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HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Wingham Advance-Times, 1969-11-06, Page 4Page 4 -- Wingham Advance -Times, Thursday, Nov. 6, 1969. A Community Problem At their meeting on Monday evening the members of the Wingham town coun- cil discussed at great length a problem which deeply concerns the entire com- munity. It is the matter of whether or not land in the Sunset Crescent sub- division should be used for the construc- tion of multi -unit family dwellings. When that piece of land was designated as a ' sub -division a by-law was passed stipulating that only one -family dwellings should be erected there. However, after years of effort, the council finally received approval from the Ontario Housing Cor- poration for the erection of ten units of ''geared -to -income" housing and the build- er who has the government contract to erect the homes found that a site in Sun- set Crescent was the most suitable land available in Wingham for the purpose.. Since these government - sponsored homes will' be two-family units, some of -.the property -owners in the Sunset area took up a petition ,to prohibit the erection of the new housing under the terms of the original by-law. ; Some 43 signers were found to support the plea which was then presented to council: Every effort has been mae to find other sites for the new units, but `so far -no other suitable location has been found. The contractor's agreement with OHC ex- pires on November 22nd and there is some fear that the additional red tape in- volved in seeking a new contract will de- lay the entire project (which includes the approval of 16 units of senior citizens' housing as well). Council spokesmen point out that there is apparent misunderstanding of the type of housing which is proposed. First- ly, they say, the two-family units are of excellent structural quality, not "slum" type dwellings. The prospective tenants are not necessarily low-income families, for rents are set in accordance with the earnings of the tenant and in some cases would be higher than average for this com- munity. Another controlling factor is af- forded by the system under .which they are rented. A manager is appointed by the OHC, who will accept the applications for occupancy and will also be responsible for seeing that no tenants are allowed to become a nuisance totheir neighbors or a detriment to the community. The ,opinion was expressed repeatedly at. council that the objections of .a few property -owners are endangering tI'e pro- gress of the entire town, and they have a very pointed. instance. Recently officials of the Electrohome firm'came to town to inquire about the availability of rental housing for their employees. Finding that it was a scarce commodity they decided against re -opening the upholstery division .at the former Fry & Blackhall factory, at least for the present. • ' The way matters stand now, several.. councillors are in favor of immediate action to rescind the by=law which de- mands only single family units in Sunset Crescent, an action which the OHC has assured them, can be taken with Ontario Municipal Board approval. However, a motion to this effect was tabled until a final effort can be made to determine more precisely the extent and seriousness Of opposition to the new housing by neigh- bors who would be close enough to have any right to object. The:Inforrnation Backlash • Sometimes we can be too well-inform- ed. It's wonderful to ' know a lot, but . there are times when we cannot help wondering about where. it is leading. . Last week there was an announce- `. ment in. the United States `that evidence .. had !leen discovered that a basic synthetic sweetener h'ad caused cancer in,rats. With- in a few days somebody else cropped up with the startling disclosure -that tannic • acid, which is contained in tea, caused cancer in mice. , Perhaps it would be better if such dis- coveries were quietly communicated to the appropriate health authorities and the public at Large was left in blissful ignor- ante' of the risks it must take to stay alive. If this scare material keeps coming up we ' will findourselves spending ,the rest of ou'r days in hermetically. sealed vacuum bottles and absorbing our steril- ' ized nutrients through plasii'c hose. How, we wonder did the tough old rascals of previous generations ever sur- vive? imagine the plight of the sailors in the old sailing vessels of 150 years ago. • They had no refrigeration, no sealed con- • tainers. Two weeks out of port and their water was green, their meat was wormy and their blankets were full of bedbugs. Lice they never got rid of. . _ Then there were the babies born to pioneer parents s in log shanties, where there were no screens to keep the flies -out, no pasteurized milk, no baby foods and likely no doctors for 50°miles. True enough, lots of th• . i l land.