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HomeMy WebLinkAboutTimes-Advocate, 1988-04-27, Page 1• Ames Serving South Huron, North Middlesex One Hundred and Seventeenth Year d vocate & North Lambton Since 1873 EXETER, ONTARIO, April 27, 1988 Price Per Copy 60 Cents Grand Bend drainage problems Kadleciks fed up with delays SUCCESSFUL SALE - Almost $7,500 was realized from Thursday's South Huron Hospital Auxiliary rummage sale. From the left are conveners Edith Boyle, Leone Brock, Alice MacLean, Hazel Miller and Gerry Gregus. Rec board struggling with approach to renta structure Members of the South Huron Rec deficit the Rec Centre carries, the could be reached. Board had some serious soul- board has to begin looking realisti- Bruce Shaw, noting a bylaw searching to do when they left the catty at the situation. which states that the Society shall regular meeting.Thursday night. The question of whether or not receive special consideration until What began as a negotiation pro- the board should be charitable to the 1991, said a decent agreement could cess between the Agricultural Soci- Agricultural Society brought with be arranged. ety and the board for the rental of it fundamental questions about the If you've got something worked the facilities for the Fall Fair, purpose of the Rec Centre. out that's fair and reasonable, I turned into an internal debate over While Pat Down and Ken Oke don't think this board will turn it basic Rec Board philosophies.down," Shaw explained. After having a cost analysis done felt the board should keep the rental on the year long operation of the cost in the same range as last year, other board members called for a Rec Centre, it was discovered that while the Agricultural Society paid more realistic price. $650 for the use of the grounds dur- Members of the Agricultural So- ing the weekend of the Fall Fair, ciety balked at the idea of a substan- the hydro bill alone for the three tial price hike, noting that the arena day event is $500. concession booth brings in money The cost analysis also indicated during the fair. They also asked that to rent the facilities piece by what it would cost to run the facili- piece for three days would cost tics for the weekend in question if $2,710. the Fair wasn't there. The Optimists were charged Facilities manager Cam Steward - $1,050 for the use of the facilities son didn't have the figures on hand during their Home and Garden but promised to produce them this Show -- also a three day event -- week. but the board noted that price was The Agricultural Society brought set before the cost analysis came in. up the issue of a five year agree - The hydro bill for that event was ment, hoping to avoid yearly price roughly $800. negotiations. While the board noted While several board members that they couldn't make a binding wished to give special consideration agreement this year because the So- to the Agricultural Society, which elegy will be dealing .with a new donated the land for the facilities in board next year, they did make it 1947, it was noted that, with the clear that a "gentleman's agreement" The board then held a short pri- vate meeting to decide on an offer of $1,000 -- a price which just cov- ers -the facilitiesexpenscs. When the Agricultural Society re- turned to the meeting, they offered a price of $700, which is more than a five percent increase. The board rejected the offer. "Keep in mind that we understand where you're coming from, but this isn't a profit making organization," Shaw said, adding that any subsid- ies eventually come out of the tax- payers pocket. The two groups decided to reflect on the situation and meet later to decide oda final price. The Agricul- tural Society will take the issue to their own board for a resolution. The Society is the first group in the community to negotiate facili- ties prices since the cost analysis was done. Retirement home side of Villa expands A sod turning ceremony will be held Saturday morning, April 30 to mark an expansion project at the Exeter Villa on John street cast. • Exeter Mayor Bruce Shaw, Agri- culture Minister Jack Riddell and Huron -Bruce MP Murray Cardiff will be on hand to turn sod for an addition which will house an addi- tioanl 26 beds in the retirement lodge section of the Villa. The Villa opened less than two years ago on September 1, 1986 has 34 bed accommodation in the nurs- ing home side and 40 beds in the re- tirement lodge side. The new addition will give anoth- er 11,000 square footage space and will include in addition to the rooms for 26 retirement bcds, a new. recreation room,, a meeting room, expansion of the existing dining room and a properly ventilated gar- bage disposal room. Cost of the expansion program undertaken by owner Tom Kanam- phuza is estimated at $307,000. The new addition will mean a pro- portionate increase in staff. The public is welcome to attend the sod turning at 10 a.m. and tour the existing facilities. Kanainphuza and director of Care Kathy O'Reilly have been trying al- most since the Villa opened to get additional bed allocation for the nursing home portion without any success. Nursing home beds are allocated by the Ontario Ministry of Health and sufficient need must be shown. At the present