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HomeMy WebLinkAboutTimes Advocate, 1991-05-08, Page 2Page 2 Times -Advocate, May 8, 1991 IWTF-IFWFWS Bill Davis special guest at Rotary Charter banquet Bill Davis - With advice for Grand Bend reeve Bruce Woodley. By Adrian Harte GRAND BEND - A Friday evening banquet marked the official begin- ning of Grand Bend's own Rotary Club. Hundreds of people attended the Oakwood Inn event to witness the presentation of the charter and to hear the special guest speaker, former Ontario Premier Bill Davis. The Grand Bend Club was formed last December, and quickly increased its membership to the minimum 25 members required for a charter. In fact, 38 members were present Friday evening to receive their charter pins from Rotary District Governor Patrick McAvinchey from Davidson, Mich- igan. The Grand Bend club's first president Don Prowse spoke to the gather- ing after receiving the charter plaque, but he credited Tom Lawson as be- Ing the "catalyst" for setting up the club. Prowse explained Lawson will be the governor's special representative for the new club. Doug McTavish, president of the London Rotary Club, was presented with a plaque by Prowse for sponsoring the creation of the Grand Bend club. McTavish said it was his pleasure to be involved in setting up the new club, but joked about what it had cost the London organization "I thought the floodgates had opened. We lost all our members, they all • became members of the Grand Bend Club," he said. Grand Bend reeve Bruce Woodley told the audience the new club was an example of the village's ongoing transformation. "Grand Bend was originally a seasonal resort, but now it's grown into a thriving year-round centre," said Woodley, adding that a new group of "community -minded residents" were now living in Grand Bend year round and the new Rotary Club was a means to unite them. "The council, residents, and the Village of Grand Bend caked to you best wishes, and every success. We look forward to a long and happy rela- sionship between you, the Rotary CM , and the Village of Grand Bend," aid Woodley. Former Ontario Premier Bill Davis the special guest speaker for title eve- ' g, had a few things to say about his career as leader of the Quern - fives from'1971 to 1985. One of the things that caught his attention was McTavishs introduction of him as "pest -premier". "I refer to myself as the premier -emeritus. When you say past premier, and I say this with some regret, you have to say the past, past, past pre- mier. Or have I got one too many, or am I thinking in anticipation?" said Davis to a round of applause from the audience. •Davis also offered some political advice to reeve Bruce Woodley, una- ware of the contentious boundary negotiations among Grand Bend, Bosan- quet Township and Stephen Township. "Mr. Reeve I've got some advice for you. I'm impressed, You seem ded- icated to your task, but if you really are trying to create a message, be- cause the media were reporting every word you said, I know you have no territorial aspirations, but when I hear you talk of this community drawing from Exeter to the east, and from the north and to the south, I say to my- self there is a reeve who does have territorial aspirations. He's not satis- fied with being a reeve, he wants to become mayor. So if you really are going through an annexation Mr. reeve, and you want any legal advice I am in business again," said Davis, noting he is a counsel to a Toronto law firm. • ""I really felt the legal profession owed me a great deal. I don't know of any single person who has done more for the legal profession, who has passed more legislation for them to interpret to their clients and bill them." •Davis' advice to Woodley continued. "You see I have matured a little bit. I mean I'm older than you are, but you shouldn't say that this community appeals to the young and the old, there are no old people in Grand Bend. Thae are people who have be- come chronologically mature...I just want to help your political career," teased Davis. •Davis also commented about former Huron MPP and minister of trans- portation, Charles MacNaughton and his aide Don Southcott, who was one of the new Rotary members. "It was always a pleasure to come into Huron County, and Charles Mac - Naughton had succeeded in paving every square foot of concession road in the entire county, that's right Mr. Southcott." •Davis spoke of his trip to Grand Bend that evening. "There's a very lovely farm on the right hand side of the road as we were coming up one of those roads you mentioned to me and there was a big billboard -and I said 'where am I coming to?' and it said 'After Death there's Judgment'...would you please someday explain to me as I move into this special area of western Ontario why you have to put up a bill- board that says "After Death there's Judgment". •On service clubs. . "I happened to be a charter member too. I may not look old enough to be one, but it happened to be the Brampton Kiwanis Club. "I know what those service clubs have meant our community, the leader- ship, the sense of community identification, the opportunity for people to give something back to their communities, and I know when it comes to the Rotary Club of Grand Bend, Mr. president, this will be your experi- ence and the experience of the other members. "There should be a greater awareness on the part of the public generally of the role service clubs play in our communities..." Sometimes I feel we don't express publicly enough the role service clubs play." •On the monarchy. Davis said he did not wish to comment on the province's new oath for police officers which has removed the reference to the monarch, but he did say the evening's toast to the Queen was welcome. "I can only say it was nice to hear a toast to the Queen. I happen to be a supporter of that institution," said Davis to applause from the room. •On the environment. Davis spoke about his work with the government as the special envoy on acid rain, and although he denied being an environmental expert, Davis Slightly under five percent t. Town flnallzes EXETER - Thefinal tally on the Exeter town budget came in on Mon- S da evening, and it's even lower than expected. to riel epara�ix hoot supporters will see a slightly higher tax increases at up Clerk -treasurer Liz Bell explained to council the final town budget was board Y percent, reflecting the six percent average increase from that down to $4.2 million, with $3.3 million to be raised through taxation, The public school board's average increase was 4.3 ming that the actual mill rate increase would be just over