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HomeMy WebLinkAboutClinton News-Record, 1983-04-13, Page 1incorporating Wednesday, Aprii1 13, 1983 No more dust, no.more complaints y Shelley McPhee Matilda Street residents rejoice, your street will be paved this year. After many years of complaints and requests, Matilda Street residents in Clinton will finally be giving up their dirt trail for a newly constructed street. Clinton council has accepted a tender from Lavis Construction to rebuild and pave Matilda from Bond Street to the CNR tracks. As well this year's street work will see the final coat of asphalt on North Street from Huron to John Streets. It will cost Clinton $99,138.75 to complete the work. The project will be partially financed through the Ministry of Tran- sportation and Communications (MTC) annual construction subsidy which this year amounts to $50,500. There is a good possibility that the total price will increase with extra costs for sewer work, hydrant relocations and street lighting. in approving this year's street program council trimmed off several other works projects to keep in line with the maximum MTC subsidy. Omitted from the 1983 proposal was further work on Matilda from Walker to Bond Streets; on Rat- tenbury from Shipley to North Streets and on Princess Street. Council studied four bids before ex- cepting the low Lavis tender. Other bids came from C.A. Mcllowell, Seal -on Paving Ltd. from Chatham and TCG Construction in London. French Fries for sale Council has given approval to Wayne Layton to operate a french fry truck in downtown Clinton. The truck will be set-up on Albert Street in a section of the empty lot beside the Commercial Printers. It is scheduled to operate from 11:30 a.m. ' 4 p.m. on week- days and weekends. Saabdivison p1 s,ns Clinton developer 1 on deMers was scheduled to meet with council members last week, regarding a proposed housing development on Smith Street, south of High Street. Mr. deMers owns four lots on the east side of the street and he plans to build homes there. He and council were meeting to establish an agreement to determine who will put in the roads, sewers and street lighting. New business still under study Clinton's ".town solicitor, Beecher I� a treet Menzies, has now been asked to look into the legalities of allowing an antique business, Branson Place, to establish in a residentially zoned area on Ontario Street. The new business proposal has been under question by Clinton council, the town and county planning boards for two months. It would contravene the existing residential zoning bylaw, but because of the nature of the business the planning board has recommended its approval. Emmanuel Nickolaou has proposed Branson Place as a home occupation. Restored and refinished antiques and fine art would make up the furniture in the Nikolaou home and would be sold to a select clientele. The planning board recommended approval, providing that Branson Place follow the town's official plan guidelines. These state that the retail outlet roust be compatible with the residential area and the commercial use must be secondary to the residential use, meaning that the retail display must be low key. Clerk Cam Proctor explained, "It can be permitted if we pass the proper bylaw and neighboring property owners have no complaint." Councillor Ross Carter asked, "Aren't we going to get ourselves in quite a mess if others want to do the same thing?" "It will have a residential character," Councillor Jim Hunter explained. He noted that there are nine other shops of this type in Clinton and noted, "If we want to shut down one, why not shut down them all. We shouldn't and we don't want to do that." He also reminded Councillor Carter of the bookkeeping business he runs out of his own home. "Would you like to move up- town to a shop?" Councillor Hunter asked. Mr. Menzies will be ask ,1 to study the problems that might arise if ranson Place was sold. Would the zoning for an antique business or home 'ob'eutrattlian continue, or would it cease? Historic i)1 tours LACAC is looking for help this summer to help organize a historical tour brochure of Clinton. A summer student hired by the town to work in the municipal offices may be available to do this work and to research further properties for heritage designation. Complex approval In what Clerk Cam Proctor called record time, the Clinton town hall -library con- struction bylaw has received approval ital meetin 11 be hsi On April 25 the Clinton Hospital Auxiliary will be hosting 225 delegates to the Spring Conference of the Hospital Auxiliaries of Ontario. Delegates at- tending will be coming from the Region 2 district, an area covered from Wingham to St. Marys, east to Guelph. The day long event will be held at the Ontario Street United Church in Clinton. The day will begin with registration from 9:30 to 10 a.m. After the official opening, delegates will take part in five various workshops. Following lunch the annual meeting and installation of officers take place. The second half of the program will also feature a guest speaker and the afternoon will conclude between 2:30 and 3 p.m. An Study will decide 111. Cl° t n invitation has also been extended to take a tour of the Clinton hospital's new addition. Lunch catering has been arranged and the committee is counting on Clinton Auxiliary members to arrange for their lunchoen ticket before April 18. For more information call conference committee members: Esther Wright, president; Ruth Bond, past president; Margaret Caldwell, convenor and Mrs. Kathleen Siertsema. This is not the first time the Clinton Auxiliary has taken an active role in the Ontario Association. The Clinton group is honored to have Peggy Menzies as the provincial