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HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Huron Expositor, 1996-08-28, Page 44 -TRE NINON EXPOSITOR, August cilli, 1 tttttfS Your Community Newspaper Since 1860 TERRI-LYNN DALE - General Manager & Advertising Manager MARY MEIIOR - Soles PAT ARMES - Office Manager DIANNE McGRATII - Subscriptions & Classifieds DAVE SCOTT - Editor GREGOR CAMPBELL • Reporter BARB STOREY - distribution A Bowes Publishers Community Newspaper SUBSCRIPTION RATES LOCAL - 32 50 a year, in advance, plus 2 28 G S T SENIORS: - 30 00 a year, in -advance, plus 2 1005 USA & Foreign 32 50 a year in odvance, plus $78 00 postage, G S T exempt SUBSCRIPTION RATES. Published weekly by SignolStor Publishing al 100 Main St , Seaforth Publication mail registration No 0696 held at Seaforth, Ontario Advertising is accepted on condition that in the event of a typographical error, the advertising space occupied by the erroneous item, together with a reasonable allowance for signature, will not be charged, but the balance of the advertisement will be pard for at the applicable rote In the event of a typop aphical error, advertising goods or services at a wrong price, goods or services may not be sold Advertising is merely an offer to sell and may be withdrawn of ony time The Huron Expositor is not responsible for the loss or damage of unsolicited manuscripts, photos or other moterials used for reproduction purposes Chonges of address, orders for subscriptions and undeliv- erable copies ore to be sent to The Huron Expositor Wednesday, August 28, 1998 Editorial and Business Offices • 100 Main Street.,Seaforth Telephone 15191 527-0240 Fox 15191527-2858 Mailing Address • P.O. Box 69, Seaforth, Ontario, NOK 1 WO Member of the Canadian Community Newspoper Association, Ontario Community Newspapers Association and the Ontario Press Council Who elected LACAC? Who elected LACAC? And, how come the local architectural conservation advisory committee can tell anybody what to do, or not do, with his or her own private property on Main Street or elsewhere? , The tone of LACAC's latest holier -than -thy -heritage crusade against a few local businesses about renovations and signs is very strident, "small townish" and dictatorial. !trill behooves our Seaforth,, "The Friendly Town's remember! "Friendly" it hasn't seemed lately to certain small business- es, struggling to survive, who arc taxed senseless by thc vari- ous levels of government' in this country, and have enough paperwork to do without kowtowing to pristine heritage "experts" and going through an endless rigmarole of paper- work. For what? Let them be tp pct on with making a profit'. It's not a dirty word. Our economic base in Seaforth continues to erode (in the last year off,thertop of our head, say goodbye in town to a toy store, planning mill, outdoors store, fruit store, crafts store, etc.) while old buildings, many of them fire traps to boot, nickel and dime taxpayers to death. Judging by the number and volume of letters to the editor on the issue this week, LACAC's latest moves have struck a sen- sitive local nerve. Perhaps it's time for taxpayers in town to reconsider the her- itage money pit. Maybe by ballot in the next municipal elec- tion. Who cares what an unelected "elite" says about the "value" of this architecture? - „Sorry, they just look like qld buildings to many of us. Seaforth's downtown is no more vibrant now than before Main Street Co-ordinator Tom Lemon came to town in the mid-1980s, we would wager far less so. And where is he now? Not here. Many architects, heritage experts and lawyers get richer than most of us on public money with such schemes. The value of architccturc, like art, is in the eyes of the beholder. And we have eyes ourselves. We should use them more. Sony, but the huildings on Seaforth's Main Street are cer- tainly no Stonehenge nor "Eighth Wonder of the World." To many outsiders, Seaforth looks like Clinton, looks like Brussels, looks like Mitchell, looks like Godcrich,looks like... most small towns in rural Ontario. That's OK. Maybe we designated too much here and a selective culling of many of these old huildings is in order. What can be desig- nated can be un -designated. The time is ripe with all this talk of amalgamation and the very existence and cost-effectiveness of municipal government itself in dispute. . If you want to restore your old building to its former glory that is your right. But don't use tax dollars, from any level of government to pay for it, as if it all didn't come out of thc same pockets. - Morc business, less tax, less paperwork, less government! Seaforth IS a great place to live for some of us, but believe it or not, Main Street has absolutely nothing to do with it for many. It hoils down to a question of priorities. Shall we save our schools, health system or our old huildings? We don't have the bucks to save them all. The "downsizing" crunch is on. As we approach thc year 2,000, perhaps we would be wisest to invest in people and thcir tommorrows. - Who wants to live in a tnuscum anyway, particularly an empty one! JGC Waterworks budget approved Council approved the waterworks capital budget for Seaforth in 1996 of $72,543 presented by Public Utility Commission manager Tom Phillips at its Aug. 13 meet- ing. This year's total is broken down as follows: Engineering fees, $29,000 (about $23,000 of this on new water tower, a propor- tion of which is covered by grant); Mains , $30,543 total ( bro- ken down as follows, Ord St. extension, 100' of 6" into Lots of letters as LACAC hits local nerve Dear Editor: When I retired from Town council two years ago I made a promise to myself not