time according to Kanamphuza and O'Reilly there arc 57 names on the waiting list for admittance to the nursing home portion of the Villa. Osborne hires assistant clerk After interviewing applicants for the position of assistant clerk treas- urer at a special meeting on April 18, -members of.Usborne council offered the job to township resident Catherine Skinner during their regu- lar council meeting the following night. Skinner accepted the job. Brenda Collins will be hired for the summer student position under the Involvement in Municipal Ad- ministration program. Walter Crcery, a member of the Usbornc History Book Committee, attended the meeting -to emphasize the need for more "old" pictures, es- pecially ones relating to the "steam period" from 1870 to about 1915. Cpuncil recommended that al least 1,200 books be printed, and that the committee check into the cost of producing 1,500. William B. Rowcliffe also attend- ed the meting to request financial support toward maintenance of the Hensall Union Cemetery. Both he and Hensall council wil be notified by letter that no financial help is available from Usbornc at this time. Poundkeeper Mac Hodgcrt will be advised to make arrangements ac- cording to the Poundkeeper's Act to sell the three stray cattle that were impounded months ago. Word has been received that a 1988 supplementary subsidy of $75,000 towards the purchase of a new grader has been approved by MTC. Tenders will be called on a per cut basis (with a maximum of 10) for grass cutting at the Thames Road ball park. Council approved the price of gravel to boundary roads at $3.49 per ton, to ratepayers at $4.15 per ton, to stockpiling at $3.50 per yard and to construction at $3.40 per yard. Deputy reeve Margaret Hem had previously declared a con- flict of interest, and took no part in discussion or voting on the matter. Council approved investigation and repairs to the Earl municipal drain at lot E and south half of lot D, concession 8. Information on election poll divi- sions and voting places will be sent out with the final 1988 tax notice newsletter. Clerk Sandra Strang will attend a meeting in Goderich for Huron County municipal clerk' to review the 1988 enumeration process. George and Steve Kadlecik want action. The two men came to Grand Bend Council Tuesday (April 19) to de- mand some movement be made on three separate Kadlecik Construc- tion developments which have been stalled since October 1987. Claiming that M.M. Dillon engi- neer David James has "an open pipe -line" to his bank account, George Kadlecik demanded to know when council last addressed any of the three Kadlecik developments. "If we don't yell, scream and make fools of ourselves, we don't get any action," the senior Kadlecik told council. The construction company has had drainage proposals for the devel- opments turned down time and time again by James, who has been re- tained by council as a consultant. Until council receives written ap- proval of Kadlccik's proposals, drawn up by the company's engi- neer, the village will not grant the necessary building permits. The six month delay in the con- struction of the projects has cost Kadlecik Construction an estimated $10,500 in engineer's bills alone. The developer was originally forced to post a $2,000 bond for James' services. That has since been in- creased to $3,500 and as yet, there is no evidence of progress. The Kadleciks maintain that James' reasons for holding up each proposal are unjustified.' Approval, they say, could be given without worrying about minor changes which could be dealt with later. Rcevc.Harold Green promised to set up a meeting with James and the Kadlcciks as soon as possible, promising that if there' were unne- cessary delays, action would be tak- en. Green noted however, that council had retained Jamcs to make sure thi::gs were being done correctly in the current development boom. Lack of communication In his office Friday morning, George Kadlecik blamed both coun- cil and James for a lack of commu- nication which has lead to a lack of action. "There's nobody to take charge of anything," he said. "Granted, you can't walk in one day and expect to get a building per- mit the next. I know- that -- I've been in this business a long time." Though development agreements were signed Wednesday morning for Kadlecik's condominium develop- ment on Sauble Road, develop- ments on the museum property across from Buddy's gas bar and a proposed grocery store are still up in the air. And Kadlecik secs the root of the problem as David James. "Basically he's the hold-up of it -- m a nutshell." According to Kadlecik, James, who operates out of London, doesn't have a grasp of the situation in the village. There have been in- stances of the engineer not being aware of the location of drains. James has also made suggestions for drainage solutions, then turned down proposals based on those sug- gestions and submitted by Katllc- cik's engineer. While he admits council has a lot on their plate at the moment, Kad- lecik feels they aren't being aggres- sive enough when it comes to the developments. Rather than waiting for engineers to get in touch with them; they should be communicat- ing with M.M. Dillon, Kadlccik maintains. And he adds that such