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HomeMy WebLinkAboutClinton News-Record, 1983-07-13, Page 1g4..p D J rn o 1 O CL - ,Bel a aa o THE BAYF LD BUGLE incorporating THE LYTH STAND 50 cents — N 28 Wednesday,, July 13, 1983 118th year Council to proceed wit , bylaw Group home gets public approval By Shelley McPhee Clinton council will be going ahead with plans to establish a group home for the mentally handicapped. A public meeting held on July 6 in Clinton brought little opposition to the proposals, only concerns and information questions that were sufficiently answered by Linda Gerrard, group home supervisor in this area, with the ministry of com- munity and social services. Ms. Gerrard explained to the more than 40 people present, that the group home would be a residence of five moderately handicapped people. These people are able to live in an integrated, community set- ting. They will be taking part in a daily workshop program in Goderich. The home will staffed by six workers and will be monitored by the ministry of community and social services. To be tentatively located at a Joseph Street residence, the home and the program will be totally funded by the ministry. Group homes are not new to Huron County. Three homes and an apartment program operate in Exeter. Goderich has a home and apartment program and Wingham recently established a home. There was some concern voiced at the Clinton meeting that the recent drive to establish more group homes in the county was harming the Bluewater Centre closure fight. Group home supporters don't agree. Clinton Mayor Chester Archibald stated, "It's unfortunate to close the Bluewater Centre because some residents are simply not able to fit into the group home situation." He has been a main supporter behind the group home proposal. When the request was first made by Sheila Sully of the Goderich and District Association for the Mentally Handicapped the mayor ,em- phasized, "I want to support them in every way possible." A tourist information booth located on the corner of the Credit Union Parking lot was recently erected. Clinton council and the South Western Ontario Travel Association (SWOTA) initiated the project. Council financed the building of the booth at a cost of $2,300. Rhonda Lobb is one of the workers employed to work at the booth, which is open seven days a week. ( Rod Hilts photo) Mrs. Sully is more than pleased with Clinton's support of the proposal. She noted, "It's a real treat to talk to a council that's so positive." She and Ms. Gerrard agree that group homes are not a threat to the Bluewater Centre. Group homes, they explain are another step m the rehabilitation of mentally handicapped people. Only those who are able to live in a community at- mosphere will be considered for the home. While the first clients will be Bluewater residents, the home will be open to anyone who needs to live in that type of controlled environment. Mayor Archibald believes that the group home will be good for Clinton and area people, particularly parents of mentally handicapped childen. They will be provided with a service that won't take their child away to another centre. "It's a community project," Mrs. Sully added. "It's for people in the community who need the service." Plans are also on the drawing board to establish a developmental work centre. A day centre workshop, clients from group homes and the community would learn life skills. Clinton is being considered for the centre because of it's central location in Huron County. Clinton council's decision to support the group home was partially due to this future proposal. Council members were enthused about the idea of creating em- ployment in Clinton. Mrs. Sully added, "It would be a mini - industry, pumping dollars into the com- munity." The next step in the group home proposal will take place in the Clinton council chambers on July 18. At that time a bylaw approving the group home will be presented. Council names tenders for library restoration Six tenders have been named to carry out restoration work at the Clinton Library, Council apprdVed the lost,, tender bids artheir July 4 meeting. t. Weisher Plumbing of Listowel will be installing the mechanical workings at the library at the cost of $39,776. Lawrence Electric of Auburn _'has been hired to complete electrical work at a cost of $43,820. With a tender bid of $39,750, -Niagara Drywall of St. Catharines was hired to put in the drywall, acoustics, insulation, steel studding and ceilings. Saunders and Sons were hired for a price of $7,275 to do painting and F and R Fabricators of Clinton will construct the fire escape and railings for $2,800. D and M Hardware will be supplying and putting in the hollow metals for doors and trims, for $2,919. Councillor Charlie Burgess voiced ,some concerns, noting, "There's been very little Clinton labor or materials involved in this project. Deputy -Clerk Marie Jefferson explained that most materials have been purchased in Clinton, and one local tender Cal Doucette has been hired for work on the restoration. Councillor Burgess also urged the building committee to consider including public washrooms in the restoration plans. "Properly constructed the washrooms would be harder to vandalize," he said, noting the public washrooms in the Goderich court house as well built facilities. "Vandalism can be controlled by a responsible