° 71) babies died, but none., of,...the...peopla..,in .... those days went around shaking in their boots about the latest discoveries. The cemeteries filled up faster, but the mental hospitals didn't have quite as many cus- tomers as they do today. Education on the March Ontario's Colleges of Applied Arts and Technology, the newest, and one of the . most diversified systems of post second- ` ary education in Canada, "will be the sub- ject, of a two-day school design workshop in Ottawa this month. Most of the 20 colleges, which are al- most filled to capacity, have just recently moved into or are about to move into permanent facilities. Delegates to theworkshop, on Novem- ber 18 and 19, will include members of the, colleges' boards of governors, `their building committees and others concerned with campus planning. Also attending will be architects, engineers, contractors, - educators and Department of Education officials. Delegates are also expected from other provinces and the United States. Norman Sisco, director of the depart- ment's applied' arts and technology branch, will speak on "The Growing Need for Economic Planning." Principal speaker at the workshop's closing session will be Dr. H. B. Gores of the Educational Facilities Laboratories, New York. Other topics to be discussed include, "Designing an Urban College to meet Urban and Non -Urban Needs," "Regional ETV Systems and Audio -Visual Learning Methods," and the "Significance of the Re- source Centre in College Development." Thanks For Trying Charlie Lee deserves a good word for his efforts to organize an Intermediate hockey team again this year. The • fact that only six people indicated any inter- est has nothing to do with •Charlie's deep interest in keeping Windham on the sports map. Quite logically he has decided against any further efforts. Unless there is ade- quate backing, it is impossible for one per. son to run all over the town and sur- rounding area looking for players and ex- ecutive personnel. Charlie has contributed a great deal not only .to hockey, but' to softball as well. He has driven thousands of miles to take players to games and has spent untold hours working not only with intermedi- ate teams, but with minors at all levels in both sports. Nor is he the only individual who has taken on such tasks. Several other persons in the community have been equally devoted. The only trouble is, there aren't enough of these people to go around. New System of Justice? A. resolution which received rather hesitant approval from Wingham town council came from the town of Seaforth in the aftermath of serious eruptions of violence in that town. The resolution call - ea for standardization of penalties for all those convicted of clearly described crimes or misdemeanors. It was framed as a protest against what some Seaforth people believe were light sentences for accused offenders in such breaches of the peace: It is not 'difficult to imagine the frus,. tration of police officers who have been .44.40.. ....M.......,..,.,.. .NN..N,N/NN..,Y„M..s.••••••••••••••• manhandled or verbally abused when 'they find that those they have arrested are let off with light sentences. However, to de- mand that a pre-set penalty be established for any single type of crime would be to negate the entire concept of justice in our country. Our judicial. system recognizes that transgressions of the law occur under varying influences and in different'circum- stances and our judges are appointed in the belief that the element of sound and considered human judgment must be ap- plied in each case. N THE WINGHAM ADVANCE - TIMES Published at Wingham, Ontario, by Wenger Bros. Limited W. Barry Wenger, President • Robert O. Wenger, Secretary -Treasurer Member Audit Bureau of Circulation Meinber Canadian Weekly Newspapers Association Subscription Rate: 1 yr. 00.00; 0 months $3.28 in advance; USA $7.00 per yr.; Foreign rate lV.00 per yr. Advertising Rates on application Second Class Mail Registration No. -0821 Return Postage Guaranteed Discussion on County Welfare. Unit at session brings deluge of comments. Alvin D. Smith, chairman of the executive committee of Huron County Council asked for discussion Friday on the ques- tion of county welfare and was rewarded with a deluge of coni- ments that had to be curtailed by Warden James Hayter in ai- der to carry on further business of the day. The crux of the discussion was whether or not council should look into the possibility of forming a county welfare unit with trained personnel to manage its affairs. Clerk John Berry thought the government would look ''with favor" on Huron County Coun- cil if it did enter the field of county welfare. Said Mr. Ber- ° ry, "This is about the only mat- ter we have not taken over that is within our authority. " Exeter Reeve Derry Boyle commented, "I think the thing we have to concern ourselves with is the even distribution of county welfare. In the past the burden has been placed on cer- tain municipalities. " Warden Hayter had vacated the warden's chair in order to speak. more freely on the mat- ter. He told Chairman Roy B. Cousins and other members of council that the rehabilitation of welfare recipients was a mat- ter of prime importance. "We shouldn't have one generation after the other carrying on with welfare, " remarked Mr. Hay- ter. He.said local welfare of- ficers have been sincere, but they are just not qualified to Adeal with many of -the prob- lems that come up in welfare work. • Discussion revealed that some Municipalities in the . county have a very insignifi- cant amount of welfare pay -- ments while certain other areas encounter real difficulty. There was some indication that muni- cipalities surrounding Huron Park at the former CFB Central- ia are experiencing new prob- lems brought on by an influx :of new people. Warden Hayter said modern population was on the move and that it was not always true. that a local welfare officer < < s knew the backgroundof, the:peo- pin/�pp}�l�iieg�fon'elfare,rassi -.tan= Reeve Roy Westcott, Us - borne, said he wouldlike to see some figures, whi¢fiwould give him an. idea of the cost o operating a county wefarre unit for one year. He said the Bnice County delegation which addressed county Cowley in September painted a "pretty rosey picture" but were using figures from; the six summer months, Mr. Westcott noted that in most municipalities, the winter months are the costliest where welfare payments are concerned. a Hullett Reeve Hugh Flynn commented, "Locally, we can look after it better than some- one from the county. " Jack Alexander, Wingham, advised on the other hand that Wingham believed welfare should be administered on a county basis, John Flannery, Seaforth, thought the larger. municipali- ties were loading their welfare. problems onto the shoulders of rural municipalities "who have worked hard to keep their wel- fare recipients down. " Everett McIlwain, Goderich Township, concurred. He said his municipality was blessed with an efficient welfare offi- cer and doubted if Goderich Township would be interested in the introduction of county welfare, Reeve of Goderich, Harry Worsell said, "Goderich isn't too hard hit. We're doing very nicely. " McKillop Reeve Allan Stew- art pointed out that the urban areas had an opportunity to get their welfare d 011 a r s back. "What revenue have we as a township?" he asked. Blyth Reeve. Borden Cook told council the county hadno welfare problem at the present time. Stanley Township Dep- uty Anson McKinley said the matter had to be resolved with the local taxpayer in mind. "We seem to be continually eroding away at the authority of local council, " stated McKinley. "I'm not death against a n y county system that is working well but let's not change for sake of change. " . Goderich Deputy -Reeve Walter Sheardown said, "It doesn't cost us a nickel to op- erate our welfare committee inns° Goderich. After the asesszteiat• j, 3 K t 31 .w .T V } deal, I'm very skeptical : tV,,g -' 41ong with county welfare. '' `Derry Boyle spoke again. He asked if Exeter was a part "of Huron County. He said he was "fed up to her.'' With the suaall _.ness :of municipaiiti in Hgron County which had eoue ru only for their own private problems, Gordon Hesss, Reelre of Zurich requested the discussion be closed. He warned council, "If we keep turning down re-, sponsibility we must succumb to new legislation. The syst. em is changing and we must go along or there is no, future for county council. I think we have to think not what's best for today, but what is best in 10 or 15 years from today. " In closing the subject for the day, council referred the mat- ter back to committee for furth- er study. In the meantime council requested that Clerk Berry invite a report from some other county which had been in- volved in county welfare for a full year or more. • In other business, council agreed that there should be uni� formity in the gift given. em- ployees at retirement. It was decided that gold cuff links and a tiepin bearing the county crest should be established as the regular gift for retiring county employees. SOMEBOPY MUST HAVE heard that Jack Colvin works in a food store, for on Hallowe'en night a replica of the Jolly Green Giarit mysteriously found its way to a place of prominence alongside his TV aerial. Perhaps Jack should find out how much the company would pay him to leave it there.-'-A-T Photo. N.! Council discusses sale of land: at highway Among the letters read at the town council meeting on Mon- day evening. was one in which an out-of-town correspondent sought to purchase a plot of land at the north-east corner of the intersection of Highways 4 and 86. The area requested was 275 feet of frontage on both highways, for purpose of erect- ing a service station. ' Although council welcomed the offer and is prepared to sell land in that area, it was agreed that some study must be given to the price which will be „ex- pected, taking into considera- ° tion the factthat a great deal of fill will have to be supplied by any builder. It was the gen- eral opinion, too, that such land should be.offered for sale by tender, since it is a prime location at the intersection of two' important highways ;Tia It i t If44 .1 dt ati fivas { the Royal Canadian Legion, ask- ing. that Tuesday, November 11. be declared a full holiday. How- ever, the custom of previous • General reports heard at County Council Except for a few minor inci- dents, county council's October 'session Friday was a routine meeting containing plenty of reports. Council did give approval for the special committee•on the regional government ques- tion to be disbanded. In its place, a working committee consisting of the elected mem- bers from the Huron County Planning Board will be estab- lished to be 'known as the com- mittee on local government re- view. This committee will be re- sponsible to the planning board and to county council. It will meet in the same day as the planning board and work in con- junction with the planning con- sultants, The new committee will be primarily concerned with the amalgamation of local municipalities with the present framework of the County of Huron. A report of the planning board requested that all local municipalities forward any in- formation concerning matters on which approval by the De- partment of Municipal Affairs is being held up. The county development committee noted that it is await ing receipt of aerial and ground WINNING TICKET—Bob Middleton of the S. J. Walker