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HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Goderich Signal-Star, 1975-02-20, Page 1..1', a0N f •' yf u.y4l ,1Y, YY 41, Sky Harbour Sky Harbor' Airport will receive a general cleanup this summer in thefirst phase of a major overhaul designed to put the municipallyowned airport back onthe map. The airport committee -decided at their inaugural meeting last week to ask the town and the county to split the cost.' of cleaning up the site and updating some equipment. Committee chairman • Bill Clifford told the meeting that a request for funds had to be made to council in the very near' future in order to allow the town and county financial chairmen to strike this year's budget. He added that $15,000 was needed just to pay this year's principal and interest on ;,,the purchase of the airport. •Mr. Clifford suggested that council be asked for a total of $25,000, setting aside $10,000 towards general maintenance of the site. The committee agreed that county council snould be ap- proached on a cost sharing program. Bill Clifford suggested that perhaps they could be asked to pick up a portion of the $10,000 planned for maintenance costs. Co representative .'Stan Profi said hecould not -guar tee any fundswfrorithe.'• county but said lie wdi-Con- fident s- con= fident they would offer to, help out in some manner. He added, that by asking councils for only $25,000, two thirds of which is needed to pay the principal and interest on the purchase price, the committee was in fact only requesting that $10,000 be budgeted for the airport. He suggested that perhaps more should be ' requested for a. maintenance budget. committee that the runways, ,force and the o subsequent • • Mayor Deb Shewfelt said he felt that the town needed to go up to the airport and spend some money to "shake it up and clean it". He suggested that the committee ask county council to match the town dollar for dollar on . maintenance and updating costs. He added that maybe they should spend about '$50,000, split two ways. Bill Clifford cautioned the committee against setting too high a figure pointing out that the respective councils may be scared off by asking- for too • mtwh. He suggested they ask both ,parties. for $15,000 adding that the' committee could make a, lot of improyernents with $30,000. The request was fixed at $15,000 and will be.made at the 'next meeting of the town and county councils respectively. In other business the com- mittee decided to insure the airport premises and operation... Mr. Don MacEwan advised the group on insurance costs and coverage available at Sky Harbor. He, said that $515 per year would give the town one half million dollars worth of , coverage and that for an extra hundred dollars they ,could double their coverage .to one ,million even. The,insurance man explained that if larger types of aircraft were to be making „any con- si•s.tent use of the airport then the town would be wise to cover themselves completely. He explained. that if a plane -crashed and any investigation 'proved. the airport or airport personnel 'negligent the town . would be liable. He said that untrimmed trees at the end of the 'runway, ' ice or snow on landing si rfaces, sale of bad or GPot oIAN'COMMuiv ty� �/ 14 , SpAFERS ASS�C•A„,e'" H(WSPAPEIS COP 1 28 YEAR -8 THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 20, 1975 SINGLE COPY 25c incorrect fuel or wrong advice to a pilot from any • airport employee via the radio causing a plane crash would place the town liable. The committee decided that they -would pur- chase one million , dollars in insurance. To facilitate the entire operation of Sky ° Harbor a committee structure was selected to handle 'ad -- ministration, maintenance and future development through sub -committees. Administration of the airport will be divided amongst the four municipal representatives that include Goderich, Colborne and Goderich Townships and the county of Huron. Bill Clifford, Anson McKinley,' Jacob Rader and' ' Russel Kernighan will serve on administration. Maintenance of the operation will be handled by Dave Gower, Lloyd Atfield and Russel Kernighan. ' Future planning and development will, be seen to by ,Dick .Wright, Lloyd Atfield and -Murray Ward. The committee decided to retain the services of Doug Hunter as the airport manager." Hunter managed the site last year for the town and was reinstated on a basis of month to month., If for,some'•reason the committee choose to let him go. or if,. Mr. Hunter decides to leave 'the post both are free to do so without breaking any and his testimony of the, event contracts. in court prompted an internal The manager reported to the • investigation by the Goderich Chief King lays charges ons table faces Qonstable Thomas Fortner,.,,, 13 year veteran of the Goderich„,.. Police Force, was charged Friday with five major offences under the Ontario Police Act. 