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HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Goderich Signal-Star, 1975-11-20, Page 13#rirbe Fortner Signal -Star photographer Rob Kellestine todk this shot of Tuesday night's eclipse from the corner of Jerry's Hardware on Kingston Street at about 6:15 p.m, The eclipse began,at 3:39 p.m. and by 5:03 p.m., the moon, low in the east, was obliterated by the earth's shadow in space. Clear skies early Tuesday evening made the eclipse easily visible in this part of Canada. A lunar eclipse occurs only at full moon and only, when the earth, sun and moon are exactly aligned: It was the second eclipse this year, the first one on May 23. Peter Brooder's tender accepted for fire hall •Goderich Town Council accepted a tender from Peter Brander Monday night for renovations to the fire hall. The renovations to the existing firehall were necessitated when the Goderich fire department agreed to 'house the new tanker recently purchased by Goderich and Colborne Townships. • The Brander tender called for a total cost of $12,570 with• the project to begin January 2 and be completed in five weeks., The renovations consist of cutting a hole in the existing wall, installing an electrically operated door, moving the furnace and water heater and installing a washroom. • Two other tenders were received from Rob°inson Construction, Mitchell, and John, Lansink, Seaforth. The tender" dates had to be' ex- tended to Novemder 17 since no tenders were received in the first established time period. 1 28 YEAR -47 • ..'RJ • •^:.tlq .R»A.+k' ., Vit' ♦ . ab e9rj c'Ij 1`� Act "0 `A4 k♦ ri ALE -STAR a. THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 20, 1975 SINGLE COPY 25c souldbeezailed' Environment tells council to hasten sewage plant expansion A spokesman of the Ministry of Envirmonrrient told town council that because of increasingly high flows exceeding capacity at the sewage treatment plant there was a need for ex- pansion. He said early planning was the best solution. Neil McMullen of the Sarnia .office of the Ministry of Enironment informed council members` ,Monday that on seven, occasions during the year. flows have by-passed the plant. He added that as other industrial and housing developments locate in Goderich the facilities would not be adequate to facilitate the flow and now was the best time to plan for expansion. The expansion plans were initiated following the July 30 inspection " of the Goderich sewage treatment plant by B.E.' Boland of the Ministry.. Mr. 'Boland found that during heavy rains, the 'flow ex- ceeded 3,000,000' gallons and Gerry Fisher of the Goderich Taxi service examined by police commission The Goderich Police Commission wants to meet with representatives of the two taxi companies in Goderich to try to iron - out some problems that the commission feels have af- fected cab service in town. The meeting, set for early in December, will be utilized to get the three parties together to discuss improving what has. been termed poor night service by the two companies and to discuss the possibility ,of discarding the flat rate used in Goderich and installing meters in the companies' cars. Mayor Deb Shewfelt told the commission at the last meeting that he was getting a lot 'of complaints concerning night pickup of passengers requesting a cab in Goderich. He . said he understood that the lack of service 'was caused by an economic s"cjueeze the cab companies are ,facing brought on by sharp increases -they face in gasoline and insurance prices. - Chief Pat King said he did not know of the lack of night service but told the com- mission that he understood that the cab companies were seeking an increase in the flat rate to cover their extra costs. The chief added that possibly the rate may be abolished by the town and meters installed in the cabs to guarantee a cost to passengers and an income to the companies. The chief' said the two companies, Bluewater Taxi and Goderich—Taxi, were at loggerheads over meters. He plant estimated that 90 percent of the excess was water. As a result of the inspection Mr. Boland made •two recommendations to council: that the sewage separation system -be accelerated so that the bypassing of raw sewage that received only primary treatment and chlorination would be less frequent; or that the town expand the existing facilities. Mr. McMullen said that he was pleased with the efficient production of the sewage treatment plant but he was concerned that the sewage flow data indicated that flows have cronsistently exceeded capacity and were suf- fieiently hig-h to by-pass secondary treatment; He pointed out that there were seven occasions in the past year that flows have bypassed the plant but since some sewer separation is in, effect'. there has been some reduction in flow. However, he said that the flows • in- dicated a need for expansion since the capacity was being exceeded, placing larger burdens on the plant and deteriorating the quality. "Early planning is the, best solution" he said. "There is a need for expansion and as other developments spring up in • the town the sewage facilities will be able to handle it." Councillor Dave Gower DATE CORRECTION explained that the installation The Red. Cross Blood of meters had been suggested Donor Clinic at GDCI by the last police commission will be held Tuesday, but the two.companies did not December 2 in the af- agree. and 'the commission, ternoon and evening. preferring not to get involved One of the ad - in private