Times Advocate, 1989-02-01, Page 1[EXETER TOYOTA]
242 Main St. N. Exeter
Across from O.P.P.
Phone
235-2353
North Middlesex & Lambton
Coming.home Exeter Mayor Bruce Shaw and deputy. reeve Lossy Fuller discuss the town's
plans to return the municipal offices to the OldTown Hall once renovations are designed
and completed.
Since 1873 Wednesday, February 1, 1989
colk�
11 1
Gaiser-Kneale
Insurance
.Lxcter 235-2420
Grand liend•238.8484
' Ilensall 262-2119
Clinton 482-9747
Price per copy 60 cents
Town shuffles works,
offices andfire hall
EXETER - Town ratepayers
will find their pocketbooks ligh-
tened a little 'as Exeter makes a.
bid. to shuffle three municipal
properties this year. The works
department will get a brand-new
building, the fire department will
get more space as it moves -off
Main Street, and --the municipal
office will return home to the Old
Town Hall. ,
At a special meeting Thursday
afternoon, council approved plans
- for relocating the fire hall which
serves the. Exeter and Area Fire
Board.
The present public works build-
ing on Nelson Street will be ren-
• ovated to house a four -bay fire
hall and other facilities necessary
to the department.
A new building will be con-
structed for the public works de-
partment on industrial land owned
by the town off Pickard Road on
Thames Road East.
- The exact location of the works
building on this town property
will be determined' this week.
Councillor Ben Hoogenboom said
he felt the property on the west
-side of Pickard Road was not deep
enough for this building.
In the third phase of expansion
and renovations, the Old Town
Hall will be remodelled for reloca-
tion of the.town municipal offic-
es and council chambers..
While the Old Town Hall has a
Heritage designation and the basic -
structure cannot be changed, an
addition will be allowed at the -
back along with a basement.
Renovations on the present
public works building are expect-
_ cd to begin almost immediately
and it is hoped the transfer of -the
fire hall to that location could be
completed within the next three
or four months. •
The present fire hall property at
'the corner of Main and Victoria
streets has been sold and the take-
over date is May 1. Thc town
must pay a monthly rental fee of.
$2,000 for the lime the fire de-
partment remains there aftcr May
1.
On the suggestion of Deputy
Reeve Lossy Fuller, Exeter will
lease the fire hall back from the
purchaser for the monthof May.
The police and public works
committee will work together im-
mediately on stop signs and traf-
fic patterns in the area .of the new
fire hall. Councillor Hoogeo- ..
boom said, " I would like to see
the fire trucks come out to Main
on Wellington."
On the costof the three pro-
jects,• Mayor Bruce Shaw said,
"We will likely be asking for de-
bentures of up to S800,000 over a
five or 10 year period. Hopefully
we won't have to go near that fig-
ure."
Reeve Bill Mickle, comment-
. ing on a question from councillor
Dave- Urlin on what debentures
would do to property taxes, said,
" Quickly off the top of my head, .
I would say over 10 years, taxes
would go up about S50 to S.60
each year on a current tax of
S1,100.. If it was paid off in one
year, the rise in taxes would like-
ly be about 35 percent..
Grace Project Management of
London .will be engaged immedi-
ately to oversee the three pro-
jects.
Bruce Martin of Grace met with
council in December to demon=
stratc the benefits of a project
management system to oversee
the three projects rather than us-
ing the traditional design and,
tender approach. Martin est t_
ed tendering .the_constructron
would cost-Exctcr about $1.1
•
million, but. with project manage •
-
ment he said costscould be kept
down to S825,0(X).
At that meeting,. Martin ex-
plained relocation of the works
building was the most economi-
cal alternative because of the
availability of town -owned land.
Moving the -fire hall to the works
building would be cheaper than
buying a•similar centrally -located..
lot:
The. addition of 2,(00 square
.feet to the works building -came at
the recommendation of fire chief
Gary Middleton. The extra space -
would be needed for a. training
area, •a women's washroom, and
.decontamination showers, for a
total of 7,000 square feet. Other-
wise, Martin said "they. (the firc
department) could move in there
tomorrow and it would be a fire
hall:" • - • -
The sale- of the old fire hall
property netted $150,000 for the
town and the cost of converting
the works building was estimated
at $ 140,000. • • . •
. A new 5,(XX) square foot works
-building is expected • to cost
S300,0(X). •
-
•The relocation of .the municipal
offices to the Old Town Hall will
cost another S385,0)0. Thc-in-.
tent is to add a basement for stor-
age with new office space above,
but .the addition may have to he •
kept to one storey. A' multi-
storey municipal office would re- -
quire an elevator, at• great ex-
pcnse,
This • major step to rationalize
Exeter's properties will be cxpen
sive, but Mayor Bruce Shaw not -
cd at the December meeting it is
necessary to make sure the town's
services can keep pace with the
demands created by future develop- .
ment, both commercial and resi•
-
dential. . .
