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HomeMy WebLinkAboutTimes Advocate, 1991-10-30, Page 1Car By Appointment Exeter Collision 235.0411 i Serving South Huron Inside Chlldreach Why no interest in Crediton? page 3 Warbuff Teachers crack trivia market page 5 Stephen election Candidates meet in Grand red Cove page 5 Curling Rowe's ice ready Second front Walkathon Skinners honoured in London page 32 Geography game Hensall students turn sleuth page 34 Retirement dinner for JP Wedlake By Ted Hyde EXETER - Retiring justice of the peace Doug Wedlake was honoured at a dinner held at the Exeter Le- gion on Friday evening. Wedlake first entered the profes- sion in 1968 filling a part-time po- sition, then in 1976 upgraded to a full-time justice. Speakers at the dinner reminisced about his 23 years of service, as well as present- ing numerous plaques and congrat- ulatory letters. The focus of the presentations fell to a pair of gift chaise lounges, presented by Judge Garry Hunter, and referred to as "the apparatus behind" Wedlake. Usborne opens new road shed EXETER - The Usborne Town- ship road works shed was given its official blessing as the newest addi- tion to the Township's assets Satur- day afternoon. The five -bay shed means that nwilL all township road equipment can be stored and serviced in heat- ed areas. The shed replaces the for- mer 1948 building which still stands on the corner in Elimville. Reeve Gerald Prout acknowl- edged the contribution of the Min- istry of Transportation for helping fund the construction of the new shed. "We are quite pleased to say we paid cash for this building," said Prout, who also thanked MPP Paul Klopp, the engineers, and contrac- tors. Klopp said he was impressed by the building and joked that it was an excellent monument to mark Prom's last year as reeve. 'It's a nice way to leave office by saying 'that's the year 1 quit'," said Klopp. Reverend Sheila Macgregor, min- ister of the Thames Road and Elim- ville United Churches, performed the official dedication of the build- ing before the ribbon cutting. ._.Sze • .�.r'•1:3.�.."., f. ;`Yy:o'•ty -y' • •<•�� ••i:iE::Ys: � fotetit � its r 5'u'►?+ fahrowfwlyfaflgiii: { Toll-free calls to London in the works for Exeter and Crediton STRATFORD - Bell Canada has announced that both Exeter and Crediton will be eligible for toll-free service to London by 1994. Bell is also surveying Hensall customers to see if they too are interested in extended arca service. John Stuart, business office manager for Bell Canada in Stratford, confirmed that sur- veys of both Crediton and Exet- er showed that more than 50 per- cent of customers in each area were in favour of paying a slightly higher basic rate for tel- ephone service if they could have toll-free access to London. Both Crediton and Exeter met revised CRTC criteria that they are within 60 kilometres of Lon- don, more than 60 percent of customers call London at least once a month, and a majority are in favour of Extended Area Ser- vice. The tentative date for introduc- tion of the extended service is sometime in 1994. Based on current service rates, costs will increase from $6.40 to $9.60 for residential lines, and from $16.45 to $34.95 for business customers. SE Gaiser-Kneale Insurance Service Experience & value 235-2420 Lucan council not yet excited about low tenders LUCAN - While the tenders for the first two portions of the much awaited water and sewage systems in this village came in well below estimates, councillors are not getting excited. Council Monday night officially accepted the tender from Stonetown Construction of St. Marys for con- struction of the water booster station at a price of $761,560.07. The successful bid was one of six received. It came in well below the engineering estimate of $900,000. Also opened were tenders for the transmission line. Although this contract will not be let for 90 days, the lowest of 13 bids calls for construction costs of $1,220,728.76. The estimate on this project was listed al $1,600,000. When reeve Larry Hotson said , "These two tenders are below the estimates by $517,711.17, reeve -elect Tom McLaughlin said, " I'm nervous about the cost of the final part of our project and that's the sewage treat- ment plant." McLaughlin continued, " The treatment plant esti- mated at over four million is a real concern for me. If the lowest bid should come in at 10 percent above the estimates, we will have blown what we think we are saving now." Grand Bend election Candidates promise new Bend By Adrian Harte GRAND BEND - The introducto- ry comments offered by the Grand Bend council candidates were only a small part of Friday evening's sto- ry at the all -candidates meeting at the Legion Hall. While the com- ments from the candidates are printed on page two, most of the audience in the hall were there to hear how the candidates responded, or didn't respond to questions from the public. Since most believe Grand Bend to be a uniquely troubled munici- pality, mainly due to the conflict between the interests of the sum- mer tourism trade and the needs of the growing permanent population, most questions were aimed at how the candidates envisioned solving those problems. Questions were directed at indi- vidual candidates, either by the public or by the moderator. Some Co-op housing candidates attracted more interest than others; some received no questions at all. Here is how the candidates responded to some of the municipal questions fielded by the public. •A question directed to mayor candidate Tom Lawson sought his stand on rowdyism "the knife fights, the hit and runs" and asked if he would have any ideas in place before May 24. Lawson said he would seek a by- law to ban camping in cars, more cooperation with the OPP in addi- tion to a private bylaw enforcement group. Then, he said, the village should go and "tell the message to high schools and universities...we want quality tourism here". •Councillor candidate Phil Ma- guire was asked what he thought about the "ugly boards" on the beach. "I can hardly believe a council would allow such an ugly looking