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HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Huron Expositor, 1998-11-18, Page 3Public had a year to object THE HURON EXPOSITOR, NOVEMBER 18, 1111111-3 Hak says council had accepted liquor licence by approving minutes BY GREGOR CAMPBELL Expositor Staff The management hoard of the Seaforth and District Community Centres' application for a liquor licence is nothing new. Business and council expressed concern about the application just a week before a deadline for objections to the Alcohol and Gaming Commission and both have forwarded objections. Thr hoard applied for a permanent liquor license as a service to user groups and to improve its bottom line. Liquor has been served at the local arena since it opened, for such events as "Buck and Does". wedding receptions and the junior hockey team's "Blueline Club." This is done at specific times under special occasion permits regularly granted by thc province's gaming commission to the individual "groups that apply for them. Community centres manager Graham Nesbitt says simplifying this process and offering a "complete package" for some of the Board may BY VICTORIA JACKSON. Clinton News -Record Staff People are questioning whether the Avon Maitland District School Board AMDSB 1 got the hest deal it could when it sold its Brittannia Street building. The hoard sold the property for 5215,000 in June to a numbered company which took possession of the building on Oct. 30 and then turned around and sold the same building six days later for 5335.000 to a Montessori School which had bid on the original sale. according to an article in the Stratford Beacon Herald. The article stated that the Montessori School originally hid 5213.000. a higher bid than the 5200.00(1 bid by the numbered company. The numbered company was invited to sign hack a higher offer but the Montessori school was not. The school's offer was made in trust through a lawyer. Board chair Abhv Armstrong told the Beacop Lambeth at CEMTEMAIRES Fri., Nov. 20th 8:30 p.m. Visft the BLUE LINE CLUB UPSTAIRS ❑oo�000000000000 RI Huron County's o 14 VEHICLE ID CI c 0 RENTAL 11 p vHeadquarters o a -1 small & Mid -sited Cars u 0 ,Passenger & Cargo U 0 vans, Pickup Trucks u 0 IDaily, Weekly, Monthly o llnsuranee Rentals & o More U 11) 11 v 11 0 11 11 O 0 °o gull CAR & TRUCK RENTALS 0 Division of Suncoast Ford ID 0 500 Huron Rd.. Goderich CI 1-888-344-4486 110 524-8347 ceeeeeeeeeee--- SEAT BELTS SAVE gmups that use the facility is a reason the arena applied for a permanent licence. Concerns were expressed by business and the Lions Club that they were not properly informed of the application. An advertisement did not appear in The Huron Expositor but was placed in a Clinton paper instead. alerting the public to the application and asking for any objections. The advertisement, placed by the gaming commission, could not he received by The Expositor electronically by the deadline of the week the commission wanted the ad inserted. The following week. the commission chose to place the advertisement in Clinton. Nesbitt says the board has followed the proper process for a liquor license application laid down by the Alcohol and Gaming Commission to the letter, including the advertisement of deadline in the Clinton paper. He said licensing application rules uI the Alcohol and Gaming Commission required the hoard to advertise where -it did, and when, and that the arena hoard subsequently made sure the people with concerns and existing licence holders knew of the Nov. 14 deadline. This has included thc prominent posting of signs at the arena since the middle of last month. But plans to look into a licence have been in the works well before the advertisement was placed. A public forum was held in October, 1997. "They've had a year to object," Coun. Mike Hak said at last Tuesday's council meeting. That's where. council decided to object to the application. Coun. Hak, this town's representative on the management hoard, voted unsuccessfully against the motion to oppose the application. as did Coun. Paul Menary. Coun. Hak said the 'community centres board "is not seeking to compete" and is more interested in controlling alcohol at the arena. in a large part for liability reasons. He felt Scaforth Council has have undersold property Herald that the hoard "chose the offer that hest met our needs." She added that there were other issues such as the closing date and removal of things on site which the hoard took into account. When pressed to explain the differences among the offers the hoard received. Armstrong said. "I can't tell you because they were dealt with in camera." The Beacon Herald reported that the closing date offered by the Montessori school was Sept. 1. two months sooner than the date offered by the numbered company. Margie McCarthy. owner of the Montessori School. said she was prepared to pay more than $213.000 for the building and that a note to that effect was passed on to the agent handling the deal for the school hoard. according to the Herald. Armstrong told thc Herald that the hoard never had the property formally appraised and that she didn't think they would have received more than 5215.000 for the building at the time of the sale. ' Lorne Rachlis. director of education for the AMDSB, told the Clinton News - Record that the board wishes they had been offered an extra 5100.000 for the property. "My understanding is that at the time of the sale there were four offers and two were very close," he said. "There were a number of conditions the hoard wanted met." • He added that the hoard decided to pursue one of the offers. "We can only offer the building to one person at a time," Rachlis said. 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Christmas Wine Special Made On Premises $69000 30-750 ml Bottles Either RED or WHITE HOUSE WINE ORDERS MUST BE IN BY TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 24, 1998 Satisfaction Guaranteed* •e 32 Rattenbury W. 482-7259 Clinton .111« any reason you are not satisfied with pu.Nty of your wins, *Imply Mum 11 bra refurxi been in fact accepting the arena's liquor application process since it began more than a year ago by regularly approving its hoard of management minutes. An open forum was held on October 14, 1997, to discuss the issue. "The hoard of your community centre has been given the task of bringing the operational budget to a break- even position by the year 2000," the community centres management hoard memo circulated to everybody that attended. "To meet this end, the board has implemented several changes such as selling of advertising on the hoards, increased early season uses of the facility and competitive user fees. As another avenue to meet this challenge. the management hoard of your community centre is presently looking at the acquisition of a liquor licence for the community centre." Minutes indicate that meeting was well attended. by representatives of many local businesses and groups, including Jason Wheatley of the Commercial Hotel. Gary Complete Automotive Repair "Class A Mechanic" TIRE SALES, SERVICE & REPAIR ARCHIE'S Sew ce 6eKete lr%.r% 527-0881 24 Goderich St. E. Seaforth CU 1 St. Columban SOCCER ASSOCIATION is hosting a EUCHRE PARTY Friday, December 4/98 8:00 p.m. St. Patrick's Church Basement Admission - $7.50/person Lunch provided door opens at 7:30 Proceeds to Minor Soccer Gagner of Sizzlers and Stephen of the I.ions Cluh, who all objected to the license application at council last Tuesday night. The president of the Scaforth Lions Club Paul Stephen said at last week's council meeting that his service group sent a letter of concern to the arena hoard after an open forum on the liquor sales licence issue meeting on Oct. 15. 1997, asking for more information, but none was forwarded. Earlier this month. a memo was circulated to all existing licencees in town and groups that attcned that public Meeting in 1997. ,AGE ELLIOTTPY BARBRA R.Y.T. Registered Massage Therapist For an appointment CaII 527-1242 or 527-0780 Seaforth Chiropractic Clinic McMaster Siemon + INSURANCE BROKERS INC. BROKERS: Bill Siemon Vicki Siemon Dan Proctor Ken Hutchison 68 Ontano Rd 348-9150 Mitchell 1.800-561.0183 ; ROBERT S. SHEPHERD, PH.D. kJJ PSYCHOLOGIST PSYCHOLOGICAL ASSESSMENT & TREATMENT Timphasis on Empirically Validated Therapies Anxiety • Chronic Pain • Depression • Grief • Stress By appointment only - Sliding fee scale - 148 Goderich St.. 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