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The Citizen, 1989-10-18, Page 1VOL. 5 NO. 42 Serving Brussels, Blyth, Auburn, Belgrave, Ethel, Londesborough, Wafton and surrounding townships. WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 18, 1989.50 CENTS Blyth to fight LCBO rejection Blyth village councillors decided. Wednesday night, to press the Liquor Control Board of Ontario to change its decision against opening an LCBO outlet in Blyth. The rejection of Blyth as a possible store site was contained in a letter sent to Jack Riddell, M.P.P. for Huron by C. Ball, Director of Store Planning and Development for the LCBO. Mr. Ball said: “The market study indicated that there was little retail support to create a commer­ cial focus for the area and that there is no growth anticipated. It is also expected the majority of sales achieved would be transferred from the surrounding stores in Clinton, Seaforth, Brussels and Wingham, which have been experiencing sales declines. The study conclud­ ed that the Village of Blyth could not support an LCBO outlet.” Councillor Dave Lee said that since voters in Blyth approved having an LCBO store in last fall’s municipal election, (a 79 per cent vote yes), “I guess we should try as long as we can. We should keep slugging away at them.” Clerk-treasurer Helen Grubb said she couldn’t understand the decision after the information that had been forwarded to the LCBO pointing out the vitality of the business area and the presence of more than 40,000 visitors a year to the Blyth Festival. Lots of other villages like Teeswater and Mild- may have been given outlets even though they’re within a few miles of other stores. Councillor Steve Sparling said he could understand the reasoning to some extent. “I’m sure the way these people look at it is that the population hasn’t increased and people can drive to a store 15 minutes in any direction,” he said. “I think what the business people would like to do is to provide as many services as possible to keep people from driving out of town.” When people drive to other towns to buy liquor they’ll also buy other things, he said. Council agreed to keep pressing for a store for the village. The latest efforts to get a liquor store had been initiated by Rick Aylsworth who wanted to rent out a portion of the Blyth Distributing building (formerly Wallace Turkey Pro­ ducts) at the north end of the village for the store. & Family affair Ministers from all over the Huron Diocese were on hand Sunday night at Trinity Anglican Church in Blyth for the induction service for Rev. David Fuller, rectorof Trinity Church in Blyth and St. John’s in Brussels. Among the priests taking part were (front row) Rev. Doug Fuller of London, (retired), father of the new rector; Rev. David Fuller; (back) Rev. Peter Baldwin, St. George’s, Goderich; Rev. June Hough, St. Peter’s, Dorchester. Pork producers protest levy Huron County Pork Producers may appeal a ruling of the Ontario Pork Producers Marketing Board (OPPMB) that would see already low pork prices hit with a $2 per hog levy. A meeting of county pork pro­ ducers has been called at Hullett Central School in Londesboro Oct. 26 at 8 p.m. to seek support of producers for an appeal against the levy through the Ontario Farm Products Marketing tribunal. The $2 levy, Bruce Bergsma, president of the Huron County Pork Produ­ cers explained, is designed to help Canadian packing companies over­ Brussels ratepayers’ meeting tonight Brussels ratepayers will have a chance to ask their representatives questions when a ratepayers meet­ ing is held tonight (Wednesday) at the Brussels, Morris and Grey Community Centre. The meeting, to be held at 7:30 p.m. in the upstairs auditorium, will see village councillors present to speak with local residents. come a countervailing tarriff im­ posed by the United States on Canadian pork imports. The levy is part of a national program by the Canadian Pork Council in which nine of 10 provinces had agreed to support exports to offset the duty. What has Huron producers par­ ticularly upset, Mr. Bergsma says, is that at the semi-annual meeting of the OPPMB in September, a resolution was presented from the floor and approved by the member­ ship that the Board not take part in the program. The OPPMB later overturned the vote and decided to take part in the program anyway. Representatives of the Maitland Valley Conservation Authority, Brussels Fire Department and the Wingham -and District Hospital Board have also been invited to take part. The recently completed survey of Brussels residents and what they see as the needs of the village will also be discussed. The executive of the Huron producers recently met and voted to appeal the decision but, Mr. Bergsma said, he hopes the Londesboro meeting will give the executive the support to push the appeal. The thinking of the OPPMB, Mr. Bergsma says, is that if Canadian packers aren’t supported finan­ cially by producers, they won’t export into the U.S. and Canadian prices will be under even more pressure than they already are. The Huron group feels if that’s the case, let the packers stop exporting and let prices fall and the whole system get straightened out. He feels that the U.S. producers may use the producers levy to the packers as yet another subsidy and come down even harder on im­ ports. He argues that Ontario farmers are being hit hard by the program to pay for problems that may be created more by other provinces. Ontario, he said, exports only 18-19 per cent of its pork while Quebec exports 44 per cent and the western provinces 40 per cent. Blyth, Festival reach agreement The Village of Blyth and Blyth Centre for the Arts have signed an agreement covering the expansion of Blyth Memorial Hall and its linking with the Centre’s admini­ stration building to the south. Village council passed a by-law authorizing the signing of the agreement at its Wednesday night meeting. The agreement does not cover such possible sticky subjects as who will pay what of additional expenses incurred when the new building is operating. These will be covered in a lease agreement still to be negotiated. Covered in the agreement, which council hired a lawyer to help draft, are such things as ownership of the building. The Centre, which oper­ ates the Blyth Festival, has agreed to deed all lands to the village on which the new building will stand. The building will come across village property then on to Festival land at the back of the administra­ tion building (the former Bank of Commerce). The village is also to receive an easement out to Dinsley street behind the Festival office. The agreement calls for the Memorial Hall extension to be structurally independent of the Festival’s building (plans call for the two buildings to be able to be sealed off if the need arises in the future.) The Festival is required to pay all construction costs of the new building but it is to be the property of the Village of Blyth. The village’s engineer is to inspect the construction and the building’s architect is required to certify that the building has been built accord­ ing to plans authorized by the village. Hwy. 4 plans unveiled Oct. 30 Plans for the reconstruction of Highway 4 between Blyth and Wingham will be unveiled at a public information session at Blyth October 30. The plans for reconstruction, brought about through actions of the communities of North Huron, Huron M.P.P. Jack Riddell and former Minister of Transportation Ed Fulton, call for rebuilding of the road to alleviate problems with snow banks and whiteouts that have made the highway a dreaded stretch of road for winter drivers. The session will be held at the auditorium of the Blyth Community Centre from 1:30 p.m. to 8 p.m. Monday, Oct. 30. The reconstruction of 14.9 m from just south of Cty. Rd. 25 at the south end of Blyth to 4.4 km south of the limits of Wingham is included in the plan. Construction is to begin in 1991. The 4.4 km. section from there to Wingham would be resurfaced. This work would be completed in 1992. A new bridge is called for over the Blyth Brook and several cul­ verts, including the cement culvert north of Belgrave, will be replaced. Blyth’s main street will also be rebuilt in 1993.