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HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Exeter Times-Advocate, 1975-03-27, Page 1 (2)1 .Police settle contract; takeover fought on two fronts. • 24 percent hike this year At a'special meeting, Tuesday, Exeter council reached an agreement with the Exeter Police Association for a new two- year contract. The four constables, who are members of the Association, had asked for a conciliation hearing to settle the contract dispute, but the settlement was reached before any action was taken. Police committee chairman Harold Patterson advised the conciliation board that progress was being made in the contract negotiations and the board had put a "hold" on stepping into the local discussions. Under the new agreement the members of the police force will receive a 24 percent pay increase for 1975 and an additional 10 Two drivers hurt; wind topples home Only two accidents were in- vestigated by the Exeter OPP this week, with both drivers in one of those collisions suffering minor injuries. It occurred on Thursday at 9:00 p.m. when ears driven by Helen Triebner, RR 1 Lucan and Ross Arz_derson, Belgrave, collided -on Highway 4 near County Road 21. Damage was estimated at $350 by Constable Al Quinn. The other accident was reported Monday at 12:15 p.m. on Highway 4 one mile north of Exeter. A mobile home being towed by. a truck driven by Harold E. Christian, RR 2 Trenton, was blown off onto the shoulder of the road by. -heavy east winds. Damage to the 48' by 12'6" home was listed at $3,000 by Constable Ed Wilcox. - During the week the local detachment officers charged 17 -people under the Highway Traffic Act and issued warnings to another 2t1Mo There were three charges under the Criminal Code and 10 under the Liquor Control Act. To date in 1975, the Exeter detachment have laid 105 charges under the Liquor Control Act, an average of more than one per day. An error appeared in last week's acccident report in- volving Thomas Pridham, Exeter, and a truck owned by Campbell Soup Co., Ltd. Atwood. The information should have read that the Pridham vehicle was parked on Highway 83 and was struck by the truck. The T -A apologizes for having the information incorrect. FOREMAN RESIGNS Jim Rumball, the road foreman for the village of Grand Bend has resigned after close to a year in the position. The resignation takes effect April 25. Rumball and his brother Peter will be going into the auto mechanics and body work business in the area. 10 next percent increase in 1976. Patterson said the pay for a first class constable will be in- creased to $13,000 this year and $14,300 in 1976. Two members of the force Are presently designated as first class constables. While the Association had asked that council pay 100 per- cent of their fringe benefits program, they finally agreed to a settlement whereby the town will pay 75 percent as ih last year's contract. However, a new drug plan has been added this year. "There isn't that much change in the fringe benefits program,;' Patterson advised this week. This is the first time since the inception of the Association that a two-year pact has been approved. Previous agreements were for one year only. Start school for firemen A training school for firemen under the direction of Don Owens of the Ontario Fire Marshal's office started at the Huron Park fire hall, Monday night. In attendance were volunteers from Huron Park, Centralia, Crediton and Dashwood. • Stephen township will be taking over operation of the Huron Park fire department on May 1. Ontario Development Cor- poration announced a couple of months ago that the full time force would be disbanded sometime in March. They later agreed to carry on until April 30. The fire training school will continue each Monday night for the next seven weeks and any interested volunteers are asked to attend the sessions. Stephen clerk Wilmar Wein said this week, township officials are continuing negotiations with trustees in the police villages of Centralia. Crediton and Dash- wood to establish a township fire department to cover all parts of the township. Stephen shows deficit, dye. 4t higher road costs � •' diced financial Centralia'ssurplus is;fi,73owhile • been statement r tie year 1974 has Crediton has a deficit of $585. ,• townshiprec rued ' by Stephen c In other accounts, the town - accumulated' chef' cits 119XY1 g.. RA s¢1MA1'Nad• a surplus of $7,37B $2,492. 4 and the Dashwood Hydro system The statement prepared by the showed a deficit of $3,691. Goderich auditing firm of A.M. Total revenue for the township Harper Limited lists a general in 1974 totalled .