enterprise, chose to vertisements in' the leave the matter up to'the two, Signal -Star regarding businesses. this event has the wrong Judge Frances Carter date. A corrected ad - suggested that the coni- vertisement has been mission propose to the placed, and interested companies that they establish citizens are reminded a' working relationship with the date , is . Tuesday, (continued on page 16) December 2. said the town is in the throes of catching up in its sewer separation system and that one-third of the town has now been converted to the separate system. He added that --the answer, to the '°-problem was to speed up' the operation of the separating system. Mr. McMullen told council that the sewer separation system wouldn't do much good in Goderich and the route to take is plant ex- pansion. He said it should be done now. He 'explained that in the future if some industrial or housing development wanted to locate in. the Goderich area the Ministry of the En- vironment would have to say no to the project if the sewage treatment facilities were not large enough to ac- commodate it. . Mr,McMullen advised the ctitortil: to act quickly on the matter since he estimated it would take 'three years for engineering, design and approvals of various ministries. Sr.citizen housing needs •IY iiuue. townships t The town of Goderich will put its collective head together with the townships of Colborne and Goderich in the future in an attempt to' seek solutions to _ any housing problems- now evident in the communities and to plan to Meet the housing demands faced in the future. The move to a co-operative effort by the three municipalities was suggested at a recent housing 'action committee meeting to which the reeve's of the two town- ships were invited. Gerry Ginn of Goderich Township and Doug McNeil of Colborne attended the meeting to uiscuss housing needs for senior' citizens in their townships and if and how they can be applied to the needs of the town of Goderich. The housing action com- mittee invited the two reeves to discuss the possibility of "Our. main concern is not relocating rural seniors who political implications of are incapable of operating housing but rather the need their own home or are im- for housing for all," said mobile into an urban area, Committee Chairman bon possibly Goderich. - Wheeler. "We should try to The committiee is in the determine the need for process of polling senior housing in this area and try to citizens in the Goderich area to attempt to determine if there is a need for govern- ment subsidized senior action committee and would find the means to fill that probably participate need." financially on a use •basis. A suggestion to name the He said that the people in reeves of the townships as Goderich To, nship grow old permanent members on the the same as any other place committee was shunned by and although they would like Gerry Ginn who countered to remain in the 'place . they with a proposal to have the have lived all their lives, a tworural councils'nameitheir lack of mobility makes it own representatives. He almost impossible for them to claimed that ,the reeves may do so. not necessarily be the best The request for input from choice as township, members the Townships was made in of the com'mittee, and an attempt to establish an suggested that the councils accurate estimate of the should make the final -choice. number of residents in the themselves. area that can now make use The committee's interest in of government housing or housing_.rather than polities may wish to in the near was again emphasized by future. The camTittee is Goderi •'' '. Mayor Deb securing the names . of in- Shewfelt: He pointed out to terested seniors to place thethe committee that many statistics in front ^of the On- senior residents of Goderich tario Housing Corporation are former residents of the when the application for neighboring townships and subsidized housing is made. that when determining a need citizen housing. Reeve Gerry Ginn told the- committee that he felt certain that Goderich Township would support the housing William Humphries of Mooretown displays a life ring from the ship John A. McGean which was on loan to him from the Pilot House Museum in Sarnia. It is believed to be, the only life ring recovered from the 440 foot vessel that was lost with a crew of .23 on Nov. 19, 1913: (staff photo) . - Dlverscoming back in '76 to recover Wexford artifacts 'Muddy water, lack of personal time and a bad omen have" suspended the salvage operations of the S.S. Wexford which was lost with all hands in the storm of November; 1913. The wreck was pinpointed by William Humphries of Mooretown, and associates, just north of Goderich barb„or. After clearing numerous legal problems with the federal government., the acquisition of time on behalf of the diving team was somewhat inadequate as were the finances, according to Mr. Humphries. A bad omen? Going back to the first days of looking for the Wexford, on a bright summer's day a lady passenger , on board a schooner felt a cold chill as the craft glided over a specific area on Lake Huron. She had mentioned there was something cold and -spooky there. As the vessel cleared the area feelings returned to normal and the air of eeriness cleared. After making numerojs trips to Goderich, the team consisting of Jim MacDonald, Capt. Robt, Nilson and Wm, Humphries was turned away by foul weather and -or dirty water, Several dives were made in zero visibility in an attempt to secure markers and without success. The harbor dredging did not help the situation either, Another omen! One of the small boats used,jtlst hap- pens to have the licence number 42E1913, "It is almost as though the diving team is not wanted aboard the ship,” says W m, Humphries. With the prohlems encountered, some resolved, the projeet,has been abandoned until May 1976, In the meantime the diving director would like to get in touch with divers in the Goderich area interested in , marine history, and having salvageexperience and patience. They may write Bill Humphries,—Mooretown Marine. Mooretown, ()Mario. 