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HomeMy WebLinkAboutTimes Advocate, 1991-07-10, Page 1OAR RENTALS DAILY • WEEKLY • MONTHLY CALL US /OR NII5URANct 11111ACEJMENr NEEDS • Conti: to Auto Cleaning Conti, • (7-. Sit 235-3381 or 2384839 after hours a Serving; South Huron North Middlesex & Larnbton S;nce 1873 Gaiser-Kneale Insurance Service Experience & Value 235-2420 Wednesday, July 10; 1991 75 cents Pryde sidewalk approved EXETER - In stark contrast to the debate which plagued the issue for the past few weeks, council quietly approved the public works committee's recommendation to put a sidewalk on the west side of Pryde Boulevard north of Sanders Street. The issue received lively debate at past meetings in which residents of Pryde opposed the sidewalk on the grounds that it was unnecessary and detrimental to their front lawns. Other parents, however, argued that would improve the safety of children who walk that route- to school. The sidewalk recommendation was presented to council by public works committee chairman Ben Hoogenboom, whose opposition to the sidewalk was voted down, and council adopted the proposal with- out further debate. Fund set up to aid accident victim CREDITON - A fund has been set up by the neighbours and friends of Wayne Hindmarsh of RR 1 Crediton who received serious spinal injuries in an accident last month. Hindmarsh was hospitalized after an ATV accident in Algonquin Park. He has since been transferred to Parkwood Hospital in London. Neighbours say that the single parent of three children will need expensive and extensive renova- tions to his home to accommodate a wheelchair and other special equip- ment. Consequently, a bank account has been set up in the Bank of Montreal Exeter and Lucan branches to re- ceive donations from anyone who would like to contribute financial assistance. Anyone wishing more informa- tion can contact Art Cunningham at 235-1758. Zurich reeve running for warden GODERICH - The reeve of Zu- rich has tossed his ring into the hat. Bob Fisher announced Thursday his candidacy for the warden of Huron County. "This seems to be the right time," said Fisher as he spoke to county council on Thursday. He is the first to announce he will run for the 1992 position. "I have the support of my coun- cil and my municipal staff," said Fisher. The facts in the county council chambers could change in Novem- ber, however, as there is a munici- pal election. Election for the position is held in December. Last year Hensall'a Jim Robinson defeated Marie Hick- nell of McKillop Township. Erosion control - A team from the Ausable Bayfield Conservation Authority builds a barrier more im- penetrable than the Berlin Wall. Not even silt will make its way through the gabion basket wall which is part of a project to improve MacNaughton Park's river banks. Frorn left are Wayne Ford, Rob Traut, Ron Gregoire, and Greg Lamport. Project to stabilize park's banks EXETER - Many visitor. to Exeter over the years have commented on the beauty of Mac - Naughton Park. An erosion control project cur- rently under way by the Ausable Bayfield Conser- vation Authority aims at keeping it that way. A team from the ABCA ate currently putting the finishing touches on a gabion basket wall which will protect the south bank of the Ausable River ih the park from thc ravages of erosion. The wall is an extension of work done in past years, but as Rob Traut points out, it has several improvements over the original wall. Hidden behind the wall and wrapped underneath the wide, flat rock -filled baskets which form the foundation for the wall, is a fabric barrier. This barrier allows water to pass through, but traps silt and soil behind it, preventing the settling of the banks evidenced behind the original gabion bas- kets closer to the weir. Even though the gentle trickle of water through the park looks innocent enough at the moment, that is not always the casc, reminds Traut. It is common to see the entire park area flooded above the height of the islands during spring run-off and after summer storms. "Because of the flows through here you get a lot of undercutting and slumping," said Traut, who add- ed that it was a better plan to spend money on pre- venting erosion than to attempt reconstruction of the parks after it gets washed away after a flood. Besides, the stable and secure banks created by the erosion control allows for more aesthetic land- scaping. The Conservation-Mtthoritye is -working on a $41,000 budget to stabilize the parks banks. The gabion baskets are relatively inexpensive compared to the retaining wall which is planned for the north bank in the next few weeks. The erosion control will pave the way for a major overhaul of MacNaughton Park - a joint project be- tween the ABCA and the Exeter Lions Club. Cost- ing in excess of $300,000 over the next few years, it will see a complete revitalization of the park's walk- ways, lighting, roadways, parking, flower gardens, a new washroom building, and a children's play- ground. Other construction in the park arca includes the installation of a new sidewalk on the cast side of Main Street, which will extend into a second pedes- trian walkway across the Ausable River Bridge. This work is being carried out by the town under a PRIDE grant. Reeve accused of bending cottage overcrowding rules GRAND BEND - 4 Grand Bend resident would like the reeve of thc village to abide by the rules. Lloyd Guillet, representing a group called the Grand Bend Resi- dents Association, came to council last Tuesday night and said reeve Bruce Woodley was not following some basic rules which apply to landlords. Woodley owns a cottage at 27 Beach Lane and, according to Guillet, rented it to a group of peo- ple that were causing a lot of dis- turbance during the May 24 week- end. Immediately following the May 2A weekend, Guillet came to coun- cil and said he was upset. Tuesday he came with pictures and witness- es. "Every long weekend there are parties going on. We all want to be responsible. 