'The charges were laid in the wake of Fortner's fellow officer Constable John Hills' acquittal of charges of dangerous use of firearms and careless driving. - Goderich Police Chief _,PJ King laid charges against Constable Fortner as a result of information arising from the' six day trial of Constable Hills. Hills was charged in connection with a, mob scene and shooting incident on October 27.. Constable Fortner's statement of the events surrounding the shooting and his actions as•a police officer ori that night resulted in the charges levelled by Chief King. -- He faces two counts of discreditable conduct, two of deceit and one of neglect of duty. aW Differences in Constable • Fortner's written statement .14 OMB approve tonin. The Ontario Municipal Board (OMB) approved the passing of bylaw 29 and its amending bylaws,' to overcome ob- jections, which would allow the expansion of the commercial • _core within certain limitations. The hearipg before the two- man board *was called • after objections were raised by ratepayers concerning the core area.. Four objections were filed -against the zoning bylaw byF. residents ..but only one person, Ronald Barker ap-w ."eared to object to the zoning • before the two-man board. -Mr. Barker resides at 29 Britannia Road. The back portion of Mr. Barker's + lot extends to Picton Street and he had intentions of severing „that portion .and .constructing a new dwelling at a future date. Under the new zoning regulations the land is zoned as restricted commercial and may be developed only under the restrictions and limitations of the bylaw. Mrs. Jean Monteith of Municipal Planning, Con- sultants, pointed out that the land was zoned 'restricted commercial under the terms of the official plan of 1969 and that bylaw 48 represents the long term views of the official, plan. Therefore Mr. '4'Barker'Hs property was not jeopardize by the implementation of the bylaw. Under the bylaw new 0 -buildings .within the restricted. commercial area close to the town core will' be light corn- mercial. The ideology of °the bylaw,' which complements the official plan, is to allow expansion of the core area bounded by Waterloo, Elgin, Nelson and Victoria • Streets 'and at the same time restrict expansion to the small core area. Mr. Stewart, chairman of the -OMB hearing, stated that the ti fied with b "l ,,,•.board Wass.a s .... Yaw •,... 19, as amended by bylaws 21 and 24 through 29, 48 and 50 through 52, and that it should be. approved. However a further.' bylaw is required to zone the properties of the Sunoco and Texaco service stations located at the corners of Kingston, Elgin Ave. and Victoria Street. That bylaw would require a further application' and ap- proval of the Ontario -Municipal Board. The stations were zoned under bylaw 24 which was in error and correct zoning of the I require a new tobe drawn up by town' wil bylaw council. licensed for day operations charging. . only, cannot be used to their full In the witness box at the potential due to overgrown Hills' trial Constable Fortner. trees at the ends. The manager told the Crown Attorney Doug reported that the trees had to Page that he saw Constable be trimmed, prefeiabiy before Hills point his revolver and fire they leaved in the spring. The at a running youth in The asphalt at .the end of .the run- Square'on the night of October, way has deteriorated and 27. Under cross examination he. according to Mr. Hunter should said he ,didn't realize until, they be examined by an expert to had left The Square that see how soon it needs replacing. Constable Hills had shot at the New washrooms have been youth. too drastic” • constructed at the airport for use by the, generaLpubiic,..lobe manager also' reported that J~ye the Park House , • what was formerly the guard , house is in the process of being removed and that one of the two water towers being torn down has been completely remoyed. The other tank cannot be taken down until some work is done on the airport's pressure • system; Work to be done as soon as the weather breaks was detailed by the manager. He advised that ..the northeast section of the property should be graded to facilitate weed cutting. He also suggested that the gas` pumps currently in use be converted to islands and that a concrete apron be placed around them. Planes refueling now must be hand pushed to and from the pumps due to the danger' of gravel striking a propellor. The manager also recommended that jet fuel be made available at the field, • and the ACO want ,to use council's weight behind a ConstableThornasFo:rtner • In his written sta''ternent, of ',the event Constable, Fortner claimed .that when' Constable Hills drove away from the scene at The Square after the shot was fired that Carl Hen-, ,',son was dragged ,800 .feet and that action like that "'was • Under oath Fortner said that when . Constable Hills drove, away fro`rn the. scene he did not know Henderson was'on the car until he (Fortner) hollered "John". He said the cruiser went no faster than eight ,miles an hour'and that when Hills saw Henderson on the door he stopped immediately dragging Henderson only about 45 feet. He added •that he saw nothing improper with Constable Hills' driving. When confronted with the statement showing the exaggeration of distance Constable Fortner said , he wanted to retract his written statement about • the driving incident. He Said he was 'upset at the time the statement was given. Constable Fortner said in court that at ,no time in