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HomeMy WebLinkAboutTimes Advocate, 1995-01-25, Page 4Times -Advocate, January 25, 1995 Page 3 Organizers receive mementoes Lucan reeve Tom McLaughlin presents village mementoes to Janice Bullock and Marla Wilson in recognition for their efforts in organizing the 1994 Santa Claus parade which proved to be very popular and successful. Developer wants village Official Plan changed What will be built at the end of Main Street is unknown? GRAND BEND - Ammendments to Grand Bend's Official Plan is be- ing met with some opposition from a familiar developer. Monday afternoon at its com- bined council -planning meeting, council listened for nearly an hour as planner Rick Draker, repre- senting the Devlon Group opposed the new official plan which is in the draft process. Devlon is the former owner of the Beachplace Condominiums and now owns the adjacent property which is now a parking lot. The parking lot property is what Devlon is now trying to develop. While what will actually go on the site at the end of Main Street is not yet known, proposed is both a residential and commercial build- ing. The Official Plan is not a site plan agreement but it will have a bearing on what Devlon group de- cides to put on the property. Issues touched upon by council and Drak- er on Monday were sewage capac- ity and the actual size of the struc- ture. "The concept of the Official Plan is its the vision of what you would like to see," said mayor Cam Ivey. When Beachplace was originally designed, it was planned to be in two phases with over a combined over 70 units. However, that limit was not reached as phase.two was never built therefore Devlon group, according to Draker, feel there is some capacity which could be car- ried over. "There Official Plan had some safeguards built in to it," said Grand Bend adminiEtrator Paul Turnbull. "There maybe a question of how many sewage units there are avail - Young offender charged with truck theft and Mt. Carmel break-ins Police are also investigating a break and enter at Exeter Tool and Rental EXETER - A young offender fac- es a charge of auto theft and two charges of hreak and enter after a Thursday night spree. The Exeter OPP say George Dobbs Motors in Exeter was broken into Thursday, resulting in a 1988 Ford Ranger pickup being stolen from the dealer's lot. • The truck is believed to have been used in a break and enter at the con- venience store in Mt. Carmel, and an attempted break-in at a nearby residence. Nothing was reported stolen during those hreak-ins, say police. The pickup was later recovered undamaged, and a young offender was charged after police investiga- tion. Police are also following up on a break and enter at Exeter Tool and Rental last Tuesday at 2:30 a.m. Two witnesses saw a brown Mercu- ry Marquis and three or four male suspects engaged in suspicious ac- tivity at the business and alerted po- lice. It is believed the suspects' ve- hicle headed south. "There is some indication the ve- hicle came from the London area," said OPP sergeant Terry Devine, adding that the London Police and the London OPP have been notified of the theft. Stolen in the break-in was a quantity of power tools, including chainsaws and cut-off saws. Police are also asking the public to be on the lookout for two cement lawn ornaments which went miss- ing from a Woodham area resi- dence last week. The ornaments, in the shape of fawns lying down, weigh about 110 kilos each. able for the parking lot (property)," said Ivey. He noted that council may not be dealing with Devlon when it comes to a site plan or development agree- ment. Currently there is a For Sale sign on the property but no one knows even what the village will allow to be built there. "There is no plan on the property, the concept is pretty vague," said Draker who admits the concept dates back at least 10 ygars. Lambton County planner Anne Marie Howard said she doesn't want past mistakes on beach front property to happen again. Through- out the entire building of the con- dos, council continually had prob- lems. "You (Draker) feel were trying to tighten up on some stuff that got away from us. By us, I mean the previous council," said Ivey. Speeding through Lucan more illusion than reality, say police • Although election issues included promises to slow down through traffic, police say radar checks show few real problems LUCAN - Staff 'Sergeant Bob Erskine of the Lucan OPP de- tachment told Lucan council last week that there would be no change in policing in the Lucan area, and speeding is not as big a problem as many think it is. "There are some changes coming up in the province, but they are mostly administrative and not phys- ical. The detachment will be stay- ing here and so will I," said Ers- kine. "There will be a change from 16 districts to nine regions. We are within the concept of community policing and we certainly won't be giving up our presence here." In answer to