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Times-Advocate, 1987-09-23, Page 1There's Tots more on the inside... * Fair Queen contestants 2 * Dancing ballerina 9 * Students coping after fire 11 * Ironwood men's Invitational * Lucan seniors project * Grand Bend mosquitos win 6A 2A SA Serving South Huron, North Middlesex One Hundred and Seventeenth Year & North Lambton Since 1873 si r ,wov EXETER, ONTARIO, September 14;1987 Price Per Copy 60 Cents Town opposes subdivision approval change After hearing a lengthy presenta- tion followed by considerable discus- sion E7ceter council Monday night decided to oppose a DELEGATION proposal. DELEGATION as presented by Huron's .planner Gary Davidson would change the present system of getting approval from the Ontario Ministry of Municipal Affairs for sub- divisions and development plans to the county level. Davidson said the shift from provin- cial to county authority would allow municipalitiesto vote on decisions NEW TOWN POLICEMEN — Constables Shawn Armstrong and Brad Powell have recently joined the Exeter police department. Armstrong shown at the left is a native of London and 'spent five years with the Guelph city police force. Along with his wife Margaret and daughter Kaitlyn, he has moved to Exeter. At the right is Constable Brad Powell who comes to Exeter after four years with the Toronto Metro depart- ment. He and his wife Sandi have also token up residence in Exeter. Summer over ifl Usborne Council meets: twice month) Summer is over. Usborne council the Webber pit, but those reserves are has resumed its twice -monthly depleted. sessions. A bylaw was passed posting the A large delegation of ratepayers at- speed at 50 kilometres ( 30 miles) per tended the September 1 session to ex- hour on concession 6-7 of Ijsborne in. press their concern about the lack of the hamlet of Elimville in response to visibility creating a hazard and the a recent delegation of Elimville potential for serious accidents al the residents. The area has been classed intersection of concession 2-3 and the as "built-up" by MTC. People atten- Usborne-Tuckersmith boundary road, ding the church walk along the road, at the sandhills. and children play by the roadside. Those farming in the area said that Residents were worried that vehicles as the reel of a combine juts out quite travelling at excessive speed could a distance, they could be six or seven cause accidents. feet into the intersection before get- A letter will be sent to Freeman ting a clear view of other traffic from Horne, thanking him for bringing to their combine cabs. council's attention an open well on the An accident that could have been Biddulph Boundary Road which the fatal occurred at the junction recent- landowner had neglected to cover. ly when a driver ignored the stop sign. Clean-out on the Passmore As the village of Hensall owns the municipal drain from the lane culvert land on the south-east corner, on the Miller property back to the line Usborne road superintendent Ken fence to eliminate spring flooding was Parker met with Hensall works approved. superintendent John Baker to inspect Bob Murray has agreed to help with the site, and agreed to a tree -cutting a newspaper collection to be under - and clean-up. Tuckersmith council taken in conjunction with recycling has also been approached, as the land week on November 16 to 22. Poster on the north side is in that preparation and newspaper advertis- municipality. ing were approved. On Parker's recommendation, Council will contribute a $50 grant Council approved the stripping of top- to the Friend of 4-11 Fund. soil to make available the gravel from The hiring of Barbara McCann ef- the Willis Farm pit for future re- fective August 31 as assistant to the quirements. A berm will be con- clerk -treasurer during Mary Ellen structed at the 150 -foot set -back from Greb's maternity leave was Highway 23. Usborne and Blanshard approved. townships jointly own the gravel pit. Four building permits with total Usborne had been taking gravel from value of $40,000 were issued in August. Stephen asks Authority to discuss projects Stephen' township council will be sending an invitation to the Ausable- Bayfield Conservation Authority to send a representative to an upcoming meeting. Topics to be discussed include the authority's wetland preservation policy and new projects which were outlined in a recent letter. Drainage commissioner Ken Pickering was instructed to repair ap- proximately 1,000 feet of the Eagleson Former athlete passes away Lyle "Bill" Statham, a former resi- dent of Exeter passed away recently in Kingsville. He was born in Exeter and graduated from Exeter high school before going on to become a pharmacist. Statham was a well-known hockey player in the early 1930s as a member of the London 12th Battery team, win- ners of the Ontario intermediate championship. Aft r cremation, the ashes are be- ing l ought to the Exeter Cemetery Friday for burial by his wife, the former Jean Elder of Hensall. drainage works located at Lots 5 and 6, Concession 20. - A zoning amendment application was approved for Anton Schopper at