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HomeMy WebLinkAboutClinton News-Record, 1976-02-05, Page 1• h idents, of Morgan's Mobile ane ark in 'Clinton are upset with their ncreased assessment and a delegation Of ten was present at last Monday night's Clinton. council meeting to protest the steep rise. The whole Park, which ties about 50 - ,dots,owned by Doug Morgan of Clinton who rents out the-IOS the-Ito individual trailer owners. Mr,, -"Morgan provides garbage collectsqn and road main- tenance. and he told council that with the increased aessment, • taxes would nearly dou e on many of the trailers, 23 19 7 18 • 8 331 21 ! . 18 43 29 30 20 .3 32 21 • 31 M5 -10 28 19 FEBRUARY . 1 28 4 2• 1:8, i•. -3 28 12 'Snow 13 talo 4.9'' snow 2" park residents object to assessment but because ofthe new .provinciai Rent Review Act, he could only charge the tenants eight percent more for rent. Taxes- would be as high as $311 per trailer. and Mr. Morgan said he only collected an average of 820. per month per trailer to cover both the taxes and maintenance. Faced with paying his first quarterly installment f taxes of 83,000 by February 20, Mr. Margin said he squid "sooner sell out. I wasn't making anything before the tax increase.. Several of the 10 rdSidents present rmcauses 19 crashes Goderich OPP report there were many minor accidents during the week, due to the weather. On Sunday, l' ebruary 1, 13 accidents were reported, and on Mon- day, February 2, six accidents occurred. Damages were minor and there were no Injuries. A chain' reaction accident occurred on Highway four, between Londesboro and Clinton, on Sunday February 1, in- volving. three cars in one accident and four cars in another. Edward Guertin of RR 3 Conn received "8700 damages to his car. Beverley Baliagh, Wroxeter incurred $1,000 to her vehicle and Pierre Soulard, Sarnia . received 5700 damages to his vehicle. All three cars were southbound and piled into each other, due to the poor visibility. At the same time. in -almost the same place, four other cars collided. All of them, heading south on highway four.' Linda Aitehson 'London received 850 damages to her car; Clare Sutton, of. Forest had a damaged front rear to his vehicle, but no -estimate was available; William Bauer, London, received 81,000 to his car and. Edward Lesouder of Stratford received 8650 damages to his car. There were no injuries reported in any of these accidents.`' On Tuesday, February 3, at 5 p.m. a hit and run accident occurred twcf and one half miles east of L.ondesbaro. A school bus* was hit by a car, which left the scene. The car and driver were picked up later on County Road 25, heading towards Goderich. The driver has been charged with impaired driving and leaving the scene of an accident. wondered why they had to pay hs much' tax as a person in town With a house, when they ..didn't receive the same services. Mayor Don Symons and Clerk - Treasurer Cam Procter pointed out that they had no control weer the assessment of the trailers, they could just set the tax rate. The province sets the assessment through a • regional assessment qffice in Goderich. "We didn't realize this was going on (the " increase) as the municipalities have lost control of assessment," Mayor Symons said. Council, Mr. Morgan and a member of the assessment'Once will meet., om the matter, but the final decision rests with the assessment review .court. In other business. council didn't concur with a resolution ,from the Town of Hanover asking that the province set up a commission to took - into the education system. Council learned that it would cost between $15,000 and 820,000 to, remove the snow from the major sidewalks in town. Council also learned ' that tax notices Were mailed out this week, and the deadline for . the first installment 'has been extended until Feb. 20. Three applications for money the town has for the . Ontario Home Renewal program have been approved and the town., is seeking a further 819,000 of their original 837,000 grant. ,,,,,;,;h Two Parking 'permits were issued to Morden and Heiwig, and a 840 grant was given to the Retail Merchants Association. ;' Building pertaits were issued to Bob Langendoen, house, 829,000; and Noah Zeeman, addition. $18.000. Tuckersmith hires tag seller By Wilma Oke Tuckersmi-th Township Council hired Sander VanDorp of RR 5. Clinton, to sell dog tags in the township. He was one of two applicants interviewed -at the session of council Tuesday night. Ben Bridges of Vanastra appeared before ,council. acconipanled by Barry Black, to ask that' the decision to close the Fifth Avenue entrance at No. 4 High- way be reversed. The entrance declared a traffic hazard by provincial police and highway officials. is slated for closure. A winter wonderland? M Following nearly a foot of snow on the weekend and 50 mile 'per hour winds, many country sideroads were plugged solid with snow up to ten feet deep and in Many cases. bulldozers hid tri be called In to open the roads. Another storm was By Jim Fitzgerald We were very pleased. as were the hundreds of boys in the area who play hockey. to see the excellent crowds out at most games on the weekend. With th top quality brand of hockey most teams display. you won't be disappointed this Weekend again. We hate to sound 'redundant but here we are back on that much discussed subject - the weather - again. The weather office reported that we had the snowiest and coldest January since 1944. and according to one reader, it has snowed -32 out of 35 days in 1976. We don't krlow i'sthatis'a record. but:at this point, who cares. just as tong as it stops. +++ • Now for the bad news. Somehow the ground hog managed