Times-Advocate, 1982-12-22, Page 1•
QUALITY
FURNITURE
WHY
PAY
MORE?
Whifings
Phone 235-1964
New warden outlines challenges
Museum, oconomy major problems
Goderich Township Reeve
Grant Stirling'was acclaimed
as the 115th warden of Huron
County at special ceremonies
Tuesday. •
A member of township and
county council f6r 16 years,
Stirling was upopposed.in his
third bid to become warden of
Huron County. His acclama-
tion marks only the seventh
time a Goderich Township
reeve has held the position,
the last one being Gerry Ginn
in 1976.
In his inaugural address to
council, Stirling intimated the
next year,will be one of fiscal
restraint amt fort e
h 'county.
"The economy is not good
and we will have to practice
restraint in the coming year,
he'said. "The county has lit-
tle room to manoeuver but it
FLASHING KNEES - Lee and Gerry Paul are shown
in one of their comedy routines at the Crediton Lions'
Club Christmas party, Thursday night.
Two men given
sentences in jail
council. The money had been
receipts from the sale of
Christmas cakes.
The accused, who now lives
with his parents in
Amherstburg, was serving a
suspended sentence and a
year's probation on another
charge at the time of the local
theft.
Bryan S. • Lightfoot,
Hickson. pleaded guilty to
driving with a blood alcohol
content over the legal limit ma
November 25 and,was given a
fine of x:300 or :10 days and had
his license suspended for
three months.
Ile was stopped for erratic
driving in Ushorne Township
and a.breathalizer showed a •
reading of 170 ings.
.1 1111(.4 $100 or 10 days was
levied_ against Joseph E.
Cullen. Huron Park. who
pleaded guilty to .(heft of
under $200 on -October :30. He
was charged after atlehipting
to steal items from Darling's,
IGA. '
Two people were given jail
sentences when they ap-
peared before Judge W. G.
Cochrane in Exeter court last-
'Tuesday. -
Larry Stire, Exeter. who
•appeared for sentence on
three counts under (he
Criminal Code, was given a
total of 10 days in jail. The
charges included making a
false statement, using a forg-
ed document and intent to
-defraud.
He had pleaded guilty to the
• charges previously.
Judge Cochrane said the in-
cident through which Stire ac-
quired money by fraudulent
methods. was well planned
and did not appear to be a
spur of the moment situation.
,The court tt•astoldthat the
accused is in poor health and
. has no means to pay a' fine.
Partial restitution had been
made but $600 remains to be
. paid.
Sentenced to five days in
jail was . -16-year-old
Christopher Radigan. a
former resident of (he Epp
Home. Ile was charged with
the (heft of $167 from the Ex
eter Public School student
Eight face
county trial
Eight local and area youths
have been ordered to stand
trial on charges of mischief
• and unlawful assembly
following a prelirminaI t hear-
ing in Exeter, Tuesday
A total of 13 faced charges
originally following police in-
vestigation into the July 29
damage caused to - a home
owned by Gus Gr'egus :11 :321
Carling St. Charges against
• five were discharged.
Holes were punch('(' in'the
wall and ceilings. doors rip-
ped off..kelchup and butler
were smeared on tlhe walls
and broken fixer bolt les were
ground into the. floor.
Damage. in (he incident was
set 'i1 over $6.000.
- The eight elected by coon
by. court judge and jury and
are expeel ed 10 appiNir in
March.
Ordered.to stand trial were
Michael Edward Parsons,
Kenneth Denotnme, Kevin I.
Small, John Stephens Jr..
Ralph Ivan Bremner. Barry
Arthur McCallum. Rodney..(.
Dobson and Paul Thomas
Pridham:
is important- to maintain o
road system or we will,
dearly later. We must a
ur eluding three women.
pay Huron County Judge, F.G.
!so Carter addressed the new
look after the health a
welfare of the residents of t
county." -
One of the more salie
issues to be addressed •
Council is the fate of t
Huron County Pione
Museum in Goderich a
Warden Stirling indicat
that council must weigh thr
in its deliberations
"We must make a decisi
on the museum this year a
we will have to deci
whether we want to get out
the museum busine
altogether, relocate
rebuild," he said. "It will c
money and this is not time
burden the taxpayers. T
funds will have to come fro
other sources."
Suggesting that it would be
political folly to make pro-
mises after becoming warden
by acclamation, Stirling said
it. would be a difficult chore
for county council to hold the
tax line to burden the tax-
payers. The funds will have to
come from other sources."
