Loading...
Clinton News-Record, 1977-12-15, Page 1• • t 6 4 • • 4 r Clinton, Ontario 30 cents Thursday, December 15, 1977 1l2th Year -No. 50 Weaiher 1977 III LQ DECEMBER 6 7 8 9. 10 11 12 24 18 25 17 23 4 30 17 18 8 12 5 35 -8 Snow 16" 1976 HI LO 34 32 17 22 37 19 11 0 14 21 22 17 28 5 Snow 6" Council still undecided. on Town Hall study By Shelley McPhee Clinton Council at their regular meeting on Monday evening defeated a motion to hire architect Nicholas Hill to prepare a feasibility study on fixing the town hall. After considerable discussion, council finally agreed thatit was better for Hill to initially look p.Ker the engineer's report before a decision would be made regarding his hiring, or whether Hill would accept the task of preparing a feasibility report on the future of the town hall. "He offered to look at it," noted Reeve Royce Macaulay when Hill's hiring was being discussed. Hill attended a Committee of the Whole meeting before open council to discuss the report' He estimated that the cost of preparing a feasibilitystudy would be between $2,000 and $3,500. (The cost for his study on the Exeter Town Hall was $3,500.) However, Councillor Rosemary Armstrong said, "He can't give you a firm price until he's done the study." Council will receive a preliminary report from Hill before the next council meeting in January at which time they will know if Hill accepts the task to prepare a complete report. Council will also make a decision whether he will be hired at that time. ' In correspondence, council defeated a motion to endorse a resolution from the Town of Paris which supported Operation Dismantle's global referendum on disarmament and world peace. ,. "As soon as you get disarmament on one side of the world you get armament on the other, that's a known fact," commented Councillor Roy Wheeler, "in 1939, Britain disarmed and the Natzi Germans armed themselves and you know what happened, World War II." "The only thing that will stop war is the balance of power," Councillor Ray Garon said. - "It would be nice if the whole thing could be dropped, but I don't think it ever will," said Mayor Harold Lobb. In local business, the council granted the Clinton Cemetery Board an ad- ditional $2,000 over their 1977 budget of $12,000. Deputy Reeve Frank Cook explained Cochrane appointed court judge William G. ' Cochrane of Goderich, Crown Attorney for Huron County since 1962, was appointed provincial court judge in the criminal division effective Monday, December 12. The appointment was announced Friday, by Attorney - General Roy McMurtry. Cochrane, a native of Exeter, has been working in the Huron legal system since 1946 when he opened a law office in Exeter. He graduated from the University of Western Ontario in 1938 and Osgoode Hall in 1941. He served in the army from 1942-46 in England where °he was an instructor in an officer battle school. When he returned to Canada he opened a legal office in his hometown and in 1962 was appointed crown at- torney. At that time he moved to Goderich where he has lived since then. Cochrane said the appointment takes effect immediately butexplained that he cannot act as a fudge until he is sworn in. He said ' the tentative date for the. ceremony is January 11, 1978. The duties of the crown attorney will be temporarily handled by George Patterson, former crown attorney in Walkerton, and others appointed by the' regignal crown attorney's office in Guelph. Cochrane said he had submitted his name for • consideration for the office when former provincial court judge H. Glenn Hays passed away. He said up until Hays' death he had not considered seeking a seat on the bench. The fornfer crown attorney said he was looking forward to the challenge of the new post adding that he really didn't think it changed his responsibility that much. He said his duties as the crown attorney required him to view both sides' of a case to decide if there was evidence enough to merit taking it to court. He said he felt his 'responsibilities as the crown attorney were heavy pointing out that as a judge he will have similar duties except with more finality. Cochrane said the duties of the crown in Canada were not to seek a conviction 4r • to by. Jim Fitzgerald but merely to put all the evidence before the court in an attempt to ensure that justice is done. He said many Canadians It §eems silly, I know, but for once when some union goes on strike why can't they be like the other unions. Take last week for instance, when the postal workers went on strike in Toronto; we had no mail; and when the coal miners put down their shovels, we had no coal; but did you notice that when the weathermen went on strike, we still had weather, and lousy weather at that. It's not fair. + + + Because of the strike that tied up the mails in Toronto and the snowstorm that shut down London, things were a little. slow at the local sorting offices this week, until Tuesday when all h. . . broke loose. That same mail strike cut off several--dblumns and news items to the News -Record this week, so yqu may not. find several regular features this week. One column -'"Jack's Jottings from Queen's Park" never made it, so Huron - Bruce MPP Murray Gaunt agreed to fill in for this edition. + + + But no matter what, our next edition is our special Christmas greeting issue that will also feature some of the local youngsters hand work, so we would ask all our advertisers and correspondents to please get their copy into us as soon as possible. I-++ The Clinton Sunday Morning Inter- faith Hocky League, of which yours truly is a member, will attempt this Sunday afternoon to depose the powerful Kinsmen hockey team from their high and mighty throne. At stake is the coveted Kinsmen Cup for Athletic Supporters. The game(?) starts at 4 p.m., if you want some laughs. ' Crown Attorney W.G. Cochrane get contused