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Times Advocate, 1994-03-23, Page 2Page 2 Times -Advocate, March 23, 1994 f,1 • New restrictions on Nevada ticket sales WINGHAM - Prompted by a request from the Wingham Li- ons Club, town council has passed a motion restricting the sale of Nevada Tickets in the community to local groups only. The Lions Club is concerned that various marketing organiza- tions are capitalizing on the sale of Nevada tickets in communi- ties and sending the profits back to the agency instead of the money going towards a local benefit. One such marketing agency has already contracted with a lo- cal retail business in Wingham to act as an agent for Nevada tickets. Lion Club member, Bill Crump, presented a contract to council for the sale of Nevada tickets by one such agency. He noted the address of the charity supposedly benefitting from proceeds didn't exist in Wingham. Council agreed that only local groups will now be permitted to obtain a lottery license to oper- ate such sales in Wingham, it was reported in the Wingham Advance -Times. St. Marys woman stabbed to cleath r4 ST. MARYS - A 49 -year-old woman was found dead in her apartment last Monday in St. Marys. Shirley Lickers was apparent- ly found by her 23 -year-old daughter and called police. She died of stab wounds, it was reported in the St. Marys Journal Argus. A 55 -year-old known acquain- tance of the women is suspect. Bylaw proposed for exotic dancing CLINTON - A bylaw to ban adult entertainment in Clinton will continue at the next meeting of the Planning Advisory Com- mittee on April I I. A public meeting of the com- mittee was held last Monday night. Those attending wanted exotic dancers banned in any establish- ment in town. Clarence Bos, the principal at the Clinton and District Chris- tian School, said council should help people regain their sense of community, it was reported at the in the Clinton News - Record. A letter and a petition signed by 30 people, in favour of the bylaw were read at the start of the meeting. Wild dogs at landfill will be shot SEAFORTH - Dogs with no tags that run wild at the landfill she in Homesville will be shot, it was reported. in the Huron Ex- positor. A letter to the Mid -Huron Landfill Site Board was sent from the clerk of the Township of Goderich on February , 24, stating $60 had been paid for shooting and burying six wl dogs that were scavenging in the landfill site. The bill was approved by the board. INT THE NEWS Steering committee needed to make transit service reality Transportation key to seniors' health EXETER - Wearing a t -shirt that read "The Freedom to Move is Life Itself', Bev Brown from the Huron County Health Unit presented a vi- sion of a specialized transit service for the southern part of the county to a group of 30 people at the Exet- er Lions Youth Centre Monday morning. With the Ministry of Trans- portation willing to fund at least 50 percent of the start-up costs and op- erating costs for such a system, she said about 200 such services exist in Ontario already. "A lot of them haven't cost their municipalities any tax dollars," she said. Wheels Away, a transit service that operates in North Huron and part of Bruce County for the past two years, has its grant funds sup- plemented by service club fund- raising, said Brown. About four percent of the popula- tion would be eligible to ride the service's van, said Brown. That would add up to about 610 people in total from Exeter, Hensall, Zu- rich, Grand Bend, and surrounding townships. "It is more like an on -demand taxi service," she said, and sug- gested local seniors could use it to book weekly trips to the Adult Day Centre in Clinton, ride to doctors appointments, go shopping, or any- thing else they might be prevented from doing for a lack of trans- portation. A small user fee would be charged for each ride. The service would ideally use a low -floor van, such as those man- ufactured in Hensall, said Brown. The Ministry of Transportation is keen to see such services get sen- iors and the handicapped out and about. "They don't want seniors to think they can only use this to go to the Bev Brown describes a transportation service for the South Huron area that would free seniors from having to drive, and from having to rely on friends and relatives for rides. Such a service, she said, can make a big difference in someone's health and wellbeing. doctor or dentist," she said. "Out here where there's no other trans- portation, the MTO's very lenient about who can use this system." In rural areas, even pregnant women who can no longer "fit be- hind the wheel" can make use of the mobility service. When asked for financial figures by the audience, which included several representatives from the lo- cal municipalities that would have to support and take responsibility for the system, Brown said the an- nual costs of running the system would be about $45,000 per year. With user fees contributing about $8,000 a year, the annual deficit would be about $37,000, half of which the MTO would cover. If the remainder were to be add- ed to tax rolls, it would end up about $1.15' per capita, said Brown, but again said most sys- tems are funded by service club fund raising events. "I think we're putting the cart be- fore the horse," said Zurich reeve Bob Fisher. "Why don't we have the service clubs here now?" Fisher said he has heard Brown's presentation several times, as have other municipal representatives. "You don't have to convince us. You have to convince them [ser- vice clubs]," he said. Brown said what is needed now is a steering committee willing to take steps to find sources of fund- ing, and was hoping Monday's meeting would help find people for that committee. "When people have the freedom to move...they're healthier," said Brown. "Have you ever tried to live without your wheels for a month? It's depressing." Ron Walker, operator of Earl's Taxi said he had some interest in bidding on the contract for such a service, but he said some of the costs involved are steep. He sug- gested a round trip to London would cost about $55. "I doubt if this service could pay $55 to take someone to London. If you had six people on the bus then it could work," said Brown.