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HomeMy WebLinkAboutTimes Advocate, 1992-03-04, Page 1Sweetheart Roses ,95 bunch of 10 • Cash & Carry go `COLt1TRY fLOWfkS 1 Exeter Serving -South Huron Inside J Premier Bob Rae defends policies page 2 Panthers Basketball on the rise Second front On Ice Hensall skaters on $how page 8 National unity Last chance, says Clark page 17 Telethon results poor, Lions mail campaign begins EXETER - The Exeter Lions arc saying that response to their Super- thon Telephone Campaign efforts were a little disappointing. Sunday, Lions Club volunteers took calls from Exeter residents at the offices of Gaiser Kneale, all pan of the Easter Seals CBC tele- thon. The results were transmitted te London, and then broadcast on tlee network. However, chairman of this year's campaign, Laverne Hamilton says that only about $385 was raised this year in Exeter, compared to about $2,5(X) last year - only about 15 percent of the 1991 total. In an effort to boost funds, all of which will be spent in the immedi- ate arca to aid physically handi- capped children, the Lions will be distributing mailers with Easter Seals and return envelopes for do- nations inside. March is Easter Seals month. Without stronger support for its campaign, Hamilton says it will bc difficult to cover expenditures the club is planning for its aid to local handicapped children. Crediton family loses home in fire CREDITON - Stephen Township firefighters were dispatched to the residence of Dan and Marie Con- nor, owned by Matt and Sue Mull- er at approximately 10:00 p.m. Thursday evening. The two-storey wooden structure on Concession 4 of Stephen Town- ship suffered extensive damage. Although the cast of damage is not yet determined, the Connex family has had to Jacate the prem- ises use of the fire. Do tions arc being accepted by the tephen Towship fire depart- ment. For funk, information con- tact Robert Pertschy, Doug Light- foot or Cam Stewardson all of Crediton. Are high school students to pay parking fees? By Wry Lewis CLINTON - With an expected decrease in 1992 estimated .expen- ditures, the Huron County Board of Education is attempting to draw the purse strings tighter. In an effort to save money, the board is locking for any means to recoup finances, and that may soon inehtde students paying for the privilege of perking. In a review of problems associat- ed with increased demands for stu- dein at asacondary Who*, the bard discussed the merits and -problems damming sturdent.perk- .lees daring Monday's regular bawd moving in Clinton. Revenues collected from such fees would be used to pay for park- ing lot expansions and improve- ments. It was noted that foes were being charged by a number of boards and arc under investigation by others. The thought evoked mixed reac- tion from board trustees. "If students have the money for cars and insurance, a few more dol- lars -won't -hurt," said Norm Picked, trustee for the Town of Goderich. "We already provide kids with bus- sing privileges, and driving is a. privilege not a necessity." Some trustees in agreement ques- tioned why some boards have adopted the principle and others not. "If some boards are going to adopt it then they should do so right across the board," agreed trus- tee John Jewitt, who represents the Township of Hullett and Village of Blyth. "in turn, the money could then be used to upgrade facilities across the board." Many felt that if students were charged for parking that teachers should be as well. "If you're going to charge the stu- dents, thea - you also must -chfargc staff," added Irustee Allan Caner, representing the Township of Tuck- ersmith and Village of Hensel!. As for,now, the board plans to monitor parking problems but no action has been recommended. The board did, however, approve a motion to increase fees for the in - car portion of driver education pro- grams to $200, effective at the end of the current school year. Current fees were reviewed for the in -car portion of secondary school driver education programs, and costs were noted to be $230 per student against currenrrevenuc col- lected of $170. "I believe this is one area where we should be recovering fees," said trustee Doug Garniss. While it was felt that an increase was desirable, concern was ex- pressed that the fee was becoming a problem for some families. In re- sponse, a method of paying the fees in two installments was suggested and approved. Two hours not enough Drop parking fines, shopper tells council EXETER - The complaint of one Exeter resident has prompted coun- cil to review its policy on parking in the downtown area. - A