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HomeMy WebLinkAboutClinton News-Record, 1979-08-23, Page 1777,77, .77.. ew • Little Sara Lyon,4, gets a helping hand from Marg Wright, one of the helpers with the kindergarten class at the- Londesboro United Church Bible School last week. The school attracted an excellent turnout. (News -Record photo) Province will allow curling club to open By Wilma Oke Tuckersmith Township Council will be required to pay an extra $33,000 to the Huron County Board of Education and a levy of $12,000 to the County of Huron based on new educational and government factors revealed . this month in an -announcement on the effect of the 1979 Provincial Equalizing factors. In other business of the meeting held Tuesday night, it was learned from the Ministry of Labor that the Vanastra Curling Rink will be allowed to open .this winter season, if a monitoring program is followed. The monitoring will call for, among several requirements,reading for snow depths, with closing down if snow reaches nine inches and closure if wind velocity reaches gusts of 35 mph. If closed down, the building cannot be reopened for use until in- spected by a government engineer to ascertain if the building continues to be safe. The building must be in- spected regularly each month as well. . Councillor Robert Fotheringham asked who would be paying .for the many • inspections made by govern- ment engineers during the winter period - the curling club members or the township ratepayers. No decision was reached on this question. Mr. Fotheringham, who represents the council on the Seaforth Fire Area Board, read a statement that the Fire Area Board members from the four townships axe putting in the Seaforth Expositor this week to refute many of the claims expressed by members of Seaforth Town Council in last week's paper as reasons for opting out of the Seaforth Fire Area Board. In May of this year, Seaforth resolved to pull out of the present agreement it .has With its four neigh- bouring townships in the Seaferth Fire Area Board. Seaforth has decided to set up its own Fire Department. The town had hoped to sell fire protection to the townships. However, the townships are going ahead with plans to continue operating the present equipment in their own housing. By dropping out of the fire board, the town of Seaforth loses all equity in the equipment and must start from scratch in purchasing its own equipment (at one council meeting, Reeve John Flannery estimated the present fire equipment owned by the fire board of over $100,000.) Although the four township officials 'Turn 10 page 3 • If you're new to town in the last' week and wondered whether all that sand on the streets was there following a snow storm, wonder no more. The grit was placed there by a County of Huron road crew hired by the town's works department after they sprayed liquid tar on all those cracks in our ashphalt roads. The process, using a special machine, closes up the road sur- face again, keeping out rain and the resulting frost, and can ac- tually extend the life of the roads by many years. It's actully pretty cheap insurance against a costly repaving program that would really send the tax rates soaring. ++± And speaking of taxes, did you get your tax bills last week? Scary ain't it. Oh well, if the new assessment base comes in for next year, town taxpayers will see their payments go down, while rural inhabitants will be paying more. Says the town sage this Week: `lime is what passes rapidly between the easy monthly payments." + It's bad enough to have to worry whether you're going to get home late at night, what with all the gravel runners driving the high- ways, plastered, but when you get home, you also have to worry whether the donkeys have smashed their empty beer bottles all over your laneway. From our recent 'observations, the new police and court crack - .down on drinking in the car has just made the boys a little more , cautious, but doesn't seern to have cut it dOWn Much, In fact, they lew the Crackdown as a klinpi of a allengei, like a game to be played 1ke any other Sport. Police say that the public pan help and if . they see offenders_ report them quietly and anonymously to either the town or OPP police, giving a brief description of *The car and the license plate number, if. possible. This goes for any other offence like squealing tires in the middle of the night, or any major crime. +++ The doldrums of August are just about over, as the Labor Day weekend is just around -the corner. There's plenty going on in the vicinity, including the Canadian Women's Softball Tourney over in Milverton, the 30th Huron Junior, Farmers Reunion in ClintOn on Saturday night,- and of course, the Clinton Flower Show, which seems to be growing each year and is a blooming success. Yours truly has a few offerings for the show and by looking around at all the b'eautiful gardens in this district, I'm sure a lot of other people do too. Come on, let's see some of your work in the show, even if it's only five petunias, Heck, if I can win a couple of bucks with my puny exhibits, then anybody can. And we'll close out the column this week with a couple of last words on former. Prime Minister John George Diefenbaker, who was buried yesterday (Wednesday) in Saskatoon. I met the Chief as a hi school boy in London in the ear sixties before Cassius Camp and 1 the others betrayed . and alt ough many sai010 started the sep ration of Qtfebec from Canada, he cannot really be blamed the ebb and flow of history, Jut arnalI part of it. Even One of the strongest prime ministers of all time, Pierre Trudeau and his fancy bag of tricks, couldn't prevent the inevitable, BY ,JEFF SED DON If updated equalization factors are used for next year's tax bills in Huron the county's urban areas will finally get a break. But that break