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HomeMy WebLinkAboutTimes Advocate, 1995-03-22, Page 2Page 2 Tunes -Advocate, March 22, 1995 Regional wrap up Council calls for police services audit ODERICH - A full review of lice services has been re- quested by Town Council in re- sponse to the ongoing debate be- tween\ council and the police servic4 board. Counbillor Rick Magie has called for the comprehensive audit of policing, reported the Signal -Star. "It seen to me that some ac- tion musttaken to assure the residents o Goderich," Magie told council February 27. One of th issues which has caused concern is the unauthor- ized charges to the board for motel fees from two people who recently attended a public meet- ing held to review OPP policing versus a municiOal police force. Councillor Maurice Jenkins told the Signal -Star that the re- quest has "malicious under- tones." The fo er police ser- vices board ch 'rman said a report from outsi ers would not help alleviate personnel prob- lems but rather serve as an ag- gravation. New municipal building slated for construction HULLET TOWNSHIP - The construction of a new municipal building has finally been agreed upon by Township Council. Construction on a new munici- pal office will begin on Part Lot 24, R.P., 22R-3137, Parts 1 and 2 at a maximum cost of $225,000 reported the Clinton News -Record. Residents who voiced concern over the proposal were assured by Reeve Tom Cunningham that the project will not require extra taxation to complete. Monies will come from an er- ror in last year's audit of $ 118,500. The $250,00 working reserve fund will not be touched. "If the estimates come in over that amount($225,000) we will look at other options," said Cun- ningham. Library renovations receive approval SEAFORTH - Approval has been granted to begin major ren- ovations of the Seaforth Library. The $375,000 project will see upgrades to the 82 -year-old his- toric building including new me- chanical and electrical equip- ment and wheelchair accessibility. As reported in the Huron Ex- positor the project will receive funding from the Canada/ Ontario infrastructure Works program and is expected to create 226 "person -weeks" of short-term employment begin- ning this spring. Perth budget approved. at $7.9 million STRATFORD - The Perth County Council approved a zero per cent increase to the budget. The surplus from last year of $148,600 and $286,000 from re- serves will help to offset the 1995 budget reported the Mitch- ell Advocate. JNT Pilot speaks about rescue Lt. Chris Day was the first on the scene of boat sinking , Stories and photo by Fred Groves T -A staff GRAND BEND - Dick Lyman of the United States Navy said, "the coast guard has been cut but the mission hasn't gone away." He was referring to the im- portant task provided by the Unit- ed States Coast Guard who have been in- strumental in the past in saving many lives along the Great Lakes. Saturday night at the Great Lakes Cruising Club's meet- ing held in Grand Bend, two U.S. Coast Guard hel- icopter pilots were on hand to not only tell a little about themselves and their careers but to briefly de- scribe some of the rescue mis- sions they have been involved in. LL Chris Day was the first pilot on the scene of last year's trag- edy, the sinking of the fishing boat Miss Stephanie off the shore of Kettle Point. Reading from the situational report, Day said there were seven people aboard the boat. "We arrived on scene as the vessel sank. I actually got to do one lap around the vessel," re- called Day. Immediately after the boat be- gan to go down in the waters of Lake Huron, two coast guard hel- icopters and five sur- face vessels were on the scene. Day and his crew had to quickly head to Port Huron to pick up divers. "We were able to recover all seven people eventually. Five immediately and two by div- ers. We did save five lives and it is a shame about the other two," said Day of the two fatalities. Saving five lives was a joint ef- fort by many groups including OPP, divers from a fire de- partment in Michigan and coast guard from both Canada and the United States. "This is the quickest I've ever divers available," said Day. "We arrived on the scene as the vessel sank. I ac- tually got to do one lap around the vessel" seen "It was the best I've ever seen the Canadians and United States work together. It was a good example of what teamwork can do." Bright future: The other guest speaker at Saturday's event was Captain Vivian Crea who was one of five military advisors to U.S. president Ronald Reagan and the first female commander of a U.S. Coast Guard station. She described the coast guard as, "lifesavers