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HomeMy WebLinkAboutTimes Advocate, 1997-10-22, Page 31Page 30 Times -Advocate, October 22, 1997 COMMU ITY Grand Bend all candidates meeting held: Now it's up to the voters By.Chantall Van Raay TA Reporter GRAND BEND - Grand Bend • held its all candidates meeting on Friday representing five of the six candidates running for a seat. as councillor. incumbents Shirley Andraza, Phil Maguire and Bob Mann as well as • Susan Roche and Brian Knights were present- to inform the public about how they will try to better Grand Bend through a term on Grand Bend Council. Mick Rap- aport was not present. The - first speaker of the evening was Susan Roche who is seek- ing' her first term on council. Roche was born and raised. in Grand Bend, and has been a co-owner and operator of Finnegan's Restaurant & Pub for 14 years. She has been a member of the Grand Bend Chamber of Com- merce for 14 years, co-founder and vice -chair of the 1985-88 Grand Bend Winter Carnival, coordinator of •the 1985-88 Grand Bend slow ..pitch, -coordinator of the 1988-96 _Stars of Tomorrow Children's Tal- ent Show. Roche was also a co- ordinator of the Winter Waiters' lifestyle for ' "Continue to work. Grand Bend as an ap- Race from 1988-96, co-founder and residents of all hard towards the- pealing family community vice -chair of the Grand Bend Sum- ages and con- to live in. mer Fest from 1989-91 and was a tinue to work development of The fourth candidate committee member of the Main . towards a . - Main Street by that approached the po- Street Task Force from 1995-96. beach -enhance- encouraging a more dwm was incumbent Roche's motto is "We all have to ment program. councillor . Phil Maguire keep paddling because we're all in Andraza is diversified business seeking a second term as the same boat," and believes it is also - en- sector." councillor • for . Grand important to be a team -player and thusiastic about Andraza Bend. Maguire's mu- • finding solutions to concerns. She the 2001 Can- nicipal involvement is Knights believes casinos will - also addressed the 2001 Canada ada Summer Games and promised . vast including positions as acting have a positive impact on Grand ummer-Games-saying--Let's--strut---she—will-continue-to-reduce--the-ne- deputy-mayor,_-director_oL ___13e_ntLIty. bringing casinos into .r similar to existing bingo halls, local promoting what is in your best in - charities would benefit and more terests." people would be attracted to the vil- The third speaker on the ballot lage. was Brain- Knights who came to The next candidate that spoke at Grand Bend from Windsor, On - the meeting was incumbent coun- tario in 1995, but frequented Grand cillor Shirley•Andraza. Andraza has Bend as a -child with his family. He owned property. in Grand Bend• has owned property in Grand Bend since 1959 and believes "Grand Bend is a great place to live and a super place to raise a family." harbor front improvement. He said Knights said _ through a united effort, he- is a team- "Grand Bend is a these -aspects were made since 1983 and has been actively in- volved with a number of clubs, as- sociations and committees. She has owned and operated Crescent Street Cafe with her husband Harold for the past nine years. Her past in- volvements include a position as a bookkeeper for UAW -CIO "We all have to in Kitchener, and executive keep paddling be- secretary for the vice pres- ident of manufacturing; B.F. cause we're all in Goodrich. She is also a for - the same boat." mer member of the National Roche Secretaries Association and a president of St. Jerome's High School PTA. Andraza has been an active member_ of the Grand Bend Rotary Club and Na- ture Trail Committee, the Harbour Committee and the Public Works Committee. If re-elected, Andraza• said she will "continue to work hard towards the development of MainStreet by _encouraging a . more . diversified business sector." She also promised to promote all efforts which would enhance the, gether towards these things. Many of our problems are behind us. The future looks bright for Grand Bend," he said. Maguire elaborated on a number of the• accomplishments Grand Bend has experienced during the past three years, including issues of parking, sewer. expansion, Hwy 21 enhancement, . amalgamation and player and great place to live •possible. promised as a The final candidate at the council mem- and a super place t0 meeting : was incumbent ber he would raise a family." councillor Robert Mann. openly ask for Knights. He said; "We need to make input from res •Grand. Bend a place for. - ..idents on ways to improve the qual- permanent residential develop- ity of life in Grand Bend. He be- ment," working on the tourist mar- lieves it is very important to ket. and making the beach area cooperate with other members of more attractive for tourists. council to make this a possibility. Mann said the 2001 Games is Knights is a co-owner of Around one of the best leads to economic the Bend- Home Services Ltd. with growth for Grand Bend. his wife Patricia -and has had 18 - years experience in human -re- source: management, He has also served one two-year term as coun- cillor in the Town of Godench. - He has many objectives on his agenda including amalgamation and the 2001 Summer Games, as well as the enhancement of the beach and supporting • Bend is not yet on a list of getting a casino, this does. not mean there's no.hope in getting one. He believes it is imperative to get information out to the public on what a casino means to Grand Bend first before any decision is made. • "Unfortunately we have to vote and • we don't have enough in- formation for -you," he said. .