HomeMy WebLinkAboutTimes-Advocate, 1980-08-27, Page 1Council and fire by Hawleaf lawyer
reserves decision on fle
Asks for consideration of costs.
min
abdicated their respon-
sibilities at the best and had
Produced a purposeful
cluslon at the worst,
"They zoned me out of
existence: What a beautiful
game!" Fogler saidcouncil
may AS well have zoned the
DEMONSTRATE NEW EQUIPMENT — Area 3 district fire chief Norm Hyde and deputy
chief Dave McDonald demonstrate how their new extrication hydraulic rescue kit works. The
kit was presented to the fireball by Local 1620 of the United Auto Workers and the Stephen
Optimist Club. It is used in auto accidents to open locked car doors. Staff photo
HONOUR LENGTHY POSTAL SERVICE — Earl Guenther of Dashwood was honoured Friday for 70 years of service to the
Canada Post Office department. He is retiring as a highway service driver, but, will continue as a rural mail courier for at
least one more year. Above, Mr. Guenther receives a stamp album and plaque from district and area postal officials Ben
Baker and Ray Jones. T-A photo
F
NAME UAW QUINN — Christina Million, R.R. 2 Zurich reprstsentirg
Festival Queen. From the left are first runnerup Debbie Taylor, Exeter;
runnerup Michelle Regier.
Lit
Oath's Shoe Store was named 1980 Zurich lean ristinia Millson; 1979 Queen Carol Ross and second
Staff photo
EXETER, ONTARIO, AUGUST 27,' 1980 One Hundred and Eighth Year
Serving South Huron, North Middlesex & North Lambton Since 1873
Price Per Copy 35 Cents
NEW FIREHALL EQUIPMENT — The Huron Park station of the Stephen Township Fire Department was recently presented
with a chain saw from Trail Manufacturing Limited in Huron Park and an extrication hydraulic rescue kit from Local 1620 of
the United Auto Workers and the Stephen Optimist Club. From left to right are Larry Henderson, Trail Manufacturing Limited
representative; Dave McDonald, deputy fire chief; Norm Hyde, Area 3 district chief; Pat Lane, president Local 1620 UAW;
and Jim Gage, president elect Stephen Optimist club. Staff photo
shopping centre as
residential as the proposed
highway commercial
designationwillows few uses
Be also discounted the
claim' a zoning line which
designates part of the
shopping centre as irighway
commercial and the balance
as industrial had been aimed .
at Sprackman, "It (the line)
was left where it was," be,
explained.
In his argument, Mitchell
said the town had followed
appropriate planning -
processes and noted the new
documents had been made
by man to interpret by man.
"It's not perfect," he ex-
plained, but went on to say it
represented the planning
views and wishes of this
community and Obviously
could not be expected to keep
everyone happy. ,
The Stratford lawyer said
Sprackman had been ad-
vised of the policy and intent
of the new documents ,and
took exception to the
argument things had been
changed without Sprack7
man's knowledge.
It was suggested' the
developer was the author of
his own misfortune,-and the
municipality should not have
to defend the plan because
Sprackman's planning was
not sophisticated enough to
listen to what he was being,
told by the municipality'.
He filed as evidence a
decision of the OMB that was
upheld by the Ontario
cabinet over a hearing in St.
Marys where a firm headed
by Spraclanan had won a
hearing in a similar matter
where it had been argued.
that large space users (such
as Zehrs and Canadian Tire)
should locate on the
periphery as opposed to •the
core.
At that hearing, Huron
Please turn to page 2
years in the Armed Forces.
Making presentations
Friday were Southwestern
district director Ray Jones
and central area manager
Ben Baker.
Jones presented a special
plaque marking 70 years of
public service and Baker
presented a large gatefold
stamp album from Post-
master General Andre
Ouellet.
Earl Guenther's postal
career spans eight decades
from the horse and buggy
days to today's satellite mail
transmissions.
Canada was celebrating its
43rd birthday when Earl
began hauling mail from
Dashwood to Parkhill on
July 1, 1910. Since he was
only 14 years old at the time,
the contract was given to his
father and Earl actually
worked for hint
Runaway vehicle
strikes its driver
Exeter '5 planning
procederes were soundly
criticized, and equally
supported, as lawyers Made
their final presentation to the
OMB hearing regardng the
objections submitted by
Hawleaf Developments Ltd.
over the new official plan
and zoning bylaw as it af-
fects the north end shopping
centre and adjoining lands.
