to discuss those items. Shaw said that council had instituted a policy earlier this year to have private talks prior to council sessions, but these had eventually been scrapped because there was so little to talk about. He also said that 'the closed meeting with the developer of the shopping plaza had been held at the latter's request because the land transfers had not been completed. He explained that at times it was necessary to meet in committee-of-the-whole for such items as discussions with their solicitors. Want trees A discussion on saving trees arose after Bryan Tuckey mentioned the fact that the Main St. had lost some of its appeal after six trees were cut down to make way for the new bank building at the corner of Main and Gidley. An enthusiastic round of ap- plause greeted his concern over the situation, indicating it was shared by many in the audience. Jay Campbell wondered if there could be any provision made to save trees. County planner Gary Davidson said such provisions were now in effect if the necessary rules were approved by council. He said it was "silly" to chop down something which took 70 to 80 years to grow, Gib Dow questioned how council could have the legal authoeity to rule against cutting down trees on private property. Davidson said they have the legal authority to rule on trees in the same manner as they can rule on the use of private land. Former mayor Jack Delbridge, who said he liked trees as well as anyone, asked the audience which was more important, the new Bank of Nova Scotia or the trees. He didn't get any reply. Another topic covered at the Meeting was the paving of the parking lot at the new police station. Gus Gregus said he understood it had been approved because a paving contractor had part of a load of asphalt left over from a local street job. He said it must have been a very big load in view of the amount it took to pave the lot. Councillor Ted Wright said it was more than a load left Over frail the street project, Gregus suggested Outten should have used the excess asphalt to pave a street. Several local businessmen at the meeting expressed concern over the large amount of highway commercial which had been included in the plan for the area on Highway 83 and 4 in the north end. "It appeared to us that the planning board favored development at Highway 4 and 83," Davidson said in his preamble. "While strongly in support of retaining and promoting general commercial development in the core, this plan attempts to provide wider scope for the development of highway com- mercial areas for uses which due to space needs are not compatible A radio system is now in ser- vice for use by Stephen township employees. The main station at the township office in Crediton and a remote station at the township shed are connected to the two graders and two trucks. Installa- POOL CLAIMED All five winning tickets in the Exeter Legion world series pool have now been presented, and the $100 cheques turned over to the winners. While two local ladies won the only two claimed last week, this week's 'winners were all males. The winners of all six games were as follows: first game, Betty Coates; second, Charlie Smith; third, Gerald Broderick; fourth, Maida Baynham; fifth, Jack Straughan; sixth, Bill Wilds. tion was completed last week, • A new road grader purchased recently from Dominion Road Machinery in Goderich has been received and is now in operation. Council learned from the Huron County Library Board that the Centralia library is be- ing moved to J.A.D. McCurdy school at Huron Park due to low circulation. At the same time the County board asked for better facilities for the Crediton library which is now located downstairs in the township hall in Crediton. The request is being passed on to the Crediton village trustees for action. A meeting to study the report of the Maple Grove branch of the Walker municipal drain will be held Tuesday, November 8 at 8 p.m. at the township office in Creditor), Ross Turnbull of Grand Bend has been engaged to do a repair on the closed work of the Sim- mons municipal drain. Appointed as members of the Huron Park volunteer fire department were Robert England and Allan Levier. A resolution from the township of Charlottenburg calling for a federal referendum on capital punishment and opposing the payment of bonuses to bilingual employees was supported. One tile drain loan application in the amount of $10,000 was ap- proved subject to the necessary provincial monies being available. May have the next...fire! A snowmobile cottage located in a bush owned by Gerald McBride, south of 8xeter, was destroyed by fire Saturd ay even- lag, Members of the 8xeter area fire brigade, who had been in attendance at their annual dance at the Legion hall, respeeded to the, call. The fire broke out around 10 t 00 Constable Bob Whiteford in- vestigated and set property damage at $850. The other accident of the week was reported on Sunday when a vehicle driven by William Henry, London, went out of control on the Hay-Stanley line west of County Road 31. Damage was set at $300 by Constable Wally Tomasik. During the week, ,the Exeter OPP laid 20 charges under the Highway Traffic Act, two under the Narcotic Control Act, three under theliquor Licence Act and one under the Criminal Code. Hay names new clerk Joan Ducharme, RR 2 Zurich has been appointed clerk- treasurer for the township of Hay. Mrs. Ducharme• who has worked for the township for the past nine years replaces Wayne Horner, who has accepted a position with the community of St. Paul Alberta as clerk- administra tor. Mrs. Ducharme commences her new duties on November 3. Five county towns okay radio system Regain that lost hour . Council policy, trees, paving among plan meeting debates Rummage is profit maker The new South Huron Rec, Centre was the scene Thursday of one of the most successful rummage sales ever held in the area, Co-cohveners of the sale ' sponsored by the South Huron Hospital Auxiliary, Elaine Bogart and Melva Ecker report proceeds would be in the neigh- bourhood of $4,000. Hundreds of eager buyers swarmed through the flee Centre doors -at the 10 a.m, opening and continued until late afternoon, On the steady flow of customers, Mrs. Bogart corn. Mented, "in other years crowds tapered off after a strong start but, this year they kept coming." To accommodate the crowd a fourth checkout was adtted. Tith converters said the success of the sale is due to the many volunteers who give Of their time for two days. Mrs. lilcker said the number of volunteers this year was about 1?0.