to write any letters to the editor, however, after reading last week's edition of the Expositor about the treatment some of my fellow merchants were receiving from LACAC I quickly reached for a pen. Our main street is probably about the same as other towns and cities who have a lot of vacant stores due to competition from large retail giants, Sunday shopping and the economy in general, but I het we are the only town in North Amenca who threatens to take local businesses to court because they improved the appearance of their prop- erty on main street. How quickly everyone for- gets, as it was only a few years ago this same store was vacant, the windows dirty with lots of dead flies in it and the awning hanging in rags, this time BIA was in a flap and even sent a picture to the out of town owner, but nothing happened until Elsie Willems moved her business there and cleaned everything up, then it was forgotten until the present owners repaired the front and replaced the awning. Another example of modern materials used on historic buildings is the roof on the porch of Town Hall (which was built with a heritage grant) is fake slate shingles. not against restoring histori- cal huildings but there are times when it is just not prac- tical. Our library (probably our most historic building) "How quickly everyone forgets" I don't see a problem with the front as it is not much dif- ferent than a few others on main street and the pine matches the benches and the planters in front of Town Hall and the green trim is Seaforth's color. As far as I can see nothing of historic value was removed or destroyed but I guess if we are supposed to keep every- thing like it was 100 years ago we would still be using lead paint, have board side- walks, a dirt street with no lights . The paint industry has made great improvements in their products over the years so I don't know what the big deal is over,varathane, it would take Netter eyes than mine to know what kind of a clear finish was used. It also seems ironic that in the same paper the Ryans were criticized, it also report- ed that council accepted a tender to install seamless eavestroughing and alu- minum fascia (heaven forbid) on town hall. And then there is the sign problem. Why can some businesses replace their lit signs and others are flatly , refused? On- business which is not under 0 sarne restric- tions because it was bui more recently can hang as many lit signs as they wish, yet I read in -the same paper a business in a recently built building was chastised for erecting a wooden sign and not going through LACAC. Don't get me wrong I am recently underwent extensive renovations and I don't' recall hearing about any of those alterations from LACAC. I sincerely hope all these problems can be worked out as we can't afford to lose any more businesses and 1 hope LACAC will concentrate on a solution for the burned out property on main street instead of threatening court action which will serve no .useful purpose only had feel- ings and LACAC may win the battle hut lose the war if they end up with more vacant stores. Hazel Hildebrand Hildebrand Paint and Paper Editor's Note: Mrs. Hildebrand is a former Mayor of Seaforth Do we need .outsiders telling us when to squat? To The Editor: Congratulations to Town Hall for their bragging in the local paper as to who is the boss in this town. Beware - young people coming to Seaforth to start a business, build a house, fix a home or redo a business etc., if you do LACAC will tell you what to do. I understand there is only heritage. Ask all of the car- penters, builders and fixerup- pers and hear the hassle they get from Town Hall. Let's get hack to basics known as "common sense" Throw co- ordinators, LACAC, flood plan, heritage know-it-alls out and let's run our own town. Why do we need out- Korners, owned by Danica and Jim McNichol. They did not do the work or contract it out. Also it's Flower Magic on the sign, you criticized it as Flowers by Jean, wrong on both counts. "Total Image Salon" had to have a special meeting to resolve thcir problem with LACAC. To the Ryans, et's run our own town" one business person on the committee. Be careful where .you build a house it could be in the flood plain and that will cost $14,00( more for a foundation with reinforced steel rods so the house won't flow away in a flood: Oh, sorry after this deal they took that part of town out of flood plain in order to build three new homes 300' feet from Silver Creek, width of creek three feet. Town hall bureau- cracy. Young married couples want to fix up a home they like but have to pay heritage $200 to get out of it, another rip off. Sure I like heritage etc. but tell me one business in town who is ringing dollar signs up on their tills from siders telling us when to squat and where and how. One proud example of LACAC know-how, spend thousands of dollars knock- ing out a Krick wall in town hall -and replace with a wood- en door (as originally was )where the firetruck came out, then redo towl? offices and then cut two big win- dows in the door for the clerk to see out then put a ramp, a railing, three flag poles, two trees in front of it. Congratulations to all the businesses knocked by LACAC for fixing their stores to beautify the main street. Well done. Now LACAC, don't knock Nifty another job well cone by a young couple who decided to come to town. Now take a look at the beautiful antique 1poking door at "Financial Services" office put there for protection because as the council stated they didn't think we are getting enough police protection. Will LACAC protect their office. Congratulations to Financial Services for making a hare cement building look