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HomeMy WebLinkAboutTimes-Advocate, 1979-08-29, Page 1 (2)e Try for Reid n,on.m, not town owned site • A matter of foot ...and $50,000 Exeter council held a special meeting. Monday, in the hope of making a decision regarding the location of a new police of- fice, but after a lengthy debate and a walking tour of two sites, ended up taking only a step towards the final decision. Despite the fact there was onIS. a short distance bet- ween the two sites under consideration, the one being favored by the majority of council could end up costing over $50,000 more than the other. The one backed by five of the seven members in at- tendance is the property owned by Barry Reid on Sanders St., immediately west of the post office. The asking price of the property was reported as $50,000, although -one -council member suggested it could possibly be bought for $45,000. . Council approved a motion to negotiate with the former local accountant to deter- mine the actual price. Police committee chairman Don MacGregor and Mayor Derry Boyle were then named to%form a committee to undertake that negotiation immediately. Reeve Si Simmons strongly opposed the final selection, favoring instead a site on town owned land behind the town hall. His selection' would have seen the new police station located directly north of the hydro sub -station which is located on the lot im- mediately west of the Reid property. However, he received support only from MacGregor for that location, despite his argument that it would result in a saving of about $50,000 and would enable the town to move immediately towards the building of the police office to replace the one on Main • Still no boat people, but expect them soon No word has been received as to the possible arrival date of refugee families from south-east Asia. Albert Vanderlaan of the Christian Reformed Church said they have received no word from immigration officials as to when or how many of the boat people could be arriving in the South Huron area. "We don't know really what's going on", Van- derlaan said but he added that a home outside of Exeter had been secured for accommmodating the family or families if only on a temporary basis. He said the local church was attempting to at least partially furnish • two homes Vanderlaan said officials have told the local group the boat people could arrive with between two days or two weeks notice being given. • "We've got a lot of work to do," he said. John Gillespie of the Exeter office of the Canada Employment Centre said Huron County could receive up to three extended families per month until the end of 1980. Gillespie stated that there's not been as much response from the private sector in terms of spon- sorship in this part of the county as there has been in the Goderich area. Persons who would be interested in helping with the resettlement of the refugees, could contact Gillespie at his office. Vanderlaan said it was very difficult to prepare as they had no idea of either the number or the makeup of the persons which their church will be sponsoring. ':Lt could be interesting once we get word," Van- derlaan said. • Three people hurt w in area collisions Three peoples sustained minor injuries in the six accidents investigated by the Exeter OPP this week. Two of the collisions oc- curred on Tuesday, the first involving yihucles driven by Allan Anderson, Dashwood and Barra- Voersma, R.R. 2 Walkerton They collided on Highway 23 and damage was set at $1,500 by Constable Al Quinn Woman seeks warden post Goderich Reeve Eileen a Palmer confirmed Friday she hopes to become Huron County's first woman warden. The position of warden, currently held by Hay Township Reeve John Tinny, doesn't come up for re-election until December 11. However, Mrs Palmer said she plans to announce her' candidacy at next Thursday's county council 1eting. • She said sheds announcing her intentions now to give her ample opportunity to viii the 44 members of county counciL A six-year veteran of Goderich town council, Mrs. Palmer is serving her third year on county council. 4."444 - -Yak' The Stephen township recreation committee an- nounced Thursday night that Frank Funston, a former resident of Huron Park has been named manager of the Stephen arena at Huron Park. Funston who is completing a 26 year stint With the Canadian Armed Forces Witt, . -be beginning next -week. He is no stranger to the area having resided at Huron Park for several years while stationed with the army in London and was involved with operation of the South Huron hockey league. in addition to his duties at the arena, he will take over the coaching reins of the Cent an." ^ College team in.041. Please turn to page 3 The other crash involved vehicles driven by Martin Kenneally, London. and George Smith. R.R. 1 Dash- wood. That occurred on ifighwAy 83, just east of Huron Road 2 in Stephen and damage was set at $5,200 by Constable Quinn. Kennealty sustained minor injuries There was one accident on Friday when vehicles driven by Carroll Goudie. Hensall. and Paul Elder, R.R. 2 Hensall collided on Highway 84. just west of Hensall. Damage was estimated at $600 by Constable Wally Tomasik. Elder sustained minor injuries. A parked vehicle owned by Robert Dobson, Exeter, sustained damage of $150 ih the collision. On Saturday an unknown vehicle struck a parked car in Zurich during the Bean Festival. The parked vehicle was owned by Rachel Fawn, Mitchell, and sustained damage of $400. Constable Bob -Whiteford investigated. The final two collisions occurred on Sunday -1k:: involving a car driven by Doug Corriveau, Zurich. The vehicle went out of control on concession 12-13 of Hay and struck a telephone pole. Corriveau sustained minor injuries and damage was listed at $1.500 by Constable Larry Christiaen. The other crash also in- volved only one driver, Janet Taylor, Kilworth. Her vehicle left Highway 4 just outb- ..of.. -Fy etas_ ;with ihitsioltfa ' d9iiiagi • S?