HomeMy WebLinkAboutTimes-Advocate, 1982-01-13, Page 1Local Conklin Lumber store..
bought by Watfo.rd company
The Exeter and Goderich
Conklin Lumber stores have
been bought as part of the
merger of Powell Bul ding
Materials Inc. of Stratjooy
and Moffatt and Powell Ltd.
of Watford, which became
effective last Monday.
Keith Moffat announced
the merger at a press con-
ference Thursday at the
Holiday Inn in London.
Formerly president of Mof-
fatt
offatt and Powell Ltd. in
partnership with Mel
Powell. Moffatt is president -
of the new company. Mel
Powell is treasurer, and
Dave Powell was named
vice-president and general
manager.
Within two weeks a new
building supply store will be
r. :A.1.,.
WILL SHE START NOW? - When Gary Moore couldn't start
his car on Main Street, he coiled for assistance. Trying to find
the problem are Carl Triebner, right, and Harold Triebner,
rear. Mr. Moore had come into town to shop len his car
refused to start again.
4
HELPING HIS FRIEND — Bob Forrest of Gidley Street,
ownerofForrest Home Heat, took the time. Monday afternoon
to clear the Main St. driveway of his friend Tom Humphreys.
Mr. Humphreys works at. Northern Telecom in London. The
storm kept him at home all day.
AerospaC� workers
okay strike action
with the U,S. Army and calls
for 12 specially -modified un-
its for military support
operations.
Representatives of Bell
Aerospace and local 1787 of
the United Autoworkers of
America have been
negotiating a new contract
since December 1, and both
sides say they are optimistic
a strike can be averted.
The 54 workers at -the
Grand Bend plant voted on
January 5 and were 97 per-
cent in' favour of going, on
strike if negotiations- are
fruitless, but union
negotiating committee
chairman Tony Jones
emphasized that the union
"is prepared to sit for any
length of time" to reach an
accord. The previous two-
year contract expired at the
end of December.
"The progress is not too
bad. but a major concern
with us is the rumour that
the parent company may
relocate the plant. We want
our members to be
protected. This is a bigissue
with us now," Jones said.
Bell Aerospace of Canada is
a division of the American
firm. whose headquarters is
in Buffalo.
Director of- business
'perations Ted Bartlett said
the men have continued to
work since the contract ex-
piry date, and that
negotiations would continue.
"We have been making some
progress," he said.
The strike vote, a legal
requireryent, was to show
"that all the members are
backing us up." Jones said.
"But we certainly don't
want a strike. We have a
good company here."
The five union and three
company representatives
have conducted seven
meetings thus far. Jones
said it was too early to say
what his union's contract
demands are.
Bell Aerospace makes
hovercraft components.
Their current contract is
opened in London at
Trafalgar Rd. and Highbury
Ave., creating six new jobs.
Beginning this week the
Conklin stores of Exeter and
Goderich opened under the
name Moffatt and Powell.
"We will be adding to the
Exeter store's inventory to
bring it up to our levels. We
areuite enthusiastic about
it." Moffatt told the Times -
Advocate.
When asked about the cost
of the merger, Moffatt said
it was about 821 million.
Dave Powell said the move
Blizzard
hits area
Activity throughout the
area ground to a halt an Sun-
day and Monday as a bili
zard unleashed its fury, but
there were few problems ex-
perienced.
Most area residents looked
out their windows Sunday
morning and decided to stay
were still
there until the
storm moved
out of the area early Monday
evening.
Some area roads were of-
ficially closed, while the
remainder were unofficially
closed due to a total lack of
visibility and heavy drifts.
Several churches cancell-
ed service -.on Sunday and
only a handful of businesses
and industries were open on
Monday.
Snowplow crews didn't
bother tackling the impossi-
ble job of opening roads until
the storm subsided on Mon-
day and then their efforts
were hampered. by aban-
doned vehicles which had
been left on roads by the few
motorists who failed toheed
the advice to stay at home.
The storm met all the
crttierla for being named a
blizzard. the mercury dipped
to -22, wind gusts were over
85 kmh, visibility was nil at
times and the storm brought
severat centimetres of snow.
