HomeMy WebLinkAboutClinton News-Record, 1980-01-24, Page 1115th year 7No, 4 Thursday, Jcinuary24, 1980
by .Shelley McPhee
The development of a new super-
market an Clinton:has been delayed by
protests, ' mm
At their regular meeting on Monday
night, Clinton town council _ learned
that an- Ontario Municipal Board
(-OMB) hearrng-.has-.,n---sot.,.-fo
March 4 to hear -objections against the
food store, proposed to be built in the
west : end of town. next to ..the
El tkka-veti.
Although the OMB suggested that
the town council speak to the five
objectors, after repeated visits by the
mayor and other members of council,
only one objector withdrew
complaint.
Deb Shewfelt, a subdivision
,developer in the area, initially ob-
jected. to ,the store being built by
Knechtel Grocers, but Mayor Lobb
told council • that Mr, • Slewfelt's
oona,plaipt. had been based ' on
misinformation and had since been
cleared up.
However, council is concerned at
four objections still exist - objections
rtaey feel arehamperingprogress
While council received -close to a
dezen letters from individivals and
government bodies who support the
food store, two home owners within
the official 400,foot circulation area of
the proposed supermarket, issued
objections to it.
in a .letter to council, Charles
• ,Johnston --of 251 Huron Street, who had
earlier supported the project, ob-
jected . to, the spot re -zoning for the
new store, saying that it would cause
increased traffic- flow and unsafe
conditions for youngsters on the road,
Theymay be good*- operators, ,but when it'. comes to
picking ,good weather for -picketing, the women ,at the
Bell Canada office in Clinton aren't so lucky, as the 13
members are out on strike. The women, part of. Local 46
of the Communication Workers of Canada, have been on
strike since Saturday night, following several weeks of
work following a legal walkout on Christmas ,and New
Year's day:" The -i perators, many of who supportsingle
parentfamilies, make about $4 an hour now, and have
been without a contract since 1977: They' are also seeking
a cost allying clause, payment of back pay and better
vacation pay.While on strike, the women get $8 a week
strike pay and $3.50 a,week for each child: (News -Record
photo)
•
If . not to control the dog pollution,
the _500 per cent increase in price in
tagging dogs, in Clinton may helpto
offset the costs of impounding' stray
animals.
At ' their Monday night meeting,
Clinton council agreed that increasing
the prices in dog tags from $4 to $10
for a male or spayed female and $20,
up from $6, for a female dog may not
encourage more people to buy
licences for their dogs.
However, Councillor Rob. Parr -
suggested, The increase makes dog
owners think twice about having a dog
and the responsibilites of owning a
dog."
In support to aletter of opposition to
the increase in prices from dog owner
Seamus .Doherty, Councillor
Rb'semary Armstrong, a dog owner
herself, said, "My dog's tied up, but
,49444419. ••999.9.,-.},
n.Final.ry,, t`id man winter arrived
this ..week after a vacation at. who
knows where. Blustery winds and
heavy snow Tuesday and Wed-
nesday has at last made this look
more like January in- Huron
County, following nearly of month -
of April -like conditions.
In fact, nearly everywhere one
* goes, weather seems to be the
prime topic of .-conversation.,
followed, at a d.istarice, by the
erection. We have had reports of
tulips growing, pussy willows in
bloom, and trees breaking bud; sap
rising, and birds flying north.----.
There
orth.-- "-
There was even one crazy
Clintonian who cut his, front lawn
on Saturday, January 19, and I can
verify that one personally, but
unfortunately, couldn't get a
picture, as I was riding the lawn
mower. 0
'Yes, it's true.- I was overhauling
the rider, tuning it up, and
generally getting it ready to go for -
the .spring, and when I had it
purring like a bitten, an un-
controllable urge swept aver ane,
and I made a couple of roundson
the front lawn.
According to the weathermen, a
winter such as, this comes along ,
only once in 100 years, so now I'll
be able to tell my grandchildren. I
cut the -lawn in.January! -
�-++
There have been some other very
unusual phenornenom connected
with 'the mild weather, including a
report -from Bayfield of a grass fire ,
on Saturday, another first, as far
as we can tell, for this century. And
on an even more positive note, the
weatherman informs us that
tomorrow, January 25, is lie'
coldest day 'pf the year, and frrn
then on the mean temp -begins a
gradual rise until it__peak§ on Slily'
25.` So it's safe to say the winter's
back is broke, no matter how dirty
it gets in February. + '
According to the Main Street wit;
this weather can all be credited to
the politicians) just as', the wit
predicted in December when the
Clark governmrkent felly But the wit
-says that once' alt that hot air
vanishes after, election day on
February la, watch out! Winter
will be back.
+ + +
And still with the election, don't
forget that if you haven't receive
,your enumeration-- notice in the
mail -et, then you aren't on the
•voter's'list, and you had better get
in touch with your returning officer
in Seaforth before February 1.
Also starting Monday, February
4 until February 15, you may cast
an. advance 'vote at the returning
,officer's office if for some reason; you can't make the advance polls
on Feb 9, 11, and 12. Remember, if
fofr any reason you feel you won't
be able to vote on the regular
election day, please vote at the
advance polls.
