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Times-Advocate, 1986-05-07, Page 14 +ht ! t`:rt W ns it • iS • yt4'0% `T• AT Rita 'r"° r. Serving South Huron, North Middlesex One Hundred and Thirteenth Year • z < & North Lambton Since 1873 EXETER. ONTARIO. May 7, 1986 Price Per Copy 60 Cents JP rules against change of venue Changes mind on hearing case Reserves decision opt TY dish The saga of the satellite TV dish continued in Exeter court, Tuesday, in a lengthy session that featured a few unusual twists. Judgement won't be made until June 17. Shirley •Mommersteeg, 32 Gidley St., Exeter, who was charged with erecting the dish contrary to the town's bylaws, pleaded not guilty to the charge and immediately asked for a change of venue for the case, citing the publicity it had received locally. Town solicitor Mike Mitchell and chief building official Brian Johnston argued against her proposal, saying they wanted the case to proceed as planned. Initially, Justice of the Peace Douglas Wedlake decided he would disqualify himself from hearing the case and said the matter would be heard in Exeter court at a later date 'with another J.P. presiding. However, after learning -from the accused that she would be defending herself without legal counsel, Mr. Wedlake withdrew his decision to dis- qualify himself and ruled that the case would proceed. He later stressed he had been wrong in suggesting he should dis- qualify himself as he had not discuss- ed the case with any municipal of- ftcial and did not know details of the situation other than the dish had been erected on a pole at the Gidley St. residence. The town's solicitor filed 10 official documents with the court relating to the town's zoning bylaws, the proper- ty ownership and other items pertain- ing to the situation. Johnston then took the stand and reviewed over 20 different dates and times in which he had been involved with the satellite TV dish since Oc- tober 25, the date which Mrs. Mom - SHINS STUDENTS HONpyRJD— Five,studentsfrom eoch.of,the.five seggnsigry.s hopl§,,jn, ,Q.ul7y._ were honoured at Wednesday's Excellence in Education awards night. The event was sponsors by the Huron County Board of Education and OSSTF. From the left are South Huron District High School students Kendra Arthur, Lee O'Rourke, Murray Rundle, Irene Brand and Angela Fleming. T -A photo b Students, teachers, Haugh honored in presentations Students, teachers and community representatives from the five secon- dary schools in Huron County were honoured Wednesday in Holmesville. During the first Excellence in Education awards banquet, five students, two teacher's and one com- munity recipient from each school received awards. The awards were provided jointly by the Huron Board of Education and District 45 of the Ontario Secondary School Teachers Federation. The Federation at the provincial level was represented by vice- president Jim Head and regional representative .Sue Boworski. The first three goals of the program include reinforcing the pride and self- esteem of Huron teachers in their own skills, profession and what they offer students; to build an understanding and appreciation of the excellence of Huron schools and narrow the gap between the public's misconception and the realities of the excellence of the Public Secondary system. The final two are promotion of com- munity awareness of the scope and the role of Public Secondary Educa- tion and the teacher in the school and community and to actively involve the community in the1Public Secon- dary System. Huron Board of Education chair- man Art Clarke said his board was behind the program. He continued, "it's a characteristic of Canadians not to honour ex- cellence. We seem to revel in mediocrity. We hope affairs of this kind will raise the level of knowledge of the community about education and make people aware of what educators are doing." Students honoured were Todd ,lames. Jane Papple and Lisa Preszcator. Seaforth; Rob Gallaher. Kim Gibson, Charlene Stevenson. ,iulie Stewart and Eric Versteeg, F. E. Madill in Wingham; Kendra Ar- thur, Irene Brand, Angela Fleming. Lee O'Rourke and Murray Rundle. South Huron, Exeter, Kim Cook. Steve Hearn, Rhonda I,ohh, Su Su Myint and Lisa Watt. Central Huron in Clinton; Dave Alnnasi, Melody Falconer. .Julie Myers, Sharon Rahbek and Christine Stapleton of Goderich Collegiate. The honoured teachers were Ed Pelss, Seaforth; William Craig and George Cull, ('entral Huron; Robert Campbell and Audrey Tiffin, Wingham, Ray Donnelly and Bill Work, Goderich; Joe Fulop, Wally Webster and Deb llomuth, South Huron and Shirley Weary, Bluewaler Seconday School. The community recipients were Charlie Wood for many years unpaid as1sistant bandmaster to the Seaforth High School girls trumpet band; James Currie for donating many volumes to the F. E. Madill School library; Ross Haugh of the Exeter Times Advocate for strong support of South Huron events; Louise ' McGregor for major contributions to the Central Huron music program and Mel and Dorothy Bogie of Goderich for their involvement as -Music Boosters. District 45 president Jerry McDon- nell of F. E. Madill in Wingham was chairman for the evening. The awards were handed