part of Lot 21; Concession 19 from agriculture to agriculture small holdings to allow construction of a single family dwelling. Severance applications were okayed for Frank Regier at I,ot 17, Concession 11 and Harold Finkbeiner for Lot 11, Concession 16. A bylaw was passed being an agree- ment with the village of Grand Bend and the township of Bosangget regar- ' ding the Grand Bend and area fire department. The contract to install a new fuel tank at the township work"depart- ment yard in Crediton was let to Syl Rumus of London in the amount of $2,590. The resignation of Earl Neil from the Stephen Community Centre Board was accepted. Permission was given to clerk - treasurer Wilmar Wein, building of- ficial Milton Dietrich and office staf- fer Linda Oliver to attend a planning meeting October 16.in Goderich. Council supported a resolution from the county of Lanark asking that the issue of bilingualism be included on the ballot in the 1988 municipal elections. and would not remove present rights of municipalities, alter the existing appeal process or require more staff resources. In a question from councillor Ben Hoogenboom about needing addi- tional staff at the county level, David- son replied, "No, we have sufficient planners. The only change would be in where the decision is made. The same input under both systems. Asked again by Hoogenboom if this proposal was new to Ontario, David- son answered,. "No, most regions have it, but Huron is the first county. We've done our background work and Ladies -report on seminars The two female members of Exeter council reported on recent seminars. at Monday's regular meeting. Deputy -reeve Lossy Fuller reported on attending a seminar deal- ing with pay equity for men and women. She said, "This law applies to the municipal and private sector and any business -with more than 10 employees must obey." Continuing Mrs. Fuller said, "This will not be easy to work out. We will have to come up with good job descriptions." Councillor Dbrothy Chapman was in attendance at a Solicitor's General seminar on community based policing. She said the meetings were very beneficial "as we'll be looking at this kind of thing." - Information and probable costs of registering the White Squirrel trademark will be turned over to the Business Improvement Association by Exeter council. A letter from an Ottawa legal firm requested by the local firm of Little and Evans indicated the minimum cost would be $1;135. There may be other hidden costs depending on circumstances. Considerable information must be compiled and forwarded before a definite cost can be established. Included in the communications report to. Exeter council Monday night was a letter from Huron MPP Jack Riddell approving the funding of a current project of the Exeter Public Utilities Commission. - The letter indicated the project for chlorination of the Moody and Hicks wells has been approved in the amount of $66,500 of which $60,000 may be disbursed in the current fiscal year. Riddell added, "I am pleased to see this assistance coming to the area to provide more potable drinking water." Exeter council has received a copy of a letter from the Huron -Middlesex engineering firm to Hodgins and Hayter Limited regarding completion of the Beaver municipal drain contract. Engineer Don Pletch inforn.ed that MTC has requested that the side slopes of the open ditch within the Highway 4 right-of-way be restored with four inches of topsoil and seeding as per contract plans. In addition the Ministry has asked for grading of the excavated material from the east side of Jack Snell's.barn to Highww 4 to be reworked. Gradi if the swale behind Snell's barn is such that MTC cannot readi- ly drive through to maintain and cut grass. In a letter to Exeter council, the Huron county library board com- mented on a recent tour made of cer- tain branch libraries in Huron. The report said the Exeter branch library report was favourable, but added, "This was now one of the smallest town libraries with a grow- ing circulation which may mean con- sideration of an addition at some time in the future." A delegation from Huron county will be attending the regular October 5 meeting of Exeter council to discuss . the withdrawal of Exeter from plan- ning services provided by the county. The delegation will consist of warden Brian McBurney, planning director Gary Davidson and clerk - treasurer Bill Hanly. Single vehicles in town crashes Only two accidents were in- vestigated this week by officers of the Exeter town police department and each involved only one vehicle. A vehicle driven by Rosemarie Davey of Exeter struck a light stan- dard while reversing in the parking lot of National Trust. Damage was listed at $850. Slight damage was sustained Wednesday by a Thilxxteau-Finch Express truck when it struck the overhead sign to Exeter Community Park. are ready to give it a try. Deputy -reeve Lossy Fuller said she was concerned at the extra work load this would put on county council to make planning decisions and added, "We are not planners. What can we do to increase our knowledge of planning?" To this the county