1 don't like the idea of coming here," said Guillet. Guillet has property near Wood- ley's rental unit and he said he even had deputy -reeve Shirley Mitchell go and look at the party that was going on at Woodley's cottage. Council has said in the past it wants to regulate the number of people in each rental until in order to cut down on some of the after hour partes. Guillet said at one time there were over 50 people at the cottage. Mitchell backed Guillet's com- ments, saying she went to the cot- tage and said throe girls who were renting it said they had to have oth- ers stay with them in order to help pay the $900 Woodley was charg- ing for the weekend. Woodley said he rented his cot- tage to the girls' mother from Lon- don and said he went to the cottage at least twice and both times went with four police offrccrs. "I rented to what I thought was a rms slash region EXETER - With three major stones tearing through the area in the past week, a trail of damage has been left in their wake. Last Wednesday a tornado was reported in the Staffa area, another storm Thursday brought down tree limbs in Exeter, and a third storm Sunday evening brought a funnel cloud to the Exeter arca and slash- ing rain to Lucan. In Wednesday's storm, Tom El- lerington watched as a portion of his barn roof was lifted off and thrown against a tree which stands on an island in his driveway. Ac- cording to Judy Ellerington, during the storm they also received about 2 1/2 inches of rain, on their farm southeast of Exeter, and about six inches between the three storms. In the same area, Jack Blair had several large trees uprooted on his farm, while Peter Sereda of RR#1 Centralia had the roof of his barn removed in the high winds. For some homeowners, the rain has meant leaky roofs and the col- lection of fallen limbs, Some have been left without electricity for a few hours as crews worked to re- pair fallen lines. One family on Andrew Street in Exeter Friday morning found themselves survey- ing damage to cars trapped under a fallen branch. By far the biggest worry, howev- er, has been the potential to local farmer's crops from the high winds . mid isolated hail storms,. "We need some dry days now," said Brian Hall at the Ministry of Agriculture's Clinton office, who said that the previous dry spell has now been replaced by the concern responsible family. You make it sound like it was a bunch of hood- lums," said Woodley, but added, "Those people won't be back, there were too many problems," said Woodley. Village resident Marlene Siren said there is a lack of accountability not just by Woodley but other land- lords who rent their cottages during long weekends. "We have problems with tenants in our cottages, but as reeve there is a credibility thing," said Siren. She exUlained another landlord in the village came to her and asked, "how do you expect us to control it when your own reeve rents to three teenaged girls for $900?" After nearly two hours of discus- sion Woodley and Guillet decided to meet privately to discuss the. problem. Lucan paying for dump closure LUCAN - Village council will ask Larry Lewis of pay a portion of the bill and had Lewis come to one C.H. Lewis to come to its July 22 council meeting of their council meetings. to discuss an extra billing charge. The dump was closed by a provincial judge who Lewis' dump was recently closed and he has had also awarded $100,000 to Petr Nippa. According to to transport garbage to Blenheim. The additional Hotson, the dump cannot be reopened under Lewis' cost has to be paid by the village. ownership. Monday night council received a bill from Lewis "We should be fighting to keep it open," said dcp- which indicated an increase of $3,579 above it's reg- uty-reeve Harry Wraith. ular monthly fee of $5,300. I don't see why we should be taking our garbage During the first week in which the dump was to Blenheim," added Wraith. closed, Lucan did not have a garbage pick up. Wraith commented on the increase the taxpayers "We have a contract, we're the ones who decided will have to pay. Councillor Bryan Smith said the not to have it picked up," said reeve Larry Hotson. local residents should not have to pay more. "I haven't seen a credit for the week he didn't pick "To add to the tax bill, I don't think it's fair. up," he added. Enough is enough; said Smith. Hotson reported that Biddulph Township did not There was also some discussion about the village have their garbage picked up for two weeks, did not purchasing the