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HomeMy WebLinkAboutClinton News-Record, 1980-02-21, Page 1A house at 161 James Street will have to be torn down, according to owner Cale Doucette of Clinton, following a fire last Friday morning that gutted the 11/2 storey home occupied by Tom and Joan Burley, who lost most of their belongings. Firemen were hampered in fighting the $194,700 pool • '$30,000 blaze by many layers of shingles and siding on the home, and by the advance state of the fire which collapsed the second floor and the roof. (News -Record photo) Council okays pool contract For the second time Within a year, ,, Clinton council has accepted a tender to complete the construction of the new Clinton pool. At their regular meeting on February 19, council accepted the tender of J.A. McPowell'from Exeter, for the construction of a full-sized swimming and training pool, Proposal'B', at a cost of $194,742. The McDowell tender application • was the lowest of three submitted to council. The three, the same who initially applied last July, included: Frank Van Bussel, Lucan, Proposal 'A', $199,724; Proposal 'B', $231,666 and Kelly Lynn Construction, Hyde Park, Proposal 'A', $196,846; Proposal 'B', $224,842. The newly accepted tender price from McDowell is $11,140 higher than last July's accepted tender price from `Kelly Lynn at $184,602. Before accepting the McDowell Police nab ye, Three Brampton men have been charged with 27 counts of break, enter and theft following a rash of break ins at a Bayfield cottage area, The Goderich OPP said that David Burn', 16, is to appear in Goderich provincial court on March 7 on the charges and David Brown, 18, and Harry Wilson, 20 are to appear at a later date. Burns was arrested by Goderich OPP .constables, Lorne Carter and Gary Martin, while Brown and Wilson were arrested by the Peel Regional Police. Brown and Wilson are being held at the West Metro Detention Centre in Toronto on charges of possession of stolen property, following the theft of several stolen cars. Upon their release, they will be arrested by the Goderich OPP. - The break, enter and theft charges. follow a; rash of break-ins at 27 cot- tages, in the Houston Heights sub- division, south of Bayfield. The February 4 to 6 incidents resulted in smashed windows, doors and fur- nishings, damaged interiors and contents removed. The Goderich OPP said that the damage estimate had been set- at $10,000, but would probably be higher. Constable Carter said that the vandalism in Houston Heights was not` connected with a recent rash of break, ins to another cottage subdivision, near Grand Beiid. Constable Carter .explained that cottage areas are a prime target area for vandalism and he suggested that. cottage owners should leave their name and address and telephone number in a window of their residence so they can be easily contacted by police in case of a break in. In hopes to curtail further cottage vandalism, area OPP detachments are beginning a Cottage Security Program. For the next three months throughout the province, '35 young. people will be working in several districts, checking . the e-xterior security of cottages in the area. When a -cottage is found insecure, it will be reported to the nearest detachment of the OPP. With my head full of election promises, and my belly full of pancakes and sausages, I am sitting -here in front . of the typewriter knowing that it's going to be one of those weeks when lady inspiration has deserted me. However, there is still this space to fill on front page, and tradition -dictates that it must be more than just blank space. 1 + + + Well, the election is over and this will be -the last fling of tripe from my pen on the federal scene for some time-. As you probably ••:gues§ed, I lost my vote 'here in Huron, but then did so did quite a ' few others.' It seems to be a tradition here in Huron (for the last 20 years) that we always elect an opposition 'member, except for the . 272 days Bob sat on the government side and was all but ignored by Joe Who. But bygones are bygones, and I wish our rookie MP, Murray ., Cardiff the very best in the next four or five years, and if his ° predecessors are any indication, he will serve us well here. in Huron - Bruce. Certainly his vast ex- perience in the farm field should prove valuable to the country, and I wouldn't be surprised if even the Liberal agricultural minister asks for his advice on occasion. + + + The Main Street, wit says this week that some politicians repair their fences by hedging. I don't know why council goes to all the trouble and' expense of passing bylaws if they're never enforced, Last week, I witnessed a Clinton man narrowly "escape severe injury or -even death when he was missed by only inches by a large chunk of falling We. The incident, which occurred on Albert Street, is just one example of the ice problem we have had here in Clinton the past several weeks what with the heavy show load on roofs, and the below, , freeing'' temperatures, both conducive• to heavy icing. The problem seems to be going away today (Wednesday)' as the temperature goes above freezing, and we can all be thankful the problem has gone away for another year. + + One more crack before I get on to „more pleasing things: why can't a country like Canada, where winter w'as practically invented, win more than a couple of paltry medals at the Winter Olympics? Although most of us will be en- joying the mild spell, the first since the 22 of January, the ors nizers of the Snowarama up at W lton this Sunday are hoping that the weather turns