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HomeMy WebLinkAboutHuron Expositor, 1999-08-25, Page 22 -THE HURON EXPOSITOR, August 25, 1999 News • Businesses encouraged to crimeproo From Page 1 But Cardno said if someone wants to get into the store. no matter how well it has been crimeproofed, a person will get in. She is pleased that the hours of policing will change because that will discourage criminals who have caught on to the pattern. She said there are no problems with the quality of policing in the town, adding that when the break-in occurred, the police were at the store before she could get there. She said it's just a case of them being in town at the wrong place and time. Seaforth council also discussed the issue this week and came up with the same suggestion of changing the hours of policing. At that meeting, Deputy Reeve William Teall said criminals are getting more professional now with groups from out of town targeting different committees. While the originaltown police did not patrol for 24 hours, the need's of the community have changed. At that meeting, Coun. Heather Robinet suggested the idea of rotating shifts, "so people don't know when there is someone on shift." Council suggested OPP Community Services Officer Don Shropshall be contacted to arrange a meeting between him and the business community to help address ways to make it harder on criminals to break into their businesses. Dedesignation bylaw begins process From Page 1 do it. "I'd feel better about honouring her request," said Scott. Hak said council can overrule decisions by LACAC. A motion was made to support removing the designation. That begins a process that will see a bylaw come to the council table to dedesignate the property after advertising that intention. Any objections would be heard by council which would have to consider those objections before choosing to pass'the bylaw and allow the designation to be removed. "It's like a zoning bylaw," said Clerk -Treasurer Jack McLachlan. Shields would be responsible for paying back the initial, 5300 cost to have the property designated a heritage building, the cost of advertising the proposed dedesignation and any costs to have that designation removed. After the motion was carried, Hodgins pointed out the discussion about the issue shows why dealing with heritage designations becomes so complicated. "The community does not understand why we do this. We seem to make it such a difficult situation for people to understand. There's such a myth about it, it's evil," he said. Hak said part of the problem is "bad press" about LACAC. A few years ago. LACAC came under fire from the community, over issues relating to a Main Street business that wanted to use verathane on its exterior. Legal action against the business had been threatened and issues regarding signage that opposed the town's sign bylaws also developed at the same time. Coun. Heather Robinet pointed out the myth is that LACAC tells you what you can and cannot do with your property. Although the procedure is to apply to make changes to your building, Hak said LACAC can't force you to do anything. "Although on Main Street, there are certain things you can and cannot do," said Scott. Teall said Main Street is trying to maintain an overall heritage image and a person who keeps their store looking like it did in the 1800s doesn't want to see someone else paint a building next to it with purple stripes. Hodgins said LACAC gets a bad reputation for opposing an action like that. LACAC advises council but has no real power, says chair The Local Architectural Conservation Advisory Committee (LACAC) truly is advisory and "really has no teeth," says LACAC chair Walter Armes. "We can't force anybody to do anything but we can lengthen the process if need be and the only reason for that is to encourage people to see they may not be making the best move in the interests of the town," he says. As a committee of council, LACAC advises town council on heritage conservation issues, particularly on designated properties and areas. Designated buildings are asked to make application to LACAC before doing anything to a building that requires a building permit or anything that affects the building's facade to allow LACAC to give the owner advice about how to make changes to a building that are historically compatible. Armes says that while LACAC can delay proposed changes for as much as 180 days. the property owner is free to do what he or she wants afterwards. He adds that while no one can break the building code. zoning by-laws or property maintenance by-laws. matters of preserving a building's heritage are not legislated. "People think that LACAC has more power than it does," he says. Plans for millenium celebration discussed Council's ideas include using new bridge at Lions Park in citizenship ceremony From -Pager) tractor elimination draw which brings crowds from across the region to town. . Taylor said there are grants available to hold events if their focus is on heritage. She had been speaking with Westcott who told her he goes to malls in the Toronto arca every year to give people a chance to reaffirm their citizenship. She said it was not just for immigrants who were becoming Canadians but for anyone who wanted to reaffirm their pride in being a Canadian. She asked Westcott if he would consider coming to Seaforth. The Lions Club has plans for a new bridge at Lions Community Park and Taylor said people could cross it when they reaffirm their citizenship. "I think that's a great idea," said Reeve Lin Sterner. "He was very receptive to it," said Taylor who said she would correspond with Westcott to ensure he would come. Talk of the park reminded council of the summer carnival that the Lions Club used to hold in the park and Coun. Heather Robinet asked about combining that idea. Coun. Mike Hodgins, a Lions Club member, said the only problem with that idea Community helps during fire From Page 1 department, he recognized it as a house lire and had a staff member call it in when he saw the smoke coming from thc roof. John Bakker, whose family was not at home at the time. said James grabbed a garden hose and began spraying the house and a trailer parked at the side. near where the fire was. Meanwhile. Bakker said Cathy Coombs was passing by and went inside the smoke-filled house to see if anyone was inside. "That was pretty brave of - her," said Bakker. - Bakker's wife. Bernadette. had just left with the four children and family dog to walk to the Post Office when the fire started. Bakker said they don't know for certain but one of the children may have found a hook of matches and been playing with them in an upstairs bedroom, where the fire is believed to have started, before the family left. If that's what happened, Bakker, said it was the only hook of matches in the house. Right now. thc children. Nathaniel, 13. Theresa. 