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HomeMy WebLinkAboutTimes-Advocate, 1996-06-19, Page 1SEIP'S valu-mart 4 & 83 Exeter 235-0262 Mowers - - Soils - Peat Moss�� - Gcmien Needs St'il`l/1F.! „ Wednesday. June 19, 1996 (93' , ONE DOLLAR r_— mas—__.I tifau If you aren't lo Tire it Timm -Advocate. you're nW ■ Use � c below 1 Name: Address City 1 Prov. I Postal Code 1 tam 1 year $35+2.450ST-2 year $t3+4.41 OST 1 ata AM 1 1 Yew in+4.t1 Oep+a$3OSTaaltatCANAD NOM petsee.4op°st+90) 1 USE�.yQ-URR�CREDIT CARD 1 CK:1300000 1 00001:3000 Card No. 1 I Expiry Date 1 0 visa 0 Master Card ❑ Cheque enclosed 1 Retum to; TIMES ADVOCATE L24 Main St. Exeter, Ont. NOM 1S6 — maamam — mull 1 Inside Letters to the Editor See page 12 `Annie' Local girls perform See Crossroads Experts page 21 Announcements pages 22-23. Classifieds pages 25 - Streets re -named to prepare -1°6r emergency system EXETER - Exeter will be joining a large part of North America as it enters the 911 emergency system in the near future. In preparation, however, addresses must be exact. A few years ago, council changed several street names in town to re- duce confusion: Andrew, William and Carling Streets, north of the river, had name changes. Town- ships have to devise means of la- beling their side and concession roads so emergency vehicles will not become lost. On Monday night, Exeter Council took another step and changed Gidley Street East and Mill Street West. Gidley Street East will be- come Hardy Street and Mill Street West will become Willis Way. Both of these streets are named af- ter early settlers in Exeter. Other streets will have to be designated 'east', 'west', 'north' and 'south' to avoid any ambiguity. The cost to implement these changes will range from $3,010 to 55,000 and will be included in next year's budget. Fire pits raise concern with residents EXETER - Council was advised Monday night the Fire Chief has received numerous complaints from Exeter re' dents concerning smoking fire p ;ts. He advised the board fire pits are illegal under the Fire Code except if used as barbe- cues. The public will be reminded Of the law through a notice in next month's PUC bill. Smoke billows from scene of accident at HMP Saturday .7 EXETER - A tragic accident Sat- urday afternoon resulted in an Ex- eter man being airlifted to the Vic- toria Campus of the London Health Sciences Centre ir. London where he is recovering from serious burns. Wayne Hamather, 36, who is sales manager of Huron Motor Products, was using an Oxygen/ acetylene torch in the garage on the south end of the property when an explosion ripped through the building. He was rushed to South Huron Hospital by Hoffman's am- bulance and later moved by air am - Community Centre survive? ZURICH - "What would Zurich be like without a community fa- cility?" This is one of the questions asked by Zurich Council in a recent letter to the editors of local newspapers. At its June 13 meeting, council decided to hold a September pub- lic meeting regarding the future of the community centre. Although Hay Township recently approved a 1996 operating grant of $10,000 and $5,000 in capital funding for recreation, it admits the grant amount for next year may be reduced. As a result, Zurich Council is seeking recreation funds from Zu- rich and Hay by looking at fundraising or increased rates as options. "We have a problem...There's obviously a benefit to having the community centre...but at what point do we stop paying?" asked Clerk -Treasurer Maureen Simmons. Raising rates, added Reeve Dwayne LaPorte, simply means hitting Zurich taxpayers twice. Councillor Brad Clausius suggested holding a public meeting in the fall, close to hockey season, when community centre users would take an interest in the issue. "If we close it down, Hensel) will scoop up our best players," he said. "We don't know in which direction it's going to take off," added Councillor Barb Jeffrey. "The funding's not as free as it used to be." Council is seeking input from its ratepayers and users, "especially those who live in the Township of Hay," states the letter to the ed- itor. bulance to London where he is pecten. listed in serious but stable condi- Exeter Fire Department chief, tion suffering from third degree John Morgan, said no definite burns to about 55 per cent of his cause has been given for the acci- pody. dent which is under investigation Tim Hamather told the T -A by the Ministry of Labor and the Tuesday morning that his brother Fire Marshall's office. is progressing as well as can be ex - Workfare coming to Huron Social assistance recipients will be required to earn their welfare cheques HURON COUNTY - Starting in September, Huron County will be one of the first 20 sites to begin phasing in the province's new work -for -welfare program. The announcement was made last Wednesday by Minister of Com- munity and Social Services David Tsubouchi, who explained the com- munities were selected based on their readiness to proceed. "People receiving social as- sistance who are able to work will be required to participate in com- munity projects to earn their wel- fare cheques," stated a recent press release. Although some labor leaders in- itially indicated they might not sup- port organizations that