Suggesting that it would be
political folly to make pro-
mises after becoming warden
by acclamation, Stirling said
it would be a difficult chore
for county council to hold the
tax 'line during the present
nd council and suggested the
he new warden would "render
the county stirling service".
nt While inspiring council
by members to take their elected
he responsibility seriously,-
er Judge Carter suggested noun-
nd cif would find solutions to the
ed problems of the day.
ree
on
nd
de
of
ss
or
ost
to
h
m
administration. •
Past warden and Ifowick
Township reeve, Harold
Robinson commented that he
served on county council for
17 years adding that he would
miss the political involve-
ment He remark d th t
e a_
while the warden .may. take.
responsibility for decisions at
.the council table, citing the
recent decision to hold wage
increases for 'county
employees, he cautioned new
members that such decisions
were made collectively.-
-The new council features 17 the Huron -Perth Separate
new members, which Robin- . School ' Board to provide
son said was a record, in- background information and
select four parents to sit on a
community accommodation
review: committee drew a
lively, vocal crowd . to the
parish hall, Wednesday, to
voice their determination to
keep theirschool open.
"Council has been elected
to office and. that brings
responsibility with it," ' he
said. "you must exercise that
responsibility to the best of
your ability and in good
conscience."
"The warden mentioned the
museum and it wasn't long
ago that the building
site burned down but th,
council of the day sols (.d u.(
problem. This eount•il H 1:1
also solve its pre blern
Reverencj Lockhart 1t„ . ,1
of Knox Presbyterian ('hu, •11
Goderich reminded' rutin
cillors that they Wereele. ied
by the people, the people 1 hey
must serve. ir,
"Always be fa, alw a , be
honest as men and women
and always be decisive.' • he •
said. "If you come in wisdom.
-you come humbly but if you
come in pride and arrogance
you come in folly, and great
shall be your fall." .
Former warden and
Goderich Township Reeve,
W.4
Gerry Ginn said it was an
honor for the township to
again supply the county with
a warden. Previousirardens
from the township have done
a reasonable job he offered
but "Grant wiU do a more
than reasonable job and l'I'm.
sure, he'll meet the
challenge."
Warden Stirling welcomed•
the new members to county
council but reminded all
councillors that serious '-/.
challenges will be faces in the
coming year. -
"We have many serious.
decisions to make in the next
year but we must govern the
county for the best of all the
people of Huron County."
Ames
Serving South Huron, North Middlesex
One Hundred and Tenth Year
NAMED WARDEN Grant Stirling, reeve of.Goderich Township, was named as
He'ron's 1983 warden -and is -hown here receiving his chain of office from 1982
warden Harold Robinson. Warden Stirling is the 115th, warden of Huron County.
& North.Lambton Since 1873
EXETER, ONTARIO, December 22,E 1982
Price Per Copy 50 Cents
Zurich area parents air views
Livel
Ecole Ste. Marie at St.
Joseph's will carry on for
another year- while the
relative merits of continuing
classes at the school or clos-
ing its doors to students will
be thoroughly studied.
A public meeting called. by
Only garbage
is unaffected
The fact`thal Christmas and
New Year's days fall on
Saturdays this year has caus-
ed changes in the hours of
government offices and bank-
ing establishments.
The wickets at the Exeter
post office will be closed at 4
p. m. on Friday, December 24
and Friday, December 31.
and all day December 27. 28
and January 3.
The Canadian Imperial
Bank of Commerce, the Bank
of Montreal, the Bank of Nova
Scotia and the Royal Bank
will observe regular hours un-
til Friday. December 24;
when they will close at 3 p.m..
The banks will be. closed
December 27 and 28. open un-
til .3 p.m. on December 31 and
closed all 'day January :3.
The Victoria and Grey
' Trust Co. Will close at 4 p.m.'
Christmas and New. Year's
eves, and remain closed all
day December 28 and 28akd.
January :3.
This week the liquor store
will stay open until- 9 p.m.
Thursday, close at'6 on Fri-
day December 24 and reopen
the following Tuesday with
business as usual December
28. 29, 30 and 31 from 10 a.ni.
to 6 .p.m. The store will be
closed New ' Year's day.
reopening. the following
Monday. .
Garbage collection in Ex-
eter will not be affected by the -
holiday season.
Mrs. Elaine (George)
Ducharme, Bernie
Denomme, Andre Durand
and Ron Overholt were
elected to the Community Ac-
commodation., Review Com-
... mittee (CARC) - Urrepresent
area separate school
supporters.