with the crown's duties because of their television un- derstanding of the American legal system in which the district attorney, the American equivalent to the crown attorney, is more conviction minded. "It's said the crown attorney never wins or loses a case," he explained. Cochrane said he always enjoyed practicing law in rural areas because he felt the legal system in less populates areas worked more efficiently than in cities. He said in cities the volume of work and the greater number of lawyers in court didn't allow judges to take the time in a case that it possibly should get. He said in Huron County there are only 24 members of the bar association and the members know each other better than lawyers in cities. Because of that familiarity, they seemed to have more trust for one another. He said that, plus the low volume of cases permit judges to take more time in .court andthoroughly look at a case. Cochrane has been involved .. in municipal life in the county serving in Exeter as a town councillor, a reeve of the town and as its mayor. He also was chairman of the South Huron District Hospital Board and of the Exeter Public Utilities Commission. He is a past president of the Exeter Lions Club and past master of the Masonic Lodge. He is married and has three daughters. Damage hits S75, 000 that the money will be used to pay for two new lawnmowers, a railing and cement work that needs to be done. Deputy Reeve Cook made a motion that the tender• on Clinton Chrysler Plymouth be accepted at the cost of $4,815 to provide a new 1978 police cruiser for the town. Deputy Reeve Cook explained that it wasn't the lowest tender, but it was the only one that complied with the specifications. The placing of snow on any municipal roadway other than by the Public Works Department was deemed as hazardous and expressly forbidden by the council in another motion. "If the town pushes the snow off the street onto your driveway can you push it .back out again?" questioned Reeve Royce Macaulay. He was answered by several "no's" from councillors. "When any holiday falls on a Sunday, the Monday following is declared the holiday. Therefore Christmas and New Year's will be on Monday, which moves Boxing Day to Tuesday," Clerk Cam Procter explained to the council. Due to this situation, council passed a motion to proclaim Tuesday, December 27 as a public holiday called Boxing Day. In view of the fact that Christmas and New Year's are both falling on Sundays this year, a motion was passed to give town .employees December 26 and January 2 time off; with the exception of the police force. "I don't agree with this at all," Mayor Lobb sounded, "I'm from the old school. Christmas is on Sunday and Boxing Day should be on Monday." The J03rd building permit of the year was issued by Clinton Council to the Huron Fish and Game Farm for a porch at$1,000. o more Council refused a request from John Parker for the rezoning of his property on the south side of Victoria Terraceto residential.Parker had asked that the property be rezoned for single family dwelling, but Clinton council was recommended by the planning board to purchase the Fire. hits Vanastr' • rec. centre By Wilma Oke Fire caused about $75,000 loss at Vanastra early Monday when it extensively damaged the Recreation Centre. The fire was discovered at 6:30 a.m. when Debbie Denomme, assistant director of the Vanastra Day Care Centre arrived for work. Eighteen members of the Brucefield volunteer fire department answered her call for assistance within minutes. With the help of Clinton firemen with airpacks, they were able to bring the fire under control. John McLellan, Brucefield fireman, who was the first in the building, said the smoke was dense and with no lights, it was difficult to find the source. A frequent visitor to the centre for swimming and other recreation activities, wearing airpack he was able to locate the flames in the locker room area. Robert Adams, Mount Forest, of the Ontario fire marshal's office said the fire started in the electrical wiring in the ceiling above the women's dressing room. He said it had been burning for several' hours, one electrical clock had stopped at 1:30 a.m. The ceiling area over the men's locker room was ex- tensively burned, but for lack of oxygen in that area, the fire had burned itself out apparently. The damage 'was mainly confined to the dressing and washroom areas and the business office where the roof was destroyed over this whole area.. The main auditorium, the day care centre and the swimming pool areas had smoke damage only. In a telephone conversation Tuesday, Diane —Durnin, manager and recreational director of the centre, said there was a ., temporary covering being put over the burned out area by Ken Hutchins Construction Ltd. of Goderich until the final repairs could be done in January when the centre will be closed during the con- struction. In the „meantime she said the Singles Clubs Christmas dance would be held on Saturday evening and the swimming pool would be open December 20 to 23 and again December 28 to- 30 and then closed for part of January for the fire repairs. First for fund The Clinton Arena floor fund 'got off the ground this week when the ladies from the Clinton Christian Reformed Church made the first donation of $400 td the fund. Sandra Raidt and fenny Valkenburg were oh hand to make the cheque presentation to rec committee chairman Percy Livermore and secretary -treasurer Marie Jefferson. Along with the $400 additional proceeds of $1,400 were donated to the World Mission for the medical centre in Nigeria by the bazaar committee. (News -Record photo) P-• s ,p`•""ks Vi' Busy cleaner Nearly a block of Albert Street north of Rattenbury Street is completely free of snow this year, thanks to the hard work of Harold Munnings of Town who keeps the sidewalks clean in