letter accompanied a payment for a parking fine levied against Ju- lia Darbishire. Darbishire said she parked for two hours and 25 min- utes on Main Street last Wednes- day, shopping at eight stores in the s t "th''. "Wd 1,0f�er�s�=:.;0„t1 PWnc• • She, returned to r car, Council not concern PCB shipment coming to Exeter EXETER - Dangerous chemicals are on their way to Exeter, or may already be here. Either way, town council is convinced that there is no danger to the public and have ex- pressed no concerts. Nabisco Brands is closing its Ball Packaging Plant in Niagara Falls and under strict guidelines of the Ministry of the Environment, is transporting polychlorinated bi- phenyls (PCBs) to its Exeter plant for storage until a more permanent disposal of the chemicals can be found. PCBs arc usually found in cool- ant oils of old electric transformers and capacitors. They have been linked to cancer and other diseases in humans and are now no longer in use. However, disposal is difficult and storage is required until all can eventually be broken down into more harmless compounds. Nabisco and the ministry have drawn up plans to transport five 45 gallon drunis containing 19 PCB capacitors from Niagara and one 24 gallon drum from St. Davids. Exeter council briefly discussed the item Monday evening, noting that according to the plans guide- lines, the PCBs could have been shipped already that day. Howev- er, administrator Rick Hundey ac- knowledged that the ministry will likely delay shipment until council has had a chance to respond to the plan. Council did agree to send a let- ter to the ministry expressing no concern over the planned shipment. Of interest however, is that while the supporting information in the brief offered a detailed description of the route to be taken by the leak- proof vault truck and spill response entourage from the Niagara plant to Highway 401, the directions then suggest the truck leaves the 401 di- rectly for Wellington Street in Ex- eter, omitting several route details on the way. County survey unveils concerns By Fred Groves GODERICH - There arc a lot of people in Huron County who have an opinion and the county recently did a survey to let 500 residents voice their concerns, about local government In October, former warden im Robinson invited 1,000 residents provide their thoughts on sev key issues. Of those, half respond- ed indicating how interested these people are. On Thursday at the regular ses- sion of council, county councillors will be presented with the survey called 'What 500 residents said about the future of Huron County.' ,which focused on six main areas; government, agriculture, jobs, envi- ronment, education and job train- ing, towns and villages "It's a unique mirror of communi- ty thinking on a broad variety of in- terests," said planner Nick Hill. Although not a member of the county planning department now, ' Hill helped prepare the county's original official plan in 1971 and has been brought in as a consultant. On Thursday he presented, his survey to c4wncil. "The purpose is to tell them (council) where we are, here are the findings and if you have any com- ments." - Hill said that when the official plan was ,adopted in 1973, one main .purpose was to protect agri- cultural lands. "We're trying to expand it from land to social and economic as- pects." Here are just a few of the com- ments made in the survey about those areas: Towns and Villages: • Support the small towns and vil- lages, not Goderich, Exeter, Clin- ton, Wingham, Seaford'. Support . villages like Crediton, Dashwood, Ethel, Auburn, etc. Give these com- munities a boost, not make the towns bigger. • Need improved access - Hwy 8 to Kitchenerfforonto/Stratford and Hwy 4 to London. Towns and County need to co-operate. What is better for one is also better for the other. Education and Job Training: • Wage increases for teachers have to stop. They should be low- ered five percent Let them .a11 strike. They will come to it. Do away with teacher unions. Cut den- tists, doctors, lawyers, municipali- ties wad workers wages. • Why not have high schools work more along the :co-op late with industry? Apprenticeship pro- grams? Agrkulture: • The agricultural economy is and has been in trouble for some time. Why would you base your future economy on such a troubled indus- try? As much as 1 would hate to sec prime agricultural land used for ur- ban development, I really wonder what the purpose of saving the land is if you can't make a decent living by working it. • Get the family farm back and try to discourage large farms or the soil and rural work force will bc de- pleted. Jobs: • Workers must be educated to accept less in Huron than many oth- er places as the cost of living is less. Also businesses will not relo- cate here or may leave if pmeincial and -.federal . tax structure rains the same. If we could get agriculture to prosper theme would be job open- ings. I feel Huron County has lots to offer for young and old. We have so many laws and taxes and inspec- tors I would go to the USA to set up a business. 