out by Jing Head and Sue Boworski of OSSTF along with Huron warden Leona Armstrong. HONOUR SOUTH HURON TEACHERS Wednesday's Huron Board of Education Awards Dinner were South Huron District Fulop, Deb Homuth and Wally Webster. — Receiving awards at Excellence in Education High School teachers Joe T -A photo COMMUNITY RECIPIENT At Wednesday's Exce(tIence in Educotion awards dinner sponsored by the Huron Board of Education and OSSTF, T -A assistant editor Rosa Haugh received an award for community contributions to South Huron High School from Huron warden Leona Armstrong. r meisteeg applied for a permit to mount the dish on the roof of her home. -Later that date he went to the -residence to discuss the location of the dish and was shown a hole near the '.front steps in which a pole was to be replaced to hold the dish. Johnston said he advised that the 'dish couldn't be put on the proposed pole in that location and both he and Mrs. Mommersteeg subsequently nicasured nearby propertfes in an at- tempt to determine the average front -yard setback. ideOn October 29, the building official livered a permit for the dish to be erected on the roof. Later in that day he returned and found a heavy steel e concreted into the hold and he tole sent the owner a registered let- ter asking her to cease further con struction until conditions of the bylaws could be satisfied. On November 4, Mrs. Mom- mersteeg submitted an application amendment to erect the dish on top of the,flag pole and that evening attend- ed a meeting of council where she was advised no decision would be made until Johnston returned From olidays. i Johnston said he saw the dish being ierected in the dark at 6:15 p.m. on ovember 12 and on inspecting the rte the following day, said he had never seen a flagpole as large as the 'one at the Mommersteeg residence and noted that it was similar to other poles used for satellite TV dishes that he had inspected. A registered letter was sent by the building inspector ' 1 November 20 re- questing that the j. • be taken down. Durinif his testimony, Johnston said he had suggested the owner apply for a min variance. In examination by Mrs. Mom - me eed, Johnston said he k�ad�•• ''r'evoice�'the original permit becat he felt incorrect information had been supplied to him. In answer to another question, he said he didn't recall giving'aermis- sion to erect the dish on the roof and using the pole as a brace. In her testimony, Mrs. Mom- mersteeg told of measuring front yards in her neighbourhood to deter- mine the average front yard•'setback and said that the dish had been install- ed on November 12. She explained that no permit had been issued, but her cheque to cover the permit cost had been cashed by the municipality. She denied making false informa- tion on the application, suggesting that it had been her intention to mount the dish on the roof, but after discuss- ing this with other people she had decided to put it on the pole. In cross-examination by Mitchell, the accused agreed that she had been advised by letter that the dish could not be mounted on the pole and admit- ted she had never received a permit for erecting the dish in its present location and had been advised by the Mickle gets election win Exeter Reeve Bill Mickle was suc- cessful in his bid to become a direc- tor of the Association of Small Urban Municipalities (OSUM). Supported by the efforts of his cam- paign team, Deputy -Reeve Lossy Fuller and Clerk -Treasurer Liz Bell, Mickle was the only newcomer to be elected in the contest staged during the association's annual meeting in Brockville on ThOrsday and Friday. Six incumbents and four newcomers competed for the seven positions as directors. Mickle's campaign team had lapel labels for delegates 'and placed posters at each spot for Friday's breakfast which preceded the voting. Mickle's win prompted a delay in the trio of Exeter delegates' return home. Asa new director. Mickle had to at- tend a session on Saturday. At that. he was named to a committee for municipal development on the Association of Municipalities of On- tario, (AMO), which is the umbrella organization under which ()SUM operates. town not to erect it there. She told the town's solicitor she was unsure of how far the pole is from her lot line and disagreed with his sugges- tion that the steps.at the residence do not constitute part of the structure. In her final argument to the court, Mrs. Mommersteeg said she made every effort to conform to the bylaw and had three legal opinions which all suggested the installation was okay. Arguing that the pole was not in the front yard, she said the dish could be installed on it and aded that the town's bylaws da not alllow satellite dishes to be erected on the roof although she had been given a permit todoso. Concluding, she said she hadn't erected the dish until the building per- mit application was completed and the cheque for it cashed. In his argument, Mitchell sug- gested the dish was erected without the necessary permit, even though the owner had been advised in letters from town officials not to do so. He said the pole only became a flagpole after the permit was denied. Mitchell reviewed the town's bylaws pertaining to