HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Goderich Signal-Star, 1967-11-02, Page 112000 YEAR - No. 44
THE GQDERICH SIGNAL4TAR, -THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 2nd; 1907
BY JIM BARNETT
Goderich Town Council failed'
in its -bid to' have grain storage
barges removed from the bar-
~bour,. Tuesday.
Council representatives,May.
or Dr. Frank Mills and harbour
board chairman Councillor 13,R.
Robinson. were told by Depart.,
ment of Public Works officials,
and Department .of . Transport
officials from Ottawa that they
had no authority to ban storage
vessels from using the harbour.
Such a move said the officials
would have to come from the
harbour master, and could only
be implemented if there were
complaints that ships could not
be turned or • that the barges
were otherwise obstructing nor.
mal commercial harbour traf.
fic. „
The town presentation which
appears elsewhere in this issue'
was based on the premise that.
thetown was losing revenue
from permanent Storage facil.
ities in the form of taxes when
the two companies involved, Up-
per. Lakes Shipping Lirnttedand
Goderich Elevator and Transit
Company, held the barges in
the harbour for storage. The
town also claimed that the. Pre.
sence of the eight barges with
the prospects of more arriv.'
ing was detrimental to the tour.
ist small boat trade.
q, G. Parsons, president and
managing director of Goderich
Elevator and Transit termed
the town submission°`to the fed.
eral eovernment the "most
short sighted piece of .propa•-
ganda have, ever seen." He
claimed the town was doing little
to encourage new industrial
development to the area if this
was the ,treatment established.
corporate citizens could expect.
M. Menzies, manager of
Upper Lakes Shipping Limited,
denied a statement by Coun.
cillosRobinson that his
company was buying .obsolete
barges for permanent storage in
the harbour. "For your infor.,
oration Mr. Robinson, we have
'not purchased these barges for
• this purpose. We have ;had them.
for donkey's years,' he said.
Councillor Robinson had also
claimed earlier that the federal
government had spent close to
$1 million in removing Ship
Island from the harbour to fac-
ilitate ship movement. Now he
claimed the elevator companies
had taken ug more than this with
barges. •
"It looks like this public
money has been spent specil.
ically for the exclusive use of
a few 'vested interests in God.
erich," he said. •'
Gordon Muir, Manager of the
Sifto Salt Mine termed the sub.
mission "a disgrace," claiming
his company wanted "no part
of it." "It is se bad'•', he
expostulated "I will not dis.
cuss it."' He threw a copy of
the submission on the table and
walked out of the meeting.
Mayor Mills reiterated the
point .that the town was losing--
revenue from" want of shore.
?based' elevators, to which Mr.
Menzies Jaid odds of ten to one
that not "One bushel of storage
space will be built on the Great
Lakes east of Fort William in
•
TownMakes .Presentation
To DPW and DOT Officials
In consideration of this probe
lem which the TCwn feels is
of• great importance, it is net•
essary to consider the history
of the problem. •
A few aho,: t years ago, there
were no permanent storageves.
cels in the Port of Goderich
harbour, and gain traffic, car.
ried on as usual, bat with con.
stant coinra'...: nt abon1 "'1e pre.
sence of .a small island in the
north-east cdr.ier-.,t the harbour
called Ship Island, which the ele*
vators and the ship ow:aers coal.
plained was hindering'the turn.
ing of boats and the full utili.
zation of the harbour by boat
traffic:
After much consideration, the
Federal Government decided to
remove Ship Island at cOnsid.
'erable cost, and 6ais was done
"rand the supposed hazard tofree.