staff was selected to pull out the winning ticket in a draw sponsored by the Kinette Club. The Kinettes have been selling tickets on the bridge table and chairs also shown In this picture. Lucky winner was Miss Lavonne Ballegh of Wingham. photos in connection with the par1C area at Huronview. Once these Are received, the com- mittee plans to meet with rep- resentatives at the University of Guelph to discuss landscape pos- sibilities. Reeve Derry Boyle, Exeter, chairman of the library board, said it is ;strictly a dollar and cents shortage which has forced shorter library hours in some areas of Huron County. Mr. Boyle regretted the move but said the board had no alterna- ° tive, He also advised council the 'board could not accept the generous offers of some public spirited individuals to keep li- braries open at their own ex- pense. "This just can't be done, stated Mr.. Boyle. "It just isn't good business. " Mrs. Mary Robinson, Goder- ich, is the new administrative assistant to the county librarian at a salary commencing at $4,- 200 annually. The hospital report showed that ward rates vary froin $3fi 55 per day in Wingham to $28.25 per day in Goderich. South Huron Hospital in Exeter report- ed a lot of approximately $75,- 000 75;000 due to the flood in July. Property committee chair- man Roy Westcott, Usborne, said the curator at the Huron County Museum in Goderich, Ray Scotchmer, will probably add many more souvenirs to be sold next season. The f e w souvenirs sold during 1969 were well received by visitors to the museum, advised Mr. Westcott In Miss Clare McGowan's report from the Children's Aid Society, 'she stressed the need for many more homes for teen- aged children. "When no home is available and the child has serious problems our only re- coune is an institution, " Miss McGowan said. BLuEvaLE Mr. and Mrs. Percy Vincent were vissitors.on Wednesday with Mr. and Mrs, Albert Vincent, Beeigrave. years will be followed in which , stores will be requested to re- main closed from 10 a. m. to 1 P.m. A resolution from the town of Mississauga received concur- rence.. It asks that when com- panies_are installing communi- ty antenna or cable services for television, an agreement with . themunicipality should be ar- 'rived at to determine right to use of poles or buried locations and a reasonable fee be forth- coming. ' Several councillors, agreed that a letter from Alf Lockridge was unique. The letter express- ed appreciation to the town' for providing a street light in 'a dark area on Victoria Street near the Roman Catholic Church Very few letters 'of appreciation ever reach council. dbmmunication' fronri R. E: ,f>te rotestecl .g'ltst his property' on Bristol Terracefor sewer frontage ° charges, He said that a size- able part of the land is of no use for building purposes be -' ause«a drain passes through the lot in question. Council asked the public works committee to inspect the property before mak- ing a decision. A by-law was given the ne-. cessary readings to close a lane adjacent to the former Fry and Blackhall factory. The by-law was the formal completion of an arrangement with the firm whereby the area occupied by the lane was traded for other land the town needed. Another by-law was read . which will designate the ball park as a community athletic field under the Community Centres Act, If the by-law re- ceived approval from Toronto the improvements at the park will be subject to grant. • Finance Chairman Margaret Bennett received approval for accounts totalling $55,180.23. • Property Chairman Alexander said that since there has been some vandalism in the hallway • of the town hall the building will be locked at the sometime each evening that the ladies' washrooms arelocked up. Coun- cillor Bennett commented on the excellent appearance of the building, due to the fine efforts of the caretaker. The tender of Gulf Oil was accepted for the supply of .heat- ing Oil to. the town btiYl4ingt. It . atiwe three "tt thewaso f r 121 price months. Council agreed' to continue the grading and snow plowing of a street/located on CNRprop- erty which runs .parallel . to the rail line and ' alongside Beaver • Lumber. • Mayor DeWitt Miller said that the townsolicitor had found. that the Mill Street °road allows: once, which council wished to turn over as park land; extends only from Josephine Street to the west side orthe Durcharrne ' property and no further. Thus it was indicated that. the: prop- erty owners west of that point own the land down to the river. TODAY'S CHILD BY HELEN ALLEN NMI Eric's mod haircut makes him look older than his 13 months. This is a fine -boned, wiry boy of English, Scottish and Dutch ancestry. He has blue eyes, light brown hair, medium complexion and an engaging dimple in his right cheek. In good health, he is an active, bouncy child who likes to be on the go. He is walking and keeps busy exploring everything he can reach. He isn't talking, but obviously understands much of what is said to him. Eric loves animals, having no fear of even the biggest dog. He likes people too, though he takes a little time to be comfortable with strangers. He needs a warm, secure home with parents who are happy to welcome him on his own merits without concern for background information. To inquire about adopting Eric please write to Today's Child, Deportment of Social and Family Services, .Parliament Buildings, Toronto 182. For general information on adoption ask your Children's Aid Society.