$863,221 while accounts operating deficit for the expenditures were 8898,662. year of 835.949. Wein said the audit report This deficit total is offset by an accumulated surplus of $32,949 at the end of 1973 which reduces the current deficit to the 82,494. In explaining the operating deficit for 1974 clerk Wilmar Wein said "we spent a lot more on roads than we expected." The audit shows overall surplus in the township at the end of the year as two'of the police villages have surpluses in their accounts. The police village of Dashwood has a surplus of 813,044 and Optimistic for resort grants Grand Bend reeve Bob Sharen said this week he was optimistic about the village's chances of receiving an urban planning study grant from the provincial government. A week ago, village council engaged Municipal Planning Consultants of Toronto to prepare a zoning bylaw and official plan for Grand Bend. Sharen was in Toronto this week and conferred with David Ilenderson who is in charge of grants for the Ontario Ministry of Housing. The maximum grant is expected to be 85.000. The planning firm has already begun work on the studies and will be hiring an engineering student under the involvement in Municipal Administration program whereby the province pays 80 percent of a student's salary to a maximum of S100 per week. During the same trip Sharen conferred with Ministry of the Treasury, Economics' "and Governmental Affairs in regard to obtaining an equalization grant for the summer resort. Sharen was less optimistic about the resources grant. Only a week earlier TEGA officials informed Grand Bend's average assessment was $10,695. Only municipalities with assessments less than 810,000 are eligible for resources grants. The reeve said he will be asking council to have the assessment ministry do an enumeration at a different time than September when the work is usually un- dertaken. Sharen added, "with more than 1,150 names on the assessment roll we must have a population of about 1,800. Tree matter now settled In his column this week, Mayor Bruce Shaw indicates some hope for a few of the trees on Andrew St. which residents have been battling to save. However, he told the T -A Wednesday morning that thing§ are nol quite as encouraging as he suggests in the column which appears elsewhere in this issue. All the trees on both sides of Andrew between Sanders and John will have to be removed he said. Eventually the trees on the west side of Andrew between James and John will also suffer the same fate. The town's engineers had re- examined the situation following requests from ratepayers to save the trees. but they decided there was no way the street could be constructed without removing the trees. This report was given at a special council meeting, Tuesday. The trees on Andrew St. bet- ween Sanders and Gidley however will be saved. Shaw reported that only one tree on the south-east corner of Andrew and Gidley would have to come down when this section of street is reconstructed. showed Stephen's tax arrears are the lowest they •have ever been., Tax arrears for all years are now lgrgercent of the total levy for The Stephen clerk said the tax arrears percentage was 31 in 1970 and has dropped steadily each year to the current low mark of 18. Tax arrears for the year 1974 only •are 824,865 and have been forwarded to the Huron County office for collection. in regard to subsidies from the Ontario Ministry of' Tran- sportation and Communication,, Stephen has been given approval to receive 881,000 which is made up of 861,000 on proposed maintenance costs of $157,375 and $20.000 on construction ex- penditures of $37,479. In addition application will be made for supplementary subsidy of 824,500 to cover extra new construction of 846,660. The additional construction will only be carried out if the extra subsidy monies- are ap- proved. The extra work would include a bridge culvert at Lot 20- 21, Concession 12 nearthe Melvin Stade farm, south of Dashwood and road paving in Centralia village and other areas not designated as yet. Two tenders were accepted at the latest meeting of council. Jennison Construction of Grand Bend was awarded the gravel contract, being the lowestof two bids received. The Grand Bend firm will crush, haul and spread gravel at 81.80 per cubic yard from Prout's pit in Usborne and load the township truck for 70 cents per yard and the price for hauling and spreading from the stockpile will be $1.40 per cubic yard. — Please turn to page 3 tire,..-+ . _. ,e+ , ► EASTER BUNNY TIME — Most young children in the area ore patiently waiting for the Easter Bunny to arrive early SJnday morning. Two Lucan areg youngsters Colin and John Grace have their own ver- sion of the Eastgr Bunny T -A photo One Hundred and Second Year Ontario group protest to Davis Members of the Police Association of -Ontario have voiced protest with the manner in which municipal police forces are being•abolished and replaced by the OPP and the protest has special significance in Exeter. Deliberations are being held here now by Exeter council over a proposal to replace the present police force with the OPP. Meeting in Niagara Falls last week, the PAO executive prepared a letter to be sent to Premier William Davis protesting the manner and treatment of municipal officers in small forces which