and guardians of the sea." Crea echoed Day's comments about how the two countries have worked together in the past on various search and rescue mis- sions. "United States and Canada have probably the best working re- lationship bar none I've ever en- countered." Travelling around the world and working with other coast guards including Norway, Crea told an amusing story about a U.S. Coast Guard icebreaker and another from Canada which went to the North Pole to set some sort of time record. However, when they arrived, a U.S. Coast Guard helicopter that landed at Oakwood Inn prior to Saturday's meeting Captain Vivian Crea Russian icebreaker was already there and had beaten their North American counterparts by nearly 30 days. Crea said the three coun- tries spent time exchanging ideas, they did manouevers and a lot of knowledge was shared. "it was nice to see all the bor- ders and barriers disappear with something like that." She has also participated in the rescuing of 56,000 Cubans from the straits of Florida and said that sometimes there would be as many as 20 people clinging to four innertubes floating in the wa- ter. Crea also talked about the fish- erman in Canada and some of the difficulties they are going through. She said they have are al- , lowed to go out for one week but have to stay in for two. "Fishermen are kind of hard- headed and very independent. They don't like to be subjected to rules and regulations." Recreational boating: Trans- port Canada recently is inviting representatives from the boating community and interested or- ganizations to help them find ways of making recreational boat- ing in Ontario safer. The recently formed Joint On- tario/Transport Canada Working Group on Recreational Boating Safety will launch three task groups to examine the following issues; vessel licensing, operator proficiency and boating safety programs, waterways policing standards and emergency boater assistance. In the area of emergency boater assistance, the OPP and local po- lice forces respond to hundreds of requests for help. Greater use of volunteer organizations would lead to an increase in response ca- pability. Cruising Club now in its 61st year More than just a social group for outdoor enthusiasts GRAND BEND - Boating - you fire up the engines or hoist the sails, you drop anchor, you lie in the sun. There's a little more, no there's a lot more to the recreation that attracts thousands of outdoor en- thusiasts every year to the Great Lakes. Saturday night, over 250 mem- bers of the Great Lakes Cruising Club dropped anchor at the Oak- wood Inn in Grand Bend as the 2,600 -member club hosted its an- nual meeting. Started in 1934, the club does have a social flavour to it but, as pointed out by commodore Dick Daly, there is also a lot of ben- efits to the club. "The regional meetings are pretty well social. We had a port captains meeting and we take care of business," said Daly. The port captains are the work- ing level of the club. They assist their own local members and help transient boaters when they come into a particular harbour. David Crone is the Grand Bend port captain. Daly said perhaps the biggest reason to join the club is that members receive a very in- formative 3,000 -page log book which covers 800 harbours and anchorages and is updated every five years. About 25 percent of the mem- bership is Canadian while the rest comes from the United States. Keeping the numbers up hasn't been a problem especially when you have a 61 -year history. "Over the last six or seven years our attrition rate and new members rate has stayed about the same," said Daly who has a sail boat he takes all through the Great Lakes. While the title 'cruising club' may give many the impression that this club is for those with power boats, it's not. Daly ex- plained that it's about 50-50 be- tween power and sail boats. "We have a lot of fun kidding each other about power and sail but it's very compatible." Early beginnings: The Great Lakes Cruising Club was started by a group of Americans who would sail the famous Chicago - Mackinaw race and then cruise it afterwards. The group began making notes and charts on their ventures and during the winter, shared their findings. A newsletter started up and was sent with Christmas cards. "They sort of got together around the fireplace and started talking," said Daly of the club's original formation. As part of Saturday night's agenda was the presenting of the annual Admiral Bayfield award. The winner of this has to meet certain criteria such as cruising at least 5,000 miles in one season, spending at least a week on all five Great Lakes and calling on at least three ports. Dispute