_.........r...
No end in sight
for EMAB strike
• page2
Signs
Crediton firm
lights up
page _5
Peterson back
Premier's wife
a1 Playhouse "�""'�"� ■
page 9 Celent entity tickets
Talks startover
General Coach
lockout dispute
HENSALL - Thr Ontario Mini-
stry of Labour has set up a media-
• tion Meeting for next Tuesday in
an effort to bring union and compa-
ny closer together for the first time
since General Coach workers found
themselves locked -out of work on'
December 29. •
President of Local 3054 of the
l'nion of Carpenters and Joiners
:Arum Salvona . sdid Monday he
would be representing the workers
at the February 7 meeting and
would arrive with an open mind.
Salvona was, howevcr,•:•quick to
point out the meeting is simply a
mandatory action' taken by the min-
istry in all labour disputes.
"I've no idea at this particular .
point in time whether the company
is prepared to increase its offer," .
said Salvona. He did say be was.
hoping for some negotiation to take
place.
"We are prcparcd to negotiate and
we will .negotiate if given the op-
portunity," he stated.
Andy Imanse; president of Gener-
al Coach, confirmed hc would be at
the meeting.
"We certainly hope we can resolve
some of the differences at the meet-
• ing," said lmansc. "And hopefully
we can all get back to work."
Thc 209 workers at the recreation-
al vehicle plant were locked outaf-
ter they rejected a two-year contract
by a 94 percent `margin. Thc offer
included a freeze on wages until
April 1, followed by a 25¢ an hour
increase with another 25¢ to follow
in April 1990. Thc average wage of
the General Coach worker is about
_$10.50 an hour.
Still time left to get
Garbage
Municipalities
seek solutions
pbge 11
Dave -Shaw
Rangers meet
Maple Leafs -
page 13
Conservation
Soil and Crop
Nicer iiia ctvvdru )
page .18
Carnival
Snow or not, .
it goes ahead
page 27
EXETER -- Chairman Clarence
McDowell -reports a number of
tickets arc still available for the
16th annual Exeter Lions Sports
Celebrity dinner. . •
Thc headline speaker for the
Tuesday, February 7 dinner at the
South Huron Rec Centre is former
Johnstone and he is bound to put
everyone in a happy frame o
mind:
Johnstone known -for his ability
to keep his team-mates loose on
and off the field is also host of a
television show, " The Whacky
World of Sports."
Thc baseball comedian will
share the head table with two stars
of. ,the most rl'c'a'.ttl 01 ntnirc ,n
rvi{ri {: 1 ncy arc heavyweight box-
ing champion Lennox Lewis of
Kitchener and synchronized swim-
mer Michelle Cameron.
Also from the sport of swim-
ming comes Great Lakes marathon-
er Vicki Keith.
Keith from Kingston, Ontario
spent most of the summer of 1988
in conquering the waters of the fiNe
Great Lakcs. She began with Lake
Eric on July 1 and 19 days later
completed a 47 hour swim of Lake
Huron ending up on the beach, just
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south of Godcrich.
On July 28, she jumped into
Lake Michigan and spent nearly 52
hours paddling across. Keith was
the first person to conquer Lake Su-
perior.. and took 17 hours to make
the 20 mile crossing. •
She took less than 24 hours to
August 26 when she went across
the 31 mile Lakc Ontario jaunt. All
all, Keith spent. more than t6f}
hours in'thc water and raised nearly
$70,000 for an aquatic water wing
for disabled children at the Toronto
Sports Centre.
Also appearing will be Chris
Daw of Strathroy who took part in
the Paralympics in Korea in his
:..,.,.l 1)..t, (I • .3
eral manager of the new London Ti-
gers professional baseball team.
Thc master of ceremonies will be
sportscaster Gary Alan Price of
Channel 10 in London.
Representing arca crippled chil-
dren will he Josh Watson, Jeff
Finkbeincr and Michelle McNeilly.
Tickets for adults S45 and stu-
dents .$20 are on sale at Anstett
Jewellers, Standard Trust, Jerry
MacLean and Son Sports, Hensall
Co -Op or any member of the Exeter
Lions.
Tenant feels left out
EXETER - Ellison Travel, the tenant caught in the
middle of Exeter's plans to return municipal offices
to the Old Town Hall, claims to have been left out
of the property negotiations, even though it may
have a major impact on their business.
Doug Ellison said Monday he had only just heard
of the town's plans to evict him from the offices his'
travel agency has occupied for eight and a half years,
and he had yet to receive official notice of when the
move is expected to take place.
According to the lease, the town can reclaim the
Hall from the Exeter and District Heritage Founda-
tion within three months or as little as 30 days if the
town pays the Foundation three months rent.