participate in the work for welfare program, an agreement between the United Ways of Ontario and Labor was reached on Friday. "The threat of people dis- continuing their donations is obvi- ously a concerns",said Patricia Howe, Huron United Way sec- +' Continued on page 2 aims to inform public Residents concerned greater Grand Bend com- munity could be split up GRAND BEND - A brochure providing amal- gamation information is being circulated to Grand Bend area residents by Grass Roots for a Unified Grand Bend. The group producing the brochure is comprised of concerned citizens who aim "to determine if there is a community of interest." with res- idents of surrounding municipal- ities. "At some point in the coming weeks, you may be asked to make your opinion known of this issue. We want you to make a fully in- formed decision on where your community interests lie," states the brochure. In addition to providing amalgamation back- ground and questions and answers provided by the Exeter -Grand Bend-Stephen-Usborne-Bosanquet Amalgamation Committee, the brochure also lists area comparisons of property taxes, mill rates, wa- ter and hydro costs as well as user fees for garbage. Grassroqts members Roy Merkley, of Southcott Pines, said the group is not political in nature and does not want to influence the amalgamation pro- cess. However, some residents of the greater Grand Bend area, including Huron Woods, Grand Cove Estates, Beach 'O Pines, Oakwood, Dalton, Van Dongen, Sou,thcott Pines, are concerned the overall Grand Bend community could continue to be split into separ- ate municipalities. "We know there's a significant number of people who do share our concern that in the future you could end up with a boundary of one of these amalgamated areas running right through our community," said Merkley. "Right now, we're in two , counties and three municipal gov- ernments." Stephen Township Administrator Larry Brown, who handles com- munication for the amalgamation committee, said the township was aware of the group's initiative and had received a draft of the brochure. "The committee hasn't discussed it. My council is aware of it but it hasn't been on the agenda for dis- cussion," said Brown, "You could end up with a boundary of one of these amalgamated areas running right through our community." Library proposal favorably received by new committee By Brenda Burka T A Reportsr • LUCAN - Just when Mert and Muriel Culbert wets get- ting tired of fighting for their dream - a new 2,766 squaw foot library facility on the village's Main Street - '•hport from the newly developed Community Economia Develop- ment Committee may have given them hope. ` • The couple purchased the former Lucan Home Hardware building on February 2, with plans of transforming it into a new library. "Everybody knows we need a library," said Muriel, add- ing the village's 900 square foot library is inadequate. The Culberts' proposal, presented to Village Council in February, involves moving the current library facilities into the new space, which now includes the restaurant beside the old hardware store. Lucan Council deferred the proposal to the CEDC com- mittee, which is expected to return to council with a rec- ommendation in July. According to committee member Bob Barrer. a presentation by Muriel on June 13 "was fa- vorsbly ftfoelved," by the committee. The proposal involved a new rent figure of 56.13 per aquae foot, which, according to the Culberts, is an average rental fee for properties surrounding the proposed site. 'They did say that our offer was a very generous offer," said Muriel. �. Council had earlier supported in principle moving the li- brary to an expanded facility greater than 2000 square feet. It directed the proposal to the Middlesex County Library Board, which operates the library, In March the board also approved in principle the relocation of the Library to a larg- er facility. "Lucan Library is a key service point for the County Li- brary system," stated a March 28 letter from Middlesex County Library to Lucan Council. "it is one of our busiest branches." Through a partnership with Human Resources Canada, the letter continued, computer equipment would be in- stalled to allow public access to job search information, 1 multimedia reference sources and dial-up access to the In- ternet. Also, a larger facility would allow the board to in- crease Lucan's book collection. "The board will await your council's response regarding its deliberations to provide a suitable facility," concluded the letter. "It seemed like things were moving fairly well," said Mu- riel, adding "everything has been approved" except coun- cil's go-ahead. Initially the Culberts requested a 10 -year lease for the property in an effort to recover costs of converting the building. After discussing the proposal at length, council decided It was in favor of a short-term lease. At the time, the deal was expected to cost the current rate for library fa- cilities at $4.70 per square foot. At that point, Biddulph Council had no objections to the proposal. The Culberts would have accepted the original deal if the village agreed to pick up the building's maintenance costs. Council asked the couple to come back with a second cost + Continued on page 2 ft •