communication should not be left up to the village staff. "The reeve of this town should be a guiding force," Kadlecik said. Asked if he felt his company was being singled out, Kadlccik said that was not the case. "Everybody that .develops in Grand Bend has the same problems, but they don't mouth off for fear that they're (council) going to hold them up some ntcre," Kadtccik said, adding that despite the prob- lems he has encountered, he has no ill feelings toward members of council. But the hold-ups do not encour- age Kadlecik to start further devel- opments in the arca. "Fantastic development in Grand Bend -- my eye. If this is the way they're (council) going to treat de- velopers in Grand Bend, why both- er?" Kadlecik remarked. "And I'm a Grand Bend man." Reeve Green admitted Friday that communication might he a prob- lem with the engineer, but said he was satisfied with the job James has done to this point. "I don't think he's (James) nit- picking," Green said. "He's a very serious engineer that we've hired to do a•good job." To deal with the problem, Green has set up a meeting for May 3 with all parties concerned. "The engineer is saying that if we don't insist on the proper drainage there arc going to be some prob- lems," Green explained, noting that he can sympathize with Kadlccik's frustration. The sheer number of develop- ments in the arca arc slowing the pace, however. "We have to protect our butts be- cause there arc so many develop- ments going on," Green said. "I don't think there arc many -mu- nicipalities that have got as much building going on as we do. We're just swamped. The developers have to realize that." Legion hall renovations completed A 15 months renovation program at the R. E. Pooley Exeter Branch of the Royal Canadian Legion will be culminated with a ribbon cutting ceremony Saturday night at 7 p.m. The public is invited to attend the official opening to see the two phases of renovation which cost in excess of $173,000. The first phase initiated in Janau- ry of 1987 by then president John Brintncll included a new wheel chair elevator, completely changed front entrance and a washroom to accom- modate the handicapped. The Canadian room, better known as the dart room was completed re- cently. Eric Heywood was building chair- man and the driving forcc bchind the ambitious projects. President for 1988 Dean McKnight reports the projects have been totally paid for through many fund raising efforts by the Legion members. Special thanks go to the Auxil- iary members for their contribu- tions from proceeds of garage sales and catering to numerous banquets. Attending Saturday's ribbon cutting will be a number of Legion dignitaries. They include past Onta- rio Command president Bill Smith of Lucan, District Deputy Com- mander Don Standen, Zonc Com- mander Steve Maguire, Deputy Zonc Commander John MacDo- nald, Zonc Secretary Carol Holborn and Auxiliary Zone Cl Commander Mary Haan. Municipal officials expected 10 attend arc Exeter Mayor Bruce Shaw and Usbornc Township Reeve Gerald Prout. The opening will be followed by a reception with entertainment sup- plied by.the Exeter Mainstrcct jug band. A dance to the music of Mo- zart's Melody Makers will begin at 9 p.m. Lunch will be provided. Lions to build Youth Centre The Exeter Lions Club will be breaking ground this summer on an ambitious project to provide a Youth Centre for use by young people of the town and community. The new building will be esta- blished directly east of the present Scout House owned by the Lions. Public relations and advertising co-ordinator for the project Mac MacDougall said Monday that a Wintario recration grant of $91,259 has been approved by On- tario Minister of Tourism and Rec- reation Hugh O'Neil and Agricul- ture Minsiter Jack Riddell. MacDougall continued, " Al- though only preliminary plans arc in the works we would Iikc to get started this summer. We expect the Lions will act as general contractor and sublet to the trades. This will hopefully save time in the tendering process." - Total cost of the 4,000 square foot building is expected to be about S274,(K0. It will include two main halls, two meeting rooms, kitchen facilities and washrooms. While the Lions own the present Scout House property they will be purchasing the adjacent lot to the cast from the town of Exeter. Others involved in the organiza- tional committees are Scout House chairman Don Mousscau, fund ras- ing chairman Gary Bean and Glenn Kclls, Clarence McDowell and Jim Pinder of the building committee. CREDITON FIREMEN AWARDS - Students from Stephen Central received their prizes Wednesday in the fire prevention poster contest sponsored by the Crediton fire department. At the back are fireman Brian Elder, Ste- phen principal Don Finkbeiner and fireman Doug Lightfoot. In front are the winners, Carrie Wilhelm, Lisa Eagleson, Jeff Armstrong, Andy Palmer, Blake Schade and Kelly Hoffman. HAPPY BIRTHDAY South Huron Association for the Mentally Handicapped celebrates 20 years page 3 NEW BUSINESS Traditional wood crafts alive in Dashwood page 7 ro EDUCATION WEEK Highlights of Education Week in area schools pages 10, 11 HAWKS LOSE Beaten in OHA Junior 'D' final page 1A FARM SHOW Huron County drama at SHDHS in May page 8A