Gahlinger-Beaune's concern about speeding through Lucan, Eskine replied, " There may be a perception of speed, especially with large trucks making a lot of noise, but that's not true. We have set up radar surveys on various days and although we nabbed four speeders, we don't think this is a major concern." He continued, " I feel Lucan is fairly crime free. We have an of- ficer at all public events and this helps to keep things on an even keel." When Gahlinger-Beaune said she was concerned about safety in the area near the public school, Erskine said, " We haven't had a pedstrian hit in many years and only one fa- tality in the 10 years I have been here and that was during a severe snowstorm." Erskine assured council that if they or any resident has a problem or sees any suspect persons or ve- hicles "Please call us immediately and don't feel that anything is too trivial to report or you don't want to bother ua. That's what we are here for and we always have at least one officer in or very close to Lucan." Thank parade organizers During the meeting reeve Tom McLaughlin made a presentation of village paper weights to to Janice Bullock and Marla Wilson for their efforts in organizing the 1994 Lu - can Santa Claus parade. McLaughlin told the ladies, " This was our first parade in about 30 years and we certainly ap- preciate what you have done and hope this becomes an annual event. The reeve continued, "While these two were the main thrusts in organizing the parade many others helped in making the parade so successful, I should mention Joan Goddard and Ruth Frost for their help. And don't forget the many pa- rade entries that made it all hap- pen." Orientation seminar Councillor Gahiinger-Beaune re- ported to council on her attendance at a recent orientation seminar for new councillors. She said, " It was a dynamite program with excellent information." In saying an AMO official stressed the value of communica- Snow removal still concerns Grand Bend council GRAND BEND - The ad- ministration of Grand Bend will de- cide on how snow removal by the village staff will be carried out. Monday afternoon at its meeting, Sales pitch for Huron IPM on February 13 The Huron Plowmen's Association will make its bid for the 1999 International Plowing Match in Waterloo that day DASHWOOD - The Huron Plowmen's Association will be mak- ing its bid for the 1999 International Plowing Match on February 13. That day, the Association will be aiming to convince the gov- erning body for the International Plowing Match that Huron County is the best location for the '99 match. One argument being put forth is that 1999 also coincides with the 75th anniversary of the Huron Plowmen's Association. One possible site for the 1999 Match is near Dashwood. Another two sites are neat Brussels. The Plowing Match has the potential to draw about 130,000 visitors to one of the province's premier ag- ricultural events of the year. Exeter mayor Ben Hoogenboom, who attended an initial meeting about the plowing match bid in Clinton two weeks ago, said that if Huron is successful in its bid, a large number of volunteers for ap- proximately 30 sepal'ate committees will be needed to help organize the event four years away. "The reality is that it is four years away, but there is a lot of plan- ning to go into it before then," said Hoogenboom, adding that it would certainly be in the best interest of the South Huron area to not only support the Plowmen's Association bid, but also to promote Dashwood as a good site for the Match. council reexamined its policy when it comes to removing snow and ice from streets and sidewalks. Al- though a recommendation from its Public Services Committee asked for a 12 -hour removal period, this was not adopted. "In the past we have always been able to stay ahead of John Q. Pub- lic. In the past we have never had this much latitude," said ad- ministrator Paul Turnbull. The recommendation stated that the public works department would ensure sufficient help is on hand or called in to ensure streets and side- walks are cleared within the 12 - hour period from 6 a.m. to 6 p.m. Recently the village has come un- der fire from not only one of its own councillors, Bob Mann, but a group of petition signers who want- ed better snow removal. Monday, Mann suggested a by- law be put in place that would make the local business people re- sponsible for their own sidewalks. "Is there something in place that says we have to do the sidewalks of the commercial properties?," asked councillor Shirley Andraza. "There are municipalities that ' don't specifically do them," said mayor Cam Ivey. It was decided that Turnbull would take another look at the snow removal policy and possibly receive some input from the Cham- ber of Commerce. Traffic fatalities down in 1994 But the OPP's Number Six District says overall vehicle collisions were up MT. FOREST - Seventy five people died in 1994 on the roads covered by the police detachments in the OPP's Mt. Forest