resolved over Nevada sales Council not changing its decision to grant license to local Lions Club for ticket sales at Variety Store EXETER - Representatives from the Canadian Mental Health Associa- tion were denied their request for Exeter Council to rescind its motion to grant a license to the Exeter Lions Club for the sale of Nevada tickets at the Exeter Variety. Richard Letkemann and Ruth Schlacht of the CMHA of Huron County stated their case at Monday night's council meeting. The loss of $100,000 gross revenue from the Nevada sales will have a "devastating effect" on the charity, Letkemann said. The fundraising efforts of the CMHA arc dependant 47 per cent on ticket sales, 22 per cent from Exeter alone. The organization said they felt Exet- er Variety owner, Howard Park was solicited by the Lions Club in what Letkemann described as an attempt to get a "bigger piece of the pie." Chairman of the Lions Nevada, Bob Crehan, said the club made no at- tempt to solicit Park. "There was never any thought of going out there until Mr. Park ap- proached a Lions member," said Gehan. He added that the implication of putting pressure on Park was resented by the club. Council was not swayed by the presentation by the CMHA to change its decision. "We went with the information we had," said reeve BiH Mickle. Mickle added council did not wish to act as jury on the issue and the concern CMHA has is not with the Town of Exeter hut rather with the Li- ons Club. "i think that we acted in good faith, " concluded councillor Roy Tri- ebner. Damage estimated at $30,000 after arsonists burn mobile homes ST. JOSEPHS - Two deliberately set fires destroyed a pair of empty, unoccupied mobile homes at the Driftwood Trailer Park on Hwy. 21, north of St. Joseph's just before midnight last Tuesday. Although no injuries are reported, damage is estimated at $30,000. The Zurich Fire Department was called to put out the fires. Inspector John Fox of the Ontario Fire Marshall's Office is assisting with the investigation. Constable Tom Richber is investi- gating for the OPP. Thieves hit the Exeter Curling Club Wednesday getting away with four 40 ounce bottles of liquor which were still attached to the dis- penser. Constable Leo Weverink is investigating. Also on Wednesday, a theft of an undisclosed amount of cash at the main office of the Hensall Arena was discovered. Police'suspect that sometime be- tween Fri., March 10 and Thursday someone stole four tires and rims from a car parked behind the high school in Exeter. Tires and rims are valued at $700. Sometime Thursday evening or early Friday morning a rock was thrown through the window of the Bank of Nova Scotia in Exeter. A four by eight ft. window was brok- en causing $600 damage. On Friday a resident at 66 Victor- ia St., Exeter reported that someone had slashed the window of his 1991 Firebird convertible causing $600 damage. A blue, woman's 10 -speed bicy- cle was discovered Saturday on Hwy. 83 near Dashwood. The bicy- cle can be claimed by contacting OPP during business hours. The theft of an undisclosed amount of money Saturday from one of the students at the college in Centralia is being investigated by constable Paula Rossewy. Some time Saturday evening one or more vandals were busy spray painting the brick walls at SHDHS and the windows and doors on a trailer. Constable Diane McGregor is investigating. Damage is estimated at $500 to a pickup truck which was struck by an unknown driver Sunday on the parking lot at Larry's Town and Country Restaurant in Crediton. Constable Liam Brennan is investi- gating. White Wonder Re -born EXETER- After seeking ideas from the public the Business Asso- ciation has endorsed using the slo- gan "Home of then Whitc Squirrel". Council has accepted their rec- ommendation and will be using this slogan on the northern entranceway sign at hwys. 4 and 83. The slogan will he featured on the sign most of the time but will be covered up occasionally. The Association will also he buying what they describe as a 'new and improved' white squirrel costume. Plans for the "re -born" squirrel in- volve having service groups take turns bringing the mascot to busi- ness areas and town events. in other business: The beautifica- tion committee has been given ex- ecutive approval to proceed to the first stage of their strectscapc re- newal plans by hiring a landscape designer to re -design a tree -block downtown arca. The plan will then be taken to the association execu- tive before proceeding to council. The next general Business Asso- ciation meeting will be Wcd, April 5 at 7:30 p.m. in the town offices. Everyone is invited. ,4c/fie fri/ movvo- 7,„0„ apirm.' _ a,Trxainiarr. 7 •