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HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Wingham Advance-Times, 1975-02-27, Page 1ft FIRST More power sites fora • Ian Energy Probe informs farmers The proposed power station for the Goderich area, postponed by Ontario Hydro because of opposi- tion from the Concerned Farmers of the United Townships, is just the tip of the iceberg, a spokes- man for Energy Probe has in- formed the group. Attending a meeting in Wallace • Township Public School on Wednesday night, William Peden of Energy Probe, a Toronto based 'group related to Pollution Probe, told the farmers that Ontario Hydro has a total of 17 pourer sta- tions approved and proposed for the province iv 1993. At present Ontario Hydro has approved stations at two sites at Bruce (nuclear), one station at Nanticoke (fossil), at Pickering • (nuclear), at Wesleyville (both • fossil and nuclear) and at Lennox (both nuclear and fossil). $y 1993, Mr. Peden said On- tario Hydro is proposing stations ' at the following sites: fossil station at Atikokan (1984), two fossil stations in the Thunder Bay area (1982), nuclear station near • Blind River (1984), nuclear sta- tion near Parry Sound (1993), fossil station "near Wheatley (1993), nuclear station near Ron- deau (1993), nuclear station near Port Stanley (1993), a second sta- tion, this one nuclear, at Nanti- coke (1993), a nuclear station at Bowmanville (1982), a second plant for Wesleyville (1993) , a nuclear plant near Cobourg (1993) and a second station at Lennox (1993) . Assuring the farmers they are "not alone" in their opposition to Hydro's expansion plans, Mr. Peden said, "The questions we have to ask are, firstly, do we really ,need this power and secondly, do we need it in the south?" "It has taken Ontario Hydro 50 to 60 years to build what we have right now and they are going to double that'in just 10 years. We at Energy Probe argue that this is disastrous. It is economically and environmentally disastrous." He noted that in Hydro's long range plans only three station sites were in Northern Ontario while 12 were "along the :best agricultural land" in the province. Mr: Peden said his group hoped to be working with groups like the Concerned Farmers to oppose such energy expansion pro- grams. "This thing can be won if we stick together," he said. The Concerned Farmers of the United Townships organized last year in opposition to a proposed high power transmission line across the townships of Turn - berry, Howick, Wallace, Mary- boi ough, Peel, Woolwich and Pilkington. Chairman of the Concerned Farmers, Lloyd Moore of Listo- wel, had the same message for his fellow members, over 150 of whom attended the meeting. "When we started out with this thing it was slow going, but now it's going so fast we have to run like 60 just to keep up." Mr. Moore said information compiled by the Concerned Farmers had gone to the World Food Conference in Rome and that within the past couple of weeks their assistance had been requested by Food Prices and Review Board Chairman Beryl Pumptre. "I know there has been friction between Mrs. Plumptre and farmers," Mr. Moore com- mented, "but we got a wonderful reception from her in Ottawa.and she's begging us for all the help we can give her on this land -use issue. And the only way we're going to win is to stick together. And the message we've got to get across is not that we don't want a line across our own property but that we don't want a line — period." "I'm sure we can win this thing as long as Hydro isn't allowed to run their own hearing. It's just no good trying to talk to them ; they're on one side of the fence and we're on the other," he con- tinued. "We_ want a hearing', but it has to be a fair hearing an independent hearing. We're not going to take any other kind • of hearing. That's an awful thing to say, but that's the way it's got to be. Mr. Moore stressed, "Our land is not for sale and we don't want any lines." He said neither Hydro nor'the people in general were too concerned about what happened 'to farmers because they 'only made up five per cent of the population and used two per cent of the power provided by Hydro. "But these same people like to eat three meals a day and that's where we've got them because this same five per cent of the population is now feeding the other 95 per cent." With the approval of the power station and two new ci-ties planned for the Nanticoke area, Mr. Moore said class one and two farmland is now disappearing in Ontario at the rate of from 50 to 52 acres per hour. "Since 1966, the development picture has swung completely around," he said. "Since then good land is being taken out of production and being used for highways, urban growth, trans- mission lines and airports by 600 per cent more than it was before and poor land is being taken out of production 10 per cent less than STUDY TRANSMISSION LINE ROUTE—The Concerned Farmers of the -United nships got together last week to update their information r garding the proposed transmis- sion line route through top agricultural land in this area. From left to right, plotting the proposed route, are: Carl Dettwiler of Woolwich Township, George Adams of Howick- Turnberry, Pat Daunt of Wallace, Chairman Lloyd Moore of Listowel, David McCallum, secretary -manager of the Bruce -Huron Power Line Negotiation Committee, Eldon Vines of Wallace, Bruce Nunn of Wallace and Harry Winkel of Howick. (Staff Photo) Computer equipment is ordered by board By Ross Haugh Computer data processing equipment is being purchased by the Huron Board of Education and will be installed at South Huron District High School in Exeter. Cost of the equipment is 10 estimated 'at $35,000 with grants of 95 per cent available. Trustee Molly Kunder, chair- man of the education -committee presented a report recommend- ing the purchase to a recent board meeting. The equipment will be used for data processing courses and for use by