dump, but it was quickly determined Continued on liege 2 a. over water ponding in South Huron fields. In all, Hall said the damage to crops isn't as worrisome as it may appear. The Staffa tornado did not cut that wide a swath through fields as it could have, and hail damage has been isolated. The rain, howev- er, was badly needed. "It's been really beneficial real- ly," said Hall. Even for those farmers who saw their corn crops pelted with golf- ball sized hail and their soybeans stripped of leaves, all may not be lost. Hall said those crops can like- ly recover much of their strength before harvest. "There's lost yield, but it's not necessarily a write-off," said Hall, who said he will be holding a meet- ing Thursday evening at the St. Co- lumban Church for growers inter- ested in hearing technical advice on storm damage yield loss, and whether or not to re -plant. Exeter OPP staff sergeant Don McInnis said that despite their in- tensity, the three storms had not caused too many problems for the local police. Aside from false bur- glar alarms caused by lightning strikes, and reports of fallen tree limbs and power lines, most people weathered the storm quite well. With local roads flooded with "blankets" of rain Thursday eve- ning, McInnis said he was surprised there were no reports of traffic acci- dents. He guessed that most driv- ers were being especially cautious under such conditions. "Considering what the weather has been, it hasn't been that much of a burden," said McInnis. Bike thefts increase EXETER - There has been a rash of bicycle thefts in Exeter over the past two weeks. The Exeter Police Department is currently investigating 10 thefts. Of those only four bikes have been recovered. Bike owners are reminded that they can obtain a license for their bike at a cost of $2 from the police. This docs not prevent your bike from being stolen but their are certain precautions which can be taken. Securing your bike with a good chain and lock it to a fence, tree or a post when leaving it unattended. When at home, also make sure your bike is locked up or stored inside. The license gives police a description and serial number and certain de- tails and assists them in the recovering of stolen bikes. Active senior Long distance - Bert Robinson got out of Wednesday's rain storm and stopped in for a visit at Huron Tractor in Exeter Robinson, 73, is on a cross-country bicycle tour which began May 1 in Nanalmo, B.C. and will hopefully be completed on Augupt 25 in St. Johns, Nfld. The former aviation executive Is the fou r of the Cross coun- try Cycle Tour Society In Vancouver and he 1s writing a book on his trip. He was going to stop In St. Thomas for a couple of weeks to visit with friends and family. Inside Retirement More time for hobbies page 11 Barrel racers Merners host competition Second front ABCA study Surprising results of interest to farmers page 26 Environment Two students act on concerns page 28 Pryde sidewalk approved EXETER - In stark contrast to the debate which plagued the issue for the past few weeks, council quietly approved the public works committee's recommendation to put a sidewalk on the west side of Pryde Boulevard north of Sanders Street. The issue received lively debate at past meetings in which residents of Pryde opposed the sidewalk on the grounds that it was unnecessary and detrimental to their front lawns. Other parents, however, argued that would improve the safety of children who walk that route- to school. The sidewalk recommendation was presented to council by public works committee chairman Ben Hoogenboom, whose opposition to the sidewalk was voted down, and council adopted the proposal with- out further debate. Fund set up to aid accident victim CREDITON - A fund has been set up by the neighbours and friends of Wayne Hindmarsh of RR 1 Crediton who received serious spinal injuries in an accident last month. Hindmarsh was hospitalized after an ATV accident in Algonquin Park. He has since been transferred to Parkwood Hospital in London. Neighbours say that the single parent of three children will need expensive and extensive renova- tions to his home to accommodate a wheelchair and other special equip- ment. Consequently, a bank account has been set up in the Bank of Montreal Exeter and Lucan branches to re- ceive donations from anyone who would like to contribute financial assistance. Anyone wishing more informa- tion can contact Art Cunningham at 235-1758. Zurich reeve running for warden GODERICH - The reeve of Zu- rich has tossed his ring into the hat. Bob Fisher announced Thursday his candidacy for the warden of Huron County. "This seems to be the right time," said Fisher as he spoke to county council on Thursday. He is the first to announce he will run for the 1992 position. "I have the support of my coun- cil and my municipal staff," said Fisher. The facts in the county council chambers could change in Novem- ber, however, as there is a munici- pal election. Election for the position is held in December. Last year Hensall'a Jim Robinson defeated Marie Hick- nell of McKillop Township. Erosion control - A team from the Ausable Bayfield Conservation Authority builds a barrier more im- penetrable than the Berlin Wall. Not even silt will make its way