11, Benjamin, four and Zachariah, two, are staying • with family friends, John and Kim Chambers. John and Bernadette are staying at the local bed and breakfast. They are appreciative of all the help they have received since the fire and of those who helped during the incident including the Seaforth Fire Department for their quick response. Neighbours and church groups have come forward with clothing and food but Bakker said they just haven't had time to sort out what they need. "The house has to be completely gutted and redone. There was extensive smoke and heat damage," he said. He is currently working on sorting through the belongings that survived and said some of the family heirlooms like a clock belonging to his wife's grandmother, look like they might be restored. Some photo albums were also discovered undamaged. A trailer -style home will be arriving soon for the family to live in until the home can be rebuilt on the inside. "Our hopes are to be back in before the end of October," said Bakker. Right now, he is waiting for the insurance company to assess the damage before he can begin rebuilding. Bakker was currently renovating part of the house before the fire and would like to do the work himself. When he gets the go- ahead to gut the house, he would appreciate any help that might be offered by community members. He also said it would be appreciated if anyone could provide some relief to the Chambers family who are looking after the children. "It's starting to take its toll with the family being apart," he said. "We're doing the best we can." Fire Chief George Garrick wa not at the scene and hasn't got the details from those who were. As a result, he is not releasing an official report about the fire. While they are still investigating, he said, "The cause will be undetermined." Ile would not say how the cause could already be undetermined while they still had some "things" to check out. is finding enough people to help set it up that aren't already tired of everything else they arc doing. Scott said they could put the idea of a special event next year to thc Business Retention and Expansion Committee .when it starts meeting again after the summer break. Taylor also told council she has had calls from people interested in getting started on the next homecoming event. Complete Automotive Repair "Class A Mechanic" TIRE SALES, SERVICE & REPAIR ARCHIE'S Se t zt ee ee ewe 527-0881 24 Goderich St. E. Sea ort (1.1.,71 GRAY INSURANCE BROKERS INC. Allan Carter, Broker • Home • Auto • Commercial • Farm 522-0399 Seaforth 1.800.265-0959 Strathroy Each week The Huron Expositor will be surfing the net looking for fun and interesting web sites for you to enjoy. This week's site is: http://www.worstoftheweb.com/ Want to have FUN with your food? Don't forget to check out The Huron Expositor's website et www/bowesnet/expositor.com • 100 Main St., Seaforth 527.0240 PIANO \ I\(; • REP' :RS • REBUILDING KEY RECOVERED • DAMPP CHASERS • REGULATING • BENCHES BRUCE PULSIFER 348-9223 N r1(H rt r BARBARA LESTER UPHOLSTERY RESIDENTIAL & COMMERCIAL 524-6069 FOR FREE ESTIMATES TRAILERS-& BOATS DRAPES - BLINDS s\� Fall Mu-misti 10 are 1) Now ink % 15OFF TREES, SHRUBS and PERENNIALS Bulbs will be in soon Watch the Expositor for their arrival i;3 Stewart Acres Greenhouses & Garden Centre 1% East of Seaforth 522-0495 OPEN: Mon. to Fri. 9 to 6 p.m. Sat. 9 to 5 Closed Sundays (i4 Church Services You are invited to attend • these area churches ; St. Thomas,FIRST Anglican Church Jarvis St. Seaforth Rev. Robert Hiscox 482-7861 Sunday, August 29^ Service of Morning Prayer at 9:30 PRSBYTERIAN CHURCH fn NORTHSIDE -CAVAN - UNITED CHURCHES it :15 a.m. Worship Nursery available You are invited to worship at First Presbyterian Church, Seaforth for the month of August. Bethel Bible Church An Associated Gospel Church Now Meeting at 120 Main St. Seaforth (formerly Canadian Tire) 10:00 Worship Small GroupMeetings Weekly Pastor:Rev. Doug Corriveau 527-0982 Catholic Church Masses Saturday - 5:15 pm St. James Parish. Seaforth • Saturday - 7:15 pm St. Joseph's School gym Sunday -9:00 am St. Michael Parish.Blyth Sunday - 11:00 am St. James Parish, Seaforth Father Dino Salvador Straight Talk From THE BUSINESS DOCTOR The Single Most Important Business Function What arc the basic functions of a business? Well let's list them. There is credit, pro- duction, marketing; human resources, accounting, pur- chasing. inventory control, and shipping & receiving. That should cover the main ones. Which of these activi- ties has as its primary func- tion the attraction, feeding and care of customers? There is only one that meets those criteria. The answer is marketing. Marketing is the customer creation function. Without it nothing else matters. While all of thc areas of a business are important none is more important than marketing. Everything is built on our capacity to attract, feed and care for our customers. 1 had occasion a while back to speak to a group of mar- keting professionals. At one point in the. conversation I asked them to define the word marketing in five words or Tess without using examples. Try it. It is tough. If you are a marketing pro- fessional you may eventually get to the five word limit but that is the point. Eventually is not good enough. Marketing is an activity that is crucial to our success. We cannot afford to be that far away from a clear definition. Why? Because if we can't define it clearly, how can we to do it effectively? Go ahead, put the paper down and define marketing in five words or less. You are back. How did you do? Not a particularly easy task was it? The urge is to define it with examples but that is impossible in five words. This kind of exercise is very valuable. It forces us to reach for the bottom line. It is only when we have cut away all the extraneous frills that we can truly come to understand what marketing is all about. The quantity and quality of your marketing determines the quantity and quality of your sales. Marketing means: Effective communication with the cus- tomer. The quantity and quality of your communication deter- mines the quantity and quali- ty of your sales. Everything on this list was created for thc specific pur- pose of communicating a message to your customer. The location, the parking lot, the people, the advertising, the credit system, the inven- tory. the light, the heat. the telephones, thc pricing, the selection, the showroom, the air conditioning, the cats- logue, etc. Everything within and about a business is a communication system. Everything either adds to or detracts from the sale. What messages are you sending to your customer? How is your -marketing? We arc not in the retail busi- ness or the accounting busi- ness or the hair dressing or the manufacturing business. We are all in thc same busi- ness. We are in the commu- nication business. The Business Doctor is available for annual meet- ings & sales conventions.