4 fi for senior citizen housing, political boundaries had to be ignored. :`It doesn't matter where the people hang their hats. This is a project of the three communities," agreed. Gerry Ginn. Gerry Ginn suggested that the committee's advertising for senior citizens to contact a committee member for in- formation be changed to encompass the townships. He suggested that a personal contact be offered to residents of the townships through- the reeve or the member named to the committee by the township council. "Personal contact through, someone they know may get much better results," said the reeve. The committee have received 26 applications for information on subsidized housing in Goderich and could be shooting for twice that number of applicants before confronting OHC with the statistics. They met with the Goderich senior citizens club last night to explain government housing to the applicants and will continue gathering names of interested seniors for theremainderof the year. Local mail delivery resumed .a. workers back BY DAVE SYKES Goderich Postmaster Mel Farnsworth announced Tuesday that all inside workers at the Goderich Post Office had returned. to work effective' Tuesday morning. On Monday two of the eight inside workers reported for work and with full inside operations in effect, the postmen were called back to work. Mr. Farnsworth said that because of the continuing nationwide strike only local mail that was available could be sorted and delivered.' the nationwide postal strike continues and Monday night Postmaster General Bryce Mackasey said that striking postal workers •are "dr'eaming in technicolor" if ey expect the government t change its final wage offer. r. Mackasey said that they don't know when they have a good bargain and that the offer of $1.70 an hour over a 30 -month period would not change if the strike lasted a day, a week, a month or a year. Despite the strike, federal government pension cheques will be delivered in the mail sometime next week after supervisory personnel began sorting in the Toronto Post Office early •t,his week. Ap- proximately 120 supervisors, some from outside Toronto, began sorting the 1.25 million pension cheques for Ontario while 125 members of CUPW who reported for work in Toronto Monday sorted other `mail. The only mejor develop- ment in the strike was the announcement of the postal union that it will pay strike benefits of $40 a week to strikers 'for the duration of the strike. Applying this to 20,000 of the union's 22,000 members, the cost is $800,000 a week which is, only $200,000 less than the union's ,total defence fund. A motion in the House of Commons to organize a supentvised vote among' the strikers on the last govern- ment . offer was blocked by New Democratic leader Ed Broadbent. Although the strike by. the`22,000.employees is beginning to fray at the edges the major centres in the' country keep mail from, moving. Siipervjsors in Toronto are sorting old age security. Canada pension plan cheques, war veterans' allowance cheques, - federal superannuation, cheques, pension cheques for RCMP and Canadian forces, Ontario Municipal employee cheques and Ontario welfare cheques. Supply and Services Canada said earlier this week that federal family....allowance cheques will be delayed until the beginning of December. The December delivery will include both the November and December payments.°Old age security and other pension cheques will be delivered prior to or on the usual date of November 26. There will, be about six million government cheques distributed in the mail. Althbugh 'agreement has li`vrn ►•e;1ched with the strikers on a variety of non - monetary items, including measures to deal with the impact of technological change and the use of non-' union casuals, the fight is over demands for More -money. The Government's offer includes $1.70 an hour increases over a 30 month period, 'premium pay for Saturday and Sunday, higher shift premiums and an im- proved vacation schedule. But the fight continues over more money, a shorter work week and an unlimited cost of living escalator clause in- stead of the • limited clause during the last 18 months of the , agreement. Mr, Mackasey said that it is now a matter of judgement when the rights of .the public supersede the rights of a union to strike. He said the government would prefer to err on the side of caution and they • are willing to resume the negotiations with the postal union as long as they un- derstand there will be no change in the wage offer. The strike is now the longest in Canadian postalistory as it completes its fourth week and aside from crippling the small businessman a ''set- tlemen't would leave little if any time for the mailing of Christmas parcels and cards. As of Monday a spokesman said that 11 more post offices had resumed operations and at that time the • total had risen to 126 that were ,a;n full operation. The strength, in numbers is declining slowly.