colder so they can carry on with their ride for Crip- pted Children. The ride was already postponed from a snowless January, and unless it goes this Sunday, many of the snowmobilers will have lost interest.. - The hockey spirit in town has been revived, judging by the near sell-out crowd at Tuesday night's last game in the quarter final series against Kincardine. For the first time in years, many. Clinton fans were cheering loudly, and some even carried banners, a real, rarity here. And the boys didn't 'let , their fans down as they pulled one of the fire so there will be more exciting hockey this Friday night and again Tuesday. + + + "Living on a budget is the same thing as living beyond your means," says the Main Street wit, "except that you have a record of tender, council briefly discussed the two pool proposals, but the majority agreed to go ahead with the second plan which will include the con- struction of a training pool. In the discussion Councillor Rob Parr noted, "There's a $25,000 dif- ference between having a training pool and not having one. The question is do we still want the training pool?" Councillor Rosemary Armstrong "called the training pool "an added luxury" and told council, "We're talking about money for the town hall and for industrial sites. We need a pool in Clinton, but a training pool is an unnecessary luxury." "We'll have a' training pool, a swimming pool and a wading pool. It seems to me than having three pools' is a luxury," Councillor Parr added. Supporting the need of a training pool Councillor George Rumball explained, "It's,: much.,easier to train a child in a pool where his feet , can touch the bottom.. There are ..,iii- structors 'at" the pout but they Watch all the kids." Councillor Armstrong replied, "Kids have been learning to swim that way for years. How many, kids have drowned here because their feet couldn't touch bottom?" Althoughcouncil agreed to build the two pools ,Councillor Armstrong noted, "I was elected to try to save the taxpayer some money and 1 have to try to do that." Paying for the pool will be divided into four equal parts, through taxes, fund raising and grants. Wintario will pay 25 .per cent of the bill with a matching 25 per cent raised through fund raising. A Culture and Recreation grant will pay for another 25 per cent and the remaining portion will be paid through -taxes. With the acceptance �f the tender and approval from -. the Ontario Municipal Board, council can now go ahead and borrow up ,to a maximum of $225,000 to pay for the pool con- struction. The loan will be paid back in three years. Already Clinton has $39,000 in the bank for the the fund raising portion of the pool, the money raised by the Bingo Committee. Twenty-five per . cent of the total project will cost $48,900. With the addition of bank interest at 15 per cent, money obtained from the general tax levy will be; 1980, $33,087;, 1983, $44,-519; 1982, $26,694, for a total cost of $104,300. By Alice Gibb Murray Cardiff, the PC candidate in Huron -Bruce, who will be representing the riding, in Ottawa after Monday's election, continued the cautious approach on -election night that has marked his campaign from the start. Mr. Cardiff refused to say he'd won the election in the riding despite pressure from the press and his supporters, until 10:15 p.m., saying, it was easier to be cautious than to have to retract something later. Mr. Cardiff won the riding with 16,523 votes, compared to Liberal Graeme Craig's 14,364 votes and NDP Tony McQuail's 3,864 votes. Although the Conservatives won the riding, both the Liberal and NDP candidates increased their share of the vote considerably over the May, 1979 elec-t-ion. This election was Murray Cardiff's first entry into the political arena. The 45 -year-old Brussels area cash crop farmer is chairman of. the Ontario White Bean Producers' Marketing Board and is well-known around the country fora barbecue, business he ' has operated with his campaign- manager, Ken Campbell of RR 1, Seaforth. Mr. Cardiff entered the rate after incumbent Bob McKinley, who had represented' the riding for 14 years, decided not to seek re-election, a move -that surprised many, Tory supporters. The Cardiff name is a familiar one in Huron -Bruce since a cousin' of Murray Cardiff's grand- father, Elston Cardiff, held the Huron North,..later the Huron •riding, for 25 years until -1965. Mr. McKinley, who watched the returns pour in with other Cardiff supporters at the Brussels arena, said he doesn't miss politics a bit and indicated he hadn't made any definite career plans yet after his decision not to seek re-election. --Election night certainly wasn't without its anxious moments for the Cardiff Supporters who gathered in Brussels. When the first three polls were phoned in, they showed Graeme Craig in the lead. Then in the fourth poll from Hay Township, the first win for Mr. Cardiff appeared. The mood in the arena was tense .and quiet, and at 8:30 p.m., the first results were p:o..sle :...owing ardiff. ahead, 1,769 votes to Craig's 1718 votes, As campaign worker Wayne Ellis.ef -- Seaforth said later in the evening, `I was gulping when they (the results) first started coming in." When the candidate arrived shortly after the results showed he'd taken a slight lead, he asked, "is the horse race on?" At 8:45 p.m., the posted results showed Mr. Cardiff leading his Liberal opponent by only 12 votes. , One worker remarked the lead was "too close for comfort" and someone else admitted, "it's kinda nerve- wracking." In campaign manager Ken . Cam- pbell's home poll for