'Otey want us there. They don't try to put us out of busi- aess before WaWit Envirq,ama.f•• • The blue boxes are a great way to help the environment. • The landfill in Holntesvillc is polluting Creeks which empty into the Maitland River. Thus over time, the river is becoming polluted. • I think that protection of the en- vironment is good but it should not preclude all efforts of development. Government: • 1 think the county and govern - Continued on page 2 finding a 510 ticket, which she de- scribed in her tetter as "a penalty to a loyal Exeter shopper". "Perhaps the two-hour limit is not very realistic - and often it is not enforced," said councillor Ben Hoogenboom at Monday's council meeting. Hoogenboom said he often sees many. cars parked near his Main Street store for several hours with- out being ticketed. He recommend- ed the Police Services Board dis- cuss the issue at its next meeting. The two-hour limit is intended to discourage business owners and 'employees from leaving their own vehicles in street parking spaces, while allowing time for customers to s TheBI�1 on occasion. has at police- police to step up its tick- eting campaign to help keep spaces clear. In her letter, Darbishire suggested a campaign to educate business owners on the wisdom of keeping street parking clear while lifting all fines for parking. Water meters still a possibility dor Exeter EXETER - While discussion in past months had suggested that wa- ter meters were not economically feasible for Exeter homes, further exploration suggests the issue is not dead yet. While the Exeter PUC had stated several times before that water me- ters offered little value to Exeter, but a high expense, mayor Brucc Shaw said at Monday's council meeting that engineering studies have indicated meters may be ap- propriate for the town. While meters are said to cost about 5300 per household, meaning a substantial capital cost for instal- lation, there is a possibility the cost could be billed directly to the prop- erty owner, said Shaw. "It's interesting the engineers have been doing some rethinking on that issue," said Shaw. Lucan council has in past months credited the village's adoption of a water meter program as instrumen- tal in gaining government grant support of their water pipeline pro- ject. The feeling is that the provin- cial government views water me- ters as an instrument encouraging conservation. Shaw said an upgrade to Exeter's water system is appearing to be an intimidating expense. He said esti- mates peg the cost at about $6 mil- lion in 1991 dollars, or about $7-8 million if done in the next few years. The possibility, said Shaw, is that growth for the town may no longer be viable. While he said one con- cern is that if the town does not continue to grow it will die, "on the other hand, how much can you af- ford to grow?" "I think there's lots to think about on how far we want to go," said Shaw. Man in critical condition after Friday collision EXETER - The Exeter OPP report that they investigated five accidents in the past week. The most serious of which has left a 24 -year old man in critical condition in University Hospital. In the early hours of Friday morning at the junction of Highway 4 and the Crediton Road (County Road 4), a vehicle driven by Wayne Denommc of Dashwood was struck from behind by a vehicle driven by Dennis Mac- Donald of Huron Park. Denomme and his passenger Corina Price of Hu- ron Park were both thrown from the vehicle onto the highway. MacDon- ald and his wife, Eileen continued on into the east ditch in their vehicle. Police say of the four people involved, only one person was wearing a seatbelt at the time of the incident. Denommc, 24 is in critical condition in University Hospital. Police arc also reporting that sometime on Friday night or early Saturday morning, a 1984 Buick Regal parked in Hensall had its tires slashed. Since this activity is unnecessary tinct causes insurance costs to the victim, police arc asking the public to come forward with any information that might help them solve this or other such crimes. The public can either call tlic detachment directly at 235-1300, or Crime Stoppers .at 1.800.265- 1777.