will be at the ex- pense of the rural municipalities. * The equalization factors are use1 by the county assessment office to bring municipal assesanersts in line with current market values of property. The factors: were frozen in, 1970 and this Oar that freeze could be lifted and the factors updated to 1978 market values. If that ,happens urban municipalities will pay a much smaller chunk of the costs to operate county government and the county education system. The decrease to county towns and villages,..will mean increases in the share townships pay for county services. Goderich will enjoy the largest saving if -the new factors are applied and McKillop township will face the largest increase. The county seat will pay $481,495 less if the new factors are .ein."ts wil Used while McKillop, will have to come with an additional $126,782. Other municipalities enjoying savings are Clinton, $80,087; ExeW, $172,386; Seaforth, $28,250; Wingham, $126,467; Bayfield, $7,557; Myth, KM; Brussels, $15,497; Hensall, $49,163; Zurich, $9,102; Hay township $1,743. Those getting hit with a bigger chunk of the costs are Colborne, $22,781; Goderich township, $95,135; Ashfield, $25,254; 'Grey $83,428; Morris, $95,835; Stanley, $85,916; Hullett, $109,467; Howick, $69,994; Tackersmith, $56,153; Turnberry, $14,613; East Wawanosh, $13,201; West Wawanosh, $58,355; Usborne, $83,240. Despite repeated warnings that the new factors would be applied to tax apportionments next year some township councils are up in arms about the increases. The townships have repeatedly argued that services in the rural areas cannot be compared to those in urban areas and thus the huge tax differences are fair. IVIgn poor after train crash A Clinton man, Terry Pearson, 42, is still in critical conditen in University hospital in London following a train -truck collision near Stratford last Friday. Mr. Pearson was struck by a CN dayliner as he was crossing the track in a truck he was driving for Fleming Feed .Mills of Clinton. The train dragged the truck and its 20 -ton load half a mile down the track. A waiter on the train was treated and released from Stratford hospital for burns suffered when he spilled hot water on himself during the accident. The cr.ossing doesn't have any warning lights, and a row of trees prevents traffic from seeing clearly down the tracks. Apparently, Mr. Pearson had stopped and:had nosed the truck put onto the track to see if anything. was coming when he was struck. The towns have clained the tax. ,system has -put them in an unfair position for years and has forced them to subsidize townships for the past decade. ° These arguments have not been ignored by the Province: Market value assessment And equalization factors have been ,politigal footballs for years. The previnceT because of the impacrmarket value aSsessment would have on some residential tai bill's, has net been. quick t� pass legislation. The result has been a lot of sveculation and theory on what new factors would do to residential and farm taxes. The big_ reason for the sharp in- crease to rural municipalities is spiraling land costs. Since 1970, when the equalization factors were last applied, land prices in the townships have doubled and tripled. Residential property has gone up in value in that period but not nearly as much. To arrive at new equalization factors county tax assessors study the sales of property in a municipality to attempt to determine market values. The market value is then compared to the assessments of property in that municjpality. The market values are then stacked against population figures to determine how much money that municipality should raise as its fair share of county costs. The increases in farm taxes will then relfect an increase in the market value of farms. Property taxes will increase comparable to the increased market value of the farm. Increases in farm taxes will not all come out of the farmer's poeket however. Farmers get half their property taxes back from the government in the form of a direct_ provincial grant which according to county clerk Bill Hanly will make the tax hike less of a burderfon farmers.. But While that grant. helps appease taxpayers township councillors are still angry. They are faced with raising more capital and have little choice but to increase milj rates. The province has no • iptention of turning a blind.eye on townships. Any, townships not happy with their in- crease ,can appeal to the Ontario Municipal Board by November 1 to. argue their, case. But town clerks are confident all the townships can do is lament over their situation. They feel the new tax ;apportionments are fair andthat rural gnaniciiialities are finally carrying their share of the inside Birthday club p 2 Historically speaking P. 3 Smiley's summer p 4 Lots of sports p. 6 8 7 Auburn keys P 9 Bayfield ratepayers p. 11. Farm news p 12 Londesboro Leader p 13 Classifieds Donnelly's murder P. 16, 17, 18, 19 p.20 Weather 1979 Hi Lo Aug 14 1 7 .5 9 15 16 10 16 20 3 17 20 8.5 18 19 9 19 '24 11 20 26 11 Rain 12.0 mm 1978 Hi Lo 32 . 15 29 18.5 . 