the three months between the in- cident and the trial had he made any effort to tell the chief or anyone else that some facts in his—written-statement were incorrect or wrong.. He added that he could not explain why his recollection of the' events was better now than , it .was' immediately after the incident. In summing up the testimony of Constable Fortner, Provincial Court .,Judge W.A. Ehgoetz said that the constable hard his competence as a wit- ness, and his credibility destroyed in the witness box. . "To what degree of professionalism is the com- ••- munity entitled for an officer of 13 years. experience?" the judge asked. Constable Fortner will all- pear before Chief , King. February 28 at which time the Chief will formally, refer the charges to. the Goderich Police Commission. The chief said the commission could hear the charges at their -next meeting March 11, set up 'a special' hearing for the case or refer the matter to a county court judge. Penalties for the offences under the Police Act range from reprimand to dismissal. Constable Fortner .could have up to five,days pay forfeited, leave or days bff up to 20 days forfeited, a reduction or graduation of rank, be required US resign or be dismissed., When _thematter is . referred to"'the Police Commission it is completely out of the Chief's hands. Under the Police Act a chief of police can hear evidence relating to charges but Chief King said that because he laid the charges personally he felt it would not be fitting for him to 'hear the case - An option for appeal is open to Constable Fortner if he is not satisfied withithe findings of the Goderich -' commissionor a county judge; "The matter may be taken to_tthe Ontario Police Commission for appeal and their decision would be final. Constable .Fortner will remain on active duty pending the result of any hearing) Constable Hills was suspend& for eight days following his .charges and was then returned to restricted duty. Hills was at , all times receiving full pay. Chief King said that the circumstance surrounding the Hills' incident prompted the suspension. He said'. that the number of people complaining about Hills' action and the fact , that he faced criminal offences encouraged the 'move. ' rile . added that with Hallowe'en near by it seemed prudent at the time. Council makes move to preserve history Goderich Town Council of fered the Huron branch 'of. the Architectural CWonservancy• SocietY its moral- sup.port_irL'a... 'bid for -the retention, restoration and refurbishing• of one of the town's historical buildings,: the Park House in. Harbor Park. The old hotel dates back ,to pre 1840 according to A('O- • spokeswoman Dorothy Wallace and is rich in history pertaining to Goderich, Huron County and the whole of Western Ontario. She explained to council that at one time the famous site was the residence. of 'the Com- missioner of the Canada Company. The building is up for sale (continued on page 14) ,Bill Kennedy, president of the Ontario Weekly Newspaper. Association presented Signal -Star publisher R.G. Saner with the "award for best sports page for. weekly newspapers with ..h.;Ak'_C,2,4QM circulation between 3,000 and 4,500 , at the OWNA' ay.ar•ds convention. The signal -Star also received recognition,for' its ,pre-election coverage and editorial page, h., 4 uA public effort to save it ,in its present form: "We don't want to put council in a box," said Mrs. Wallace, ",but the building is for sale and could be 'bOugh•t and used for anything." The public effortaccording to the ACO could begin with a meeting sanctioned ' by the town. They are confident' that - such an effort could bring a 100 heads together to solve the problem in a manner beneficial. to everyone in'God'erich. Time is a very important factor in the saving of 'the building. •Mrs. Wallace warned council that the present owner of the building could not be • asked to•hold it for any length of time -With n; surance that it would be sough"" by any con- servation').ts. Cou 'lor Leroy Harrison asked the ACO member what bearing the•addition of a third floor on the building would have on its designation as an historic site. Mrs. Wallace explained that - it is the site that is designated to be important' historically not necessarily the building in its present- state. She added that possibly the input into a publita meeting could create a use for the building.` She suggested, uses 'such as an apartment or office l uilding. may he feasible if a .high row of trees were planted along the top of Se -hill to -danipen the sounds .ot trucks coming up , from the grain elevator. Councillor Dave Gower - recommended that council investigate= through a public meeting what. means are needed to preserve the building. In other business council settled the issue of who uses Agriculture Pat;k on Friday August`29. The problem, now a year old, arose when the Goderich Trotting Association changed their race nights to Friday. The change conflicted only once <i year with activity at the park. the Industrial Softball Labor 1)ay .Tour' 'r.rsament. The Friday night was the Ifiickoff night "for• the three day hall tournament and last year the tournariient was thrown into a hassle as a result