planner replied, "We wouldn't expect councillors to run around and field check subdivi- sions. Before an application goes to the county, the developer must have a subdivision agreement with the muncipality. Acting mayor Bill Mickle suggested to Davidson that the planners could be the draftsmen of a plan and still be in on the final decision and was told, "Yes, that could happen." Councillor Dorothy Chapman was concerned with the voting .power at the county level saying, "If there Please turn to page 3 -e agr..... HONOUR FIREMEN -- Mayor Bruce Shaw and Exeter fire chief Gary Middleton present 20 year service awards to deputy chief Don Wells and captain Larry Smith. T -A photo Two firemen honoured for 20 years of faithful service Presentation of 20 year awards to two dedicated members highlighted the recent annual picnic of the Exeter and d area fire department. Chief Gary Middleton and mayor Bruce Shaw presented Fire Service Exemplary Service medals and plaques. According to chief Middleton, deputy -chief Don Wells donned his fire fighting equipment for -the first time at 2 p.m. on February 12, 1967 at the home of Russell Tieman on Anne street. Middleton continued, "Since that time my life-long friend has attend- ed 372 fire calls and 596 hours of ac- tual firefighting in addition to. 439 practice sessions." Wells was promoted from firefighter number five to First Lieutenant in 1970. In 1972 he became a captain. rose to the position of pla- toon chief in 1975 hnd two years later became deputy chief and chief train- ing officer. The second award went to captain Larry Smith who also joined the force in 1967. His first taste of duty was on May 13 when the force was called to put out a blaze at the Hensall dump in Hay township. "This was an easy way to start," added Middleton. The chief went on to say that Smith during his 20 years "proudly wore tur- Grants Members of the South Huron Rec board received notice this week that the Ministry of Tourism and Recrea- tion has approved an application for a municipal recreation grant for $6,000. - The money is intended to provide financial assistance to support recreation programs in the community. The board also learned that a re- quest for a grant to cover the cost of a recent study on the feasibility of a solar wall in the building is under review by the ministry of the environment. The installationof a new alarm system was discussed at the Rec board's monthly meeting Thursday night. The system, which automatically rings at the fire hall in the case of a fire, qualifies the Rec Centre for a 10 percent decrease in in- surance rates. nout gear one. seven and 16 before be- ing promoted to FPO in/1975 to 1977 He is nowa captain and Unit two in- structor and president of the Exeter Firefighters Association and a dedicated one at th4t." - During his 20 y ars of service. Smith responded to 438 fire calls with 618 actual hours of firefighting along with 439 practice sessions. Mayor Bruce Shaw in making the presentations on behalf of the Govennor-General of Canada con- gratulated the two firemen on their excellent record over the 20 years and said Exeter and the surrounding municipalities, were proud of the volunteer fire department. for rec programs Because the insurance rate is $5,000 per year, the board stands to save $200 once the cost of the alarm is sub- tracted from the 10 percent deduction. If the board should decide to go ahead with the new system, it could take up to six months for installation. Problems with sign In an effort to solve problems pos- ed by the Rec Centre "read -a -gram" sign on the corner of Main St. and Vic- toria, board members suggested that parties using the sign be charged a nominal fee. Cam Stewart, facilities manager at the arena. said Thursday night (hat the problems involved in using (he - sign out -weigh its usefulness. He cited the fact that the letters freeze up in the winter and that changing the message on a regular basis is time- consuming. A motion was carried by the board • to place a general message. on the read -a -gram sign and then offer in- lerested parties the option to use the sign at a given price. The facilities committee was given the task of studying the idea of put - ling a fence near diamond number one to protect children playing at the playground behind the diamond. Because teams warm up near the small park. wild throws sometimes make their way into the playground area. Sign damaged An arched sign which has been a permanent fixture in the community since 1954 was damaged by a truck this week. The sign. which says "Ex- eter Community Park". was erected in 1954 to commemorate 100 years of agricultural service by the Ontario ministry of agriculture. Board members resolved to send a letter of explanation to the Agricultural Society. It is hoped that the sign can be set up again. SINGING SISTERS - Taking part in a number from The Grand Cove Players 1987 Revue "Crest of a Wave" are Shirley Pincoe (left), Fred Struckett, Normo Brown and Ken Pincoe. The entire troupe gave a performance at the Grand Bend Legion on Monday night. All proceeds from that will remain with the legion.