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HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Goderich Signal-Star, 1987-02-25, Page 1lc po A Goderich Police Constable and the local chief of police and police conunission were ruled 25 per cent responsible for the automobile accident that caused the death of a Goderich Provincial Police officer in art -Ontario -Supreme Court civilaait which ended in a London courtroom. on Friday. Surviving members of OPP Constable Bruce Crew's family will be awarded $355,000 to $450,000 as a result of Mr. Justice Dennis O'Leary's decision. O'Leary put 75 per cent of the responsibi- ly for the accident, which occurred on Sept. 25, 1983, on the two o.ccupants of a Pontiac Firebird that led police on a high- speed chase. Allan Nicholson, 25, and Wayne M.cl)onald. 27, both of Rh 3, . l.ucknow, were the driver and owner of the car which sparked the pursuit. However, the judge also decided Goderich Police Constable Peter Mason, the driver of the cruiser which struck Crew, was driving tc rfast-,mder-the-eu'- — criinstances and therefore Mason, Goderich Police Chief Patrick King, and the Goderich Police Commission were 25 per cent liable. • Crew, 47, died shortly atter 3 a.m. on S.ept. 25, 1983, after he and his partner Con- stable John S4raughan intercepted tli. Firebird which Mason had been chasing along Huron County Road 18, a hilly gravel stretch Frbout 25 kilometres :south of Goderich. erich Although Mason heard uvei los radio that OPP had caught the Firebird, he didn't know the vehicles were stopped at the bottom of the same hill he was climb- ing. Local Police and Provincial Police cruisers do not have direct radio contact. applied his -brakes as soorrastre came to the crest of the hill and saw the cruiser's lights, but, was unable to keep his cruiser from skidding down the slope and crashing into the Firebird, Crew was standing next to the Firebird when the crash occurred. In addition to the monetary effect on the department, the award may have an effect on future use of high-speed pursuit by the local police department, said King, who is currently preparing a report for the Police C'onirfiission on that subject. "It will probably have an impact on whether we pursue .or not," King said. "I don't want any of my officers to go through this again," he added. The precise amount of the award has not been determined. A complex formula will -be -used o -ti veiop tlib award, which in- cludes compensation for the salary, pen- sion and potential post-retirement earn- ings of the deceased officer. It also maked provisions for the loss of Crew's care, guidance, companionship and contribution to maintaining the household. Although assessed only 25 per cent responsible, the commission's insurance could end up covering a larger portion of the award, if Nicholson and McDonald's insurance is found to be insufficent. 4V111111111110150 - 139 YEAR - 08 GODERICH, ONTARIO, WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 25, 1987 60 CENTS PER COPY Students in Grades :l to 6 at Robertson Public School were expos- ed to the nuances of a variety of hobbies and interests during Hobby Day at the school last Thursday. In the top photo, students Karen Harrison, Christopher Jermarf and Seott Taylor seemed to be enjoying spaghetti, cooked with the help of chef Doug Currie. •Dawn Baker and Kelly Muir applied cake decorating skills to cupcakes and another class learned how to land steelhead tropt. (photos by Dave Sykes) Roman Catholic board considers child video ID 1 l idal e r °, itin included inside • Once again this year, the Signal -Star has put together, a bridal supplement filled _ with helpful hints and interesting informa- tion on all aspects of engagements and. weddings. This year's bridal couple is Anne Nare- jko of Clinton and Colin Chisholtn of Dungannon. They are featured throughout the 48 -page supplement. Learn about choosing diamond rings, how to tell your parents the good news and planning a wedding to suit your personali- ty and style in the 1987 Bridal Supplement accompanying this paper. Recreation Board *requests reserve BY W1X,MA OKE • The Huron -Perth County Roman Catholic Separate School Board willstudy an offer made by Legion members Robert Chapman • and Howard Carroll, both of Goderich, Mon day to carry out'a child video identification. program. for the Catholic school children in . Huron County. Mr. Chapman, Leadership Chairman of District C,.Royal Canadian Legion,told-the trustees that the Legion is offering to go to the nine elementary separate schools in Huron County to make a short video tape of each child in Kindergarten to Grade 6. Along with the photos of -each child, there will be voice identification by