president and Donna Wood as secretary. omputers for Duron? BY STEPHANIE LEVESQUE In a 16 to 14 recorded vote Huron County council has approved using the firm of Woods Gordon of London to conduct a com- puter feasibility study for the county. Council, at its March 31 meeting, heard repeated arguments opposing the study led by Zurich Reeve Don Van Patter. The Zurich reeve has opposed the idea of the feasibility study from the beginning stating the county could invite computer firms in to suggest the type of computer which would be best for the county. The study has been budgeted at $25,000, although Morris Township Reeve William Elston said the cost of the study has been estimated at about $17,000 plus travel and mileage. He noted the study would deter- mine if the county needs a computer and if it does. what kind it needs. East Wawanosh Township Reeve Neil Vincent moved that the whole idea of a computer study be sent back to the ex- ecutive committee This motion was defeated by council Executive committee member Brussels Reeve Calvin Krauter said that corrunittee has studied the question. He added the county could ask several companies to recommend computers to the county, but stated, "how much smarter would we be, not one iota." "I do have experience in computers, per- sonal experience," said Reeve Van Patter adding if county council couldn't make a decision on what type of computer to buy "there is something wrong with the system." "The question is whether we even need one (computer). Woods Gordon is in the business of doing this and will tell us if we need a computer and if so, what kind we need," said Hullett Reeve Tom Cunn- ingham. Exeter Deputy Reeve Lossy Fuller disagreed. "1 don't think it's a question of need or not, but keeping up with the times." She agrees with the idea of the county being on a computer system, but 118th year 11 from the Ontario Municipal Board. The approval came two weeks after the bylaw was sent to Toronto. Council now has the authority to pass the bylaw, allowing the town to call tenders for the project and finance it, a necessary, through debentures. Souvenir pins The new town hall will be proudly displayed on lapel pins. Council will buy 2,500 plastic coated pins ave from Bill Kiehl Advertising for 92 cents each. The shield shaped pins will depict the town hall and will be sold for ap- proximately $1.50 each. In accepting the Riehl package, council turned down a price from Mike Russo, 1,000 pins at $1.48 apiece. Council hopes that some of the pins will arrive in time to sell at Klompen Feest and the Spring Fair. e b!essing or y Rod Hilts Now that spring is officially here we can forget about the threat of the winter that never happened. This past winter we were essed with the mildest seasonal weather on record. Although many people didn't miss the high winds, drifting snow and sub- zero temperatures, a lot of local businesses did. After all a lot of businesses thrive on snow and ice. Murray Taylor, the owner of Sterling Fuels in Clinton says the mild winter has put a 20 per cent decrease on home fuel consumption this year. "Business has been down about one dump per house this year," said Mr. Taylor. Another business affected by the lack of snow this winter was H..ly Gully, who report a 25 per cent decrease in snowmobile sales compared to last year. According to owner Randy Collins, the early spring weather we've experienc-.. this year has caused his sales to soar in other areas. "The weather was adverse for snowmobile sales but good for bike sales. Overall they've balanced each other out," said Mr. Collins. With little snow on the ground the wearing of winter boots hasn't been neccessary this past winter. Despite the balmy weather boot sales were "good" according to Willa Wuerth, of Wuerth Shoes in Clinton. "Both our stores had a good boot selling winter. The city stores had more problems On April 10 a Country and Western Jamboree was held at Vanastra. On stage the Country Companions were a piekin' an' a grinnin' to a jam-packed Vanastra Community (entre. (Rod Hilts photo) Tuekersmith okays ar By Wilma Oke it's unanimous. The five municipalities which own and operate the Seaforth and District Community ('entre have now all given approval to the 1983 budget for the centre. In a vote of three to one Tuckersmith Township Council approved the revised budget of $165,255 for the centre. The revision includes a reduction of $1,900 in capital expenses from the previous proposal and the resulting deficit proposed now is$34,405. Councillor ,John Brownridge was not satisfied the budget had changed and declared he could not approve it. Reeve Robert Bell ( who does not vote on motions unless to cut a tie vote) said he was willing to give the management committee of the centre the benefit of the assurance by Ken Campbell, chairman of the management committee for the centre, that many of the expenses in this first year of operating will not he incurred in future years. Tuckersmith and Hullett Townships both refused to approve the first proposed budget hut now both townships have ap- proved the revised edition, following the lead of the other three municipalities who approved the first proposal. The Town of Seaforth, which pays the largest share, the Township of McKillop the second largest share and Hibbert Township the second smallest share used their combined vote of over 80 per cent to carry the budget through for approval. Richard Koostra of R.K. 5, Clinton, a resident of Stanley Township, who plans to build a feed mill on Highway 4, attended the council session to answer questions on I he site plan for his business. He stated he was anxious to be neighborly and not rause Aust problems for a nearby restaurant and lxiat works in Tuckersmith Township. Councillor