setbacks, TV antenna dishes and the definition of buildings and structures and sug- gested that the definition of steps is such that they can not be considered part of a building. After referring Mr. Wedlake to a similar case in British Columbia, the town's solicitor noted that while the maximum fine allowed for contraven- tion of the bylaw is $2,000, the town would suggest a line of between $300 and $500 be imposed upon a conviction. Politicians and staff planning fitness test BOOK INCLUDED The "Home Phone Book" included with this week's edition of the Times - Advocate is an added bonus for our, readers. Printed in larger, easy -to -read - type, it is our first annual publication of the handy directory. At 112 pages it is also the largest single special edi- tion ever produced by this newspaper. it is expected this week's Times - Advocates will sell out quickly at our local dealers, however, a limited number of additional copies of the phone book are available at our office for $2.00. Want to make a quick buck? Then, be at the South Huron rec centre on May 29 with a quantity of liniment' for sale. That's the day Exeter will celebrate "Physical Activity Day" as part of national physical activity week and a lot of area politicians artd sdme local civil servants could end up as poten- tial customers for your liniment. Mayor Bruce Shaw and Exeter council will be challenging the reeves and councils of the area townships to a fitness test at 7:00 p.m. Shortly after, the town departments will compete in a "skip off" as part of a challenge being issued by the recreation department. Each department. needs a five Ln le M for ge relay+ type �coo; test . Each member of'the'team w tP" skip 100 times and the first team to complete the 500 skips will be declared the .winner. "This is strictly a fun oriented ven- ture designed to bring the town staff together to have a little fun and help promote fitness and physical activi- ty in our town," wrote rec director Lynne Farquhar in issuing the challenge to the other town departments. In addition to the challenges, fitness classes, karate, weight lifting demonstrations and faness tests will be conducted during "Physical Ac- tivity Day" and there will also be in- formation on pool programs, health, fitness and nutrition available to the public at no charge. Mayor's father dies in hospital Monday's regular session of Exeter council was postponed for one week due to the death of Mayor Bruce Shaw's father. Bruce H. M. Shaw, ag 66, died in st. Tikithas un -Saturday flbtfig a lengthy illness. His funeral was held yesterday (Tuesday). In addition to the absence of the Mayor, two other members of coun- cil had indicated they would be unavailable for Monday's session, promptingrthe decision to postpone it for one week. HIS 43th DONATION — Ross Jaques was at the Ausable Nomads Red Cross Blood Donor Clinic Wednesday afternoon for the 45th time. He is shown here with Susan Manzora of the Red Cross. Taking own booze not too economical Taking your own liquor into a licenced establishment isn't a cost saving measure a Zurich area man learned in Exeter court, Tuesday. Wayne Peter Jeffrey, RR2 Zurich, was fined $125 after pleading guilty to a charge of taking his own liquor into the Dominion Ilotel in Zurich on April 19. Justice of the Peace Douglas Wedlake was told that Jeffrey was refused service at the hotel when he entered originally, because he was in an intoxicated state. After being refused on his second attempt, Jeffrey went out and return- ed with a part case of beer, which was subsequently seized by the bartender. However, the accused left again, and came back in with three bottles of beer and refused to surrender two of them. At that point, police were called and the charge was laid. Jeffrey was given 15 days in which to pay the fine. Christopher K. Hannon, Woodward St., Grand Bend, was tried in absen- tia on a charge of making an unsafe turn. Ile was convicted and fined 853.75 and given 15 days in which to pay. Ile was charged on March 16 after turning onto Hay concession 12-13 from Highway 83 in Dashwood. A police cruiser coming in the opposite direction had to apply the brakes and s swerve to the right to avoid a collision with the accused. The officer said the accused advis- ed that he didn't expect to encounter any other vehicles. t'it's 11:30 and Dashwood you know!" he was quoted as saying to the officer. Building boom levels off a bit The value of building permits issued in Exeter this year continues to run well above last year's cor- responding figures, but the gap nar- rowed somewhat in April. Building inspector Brian .Johnston approved construction valued at 8293,937 during the • past month. April's total in 1985 was 8378,519. Ttie current year's total to date is $839,641, corresponding to 8473,989 for the first four months last year. Two new residential (fwellings were included in the April figures at a value of 8237,587. There was one swimming pool at $16,000, 19 residential renova- tions and additions at 826,250 and 10 permits for tool sheds, sundecks, car- ports and garages at 813,300. Three demolition permits were also approved, along with four permanent signs and four temporary signs.