,movement of vessels in the
harbour was removed. How.
ever, within a very short time
of the- completion of the remo.ot
vaI of Ship Island, Goderich '
Elevators .purchased seven per,
manent storage vessels which
were placed in Goderich :�l r•
boar, occupying all of that space
formerly occupied by, Ship Is.
land, and More. From :hat time
on, the problem: of perm^:nent
storage vessels in this harbou
have steadily mounted, with
comp:.ete unconcern by the Ele.
vators for the existence or iiti.
lization of this harbour by any.
thing other than a co'nw.,-;tial
vessel, and completely throt.
tling the small boat tourist
trade for the Town of Goderich.
' T, as'
a small boat owner,
have been exposed to this prob.
lem continuously, since its on.
set, and I can assure you that
I have never felt that the God.
erich Elevators had given good
co-operation, if at all, any co.
operation, in an attempt to mu.
tually agree to a fair and co.
operative use of the harbour
by both commercial and small
boat trade. We have fought out
way over headlines for five
years now; we have'driven away
the small boat tourist trade,
and: given the -Town _poor..•.._
est reputation for any small
boat port on the Great Lakes,
and it is, for these reasons,
that -I have persisted- in my
efforts, fully supported by the
townspeople, to reach fairness
in the use Of the harbour goy.
erned by Governmental dic-
tates.
Approximately one year ago,
we met with many of this same
group to further iron out"diffi.
culties irithe re -development
of the harbour after the Hon.
orable George Mcllwraith had
--visited ..the harbour, and seen
in person the predicament we
were faced with,, and his person.
al assurance was given that
this would be righted. At that
meeting one year ago, we were
assured first;- there would be
no more permanentstorage.ves.'
sels allowed in this harbour;
second, that the permanent sto.
rage vessels would be mooted to
the north wall and the,.east end
of the harbour from approxima•
tely May 1st to October 1st, and
that .provision would be made
with the insurance underwrit.
ers to allow this and be rid of
these long and space-occupying
head lines. Third . that the
area between the cement har-
bour wharf along the north wall -
of the harbour for some 200•
3Q0 feet would be reserved for
the fish tugs ftnd ' the fishing
industry interests of theTown.
Fourth - that storage gas Tanks
would be allowed to be buried
on the DOT property near ,the
end of Snug Harbour wharf, with
buried lines extending out the
wharf for outlets to facilitate"
the fuelling of the boating peo.
ple and to aid iethe develop.
ment of the service centre to
service the small boat traffic
'n Snug Harbour. Fifth . the
catwalk dock would be extended
a;Imost the full length of Snug
Harbour and •that y the end- of
Snug Harbour would be compL
eted with sheet piling to be rid
of the dead water that is un -
useable.
We come now to the present
and the , problems which face
us here today. As you are sr
ware, some three months ago,
Goderich Elevators informed
the Harbour master that they
would be bringing in two adds.
tional storage vessels for per.
manent storage here and since
our Harbour master realized,
the overcrowded condition of
our harbour and the strong
opposition of the Town to the
present storage vessels, he in.
formed the Department and in.
formed the.`Town at the_ same
' time.
I wrote at that time, and ex.
pressed our strong opposition
to these further storage vess.
els, and asked for this meet,-
ing ' for a re -assessment of this
permanent storage problem in
our harbour.
The Town of Goderich ,does
not wish at any, time to stifle
the_ further development of any
industry within .the Town, but
supports development in- a
planned and permanent way that
will benefit all people of the
. Town.
We, therefore, feel, first •
the permanent storage vessels
should be removed from the
harbour completely, and the
necessary storage that they are
providing should be provided
for in the form of. perthanent
elevators such as already .ex.
ist in the harbour. This would
•
•
give the deserved additional
taxation revenue to the Town of
Goderich and remove the pre.
cedential pattern which has been
established in our harbour and
which could easily spx`'ead to
other harbours here in Ont.
ario and other parts of Canada,
creating the same frustrating
- condition that they have created
here. In this day of criticism
of municipal efficiency and tax.,
ation, no industry can be allow.
ed a position where it avoids
taxation at all levels of govern.
inept.