28 17 23' 14 29 13 31 15 22.5 9.5 Rain 32.4mm .114 h Year -No. 34 .4411144.1.11.11•111.1.4 Thursday, August 23, /979 --sweet parking now reality by Shelley McPhee After 25 years of planning, Clinton Council has finally made a move to improve the parking lot behind the. library and town hall on Rattenbury Street Fast. At their regUlar meeting on August 13, council passed a bylaw to authorize the purchase of part of lot 210 on the south side of Rattenbury Street from owner Ray Lambers. The town will buy 45 feet by 131 feet of the property at the cost of $13,000. The land will be used specifically to expand the present parking lot that is well used by businessmen and shoppers. No plans have been mentioned to pave what will be Clinton's largest public parking lot. The Clinton council of 25 years ago had planned to pave the then existing lot but work was never completed. In other land acquisitions, Clinton will be expanding its recreational park with the purchase of lot 623 on the south side of Mill Street., Council authorized the purchase of the land from owner Evelyn Feeney at the cost of $21,000. The bylaw stated that $11,000 of the cost will be paid at the Closing of the deal with the remaining $10,000 to be paid by January 14, 1980. In other business, council unanimously passed a motion to give the Woodstock Disaster Relief Fund $500 to help recover from the tornado that devastated the area last week. "This in not throwing money away," Mayor Harold Lobb said. "This same thing might happen to us someday, but let's hope it never does." Cou.ncil received the official letter of resignation from Councillor Joe Atkinson. In his letter, Councillor No trouble yet with area phones So far, telephone service is running fairly close to normal in Huron County, despite a l0 -da St strike by 15,000 techni.cians in Ontario and Quebec, including 20_ working out of the Clinton work centre. A federal mediator on Monday called off a meeting that was to have been held between officials of Bell Canada and the striking members of the Communications workers of Canada. Glen Dundas of,„ Toronto, a bargaining representative for the union, said last Saturday that mediator Rolland Doucet of Montreal decided the meeting Would not be produdiVe. fibs.. weeks 6f holding rotating st ikes, followed by the Ben practice of locking out some employees, the union decided last week to loan a full' scale strike protesting the Bell move'. • Atkinson explained that medical reasons are forcing him to give up his post. - Arthiough council accepted his - resignation with regret, they agreed to allow Councillor Atkinson to remain on the industrial committee. With the resignation, council must now find a new Clinton taxpayer to fill the council seat for the remainder of the two year term until the next full election in November 1980. The council seat can be filled by appointment or election. "Hopefully someone will come to council and ask to be included," Clerk Cam Proctor explained. "Then council themselves will hold an election to make the final decision." Following a request from the Vanastra Lions Club, Clinton council hopes to represent the town in Saturday's Tuck ersm ith -Van a stra Country Fair parade. Despite the short notice, council plans on using the old fire trock as a float. A Wintario draw won't be held in Clinton this year. Although council applied to have a draw scheduled in the town, a return letter from Win- tario people explained that the 1979 itinerary is already filled, but Clin- ton's invitation will be kept for con- sideration for one of the 26 draws Set for 1980. "1980 is five years past our Cen- tennial, so perhaps we could have a celebration for that with a Winta:rio draw," Mayor Lobb suggested. "We could hold it in the arena and maybe have it with an Old Boys Reunion and a dance," he added. When questionned about the cost of holding such an event, Mayor Lobb explained that it would not be too expensive since the PUC assured the Mayor that the transmission and technical part of the broadcast could L,Etiet,OtOr a ham when the photographer shows up, and these tierigall young ladles were no exception. Last e day as they gave the camera thelr better side while gelling Kool-Aid On Main Street thirsty Motorists. Business was repotted to be brisk by, left to tight) Le gage, Debble Lawrence, ratty tenting, and Christine 120SO, all Of 111214 Street. (News -Record photo) 35, Cents be handled without too much dif- ficulty. "We'd like to make some money off this for the town to help with projects like the arena floor fund," Mayor. Lobb explained. Deputy Reeve Ernie Brown in- formed council that the 1980 street construction will include work done on two blocks of George Street and one block on Queen Street. Other construction will include the carry over from 1979, with final coats to be put on some streets,. Deputy -reeve Brown also informed., council that the Public Works department is in bad need of a new five -ton dump truck. The present truck needs body work, is rusting badly and its --brakes are deteriorating.. However, the price of a new truck is about $15,000 and there is only $5,000 in the public works budget. Council suggested that Brown, along with the help of Councillor Ron McKay, look into the prices_ of a secopd hand vehicle, and then report their findings to council. CouncillorMcKay suggested to council that the area around the CNR tracks at tee weigh scale be cleaned up. Council agreed and instructed Clerk Proctor to write an appropriate letter to the CNR. Council -reccommended to the committee of adjustment the severance application frorn Helen Wells. Mrs. Wells wants to sever the Turn to page :3 • Stratford man. charged after assaulting OPP A Stratford man will appear in Goddrich provincial court on Monday where he will be trie-d on a number of charges resulting from an August 18 incident at the Elm Haven Motel, outside Clinton. Russell Van White, 26, of Stratford has been charged with assaulting a police officer, dangerous driving, not having insurance and driving under suspension as a result of the Saturday morning altercation. Goderich OPP Constable Eric Gosse was injured in the incident. The Goderich OPP also reported that two people received minor in- juries after the car they were travelling was completely demolished in an August 17 accident. David Underwood, 18, of Seaforth and passenger Sim Savauge, 15, of Seaforth were injured after the station wagon they were travelling its along Sideroad .20-21 in Goderich TOtrnship, went oft the gravel road and rolledinto the north ditch. Damage to the -1978 vehicle was set at $5,000.