• . Another question posed to can-. didates. Knights and Mann was' "What kind of improvements - do you see tak- ing place on the harbor front?" - Knights re- sponse was that he is not core= pletely aware of . what has hap- pened in the past - with the harbor front, and. felt he' could not answer that question; - Mann said improvements are ••Mann discussed 19 different con- '- needed by the Harbor Front Com- ceptual drawings by students from mittee. He said some of the im- •Fanshawe college on how to en- provements that need. to he made hance the -beach area and make-it.a_ include the docks; washroom feed - more attractive place for tourists. ities and the development of a full saying they were "creative and . marinaharbor which could never be' imaginative strategies-"- fully achieved by_ the village, alone He said he intends to work to- because of the large dollar figure at - wards financial stability and in- tached. • . • tends to "get busy looking to neigh= -- A question was asked regarding - hors for amalgamation. • - beach enhancement. This - one was After each three- :«• addressed to Maguire and minute introduction, .The future . Mann.• residents were given: lo_ oks bright Maguire said through the the opportunity - to for Grand Fanshawe project that took ask questions; The . • „ place, where students - de first question -was . Bend signed different plans. (or the addressed to Maguire. enhancement of the beach. hopefully a plan will -.be de - Mann; Andraza and Maguire. Maguire said the tournament would be almost identical to the La- batt Tournament and doesn't see a problem at all. . • "When I look into my crystal ball . 1 believe Grand -Bend will own that beach in 2001." Mann said he isn't looking into a . crystal ball but said that . by the 2001 Games the issue of the beach will be settled. "We have a very good. "We need to make relationship with Mr. Gibbs," Ire said adding, . • -Grand Bend a. "My estimate would lead place for perma- me to believe that before nent residential. 2001 when the Games are • development." undercway,.ibe he settled." tle of the Mann Andraza believes Grand Bend has one of the best beach conditions in Ontario in re- gards to sand. A question in regards to the safe- ty of seados was asked of all can- didates. . • • Andraza said this issue seems to be an ongoing one and said council is trying .to control problems such • as excessive speed, as much as they . can. Knights said, "Council needs to take an aggressive stand or some- one's going to get hurt." Mann agreed. "We don't want to wait until someone gets hurt," he said. "The problem of water craft- is a problem all over Ontario and it's a very serious issue." He said there should be measures • put into place like licensing and training, and they should be regu- dat- Maguire ed, said there should be con- trolled areas; "They are motor vehicles and they . need to come. under regu- een as excellent and are. being Wiens:" he said. looked at as possibilities. Roche believes they need to' look Mann suggested different solu- at another beach resort and see how Knights and Ma- guire on their stance on casinos., . tided. While some are not as prac- tical as others, either due to cost or efficiency; • about 10 plans - were our stuff. When the Games are all cessity of tax increases at the mu-_ water Recycling Association and a said and done we'll he left with a nicipal level by balancing budgets. member of the Tri -Municipal Com - feeling of what a fantastic beach re- Furthermore, Andraza said she will , mittee, - Chamber of Commerce;. sort and a fine place we live in closely monitor the new tax assess- Public Works Committee.. Finance. she said. • ment and property tart reform and Committee, Main Street Enhance* Roche also addressed the issue of work with neighboring municipal-, ment and a member -of 'the 200t restructuring, saying Grand Bend ities to reduce the pollution of war- Games Committee. He has also ha council needs to take an active role tercourses. 20 years experience on munici in restructuring co-operatively. Ca- "Afnalgamation has been put on councils. - - sinos could be a positive develop- hold until after the election," said "I am- optimistic about the fu- ment for Grand Bend. She said in a . Andraza, -"but the inevitability is, ture," said Maguire. "You need to govermbent controlled operation - it's going to happen and we will be - elect a council that can work _to - Highway would become County Road under new system .HURON COUNTY -_ A road study by Huron County by con - suiting firm CSL Infrastructure Management Inc. says that.until the political will exists. the road sys- • tem :hook' continue to he. Con- . trolled by both the county and local municipalities. - . But Hans Muntz' of CSL says there are other options • which would save -money if local :poi- ' aicians pol- wcrans want them. ' If all roads Were looked atter by lower tier governments, the cost wcittld be S19.7 million. by the county. $18.3 million and a vatized system would• cost 'about S17 million. The current .system ousts" $'(t 8 million' to run each year T'hr municipalities of McKillop, Morris. Wingham and Turnberry did not participate in the study. but Muntz said he assumed they would be -.typical and extrapolated the numbers- to' include those mu- nicipalities. Muntz said that despite the po- tential savings in establishing one - 'tier governance. the - issue of own= ership and the will of the