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HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Citizen, 1990-03-21, Page 35THE CITIZEN, WEDNESDAY, MARCH 21, 1990. PAGE 3. Threshers outline ambitious plans for fairground improvements As George Poortinga of Auburn dives into the grabbleton, curious mom Pat waits to see what he pulls out at the annual bazaar held by the Blyth Christian Reformed Church on Wednesday night in the Blyth arena. Chairperson of the bazaar, Helen Lapp (left) was in charge of the event that made $1,832. Rutabaga Festival gets council boost Park meeting Continued from page 1 project. Mrs. Grubb argued that “Piggy backing”, submitting the same bills to two different mini­ stries, couldn’t be done but that the PRIDE grant could be applied for the amount not covered by the Capital Conservation grant if coun­ cil so wished. However, she said, the original $35,000 allocated un­ der the PRIDE grant (council had applied for the project under PRIDE when it thought it might not get the original grant) had been reallocated because of cost over­ runs in other projects such as the Lions Club’s wading pool and the dishwasher for the arena. “We told the ball group they wouldn’t get the PRIDE grant if the one-third grant came through,” Councillor Dave Lee said. ‘‘Is it right that we should open the purse strings to go over budget?” Councillor Sparling said time is /^becoming an enemy in getting the ork^done and the groups involved seem to be getting more entrench­ ed in their positions. The amount the council had asked for from the ball group would amount to only $9 a member, he said. Blyth. People Mr. and Mrs. Jack Johnson, Kari and Kurt of London visited with their parents, Mr. and Mrs. Alvin Snell on Wednesday and Thursday last week. In last week’s story of the successful Blyth Legion Dart team the name of Bill Bearss was unfortunately omitted. Sorry about that. June Jacklin and Don Buchanan had the high scores at the weekly euchre party at Blyth Memorial Hall March 12. Mildred McNall and Lloyd App­ leby had the low scores. Lillian Appleby and Lillian Letherland had the most lone hands. Len Shob- brook was sitting in the lucky chair. planned Meanwhile it still seems to be difficult to find out just how much over budget the project is. Mrs. Grubb said Tuesday that bills submitted for Ministry approval at this point total the full $36,000 originally budgeted for in the grant application. Not submitted was a bill for $5,000 for fencing which can be submitted under the PRIDE grant. There was no firm estimate as to how much it would take to finish the project she said. While she said the Radford bill, which was $11,559 instead of the expected $6,000 under the original budget (of which the company and its principals donated $8,000 back) was the reason the project was over budget, she also admitted that the electrical contractor’s bill was near­ ly $2,800 more than had been allowed for in the budget because of extra work he was asked to do. This, however, had been an expen­ diture approved by the ball group, she said. Mrs. Grubb had complained at Wednesday’s meeting that she was not invited to a site meeting at the ball diamond on September 11 at which the company says the work was approved by the ball group. Two councillors were present at the meeting. NOTICE RATEPAYERS VILLAGE OF BLYTH The Regular Meetings of Blyth Council will be the second Wednesday and the fourth Tues­ day of each month. PLEASE NOTE: March 27th meeting rescheduled to March 29, 1990. Blyth Council. Representatives of the Huron Pioneer Thresher and Hobby Asso­ ciation presented an ambitious plan to improve the Blyth fairgrounds to village council Wednesday night. President Jim Sloan, accom­ panied by Ray Hallahan, Carman Craig and Marian Hallahan presen­ ted a letter to council containing a priorized list of projects the group would like to undertake ranging from lining the inside of one of the buildings at the fairground to expanding camping facilities. Many of the projects are under the funding set aside for the group under the village’s PRIDE project which will provide funds to match the Threshers’ contribution. Top priority goes to the lining of the small shed with steel at a cost of $4,000. Next is the provision of an all-weather area near the saw­ mill with gravel put over the fill deposited from the King Street construction. The village would be asked to pick up 25 per cent of the cost, the Threshers 25 and PRIDE would pick up 50 per cent. A new entrance to the park from Blyth Village Councillors gave their backing to the proposed Blyth Rutabaga Festival Wednesday by agreeing to a $5,000 loan to help get the project started. Festival chairman John Elliott approached council to see if it would provide the funding noting it would take money to get the project off the ground to hire bands and groups for the parade and order souvenirs. Councillors agreed to support the Festival. ‘‘They have to have proper financing,” Councillor Dave Lee said. ‘‘We have to show we are serious (about the event). It could be a lot of fun and make some NOTICE OF PUBLIC MEETING The Blyth and District Community Centre will be hosting a Public Meeting Wednesday April 4th, 1990 at 8:00 p.m. in the Auditorium of the Community Centre. The Local Ontario Provincial Police and a representative from the Liquor Control Board will be on hand to discuss the proper application for administering Liquor Permits. Interested citizens and organizations are invited to attend. Spring Savings j V4 WEBSTER’S CLOTHING & FOOTWEAR [Open 6 Days] BLYTH 523-9709 Gypsy Lane from the south end of the park would be constructed at a cost of $3,000. The camping area at the north­ west of the fairgrounds would be expanded at a cost of $5500 for new electrical services. Despite ex­ panded facilities at last year’s Thresher Reunion, there were still more campers than space. Changes in landscaping in the area would help make space for more campers at a cost of $1500. These projects will go ahead if the Radford Ball Diamond is not completed in time to be used for the September Thresher Reunion. If the park is completed the Threshers would also like to make the roadway along the east side of the fairgrounds to accommodate a row of campers inside the park along Gypsy Lane. The cost of this is estimated to be $3500 - $4,000. New electrical services and water outlets in the area would add another $3500 to the cost. The group also expressed inter­ est in helping provide a new permanent washroom facility near money.” ‘‘To do something like this we have to be prepared to come up with some financing for a group,” Reeve Albert Wasson said. Mr. Elliott proposed that the council be prepared to pick up half of any deficit if there was one. He said he felt the parade, the biggest event of the weekend, should be self-financing through entry fees and donations from those area businesses that preferred not to enter the parade. Businesses he had polled were willing to make donations to offset half of any deficit that might occur, however. Council agreed to the proposal. the Radford diamond, possibly using funds from a major fundrais­ ing event to celebrate the 25th anniversary of the Reunion in 1991. The officials told council they had made contingency plans in the event the ball diamond is not ready, renting additional land for use for events. Mr. Sloan also said his group was willing to put up 150 per cent security that it would meet its responsibilities in case of cost overruns. ‘‘It’s not unreasonable to expect that projects do sometimes go over budget,” Mr. Craig said. “We need to build in a contin­ gency”. Councillor Steve Sparling said he felt the security clause was ‘‘some­ thing council could consider as a requirement before getting in­ volved” in all similar development agreements in future. ‘‘We haven’t been accustomed to asking for it (security),” said Reeve Albert Wasson, ‘‘but it is common procedure (elsewhere).” Councillors indicated their ap­ proval of the group’s plans. Does your T.V. Antenna need Then contact Poplar Lane Antenna Service Your Channel Master & Mini State dealer for Top Quality parts & expert repair Call us now to make a date for repairs 523-9685 197 Hamilton St., Blyth Behind Betty & Irvin Bowes’ Residence J