attrac- tive. By the way, last week Mitchell had tours around their town showing how peo- ple fixed their homes and business and awarded prizes. Also Mitchell from 1995 to present day 1996. issued 82 building and renovation per- mits. During the same time Seaforth issued 50 permits. So come on Seaforth people, get behind our town and our businesses on Main Street and help to run our town not just Town Hall. To Cathy Garrick, you walk the main street every day and see the new businesses come to town and rebuild. I thought you would help them, edu- cate them on all the many many rules and regulations of the town and not wait until their work project is done then show your political clout and hire a lawyer at taxpay- ers' expense to propose a lawsuit against them. Maybe I am wrong and I like others may misunderstand the write up in the paper. Gee whiz! Cathy, Seaforth hired you as a coordinator. Seaforth pro- moted you to deputy -clerk. Seaforth made you a member of LACAC and a Seaforth couple presented you with a young, good, handsome hus- hand and this is how you treat Seaforth. Shame on you. Frank Phillips Along. with 22 signatures of unhappy taxpayers Heritage not business of business To the Editor: Once again the LACAC bas tried to force its heavy hand upon us. Once again all they have done is give Seaforth merchants another reason to just give up. The constant badgering because we didn't ask for their permission or opinion still continues. No one has done anything offen- sive to their main street busi- ness, just try to redecorate and make it inviting to cus- tomers to come in and shop. That is what we folks on main street are here for....to get customers to come in and spend money - not to main- tain Seaforth's heritage. Personally, I enjoy old things but that doesn't mean that everyone does. Things that arc not necessarily as they were a hundred years John, $5,600/ Louisa St., 100' of 6" into John, $5,6001 Sparling St from Brantford to Elizabeth, 10", $11,244/ Dukc St. from Church to West William, 310' with 10", $8,099); Meters and hydrants, $5,000; Services, $6,000, which includes the(restoration of John, High and Railway Streets; Miscellaneous, $2,000, which includes roadway detour signs at approx $700 per sign. ago cab still fit in with today's streetscapc. Just because something was done one way or painted cer- positive for main street's image. My "three cheers" to the Ryans on how attractive their storefront is. How soon the mittee giving Seaforth's busi- ness community a bad repu- tation. .My.only answer to why merchants don't ask for your "Another reason to just give up" tain colors hack then doesn't me!n it was the right way. Instead of badgering. mer- chants trying.to clean up their stores, why doesn't LACAC start spending some of their energy on badgering the building owners of some of main street's eye sores. The old EMA building being a perfect example. Perhaps some of their extra time and effort could be spent washing the filth off the windows and sweeping up the crud that lies untouched for months. That would be doing something committee forgets what a rundown empty mess that building was for years before Elsie Willems moved in. The main street of Seaforth remains the backbone of the community and that's how I would like it to remain. But with the remarks and threats of LACAC the vertebras are going to start disappearing one by one. We already have too many empty storefronts. Competition from surround- ing areas is growing, and growing quickly. We really don't need a heritage com- opinion is maybe they feel it's too much red tape, which we already have heaps of from other governments or they just don't value your opinion. LACAC plcase.give us on main street some encourage- ment instead of all this nega- tive mumbo -jumbo. Sincerely Stephen Hildebrand Hildebrand Flowers P.S. Is there not any taxpay- ing Seaforth lawyers you can call on for your consulting! Perhaps before you .start encountering legal fees think about who will be footing the bill....your Seaforth taxpay- ers. • People just trying to make a livin Dear Editor: One would think the town I have just read the article would he very happy to have regarding LACAC and main street businesses. stores occupied and not sit - People who arc improving ting empty. The four build - their property do so after ings mentioned have certain- Haan's office I was glad when they replaced it. The old one had certainly seen its day and if they are sued over putting the new door in then "Happy to have stores occupied and not sitting empty" careful thought and consider- ation. I am sure Karen, Jim and Danica and Jean gave careful consideration before investing in ncw improve- ments. Business people know that in order to attract busi- ness first impressions and appearance arc very impor- tant. ly added to Main Street. I am sure thcir assessed value will go up and think of the addi- tional taxes coming into the Being relatively ncw in our town. Think of the taxes own business we have gone through some of this bureau- cracy. It is a shame that our towns and government are not more helpful to people Having used the door at who arc trying to make a liv- Doug Elliott and Harry Den ing. there is certainly something wrong with our society. Anstetts would save, if they left their building sitting as is. Who would blame them? What is really irking us is why in these trying times are business people being chas- tised for improving their stores'' What would main street Seaforth look like if thc stores were vacant or left with no improvements. It appears from the article that LACAC is an advisory committee only, why can't it stay that way. Sincerely Janice Preszcator