Second - until such time as
the permanent storage vessels
are replaced by elevators, or
are removed from the harbour,
the Elevators be assessed for -
the grain stored, therein on the
same basis as that on which
they would be assessed if this
were a Federal harbour, and
that this assessment would be
given to the Town in lieu of
taxation loss that would be pro-
vided by , additional elevators.
This added taxation is fully jus.
tified on the basis of the ex.
treme heavy usage of our Town
streets by heavily loaded grain
trucks of some 17,000 per year
to the one elevator, and any.
where from 35 to 60 per 'day
to the • other elevator. You can
easily' see that the rate of
breakdown of our roads will be
accelerated and will bring ad-
ditional tax burdens to our,
townspeople. W e . must have
some reasonable balance be.
tween expenditure tb support
industry and direct taxation
benefits for our Town.
Third - No further storage
-vessels to be allowed on any
basis whatsoever.
Fourth - Every permanent
storage vessel which is unused
is deemed to be unnecessary
continued on' page 12
•
Deputy ree(e Harry Worsen drops the puck for the first league
home game of the season at the Goderil h Arerra,between the
' /,
Junior 13. Siftos and the Waterloo Siskins. Looking on Sifto's
publicity director Dick, Madge. (Staff' Photo)
future. It's snot economically
feasible,." he said. '
He said, that. the :use of ,the ,
bargesi,.for storage was purely '
for the benefit of the Western
Ontario feed grain business, It
is primarily to retain the good•
will of our customers, ' he said.
• Mr. Parsons claimed that the
grain handled on the Lake Huron
harbours had decreased dras.
tically as a result of the open.
ing of the St. LawrenceSeaway.
There was nothing wrong he
claimed .with moving storage
barges into the harbour during
six or seven months of the year
when the harbour was not used
by tourist small boat traffic,
He felt that an amteabte sol•... •
.ution cold have been reached
between the corripanies and'the.
town if some liaison had been
established beforehand. •
Tuesday,,_ again produced flocks of goblins, • - this section of town •who received constant. Halloween visitors.
sprite a en_night a h _.._.,.,..._.. f treats ta-each-of four.mxsterious __
`sprites and. witches who invaded the homes of Goderich citizens "'"ile'x�t�, "she- s'hell•s-out—bag,•o
to demand their annual toll of treats. Mrs. Helen'McDOnaid , guests who called during the evening.
of 189 St. David Street, was one of the householders along -
torking Meters Vetoed
Parking meters will not be
installed in Goderich, council
decided last night.
A motion by Councillor B.R.
Robinson, that council study
the feasibiltiy of installing ap.
proximately 300 meters around
Court House Square and on
streets leading off it for a dis-
tance of. one block, was lost
for want of a seconder.
A sales presentation by Na.
than Loubert of London, man-
ager . of the meter-manufactur.
ing firm of J. J. MacKay Can-
ada Limited, was heard with.
out enthusiasm.
A letter from the Goderich'
Businessmen's Association op•
posing the 'meter proposal was
read. - •
Rains Hold
U p Farm
Fall Work
D. S. Pullen, Associate,
Agricultural Representative for
Huron County notes that har.
vesting of grain corn .is, pro:
gressing in spite of "soggy"
field conditions. Yields appear
average with a higher than nor.
mal moisture content at pre.
sent.
A large - acreage of fall
toughing remainsto be com.
pleted. The sugar beet and tur.
nip harvest continues. Western
feeder cattle are beginning to
arrive in the County in large
number. a ,
Some herds of dairy cattle
are being stabled for .the ap-
proaching winter season,
Christmas
Parade
Plans
Then a motion by Reeve Her.
bert Such, seconded by Deputy
Reeve Harry Worsell; that coup.
cil take no action on parking
meters until a substantial dele.
„ation came forward to cite" a
•
definite need for them, was
approved, except for Councillor
Robinson.
Dr. Frank Mills, Goderich
mayor said after the meeting.