all Huron secondary schools for report cards and time tables. Up to the present time, computer work is being done in London and the ar- rangements are being handled by Willard Long, a teacher at South Huron. In answer to a question from Dorothy Wallace, Mrs, Kunder Said South Huron was chosen be- cause Mr. Long seems to be the most knowledgable on the sub- ject. Huron Director of Educatinn 11 J. Cochrane replied on the same question, "This equipment is not being purchased primarily for administrative work but for a computer science course. Typing is a requisite for this subject." Marian Zinn said she had some misgivings on the subject. "How many students will go on to use their talents? Are we here just to give a taste in a subject or should we concentrate on more subjects needed in everyday life?" she e w asked. Cochrane answered, "We have to either get in or out and quit playing around." Cayley Hill gave a brief outline on the use of computers in indus- try today. He said computers provide means for rapid analysis. As a business grows, data can't be sorted manually. Industry is really forced into faster means of compiling information. Reverse Meeting Procedure As the result of recent changes in the Schools Administration Act, Huron Board meetings will be held the first Monday of each month instead of the third Mon- day as has been the practice in the\past. The Act now states "the meeting jpf a school board except meetings of a committee of the boards including a committee of the whole board, shall be open to the public." On the motion of Cayley Hill the board decided to hold the March meeting on Monday, March 3 at 2 p.m. Hill continued, "This will be the rPUP1rge procedure on everything with all matters coming to the board first and then passed on to the proper committee." Charles Thomas said, "1 would like to think our meetings should be public. I think feedback from the public is good before we make our final decisions. In the same vent feedback from our own board members would be help- ful." Mrs, Wallace suggested going back to the two meetings per month system. To this another member commented "Anything is better than two meetings a month." Exeter trustee Clarence Mc- Donald suggested the chairman have the right to put closure on any discussion. "I went through the old times with long,,sessions," added McDonald. Approval was given to change professional development day from May 30 to April 25 for schools for the Trainable Mental- ly, Retarded. The board approved an ex- penditure of about $1,500 to send a physical education teacher to Russia in May to take part in an in-depth study of the Soviet sys- tem of physical education. The course is three weeks in length and will examine the physical education curricula in primary secondary and post -sec- ondary institutions for male and female students. The application to make the trip came from Bill Weber, a staff member at Central Huron in Clinton and he will probably rep- resent Ilur' n In discussion Cayley Hill said, "I support the idea but I'm a little concerned about who should go. Not casting any aspersions on Mr. Weber, I would leave the de- cision up to the board. I congratu- late him for the idea." During the discussion Marian Zinn said, "Isn't this the sort of thing we want our teachers lo do?" In his presentation Weber said the Russian Seminar provides a rare opportunity to look at an en- tirely different system. At the present we are over -exposed to a flood of American ideas." Attending the meeting as ob- servers were Ron McKay, prin- cipal of Hensall Public School, Sharon Soldan, vice-prineipal of Stephen Central SchooLsand John Gummow, director of education in Middlesex and three others from his board. it was." In the case of the Nanticoke site, he said, "19,402 acres =- the size of the City of London — was taken right out of production." George Adams of RR 2, Wroxe- ter, a member of the Howick- Turnberry committee, en- couraged farmers to continue to write letters protesting the pro- posed southern route to the ministers of energy, agriculture, environment, resources develop- ment, the provincial treasurer, the premier and to the president of Ontario Hydro. Mr. Adams chaired the meet- ing. Other executive members of the Concerned Farmers taking part in the program were: Harry Winkel of the Howick-Turnberry sub committee, Pat Daunt of Wallace, Eldon Vines of Wallace, Bruce Nunn of Wallace, also a director of the Perth Federation of Agriculture; David McCallum, secretary -manager of the Bruce - Huron power line negotiating committee; and Carl Dettwiler of the Woolwich committee. Business Assoc. woos new members The Wingham Business As- sociation decided to launch an all- out membership campaign at a. regular meeting of the associa- tion Thursday. The campaign will be organized by Membership Committee Chairman Nelson Frank and will strive to attract new members and entice former ones to the, association. Association membergaalso set up other committees for projects; including the Santa Claus parade, publicity, public relations and pront,otion. Poor attendance, however, necessitated the post- ponement of chairmen elections. and concrete planning to a later date"iwrheti both attendance and lnem bership wbuld be larger. Decorative street lighting formed a major issue but again remained unresolved due to poor attendance. Several suggestions were presented for consideration and study,' and the alternate ideas for financing -and imple- menting the street lighting pro- ject will be discussed at a later time. -Half-time mark in sweepstakes The winners keep coming! It's half-time fqr "Sweetheart Sweepstakes", and excitement mounts as the date for the grand draw of $250' approaches. Keep those entries coming. All you require is a sales slip or proof of purchase from a participating store. Please remember to put your name and phone number on it, and mail or drop it in to The Advance -Times. Three more winners