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HomeMy WebLinkAboutTimes-Advocate, 1983-11-02, Page 1I. e" 9I1TY Lex ITVRI ›r r_,C1 Amp r ST1 / r H CD r ►-4 x 7-1 T.. z IY Y !E? ■t suuifflgs Phone 235-1964 Sales spark optimism at Aura Yachts Re.'fluut confidence in Audrey and Ralph Sprung are not unlike the chap who liked the electric shaver so well that he bought the company. The Kitchener -Waterloo pair enjoy sailing so much that they decided to buy a yacht firm, although that decision didn't have all the desired results as it actually put a huge damper on their sailing activities. The Sprungs purchased the assets of Hughes Columbia Inc. at Huron Park after it went into receivership for the second time in its history and are optimistic that they can not only turn the fortunes of A VIRTUE OUT OF NECESSITY — As Myla Lovell was already wearing a cast, she asked friend Susan Flynn to come as a nurse to the Hensall Public School party and open house. Exeter project still included in request The Canada Works grant requested by the Huron -Perth Separate School Board has been cut in half as the number of schools in the grant ap- plication has been cut from five to two. Superintendent of business and finance Jack Lane told the board at its October 24 meeting that he had hand - delivered the application to London that day. "it's a scaled down version. We thought it best to keep it smaller, then we'll he more likely to have a positive response," said Lane. The superintendent said the two schools needing the "most obvious" im- provements were chosen. They are Precious Blood separate school in Exeter and St. Joseph's separate school in Clinton. The grant applica- tion proposes a general pur- pose room with change rooms at both schools while at Precious Blood a library resource room is also proposed. The, other schools in the original Canada-Onario Employment Development 1 Fund (COED) were St. Boniface separate school in Zurich. Sacred, Heart separate school in Wingham and St. Ambrose separate school in Wingham. Lane said the new applica- tion is asking for $336,000 which is made up of $249,000 for labor and $117,000 for materials. The total project cost is $681,000 with the dif- ference being the board's cost for materials and other supplies. The superintendent said that he was told the process- ing of the application would take four to five weeks and he expects to hear from the Ministry of Employment and immigration by December 1. Director of education William Eckert said he had written a letter to the federal employment and immigra- tion minister John Roberts asking for political support while the application is being process. "Would you please help us to obtaiin the requested ap- plication approval and pro- ject funding?" asked Eckert in the letter. the firm around, but that they will also find time to enjoy their favourite sport of sailing. "We're very optimistic as to the future of the company," Audrey said this week as she and her husband and their employees get ready to show their yachts at an open house this Saturday and Sunday. Buoyed by nine orders and several more serious pro- spects from the recent Dockside show in Toronto, the former insurance firm owners are hoping to garner more sales at their open house and at several major U.S. and Canadian boat shows New bank system off to a good start The Bank of Montreal open- ed the new Commercial Banking Unit in Exeter last week and manager D.J. White reports that the'transi- tion went smoother than he thought it would. He said he was pleased that it didn't result in the massed confusion that some cohorts had expected. The Exeter CBU services Exeter and, through locally situated Account Managers, the surrounding communities of Hensall, Grand Bend, Goderich, Mitchell, Clinton, St. Marys, Lucan and Zurich. K.J. Summers, vice- president, Kitchener District, Central Division, Canadian Commercial Banking, said that the Exeter Commercial Banking Unit is one of 98 such centres, including 32 in On- tario, being set up by the Bank at strategic locations across Canada as part of a major realignment of its ser- vices for both business and in- dividual customers. White, formerly manager of Simcoe branch, will head a team of 50 Commercial bankers and support staff. The CBU's are being created under an organization concept that seeks to provide greater professionalism and improved service for both business and individual customers through increased specalization by Bank personnel. Summers said that under the new arrangements "neighbourhood" branches of the bank, as they now exist, will continue to provide teller and other day-to-day transac- tion services for businesses but will become specialized in meeting the banking needs of individual custorhers. The new Commercial Bank- ing Units, such as the one opened in Exeter, will for their part make available of- ficers trained specifically to deal with complex commer- cial credit matters and with specialized cash manage- ment services for business firms. The Exeter CBU will work in close co-operation with some nine branches of the Bank in liensall, Grand Bend, Goderich, Mitchell, Clinton, St. Marys, Lucan and Zurich. The new CBU's throughout the country will specialize in meeting the banking and financial services needs of in- dependent and mid-sized businesses and agricultural enterprises. "For day -to day transactions such as deposit of receipts," White said, "these customers will be able to deal with the local branch. "The CBU will come into play only on major occasions, such as the negotiating of commercial credit, the an- nual account review of when discussing adding a new ser- vice to 0, 'se already, used by , COWBOYS AND INDIANS A number of cowboys and Indians participated in Thursday's Hallowe'en party at Usborne Central School. Back, left, Colin Bowers and Jason McElrea. Front, Shown Simpson, Mark Foster and Brion Ellerington. i the customer. But even then, the customer will have the choice either of visiting his local Account Manager in the