Since plans for the renovated Town Hall have yct
to be drawn up, Ellison expects some breathing
time, but he still isn't pleased.
"From my standpoint, I have no notice from the
Heritage Foundation," he said. "Can you imagine
what the cost would be to move?"
The travel agency relies on several phone lines,
computer data links, and fax machines. Ellison just
hopes hc is not expected to move his business in It.,
peak season, around April or.May:
"I'm not going to get too excited until somchody
tells me what's going -on," hc said. Ile was also an-
noyed no one had contacted him before final decisions
wcrc made. "I'm not sure there has' leen a hell of a
lot of concern for my needs." .
"It's typical small town, you find out through the
back door," said Ellison, but stator -he was prcparcd to
go along with council's needs for more municipal or
Tice space. -
"I've come to the conclusion my days -are numbered,
as far as this building goes," he said, laughing.
Nevertheless, Ellison asked why Exeter's property
negotiatjons were kept secret, even from a.tenant such
as.himself. He also wondered whether or not the pub-
lic should have been asked if they wanted the Town .
Hall renovated, or if they wanted a new works build-
ing.
Ellison said he will attend Monday's council meet-
ing to have his concerns voiced and to make sore he
is given ample time to move.
Neither siriP..is-a_winrrPr
EXETER - . A report on the
settlement of the dispute with Us -
borne township over responsibility
for paying for the relocation of the
water main when the Anderson
bridge was replaced was tabled at
the January meeting of the Exeter
PUC. Commissioners Harry De
Vricsiand Mayor Bruce Shaw voted
to make the report public, .Chair-
man Murray Greene cast a dissent-,
ing vote. '
The final figures show that nei-
ther side won. Both paid legal
costs that could have been avoided
been settlett-
twcen the two parties. And both
disputants still insist right. is on
their side: -
An inch -thick file in the PUC.of-
fico traces the utility's account of
the conflict. A post -meeting inter-
view with Commission members
filled in some of the gaps.
• The watef main was installed in
1976-77 from the PUC's well in
in to Exeter..Thc route was.dccided
between the Usborne council of the
day and the Exeter utility. As part
of the agreement, the PUC prom-
ised to supply water to any exist-
ing customers along the pipeline,
and to service what were then va-
cant lots on the north side of Hu-
ron between the town limits and
the second concession. Since the
line was installed, about 12 new
homes have been built fronting
Huron Street East, adding to Us-
borne's tax assessment base.
Relocation of the pipeline was
not•includcd in Usbornc's calcula-
tions when the estimates for replac-
ing the bridge wcrc prepared. The
work on the bridge was eligible for
a 75 percent subsidy, horsed on the
original estimate. The eventual
subsidy was 59.5 percent, as actual
-costs were more than estimated.
in discussions with Usborne, the
PUC informed the township that
the watcrmain relocation was cligi-
percentage of sub-
sidy as the work on the bridge.
. Prior to a letter dated July 31,•
that Usborne chcck the M. do.
see if a minimum of 50 percent
subsidy was available.
The PUC was confident the sub-
sidy would pay at least 50 percent
of the relocation cost, avid offered
to split the remaining cost 50-50.
Thc Commission received approval
for the relocation o' the waterline
•irrJune, 1987. As work had to be
on Septem.bcr 17. 1988. The re -
.sponse was a lcttcr from the town-
.ship's lawyer dated October 7,
1988.
The PUC refused the township's
first settlement offer of S6,(XX), and
accepted the second offeror 57,5(X).
The' settlement pays the Exctcr
utility 75 percent of the .contrac-
tor's hill, plus S858 of the Sl,650
spent in legal fees, in addition, the
„matter has required countless hours
f•rr+vt. rrh and writing letters.
PUC manager Hugh Davis was
twice•lalled to Stratford daring the
hone reliminar hearings on the case,
T.C'.
sod) ing two ours core ► Win- - . _ _—
swcring questions. -_.-
According to the' Commission's
repot, Usbornc would have made a
Please turd to page 2 •
PLIC hired a contractor, and the
Zinc was moved in the summer.
The contractor submitted a bill of
$8,856.
In ordcr to ensure that Usbornc
. would be eligible for a subsidy on
the whole amount, the PUC sug-
gested that they bill the township
for the total amount and would give
a credit of $2,214, the amount be-
ing fin cod by the PUC.
Whc about six weeks went by
with n word from Usbornc, the
PUC sent out an invoice with credit
Corner
lot Gid
EXETER - One of the prime real
estate locations in Exctcr has been
sold recently. -
Thc southwest corner at Hwys. 4
and 83, owned for years by Chartcr-
ways,.has been sold to a Toronto
man according to Louise Coady of
Rcmax Forest City Realty. No an-
nouncement.has been made regard-
ing plans for the 17,000 sq. ft.
PmIcnY•