The only "rescue"
reported during the storm
was that of CFPL-TV
weatherman Jay Campbell,
a resident of Exeter. Despite
predicting the storm,
Campbell became stranded
in Exeter and gave the Sun-
day night forecast over the
telephone from . his
residence.
Around noon, Monday, a
four-wheel drive vehicle was
dispatched from London and
managed to get through to
Exeter with the help of some
snowplows and the local
weatherman was able to
reach the TV station in time
for the FYI news Monday
evening.
Travel along major
highways was still difficult
Monday evening but all area
roads were reported
passable by Tuesday mor-
ning and the area returned lo
normal with a few giant
snowbanks the only
'reminder of the 1982 bliz-
zard!
Another reminder is that
your copy of this newspaper
is a day late this week.
Several staff members were
unable toreach work on Mon-
day and the day was
"cancelled" as it was for
most other area residents.
had been planned fop about
six weeks.
"It's probable that. some
new jobs will spring from
this merger, depenGclg on
changes in the economy,"
Moffatt said$ He said be.
plans to retain the
employees at the two
Conklin locations he has ac-
quired.
"There is a pent-up de-
mand in our business
because of the lack of bow-
ing units." Moffatt said.
"We don't know of a definite
month when the economy is
expected to recover, but
perhaps it will be in mid -
1962."
The new
company has
14,14- . - ..+�w.., ...V. I. . p, • - . •: .•
?R'
seven sales outlets and two
manufacturing plants spread
over Perth, Lambton,
Huron, and Middlesex coun-
ties. It ha over 100
employees' and "we expect
sales to be around 125
million a year," Moffatt
Slid.
lin Lumber had been
in receivership since Oc-
tPTo explain how his
business could expand when
others. Where closing down,
Moffatt said it was just hard
work, strong merchandising
and sound management. He
*aid that sales are not as
easy to get as they used to
be.
A HOPEFUL MERGER — Effective last week, the operations of Moffot & Powell Ltd . and Powell Building Mnteriols were
combined under the name Moffatt & Powell Ltd. The new company hos also acquired the Exeter nnri Gnderich Conklin
Lumber Company stores. Shown above are, from left to right. treasurer Mel Powell, vice -pre ident David Powell, Goderich
store manager Fred Ramsay, and president Keith- Moffatt.
gimes
Serving South Huron, North Middiesex
One Hundred and Ninth Year
& North Lambton Since 1873
EXETER, ONTARIO, JANUARY 6, 1982
Price Per Copy 40 cents
o opposition to lagoon project;
farmers want seepage stopped
No major concerns or ob-
jections were expressed
when the Ontario En-
vironmental Board stageda
hearing into Exeter's.
proposed sewer system ex-
pansion project Tuesday.
However, the concern
from two Stephen Township
farmers regarding existing
lagoon seepage and the
possibility that it may in-
crease with the expansion of
the lagoon cells was
presented to the two board
members, chairman
Michael Jeffery, Q.C., and
G.E. Wilson.
In his concluding remarks,
Wilson said that correcting
the seepage would probably
form part- of their
recommendation when they
present their report to the
entire board for considera-
tion.
Jeffery said their report •
would probabl be made to
the board by lrch. -
Steve Burnet B.M. Ross
di Associat consulting
engineers, r " sewed the
project for expansion
and. modiftc on of the
sewage w
He said the
undertaken at
dy had been
request of
Exeter council because the
present system is operating
at capacity and the ministry
of -the -environment have
placed a freeze on any future
Ten people injuia
in road collisions
Exeter OPP , report onl}n
two storm -related accidents
over the weekend, but 10
people sustained minor
injuries in those incidents.
Seven people were shaken
up in a two -vehicle collision
shortly after noon on
Saturday on Highway 83 east
of Dashwood. A westbound
vehicle driven by William
Wagner, RR 1 Hay, was
turning left into a driveway
when it was in collision with
an eastbound vehicle driven
by Vinzenz Krainz , RR 2
Ailsa Craig. .
