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HomeMy WebLinkAboutTimes-Advocate, 1979-05-09, Page 1ACCIDENT KILLS TWO AREA RESIDENTS — A two car crash late Monday evening took the lives of two area residents. Dead are Robert James Vanstone, 21, of RR 2, Dashwood and Marjorie Theresa Arnold, 43, of RR 3, Parkhill. In the top photo Exeter fireman John Wraight examines the Vanstone vehicle while the Arnold auto is shown below. T-A photo Legion will battle move of cenotaph Five others hurt in area Two die in head-on collision Members of the R.E. Pooley branch Legion have let it be known they oppose any plan to move the local cenotaph in the beautifica­ tion project planned by the Business Improvement Area, Secretary Ed Hearn said the Legion wanted to make their thoughts heard over the proposed moving of the cenotaph between the library and the town hall to a location at the rear. “They feel this is very sacred ground and that the veterans remembered on the cenotaph deserve to be kept in a very prominent Man is trapped under machine A Kirkton area man is in stable conditon in South Huron Hospital, Exeter after being trapped under a combine for an hour and a half Monday evening. Ernest Harris, 45 of Concession 11 in Usborne township was pinned by the head of the combine in the process of disconnecting a hydraulic hose. The head dropped pinning Harris to the floor of his shed where he remained until he was freed by Hoffmans’ Am­ bulance. Harris received facial lacerations and was X- rayed, a spokesman for the hospital said Tuesday mor­ ning. Usborne tax rate jumps 10 percent Most residents in the township of Usborne will be facing an increase in 1979 taxes of about 10 percent. The s1979 bylaw setting the mill rate was passed at Tuesday’s regular meeting of council. Clerk-treasurer Harry Strang said the public school farm and residential mill rate was up about 13 mills to 139.783. Strang said the increase came from a rise of about nine mills in the township rate and five mills in the schools levy while the coun­ ty rate was down slightly. The 1979 budget was set at $809,301. A year ago it was $762,500. The report from Durst, Vodden and Bender the township’s auditing firm showed a deficit of $21,000 on 1978 business. Two road building con­ tracts have been let. Dave Siddall of Denfield sub­ mitted the lowest bids for contracts 4 and 5. For No. 4 Siddall’s tender was $8,312. The highest of five received was $12,224. The accepted bid from Siddall for No. 5 was $11,650. The highest figure was $16,150. Council on a three to two decision instructed the building inspector to issue a building permit for a AUXILIARY OFFICERS — The Exeter Legion Auxiliary recently installed their new officers. Members of the executive,in the back row, from the left: Shirley Snell, Estelle Chalmers, Pauline Dyck, Margaret Wragg and treasurer Annie Lawson. Front row: Wilhelmina Jaques, first vice-president Janice Frayne, president Dawn Murray, past president Elsie McDonald, and secretary Dorothy Pfaff. Photo by McDonald position in the Town of Ex­ eter,” Hearn said in a letter expressing the Legion op­ position to any move. He added that a motion had been passed at the last regular meeting of the group to form a committee to op­ pose the move in whatever way necessary. Reeve Si Simmons suggested the letter be turn­ ed over to the BIA with the recommendation that they contact the Legion regar­ ding any beautification plans. v This suggestion was ap­ proved by council. Councillor Ted Wright said some Legion members had contacted him regar­ ding the situation and he had suggested now was the time for them to send a letter ex­ pressing their views. Wright said he had ex­ plained to the veterans that no plan had yet been ap­ proved for the beautification of the area between the library and town hall. Council Jay Campbell suggested some misinfor­ mation had taken place and said that the BIA had no in­ tention to deface or detract from the cenotaph but were interested in trying to enhance the area. He said it was the inten­ tion of the businessmen to include the Legion in the planning process. In his letter, Legion secretary Hearn said .if there was a need to make the area more attractive, the Legion should be advised and they would do so. workshop to Keith Weber. Building inspector Her­ man Van Wieren reported issuing three building per­ mits, three demolition per­ mits and making 10 inspec­ tions during the month of April. Several amendments to the township’s secondary plan have been approved. Three tile drain loan applications