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HomeMy WebLinkAboutTimes Advocate, 1999-12-15, Page 13Wednesday, oeceayber: 15,1999 Exeter'TitYies-+AdiroCab 13 eter Police By Craig Bradford TIMES -ADVOCATE E STAFF EXETER — Finally, some possible good news for truckers. At last week's meeting, the Exeter Police Services Board discussed the pos- sibility of establishing designated parking zones in town for transport truck owners. The board also called for the hiring of a bylaw enforcement officer for the Town of South Huron when Exeter, Stephen and Usborne amalgamate in 2001. There have been recent complaints about trucks parked on Exeter streets, notably by the Exeter Lions Youth Centre on John St. Mayor Ben Hoogenboom said truckers have told him they don't want to leave their rigs and trailers too far away from their homes because of the $150,000 they've invested in the truck and the sometimes sizable worth of the payload. There is a town bylaw prohibiting trac- tor trailers from parking on streets and the board asked London OPP detachment commander Karen Moffatt for help enforcing the bylaw in problem situa- tions. Board member Jetry Downie brought up the bylaw officer option for enforcing oard trucker -friendly? the no truck bylaw and Hoogenboom said the issue will be looked at as South Huron merges. Hoogenboom said handing out $20 tick- ets to offenders may not do much because some truckers he has talked to say they'd simply pay the fine to be able to park their trucks near their homes. "It's the cost of doing business," board chairperson Dan Meidinger mused. Moffatt suggested setting up designated parking zones for truckers through co- operation from the interested parties. A possible site could be near Nabisco. Moffatt said once a designated site is set up, truckers choosing not to use the site would be fined. "If you don't want to be a member of the club you are subject to the bylaw," she said. Other notes from the meeting: Y2K ready Moffatt outlined London OPP's plan for battling any problems linked to the Y2K bug and the turning of the millennium. All of London OPP's detachments including Exeter and Lucan will have full officer contingents from Dec. 31 at 8 p.m. to Jan. 1 at 8 p.m. The Exeter and Lucan detachments will be open for walk-in traffic and there will be attendants taking phone calls. Also, one of the London OPP's two media relations officers will always be on 'duty throughout Dec. 31 and Jan. 1 to help keep the public up -to- date with any Y2K fallout. Downie said he will contact Exeter OPP Const. Liam Brennan about having Exeter COPs (Citizens On Patrol) out in force on New Year's Eve to provide the OPP with extra sets of eyes. Moffatt said big problems aren't antici- pated but officers will be ready for any - Myworry is the pranksters out there," Moffatt said. Perhaps the OPP's biggest role over Y2K is to help debunk any confusion that may occur after midnight on New Year's Eve. One example she used was power outages due to a car hitting a hydro pole may be an assumed Y2K problem. Fake busting The board found out from Moffatt the OPP can't arrest people selling counter- feit clothing because the behaviour isn't covered by the Criminal Code. The board was discussing the issue in connection with Exeter businessman Tom Hartai's appearance in front of Exeter council last Monday night. Hartai, the owner of Thomas H. Fine Menswear, told council someone sold fake Tommy Hilfiger and Nike clothing from their garage recently and a now defunct Main St. business did the same thing last April. Hartai wanted to know if the town had some type of bylaw .to police illegal sales and the board in turn wanted to know if the OPP could do anything. Moffattsaid counterfeit clothing falls under RCMP jurisdiction but the OPP could gather evidence for the RCMP and help out in an investigation. Hoogenboom said the town can enforce its venders permit bylaw but it isn't up to the town to police what's being sold. Moffatt said it's important for those concerned about counterfeit merchan- dise to call the OPP about rumoured sales so they can attend the sales to gather evi- dence. Downie pointed out jotting down the licence plate number: of suspected vehicles transporting counterfeit mer- chandise would help the OPP. Moffatt said she'll look into what else the OPP may be able to do. New boss Long-time board member Jerry Downie was appointed the board chairperson for 2000. Committee wants water tower painted By Kate Monk TIMES -ADVOCATE STAFF HENSALL — The Hensall Economic Development Committee (HEDC) wants the village's water tower paint- ed. In a letter to the •Hensall PUC, HEDC stated the tower is a highly visible landmark and detracts from the 'efforts to =1 61 I4 risall'kn. Attractive place to live and visit. The committee "respectively requests" the PUC com- plete the required water tower inspection and upon a satisfactory report, begin the action needed to paint the tower. The PUC replied to the HEDC letter stating the PUC wouldn't take any action on the tower until "a number of decisions" were made between the PUC commission and council. At Monday night's council meeting, Reeve Cecil Pepper said the decisions referred to in the letter concern whether water rates or taxation would pay for the repairs and the water stor- age issue in general. Upon receiving the PUC letter, HEDC sent a letter' to council asking council and the PUC to meet to discuss the status of the water tower and . the painting project and to develop a plan of action for future water storage facilities for the village. The village has an option on the pur- chase of a piece of land .if it wants to build a new tower. Coun. Greg Dayman said there is no demand for a new tower but if repairs to the exist- ing tower would be too expensive, a new tower would be a better option. Pepper said the water supply report completed last year states more water storage is needed for the existing pop- ulation, let alone capacity for growth. Dayman replied the people who run the water system say the village does- n't need additional