caretaker," Councillor Rosemary Armstrong said. She also suggested that washrooms should be open during shopping hours, not late at night. "Shoppers," she added, "won't van- dalize them. They will be vandalized late -at night." Public washrooms in Clinton have targets for vandalism in the past. Coun- cillor Bee Cooke described them as a disgrace. It was noted that washrooms were vandalized because they were isolated in a separate building. Council agreed that new washrooms should be established in a portion of the town hall. No ONIP grant While other local municipalities have received funds, Clinton is one town that will not have the benefits of an Ontario Neighborhood Improvement program (ONIP) grant. Council learned that their request for funds was denied because of limited funds. Councillor Jim Hunter suggested cutting back in some other areas, such as the town hall -library restoration, to compensate for the loss of the anticipated government funds. Ontario Hydro study Ontario Hydro will be conducting a study to determine the possible site of a distribution station near Clinton. The new station will be located along the line bet- ween Seaforth and Goderich. It will be established to help carry the load at the present station, which is reaching maxiumum levels. Councillor Burgess suggested that the new station could be located in Clinton's industrial park. It is close to the Highway 8 lines and could provide power to the park, he suggested. oderich wants fire calls included Communications proposal concerns police forces _ X proposal to have Goderich's emergency fire calls answered and dispatched through the Huron Municipal Police Communications System has been put on hold pending further investigation. Representatives from the five county towns served by the communications system met at Goderich town hall last Wednesday to discuss the matter. While none of the other towns' representatives expressed an interest in having their fire calls put through the central police dispatch system, they stated their con- cerns regarding Goderich's intention to do so. These concerns centred around the system's ability to handle the extra calls; the fee structure for the new set-up; and the manner in the Goderich Police Com- mission made the decision to implement the new set-up. .Before making a final decision on the proposal therefore, it was agreed to compile data from each of the towns, in- cluding the number of fire calls and the number of police calls received as well as some of the characteristics of these calls. This data will be presented at another meeting of the representatives in October along with input from the Ontario Fire Marshall's office and the Ontario Police Commission. The Huron Municipal Police Com- munications System became operational in April of 1979, providing 24-hour dispatch service to the five Huron County municipalities of Goderich, Clinton, Exeter, Seaforth and Wingham—serving a population of over 19,000. This system is comprised of nine police cruisers and 14 portable radios amongst the five forces. It was installed with the provincial gover- nment paying 75 per cent of the costs and the five municipalities paying the rest on a per capita basis. On-going costs are also shared on a per capita basis. The system is housed in Goderich and manned by five dispatchers. In 1982, the total number of calls received by all five municipalities where police were dispatched by radio to the scene was 6,723. This is not the total number of radio transmissions made. No figure is kept of - these but it is estimated at least 30,000. In addition, several hundred enquiries which do not require police action, are answered by the dispatchers each year. The dispatchers also handle enquiries for the Canadian Police Information Centre CPIC) terminal in Ottawa. Goderich Fire Chief Bill Beacom estimates that there are about 60 fire calls in Goderich per year, not including the "no alarm" or non-erriergency calls. At present, these calls are answered by phones located in six of the firemen's homes. Ken Anderson, chief dispatcher for the police communications system, told the meeting that handling these additional fire calls would present a problem. "We don't expect an overload of calls but these things have a tendency to all happen at the same time, he said. He explained that at the present time, two to three calls get stacked up during the days while Friday and Saturday nights "it's a madhouse." ( He warned that police calls may take les priority after the dispatchers start handling fire calls. He also expressed his concern over the characteristics of these calls since many of the callers are often in an agitated state and unable to give the proper location of the fires. Wingham representative Jack Kopas said he felt more specific data was needed to ensure that the present system could accommodate the fire calls, especially if the other towns decided to have their fire calls put through the police dispatch system at a future time. '"We don't want a system that is going to disintegrate...we want to make sure its present level is maintained," he said. Goderich Mayor Eileen Palmer said at the time the central police dispatch system was installed, she remembered being told it could handle police, fire and PUC Balls. Clinton Police Chief Lloyd Westlake commented that maybe the equipment could handle the calls but "we don't know