` star Constable Christiaen in- vestigated. .�, Frank Funston St. which was gutted.fire in early July. Oddly enough, the site of the former police office,was not backed by anyone. Simmons arrived atMon- day's special session in- dicating that he had measured the town owned property behind the hydro station and there was ample room for a 30' by 40' building. He immediately succeeded in getting council's approval to have the ' entire area surveyed, noting that the existing plans were not too accurate. He explained, while drawing a rough plan on a lecture easel, that the site was zoned for institutional use, was visible from both Main and Sanders -Streets and "the only thing it will cost us is the cost of the building". Councillor Lossy Fuller suggested the site would greatly reduce the amount of parking behind the town hall. but MacGregor said he doubted it would eliminate any more than six parking spots. Simmons said he didn't think the number of parking spots being reduced would be any problem, noting that the lot was not well utilized at the present and also that most of the businesses in the area north of Sanders St. provided their own customer parking. Simmons said that with the $25,000 settlement from the insurance company for the present police station, plus the sale of the lot, the new office could be built "close to break even". He listed the price of a new police station at between $35,000 to $40,000, although Mayor Boyle said he thought the cost would be closer to $50,000. Councillor Ted Wright questioned whether the town hall site could be approved under the existing bylaws which require that all buildings must face onto a street.• After some debate about that point, acting clerk Brian Parsons produced a copy of the official plan and zoning bylaw which stipulates only that the lot must face onto a street and Simmons said his selection met that requirement. Marilyn Williamson questioned whether the building could be moved farther north on town property, while Jay Camp- bell said he was having difficulty grappling with the question of whether he would want to see the new office built in -the middle of a parking lot. "It may be the most economical," he ad- mitted, but questioned the for police office aesthetics. He agreed that the access was good and the office would be central. There was -also some question about building- so close to the hydro sub -station and MacGregor said that facility may be movedin 10 years, although Mayor Boyle disputed that suggestion. "1'm waiting to hear someone come up with a better idea at the same price," ` ' Simmons in- terjected, moving the discussion back to his selection. Councillors agreed that the only way they could match the price was to build on other town owned land, none of which was considered suitable. EXETER GIRL NAMED QUEEN — Carol Ross. 18 of Exeter was named of Zurich Attendants for the new queen are Ann Darling of RR 2. Zurich, queen of the Zurich Bean Festival Saturday Flanking the new queen are Christine liteck of RR 1 Zurich and Janice Webster pf RR 1. Varna runner-up April Gunness of Parkhill (left) and last year's queen Carol Fisher T A photo Ames Serving South Huron, North Middlesex One hundred and Seventh Year dvocate & North Lambton Since 1873 EXETER. ONTARIO, AUGUST 29, 1979 Price Per Copy 25 Cents YOUNG CARVERS — Mike an Bill Lessard were two students in wood carving at the Huron .Park rec centre annex when Floyd Burch gave lessons on shaping animals on wood- en plaques Majority of area schools titd.ecline in enrolment • When roll is called in area public schools Tuesday morning for the opening of the 1979-80 school year, the number will be down con- siderably. Bob Allen, a superin- tendent withthe Hurbn County Board of Education told the TA Friday that enrollment in t seven area ii 'down by8bi3tit 17 stu rani a year ago. Those figu1 es are for grades one to eight. in kindergarten classes, there will be an increase from 209 to 221. Allen said the number attending South Huron District High School in Exeter will be sloe to the -1;000-'rrrark'rl'Iiifs -is- -a reduction of '30 from . the same time -in .1978. The superintendent said the - public school enrollments would be levelling out but, he expected a drastic reduction in high school students during the next five years. He continued, "Looking at projections 1 would say the elementary situation has stabilized and there will be a fairly rapid decline in the secondaa,V,r igr. " . "in the five county schools 'this year we expect 4.500 students. This figure could drop to 3.500 by 1984. The population of South Huron in, Exeter could be down to 765 . in the next five years," Allen continued. The only 'area pubtic school without a drop in the number of students is Stephen Central staying • -even gat 015. The decreases range from a•low orseven at' Exeter public school to a high of 44 at J.A.D. McCurdy at Huron Park ' Very few staff changes are being made. They are made to reduce the number of teachers to compensate for WE'LL BE LATE Due to the Labor Day holiday. The Exeter Times - Advocate will be published one day later than usual next week. it will, be printed Wednesday night for Thursday morning delivery. •Advertising deadlines will be extended to Tuesday. The display advertising deadline" will be 2:00 p.m. and the deadline for classified ad- _ very—soent5' Wf1l be b•b� p.m. • the reduction in enrollment. The staff at South Huron is reduced by one with the transfer of home economics teacher Janet Ainsley to Central Huro=n at Clinton. At Exeter public school Patricia Brereton is moving to Holmes: isle and Sandra Norris is joining the -staff from Usborre'�.,,p1�a1- - At Hensall. Batit�'f returning as principal and halfday teachers Christine Eagleson and