having the child answer questions verbally ,as well as they child's noted. This will be repeated every three years. ' - Mr..Chaprrran said if the board decides to • go ahead with the program, it .will be necessary to get parental consent. He noted the " tapes should be stored safely at the board office or with the principals in the schools. William .Eckert,• Director of Education, reported that to. date, 101 students are • registered.for the new Grade 9 cIass.to start at "St. Michael School •• in will next September. He said there will be 85 students. from Perth County, 1.1, from Huron'County, four' from Oxford County and one from Mid- dlesex County, ' " On February 10, a letter went out to the parents of students at St. Patrick's School, Dublin and St. Columban School' advising them that re -organization of, the two schools continues with St. Coltrmban being made a Primary School for Kindergarten to Grade 3 students and Dublin will be a Junior - Intermediate • school with ohe classroom turned into a library resource centre, and a teacher librarian added to the staff. It is expected St. Columban will have about 125 students (now 67) and St. Patrick's in Dublin will have about 125 ( cur- rently 169.) and each will have between six and seven teachers. To meet its additional staffing re- quirements next year at St. Michael Secon- dary -School in Stratford, the Huron -Perth Catholic•School Board is inviting voluntary teacher transfer applications from secon- dary school teachers presently employed by the Perth County Board of l3ducation who have the potential of being declared redun- dant. Appreciation is expressed to the Perth County Board for their assistance in this matter. It is expected that teachers will be re- quired to be qualified in English, French, ,Science, Business Studies, Religion, Mathematics, History. Goderich Town.Council has tabled a re- quest from, the Goderich Recreation and Community Centre Board to set up a reserve of $20,000 for implementation of the Master Plan for Recreation in their 1987 budget. Council will steal with the mat- ter at 'upcoming budget planning sessions. The request was received by council at their Feb. -23 meeting. "This (setting up a reserve fund definitely seems premature, since we haven't even decided if we're going ahead with this ( the master plan) or not," com- mented Councillor John Stringer. Council agreed to a request -for a special meeting between the Master Plan Com- mittee and council -on March, 16, At that time, council will be presented with the final report on the Town of Goderich Recreation Master Plan and Feasibility Study.' Council considers Industrial mall on new fire hall site A proposal from two local men to con- struct an industrial mall on a two -acre parcel of land on Suncoast Drive has con- vinced Goderich Town, -Council to recon- sider plans to locate a new fire hall on the same site. Jeff Fisher, owner of Fisher Glass and Mirror, and Rob Sherwood, of Sherwood Express busy lines, presented their pro- posal to council at their Feb. 23 meeting. In hearing the delegatidn's proposal, council waived the normal proceedure of having the delegation appear first , before the Economic and Industrial Development Committee, because of the necessity of having council first agree to reconsider the new fire hall location. Fisher told council the property in ques- tion, a two -acre lot 'at the corner of Sun - coast and MacEwan is "the best suited for the type of thing we'd like to do." He added that he hoped council would be able to reconsider locating the fire hall there so they could use the property for their development proposal, but added, "if it's inconceiveable, then it's inconceiveable." "I don't think anything is incon- cievable," replied Councillor Glen Carey, adding that while there are a number of technical advantages for placing a fire hall on the site, he would be willing to examine the situation. , "This proposal is of merit to the Board recom A hydro transmission corridor for this area appears imminent after the Joint Hearing Board made public their recom- mendations on February 20 after 131 days of hydro hearings last year. The Joint Hearing Board, an impartial three member board, recommended to the Ontario Cabinet that a transmission cor- ridor be established to bring power from the Bruce Nuclear Power Development, (BNPD) down to southwestern Ontario. The corridor, known as Plan 1, would in- volve a double circuity 5110 Kilovolt line from the BNPD through Bruce, Huronnd A municipality and it's something that is needed. I would be prepared • to call a meeting of the fire committee to see if this is feasible," said Carey. Public Works Commissioner Ken Hunter explained to council that there are