totalling $19,300 were accepted. Change meeting for election data Exeter council members decided this week to have their next meeting on May 22, despite the fact some hinted they’d rather stay home to watch the federal election results. Mayor Derry Boyle said he didn’t think the election results were important enough to interfere with town council, but he did ex­ press some displeasure over the fact the Tuesday night session would interfere with his golfing. The meeting has been set for an earlier time to allow members to get home to see the results. The session will start at 7:00 p.m., One Hundred and Fifth Year Increase not warranted Fail to share PUC opinion Exeter council this week unanimously voted to turn down a request from the Public Utilities Commission for an increase inthe amount the town pays for having the -PUC b?.l the sewage sur­ charge. Council now pays 46 cents for each bill and the Com­ mission suggested the price should be increased 14 cents to a new total of 60 cents. PUC manager Hugh Davis sent council a three-page letter and description of the current method of assessing the billing costs in which he noted that the actual cost of a sewage bill in 1978 was 59 cents and that 21.7 percent increase had been added in January of this year and a further increase was ex-’ pected due to the recent wage settlement by the Lon­ don PUC who handle the bill­ ing through their computer. In addition, Davis noted that the cost of postage had in­ creased three cents. “While it is not the inten­ tion of out Commission to make money providing council with this service, they are of the opinion that an increase of 14<p per bill is now warrranted,” the letter said and added that it was hoped they had presented adequate justification that the increase is necessary. However, Reeve Si Sim­ mons quickly led an attack against the suggested in­ crease. He added up the figures to report that it costs the PUC $1.79 for each bill and recommended Mayor Derry Boyle go back to his fellow commissioners “and find out why it costs so much to send out bills”. “In fairness to the general public, the PUC should find out why their costs are so exorbitant,” Simmons said, adding that even if the sewer surcharge was dropped from the PUC bill, the cost for the Two area residents were killed in a violent head-on crash on County Road 2 south-west of Crediton on Monday night. Dead are Marjorie Theresa Arnold 43, of Parkhill, and Robert James Vanstone, 21, of RR 2 Dashwood. Mrs. Arnold’s 13- year-old daughter sustained facial lacerations and exten­ sive bruising and was taken to South Huron Hospital by Hoffman’s Ambulance for treatment. Exeter OPP Constable Wally Tomasik said the imes - Advocate Serving South Huron, North Middlesex JV ^^^k & North Lambton Since 1873 EXETER, ONTARIO, MAY 9, 1979 bills would not change. Councillor Jay Campbell supported Simmons’ argu­ ment, noting that the philosophy seems that costs are going up, so they should be passed on to the tax­ payer. Campbell said the philosophy should be to try and determine why the costs aregoing up. Simmons said it would be cheaper for council to send Must make up mind on industrial growth Reeve Si Simmons ad­ vised his fellow members of Exeter council, Monday, that if they want industrial growth they have to ap­ proach it in a more business­ like manner. Using information gained from a recent conference at Orillia, Simmons suggested that council, the PUC and Deadline is set for easements Plans for off-street park­ ing at the rear of stores on the west side of Main between Ann and John streets could be jeopardized by the tardiness of some of the owners providing easements across their property. Monday night, after lear­ ning that several easements have still not been granted, council decided to set a deadline of June 1 for the owners. If the easements are not forthcoming by that time, money in this year’s town budget for develop­ ment of the parking area behind the stores will be deleted. Mayor Derry Boyle in­ Please turn to page 2 crash occurred at 10:45 p.m. on a straight stretch of road about one mile south of the Crediton Road. Mrs. Arnold was travell­ ing south and Vanstone was northbound. They collided head-on in the southbound lane. Vanstone, formerly of yesterday. Hensall, was trapped in his twisted vehicle and the Ex­ eter fire department was called out shortly before midnight to help free his body from the wreckage. Both cars were totally demolished with damage es- the sewer surcharge bill out with the tax bills four times a year, but clerk Liz