fence be constructed on the beach" he said, and suggested that if the property owners were contacted an agreement could be reached, Mayor candidate Bruce Woodley was asked why the fence wasn't taken down after construction around the condominiums was completed. Woodley said it was put up by the owners of Devlon Group, who have since said they have plans to build a restaurant and a "kiosk" on the property, even though construc- tion has yet to begin. "These fences are not as easy to get down as you wish," said Wood- ley. "It's not easy and it takes a long time to go through the courts, and there are legal fees." •Woodley was also asked about Please turn to page 2 Exandarea Meadows officially opened in Exeter EXETER - Although tenants first started moving into Exandarea Meadows in August, the co-op housing project was officially opened Friday aftemoon to ac- knowledge the achievements and contributions of those who made it possible. Founding chairman Bill Mickle explained that while the local board of directors worked to make the co- operative housing project a reality, the support of the Ministry of Housing and the work of Commu- nity Homes of Southwestern Onta- rio also deserved much of the cred- it. "We've added an excellent hous- ing alternative to Exeter," said Mickle of the 35 apartment and townhouse complex. Co-operative housing is intended to be a housing "at cost" project, with tenants rent paying off a mort- gage held by the co-op. Also, 60 percent of the units are rented to tenants receiving assistance directly from the ministry. Mickle also thanked the consul- tants, architects, construction con- tractors and the input from neigh- bouring Nabisco Brands for all playing a part in the planning and construction phases. Mickle also thanked town council, the PUC, and town staff. "To a group of dedicated people working to a goal I tip my hat," said Mickle, who also said he un- derstood that the fact that the founding board remained together throughout the project was some- thing of a rarity in co-op develop- ments. Mickle also announced that the Please turn to page 3 Missing steers lead to great round -up CREDITON - Friends and neigh- bours came to the aid of a Crediton fanner over the weekend as 79 head of cattle escaped from a barn. Howard Hendrick of RR2 Credi- ton had shipped 13 steers Friday and was on his way to the barn Sat- urday morning when he received quite a shock. Instead of finding a market -ready herd of 88, there were only 9 animals remaining. About 30 people spent the week- end scouring the countryside in search of the beasts, and by press time had managed to round up all but 13 head. Volunteers used ATV's in their search and a total of seven horses and riders also took part, because of the difficulties in- volved in handling the western cat- tle. A plane was even sent into the air but was unsuccessful in spotting the cattle due to the dense foliage. Yvonne Hendrick said Tuesday morning that the remaining cattle were thought to be located in two separate bushes. Because the areas are so thick, volunteers were ex- pected to try and flush them out this morning, Wednesday. As of yet, the Hendricks are un- sure as to how the cattle escaped. "Noithlander's commitment is to Exeter" Dear Editor. I would like to comment on the article of Wednesday, October 23, 1991 titled "More layoffs strike at region's in- dustrial economy", more specifically, to the misinforma- tion in the article regarding Northlander Industries. Mr. Harte states that the plant will not return to full oper- ation until larger contracts reappear. Since when did Mr. Harte start making decisions as to what and when things happen in a company that he holds no position. He is cer- tainly not part of my decision making team. In fact, Mr. Harte did not contact me or any member of my manage- ment team at Northlander prior to publication of the article. The future of Northlander Industries has never looked brighter. We are presently in the process of completing a development in Fort Erie, Ontario of which I not only have a financial involvement in, but one that Northlander has the exclusive rights for all products being placed and sold. This development began in the Spring of 1990 and 10 date has sold in excess of 325 units of which 140 have been sold for 1992 delivery, these units have yet to be built. I am in the process of completing negotiations for the ex- clusive rights for Northlander products in several other de- velopments. 1 am confident and as optimistic today as I have ever been, that the future of Northlander Industries is secure. In fact, it is my intention to call all employees back to work in the very near future as our 1992 product line will soon be off the drawing board, 1 want to emphasize that my employees and their fami- lies are NOT and I repeat NOT to be alarmed by the unau- thorized, careless and totally incorrect statements in Mr. • Hartc's article. The reference to the possibility of Northlander Industries relocating to the U.S. is uncalled for. I can only say that many offers have been made to us to entice Norlhlander to relocate to various U.S. states with some generous incen- tives. While nothing is for certain I want 10 stress that I am committed to the Town of Exeter but more importantly to the employees of Northlander more today than at any other time. In conclusion I challenge the Times Advocate to retract their inaccurate reporting and apologize to my employees and their families for any unnecessary anxiety and stress caused due to your article as reported. i thank you in anticipation for printing my letter and re- peat my displeasure that you would print an inaccurate re- port on one of my companies without contacting its man- agement or myself first! Yours truly, NORTHLANDER INDUSTRIES Robert L. Hamather, President Editor's Note: Last week's report on the local economy was never intended to imply that Northlander would not re -open or would be relocating to the United States. We apologize to anyone, who, upon reading the article was convinced either of the above situations was the main thrust of the story.