storage and he believes them rather than the consul- tant. onsultant. Council passed a motion to invite the PUC and HEDC to -the Jan. 10 council meeting to discuss the water tower and future water storage facilities. The tower was last inspected in 1995 it'd a new inspection is needed to estimate the costs of repairing the structure. Double time for working New Year's Eve What started as a way to entice part- time Hensall-arena employees to work on New Year's Eve was extended to the village's full time staff. Facility manager Tom Dickins appeared before council Monday night to explain the recreation committee's recommendation to pay arena work- ers double time for working 9 p.m. Dec. 31 to 4 a.m. Jan. 1. Hensall Minor Hockey has rented the facility for a dance and Dickins was having difficulty finding staff to work. Two staff would be needed = one to work and one to be on-call — but Dickins said it would be better to have two staff at the facility rather than having one wait at home for a call. Council agreed with the recommen- dation for this New Year's Eve only. Acting Public Works Supervisor Derek Robinson asked council if he would be paid double time if he had to work in the event of a storm during the same time period. After considerable discussion, a motion passed to extend the double time pay to all full time staff on an on call, as needed, emergency basis for the 9 p.m. - 4 a.m. time period this New Year's Eve only. 10 years of milk ponce BRIEFS Woman charged in Sept: 5 fa crash HAY TWP. -- A 22 -year-old Bayfield woman is charged In connection with a Sept. 5 accident that took the life of a 19 -year-old man. London OPP Const. Doug Graham said Shelley Reder is charged with impaired driving causing death and drive with over 80 mgs. She will appear in Goderich court on Jan. 27. Jamie Hayter of Stanley Township near Varna died after the car Reder was driving westbound on the Hay -Stanley Townline just east of Hwy. 21, 15 km north of Grand Bend, left the road.. and struck a tree. Hayter was a passenger in. the Pontiac Surefire and the impact was to his side of the car. Rader was taken to South Huron Hospital for treatment of non -life threat- ening injuries. The OPP finished its investigation after final reports from Toronto's Centre of Forensic Sciences came in. Pepper has sent a letter to Hensall Public School, on behalf of council, to commend the school for offering fresh milk to students for the past 10 years. The Elementary School Milk Program of the Dairy Farmers of Ontario has the objective of giving elementary stu- dents the opportunity to have fresh cold milk at lunch at school every day. Avon Maitland hears barrage of complaints at meeting. By Stew Slater SPECIAL TO THE TIMES -ADVO- CATE. The Avon Maitland District School Board, along with various staff members and trustees, have faced a wide range of accusations in recent weeks, since the release of a list of Huron and Perth County schools to be studied for possible closure. Accusations came via delegations at two public meetings Dec. 7 and 8, as well as various other sources, including letters to area newspapers and documents sent to the board (and the media) by community groups fight- ing to save schools. Some have been per- sonal. In a delegation Dec. 7, Seaforth District High School (SDHS) alumnus Karen Campbell -Taylor inspired hearty applause when she charged, "(Avon Maitland education direc- tor Lorne) Rachlis once said to me, 'I could be gone tomorrow (instead of dealing with the diffi- cult issue of closure)'. And you know what? He probably will, once the damage is done." The next night, a stu- dent from Seaforth told trustees that the "L' ini- tial for the directors first. name stood for "Lorne," and not "Lord." And in a letter drawn up by a Stratford legal firm, a community group demands the majority of the board's trustees abstain from voting on motions related to Seaforth. "The following trustees, having shown substantial bias toward the Seaforth School District, (should) be permanently barred from voting on any motion affecting any (Seaforth-area) schools: Brillinger, Allan, Ford, Laprade, Anderson, Schenk, Tuyten," requests the letter, sent on behalf of the SDHS Student Success Fund. (Aside from those seven trustees, there are only two others.) Other criticism dealt with the board's process for public involvement in the closure issue. Seaforth mayor Dave Scott blasted the board for not commissioning a community study into school accommodations in the Seaforth area despite asking for similar studies in four other regions. But Randy Wagler, chair of an Exeter -area community group, sug- gested those studies were pointless anyway, claim- ing laiming the board ignored his group's contributions. And Charles Smith, president of the SDHS Student Success Fund, criticized the board for scheduling its mandatory two-month public input process over the. busy holiday season, Karen Windsor, chair of the McCurdy Public School Council, prefaced her presentation with a complaint about the fact Rachlis was in charge of timing each delegation. "I think he should be giving his full attention to such a serious issue," Windsor said. Later, Windsor complained to the media that Rachlis had been reading 'during her presentation. Trustee Bob Allan, act- ing chair for the Dec. 8 meeting, responded he was happy with the tim- ing arrangement. However, Rachlis repeat- edly proved himself an inadequate timekeeper, especially when a speak- er concluded a presenta- tion in less than the allotted 10 minutes. Rachlis frequently for- got to reset the timer for the next speaker, with the alarm sounding only a short time into the next delegation. At those times, Rachlis's attention briefly shifted from the speaker to the timer, and it was obvious the time limit of the next delegation was inaccu- rate. But the most potentially damning accusations deal with board finances. Several delegations echoed the protest signs across the street from the board offices in Seaforth, calling for cuts to admin- istration in place of cuts to schools.