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HomeMy WebLinkAboutTimes-Advocate, 1987-03-04, Page 1PUP COOLER TIPPET) *OVER EX'FE111O13 11'.11.1.ti 1':11N'1'EI) Imes - dvocate Serving South Huron, North Middlesex - & North I-ambton Since 1873 One Hundred and Sixteenth Year EXETER, ONTARIO, March 4, 1987 Price Per Copy 60 Cents Damage is over $10,000 VANDALS ATTACK SCHOOL Vandals caused damage of almost $10,000 at South Huron District High School- during the early morning .hours on Friday. Most extensive damage was caus- ed in. lhe..school office, - where • telephones, --a-computer-and--audio recording system were smashed and dumped on the floor, along- with "numerous books and records. A library in the office of principal Bruce Shaw was also attacked and a - large number of hooks strewn on the floor. The vandals tipped over a large soft drink machine in the cafeteria and there were many messages spray painted on both the interior and ex- terior walls. Entry. was gained by smashin a door. on the south-east corner of the schoo Friday was professional develop- - ment' dayso no classes were scheduled. The custodians were kept busy - throughouut the day and on the weekend in attempting to remove the painted messages from the walls of the school. Police Chief Larry Hardy reports that no arrests have been made as yet and the police investigation" is continuing. • Shaw-noted-thal_by_coincidence" much of the material on the main— computer that was damaged had :been transferred off it on Thursday. However, it contained all the atten- dance records and he said it was too BEST SPEAKERS AT CREDITON Crediton Social Club president Bob Reynolds presents Wednesday's public speaking contest winners Robbie Passmore, Usborne Central and Lisa Robertson and Tim Hoff- man, both of Stephen Central. At the right is a member of the executive Glenn Hodgins. T -A photo Meet here next week over hydro line issue Rural landowners in Bruce, Huron k liddlese-x-cou____ nlies•wijLdecide in tta Exeter next week whether 10 appeal a provincial board decision giving On- tario hydro the right to build a ma- jor transmission corridor from the Bruce Nuclear Power Development south to the tondon area. An official with the Foodland Hydro Committee, composed chiefly of farmers in the three counties, Said Monday the group will meet next Wednesday to determine if it should appeal the February 20 decision by the Consolidated Hearings Board. or continue to represent its 1,300 lan- downer members in land expropria- tion and compensation negotiations with the utility. Tony McQuail, a lucknow area farmer and chairman of the lan- downer lobby, said an appeal is one of the options being considered, "but that decision will depend on the feel- ings of our members." roup's London lawyers also will attend the meeting. set for 8 p.m. in the South Huron District High - School auditorium. Besides the possibility of lodging an appeal of the joint board decision. "we'll also he looking at issues relating to expropriation law and ways of restructuring the organiza- tion," McQuail said. But a third option, he added. could be to disband the committee, which Was set up in 1982 to fight against con- struction of a 500,000 volt line from the Bruce nuclear generating station across some of Canada's most pro- ductive farmland in Huron County. Much to its surprise, the committee won that battle, only to see the deci- sion quashed in court two years later. With the creation of another public in- quiry in late 1985, the committee - now bolstered with support from Mid- dlesex landowners and a sizable war chest - tried again to protect its turf. from the electric transmission towers. t while it -lost the battle last.. month, it also won, said McQuail. He said the farmers managed to con- vince the hoard that any taking of agricultural land by Hydro should be kept to a bare minimum. "We were successful in persuading the board that the agricultural com- munity had very legitimate con- cerns," he said. in addition to in- sisting on single -pedestal towers to reduce impacts on prime farmland: the board also opted for the least preferred of Hydro's three choices of • a transmission system plan. While it failed to stop the line from Bruce to London, McQuail said lan- downers put together a very effective organization. "It can now do a great deal to ensure that individual lan- downers have something to work through," and "aren't trampled as in- dividuals by the interests of the utility." The group also won third -party early to -tell what maybe salvaged.• He commended the custodians for their quick work in replacing broken glass and removing some of the sign painting from the exterior and in- terior walls. "They did a fantastic job," he noted. Shaw said that much of the van- aalism appeared to be directed at the- — students as their juke box and soft drink machine were badly damaged in the attack and some of the sign writing appeared directed at them in general. Commenting on the vandalism at the school at Monday's session of Ex- eter council, police committee chair- man Dorothy Chapman said she was very upset over the situation "and the fact we have children like that in our cOmmunity". She said she didn't know what could be done, but noted it made her -angry. ('OMI't'TER SYS'i'F:1i lit "\Il'F:l) ALL Chit:, Politicians let staff decide After two unsuccessful attempts at deciding how traffic should flow through MacNaughton Park, the town's elected officials decided this week to throw in the towel and turn the matter over to the public servants to decide. The second debate on the matter arose Monday when police committee chairman Dorothy Chapman presented a recommendation that MacNaughton Drive would be one- way from Highway 4 easterly to An- drew St. and would be two-way through the remainder of the park area. The recommendation was made after consultation with a solicitor and Councillor Gaylen Josephson, a member of the police committee. ex- plained that the reasoning was that even if a town or PUC service vehi- medialion rights as part of the deci- cle exited onto Main St. tinder the -sionr--Both--panics---can- -eall--iiv-a•--..emergenoy-vehicle regular ionsot.the_ Highway Traffic Act, the operator of the vehicle would be held liable if an accident ensued because the vehicle was proceeding the wrong way on a one-way street. Works superintendent Glenn Kells said he felt that was something no one should ask of an employee. "1 don't feel it's fair to the employee," he said. Earlier, the PUC had asked that ac- cess be provided through to Main St. because trucks had