have been declared. Gordon Moir of Gorrie received a $20 shopping voucher from Hanna's Men's and Boys' Wear. Ross Jamieson of Wing - ham is entitled to $20 worth of merchandise from McGee Auto Electric. Mrs. Nellie Cameron of Wingham is "dining out", courtesy of- Riverview Drive -In where shewon a $20 voucher. Glenn Coultes of RR 5, Brussels was a winner at Triangle Dis- count, and let his wife have the honor of choosing his gift from a selection of several items. Mrs. Coultes finally decided on a Clairol Hair Brush Styling Dryer. THE. BOY SCOUT troop marches into St. Paul's Anglican Church for the Boy Scout service ending "Bdy Scout Week". To the skirl of the pipes Big Huron delegation, appears at OPA annual In case you didn'tknow it, the International Plowing Match is a big, big venture.' Quite a few people from the Wingham area and other points in Huron County found that out when theybecame a part of the delegation which appeared before' the annual meeting of the Ontario Plow- men's Association at the Royal York Hotel in Toronto Tuesday morning of last week. - The Huron delegation was only one of several to appear at the meeting, each of them seeking support for International Mat- ches already promised, or trying to secure the match for future years. They included groups from Simcoe, Middlesex, Oxford, Elgin, Bruce, Kent, Huron, Fron- tenac, Wellington and others. The 1975 International will be held in Ontario County near Oshawa. Bruce County will host the Inter- national in 1976 and of course the 1978 match will be held in Hur',n, just east of Wingham. The OPA annual meeting took on all the trappings of a major political rally as delegation after delegation took turns at pre- senting their story. The Huron group was led into the hall by the Seaforth High School Girls' Bugle Band. Several of the other dele- Like noonday! The task of installing new con- crete street light standards along the main street has been in pro= gress since early fall, so it was interesting to see the effect of the new -type lights when some of them were turned on last week. Those in the block from Victoria to John were in operation.. They certainly make a dif- ference. Now you could read your favorite paperback lying on the middle of Josephine Street. gationsVere led in by pipers and drummers and in a couple of cases there4yere full pipe bands. Jim Armstrong of RR 4, Wing - ham, a director of the OPA, Was the • -chief spokes it, f$tar,,e Huron delegation and he promised that nothing would be left undone to assure a top flight plowing 'match in 1978.. Jim's farm, just east of Wingham, has been selected and approved as the key site for the International and several neighboring farms will also be included in the area designated for the Monster• event. A total of about 600 acres is re- • quired and the "tented city" will, occupy about 100 acres. Others - speaks 'for Huron ,were4Jowar4..Datars, . haiiman- of the Huron Site Committee and; Warden Anson McKinley. The en- thusiastic support of, so nany Winghatn and North Huron people in the •delegation is in- dicative of the co-operation which may be expected during,the next three years as plans for the 1978 match mature. Members disagree as pay hike discussed by Ross Haugh Members of the Huron County Board of Education gave them- selves a pay raise lastweek but members were divided on the amount of the increase. After considerable discussion, by a - vote of nine to six, the monthly trustee salary was set at $300. They previously received $150 per month. Under new Ontario legislation the Huron board, with about 12,000 students under their jurisdiction, could receive as much as $400 per month for each member. Goderich trustee Dorothy Wallace opened the discussion and opposed any increase for board members. She said the proposed increase was of ex- treme concern to her. "It will create a bad image with our rate- payers. The increase will make little dent on our 14 million dollar budget but it's the image I'm con- cerned about," she added. JIM ARMSTRONG, RR 4, WINGHAM, a member of the Ontario Plowmen's Association executive, on whose farm the 1978 International Plowing Match will be centred, ad- dresses the annual meeting of the OPA in Toronto. Members of the Huron County delegation are Tined up behind him. (Staff Photo) -Marian Zinn of Lucknow sup- ported Mrs. Wallace saying, . "We'll get a lot of flak if we raise our pay too much." Mrs. Wallace continued "I don't think trustees should be ;. paid. But there's enough poiitican in me•that I will accept a compro- mise." She proposed an increase of $75 per month to $225. Trustee Clarence McDonald of Exeter corhmented, "I have to support the ladies. I worked for nothing on the old board." To this Molly Kunder replied, "It's a payfhg job, as set out by the government." Vice-chairman Herb Turkheim said he was in favor of the pay raise due to a heavy workload. He added "Last year I attended more than 70 meetings. If' that amount of work isn't worth $300 per month we shouldn't be trustees." Mrs. Wallace proposed the $225 increase but this was followed by an amendment from Cayley Hill of the eventual rise to $300. Trustee Charles Thomas of Brussels originally suggested a per diem pay arrangement say- ing, "I like the idea of being paid for the work we do. I would like to see a flat $2,400 per year with an additional $50 for each extra meeting. Failing this my next closest compromise is a flat $300 per month." Board chairman Wilfred Short - reed will receive an additional all9,wance of one-third of his basic allowance as a board \member. The separate school rep- resentative on the board, Charles Rau, will now receive the same Salary as the other members. He He was previously restricted by sep- arate school regulations and re- ceived $100 per month. —Friends of Sid Adams are pleased to see him back in circu- lation again after being hospita- lized in London. He was allowed to return home Tuesday of last week.