^ Walker said after he quotes .n price of $75 to transfer a person from one senior's home to another in his own special transit van, he was told the ambulance service would do it "for free". However, he said the actual cost to the tax- payer for the "free" trip was about $300. If a seniors mobility service were to start in South Huron, Walker Grand Bend `bypass', community centres, on list Stephen dividing up Red Book grants across township CREDITON - in deciding how to spend the nearly half -million dol- lars allocated to Stephen Township under the joint infrastructure pro- gram, council chose to distribute the funds equally to township pro- grams. Council passed the resolution to adopt administrator Larry Brown's plans to allocate the funds at its March 1 meeting. Of the $460,631 that can be spent in the township over the next two years, Stephen will contribute one third, the prov- ince one third, and the federal gov- ernment one third. The program stipulates that the funds must be spent on job -creating "infrastructure" projects, such as the construction of hard services or public buildings. Council agreed that up to $5,000 of the provincial/federal money be allocated to each of Stephen's three community centres, provided the remaining third comes out of each centre's budget. Another $45,000 is being allocat- ed to the Stephen Township Arena. Reeve Tom Tomes said the town- ship won't be contributing the matching $22,500 for the grant. it will have to be raised by the arena or service groupii: "hey have two years to do it," said Tomes. Another portion of the funds will go to the upgrading of Gore Road between the Township's "B" Line, near the Huron Country Playhouse, and Highway 83. This paving will effectively create a bypass of the villge of Grand Bend, linking High- ways 83 and 81. The police villages will also get their share of the infrastructure grant. Tomes said he is aware of plans being considered by the trus- tees of Dashwood, Crediton and Centralia to install new storm sew- er lines in each community. Because half of Dashwood lies in Hay Township, that project may have to be a cooperative effort, but Centralia's plan is a continuation of a storm sewer system started a few years ago. As of yet, Crediton has no drain- age petition to get the ball rolling, but Tomes said that will be left up to the trustees, Bill Wilds and Ted Wales. Tomes said the large size of Ste- phen Township, and the fact it has no central focus led council to di- vide up the infrastructure grants fairly to benefit all residents. "Our township is so spread out, you just can't spend it in one place," he said. Soccer club seeks Lucan field LUCAN - Council will be con- sidering a request from the Lucan Minor Soccer Association to estab- lish soccer fields on village proper- ty adjacent to Bidduiph Central School. At the March 15 council meet- ing, soccer club spokesman Bill Pettypiece outlined a proposal in which the club would use 10 acres of the farm owned by the village on which the sewage treatment plant is located. The proposal is for two full size fields of 80 by 120 yards and four mini -fields of 40 by 55 yards in di- mension. Pettypiece said he would be c (acting the Middlesex Board of&- ucatlod offering the use of the fields for students for soccer and possibly a running track around the outside in return for parking privileges at Biddulph Central School and possible lawn cutting during the school year. The soccer' club spokesman said the 230 youpgaters in the soccer program need 'considerably more space than the current soccer fields behind the Lucan Arena can provide. At the moment there is only one full size field and' ohe smaller one only suitable for those under the age of' 12 years at the arena. said it would have to be run like a taxi service, not as a bus service. Brown said she agreed completely. Fisher asked if seniors in Zurich and St. Joseph would get the same priority for service if the transit op- eration was run out of Exeter. Brown assured him all residents in the transit area would be equally served, and that the key was good dispatching, and asking seniors to organize their activities for when the bus was available. "You do have to juggle appoint - menta for when the vehicle's avail- able," said Brown. Brown concluded the meeting by pointing out such a service did not represent "big bucks" when taking into account the number of lives it would touch. She said there are "all kinds" of special transit ve- hicles already in Huron County, funded to the tune of $250,000 a year by various ministries. How- ever, all are in the hands of private users and aren't available on de- mand to the general population. Ron Walker (centre) of Earl's Taxi in Exeter is interested in bidding on providing a subsidized special transit service in the South Huron area. He tells Peggy Langley of the Lambton Eld- erly lderly Outreach (left) and Grand Bend councillor Phil Maguire : (right) how the service would have to be available to all sen- iors and handicapped in the Grand Bend area, and fit in with : existing services. arm Lets You Invest in Your Neighbours Let'yiburindtfy rki r you and l nd a hand to our farming neigfurst the same time. The Clinton Community Credit Union FARM PLUS Plan has been specially designed to offer depositors the choice of terms of one to five years, with the same terms and conditions as Term Deposits. FARM PLUS Certificates are also RRSP eligible. FARM PLUS Deposits are pooled and lent out as FARM PLUS Loans or Mortgages, to assist your farming friends and neighbours in the community. Clinton Community CREDIT UNION 48 Ontario Street 118 Maln St. N. CLINTON 482-3487 EXETER 235-0640 "Where Members and Service are #1" SEAFORTH GOLF & COUNTRY CLUB WILL BE ACCEPTING MEMBERSHIPS FOR THE 1994 SEASON STARTING APRIL 1 MEMBERSHIP RATES 1PRE 107:1 FAMILY (HUSBAND. WIFE. CHILDREN 18 A Under, '875.00 '786.60 COUPLES (HUSBAND A wire, '615.25 '553.75 ADULT '419.75 '377.75 JUNIOR OR STUDENT '192.80 '178.00 10% off membership paid by April 10 J Save up to 50% PRO SHOP on shoes OPENS (and other acceasork� APRIL t Sale starts AprIl 4th 1 444. • R. R. #4, Seaforth, Ontario (519) 522-0985 4