District Six. The District reports that the 75 fatalities in Huron, Bruce, Grey, Perth, and Wellington Counties, and provincial high- ways of Waterloo Region were the result of 57 fatal motor vehicle collisions. That number compares favourably to the 115 deaths from 95 accidents in 1993. Injuries from accidents, however, were on the increase in 1994, up to 3,029 people injured in 1,846 collisions, com- pared to 2,983 persons injured in 1,746 collisions the year before. The total number of collisions in 1994, including those not resulting in injuries, was up 5.8 percent, to a total of 7,289 investigated by the OPP. The involvement of alcohol proved to be a big factor in the fatal collisions. Even though' alcohol was involved in only 6.5 percent of all road accidents, it was a factor in 36.8 percent of fatalities. Thirty-two percent of the people killed were aged 16-25 years, say police. The fatalities were divided almost oaally between pro vincial highways (53 percent) and secondary paved or grav- el roads (47 percent). The five most significant contributing factors in fatalities, conclude police, arc alcohol, speeding in excess of the lim- it, driving too fast for road and weather conditions, failing to yield or driving to the left of centre, and not wearing seat belts (9.3 percent killed after ejection from their vehicles). Over the holiday season, police in the Number Six Dis- trict conducted nearly 70,000 RIDE program spot checks, issuing a total of 154 12 -hour license suspensions, and charging 52 drivers with impaired driving, driving over 80 mg of alcohol, or refusing to provide a breath sample. tion and the need to develop a mas- ter community plan, the Lucan councillor added, "We should de- velop a strategic plan and I'm will- ing to put together a public meeet- ing in the form of a one day work- shop. Let's get the feeling of the community enmasse.. Provincial funding is available for community plans." Councillor Brady agreed saying, " If you want to get it started, more power to you. I think this type of venture should include Biddulph township as we are in the midst of amalgamation talks with them.' Reeve McLaughlin said, " We have had strategic plan meetings in Lu - can at the county level." Gahlinger-Beaune continued, "It won't be a costly venture and could produce as much input as a con- sultant's survey." She has approval of council to get more information and costs involved in producing a village brochure which would out- line complete village information including businesses and services available to residents including ser- vice clubs, libraries, etc. Councillor Brady reported on a recent meeting regarding the imple- mentation of a 911 emergency sys- tem for the county of Middlesex. HL�aid, " It is well organized to date and an enhanced 911 system should be in effect by this time next year. They just have to straighten out how the answering service will be handled. Most of the street name changes have been approved. Here in Lucan there will be very little change. Main street numbers will remain as they are and Concession 4 within the vil- lage will then be known as Saints - bury road." Two local men launching Promise NCeepers.....� London LONDON - Two Exeter area men are bringing what they are calling the 'men's movement" to London. Called "Promise Keepers", the program is a Christian ministry aimed at fostering spiritual, moral, and ethical values, and building strong marriages and families, among its goals. Biblical values play a Targe part in the program. Randy Collins and Eugene Fox, both from the Exeter area, are the organizers of the London program, which will start with its "wake up call" at the London Gospel Temple this Saturday at 7 p.m. Tickets are $10 each. For further information, call 686-3754, or 686-4215. Bishop play returns to Blyth theatre BLYTH - Appealing to anyone with a love of adventure, a yearn for heroics and a belief that war makes for great theatre of the ab- surd, Billy Bishop Goes to War of- fers an evening of theatrical musi- cal entertainment that is quintessentially Canadian. It re- turns to the Blyth Festival stage on Sunday February 19 at 2:30 p.m. Based on the exploits of the Owen Sound -born World War I flying ace Air Marshall William Bishop, the play enjoyed enor- mous success across Canada and abroad in the late seventies and early eighties. Its stop in Blyth provided a memorable night of theatre for the full house which at- tended the performance. This remount of the play features an outstanding performance of Bishop by Bruce Dinsmore, ac- companied by Robert Burns. Crit- ics have written "the Bishop play soars... one of the most stirring and clever works in Canadian thea- tre.... a magnificent performance by Dinsmore... a Canadian classic if ever there was one." Reserved tickets for this enter- taining afternoon's performance are $ 15 and available from the Blyth Festival Box Office at 519- 523-9300 or Something Special, Exeter 235-1252.