Other committee members,
determined by the board's
policy, are local trustee Dave
Durand, board member Ron
Marcy (representative from
another -district and ap-
pointed by new board chair-
• man Ron Murray), Jim
McDade, a teacher • at St.
Mary's in Goderich appointed
by the branch affiliation,
Ecol Ste. Marie principal
Lillian LaPorte, parish paster
Father John Bensette, and
supervisory officer and ex-
ecutive secretary Bill Eckert,
director ofeducation for
•Huron -Perth:• .
The CARC has up to five
months to assess the ability of
• the school in question to pro-
vide an effective -education
program at a cost which is
reasonably consistent with
comparable. costs within the
separate school system.
In order to reach a decision.
the committee will solicit
public opinion through more
public meetings and a survey -
of ratepayers. Committee
members will have full ac-
cess to all pertinent financial
records, and files of the
debate on school closin
previous acro' modation
reviews.
If their report to the Board
Accommodation Committee
concludes the school should
remain open, the CARC will
be expected to make specific
-recommendations on how this
can be accomplished. A
recommendation to close
Ecole Ste. Mariewould include
date of closure, ' school to
which students would be
transferred, transportation.
details, and future use of the
building and facilities.
After. the CARC report is
submitted, the Board Accom-
modation. Committee, corn -
posed of the board chairman,
vice chairman and chairmen
of three of the board's four
standing committees, has an
additional eight months to
study the issuetbefore render,
ing its verdict on the school's
fate.
' - The more than 60 area
'residentshad quite a few
questions, most aimed at
board chairman -Murray and
acting director of education
John .McCauley, standing in
for an ill Bill Eckert. Others
in attendance were trustees
Durand, Marcy, Arthur Haid,
Mike Moriarity and Tim -
McDonnell. •
The thorniest iue�
s�w•as the
subject of boundaries. • •
"I know.there are children
going to one- school who
should be going to another",
one parent commented.
The 'consensus of opinion
seemed •to be that if all
children attended the school
in their area, the problem of
declining enrolment at Ecole
Ste. Marie leading to (he pre-
sent situation. • would . never
have occurred.
Others pointed out the
seeming inconsistency of
transferring pupils to another
• school tat additional
transportation costs . that
already has a _portable
classroom in use. and spen-
ding more money to upgrade
that school's• ,library.
playground equipment and
other facilities to accom
modate the 50 students from
- Eeole Ste. Marie.
One mother remarked, to
the delight of the audience.
that she did not know of a
solitary child who had read
every Crook in the Ecole Ste.
Marie library.
One man felt the fiscal ad-
justments necessary if the
school were closed would tie'
more costly than keeping it
open.
Further questioning elicited
the fact 16 portables are in use
among the 19 schools in the .
separate school system. The"
board owns the portable at St.
B\iniface in Zurich. but rental
costs for others is $4.800 each
per
year. -
Part -of the current problem
can be traced back to the
history of Ecole Ste. Marie.
The school opened in 1961. an
amalgamation of two schools.
one .in Hay and the other ir)
Stanley township. •
Originally all instruction
was get en in French
.Some residents attending
St. Boniface church continued
to send their children to St •
CANDY FOR THE K IDS Kids of all ages received bags of candy at Thursday's Crediton
Lions club Christmas party. Shown with Lion Pete Wuerth are from left: Marion
Schenk, Katie Schenk, •Marilyn Pritchard and Erma Krueger. • T -A photo
Council issues statement
regarding personnel report
- In an apparent attempt to
headoff furl her crit ic'ism and
comments about the.;con-
lroversial Personnel Manage -
Ment Associates• report. Ex-
eter •council issued a stale-
menl,on the matter this week.
GIRL GUIDES SING Exeter Girl Guides madey their annual jaunt around
The
Christmas carols. They ore shown at South Huron Hospital being directed by
Army.
Town faces
x5,500 Toss
in '83
town Wednesday night singirig
Shirley Luther of the Salvation
u. T -A photo
No help for lost tax revenu
•Exeter council learned this
week they tvon'l be getting
any assistance from the-pro-
vince
he provinc•e for tax revenue lost due
.to local residents receiving
assessment reductions
because they have Urea for-
maldehyde foam insulation in
(heir homes.
"Regrettably there is no
• provision open to • the Pro
-
k
Once of Ontario to compen-
sate municipalities for lax
losses attributable to assess-
ment review court decisions
because of the presence of
UF.h'I." explained (':l':.