example Murray 11 • . • • Murray Cardiff Cardiff won by only one vote. Someone else in the audience called out, "it's a Liberal majority", referring to national results, but rter ad_Yie► "oh w,ll, we •wdn't worry about them Betty, we'll worry about this one here." -At-- 9:40 p.m., Mr. Cardiff was leading the race with 12,513 votes to Graeme Craig's 11,033 votes and Tony McQuail's 2,929 votes. His campaign manager said he felt Mr. Cardiff could announce his victory almost anytime now, but the candidate decided he wanted a more substantial lead. As Bob McKinley said, "he's a cautious man." When Murray Cardiff did admit it looked like he'd taken the riding, reporters asked why he thought his campaign had been successful. Mr. Cardiff said he thought he'd run a good campaign and that he had well - organized' people helping him. He added he'd tried to be positive about the campaign and said later, "I always try to be positive about anything I do." He said his wife Betty had predicted that -morning that there would be a 2,000 vote spread between the Liberals and Conservatives din the riding, but also predicted the race could go either way. Mr. Cardiff said he thought some of his past experience helped him with the riding, as well as exposure in some of the organizations he'sbeen involved with included the Bean Producers' Marketing Board, the Huron County Cattlem .ens' Association and the PC riding association. He said since he was elected against the trend to a Liberal majority which swept the country, then voters "must be voting for the man." Mr. Cardiff told reporters one of his first moves will be to open a con- stituency, office immediately, likely in the Brussels area; -which he said is centrally located so it's about 45 minutes from any place in"the riding. • He said he wants to offer as good a service as Bob McKinley gave to the riding and that his constituents will Turn to page 3 • 1 Y • . • 1 Business people approve BIA By Shelley McPhee Despite intial _grumblings, questioning and some opposition, business people • in Clinton have agreed to accept the Business Improvement Area (BIA) levy on their businesses. At a Business Association meeting held on February 11, Association secretary Bob Campbell told the 30 business people present, "The BIA is new and refreshing.and if they can do something, then we should be prepared to throw our shoulders and our money into it and accept our assessments." The special charge on each business in the designated BIA area requires owners to pay 7.92 per cent of their business assessment each to meet the BIA's $10,000 budget. The percentage figure was determined from the area's total• business assessment of $13.5,000. The money will be used by the BIA to make improvements to municipally owned land in the Merchants must pay levy town council decides ' Businessmen in Clinton's core area have no choice, under the law they are required to pay the extra charge to the BIA: Clinton council passed a resolution at the February 19 meeting stating this after they received a letter from tine building owner Garnet Crowe. In his letter, Mr. Cro*e said he sent in his regular taxes, but would not pay the BIA assessment charge "which he could not find acceptable." The motion passed by council authorizes Clerk Cam Proctor to use. all pr,•oper means of prompt collection of deliquent BIA assessments. Clerk Proctor explained that the council is only a collection agency for the BIA and the law requires business owners in the designated BIA area to pay the levy. Reeve Royce Macaulay told council that he had spoken with Mr. Crowe and explained that he could have objected when the BIA assessment bylaw notice was sent out. Mr. Crowe, however, said that he didn't know about the BIA meetings and the chance to object. Clerk Proctor said that two or three other business owners in the BIA have intentions of.. not paying • the extra charge, .but he noted that each business owner in the area' had been sent the notice 01 the oyiaw and had a chance to object before council passed the bylaw. • At an earlier meeting of the town's Business Association, John Alilovic,- another business. owner, told the group present that •he had not received notive- of the bylaw and stated that the democratic process had not been ,applied and "They way you have been preparing this °prograrh is illegal and unfair." At that meeting BIA committee member Gerry HIltz told Mr. Alilovic that Clerk Cam Proctor had taken an oath to send notices to all businesses in the area. Weather 1980 1979 Hi LO HI LO FEBRUARY -12. 3 9 11 24.5 13 4 14 15 25 14 3 11 13 30 15 4 15 12 15 16 4 13.5 14 20 17 7 11 18 32 18 , ,7.5 13 12 28 Snow 15 cm Snow 2 cm downtown core of Clinton. The BIA b-udet was passed by town council in January, after only two official objections to the program had been received. The Association meeting, attended by a record number of business people, heard BIA committee member Gerry Hiltz explain the object of. the BIA is to beautify and maintain the core shopping_ area through a number of projects. While some business owners objected to the extra levy, Mr. Hiltz , said that the budget was not excessive compared to Goderich's BIA budget, of $25,000 Turn to page 3 • After the fire was out, Clinton fire chief Clarence Nellans consulted with Jack Carter, and deputy -chief Fred Lobb about Ole cause of the blaze that gutted a home at 161 James Street last Friday morning. Damage was estimated at $30,000 in the house rented by Tom and Joan Burley from dale Doucette, who says the house will be toric down. (NewryAecord'photo) I Al