+ + +
Stillwith the election (what else
is there to talk about), aren't those
television commercials, which
started bombarding us -last
weekend, by both major parties
sickening. ,They must think we're
all a bunch of idiots to watch that
kinW tripe: They'd be well ad-
vised to get thoseputrid spots off.
the air as soon as possible:
• + + + .
A woman:in„Barrie has come up
with a unique idea- that would
certainly help our dog control
program. J. Christman says in" a
letterin the January issue of
Angler and Hunter that as well as
the TV screens flashing the sign
"Do you know where your children
are?" they could also ask "Do you
'know where -your' DOGS are," and
Help stop dogs. from- running and
killing wildlife. And, we might add,
keep them out o tthe- arbage too!
+ + +
The Clinton . firefighters were
called out early Thursday .evening
to a'minor•truck fire on the far'rxa of
Henry Drost at RR 3, Clinton and
extinguished the minor fire in' the
engine. Damage was limited to
several hundred dollars.
+' + +
"A nickel goes along way," says
the Main Street, wit, when he
learned that inflation has reduced
a dollar to 50 cents in the last 10
years. "You can carry it around for-..
• days without finding anything to
buy." ,
it's true,putting up the price only
penalizes.,, the people who religiously
sbuf tags anyway. They problem may.:
onlybe greate "'and" we'll have :mgro ,+.
strays around."
"There's fellow who buys a tag, his
dog gets loose, he's picked up an. d the
owner has to pay, but the fellow who
doesn't pay for the tag doesn't have to
get his dog out of the pound," she said.
Presently, dogs caught are taken to
the Goderich Veterinary Clinic out-
side of Goderich. The animals are
kept there for three days, and if not
claimed or a new home found, they
-are des .tr_oyecL The town picks _up to -
cost ot keeping the dogs impounded.
There's a minimum charge of $12
for keeping the -dogs at the pound and
a charge of $6 a day for keeping the
dog. After three days, if the dog' has
not been claimed, it is destroyed at a
cost of $15 to $25.
Presently, the local police force is
in charge of enforcing the dog bylaw
and_ hatching stray animals. In' his
letter to council Mr, Doherty
questionned this policy and suggested
that a dog catcher be hired, to be paid
from money gathered from previous
years tag fees.
Councillor Rob Parr agreed saying,
"The problem is getting this bylaw
enforced. Perhaps we sh oull' hire- a
dog cathcer. "-
Councillor Ron McKay sar-
castically replied, . "Hiring a dog
catcher will break the town because
all we have is strayrdogs.'
He suggested that any dog taken to
the pound, that is not tagged, be
destroyed immediately,• and not -kept
for three days.
"That may be tough," he admitted,
"But we have to get tough."
In 1979, 300 dog tags were issued,
but Councillor George Rumball said
he remernbered the days when only
eight tans were issued in'fnwtl.
l'urn to page 3 •
•
sin6e there aro no s dewalks in that
area `of town • He suggested that if one
store was allowed to buildin the area,
then others would also locate there° in
the future.'
Gordon Johnston, of 25 Erie Street
North, told council that another
-grocery store-wa-s-not-needed-in-town
and that people did not go hungry in
Clinton. He said there were enough
eyesores in the area now and
suggested a need for more homes or a
factory in the west end of town,
keeping the stores in. the downtown
area,-
A. third objection came from Dan
Murphy, of Donnelly and Murphy, a
Goderich law firm. Mr. Murphy has
been acting on the behalf of Ozzie
Kuenzig, owner of the Clinton IGA.
Turn to page 3
ouncil reneges on parking permit
by Shelley McPhee
The . yearly discussion of - how
parking permits should be issued
came to its usual conclusion ° by
i,linton.council on Monday night.
Although council hadplannedtore-
evaluate their policy_, of issuing_ per-
mits last month, they backed down,
and.a reed.to issue the $15 permits for
g P
another year following a request from
the ministry of -.agriculture and food
office in Clinton-
Although council had : hoped ,to
finalize a policy on how permits
whould be issuedand what applicants
should receive them, they decided to
issue the ministry of agriculture 10
permits after Councillor Frank Van
Altena told council, "Don Pullen (ag ,
rep) said that 20 people work there (at
the ,ministry office) who could easily
leave the building empty and move
elsewhere."
With this ne , Mayor Harold Lobb b.
b
streSsed the nee tolee the ministry
of agriculture in town. ,
Councillor Rosemary Armstrong
said, "I don't want to lose the
ministry of: agriculture, but I don't
want them telling us that they'll leave
town unless they get permits."
In a later discussion with the News -
Record, Mr: Pullen stated, however,
that he did not use intimidation and
explained that his conversation with
Councilor Van Altena had , been
misinterpreted.
"There's- no thought -in mind of
• moving the office out of Clinton,
however in the future we may look to
relocating somewhere else in town,"
he explained.
Mr. Pullen. said, ' "We really ap-
preciate those permits. We'd be hard
pressed without there. We get 50 to 60
people a day in the office and there
isn't a lot of parking around the
area."