Winter Yif the ministry of
revenue in response to a let --
ter from • council seeking
compensation.
"Tax revenue losses ac-
corded to these properties can
only be treated in the manner'
applied to any other assess-
ment reductions, That is, in
the formulation of -the next
municipal budget," Winter
wrote, adding that he ap-
preciated council's concern
the issue..is causing in (hese
difficult economic times.
Most home owners with the
insulation hate Ixen granted
assessment reductions of 35.
percent. •
Finance commillee chair-
man 13111 \I)'kle advised
council this week that the loss
of tax IA' \enn1' Iron) dhoine
owners with the insulation
could reach 5.-).5o0 in 1983..
This is about one mill.
The statement. • read •to
council this tteek-by lla)•oi
'truce Shat- and ytiii'kly en
Torsed claims council has
moved as gint•kly as it could
on the report.
Shaw s;ud the first phase.ot
the ret lett „t the repent -was
conducted 'Thursday tihen
council net with the detparl.
merit heads. who expressed
•their concerns ult•olting the
propii•-ed structure and Ihe
possible changes in respon-
sibilities as outlined in the
report by '.ion Sharzer
"The (11 11„t;ue w as very
(•andtd. 5Ilatt• 11010(1.
it' 1trn1111111'sa that l'01.111-
‘ ‘-111('!4 to assure ali its
enlplo%ecs :is %cell as the
public 111.11 an} t'll:ult;es t III
Ile' Illadr.0tic atter careful
study and .with the 1xest In
'terests oI the town In Mind •
The statement noted that
the next' 1lhast' tt 11 he tot•
council to examine the report
and the comments of Iht'
de•liarirrctit heads mi prit•ate
and the n 1 o determine the. pro-
cess for imptenlentat11m "it
(hal Is- the_ t•Iilr,,c t0 be
taken'
"' 11' t''I 111c.ised that
the report tt ill'! n ce c+clnu'il to
i"%alpha(' Itsel:. ..l (''. IIs
strengths and oil reel
weaknesses 1Ce !11111,, that.the
pr'ex•rss tt Ill be .Icl omt111slled
Wit Ihe imxt'Iett months
• "h,,„,„ Ii`I•lilt`d .l' ..110101•
Innate.... the linot;:ll) bet
ween !he public presentation
of the report and IN. fast ex
animation 111 It. "111 111:11 I110r1t
1x`01111' .11!1•, Ceti 111111 dlrecllt
and uulnrrtl� Ixeg:ul la dray,
('010 Il, 11111S and slake
assumptions •
He said that most coun-
cillors and. all department
heads have NO comments
(lirected at theca as to what
should lie done and he added
"even Members of al least
one hu;1I'd appointed by coun-
cil have publicly giine so far
as to criticize council's handl-
ing of the report"
Boniface school under a
gentleman's agreement
worked out with the board.
Provision was made for,
others wanting their children
to.beeducated'in English to
attend St. Boniface.
French instruction declined
to a low of 40 minutes of
classroom instruction 10.
years ago. then climbed up to
\its present 75 minutes per day
11om grade one to eight. with
the formation of the _county
board.
The original enrolment of 93
Please turn to page 3 A
•
Restraint
practiced
"Restraint should start
• from within"- commented
Councillor Morley Hall in
moving to have the number of
Exeter delegates chopped for •
the. annual Good Roads
.convention.
• Ile -moved that the town on-
ly authorize the attendance of
one member of council 'and
one member of. the public
works department to attend
• the annual event and he got a
.quick second on that in
Dorothy Chapman.
• The show of hands ap- -
peared to be unanimous "in
support ing,the. motion:
In an off -shoot in the discus-
sion. Mayor 'Bruce Shaw
remarked about the 625 con=
vention fee being very
reasonable in view of the fact
delegates will hear from a
long list of Ontario cabinet
• members and federal PC par-
, ty head Joe ('lark -
llowever, the . Liberal
hec(lers were not• in•aecor-
dance with Shaw's opinion
that thus_':; lee ttas too con -
. serval IVC for such a •
distinguished list of speakers.
"That's about all they're
worth." commented Coun-
cillor Bill Rose'. with Bill
Mickie qulckl) Coining him in
some laughter at • the
pit -d4tt n
•
A DASHWOOD PONY RIDE Sean and Andy Martens enlo a pony ride during
Soturdoy's Christmas party at the Doshwood Community Centre Af the.right is Rocco
the clown. T A photo