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HomeMy WebLinkAboutTimes Advocate, 1989-12-06, Page 5Local grinches Visitors to our community have remarked about the beauty of the Christmas decorations lighting up the night in all areas of town but every year it seems there are always some people who feel they must put a damper on the holiday spirit. Several lights have been stolen and for the first time in 13 seasons the thieves managed to strike at our household stealing a homemade San Claus from our front door. I'm not exactly sure what part of the mit d is missing in . the individuals who sneak around at night removing]decorations. Perhaps they have a reverse form of Christmas spirit where they are upset by anyone else's happiness. Successful parade The Exeter Lions Club did their best to add to the Christmas spirit in town with their annual parade Saturday. Lions parade chairman Bob Sargeant has done such a great job over the past few years there is a rumor going around he might get the job permanently. Prizewinners arc: Best Float, Exeter Bible Fellowship; Best Theme Float (Old Fashioned Christmas), Frayne Chev-Olds; Best Service Club, Eastern Star; Best School Float, SHDHS; Best Business Float, Big V Drug Store. Sargeant singled out Laidlaw Transport and Mo- bile Home Express for making major contributions to the success of the parade. Skating accident A freak accident at a skating party Saturday, November 25 at the South Huron Rec Centre caused a fairly serious injury to an Exeter youth. Todd McCann, son of Tom` and Pauline McCann, Edward St. is recuperating in University Hospital after striking a corner on one of the player door openings as he skated by. McCanns spleen was injured. Artistic fundraiser You can support a famous Canadian artist and the country's finest summer theatre by purchasing "Huron County", a limited edition re- production by Jack Reid. A high quality print of the Lake Huron shoreline would be an excellent investment and an exciting Christ- mas gift. A brochure and information are available from the Huron Country Playhouse in Grand Bend. Top executive from Exeter The rise to the top by' Burns Fry Ltd.; one of Canada's leading in- vestment dealers, by Exeter native John MacNaughton proves that nice guys can finish first according to former classmate George Godbolt. Godlx)It describes MacNaughton as "always being a genu- inely nice guy" who was voted by his Exeter classmates as being most likely to succeed. Off -ice partners Two Exeter Mohawks will be working together after recently form- ing a partnership in the contracting business Bill Glover and Kris Bedard's venture is called B & K Seamless Eavestroughing although they also do siding, soffit and fascia. If they work as hard off the ice as they do playing hockey they should be assured of success. Back in time 10 years ago •Two died in an early morning house fire in Huron Park. Three escaped the blaze. Fire chief Norm Hyde said 'because of thefirewas an electrical heater that was being used to dry the walls of a freshly painted room. •Editor Bill Batten was pondering Parkinson's law that stated bureaucracies grow at a rate of 5.75 percent annually, regardless of the work burden. Batten was noting the increased size of the Exeter town banquet over the years and was wondering how long it would bc before everyone in town worked for the municipality. •Chuck Collins of RR 1 Varna, a grade 10 student in Clinton, was one of the area's most successful motocross riders. • The population of Greenway had climbed all the way to 36 with the addition of a new family to the hamlet. 20 years ago •Al Parker was sworn in as a Grand Bend councillor to fill the vacant scat left by the resignation of Peter DeJong. • A Tuckersmith Township woman was refusing to pay taxes on her farm until the township cleaned up the water and air pollution affecting her property. A nearby swine operation's sewage lagoon was causing her nausea and vomiting several times a season. •Reeve Oliver Jaques was elected in Hensall by a 116 vote margin over Minnie Noakes. New to council was Paul Neilands, accompa- nied by incumbents Hein Rooseboom, John Baker and Leonard Erb, •Breath tests became a legal means of testing the impairment of a driver as of December 1, 1969. 50 years ago •The municipal election was coming. "We understand that B.W. Tuckey, who has served two years on the council, will contest the reeveship. Councillor Dignan is also said to have his eye on the chief magistrate's chair but so far has not declared himself." •"The King will broadcast a message to the Empire Christmas Day, it was officially announced Friday." "in these trying days it is well to keep in mind the reply of the Duke of Wellington when asked if he really thought that British soldiers are braver than the soldiers of any other nation. 