difficulty going up the hills on MacNaughton Drive and Andrew St. during the winter. Councillor Ben Hoogenboom said regional director with the provincial environment ministry to mediate a site-specific dispute, something en- tirely new in the way Hydro has dealt• with landowners in the past. "We pressed for that," said McQuail. "We worked with (the pro- vincial agriculture ministry) so that if there was a problem that couldn't be resolved between Hyrdro and the individual landowner, someone could serve to mediate those problems." Although over-all there has been "some real disappointment" over the decision, no one appeared to be "real- ly surprised." Stung once, Ontario Hydro - which spent seven years and $20 million to get a second 500.000 -volt transmission corridor out of its Bruce nuclear station - "couldn't afford to lose again," committee officials said. "Perhaps we didn't do as well as 1982, but 1982 was a bit of a surprise." McQuail said. Fireman records `quick response' Hensel) fireman Gerald Willer( didn't have any trouble being the first member of the brigade to respond to a car fire on Saturday. it was Willert's vehicle that caught fire while he was driving along con- cession 3-4 of hay Township. The fire appeared from under the dash. Other members of the fire depart- ment responded to the call and damage to the vehicle was listed at 84,000. There was only one collision in- vestigated by the Exeter OPP this week, it occurring on Tuesday when r - vehicles driven by Neil Stanlake, Huron Park, and Paul Pavkeje, Cen- tralia, collided on highway 4. Damage was set lit $1,650. During the week, the local detach- ment officers responded to 41 general occurrences and laid 43 charges under the Highway Traffic Act. nine under the Liquor Licence Act, five under the Criminal Code and one under the Compulsory insurance Act. Asa result of the R.i.D.E. program, a total of 112 vehicles were checked and two people were charged with im- paired driving and another five were given 12 -hour licence suspensions. he thought it was a serious situation "to have an accident either way -- by using the Main St. access - and that prompted Mayor Bruce Shaw to ask whether safety or convenience was the higher concern. After Kells noted that all the signs were now down and traffic was allow- ed to move both ways through the park, Mrs. Chapman suggested that's the way it probably should be left, However, Shaw noted that was not what her committee's recommenda- (ionsought. The police. committee report' was finally amended to remove the recommendation about the street and Reeve Bill Mickle succeeded in hav- ing a motion approved calling for the works superintendent, police chief and PUC manager to come up with an agreement over the traffic flow that would satisfy all concerned. During the discussion on that mo- tion, Deputy -Reeve Lossy Fuller sug- gested the portion of MacNaughton Drive through the park be closed off as it was a "bad street". She said the committee looking at the corridor bet- ween the park and Morrison Dam would like to see the road closed because it is not needed and is a hazard due to the number of children • at play in the area. :1IESSA(:E ON INTERIOR .WALLS 44 I' \lil.la, ((►t)I.I•:Itti 1'.\I\'rF:t) Tenders are called for Hay waterline Construction of the Hay township waterline bringing water along highway 21 from the Grand Bend plant to Drysdale will begin this spring. A motion was passed' at the first regular March meeting of Iiay township council calling for tenders for construction of the main line to be in the clerk's office by noon on Mon- day April 20. The tenders will be open- ed at the regular April meeting that night. Auxiliary police plan Exeter could soon have a four - member auxiliary police force in operation. Police committee chairman Dorothy Chapman advised council this week that 84.500 has been put in- to the budget for the, auxiliary officers. Twenty applications have been received for the unpaid duties That will be performed to assist the local department. Mrs. Chapman. who has been nam- ed as zone 1 representative on the Municipal Police Authorities for the second consecutive year. announced that the zone would be holding a meeting in Exeter on May 20. She Said she was very excited about some of the new projects being under- taken by MPA. including complete computerization of information regarding contracts and the possibili- ty that negotiators will lie retained in an advisory capacity to assist local committers with negotiations. "We'll be on a par with the Police Association," she remarked. Other items contained in the report were as follows: Purchase a new roof bar for one of the police cruisers' and the expen- diture of 8500 for a new gun with a Please turn to page 3 • Environment minister Jim Bradley notified the municipality in a letter dated F ehruary 11 that a grant alloca- tion of $873,010 has been approved for the 1987/88 fiscal -porn forth . The provintiaf government is com- mitted to Bay. 74.23 percent of the estimated gross cost of $1,373.000 with the balance payable in subsequent years. . Reeve Lionel Wilder reiterated the township's previously announced., policy of assuming no responsibility for existing distribution systems. and only eventually taking over systems that are built in conjunction with the .main line. He said engineer Burns Ross "is in no position to guarantee • that existing systems are up to par". Referring specifically loBayview. Wilder said Stanely Smith, owner of that subdivision's distribution -system. is now in the process of legal- ly transferring that ownership to the cottagers. Wilder reported that he was ap-_ pointed v/p of land management al' the annual meeting of the A13(7A. he is concerned about future ramifica- tions since the ministries of natural resources and environment announc- ed they are handing over responsibili- - ty for lakefront to the A13CA. Wilder said in his opinion administration costs should -not be borne entirely by - municipalities with public property along the Lakeshore, but that the AB- CA's- personnel and management committee should work out a cost - splitting percentage. Wilder is not sure how well the transfer of responsibility will work - oul in practice. Ile feels the buck is being passed down the line to the M3 - CA without giving the Authority the power to enforce policies or prosecute violators, but concedes the change is still too new to ascertain how well it - will work. • Wilder pointed out that a great deal of money is being allocated for shoreline protection. Last year Please turn to page :3 11011.