are being abolished and replaced by the OPP. The letter also said the executive wants an immediate meeting with government representatives to bring the inequities of such planning to their attention. "We, the PAO would have expected the Ontario Police Commission to have considered this matter. and as usual nothing has been done by the OPC to protect the rights and interests of police officers," the letter stated. It also urged that all requests for takeovers by the OPP of small police forces be deferred until adequate protection is afforded members of the Police Association of Ontario.. The Ontario Chief's of Police will also be holding a meeting in Aylmer next week to discuss the matter and voice their feelings towards the OPP takeovers in towns in Ontario. In the case of the Exeter police force," Chief Ted Day explained this week, "the officers have chosen a small town for police work because they wanted to bring up their families in this type of community and be part of establishment." "I am sure that if any of the officers now employed by the town had wanted to join the OPP they would have done so in the first instance," he added. The Chief also took exception to a comment made last week by Mayor Bruce Shaw regarding the dispatching of officers if the OPP take over policing. Shaw said "exactly the same idea is presently in effect in Exeter" regarding the use of a central dispatch to contact offs However, Chief Day noted that the present OPP radio eom- munication system would be unable to contact the officers 011 foot patrol (as the local dispat- cher does now) because there is no portable radios that will reach — Please turn (0 page 3 Petition gains support The petition in support of keeping the local police force is currently being circulated in Exeter. Heading the petition is Pete Connon. Mr. Connon told the T -A that support of the petition is "nearly 100 percent." However, he did not know--howmuchlongerthe petition would be circulated, or just how many names have been collected thus far. He said when the circulation of EXETER, ONTARIO, MARCH 27, 1975 the petition has been completed, it will "probably be filed away. in a safe place." He said eventually the petition would be brought to council. It was the opinion - of Mr. Connon that the supporters of the local police department would go to great lengths to keep the police a Toeal body. Mr. Connon also said he thought it was time some local autonomy was kept within the town. Price Per Copy 25 Cents CHURCH Reformed Reformed Overduin. ORGAN DEDICATED — A new orgon valued at more than 58,000 was dedicoted at Bethel church in Exeter Sunda night. Shown above from the left ore, Case Von Arkel, clerk of Bethel session, Bert Visscher, pr*ident of the massed choir, Rev. Henry Von Essen and guest organist Jon T -A photo Added grants to help expand programs at ARC workshop The 1975 program for the Adult ' Rehabilitation Centre at [)ash • - wood will be considerably ex- panded due to a recent an- nouncement of increased government financing Facilities and programs are being extended to allow the in- crease in the number of trainees from the present 20 to at leasi 35. The Ontario government will now provide grants of 80 per cent for programs of all AR(' protects throughout the province The Dashwood ARC workshop is sponsored by the South Huron and District Association for the Mentally Retarded. Additional instructors 11 I be hired this year to expand the woodworking, good grooming, kitchen. craft and contract programs Applicants are now being considered fooodworking program. ) J instruction in good grooming is being carried out by Mickey Slruyke. now on LIl' grant. She is also tutoring two female trainees in office procedure Mrs. Bernice Jeffrey is in charge of the kitchen program. also with the help of a LIP grant. The trainees with Mrs .leffery's guidance arc helping to prepare meals for themselves. staff and guests. A number of area firms as far away as St Marys are making use of the contract and craft program. This program includes gathering and assembling components tor various plastic • HURONIA CHOIR PRESENTS SPECIAL PROGRAM -- The Huronia choir with dose to 50 voices will be inaction of South Huron District High School Saturday night presenting "The Creation" by Haydn. The choir under the direction of Mrs. Marianne Mckaffery is shown in ac- tion in the above picture T -A photo an(t woodworking tiros and artificial flowers for wedding arrangements Mrs. Marian Dougall through a 1.11' grant is the volunteer. c - ordinator. This involves recruiting and orga nizing volunteers The Dashwood workshop has use of the largest group of volunteers of any ARC group in Ontario. The Grant' Bend Alhambra • chapter recently announced they would'assume AR("s share of 20 per cent of a new 23 passenger bus This bus purchase will allow expansion of trainee pickup in the Seaforth and Clinton areas. The Alhambra group was the first sponsor in the area of mentally retarded projects and the hall located south of Grand Bend is used for the South Huron Association's nursery school. The annual Flowers of Hope campaign is now being organized and Mrs. Whitmore of Seaforth is the chairman. Threatened woman, ordered to post bond A London man who threatened his former wife living in Huron Park. was ordered to post a $500 bond to keep the peace when he appeared before Judge Glenn Hays in Exeter court. Tuesday. Helmut Minderlein. 