The hearing into that
single aspect lasted for the
•After taking the better
part of three days to hear one
objection, the Ontario
Municipal Board heard
about a dozen objections to
Exeter's new zoning bylaw
and official plan at its wind-
up session Thursday mor-
ning.
Mast of those objections
had already been' handled by
a "housekeeping" bylaw
passed by council and which
satisfied the concerns of the
applicants and the OMB
members were told most
objections had been with-
drawn.
'The only matters on which
the OMB will be asked to rule
were two objections sub-
mitted by local developer
Len Veri through his lawyer,
Kim McLean.
They advised they were
concerned about the change
in the side yard
requirements in the new
bylaw as it affects Veri's
subdivision near the mobile
home park.
Veri said he had plans to
build five homes there this
year, but the houge plans
selected wouldn't work
under the new requirements.
Huron planning director
Gary Davidson said the
change had been made at the
suggestion of the fire
department who would like
to see a minimum of 12 feet
between buildings` so they.
Suspect held
for preliminary
Charles Harold Klopp
appeared in provincial court
in Sarnia Friday but his case
was remanded until August
29. Judge G.G. Marshman
said that a date will be fixed
for a preliminary hearing at
that time.
Klopp, 32, has been
charged with first degree
murder following the death
of his mother Janet Klopp on
June 23, Mrs. Klopp's body
was found in the yard at the
family home at 71 Gill Road
in Grand Bend.
Klopp has been in custody
for observation at the facility
for the criminally insane at
Penetanguishene since the
shooting.
He is being represented by
Toronto lawyer Gerry
Kluwak.
better part of three days and
the OMB members, Miss
Dorethy IVicRebb and C.G.
Charm,. q.C,, announced
they were reserving their
decision,
It could be some months
before the outcome is known,
In his. final argument,
Lloyd Fogler, acting for
Hawleaf, repeatedly at-
tacked council for their
handling of the matter, while
town solicitor Mike Mitchell
defended their actions.
Fogler suggested they
down-zoned the property,
were piny of bad faith, had
For the second time this
summer, the Exeter OPP
have investigated an ac-
cident in which a driver was
struck by his/her own car.
The latest incident oc-
curred on Friday when
Audrey McIntosh, Zurich,
sustained minor injuries
when her car reversed after
being parked on Goshen
Street north of Highway 84 in
Zurich and knocked her to
the pavement as, she was
walking behind it.
The vehicle continued" on
and struck a light standard.
Constable Bob 2,'Whitefortiv
investigated and set damage
at $200.
Earlier this summer, a
Hensel/ man sustained a
broken leg when he was run
over by his vehicle which
slipped into gear and rolled
backward.
The first of the week's
accidents occurred on
Monday when a vehicle
driven by Eugene King, RR 1
Exeter, struck.a tree after it
left a concession road west of
Highway 81 in Stephen
Township.
The driver sustained
minor injuries in the ac-
cident investigated by
• ,Constable Jack Straughan,
On Tuesday, a vehicle
driven by Donald McGee,
Goderich, went out of control
on Highway 4 south of the
Crediton Read in heavy
fog. It struck a culvert in the
ditch and damage was set at
WE'LL BE LATE
Due to the Labor Day
holiday, The Exeter Times-
Advocate will be published
one day later than usual next
week. It will be printed
Wednesday night for
Thursday morning delivery.
Advertising deadlines will
be extended to Tuesday. The
display advertising deadline
will be 2:00 p.m. and the
deadline for classified ad-
vertisements will be 4:00
p.m.
The best known mailman
in this part of Western
Ontario has retired partially.
Earl Guenther of Dash-
wood will be making his last
run Friday, August 30 on the
highway postal pickup he
has been servicing for the
past 70 years.
E.R. as he is best known,
will continue to be the rural
mail carrier out of Hay Post
office which runs from the
north end of Exeter along
Highway 83 to Sarepta.
Earl Guenther was
honoured at the Exeter Post
Office Friday afternoon for
his long service to the
Government of Canada. His
total career .years in the
postal ranks total 181 years.
Included are 70 years' on
the highway service, 66
years as a rural mail
carrier, 43 years as Post
Master of Dashwood and two
The Huron Park station of
the Stephen Township Fire
Department recently
received extrication
equipment• from local ser-
vice clubs and organizations.