He noted that along with lack of
parking • space, the office itself is
suffering from a shortage of storage
space and the office may have to
expand in the future. He emphasized
the office would not be leaving town in
the near future.
At the .council meeting, Councillor
Armstrong explained that she wasn't
against the parking permit concept,
which allows businessmen end others
use of the parking spaces on- the main
-street in Clinton for a flat sum of $15 a.
nsrn+en get
14racedays
The Clinton Kinsmen Raceway will
• be racing again this year and have
been awarded their dates by the
Q ntarioRacing Commission.
Clinton will race --every Sunday •
afternoon starting on June 2.0, and run
-until September 28, a total' of 14 race
•days.
Last year, the volunteer Kinsmen
raced 15 Sundays, and set several
records for mutuel handle.' But their
overall attendance and bet was down. •
Clinton faces stiff competition this
year from -Dresden Raceway, •
Mohawk Raceway, Fla,mboro
Raceway, and Orangeville Raceway,
who all race on Sunday this summer.
Goderich has also been awarded
nine racing dates, which will likely be
held on Friday nights in. July and
August.
A total of 1,501 harness!'acingdates
have been issued in 'the province in ,
1980, compared to 1,429 last year.
year, without paying the parking
meters.
However she did ' say, "We ap-
preyed everyone's application last
year on a basis whit -WI -didn't -agree
with. We're ' not giving people
unlimited parking space for eight
hours a day and surely it's not up to
co nu cil to give parking spacesright in
front of their building,"
Councillor George Rumball said, -"I
think the ministry ,`of agriculture
require space .down• there. They have
a lot of help and they're in and out all
day."
Over the. past number ofyears„
council has been concerned over what
..criteria they 'should use in issuing
permits. The permits where first
allowed to give businessmen who are
in and our of their offices a number of
times during . the day, *parking' on
main street. However council has
been concerned that perhaps they
have beer . too lenient ins.- issuing
permits and that those holding per-
mits have been abusing their rights.
Last year, 19 permits were given out.
Councillor Rob. Parr suggested that
until a parking policy is firmly
established that perhaps •permits
could be issued on a monthly basis,
However, council agreed with . a
suggestion from Councillor Chester
Archibald that permits be issued this
year, but the policy be- reviewed in
1981
With this decision, council -issued ,.
permits to the ministry of agriculture
andalso approved the application of
another permit from Mason Bailey;
Weather
1980 1979
HI LO. HI ' LO..
JAN
15 4 rl -12 -18
16 .5 -1 -12.5 -20
17 . 7 3 -3 -22-5
18 4 1 -15.5 -25
19 ».1 . -•28
20 1 -4 -:3. .y_
21 1.5 -5 '-3 -7
Snow 13 cm
ieves hit homes
Clinton Police Chief Lloyd Westlake
has -warned Clinton .re -s -idents -to --keep-
and gold, silver and coins in a safe,
place.
•In the past week, the police report
two thefts of silver and coins in.
Clinton. A chest of silver was taken
from an Albert Street home on
January 17 and on January 18, a
quantity of coins were stolen from a
Wintercourt Drive home. In
December a Rattenbury home was
entered and similar old m oney was
stolen.
Police say that there was no forced
entry by thieves at any of the •
residences. -
On-J-anuary 19 a parked car on Bond
Street was robbed of a Pioneer tape
deck and booster. The tape deck was
valued at $754, and thieves were in
such a hurry they left their- tools
behind.
On January 20, hubcabs valued at
$360 were stolen from a car parked at
the Clinton area and-en--3'anoary 22 the
Clinton Legion was broken into and
three, part' bottles of liquor were
-stolen.
A January 13 car accident resulted
in,$550 when a car driven by Douglas
R. Riehl, 21, of Clinton and a second
vehicle driven by Anita Shrier, 17, of
RR 5, Goderich collided. Damage to
the Riehl car was set at $150 and
damage to the Shrier car was set at
$400. •
A parked car belonging to Ivan
McConnell of Goderich recieved $400
in damages after it was struck be a
second vehicle drven. by4 David
Brodie, 20, of RR 1, Brucefield. The
January 19 accident occurred after
the Brodie vehicle lost control, spun
around and hit the McConnell car,
parked along the south curb of East
Street.
On January 17,* a car driven by
Aldegonda Holthuysen, 39, of RR 1,
Walton received $200 in damages
after it hit a parked car on Albert
Street. Theparked car, which. had
$400 in damages was owned by. Olive
Brindley, of Goderich.
.4 •
Even though ft was Alit unveiled on Sunday, a memorial
plaque donated by, the Ball Funeral 1101116 in memory of
the late Mac Cameron, already has five navies on it. The
plaque, which records the names 01 those who give $100
or more to the hospital fund, Woo unveiled aid dedicated
in the hospital corridor In front of 80 persons,. Left to right
are: Rev. John Oestreicher; hospital chairman Bob
Campbell, who satld the hospital needs donations for its $1
Million expansion plans; Millie , Cameron; and Mike
Falconer of Ball's. (Nem s -Record photo) '
4i ,
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