about the humans who have to handle the situation." Gbderich Police Commission Chairman Alvin McGee said, "The information we have learned here shows there is a larger workload involved than we first thought. It could mean additional staff or equip- ment." He then suggested putting the whole matter "on hold" until further in- vestigation. Seaforth representative Wayne Ellis told themeeting that Seaforth town council was "irate that Goderich would go ahead in the first place without checking with the rest of the towns." Ellis said, "If' anything like this comes up in the future, it should be discussed before the fact and not after. The system is owned by all five municipalities and we didn't feel we were properly advised." He reminded those present that there was a communications committee which was suppose to look after such matters. This committee consists of the five police chiefs and mayors or representatives from each town. Chairman McGee pointed out that all the municipalties had been contacted about Goderich's fire call proposal and that none had expressed an interest. He admitted though that he had been on the Goderich Turn to page 3 r. .q, r. .. ..z.z- _ 4, ac uiv ,�. ,ee^ •� T'. G :�M' L'tilef-• It. Ai''1b Wit.14,'"+{ �., •'it M1d`iuti p b. Cheryl Morey is encouraging Clinton area people to make„use of a new program being provided by the Clinton Police. A summer student, Cheryl is promoting Operation Identification, a program to help people mark their valuable property. ( Shelley McPhee photo) ..,..•.w rit./., :.o �:. .-,: x.a. . ;1,.1'n a, eration Identification protects valuable property By Shelley McPhee You can help to guard your valuables with a new theft protection program available through the Clinton Police. Summer student Cheryl Morey of Seaforth is in charge of implementing the new program Operation Identification. A University of Windsor student, Cheryl will be working on the program until August. The aim of Operation Identification is to permanently identify property using a special engraving gun or special invisible ink markings. By marking valuable items with unique, traceable numbers, and displaying window and door decals to identify participants, Operation Iden- tification helps police in their work to recover stolen property and deter criminals from stealing marked property. The program was developed in California in 1963 and has had a high success rate across the United States and in Canada. Where properly implemented by police, Operation Identification has proven to be highly effective in property recovery and burglary reduction. Cheryl is available to help Clinton residents in their efforts to protect valuable property. The Clinton Police have a special electric engraver and invisible ink pen to loan, free of charge, to mark valuables with permanent identification. Also supplied are record sheets, to describe valuables and decals for windows and doors. 'These indicate that valuables are marked. For personal belongings, social in- surance or driver's licence numbers can be used as identification. Businesses, schools and organizations can obtain a special identification number from the police. Many people assume that a serial number on an item is sufficient iden- tification, however Clinton Police Chief Lloyd Westlake said this is not so. He noted that most serial and model numbers are on small plastic or metal stickers that are adhered to the item. These can be easily removed by thieves. Few items in homes or businesses are exempt from theft. Items that are traditionally stolen include adding machines, bicycles, binoculars, cameras, clocks, guns, hand tools, metal lock boxes, power mowers, radios, stereos. televisions, typewriters, musical in- struments, power tools, antiques, jewelry, furs and silverware. Mag wheels, tape decks, speakers, hub caps and batteries account for the greatest thefts from vehicles. All of these items can be marked with the electric engraver or invisible ink marker. Operation Identification is a service available for your protection. For more information contact Cheryl Morey at 482-9626. Tom Cunningham seeks county warden's seat The race is on for the warden's seat in Huron County in 1984. Hallett Reeve Tom Cunningham, 43, an- nounced at the July session of Huron Coun- ty Council that he will seek the position of warden at the end of the year. Earlier this term, Goderich Reeve Harry Worsell in- dicated he would be seeking the same posi- tion. Reeve Cunningham is serving his fifth year on county council after having served the first two years as Hullett's deputy reeve. Prior to having served as deputy reeve, Mr. Cunningham served two years as a councillor in his township. A beef and cash crop farmer. the Mullett reeve is currently chairman of the county's road committee. "I feel I have something to offer.'^ said Reeve Cunningham, one of the younger members of county council. The election for warden will be held in the ea -1y part of December. The last elec- tion for warden was in 1981 when the former reeve of Howick Township, Harold Rdbinson, ran against (:oderich Township Reeve Grant Stirling. Mr. Robinson served as 1982 warden and Mr. Stirling was acclaimed as 1983 warden. 'm Weather 1983 1982 .JULY HI LO HI IA) 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 Ram 0 20 10 26 fi 19 5 30 15 23 4 30 19 26 13 24 12 25 12 28 9 24 6 29 15 29 10 27 16 Rain 10 mm