The collision took place
during a white-out.
Wagner's wife, Helen, and
two children, Robbie and
Cathy, were shaken up as
were Krainz and his wife,
Ilse, and their children,
Robert and Margaret.
Damage in the accident
was set at $7,000.
The other collision oc-
curred on Highway 84 at 8:30
a.m.Sunday.
Phillip Grossman, Omaha,
Nebraska, struck a
marooned vehicle owned by
Mary Foreman, Zurich.
Grossman and two
passengers were shaken up
in the collision and damage
was listed at 83,500 by the
owners as the police were
unable to get to the scene due
to the storm. -
The' OPP did not conduct
any patrols during the storm
due to the total lack of
visibility and Highway 83
was closed for most of Sun-
day and through to about
3:00 p.m., Monday.
TWISTED STEEL — Twisted metal siding is all that remained Thursday of o two storey chicken barn and 11,500 chickens. A
Wednesday morning fire destroyed the barn owned by McKinley Forms Ltd. north of Zurich.
Loss up to '100,000 in fife
Chicken barn destroyed
A Wednesday morning fire
at McKinley Farm Ltd.
north of Zurich, caused an
estimated $75,000 to 8100,000
damage.
A two-storey chicken barn
and 11,500 broiler chickens,
destined for market this
week, were destroyed.
Anson McKinley, who
estimated the losses, said the
building and livestock were
partially insured, but he
added "You can't eat them
even if they're insured."
McKinley said the barn,
one of the older buildings on
the farm, was about 15 years
old.
Though the barn was
metal clad, portions of the
flooring and siding were
plywood. Wooden staircases
linked the two floors.
The newer structures are
less susceptible to fire
McKinley indicated since
there is less wood in the
construction and only a
single level.
The foundation and the
lower cement floor are
believed to be salvagable.
McKinley plans to rebuild
the barn.
Though the loss was "too
much to be losing" McKinley
said the broilers were not a
major portion of his com-
pany's production. He added
that broiler quotas had been
cut back over the Christmas
season and not as many
chickens were present as
could have been.
Zurich fire chief Bob
Merner said he believed the
fire originated in the barn's
heating unit.
Merner said there were no
problems with winter
weather in fighting the fire,
but that smoke blowing
down the farm's laneway
obscured the firemen's
approach to the fire.
A minor car accident,
because of poor visibility,
was reported in the lane
during the fire fighting ef-
forts.
Units from the Bayfield
and Brucefield fire depart-
ments helped to hose down a
nearby wooden barn to
prevent the fl,@mes from
spreading.
The building, one of six on
the McKinley farm, was
equipped with a temperature
monitoring system, used to
detect overheating in the
summer.
An employee discovered
the fire about 11 a.m.
Wednesday and'. found the
barn full of smoke. It is
believed the chickens
quickly smothered.
growth. in the municipality.
He also explained that the
present system does not
meet' the effluent handling
guidelines of the ministry
and that there --is over-
flowing' of raw sewage into
the river during flood
periods or' when there are
power failures affecting the
main pumping station.
Burnes further noted that
to limit growth in Exeter
would be undesirable.
because the community has
been expanding and he said
it was also impossible to
reduce the existing flows of
sewage as they were com-
patible with a community of
this nature.
A. mechanical treatment
plant, one alternative con-
sidered, would cost $2.5 •to'
$3.5 million and have an an -
nal ni+et atirtednet-of'11*
000 and this was considered
excessive, as was the $4.
million estimated cost of
taking the sewage to Lake
Huron via a pipline. The
engineer said this latter
suggestion would also only
be a matter of moving an en-
vironment problem, not cor-
recting one.
Another consideration was
spraying the effluent onto
land and he said this was
turned down because of the
high cost ($1.5 million) as
well as the waste of good
farm land. Burnes also ex-
plained there was no great
need for irrigation in the
area due to the nature of
crops grown and the amount
of rainfall normally ex-
perienced.
He said the decision to
deepen two of the existing
four cells at the lagoon was
the most practical from all
standpoints.
