HomeMy WebLinkAboutHuron Expositor, 2000-11-01, Page 1a/*itnser..;. a .r
November 1, 2000
$1
(includes GSD
Local weather
Wednesday --Sunny with
cloudy periods. High 15.
Low 6.
Thursday --Chance of
showers. High 15. low 6.
Friday --Chance of
showers. High 15. Low 7.
Saturday --Cloudy,
scattered showers. High
11.Low 4. •
From Environment Canada
In brief
Ethel man
arrested on
roof
of building
A 29 -year-old Ethel
man was arrested in
Brussels on Oct. 24 after
a chase on foot that ended
on a roof of an apartment
building.
Huron OPP said the
man, who was found to
be carrying several
hypodermic needles and a
small quantity of
,suspected
methamphetamines, was
acting strangely on Main
Street.
A citizen reported his
behaviour to police, who
discovered he was wanted
on an outstanding arrest
warrant from Sebringville
OPP. When an officer
"attemptfd to arrest the
man, be fled but later
turned himself in on an
apartment building roof.
The man was held
overnight and taken for a
bail hearing in Goderich
where he was charged
with escaping lawful
custody, breach of
probation, possession and
being unlawfully, in a
dwelling.
Seaforth man charged
for assault
A 45 -year-old Seaforth
man was arrested and
charged with assault and
mischief under $5,000
after a 22 -year-old
McKillop Township
woman was treated and
released at Seaforth
Community Hospital on
Oct. 26 at 9 p.m.
Huron OPP were called
to a house on Hydro Line
Road in McKillop to find
the woman who had been
assaulted by a man during
an argument. The man
also damaged a vehicle
before driving away in his
own vehicle.
The man is scheduled
to attend court in
Goderich on Nov 20.
Chris Colbourne photo
Three local youth groups from around the area (who attend St. Columban School) got together on Saturday evening at the St.
Columban Church to host a haunted house for Grades 1-4. The spook-tacular event ran from 5:30-7:30 p.m. and featured over
30 students dressed to thrill. Pictured here, Jayne VanBakel, far left and Anne Visser far right, give fellow classmate Katie Elston
the creeps.
Tuckersmith councillors face questions
about decrepit buildings in Vanastra
By Scott Hilgendorff
Expositor Editor
From problems with sewer
backups to concerns the
community looked like the
rough Chicago East Side.
Vanastra residents took the
floor to air their concerns
about the village at last
Thursday's all -candidates
meeting in Brucefield for the
Tuckersmith ward of Huron
East.
"How can we bring in
business when the
community looks the way it
does?" asked one resident in
response to numerous
comments from the nine
candidates that Vanastra
could become a site for future
industry in Huron East.
She said in the past. they
were not able to get
Tuckersmith Township
council support in tearing
down buildings or forcing
landlords to clean up the
properties.
Several blocks in Vanastra
contain former air base
buildings and barracks that
are in various states of decay
with windows boarded up
and properties overgrown
with weeds.
With the community
looking rough and the loss of
Tuckersmith Township's
municipal offices to Seaforth
last year and the closure of
Vanastra Public School this
year, she said, "We can't see
much where we're going
ahead."
She pointed to the well-
maintained apartment
complex built by the Lions
Club that sits between two
buildings that are falling
down.
She was concerned too
many of the councillors never
even go to Vanastra to see
what it is really like.
"Right now, it' your
opportunity to tell us. are you
going to support us or do
what everyone else has done
and ignore us," she said to
the candidates that •will
represent Tuckersmith
Township on Huron East's
new council.
Two of the four candidates
at the meeting, Jim MacLeod,
Paul Spittal. Bill DeJong and
Larry McGrath, will be
elected to the position of
councillor on the new
municipality. Also at the
meeting were Bob Broadfoot,
Bernie MacLellan and Bill
Siemon seeking the position
SN BANKRUPT, Pogo 2
PUC
sale now
awaiting
energy
board
approval
Council has passed
all the necessary bylaws
that will allow for the
sale of the Seaforth
PUC to the City of
Stratford.
The bylaws establish
a new corporation that
allows the town to hold
the shares of the new
hydro company in
which all the PVC's
assets will be contained.
The assets remain in
that company until the
Ontario Energy Board
approves the sale of the
PUC.
If approved, the
assets are then rolled
into Stratford Festival
Hydro.
Town administrator
Jack McLachlan said
the final process could
take one or two months.
He said there's no
reason to expect the
sale won't be complete.
The town will
continue to operate the
PUC until that time.
The sale price for the
PUC was set at $1.375
million and offers a
five-year employment
guarantee to staff.
While the sale of the
PUC stems from the
deregulation of Ontario
Hydro, opening up the
market to competition
for the sale of power,
the town will continue
to operate the water
system.
Council and public
works superintendent
John Forrest are' still
fine tuning how the
water system will
operate.
By Scott Hilgendorf
Skunkfest needs organizer or new event. idea
will be given up by BIA and retention groups
By Susan Hundrartmark
Skunkfest
Expositor Stott may be
over
before it had a chance to raise much of a stink if an
organizer isn't found to run the show.
At recent meetings of the Seaforth BIA and the
Business Retention and Expansion committee,
members were reluctant to give any commitment to
the proposed festival.
"There isn't anybody keen enough to go ahead
and organize it. 1t came up at a meeting as a joke
and nobody's run with it," says Seaforth deputy -
clerk Cathy Garrick.
B1A chair Gerry Ryan said at a recent meeting
• that he didn't want to commit the BIA to anything
as large as Skunkfest but suggested a skunk theme
be incorporated into this June's Moonlight
Madness.
At a recent BR and E meeting, members
suggested the skunk theme may have "negative
connotations and perhaps the community should be
pursuing a festival with a positive theme and
agricultural flavor."
Seaforth Mayor Dave Scott, whose joking about
the large number of skunks in town led to
comments that Seaforth should host a Skunkfest,
says he is also too busy to take over the
organization of the potential festival.
"1 will help out but 1 don't want to be the one
person to spearhead it. There are lots of doable
ideas around it and 1 do think it could work. If it
was done right, it could be very positive," says
Scott.
Scott says that if the groundhog Wiarton Willie
could be such a success for Wiarton, a skunk could
work for Seaforth.
He went as far as conducting a websearch for
Skunkfest.com and found that the name is still
available.
"If 1 didn't have so many irons in the fire, I
would go gungho and do it," says Scott.
`Late BOB BROADFOOT
Deputy Mayor - Huron East
• My Urban and Rural Leadership Experience will help guide the newly formed municipality of
Huron East into a strong united community devoted to the good of its citizens.