With the joint effort of the
Local 1620 United Auto
Workers, Optimists of
Stephen and Huron Park
Fire Fighters Association,
an hydraulic rescue kit and
camera were presented.
A chain saw produced at
Huron Park was donated by
Trail Manufacturing
Limited for smoke ven-
tilation.
More and more fire
departments are being
called to assist in the rescue
of trapped victims in
vehicles as well as buildings.
This is why District Fire
Chief Norm Hyde attended a
one-week extrication course
By this time however Earl
was an old hand in the
cartage business having
taken a team of horses and a
wagon load of furniture to
London when he was an even
younger lad of seven. He
returned the following day
with a load of beer for
the local hotel.
When this fact was
mentioned at the Friday
reception Earl commented,
"No, I didn't have a drink of
that beer or have I at any
time since."
As soon as possible from
the beginning, Earl Guen-
ther used trucks to take mail
to Parkhill and back and
later was co-founder of
Guenther-Tuckey Transp-
orts, one of Ontario's largest
cartage firms,
Even se he did not forget
the traditional reliability of
horse power and continued to
developer Jerry Sprackman
ould not rent the vacant
space in the centre because
the new zoning allows only
those uses which are, already
in place and does not present
reasonable other uses. He
noted that Sprackman had
testfified he could not
rernortgage the centre
because or its non-
conforming use and this was
termed a "dear penalty."
In response, Mitchell said
he took great exception to
the suggestion the town had
acted in bad faith and said
there was no evidence to
support that charge.
They didn't roll over and
play dead when the "big shot
developer" arrived, he
stated in their defence.
Mitchell said the centre
was a conforming use and
couldn't believe that any
money lender wouldn't
believe a letter from the
municipality to this effect.
(in August 1979) at the
Ontario Fire Marshal's
College in Gravenhurst.
According to Chief Hyde,
fire and explosion of a
vehicle is always a
possibility, therefore, saws
and cutting torches should
not be used. Alternatives, he
says, are tools such as
hydraulic spreader-jacks,
pneumatic chisels, come-a-
longs and other hand tools
which reduce . the risk of
sparks.
During the Gravenhurst
course, which then was the
first of its kind in Ontario,
O.B. Streeper, an instructor
from Chenoa, Illinois,
stressed victim care during
an extrication.
"It's one thing to cut and
pull a vehicle apart, but it's a
different ball game to do it
with someone trapped in-
side," he said.
use horses on a regular basis
until after the Second World
War. It was 1947 to be
exact.Back in the early days,
Earl would put his truck fleet
up on blocks in October and
use horses and cutters until
the following spring.
About this practice he said
Friday, "Tires in those days
were made of solid rubber
and were almost useless in
heavy snow."
Earl lost his Parkhill run
in 1913 with the introduction
of rural mail service to
Canada. Undaunted, he
began delivering mail on a
rural route out of Hay Post
Office on September 30, 1913
and has continued to do so
until the present time and he
plans to continue until
September of 1981.
Earl reminisced about the
early rural carrier days
saying, "We just threw the
Fined for
polluting
The first conviction in
Southwestern Ontario for
pulluting a stream by a
farmer has been obtained by
the Ontario environment
ministry's London region
office.
John Jacobs, RR 1, Zurich
was fined $300 in provincial
court inGoderich Friday for
dumping pig manure into a
water course in Hay
Township on February 8, a
violation of a section of the.
Ontario Water Resources
Commission Act. Jacobs
pleaded guilty.
Fred Durham, manager of
industrial abatement for the
region, said Jacobs pumped
manure from a tank to the
ground and the manure
flowed into a municipal
drain.
Two London-area men
have also been jointly
charged with discharging
manure into a London
Township water course April
17 and are to appear in
London provincial court
October 16, and Richard
Moffit of Brooke Township in
Lambton County has
been charged with twcicounts
of the OWRC section.
REMANDED
A Lucan woman arrested
after a police vigil at a house
August 7 appeared in
provincial court Thursday
charged with dangerous use
of a firearm.
Maureen Therrien, 41, of
279 Oake St. was ordered to
return to court for a plea
hearing September 4.
Armed police, including an
OPP tactical squad, ringed
the home after neighbors
reported several shotgun
blasts. One shot from inside
the building smashed
through the front door.
mail off at the gate and in
most cases the dog would
take it to the house."
In 1923 he became Post-
master in Dashwood and
filled that duty until 1966
when he gave it up at the age
of 70.