"It wasn't a matter of cost
or revenue - it:.was a °matter
of need. we felt there was no
need for meters in -Goderich
at the present time.
"We want to co-operate with
our businessmen, not oppose
them. We •want to attract shop.
pers and visitors to . Goderich
not discourage them by mak.
ing them pay to park."
Switched On, PUC
Lights UpHuron Road
The first phase ofa new major
streetlighting modernization
program was completed this
week. Last night Mayor, Dr.
G.F. Mills switched on 55 new
LUCALOX street lights in.
tli
stalled on Huron Road and To.
ronto Street beeerx�Vietoria
and Sheaffer Pen.
These new lights, supplied
by Canaflian General Electric,
provide eight times more light
with only 50 percent increase
'in _ power consumption sa,�•
councillor Walter. Sheardowh.
"We are excited about our
'new lighting", said chairman
Bill Mills. "When all three
phases of this program- are
completed by the end of 1968
we will have the mostattra&tive
and best lighted town i On.
tario�'
AcQ.ording to Canadian Gen.
eral Electric the new light is,
the most efficient general light.
ing source known. to man. Al.
kali metal vapours -primarily
sodium - are used in a new
way to produce "golden white"
light.
Mayor Mills said, "I believe
`there is a real spirit of pro.
gr'ess in Goderich and our new
lighting program is definitely
a part of this spirit".
Two major benefits from this
new improved light are ex.
pected, according to David A.
Rolston, Manager of the God.
erich Public Utilities Commis.
Sion: "Good street Uh►ting is ,
like a full time policeman help.
ingpedestrians, and where
there is good lighting there
,is always an absence ofcrime,''
he said.
Mayor Mills said the new
lighting will help to protect
children on this heavily travel.
led road, as well as reduce the
accident hazard. He said that
new lights have been installed
near the arena, on Britannia
Road, Waterloo Street, and will
be installed in many parts of
the town this, year as well as
during 1968.
Horticultural .Society .Meets
By M, E. Argyle
Those who attended the Octo.
ber 25 meeting of Goderich Hor.
tieuftural • Society held in St.
George's Church parish hall had
a triple treat, program wise,
James Sinclair, Goderich,
" showed movies of people and
birds and even a rabbit all in
a 1.setting of Mary Howell's
lovely garden. Fun to watch
were humming birds drinking
from `heir special feeder; star.
lings making a merry -go=
round.
of an onion bag of suet; gros.
beaks,. cardinals and sparrows
scrambling for room at and
below the feeding stations.
Mary Howell conducted a
brief business period. Mrs. E.
'Jessop read minutes and cor-
respondence. Paul Carroll was
presented with a prize by Mr.
Such which he . won at the
flower show held in September -
for the most unique design.
An illustrated talk on recog.
nition of many of our •vinter
birds was given by.Mrs. Lorne
Webb. She adv.1sed placing a
' continued on page '12
The Christmas Parade Com.
mittee have announced that
$200. will be given in prime
money to the best float eateries
in the parade again this year.
Distribution of the prizes will
be the same as last year, $75,
to the .first prize winners $50
to the second, and three prizes
of $25 each for third, says
Fred Salter.
Letters were sent out to the
various clubs andorganizations
inviting their participations this,
year. However, if any organi.
zatton .wad missed, you are -
asked to contact Fred Salter-'
(5247455) for details.
Four bands have been con.
tatted with regards to the
parade. However, their partici.
pation will again depend on the..
weather.
•
Goderich Fire Department responded quickly
last Thursday to an alarm turned in from a
service station at the outskirts of town on the
Huron Road. The air -brakes on the bus, at
right, seized and filled the passenger con part-
ment .with smoke when the• driver, Don' Diehl,
attempted to drive the. vehicle. The bits, was'
not . damaged to ' any eattent but mechanical
problems with the brakes prevented the driver
from completing his return trip to Stratford.
(Staff Photo)