people- and eopleand the governors is important. He used an example to show that local control could be cheaper. When Muntz-was out conducting his study he told a reeve in the county if a major road. problem oc- curred in his. municipality on a weekend. he would likely wait un= til Monday • before calling out a crew to fix it. as that would save en overtime costs. But if that road was All aboard the subway train &° .rata. .'s; 31MIlAt IIINA.;...4;gio„. wfe • e 4 Is It lunch thne yet? Subway has opened its doors to the public, and boy, is the public happy about that. Owner Eric Heinrich and Lisa Askin serve the many customers waiting in line on October 16, the day after the restaurant opened. • a county road, Muntz claimed the reeve would. likely call the county. and expect that crew to arrive, along with overtime pay. that weekend to fix the problem. • • For that reason and the fact that+ • he considers the cost of governance 'tor the roads to he within reason, despite the trwo tiers. Muntz rec- ommended that the governance of the road system continue to be two- tier, "as long -as it is supported in . pnnciple". - - "It's not a simple solution to get one big happy system;" he.said. - . But %trues other recommenda- tions were more controversial: If the political will existed. he said or- ganizational • rganizational• savings could be achieved with a single. upper tier. administration. He suggested better co-ordinated management of road traffic could eliminate the need for some maintenance and paving on other roads. As well. he said those who benefit from better road ser- vice, such as businesses. could be charged a fee on their assessment for the road repairs and upgrading, like they can be now for water, sew- er and drain repairs. - Muntz also proposed a new cor- poration as a partnership between the public and private sectors, with a board set up with 51 per cent pub - community, hit only if it's done properly. He said he would like to first address .'some issues before tions to. beach .enhancement. in- they handle this issue. taking a. stand on casinos such as eluding rebuilding the beach house. • After the .question period, sum - the issue of crime.. building' a picnic area and• wheel- mations were given by each of the "I can't -give you a yes at this chair accessibility at the beach. He candidates. Advance polls will be time because• being from Windsor said there are a range of ideas, but Meld Orr October 25 from 10, a.m. to I've pot friends I'm going to be they need,to get theist costed before 4 p:m. and.Saturday, November 1 tang •to -to see how casinos are ' anything.is done. ' .. • from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. at the Grand doing and to see if there has been A question regarding beach vol-: Bend Municipal Office. Election. any increase in crime." he said. , leyball: for the 2001 games and how Day is November 10 from 10 a:m. - Maguire said that while Grand that effects the beach was asked of to 8 p.m. at the Legion Hall. Blyth Festival spins Charlotte's Web • BLYTH Cltru•iorir'-c Web. -a - :classic children, story about a spi- der 'and a pig.- will he presented at Blyth Memorial Hall Saturday. Oc- tober 25 at I and p.rn. It tellow•s in the tradition of •;,thcr recent Bluth Festival children•: bus like Peter and the Wolf in 1994. Let Do Munsch • in 19)95 .ind New tic control. That • corporation could .operate on the open market,. so it could bid for private contracts, such as for snow plowing of mall parking lots. If the, system remains the same, Muntz said there are savings to be found in areas such as grader own- ership. H,e sait; Huron County has one of the highest grader densities of any- where in the province. "You're sitting on a little time bomb with the graders sitting in the yard. You think they're not costing anything, but you have main- tenance, storage and workers," Several councillors disagreed, in- cluding Coun. Leona Armstrong of Grey Township who called work- ing with fewer graders, "mind- boggling", especially during the winter when the machines are needed to scarify icy roads. Friends, Old Friends last year. These preducttuns have played u, more than 1.1.1100. students. teach- ers.. and each-ers..and parents. - • - - . Charlotte's Web will itlso play to school groups. ages Kindergarten - to Grade 6. trom Monday.u, Friday. October 21 to 25 and October •27 to 31' with- two one-hour performances per day at 10:15 a.m. and 1:30 pm. Teachers' classroom guide's will be :, provided. School .groups may he booked at a cost of $4 per student by calling the Blyth Festival Box Office at (519) 523.-9300. Tickets .for the two public. performances on - October '25are also :available through the Box Office for $4 each Usborne Central School chose their Student Council executive recently. Shown left to .right, Jordan Gardiner, president; Jennifer Hern, treasurer; Jacquelyn Skinner, secretary; Steven Veal, vice-president. Clarification A photo caption on page 9 of our October 8 edition about Joanne Meta's third annual Country Craft Show stated incorrectly that all of the proceeds went to raise money for the community. Exhibitors who were Tess then an hour's drive from Kirkton displayed their own crea- tions. The Times -Advocate regrets any confusion this item may have caused. TOWNSHIP OF HAY NOTICE TO MUNICIPAL ELECTORS ALL CANDIDATES MEETING An opportunity to meet the candidates for the offices of • REEVE, COUNCILLORS AND ENGLISH PUBLIC SCHOOL BOARD TRUSTEE Thursday, October 30, 1997 at 7:30 p.m. at the Hay Township Hall Victoria Street, Zurich