He said the proposed 81.1
million project included
deepening cells number
three and four and adding.
aeration equipment to them
to supply oxygen and keep
the. ponds from stagnating.
He said this would also
eliminate ice forming over
the ponds in the winter.
Some chemical treatment
would also take place to
remove phosphorous .
The ptgmps at the pumping
station would be increased in
'size to prevent raw sewage
from getting into the river
during flood periods and a
diesel generator would also
be installed to handle flow
during power failures.
Burnes told the board
members that with the
proposed expansion
program. Exeter's needs
would be handled until the
year 2005 or until the popula-
tion reached 4.700.
He said Canadian Canners
have an agreement to use up
to 250.000 cubic meters of
the storage capacity of the
lagoons and they did not ex-
press any interest in having
that amount increased.
The present capacity of
the lagoons is 475.000 cubic
meters and the expansion
will add another 290.000. an
increase of 60 percent
He said. that to his
knowledge. there were no
odor or other problems with
the present lagoon system.
However. neighboring
property owner Gerald
Dearing said he had ex-
perienced some seepage
onto his'property and this
made a portion of a nearby
field "sour" and it did not
produce good crops.
Burnes termed this a
"minor" problem and said it
could be corrected by spen-
ding an additional 11,500 to which the problem was be- deepening the two other
$2,000 to put drainage around ing experienced. cells would increase the
the two original cells from He said he didn't think that Please turn topage 3
4.
MAIN STREET BUZZARD — This view of Exeter's Main Street wos about all shot could bp
seen during Monday's blizzard. A few well bundled Exeter residents ventured out into the
storm.
Stephen
to close
Stephen township council
has received final provincial
approval for closing a por-
tion of Gill road, near Grand
Bend.
The affected area consists
of Lots 2.3.4 and 5 Ausable
Concession and -is adjacent
to Grand Bend.
The engineering firm of
Gamsby and Mannerow was
named to prepare 'a survey.
plan and report for a new
petition for the Gill
municipal drain at Lots 2,3,4
and 5. Concessions 22 and
Ausable.
An agreement has been
approved to pay Grand
Coves Estates 8100 for snow
plowing the township
sidewalks fronting the
Grand Bend area subdivision
for the 1981 -82 season.
Cindy Fisher of the Huron
planning department will be
Disaster
averted
A disaster was averted at
the. Exeter library Monday
evening when librarian
Elizabeth Schroeder
decided - to make an in-
spection of the facility
during the blizzard.
She discovered that the
hirnace had gone out and a
radiator had broken. While
water had started to flow
from the broken unit, it had
not caused any particular
damage.
However, had it been left
unattended through the
-night, a major flood could
have resulted with con-
siderable damage.
.agiven pproval
p�rt of Gill Road
meeting with council from the township of St.
to review the township's Vincents regarding provin-
secondary plan on January cial sales tax and from the
26 township of Glanbrook con -
Two resolutions from On- cerning high interest rates
tario municipalities were affecting loans a n d
not supported. They were mortgages
Usborne permits down
At the January meeting of
Usborne township council.
building inspector Herman
Van Wieren reported issuing
31 building permits in 1981
for a total estimated value of
$380.000 which includes eight
demolition permits:
• In 1980 the value of
building permits issued in
Usborne township was 8731.•.
500
Tax collector Harry
Strang reported that 97.21
percent of the 1981 tax roll
had been collected. Total tax
arrears for all years now
stands at 528.618.34.
Council approved applica-
tion to the Ontario :Ministry
of Transportation and Com-
munications foi• the balance
of subsidies clue on a total
1981 -road expenditure of
$2ri.3ti9 06
A _bylaw was passed
authorizing the borrowing of
$300.000 'for operating- pur-
: poses during 1982.
UONESSES AiD PARK , The Exeter Lioness club mode o re-
cent donotion of 5500 to the Community Pork redevelopment
' fund Above. lioness 1i7,134 r,o4es tare o,pern'ot,or, to bon
Corneronchairman of the redevelopment prolect.t A photo
•
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