branch, or if he prefers, hav- ing his Account Manager come see him." White said various ways were examined by the Bank of meeting the differing needs of business and individual customers. One could have been to designate distinct "retail" and "commercial" branches and arbitrarily assign customers to one or the other for all their business. "While this might have been Please turn to page 3 at which they'll be displaying their products in January and February: Those recent orders have guaranteed the jobs of the 45 currently on staff at Aura HP Yachts Inc. and Audrey notes enthusiastically that if the present rate of acceptance PLAN OPEN HOUSE — Audrey and Ralph Sprung and employees of Aura Yachts Inc. plan an open house at their Huron Park plant this week to show the progress they've rr.ade since taking over the former Hughes Columbia facility. The former insurance firm owners are shown aboard one of the sleek yachts for which orders have been encouraging as they slowly rebuild customer and dealer confidence in the quality of their product. Ames continues,t einumber of staff could climb to 75 or 80 in the spring. The firm will unveil its new Aura 7.6 (25') this weekend and are optimistic at the response it will receive. It is described as "a good start boat" by company president Audrey. Just over 100 Colum - bias of that size were built originally and Ralph, who ad- ministers the technical end of the business, thinks it will be a winner. The two also explain that they are making moves to diversify the Huron Park plant to overcome the seasonal nature of building yachts. A control cab for overhead cranes is already nearing completion and Ralph is working on the feasibility of . display advertising pods for taxi cabs. Both those products came about due to interest from Vancouver firms and an order for a control cab has already been placed. It retails in the $30,000 range. "We'll look at anything to enable us to diversify," Ralph commented. However, their main in- terest is in yacht building and Serving South Huron, North Middlesex One Hundred and Eleventh Year the orders support Audrey's claim that the firm is slowly recapturing the acceptance of yachting enthusiasts and dealers. They've made strides in regaining the reputation for the quality of products pro- duced at the Huron Park plant and Audrey notes that their " iedicated and talented people" are responsible for that as it has become a total team effort to put quality back into the production. The objective is to build a quality product at a com- petitive price, and she ex- plains positively, "as soon as we convince the doubting Thomases, it will take off. In fact, itis starting to now," she quickly adds. The improvement in economic conditions is also a factor in their optimism, of course. The Sprungs, who commute daily either to their plant at Huron Park or the Oakville showroom, have severed ties with former owner Howard Hughes who had been on staff since they took over. Open house hours this • weekend are from 10:00 until 4:00 and factory tours will be .included. Iwo fi vocate & North L.imbton Since 1873 EXETER, ONTARIO, November 2, 1983 • Price Per Copy 50 Cents BAZAAR CRAFTS — Jan Van Wieren and Leda DeVries display some of the crafts'on sale at Saturday's bazaar sponsored by the Christian Reformed Church Women. • Hearing set over disposal on waste A hearing to decide on the appeal of C.H. Lewis Ltd. of Lucan on a landfill site cer- tificate was tentatively ad journed Tuesday to November 8. Cecil Lewis is appealing a ministry of environment deci- sion to limit his certificate of approval to serving the com- munities of Lucan, Parkhill and the township of Biddulph. Neighbours adjacent to the landfill site on Concession 3 of Biddulph township, northeast of Lucan have been complain- ing of pollution to the Ausable river and their water systems which they claim come from the dump site. Lewis said he has been operating under his present certificate since 1971 and as far as he is concerned there are no.restrictions. At a hearing two weeks earlier, the ministry said the landfill site was not polluting the river with the only pollu- tion coming from weed spray. At the same time, ministry officials testifed that wells on the Peter Nippa farm were being contaminated by ground water on the Nippa property. At the most recent hearing Peter Nippa said when look- ing for a piece of property back in 1963 he chose a spot in Biddulph township because he was drawn by a beautiful river valley and the quietness of the area. Twenty years later, that same spot has become "a hor- ror story especially for my wife," because of the C.H. Lewis (Lucan) Ltd. landfill site next door, Nippa said. Besides the physical discomforts of living next door to a landfill site, there is also a "psychological ten- sion," he said. "We get up in the morning and we look at garbage. When we worked the fields, we are reminded of the garbage...if there's a south wind, we can't sit outside and enjoy a coffee with visitors. It would take days to describe the terror of living next to a landfill site." When Nippa and his wife Please turn to page 2 Drinking drlv�r, booze titieves hooded jai/ terms by Judge Three men were given jail sentences when they ap- peared before Judge W.G. Cochrane in Exeter court, Tuesday. George Melvin Shiels, Hen- sall, was sentenced to three months after pleading guilty to a charge of driving with an alcohol blood content over the legal limit. It was his third offence and Judge Cochrane noted he had no alternative but to assess the jail term. Shiels was previously convicted on drinking -driving charges in January of 1980 and March of 1983. The latest charge was laid on May 20 in Exeter and a breathalizer test gave a reading of 190 mgs. Bruce and Leonard Bressette, RR 2 Forest, were each sentenced to nine months in jail after pleading guilty to the May 15 break, enter and theft at the LCBO store in Zurich. The court learned the two men broke a window in the store and carted away a quan- tity of liquor. A