to dig up through four feet of snow before noon hour last Monday near his burrow at Summerhill. and blast it, he saw his shadow. Which means the snow shovels won't be retired until at least the middle of March. +-I- So +So now for the first time since its founding eight ' years ago, the ' Winter Carnival Committee won't be prayingg for now* ,i rather they're if l fin 1 it wog it under way Wednesday morning and promised to close many roads open only a day. More than six feet of snow has fallen so far this winter, and this Goderich Township road hears mute testimony to the results. (News -Record photo Reeve- Elgin Thompson told him council would take no action but said Mr. Bridges could get up a petition against the closing when Mr. Bridges asked if a petition would help. ' Mr. Bridges complained about a large truck parking on' residential streets at Vanastra. He said the Vanastra roads were not built for large trucks and; asked that a sign "No Trucks Allowed" be erected. Council was also asked to have a larger sign for the Vanastra Road erected at No. 8 highway: entrance and that it be illuminated. The ministry of transportation and communication's will be asked by council.to provide this. Among other complaints Mr. Bridges listed was the renaming of Quebec Road and Victoria Boulevard. He said if a fire occurred in a house on these circular streets the firemen would have trouble cating,...the 4teinte and "'Would, have ; drive 'around in circles looking for the smoke'. Council accepted the resignation of Barbara Hodgins from the Vanastra Day Care Centre Board and will ask Mrs. Diane Black to replace her. To fill the other vacancy on the board resulting from the resignation of Mrs. Carol Munroe last month. Mrs. Mervyn Falconer will be asked to fill the position. continued on page 10 Winter Ca rival Queen Karen McEwing, left,, was crowned Queen of the Clinton and District Winter Carnival last Friday night by last year's queen, Jo Ann Snell of -Londesboro. Miss McEwing, 22, was representing the Vanastra Recreation Centre. (News - R ecorcl photo) lease, no more snow! Clinton and District Winter Carnival -officials, for the first time in four years, are hoping that it won't snow the rest of the Carnival as, unlike previous years. too much snow could cancel the rest of the events. The- Carnival started its ten day run last Friday night when Karen McEwin-g of Vanastra, who represented the Vanastra Recreation Committee was picked Quee•t of the Carnival at the Lions Club Dance at the, Legion. Miss McEwing was crowned by last year's queen, Jo Ann Snell of Lon- desboro./YShe is the drought of r Aid IV •�_ir . M1IlegV%, ai+412. Patti Kay. daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Don Kay of Clinton, was picked first runner-up by judges Betty Cardno, mayor of Seafokh, and Anson McKinley, Reeve of Stanley Township. The Legion dance on Saturday night was a complete sellout, with several couples being turned away at the door. Bad weather on Monday, however, forced cancellation of the Legion Ladies' Bingo, and at press time late Wednesday afternoon, weather forecast called for more blustery Weather the rest of the week. Today's events (Thursday) .include a broomball tournament with eight teams playing and actieonstarts at 7 p.m. Tomorrow (Friday) sees a- con- tinuation of the broomball tournament at 5:30 p.m. with a Junior '`C" hockey game at 8:30 and the popular Las Vegas night, sponsored by the Kinsmen and Kinettes. slated to get underway at 9:30. A very busy day is planned for Saturday Feb. 7 with the Winter Car- nival parade set to roll down main street at 1 p.m. followed bynt ,g..hiidre.n":s at the high school. at 2:30 and t.' e snowmobile poker rally. which leaves from the Clinton community park. ' The broom ball championships start at 4:30 and two Carnival dances.are to start at 9 p.m.. sponsored by the Fair board and the Fish and Game Club. ' The final -day. this Sunday. willstart off with the Pancake Breakfast in the arena at 8:30 a.m.. followed at 1 p. m. by the MOSRA sanctioned Snowmobile races. sponsored by the Clinton Kin: smen. Huronview may face staff cutbacks Spending cutbacks were a common bond in committee reports at Huror) County Council last Friday and service cutbacks to residents of Huronview was a major item of contention. County councillors learned that the county home for the aged south of Clinton may be forced to cutback on'staff and subsequently services due to a ceiling on the provincial grant structure. The 310 bed institution is subject to a 51,4 percent grant from the province. County► clerk -treasurer Bill Hanley said 80 percent of the budget was needed to cover wages and employee benefits and council's only alternative in the budget was to cut staff and services to the patients The management of Huronview committee has been unable to negotiate a final settlement with the Service Employees Union Local 210 Snow storm cripples area - again Just when area residents were hopi,.g the worst of winter was over. following one of the coldest and snowiest Januarys in 30 years , February came in like an angry beast, crippling the area with still another snow storm. The stortn hit early Sunday afternoon and packing winds of up to 50 miles per hour it dumped nearly a foot of snow on the area before it abated tate Monday night. All schools were closed on Monday and highways in the Clinton area were closed for several hours as drifting and blowing snow reduced visability to fess than a foot in some spots. Several dozen persons were stranded in Clinton on Sunday and Monday night and all hotels and motels reported full houses. Some of those stranded even slept in the dining