665 Lorne SI.. London, was charged after he phoned his former wife and said he would get a revolver and shoot her. The court was told this week .that the accused was intoxicated at the time and had no intention of carrying out the threat. in ordering Minderlein to post the bond. Judge Hays told him that if he failed to keep the peace. • he could go to jail for six months and face a fine of S500. Two area youths who appeared in court and pleaded guilty to theft charges. were ordered to appear on April 1 for disposition of their cases. Andrew Roy Pridham. 108 Huron St. E. Exeter. was charged with taking a $7 eight - track tape from an Exeter outlet on November 22. He made restitution for the tape and the court was told he was an ex- cellent student and was acting out of character when he com- mitted the offence. Richard Wayne Moody. Grand Bend, was charged with laking a wallet and 810 from a locker at South Huron District High School on October 29. He attempted to put the items back when ap- prehended by a teacher at the school. Ile was not a student at the bhool at the time of the offence, ut said he plans to go back next year. Kevin Olson. Port Rowari. was fined 8100 on a charge of possession of narcotics under the Narcotics Control Act. He was found to have a quarter of an ounce of drugs when stopped in •Stephen Township by OPP Forest youth dies at Northville A Forest area youth, Richard l.. Coulheck. was killed early Saturday morning when the vehicle he was driving left High- way 21 in Northville and struck a tree Constable G.W. Clark of the Pinery Park detachment of the Ontario Provincial Police in- vestigated. Present Haydn's 'The Creation' Constable Bill McIntyre on February 22. He pleaded guilty and was given two months to pay the fine. James -R. Hoggarth, 647 High -- bury Ave.. London, was fined 853 for having liquor in a place other than his residence. Donald Albert Dawes, Exeter, pleaded guilty to a theft charge..,, involving a car taken in Exile, on .October 2. He was ornered ;to appear on May 6 for sentenci pending a pre -sentence rep+ Bomb threa closes plant For the fourth time in the past two months. a bomb threat has txen received in the area. Shortly before 7:00 • a.m., Friday. a male caller advised that a bomb had been placed in one of • the Hensall plants of Bendix Homes Systems Ltd. The firm's employees were sent home for the day and a search conducted in the plant. No bomb was found. Two months ago, both Bendix Homes and Dashwood industries were closed for one afternoon after another bomb threat had been received and three weeks ago, students at S1IDHS were dismissed from classes due to another bomb hoax. No seekers for this job A recent advertisement by the town of Exeter and township of Stephen for an animal control officer to service the two municipalities failed to attract any applicants The position called for a person to work part-time but be on'eall between the hours of 8 a.m. and 5 p m. A meeting is being held in Exeter, Wednesday April 2 when Ross Knight of the London Humane Society will speak to Exeter and Stephen councils on the subject of animal control. Other neighbouring municipalities are also being invited. Choir plans Easter special The rich and lilting music of Joseph llaydn's "The Creation" will be sung as an Easter presentation nn Saturday, March 29 at 8:30 p.m. in South Iluron District High School. The 45 -voice Huronia Choir, directed by Mrs. Marianne McCaffrey and accompanied by Mrs. Dorothy Wildfong and Mrs. Mary Moffatt. will feature the solo voices of Mrs. Roni Zon- neveld Isoprano) from Ben - miller. Gordon Johnson (tenor) from Granton and Jack Gaiser (bass) from Dashwood. Mrs. Zonneveld is a new voit'e to this area. While living in Toronto she sang in concert accompanied by Mario Bernardi, and worked under the direction of William E. Burke. associate with the Western Conservatory of Music. Since - coming to the Goderich area she has produced the Festival 73 and 74 musicals in Goderich. Mr. Gaiser and Mr. Johnson are well known for their many presentations throughout the area in both sacred and secular work. • Mrs. McCaffrey had higt praise for her choir who haul been working since earl! January. "It is exceptional!! difficult music and they have done a marvellous job of it. Thi sheer challenge of having learne( to sing it is tremendous), rewarding to everyone," shi commented. Following the performanc. Saturday night, the choir move to London on April 8 for a simila - presentation at Gethseman United Church. •t