Bell said the PUC collect from tenants and council would have no way of doing that. After council unanimously rejected the suggestion for the increase, Mayor Derry Boyle said he had advised Commissioners that it would be difficult to sell council on the new price. the heads of town departments had to sit down and come up with some figures on the cost of ser­ vicing industrial land so that information would be available if any parties ex­ pressed an interest in locating here. The town must answer • what we can provide and where we can provide it, the Reeve said, adding that at present the town does not have control over any in­ dustrial land in the municipality. He said the town had to be prepared to provide ser­ viced land and know at what price it could be offered, so that information could be quickly given to any in­ terested developer. Mayor Derry Boyle asked if Simmons was suggesting the town should land-bank industrial land. Simmons replied in the negative, saying that his suggestion was only that the town had to decide if they want industry and what price they were prepared to pay to attract that industry. He said that development costs for an acre of in­ dustrial land can be as high as $40,000 and the town had to make a decision on how much of that they would ex­ pect to underwrite in an ef­ fort to attract industry. Council members agreed with the suggestions and turned the matter over to their industrial development committee for study and recommendations. “Those are good ideas,” commented Councillor Don Cameron. Boyle said it was the first time he could remember anything good coming from a conference attended by a local council member. The discussion on in­ dustrial development was raised after Spence Cum­ mings, Huron’s develop­ ment officer, wrote council suggesting they should erect a sign at the outskirts of the town advising that there Please turn to page 2 timated at approximately $9,000. The coroner, Dr. William O’Connor, Grand Bend, pronounced the victims dead at the scene. Their bodies were removed to Stratford General Hospital for post mortem examination The accident is still under investigation by the Exeter OPP. Assisting Constable Tomasik were Cpl. Dave Woodward and Constables Bob Whiteford and Al Quinn. The funeral for Mrs. Ar­ nold will be held tomorrow morning from the M. Box and Son Funeral Home in Parkhill. Burial will be in Parkhill Cemetery. The funeral service for Vanstone will be held tomorrow afternoon from the Bonthron Funeral Home in Hensail. Damage high Four people were injured and property damage was listed at $10,000 in four other accidents investigated by the Exeter OPP this week. The most serious of the collisions occurred on Sun­ day in a two-car crash on Highway 21, just south of Cents . . . ... -....a ladder to the balcony of the Wincheslea home of Colin Gilfillan, Saturday. Mr. Gilfillan died from smoke inhalation in the fire and his body is covered by the blankets behind the firemen. Staff photo BATTLE FATAL FIRE — While three cohorts look on, Exeter fireman Norm Tait climbs Careless smoking cited Dies in house fire Careless smoking has been blamed for the fire which claimed the life of a 66-year-old Winchelsea man Saturday morning. Colin Gilfillan, who lived alone in the hamlet six miles east of Exeter on the Kirkton Road, died of smoke inhalation after a fire started in an upholstered chair. The fire was spotted by a neighbour, Elwyn Kerslake, around 10:00 a.m. Joined by Harold Kerslake and Dan Walters, the men had dif­ ficulty entering the house LEGION NAME SLATE - The R. E. Pooley Branch Legion installed their officers at the Exeter hall during a joint meeting with the Auxiliary. Executive members in the back row, from the left: GerCild Campbell, Gerald Skinner, William Dougherty, Norm Ferguson, Harvey Pfaff, Ted Roberts, Don Lee and Eldon Heywood. Front row-, first vice-president Murray Greene, Rev. George Anderson, president Lee Weber, treasurer Vera Armstrong, second vice-president Sam Bowers. Photo by McDonald Case, Elmer Grand Betty, Highway 83. Drivers in­ volved were Grant R.R. 5 London, and Desjardine, R.R. I Bend. Case and his wife, sustained minor injuries and OPP Constable Wally Tomasik set total damage at $6,500. A Londesboro woman, Katherine McKellar, suf­ fered minor injuries in a pedestrian-car collision in Appeals over 60-day term dismissed for strike visitor Appeals against a Brant­ ford man’s 60-day jail sen­ tence for mischief in a Fleck strike incident last year were dismissed Monday by Huron County Judge Francis Carter. Both