room of the Clinton Hotel on Sunday night. Road crews on the highways, county roads and township roads were hard pressed to keep up with the onsiought, but the streets in Clinton were opened early Monday morning. At one point. most county and town- ship .plows were recalled because of the zerovisibility. The foot of new snow was dumped on top of five to six feet that was already ad on y the grOund so far this winter, and many roads that already boasted of high banks before the storm quickly plugged up. Goderich and Hullett Townships had to call in the bulldozers to open up several '►ideroads on Tuesday afternoon that were plugged with Six to eight foot drifts. After four easy winters, the roads budgets are taking a real beating this year as snow removal costs continue to mount with no end in sight. ClareVincent. clerk. of Hullett Township. said it had cost the township over 3.000 in January just for snow removal. and if any more snow falls '"we'll be going on relief" to.pay for it. Tuckersmith estimates it hits cost . them 515,000 so far this winter for plowing. and a rough estimate places the cost at nearly S500 per day for snow removal in Clinton The temperature dropped 35 degrees �n lens than 11 hours on Sunday from a high of 25F to 10 F be=low by midnight. And to mike matters worse. the sun appeared briefly at noonhour on Monday and the groundhog saw his shadow. which means. according to an old adage. that there will be six more weeks of winter. involving 130 full time and 50 part time personnel. The county solicitor had recom- mended that an interim increase of 25 cents per hour be granted to all em- ployees effective January 1. 1976 pen- ding final settlement. Union members have agreed not to seek compulsory arbitration before April 1 in an attempt to clarify the position of the province and, the anti-inflation board. County council gave tentative ap- proval to the budget of 82.310,840 and while the province is limiting its grant to 51,4 percent the budget indicates a 13.4 percent increase in the provincial share.. A one year agreement signed by the employees last year on July I meant a 40 percent increase in salary and a six percent increase in the Huronview ex- penditures for the first six months of this year. If the employees are granted the maximum eight percent salary increase under the guidelines then their total salary package for the year would mean an increase of 14 perceni,over last year. The budgetis still subject to provincial approval and the county is asking the province -for 81.141.470 which is an in- crease of almost 8140,000 over last year. County council also learned that several road projects may have to be cancelled in 1976 due to the increased costs of snow removal incurred this year Huron county Road Committee chairman. Ralph ,McNichol told coun- cillors that the budget would have to be cut in some places this year because of increased costs of snow removal, and the committee would likely be forced to eliminate some paving and construction. Break-in gang hits town again The Break•rn gang is still on the loose in Clinton. Last Saturday evening. sometime before midnight, they struck Chuter's Plumbing and Heating oin King Street smashing a window and giving them easy access to $200 in cash. The night before. Friday January 30. a residence was entered on Victoria Terrace. Thieves were scared off before anything could ' be stolen. In further police- business. the poor . weather conditions Sunday and Monday caused of few 'fender bender's. but for- tunately. no serious injuries. On Friday. .1 arum* 30. at the in- tersection of Ontario and William Streets a tractor trailer driven by Alvin B*—,adie of RR 2. Grand Valley jacknifed, dousing $5,000 damage to the cab. The truck was travelling on Ontario Street when it swerved into a snovirbnnk to avoid hitting. an unknown car, which had entered Ontario Street from William Str'eet. The car kcpt,on going. t � we , ` y Berlin '1n. shint Ltd. MiiiittaOga, Another tractor' trailer jacknifed across highway 4 near Maria Street last Tuesday afternoon, ploughing through a snow bank on the northwest corner, and rni-sing by several feet the house on the corner. Mrs. Dean Reid who was driving another vehicle, received head injuries in the mishap. The empty salt truck received little damage while 1150 damage was caused to the car. ' On Frida.. afternoon. January/ 30 at the rc ttinued on page to So far this winter the county's 14 snowplows and seven sanders have been operative almost 18 hours per day and the men have worked double the over- time from last year. • Huron County engineer. Jim Britnell said the county has spent nearly 51 percent of the 1976 winter control budget and that cdsts have risen by 32 percent over last year The only options available were to cut snow removal or cut road construction projects. Friday council approved a spending report',of the road committee for 1975 in which expenditures totalled almost 82.4 million. The road crew must now find time to erect new speed limit signs on county highways and sideroads that will cut the speed limit from 60 miles per hour to 50 miles per hour. Mr. McNichol said that if the snow kept up the road crew may not be able to erect the signs until some time in June. Mr. Britnell explained to councillors that rather than replace the whole sign the crews will overlay the required limit �n the sign He explained it would cost between S20 and 830 to replace a sign artd only between 810 and 815 per sign for the overlay Lawrie Stade of Gunton was named president of the Btuewatcr Shrine Chip last to week at a meeting to in G h succeeds Brian Ainslie ' oodot`tt'iii, +dews. !ecord photo)