one or two alternate sites on McEwan Drive whith might be suitable for location of the 'fire hall. While the services at the other sites are the same, there is no direct ac- cess from the lots to Suncoast Drive and they therefore "don't have the exposure to the public," that would . be needed' by businesses located in an industrial mall, Hunter added. Fisher and Sherwood explained that; the proposed industrial mall would initally house three businesses, including Fisher. Glass and Mirror, with the potential to ex pand to six or more. ,"It's interesting to note that for years we have been trying to attract an industi' al mall, even going so far as to place adver- tisments in newspapers out 'of town. Yet, here we 'have local businessmen with a proposal to build one. I think we shoud con- sider it- "carefully," said Councillor Bill Clifford. Council agreed to refer the matter to the Fire Committee and Economic Develop- ment Committee, to report back to council at their March 9 meeting, at which time the proposal will again be considered. ends hydro power crridor Middl sex Counties to Hydro's new tran ormer station just south of London in Caradoc Township. Another corridor would be established from 'the I,ondon Transformer Station east to the Nanticoke Generating Station as part of Plan 1. According to Ontario Hydro spokesper- son Donna Prout, a 28 -day appeal period will go into effect in which interested par- ties can make their thoughts known to the Joint Hearings Board. After this appeal period, the .Joint Board would then take their findings back to the Ontario Cabinet and ask for an Order in Council, which would allow Hydro to pro- ceed with land acquisitions for the cor- ridor. The land acquisitions could start as 'early August 1, 1987, said Prout. Under Hydro's current timetable, con- structiot 'ould begin on the hydro corridor in the spr ig of 1988 with the first "in ser- vice" of t e line scheduled for March 1, 1991, she s, 'd. For the F )odland Hydro Committee, an organizatiot, representing 1,200 farmers opposed to the hydro corridor, the an- nop.ncement came as a bitter disappointment. '"R'S disappointing. We fought a long, hard fight ever. since 1980. A,ll,t can,say is we've done the best we. could," said 1;`oodland Hydro Committee. Secretary Bill Jongejan. "We've got the best farmland in the world here. We just thought it was worth it to make that point known." he said. Mr. Jongejan said the primary effects of the corridor, the inconvenience of farming around hydro towers, will eventually be overshadowed by the secondary effects of the new hydro corridor which will promote Turn to page 2. • Sk.tin c b presents One of the highlights' of the winter recreation season is. the Goderich Figure Skating Club's annual Pop Concergt. This year the members and club ex- ecutive have Scheduled its annual Skating Pop Concert for. Saturday, Feb. 28 at the Goderich Memorial Arena. Two shows, a 2 p.m. matinee and a 7 p:m. evening perfor- mance will be offered. 'A silver collection will be taken at each show. Last season the club presented Televi- sion On Ice as part of its annual, Skating ex- hibition and show. . Performing s meeting• 1 e The Cutltural Activities sub-corrirniftee of the Goderich Recreation Board isplann- ing a public meeting aimed at organizing a Performing Arts Committee in town. Program Supervisor Bob Marshall has sent letters to various community'' organizations; informing, them of 'the' meeting, planned for April. 8, and inviting them to send delegates. The meeting will deal will such topic's '•as: funding available from government agencies, bringing 'in performing. artists, -attracting a larger audier)ce ;'and pro- moting cultural activities. Guest speaker . will be . Elaine Hagarty, . Southwestern, , Regional Touring Consultant for the On- tario. Arts Council. She' will speak on the performing arts in similar small com- munities and what they are doing; grants, available and, the benefits of organizing a • Performing Arts Cornrnitttee. The meeting will be held at The Livery; at 7:30 p.m. 9N8BD I,.F-IL_- SIGNAL S A Shell Spiel held The fifth annual men's Shell Spiel was held Saturday at ;the Maitland Country Club with local and out-of-town teams competing in the day -long tournament. For pictures and details, see the Sports section. Impaired drivers Bluewater Centre residents along with • local and area high school students learn- ed about the consequences of drinking and driving during a presentation at the Centre last Tuesday. Former model Wendy Crawford ang' Mount Forest OPP Con. stable Gary Gaelar gave personal descrip- tions of how drunk drivers have changed their lives. For pictures and story, see the front page of the Community section.