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
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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
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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.