through the gabion basket wall which is part of a project to improve MacNaughton Park's river banks. Frorn left are Wayne Ford, Rob Traut, Ron Gregoire, and Greg Lamport. Project to stabilize park's banks EXETER - Many visitor. to Exeter over the years have commented on the beauty of Mac - Naughton Park. An erosion control project cur- rently under way by the Ausable Bayfield Conser- vation Authority aims at keeping it that way. A team from the ABCA ate currently putting the finishing touches on a gabion basket wall which will protect the south bank of the Ausable River ih the park from thc ravages of erosion. The wall is an extension of work done in past years, but as Rob Traut points out, it has several improvements over the original wall. Hidden behind the wall and wrapped underneath the wide, flat rock -filled baskets which form the foundation for the wall, is a fabric barrier. This barrier allows water to pass through, but traps silt and soil behind it, preventing the settling of the banks evidenced behind the original gabion bas- kets closer to the weir. Even though the gentle trickle of water through the park looks innocent enough at the moment, that is not always the casc, reminds Traut. It is common to see the entire park area flooded above the height of the islands during spring run-off and after summer storms. "Because of the flows through here you get a lot of undercutting and slumping," said Traut, who add- ed that it was a better plan to spend money on pre- venting erosion than to attempt reconstruction of the parks after it gets washed away after a flood. Besides, the stable and secure banks created by the erosion control allows for more aesthetic land- scaping. The Conservation-Mtthoritye is -working on a $41,000 budget to stabilize the parks banks. The gabion baskets are relatively inexpensive compared to the retaining wall which is planned for the north bank in the next few weeks. The erosion control will pave the way for a major overhaul of MacNaughton Park - a joint project be- tween the ABCA and the Exeter Lions Club. Cost- ing in excess of $300,000 over the next few years, it will see a complete revitalization of the park's walk- ways, lighting, roadways, parking, flower gardens, a new washroom building, and a children's play- ground. Other construction in the park arca includes the installation of a new sidewalk on the cast side of Main Street, which will extend into a second pedes- trian walkway across the Ausable River Bridge. This work is being carried out by the town under a PRIDE grant. Reeve accused of bending cottage overcrowding rules GRAND BEND - 4 Grand Bend resident would like the reeve of thc village to abide by the rules. Lloyd Guillet, representing a group called the Grand Bend Resi- dents Association, came to council last Tuesday night and said reeve Bruce Woodley was not following some basic rules which apply to landlords. Woodley owns a cottage at 27 Beach Lane and, according to Guillet, rented it to a group of peo- ple that were causing a lot of dis- turbance during the May 24 week- end. Immediately following the May 2A weekend, Guillet came to coun- cil and said he was upset. Tuesday he came with pictures and witness- es. "Every long weekend there are parties going on. We all want to be responsible. 1 don't like the idea of coming here," said Guillet. Guillet has property near Wood- ley's rental unit and he said he even had deputy -reeve Shirley Mitchell go and look at the party that was going on at Woodley's cottage. Council has said in the past it wants to regulate the number of people in each rental until in order to cut down on some of the after hour partes. Guillet said at one time there were over 50 people at the cottage. Mitchell backed Guillet's com- ments, saying she went to the cot- tage and said throe girls who were renting it said they had to have oth- ers stay with them in order to help pay the $900 Woodley was charg- ing for the weekend. Woodley said he rented his cot- tage to the girls' mother from Lon- don and said he went to the cottage at least twice and both times went with four police offrccrs. "I rented to what I thought was a rms slash region EXETER - With three major stones tearing through the area in the past week, a trail of damage has been left in their wake. Last Wednesday a tornado was reported in the Staffa area, another storm Thursday brought down tree limbs in Exeter, and a third storm Sunday evening brought a funnel cloud to the Exeter arca and slash- ing rain to Lucan. In Wednesday's storm, Tom El- lerington watched as a portion of his barn roof was lifted off and thrown against a tree which stands on an island in his driveway. Ac- cording to Judy Ellerington, during the storm they also received about 2 1/2 inches of rain, on their farm southeast of Exeter, and about six inches between the three storms. In the same area, Jack Blair had several large trees uprooted on his farm, while Peter Sereda of RR#1 Centralia had the roof of his barn removed in the high winds. For some homeowners, the rain has meant leaky roofs and the col- lection of fallen limbs, Some have been left without electricity for a few hours as crews worked to re- pair fallen lines. One family on Andrew Street in Exeter Friday morning found