of harness racing. At council meetings earlier this- month thea trotting' association was asked if it ,ytipuld-be_possible to change the August' 29 race to. another date to permit the tournament .to. -start on time.Association spokesman Ken Crawford told council that the meets could. begin one week earlier in the 'spring, or the final night could be delayed until after the tournament. He said that the move hinged on approval from, the Canadian Trotting Association. • Reeve Stan •Profit told council that in his opinion the , Trotting Association had given little. Consideration, othey." the other parks in town. He said that the municipality should have better control:bver,,,their parks. The-' Goderich Parking Authority came to council with a final "recommendation con- cerning the purchase of the property at • Montreal and Lighthouse Streets for use as a parking lot. The authority had completed negotiations with the owners of the property, .Signal -Star, Publishing And M&M, and had the final proposals from them. The authority recommended that the town exercise the option to , buy • the _ Signal • r' property immed' a long term option on the M&M • holding. Council elected to purchase both -plots -and prep are.the..,are a for a parking lots The total cost of the venture is in the area of $60,000 to buy the land,' surface it and mark it for vehicles. Last week the Signal -Star was the victim of a misunderstanding. ' A council story last week said the. cost to prepare the lot • was $60,000 and that' the purchase price was extra. The complete package will cost the •municipality about $60,000. n(continued on page 14). tournament when 4 established Friday n gat Trustees refuse i o racing. 'He said that last year ., the conflict may not have, been , realized when the race day was . • • changed but this year it ap- " ' t ,ire wit - i r e" peared as` though not much effort had been made to make • the _change. He added that -one day of the year is all that is being worried about and that the tournament officials are required to sit and wait on a, decision made many " miles from Goderich. Council elected to give priority to the softball tour- nament officials on the Labour - 1)ay weekend. They will, be allowed to start the games on Friday night and the trotting association will have to have their date changed or t tiss•one of, 'their nine seasonal race nights': Councillor Bob Allen asked if this decision would be carried , through the years to come. He said that if the tournament was -only given priority this year. they should`he advised that the, night is . not an established things' Reeve Profit said that the hall-- 'tournament was an established event until last year •when the race nights wee changed. He added that when the change was made the trotters advised, the •tour- nanient that there was Friday night racing and the All Turnarilent would not be able to start on their regular night. Mayor Shcwfelt told council that the establishing of the use of the park should.•be clarified for the future as well as uses for The Huron County Board of White that boards "fight fire Education voted unanimously ' With fire''Hill said, "This tactic Monday ; to disregard a won't solve. any,problems, but suggestion 'from the Ontario only make ,more. The only School Trustees Cou icil that losers will be our children". trustees "fight fire with fire" in "If ' this . attitude ••,%of the salary negotiations..' Trustee Council is continued', 1 The Trustees ' •Council would ask our Huron board to •meeting in' Toronto Saturday ' disassociate from them" he asked the '141 school 'boards in , added. - the province to refuse to enter into salary - Turkhcirrr • reiterated Hill's f 1 y t I talks with teachers pletely, disgusted with the " bargain would continue until •trustee group. With the guidance of Cayley we have appropriate provincial ' legislation is passed which built up a feeling of trust with defines the terms of reference our teachers". for collective bargaining with He continued ``In Toront&the teachers in Ontario. suggestion was. made. that --we After ..hearing from 1974. fight across the bargaining board chairman Cayley Hill table In 'Huron we don't and present vice-chairman bargain across the table but Herb' Turkheim members • talk -in a very informal manner agreed to carry on present in the lounge here. We trust ,s. salary talks with teachers. etch Onclucii4g, In referring to a headline ' •Inother"hiseremarks in Monday's Globe and Mail Cayley Hill said "Trustees which read • "S'chool boards were terribly upset about a urged ' to shun ' -teacher pay situation .iii Windsor, but talks", Hill said ‘ "It was , remember two.. wrongs don't shockingand sickening." make a right".- Hill continued; "I"It'sa sad . Huron' board chairman commentary 'on the education Wilfred Shortreed said. a stnall structure. We have' first class minority' of the Toronto relations with the ''teachers in `delegates felt friendly talks Huron". . across the table were stillIn•referring to the statement4 in 1975• needed, "but it vas very . made by London 'trustee Judy s mall" . 4 > � comments saying " m corn - The propose s-wM,•.•„p • •�.q ....W3, -p rN4- n.wy.nriey:.4t:K•°'h4'C*'ar.<.. , a.