He explained this, "At that
time Dashwood was just a
revenue office and I was able
to continue past the normal
retirement age of 65."
Beginning September 1,
Earl's place on the highway
service run will be taken
over by his grandson Jim
Guenther of Exeter.
The run leaves Exeter
each morning at 6:30 a.m.
and covers Crediton, Grand
Bend, Dashwood, Zurich,
Hensall, Kippen, Hay and
back to Exeter in about two
hours. The same routine is
done each afternoon
beginning at about 3:40 p.m.
$2,000 by Constable
Whiteford.
The driver suffered minor
injuries.
There was one accident
investigated by Constable
Whiteford on Saturday, it
occurring on a private
laneway east of concession 6-
7 of Stephen. A vehicle
driven by David Cooper,
Exeter, went out of control
and struck a parked vehicle
owned by Peter Heath,
Huron Park. ,
Total damage was listed at
$1,400.
,q...„Theeefinal; =accident wees,
'investigated on Sunday when
a vehicle driven by Daniel
Galloway, RR 1 Crediton,
veered into a ditch and
struck a hydro pole on
sideroad 5, east of con-
cession 6-7 of Stephen.
The driver had minor
injuries but no report of
damage was available at
press time. Constable
Straughan investigated.
No insurance
nets $500, fine.
Only one case was heard
by Justice of the Peace
Douglas Wedlake in Exeter
court, Tuesday.
He imposed a fine of $503
against Calvin Eugene
Willard, RR 1 Centralia, who
pleaded guilty to driving a
motor vehicle with no in-
surance.
He was given 15 days to
pay the penalty on the
charge for which he had
pleaded guilty.
Housekeeping law
handles objections
can get vehicles through to
fight fires.
The town's solicitor, Mike
Mitchell, noted that while the
alignment of side yards had
been changed, the total
requirement was basically
the same and would mean
only changes in site location.
He said the requests may
have to go before the com-
mittee of adjustment and he
recommended the town sit
down with Veri and see if
they can help him do what he
wants on a site specific
basis.
The other objection cited
by the developer was over
the requirement for the rear
yard setback of 12 metres in
the core area as it affects his
proposed shopping mall
development on the
properties between
Gerrard's and Pat's Pets.
McLean said they wanted
the requirement reduced to
15 feet, indicating this would
allow a right-of-way around
the entire facility for trucks.
Mitchell countered that
this would not provide any
parking, but Veri said there
was ample nearby at the
town hall lot. Davison said
there was a possible need for
parking for employees who
would be working at the
boutique stores planned by
Veri.
Davidson said that under
such circumstances as the
planned development, it may
be possible to look at the
whole design and allow some
encroachments on a specific
site plan basis.
Veri had expressed .some.
concern over the
requirement for an 11,000
square foot lot where septic
tanks are used, but withdrew
the objection after learning
the Huron County Health
Unit wouldn't approve a
building permit for lots
smaller than that where
sewers were not available.
The objection stemmed
over lots near the curling
rink which can not be served
by town sewers without a
pumping station.
McLean had suggested it
would require a prospective
home builder to use two lots
when it may be possible to
use only one and a half. He
based that on his opinion that
the lot size only had to be
7500 square feet for septic
tanks and not the newer
figure which was reported by
Davidson. ,
At the conclusion of
Thursday morning's session,
Mitchell and Davidson an-
swered several concerns
that had been submitted in a
letter from the ministry of
housing and it was again
indicated most had been
taken care of.
"I think they've done very
well," Mitchell said in his
final comment on the
procedures taken by council
and the planning board
regarding the ' new
documents.
The OMB reserved
decision on all matters
presented to it.
for the facility.
The Toronto lawyer said
he was. reserving the
question of costs, but asked
the oNIS. to, give some
direction. to that issue,
hinting that the costs in-
volved: should be assessed
against the municipality for
proceeding improperlyenthe ,
zoning changes and for bad
faith; bad planning,
discrimination, denying uses
and down-zoning.
"They solVed their
problem by zoning us out of
existence," he said, after
criticising "The shallow and
narrow ways of this
discretionary council."
He asked the OMB to order
• the town to zone the existing
shopping centre as general
.commercial and the ad-
joining vacant lands to the
east as highway commercial
with 'an extended list of.
permitted uses, -
It was argued that
Firemen receive
extrication device
Had to find special plaque
Plans semi-retirement at 84
Mailman serves 1 81 years