five percent. tial property, percent for residen- The actual town budget increase is now down to 4.872 percent for resi- The county levy was up 8.285 percent on residentialro dential properties and 4.88 percent for commercial because a county road Of the $4.2 million total town bud et, p 1�Y rebate was higher than expected, explained Bell. $1.4 million to the Huron Board of Education, and $168,896 the Huron Perth Separate School Board. Major expenditures for the town this year include paying off the Fire Hall debt which stands at $100,000; but the biggest project on the drawing board is the $1,2 million PRIDE 2 project which will bring sewers, side- walks, and a new sewage pumping station to the southwest side of town. That project will be subsidized up to $560,000 by the provincial govern- ment, however. In PRIDE area one, another $111,000 is slated for the continuing up- grading of sidewalks and curbs on the east side of town, including a walk- way on the east side of the Main Street bridge. Although a $310,000 plan to repave all of Main Street this year is also in the budget, 90 percent of that tab will be picked up by the Ministry of Transportation as maintenance of their Highway 4 "connecting link". Reeve Bill Mickle noted that with the town calling so many tenders this year he said it was comforting many road tenders in the county are coming in much less than expected. He said one municipality's engineers had esti- mated a project at well over $300,000, but it came in at $185,000. "There's a lot of sharp pencils out there," said Mickle. Mickle said he was pleased with the town budget, especially since it was now below a five percent increase - a level at which he had pressed coun- cil to achieve. The town's overall tax assessment increased by 3.15 percent last year to over $125 million, meaning that a slightly larger tax base was helping off- set increased budget expenditures. 1 To start off our 1991 season Only four percent increase Goshen paving included in Hay Township ZURICH - Hay Township has set its budget for 1991, and with an increase of only four percent, it is one of the most economical mu- nicipal budgets in the area. The total township budget came in at $937,495 and was set at a special meeting of council on April 18. However, the full im- pact on township tax bills will not be known until it is combined with school board levy increases, and the county increase, which was set 8.3 percent above last year. Beside regular maintenance and routine expenditures, the main item in the budget council set budget money aside for is the paving of Township Concession 10-11 (Goshen North) from the Zurich limits to the township boundary. The concession used to be paved, but last year had to be surfaced with gravel after its condition dete- riorated. The gravel surface was a stopgap measure to keep the road in service until council could budget fora proper reconstruction and as- phalt surface. At their April 22 meeting, Hay council authorized the calling of tenders for asphalt for the conces- sion paving, with tenders to be closed by noon May 21, httSaltrS7?; R.R. 234 6464 64 Greenhouse & Nursery "No osr• ea Now expanded to serve you better Mon. - Fri. 4 - 10 p.m. Sat - Sun., 9 a.m. -5 p.m. Holidays 9 a.m. - 5 p.m. Annual - Perennial Box Plants Groat for flowerbeds and rock gardens Indoor tropical and flowering plants, rose bushes, fives and shrubs. Selection of hanging baskets CO N --- w jSHa�w000 11�MAIPOPI ONOITON SUSAN'S • 1 1/2 miles south of Crediton • GR[ENHODU S. Hardener lir II All Your Gardening Needs LA VRANGUE INSPIRATIONS GIFTS invites you to our spring OPEN H OUSE Saturday, May 18th & Sunday, May 19th 10 a.m. to5p.m. Presenting a unique array of gift ideas featuring work by local artisans. Drop in and say hello. Refreshments will be served. OPEN MAY & JUNE SUNDAYS ONLY 10 JULY do AUGUST TI11IRS rhrn SUNDAY tri; 1)H BY EVENING APPOINTMENT CALL 524-4782 LOCATED LAKESIDE, HWY. 21 6 KMS. NORTH OF BAYFIELD did speak with pride on the results of his acid rain study. He said a key to making his American counterpart realize there was a genuine problem in Canada from acid rain was to take him to visit American cottage owners in Muskoka. Nevertheless, he came to realize the study was intended to be a delaying tactic of governments who wanted to delay environmental action They me right in the eye and said, 'you know you guys weren't really meant to do anything'," said Davis, but said the report went further than the governments really wanted, but was eventually accepted by both governments. Davis said the report was not an ultimate solution, but a sign.Ficant step forward on the fight against acid rain. "I can't tell people of this community a 50percent reduction is, in fact, enough. I can only say it's 50 percent better...thsui it has been." Davis told the audience that environmental issues should be dealt with on a personal basis, with recognition everyone has some part to play and also some responsibility. •On nuclear energy. Davis spoke out in favour of nuclear energy as a reduction of coal - burning generation of electricity. He said the NDP government's moratori- um on construction of nuclear power plants is being seen by the Ameri- cans as a negative step against acid rain. •On the constitution. "We have probably embarked on certain measures that have harmed our ability to compete, said Davis, suggesting constitutional problems are hurting our trade. "We can't use these things as an excuse. You know Canadians have tra- ditionally been our own worst enemies. We are so able to criticize our- selves. We are so able to see our shortcomings. We can identify them with great regularity....We are great at being critical of ourselves. We are great at selling ourselves short. Davis said other nations look at Canada with envy, but can't comprehend our problems. "They cannot understand why Canadians cannot, within their own coun- try, resolve the issues that confront us," said Davis, who claimed he did not want to go too far into Constitutional issues, but asked for some sense of moderation. "Please don't become weary of it. There have to be solutions to be found..there has to be a little bit of give and take." Our history is different from almost every other country in the world. It is part of our strength. It is part of our difficulty." Charter pins•- The 38 inembers of the newly -formed Grand Bend Ro- • tary Club were presented with their charter pins by District Govemor Patrick McAvinchey from Michigan at the gala banquet at the Oak- wood Inn convention centre Friday evening. 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