'No' was the emphatic reply, 'but they can be depended upon to be brave fifteen minutes longer than the soldiers of any other nation'." ' 100 years ago • 'Quite a sensation was caused in town on Friday last, when it was known that a lady. recently a resident in this town, had beat -arrested in Woodstock on a charge of poisoning her late husband....Some eighteen months ago U.J. Whitley , of Goderich township, died, and by some it was thought under suspicious circumstances, but the. matter was not invested (sic). The widow afterwat'ids removed to Clinton, where she resided until a short time since, when married an " Edwards, of Woodstock, and went to reside in that town. During the past week particulars have been obtained by the brother of the deceased...a servant giri..,says khat she saw Mrs. Whitley putting arsenic in a dose of medicine for her husband." •"A pigeon shooting match will be held at the Central Hotel, Exeter, tomorrow, Friday, Dec. 6th. This will be the largest shooting match held in the county for some time, and will be attended bya latae number of sportsmen from di ffercnt parts of the county. Thus far over 400 birds have been secured." Times -Advocate, December 6, 1989 Page 5 The new ref - The rumors aren't true. Mohawks president Gabby Mol Christmas presents - Or Christmas presence? - Exeter Public School and executive member Stewart Taylor aren't' looking for new hockey had it all wrapped up for Saturday's parade. - officials. Woodley defends condo project position Letter to • the Editor Dear Sir: I wanted to take this opportunity to air my side of the Trillium Beach Condo Development controversy which has been recently discussed at Grand Bend Council. My concern is with a walkway which has been proposed for the north side of the development. This would be under Village ownership and control once the development and walkway arc completed and would allow the pub- lic to gain access to the beach as the existing King St. entrance to he beach will be closed by the develop- er. One side of the walkway I under- stand will be the cement wall of the parking garage (structure), the other side will abutt private property. Although the site plan shows re- taining walls on both sides in cer- tain areas of the walkway and lesser or no walls in other areas, the exist- . ing arca where the walkway is to be constructed is a 20-25 foot sand ' dune. In our last discussion with the owner Mr. James Hevey; Friday November 24/89 he indicated the walkway would be following close to if not totally existing slopes. This would make it difficult for the general public to, including the eld- erly, disabled and those carrying small children to go up and down this dunc. A further concern was that the walkway be 10 feet in width as are the other walkways at the end of Beach St. and Oak St. This allows for our 8 foot plough to clean out the wind blown sand each spring. Further, the site plan shows the walkway ending at the sea wall which surrounds the lakeside and part of the northerly side of the pro- posed building and property. The land immediately to the north at that point is under private owner- ship. With the inability to go over -the sea wall and if the abutting landowners fenced their property, the walkway would go nowhere; a cement walk to your left, private property to your right and a sea wall straight ahead. How do you get to the beach? I can imagine the hey- day the public, let alone the_press would have with the village know- ingly allowing a walkway to be constructed that could not bc used other than'possibly for vagrants or as a public washroom. I contacted our village lawyer Dan Murphy on Friday December 01/89 and he in- formed me the walkway must stay on Mr. Hevey's land till 'it meets Crown land on the west. In that case what happens to the sca wall which is a necessary part of the de- velopment to protect the building from possible water and wind dam- age? I too am in favour of the devel- opment. It will provide an anchor for the village. It is an exciting and MICROCOMPUTER SYSTEMS SAMSUNG COMPUTERS and ACCPAC ACCOUNTING SOFTWARE Call us for assistance in select- ing the right combination to meet your specific information needs. G.W. PARSONS & ASSOCIATES INC. 396 Main Street South, Exeter, Ont. NOM 1S6 (519) 235-1304 dynamic project, but frankly I can- not understand why the balance of our council approved this develop- ment knowing of these problems and further approving the develop- ment agreement for the project without even looking at a single page of it. I saw it over a year ago but as of the passing of the ap- proval of this project, council only saw the site plan. Approving the development agreement which is several pages in length without even looking at it, is irresponsible of Council•in my opinion particu- larly since this agreement was drafted by the developer. Mr. Hevey has the approval of council with 3 out of 4 votes but he wants the unanimous approval of council. 