front of five businesses, several of whomnever cleaned their walks. Harold was very busy last week, as nearly two feet of snow fell in si.x days. (News-ecord photo) Storm blasts region Above normal temperatures and raimoved into the Clinton area this week, melting the up to two feet of snow that hit the area in a week of stormy weather. Snowfalls ranging from 16 inches to over two feet hit most of the area, which had been relatively, snow free until last week, By Sunday, massi-ve snowbanks and ' drifts had residents wondering whether this winter would be a carbon cpy of last year's. In areas to the south of Clinton, in Dashwood, Lucan and.London, snowfalls ranged up to four feet, paralizing many areas, prticularly London, for almost a week. Last Friday was the worst day in Clinton and area, with most schools closed and highway visability poor to nil most of the day. However, no highways were closed, but some concession roads were nearly impassable for a few hours until snow clearing crews got down them. There were no major accidents. The snow was combined with record breaking cold temperatures that dipped to minus 22 degrees C (-8 F) on Sunday. However, rain and mild temperatures had reduced the snowfall by Wednesday, and the weatherman wouldn't even guarantee a white Christmas, despite all the snow. S saycouc property. "Parker asked to rezone one lot, then wanted to sell it but council decided that they didn't want a lot of septic tanks down there," Reeve Royce Macaulay reminded the council when the matter had previously been discussed in a committee of the whole meeting. Presently, his property is zoned as holding and a pumping station would be needed if it was rezoned into a residential area. "If we let another septic tank go in there we're getting farther 'away from what we want - not to have any more septic tanks in town where sanitary sewers could be," Mayor Harold Lobb noted. Council decided to send a letter to Parker explaining their reasons for the refusal. In other property business, Clerk Cam Procter informed council that the severances for John Stevely and Myrtle Glazier had been granted and December Church gives 8400 Arena 29 was the last appeal date. However,) -severance was refused 'by the committee of adjustment to Harold 'White Homes, for two semi-detached houses on Gordon Street. "We have a problem here," Clerk Procter noted since a building permit had been issued and the zoning bylaws hadbeen met. "He wants to sell these houses now and the committee is refusing them," Clerk roster added. e noted that he talked with the town planning board and they said that White had not complied with all the requirements. "They gave me the reasons verbally, but wouldn't put them in writing," Clerk Proer-exi5 arned to council. Re also added that the planning board and the council had originally approved the measurements. The entire lot is 60 feet, and would be split into two 30 foot Turn to page 3 The Clinton Christian Reformed Church ladies kicked off the donations to the arena fund with a donation of $400 from their church bazaar. The Clinton Rec. Committee learned this at their meeting in the town hall last Thursday night, and to handle any proceeds toward the fund, the group made a motion to open an account at the Credit Union. It was decided that Percy Livermore, Marie Jefferson and Cam Proctor would be signing officers for the fund. Despite the bad weather last Thur- sday, four committee members turned out for the meeting and several other items were discussed, including the pool fund, The small group made tentative plans to get estimates on the cost of a new pool. Dean Reid noted that there is $23,000 in the fund at the present time, and grants should cover the rest of the cost. "I don't know whether $40,000 would cover it or not," he noted. Reid went on to say that a heater has already been purchased and the pool building is in good shape and all that is needed is to build a new pool, a deck and perhaps' a new addition to house the heater. "The shallow end of the pool is too deep to teach the small kids," Reid added. Clarence Neilans told the committee that four years ago the estimated cost of constructing a pool was $32,000. "Size wise, the pool is adequate," Ron MacKay added when the size was discussed. In other business, Ron.. MacKay reported that the Bantam Hockey Tournament plans were well underway. and on He noted that 41 teams had registered to play in the ,two -weekend event in January. "That's the most teams that we've had that I know of," Neilans noted, "in fact some teams had to be turned away because there wasn't enough ac- commodation." The event will be held on January 19. 20, 21, 22 and on January 27, 28, and 29. Each team will play two games each. Clarence Neilans will be checking with Paul Kerrigan, Kinsmen Raceway Chairman to see if no parking signs can be erected against the grandstand. Neilans noted to •the rec. committee that the snow was causing problems and space was limited. He also suggested that bus parking be designated in front of the grandstand. It was also decided by the committee that the arena will be closed on Sunday, December 25 and Monday, December 26 for the Christmas holidays. Some discussion arose over the pool and arena waterline which runs through the Gordon Cudmore property. Two years ago $50,000 was budgeted to put in new pipes there, however until this fall no new waterlines were installed to repair the leaky ones and after sitting there for one year, the pipes were taken away. None of the rec committee members were certain to whether there was- an easement on the Cudmore property. However if there is, it was suggested that a letter be sent to the PUC telling then' that the waterlines shouldn't be changed. "There are too many pipes over there now," claimed Dennis Jewitt about the lines running through the park.