the prosecution and defence appealed the sen­ tence imposed on Ken Pickering, 34, an employee of Budd Automotive Ltd. in Kitchener and a member of the United Auto Workers. He pleaded guilty to the mischief charge in due to the thick smoke. They finally spotted Mr. Gilfillan’s body in a bedroom on the ground floor and removed him prior to the arrival of the Exeter fire department. The interior of the home was heavily damaged by the fire before being brought un­ der control by the firemen. Jim Hoffman, who was in­ structing a course on Car­ diovascular Pulmonary Resuscitation (CPR) at South Huron Hospital, was rushed to the scene by Ex­ eter Police Constable Kevin Hensail. Ms. McKellar was injured in a collision with a vehicle driven by Glenn Nixon, Hensall, Thursday. The mishap occurred on Albert Street. The other two crashes were on Saturday, the first involving vehicles driven by Phillip Dietrich, RR 3 Zurich, and Paul Denomme, London. They collided on Highway 84 just west of Zurich. provincial court March 7. Pickering admitted that on March 22, 1978, he and another man went to the home of Annette Renno, a non-striking employee of Fleck Manufacturing Ltd. in Huron Park, and threatened her and kicked in her door, causing about $100 damage. He said he had been helping Fleck pickets earlier in the day and had been drinking heavily before going to the Renno home. The 60-day sentence is the Short, who was taking the course. Dr. John Moffatt ac- companied them. Mr. Gilfillan was pronounced dead at the scene by the cor­ oner, Dr. William O’Connor, Grand Bend. An autopsy was per­ formed at Stratford General Hospital. OPP Constable Jim Rogers was in charge of the investigation, assisted by Cpl. Dave Woodward and Constable Frank Giffin. An obituary notice for Mr. Gilfillan appears elsewhere in this issue. Constable Tomasik set total damage at $1,000. The other Saturday crash occurred on the Kirkton Road just east of Usborne sideroad 12-13. A vehicle driven by Darryl Alexander, R.R. 1 Kincardine, failed to negotiate the curve and ended up in the ditch. Damage was estimated at $2,500 by Constable Jim Rogers and there were two minor injuries. harshest to date for a con­ viction arising from the stormy, 162-day Fleck strike which ended in August. UAW lawyer Len MacLean told Monday’s appeal hearing the sentence was “harsh and excessive.” He said Pickering is a father, an active union member and an involved member of his community with no criminal record. The three days he spent in jail awaiting bail were enough, the lawyer said. MacLean noted that other persons convicted of Fleck- related offences, including assault, wilful damage and obstructing police, had been fined, not jailed. Crown Attorney Garry Hunter argued the 60-day sentence wasn’t stiff enough. Pickering “displayed the worst possible conduct imaginable,” he said. “It’s conduct that one has come to expect in a fascist country or a banana republic, not in a democratic society.” The judge noted the offence occurred on private property, not the picket line. People have the right to feel safe in their homes, he said. “This is not a matter that can be compared with picking flowers from a neighbor’s garden.” Carter said he realized the Fleck strike was an emotional time, but said he felt provincial Judge Fred Olmstead dealt fairly with the case when he sentenced Pickering. “In England, sentences of 18 months or more are not uncommon” for similar offences, said Carter. UAW international Please turn to page 2 He's distraught over recreation Councillor Jay Campbell reported this week he had “distraught” feelings regar­ ding recreation in Exeter, but quickly added he was op­ timistic that things will be improving. He said he was disturbed over the fact people wishing to make contributions in the recreation field are ap­ parently unable to do so. “There’s something wrong,” he said, suggesting to rec board members Derry Boyle and Don Cameron that he hoped they could find a solution. Campbell indicated that five or six people had recently withdrawn their services in the field of recreation. The latest in that category was his wife, who resigned from the rec ad­ visory committee last week. Earlier in the meeting, Campbell had questioned if the rec centre board of management planned to make reports to council, saying he felt like a fifth wheel in that he had no in­ formation on what is happening. Mayor Boyle said that reports would be forthcom­ ing in a month or so after new rec centre ad­ ministrator Ian Smith gets a chance to get caught up in his work.