witness, who saw the pair, supplied police with a licence number of a vehicle which resulted in the arrest of the two men. Fernand Labreche, RR 1 Zurich, was fined $500 or 25 days after his wife entered a guilty plea on his behalf on a charge of driving with a blood alcohol content over the legal limit. The charge was laid on September 9 after the accus- ed was involved in a single vehicle collision. A breathalizer test gave a reading of 160 mgs. He was given six months in which to pay the penalty. Fines of $300 or 10 days were levied against two other drivers who pleaded guilty to A FIRST SLIDE -- Janice Evans, RR 3 Exeter, tries her first slide on the beach at Grand Bend Sunday afternoon. The 19 month old youngster gets some help from her father Karl. PIan $8 to °10 million expansion at resort An $8 -million to $10 -million pretreatment addition to the Lake Huron water treatment plant north of Grand Bend could start next year, pro- viding there are no major hit- ches, environment ministry officials said Friday. When the new system comes on line, the average household should feel a cost increase of about three per- cent, they said Plant superintendent Bill Sturdevant said he didn't ex- pect the proposal to go to con- tract before next year. Besides London, other con munities buying treated water from the system are Ailsa Craig, Grand Bend, Parkhill and the townships of Bosanquet, East and West Williams, London, McGillivray and Stephen. Dick Brown, the ministry's London-based regional utilities manager, said by building the pretreatment plant rather than a conven- tional facility, the ministry plans to save 82 million. The purpose of the new sedimentation facilities is to provide pretreatment so that the capacity of existing filters will meet increasing water demands for the next 20 years. W.L.C. Knowles, vice- president of Maclaren Engineers Inc. of London, which has produced an infor- mation paper on the project, explained that filtration rates can be reduced by turbidity or high algae levels in the lake water to about the current maximum demnand. Current maximum demand is about 168 million litres (37 million gallons) daily but it can be jumped to around 181 million litres (40 million gallons) if necessary. Knowles said the system has never been stopped but it has been restricted. The addi- tion will aid in the physical separation of particles in the water, he said. driving with blood alcohol contents over the legal limit. John C. Knip, Hensall, was charged on June 11 after be- ing stopped for erratic driv- ing. A breathalizer test gave a reading of 150 rags, He was given 15 daysn which to pay. Douglas P. Ducharme, RR 2 Zurich, was charged on May 14 and a breathalizer test gave a reading of 190 mgs. He was given 30 days in which to pay the fine, In the only other case on Tuesday's docket, Thomas G. Proceed on subdivisions Exeter PUC manager Hugh Davis presented his projected operational and capital budgets to the commissioners at their regular October meeting. As Len Veri and Jack Taylor have indicated they will be proceeding with their respective subdivisons, these costs have been includ- ed in the 1984 capital budget forecast. The total cost for transformers and the underground distribution system for Veri's nine lots will be approximately $13,000. Veri will pay 84,000, and the rest is in the PUC's budget. In addition, the developer is responsible for the 85,420 cost of street lighting.. The total east of servicing 21 proposed lots in the Taylor subdivision will be over 829,000, based on the assump- tion all will be single family dwellings. Taylor is consider- ing four-plexes, and will have to let the commission know when a final decision is made, as this would mean reposi- tioning some street lights, and changing transformers and secondary runs. Taylor's estimated share would be over 810,000. and net cost to the PLIC more than $18,000. Taylor would also pay over 816,000 for street lighting. The utility would eventual- ly recover its costs through the sale of electricity to the new customers. A total of $126,908 is forecast for the 19114 gross capital budget. Davis said 1983 has been a busy • and expensive - year. Betterments on Waterloo, William and Thomas Streets, though not in the budget, had to be done. "We had a lot of service changes this year, averaging one every two weeks, i've never seen anything like it", he remarked. Davis ettpects the opera- tional met will end up about $6,000 below the $196,989 approved for 1983, and predicts an increase of $6,000 for 1984. Please turn to page 3 Cyr, Zurich was fined $50 or two days after being con- victed on a charge of cruelty to an animal. The court heard witnesses testify that Cyt was.amorlg30 people at a pd.rtty abd-that'the accused picked up a `yots- cat and threw it. Someone poured beer over the injured animal before Cyr threw it again. The animal was not seen after that. Cyr told the court that the animal had scratched him. Judge Cochrane, noting evidence that the cat was tossed a considerable distance, suggested the ac- cused had over -reacted and said it was distressing to hear of such incidents. Cyr was given 30 days in which to pay the fine. Larry Stuck New clerk for Usborne is appointed The new clerk -treasurer for the township of Usborne Is Larry Stuck of Harrow. Stuck will take over the position on January 1, 1963 from Harry Strang who held a number of posts in the township for 37 years. The new clerk was an auditor with the Ontario Ministry of Transportation and Communications for eight years, clerk -treasurer of Thornbury for four years and clerk -administrator in Col- chester South until recently. He and his wife Dianne, a native of Owen Sound have taken up temporary residence in Huron Park. An ardent golfer, curler and recreation hockey player Stuck says he is looking for- ward to his new position and participation in a number of sports in the area. Sandy Strang who has been Osborne deputy clerk - treasurer for the past two years will continue in that position.