HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Citizen, 1987-01-28, Page 1Inside
VOL. 3 NO. 4
■grave, Ethel,
Londesborough, Walton and surrounding townships.
WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 28, 1987.40 CENTS
Brussels News Page2
Blyth news Page3
Editorials Page4
Forum Page 5
Letters to the editor Page7
Farm PagelO
Sports Page 12-13
Minister’s Study Page 15
Classified Page 16-17
Entertainment Page 19
the county on Friday and Saturday. Above, riders tackle fresh powder
snow at McCutcheon’s gravel pit on the 6th Concession of Morris.
\ I
& *•
More than 200 snowmobilers took part in the Brussels Lions Club’s
annual Polar Daize Poker Rally on Sunday, with high spirits and
brilliant sunshine the aftermath of the two-day blizzard which swept
1986 was boom year for Brussels
With almost three quarters of a
million dollars worth of building
permits issued in Brussels in 1986,
the village has firmly established
itself as one of the liveliest
communities in Huron County,
enjoying a building boom un
matched in recent years.
Although no single reason for
this upward trend has been
indentified, it is commonly believ
ed that Brussels, at only about 45
Fire destroys barn,
livestock killed
minutes driving time from the
Kitchener-Waterloo metropolis, is
rapidly becoming a bedroom com
munity tothecities where home
prices have skyrocketed over the
past few years. You can put a lot of
mileage on a car for the $30,000 to
$50,000 you can save on a family
home by buying out of the city.
In 1986, the Brussels Municipal
Office issued building permits
worth $748,499, with the single
Brussels
robber
gets 8 yrs.
A man was charged in connec
tion with a robbery at the Brussels
Variety Store November 29 was
sentenced to eight years in jail after
an appearance Monday in God
erich Provincial Court.
Milo (Tom) Wood, 22, of Sea
forth, appeared on 12 counts,
including five of robbery, two of
theft under $1,000, one of theft
over $1,000, one of possession of
stolen property, one of using a
forged document, one of breaking
and entering, and one of attempted
robbery or being an accessory to a
robbery. In the original report of
the Brussels incident, Mr. Wood’s
name was wrongly reported as
“Mark”.
A second man charged in
connection with the Brussels inci
dent appeared in Goderich Provin
cial Court on January 19, and was
remanded to April 6, when a trial
date will be set. Gary Melhuish, 24,
of Seaforth, faces charges of two
counts of robbery, one count of
theft of property valued at over
$1,000, and one count of attempted
robbery or being an accessory to a
robbery.
A 16-year-old youth, who cannot
be identified under the Young
Offenders Act, and who was
alleged to have remained in the car
during the Brussels robbery, was
also charged in some of the
incidents, including one in Staffa
on the day following the Brussels
robbery, when a 65-year-old wo
man was tied to her bed while
intruders ransacked her home.
Two masked intruders entered
Brussels Variety Store in the
evening of November 29, threaten
ed the clerk on duty with a weapon
which was later discovered to be a
pair of scissors, and made off with
Fire of unknown origin destroy
ed a barn filled with livestock on a
Londesboro-area farm early Wed
nesday morning, January 21.
Blyth firemen were called to the
farm of Bob Hillis, RR 1, Londes-
boro about 12:30 a.m. to find the
large barn already engulfed in
flames. There was nothing that
could be done to save the building
but firemen remained on the scene
for several hours because a strong
wind was fanning flames toward
the Hillis home.
Fire Chief Irvin Bowes said nine
sows, a number of feeder pigs, 500
chickens, and a small number of
cattle and sheep were lost in the
fire.
The situation for the firemen was
complicated when they received a
second fire call while at the Hillis
fire. The call was to a site about a
mile away but after investigating,
the firemen found out that it was
just a second call to the same fire
from someone who thought the fire
was in a different location.
People as far away as Vanastra
reported being able to see the
flames.
largestpermitbeingissued last
February for the construction of
the new EMA grocery store, which
opened for business last summer.
Seven new homes were started
in the village, with a total value of
$443,000, or an average price of
more than $63,000; four of these
were started in July alone.
Permits for $55,000 worth of
renovations were issued to two
local businesses and one institu
tional venture for expansion, plus
an additional $10,000 for a portable
office. The remaining $40,000 in
building permits was issued for 22
private projects ranging in value
from a couple of hundred dollars to
more than $7,000, mostly involving
items such as garages, toolsheds,
sundecks, new roofs and siding.
By comparison, in 1985 the total
value of building permits issued
was $330,585. This included three
new homes at a total value of
$147,000; plus $183,585 in com
mercial and private renovations.
The cost of Brussels new Lions
Community swimming pool, ap
proximately $84,000, however, is
not reflected in the total figure for
1985 building permits issued.
As a municipal project, the pool
construction did not require a
building permit, according to
village clerk Hugh Hanly. Adding
the pool’s cost to the 1985 total
would have put the actual value of
additions to the village at well over
$400,000.
$350incash. The cash was later
recovered by Ontario Provincial
Police who apprehended two men
and a youth between Seaforth and
Clinton, following a tip-off from a
Seaforth civilian who told police he
had overheard them talking about
the Brussels incident.
Cold snap puts Blyth arena
back in business again
The current cold snap chilling
the region has been a boon to local
figure skaters and broomball and
hockey players, as the low temper
atures have made it possible to
keep natural ice in the Blyth and
District Community Centre, and to
return to a normal scheduling of ice
time.
Theiceplantsuffereda major
breakdown on January 6, which
combined with an unusually mild
January thaw to ruin the ice surface
and bring all arena activities to a
standstill until temperatures fell or
repairs could be made.
Although a new brine chiller was
ordered immediately, and was
originally expected at the first of
the week, arena ice-maker Murray
Black said Monday that the
$23-$24,OOO component had been
delayed, and would not likely
arrive until this Friday or next
Monday.
He said that most programs at
the rink had been cancelled for only
about a week, but that all activities
had run as scheduled since Janu
ary 17, and would continue as long
as the temperature stays at least as
low as -10.
The major casualty was the Blyth
Broomball League tournament,
which took in rinks as far away as
Barrie. Originally scheduled for
January 21-25, the annual event
had to be cancelled twice because
of uncertainty about the ice, and
now cannot be fitted in again this
season.