Robert Broadfoot and Deputy I(eeve William Brown said they were nncerned about the business firms in their township and asked for written ,r.ssurances from Mr. Koostra that the prevailing westerly winds would not cause dust problems. Mr. Koostra promised to rive a site plan giving exact footage back n his property the silos would be located 10 Tuckersmith's building inspector, ilerman VanWieren Passed were applications for four tile drainage loans for $15,000, $18,662, 815,000 and $18,000 for a total of $66,662. Two drains were discussed at length - 'idams and Archibald :ry bud et Councillor Broadfoot asked council to consider starting naming committees to mark the celebration in ,January, 1985 of the 150th anniversary of the township. ('Ierk ,lack McLachlan was authorized to attend the Association of Municipal Clerks and Treasurers of Ontario in Goderich on April 21. T Weather 1983 1982 APR11, HI tO HI 1.0 5 5 2 4 9 6 o 0 5 11 7 12 4 , 4 13 8 7 2 0 10 9 7 i 4 5 10 11 2 2 3 11 8 0 3 1 Ram 17 mm Snow 4 crn ,e.rvsem....,eaanaamrom.e.el curse? with sales. They had to put away about 60 per cent of their boots for next fall," she said. Mrs. Wuerth added that because of the mild winter, the selling season for runnuig shoes and other spring footwear has moved up a month. She said that stock for some lines of spring footwear is back- ordered already. -Normally in March we have bad weather and people are still buying boots This year they started buying running shoes early," said Mrs. Wuerth. While the winter has sent a chill through some area businesses, it has been a blessing to the municipalities. According to Clinton Clerk Cam Proctor this year's mild winter has saved the town "a nice little chunk." Mr. Proctor had no immediate figures on how much money was actually saved but gave a brief comparsion of the months of January, February and March of 1982 and 1983. In 1982 during the span of the above months one snowplow operator in the town accumulated 257 hours of street plowing. During the same period in 1983, the operator was out for only 25 or 30 hours. This represents a signifacant savings for the town. In the village of Blyth, Clerk Larry Walsh estimates that the village saved "between 4 or $5,000" on snow removal this past winter. in Bayfield, the village was able to limp by with a broken down grader. This year the council will look at replacing the equipment, but in 1983 snow removal and equipment costs saved the taxpayers' more than $4,000. On a larger scale the Ministry of Transportation and Communications ( MTC), in the Stratford district, which includes the plowing of highways in the counties of Huron, Perth, Dufferin, Wellington and the Regional Municipality of Waterloo, saved a substantial amount of money. According to District Engineer Ed Zavitski, the MTC saved about $500,000 by virtue of a winter with very little snowfall. One industry that benefited from the mild weather is the Lake Huron fishing businesses. McLeod Fisheries in Bayfield is operating about a month early this year than they did last season. An early start should mean more profit to fisherman. All in all, depending on how it's looked at, the mild winter of '83 was either a blessing or a curse to the people in the Clinton area. Where money was lost in some businesses, the majority of us gained by saving in other important areas. Sc ool year c iTdar set The Huron County Board of Education approved the 1983-84 school year calendar at its April meeting incorporating the two week Christmas holiday and week earlier March break approved previously. The usual school holidays include Thanksgiving Day on Oct. 10, Christmas holidays from Dec. 19 to Jan. 1, winter break from March• 12 to 16, Good Friday on April 20, Easter Monday on April 23 and Victoria Day on May 21. The professional activity days for elementary and trainable mentally retard- ed schools are on Friday, Sept. 23; Friday, Oct. 28; Wednesday, Nov. 23; Friday, Feb. 24; Friday, May 4; Monday, June 4 and Wednesday, June 27 to Friday, June 29. _ County -wide PA days for the secondary schools will be held on Friday, Oct. 28; Monday, April 2 and from Monday, June 2.5 to Friday, June 29. Seaforth District High School will be holding its own PA days on Thursday, Jan. 26 and Friday. Jan. 27. South Huron District High School will be holding additional PA days on Friday, Feb. 3 and Friday, June 22. Central Huron Secondary School, Clinton; F. E. Madill Secondary School, Wingham: and Goderich District Collegiate Institute will be holding their additional days on Thursday, June 21 and Friday, June 22. Separate teachers e co ura _ ed to evaluate marks Huron -Perth Separate School teachers will be encouraged to use the Ontario Assessment instrument Pool OA f P i as a method of evaluating students' work Using the OAiP is one of the recom- mendations suggested in a review of grade seven and eight history taught in the board's schools. Superintendent of education .John McCauley explained to trustees at their March 28 meeting that OA IP is a province - wide list of test questions in various subjects. All schools have the Ontario Assessment Instrument Pool in print and the teachers are using it to produce better testss." said Mr McCauley The review of the hoard's history curriculum was recently conducted by a representative of the Ministry of Education and a consultant from the Windsor Separate School Board The review concludes that history is tieing well delivered in the separate schools and makes several recommendations on various aspects of the history curriculum Director of education William Eckert noted that OAiP and other methods of delivering topics and testing of students' knowledge will he part of a professional development day program in the roming year