Alma Westlake are transferring to Clinton and -Huron Cen- • tennial . respectively. At J.A D McCurdy, Helen Jamison. a half-day teacher has retired and Mar Lou — Atthil4 ha. eon T6 h - half -day•. • ,The only changes air Stephen Central are tion O'Rourke joining the staff from Victoria in Goderich, Gayle Johnson going on maternity leave and Susan Moore resigning. At Osborne Central in addition Id the transfer of Sandra Norris to Exeter, Jane Sil:.ock, the new kin- -dergarten leacher is reduced to h80f days• The only chame._at Zeriet. Public school is the return of Don O'Brien as principal Jobs open in September . Area employment good With September only a few days away. it appears that the first month of fall will be good in terms of employment opportunities. John Gillespie of the Canada Employment Centre said the month should be good as local employers are faced with the problem of, filling vacancies caused by the return of students to school. Gillespie told the T -A Friday that in terms of job placement August was down slightly from the same period in 1978. About 50 persons have secured jobs through the centre this year. compared to about 65 years ago. Speculating on why fewer placements were made this month Gillespie said em- ployers may have hired more of their staff earlier in the summer. in terms of job op- portunities. Gillespie stated there were several openings in the construction field. He added there are several - openings for baby-sitters. domestic help and short- order cooks. Turning to the area of unemployment insurance. Gillespie said he expects there will be an integration of the former manpower and insurance departments in the spring of next year With the integration clients will be able to apply for benefits at the em- ployment centre. he said. Objections filed No meeting date has yet been set to deal with formal objections that have been submitted :over Hensall's plan to annex two section of flay Township. At least four written ob- jections have been received by the municipalities to date A couple of others had been submitted prior to a special public meeting in Hensall earlier this month. Hay Township clerk Joan Ducharme said a meeting will be :held with those for- mally objecting to the an- nexation Officials from the two municipalities and the Hurnn planning department will meet with them to hear the objectronsand attempt to come to some settlement before the matter is turned over to the Ontario Municipal Board At the public meeting. Hensall Reeve Harold Knight said the annexing of two areas along Highway 4 - one to the north and one to the south - was necessary to keep the community viable. Most of the objections filed are from Hay residents in the proposed annexed area, although the residents of one Ilensall subdivision. have also submitted a written petition opposing the plan on the basis it will increase traffic in their area..,, Boyle then asked members to spend a moment in "a silent prayer", he added. Mrs. Fuller commented that the idea presented by Simmons sounded great, but noted they had been told last week there wasn't enough room and now it was tough to make a decision when she had already made up her mind without that site being an alternative. Discussion then moved to other sites, none of which was backed by any member, and there was also a "question of leasing space, which was also quickly dismissed. "We've horsed around enough," Simmons com- mented, presenting a motion to hire architect to design a bu ing. H ever; --he received no su ort for that, with members noting' that the first decision had to be the site selection. After Simmons and MacGregor presented their motion for the town owned land, Ted Wright said he just couldn't visualize the office there. "There's no future in what we're planning," he said. At that point, it . was suggested members -visit the proposed site and view it first hand. They did that, with Simmons and MacGregor measuring off the plot they favored. After the inspection, members returned to the council chambers where Boyle called the vote and the Reeve and Deputy -Reeve were the only two in favor of the free land site. Wright and Harold Pat-: terson then presented the - motion for negotiating a price on the Reid property and this was backed by Williamson. Fuller and Campbell. "Why spend $100,000 on something we don't need to spend $100.000 on?" Sim- mons questioned. When it was suggested by Campbell that the Reeve be named to the negotiating team, Simmons flatly stated he wouldn't have any part of it. "We don't need it and I might as well be quite blunt about it," he explained. Missing from Monday's session was Councillor Don Cameron. although he had sent Mayor Boyle a memo in which he urged members to delay any decision until more discussion could be held on the alternatives and facts could be presented to back up the final site selection "Every 'time the police situation comes tip. I hear another idea," he noted. "This makes me more convinced that we aren't sure of all the alternatives." He asked that the police committee outline and document the alternatives including cost estimates, benefits. etc . and then circulate the alternatives to council similar to what was done when members were discussing the various bank proposals. Ile then suggested a meeting be called to make a decision based on the facts that members can defend not only to each other but to the public at large. "We must be able to defend out decision not just by how we feel, but with a hard look at all alter- - j •. . 4 r `• • w 'RETURN TLSTHE ittlb1MibN Monday the of a football senior Panthers South Huron District High School Going over some of the game's basics with coaches Ron Bogart and Casey Cook are returning players Doug Raymond, Doug Fletcher. Bran John Byrne. Dave Atthill and Ed Hunter-puver T -A photo first was night practic for the of Rader.