1 would be glad to give my approval once my concerns have been addressed. I would not want to see the owner proceed with further design plans on the build- ing when the building may have to be moved to accommodate a walk- way that will go 10 the beach. To complicate matters more, the Executive of the Grand Bend and Area Chamber of Commerce re- quested a meeting with me last Thursday November 30/89.I met with the new President Keith Hog- gard, Roger Culbert, 1st Vice pres- ident, Lloyd Guillet and Norm Johnson, Treasurer. At that meet- ing, Keith urged me to declare a conflict of interest on this issue whether or not I had one so that Mr. Hevey would have all of coun- cil support for the project, since I did not vote for the project till my concerns were dealt with. I was given a letter by Keith from Mr. Hevey that gives me until Decem- ber 11/89 to do so. I was threa- tened by Keith that if I did not see clear to do so he would auend eve- ry council meeting and take apart everything I did on council, each meeting. So much for Democracy - so much for the -Chamber and Council working together. It is in- teresting to note that Councillor Shirley Mitchell owns property closer to the proposed development than I do and yet she has not de- clared a conflict of interest, nor did she get a letter from Mr. Hevey giving her a deadline to declare a conflict of interest. But there again, she supported the develop- ment. Was she told how to vote? Roger Culbert, owner of Exeter Glass and Mirror informed me of the benefit this development would have on his company providing the windows and mirrors for each of 72 units. Although I am sure Roger , has a community interest, there sure could be a personal benefit to him. It then makes you question the chambers motive for this pro- ject with pressure tactics and possi- ble personal interest. I called for a private meeting between owner Jim Hevey, Malcolm Boyd, Chief Plan- ner, County of Lambton, Reeve Bob Sharen and Ito meet to address my concerns. Keith and the Cham- ber of Commerce Executive met with Jim Hevey in the morning of Wednesday November 28/89. At that meeting he was made aware of the meeting I requested Malcolm Boyd to set up. Keith said the meeting between the four of us only was taking place because of he wanted it to and that he was going to be there too. Lloyd Guillet said he was going as, well and who knows who else? After talking to Jim Hevey for 1 1/2 hours on Fri- day morning December 01/89 I re- alized you get nothing accom- plished with a large group of people, particularly when most know very little that has transpired in the last 3 years this project has been in the works. It is frustrating to .try and reach an agreement when others are involved who do not know the facts. Then I learned today that Jim He- vey contributed to Reeve Bob Shar- en's election campaign November 1988. Now things are coming into perspective. Those of you who attend council meetings know I usually come well prepared and give good representa- tion. I enjoy my council work very much. I cannot think of a place I like more than Grand Bend. I want- ed you the ratepayers of the village to know I have done my homework and registered my concerns. If the majority of this Council chooses to do nothing about these concerns, whether it be a walkway, to no- where or a development agreement that Council cannot be bothered to review, then at least you know I have done my homework. You be the judge of that. Grand Bend Deputy Reeve Bruce Woodley R.R.SIP. TIME IS HERE AGAIN! WHY SHOP AROUND FOR RATES? When we do it for you We act as agents for most banks, trust companies and in- surance companies in Canada . Our rates are updated every day at 10 a.m. by computer. Call us for no obligation quote • Ask us about a loan to fund your RRSP contribution CITIZENS INVESTMENT CENTRE LTD. London, Ontario, 660-1260 Toll free 1-800-265-1588 The new SD630 from SAMSUNG offers top 286 per formance at an exceptional price. 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