themselves survey- ing damage to cars trapped under a fallen branch. By far the biggest worry, howev- er, has been the potential to local farmer's crops from the high winds . mid isolated hail storms,. "We need some dry days now," said Brian Hall at the Ministry of Agriculture's Clinton office, who said that the previous dry spell has now been replaced by the concern responsible family. You make it sound like it was a bunch of hood- lums," said Woodley, but added, "Those people won't be back, there were too many problems," said Woodley. Village resident Marlene Siren said there is a lack of accountability not just by Woodley but other land- lords who rent their cottages during long weekends. "We have problems with tenants in our cottages, but as reeve there is a credibility thing," said Siren. She exUlained another landlord in the village came to her and asked, "how do you expect us to control it when your own reeve rents to three teenaged girls for $900?" After nearly two hours of discus- sion Woodley and Guillet decided to meet privately to discuss the. problem. Lucan paying for dump closure LUCAN - Village council will ask Larry Lewis of pay a portion of the bill and had Lewis come to one C.H. Lewis to come to its July 22 council meeting of their council meetings. to discuss an extra billing charge. The dump was closed by a provincial judge who Lewis' dump was recently closed and he has had also awarded $100,000 to Petr Nippa. According to to transport garbage to Blenheim. The additional Hotson, the dump cannot be reopened under Lewis' cost has to be paid by the village. ownership. Monday night council received a bill from Lewis "We should be fighting to keep it open," said dcp- which indicated an increase of $3,579 above it's reg- uty-reeve Harry Wraith. ular monthly fee of $5,300. I don't see why we should be taking our garbage During the first week in which the dump was to Blenheim," added Wraith. closed, Lucan did not have a garbage pick up. Wraith commented on the increase the taxpayers "We have a contract, we're the ones who decided will have to pay. Councillor Bryan Smith said the not to have it picked up," said reeve Larry Hotson. local residents should not have to pay more. "I haven't seen a credit for the week he didn't pick "To add to the tax bill, I don't think it's fair. up," he added. Enough is enough; said Smith. Hotson reported that Biddulph Township did not There was also some discussion about the village have their garbage picked up for two weeks, did not purchasing the dump, but it was quickly determined Continued on liege 2 a. over water ponding in South Huron fields. In all, Hall said the damage to crops isn't as worrisome as it may appear. The Staffa tornado did not cut that wide a swath through fields as it could have, and hail damage has been isolated. The rain, howev- er, was badly needed. "It's been really beneficial real- ly," said Hall. Even for those farmers who saw their corn crops pelted with golf- ball sized hail and their soybeans stripped of leaves, all may not be lost. Hall said those crops can like- ly recover much of their strength before harvest. "There's lost yield, but it's not necessarily a write-off," said Hall, who said he will be holding a meet- ing Thursday evening at the St. Co- lumban Church for growers inter- ested in hearing technical advice on storm damage yield loss, and whether or not to re -plant. Exeter OPP staff sergeant Don McInnis said that despite their in- tensity, the three storms had not caused too many problems for the local police. Aside from false bur- glar alarms caused by lightning strikes, and reports of fallen tree limbs and power lines, most people weathered the storm quite well. With local roads flooded with "blankets" of rain Thursday eve- ning, McInnis said he was surprised there were no reports of traffic acci- dents. He guessed that most driv- ers were being especially cautious under such conditions. "Considering what the weather has been, it hasn't been that much of a burden," said McInnis. Bike thefts increase EXETER - There has been a rash of bicycle thefts in Exeter over the past two weeks. The Exeter Police Department is currently investigating 10 thefts. Of those only four bikes have been recovered. Bike owners are reminded that they can obtain a license for their bike at a cost of $2 from the police. This docs not prevent your bike from being stolen but their are certain precautions which can be taken. Securing your bike with a good chain and lock it to a fence, tree or a post when leaving it unattended. When at home, also make sure your bike is locked up or stored inside. The license gives police a description and serial number and certain de- tails and assists them in the recovering of stolen bikes. Active senior Long distance - Bert Robinson got out of Wednesday's rain storm and stopped in for a visit at Huron Tractor in Exeter Robinson, 73, is on a cross-country bicycle tour which began May 1 in Nanalmo, B.C. and will hopefully be completed on Augupt 25 in St. Johns, Nfld. The former aviation executive Is the fou r of the Cross coun- try Cycle Tour Society In Vancouver and he 1s writing a book on his trip. He was going to stop In St. Thomas for a couple of weeks to visit with friends and family.