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The Goderich Signal-Star, 1981-03-18, Page 1,w erica i�. 133 YEAR -11 WEDNESDAY, MARCH 18,1981 50 CENTS PER COPY Council pays electric bill After months of debate town council decided Monday to a pay a $7,700 bill •with Goderich Electric for work completed at the race track. The motion was a compromise after council had heated debates over the • Trotting Association requests for a $5,000 loan and a $5,00 grant to defray expenses for work at the racetrack. Council had originally agreed by motion to make the grant and loan to the association but then tabled the matter for further study. Some councillors felt the requests were unjustified since the work was com- pleted without authorization and others had reser- vationsbout the town making loans. Now council will simply pay an, outstanding bili of $7,700 to Goderich Electric. In return council will ask the Trotting Association to relinquish a $3,000 bond they own. Councillor John Doherty argued that the town was now paying more than the association 'Originally requested. "I get the impression we're losing money here. They asked the town for a $5,000 grant and a $5,000 loan," he said. '`Now we are going to give them $7,700. If my math is correct we are losing money on the deal." • Jim Searls offered in explanation that council would pay $7,700 to Goderich Electric and ask the Trotting Association for their$1;i bond. "But we can't force them to give us the bond," Doherty replied. , -Councillor Elsa Haydon reinforced. Doherty's concerns claiming the association had originally asked for $1,600 to help cover costs. Bylaw sets budget for 1981 Taxpayers in Goderich will pump $1.4 million into the town's coffers in 1981 through taxation, an in- crease of three per cent. Council finalized its 1981 budget Monday, passing a bylaw confirming the mill rates for general municipal purposes. The general residential mill rate will increase to 114.32 mills and the commercial was set at 134.50 mills. On Monday council made some funding shifts within the budget that pumped an extra $20,000 towards the town hall renovations and $6,000 into the fire reserve account. Council has now set aside $104,000 for town hall renovations and coupled with $44,000 in Heritage grants, the entire job can be completed in one year. Property committee chairman, Glen Carey, told council architect Nick Hill estimated the renovations to cost $130,000 while improvements to the heating and cooling systems would cost an additional $20,000. Carey said that completion of the entire town hall project in one year, including mechanical upgrading, would save money rather than trying to phase the Project. "It could be done over a couple of years but would probably cost more," he said. "The grants are all set up and it would be wise for council to complete the project.'' I In the renovation scheme, general tlffices will be located on the first floor and the council chamber will be moved to the second storey. INSIDE THE SIGNAL -STAR Spring lineup The women of Knox Presbyterian Church sponsored the first fashion show and lun- chbon ° of the spring season on Thursday. Women, teens, and children modelled clothes and proved that it's much cheaper to sew than buy. See' page 1A. Overeaters Anon Are you a compulsive eater? Well, Overeaters Anonymous may be for you. The American -based organization has opened a chapter in Vanastra that meets every week. Feature on page 1 A. Cagers compete The GDCI boys' basketball teams played at WOSSA last week and showed well against some powerful teams. The Juniors lost to - Sarnia Central in the semi-finals, and the Senior Vikings lost to St. Thomas. Regular... Feature Real Estate .. Pg. 18-19 TV Pg. 4A B. Hoard Pg. 5A Church Pg. 8A Weddings Pg. SA Farm Pg. 12A Newborns Pg.2 Columns Pg. 4 Editorials Pg. 4 Letters Pg. 5 Sports....... Pg. 12-14 ('lassified.... Pg. 15-17 Workers from Arnott Construction of Collingwood are busy this month repairing the walls and rebuilding the fendering of the north pier before ships begin arriving in April. Public Works Canada is financing .. the $65,000 job. (Photo by Cath Wooden) Funds for minor hockey pending The Goderich"Minor Hockey Association will likely recieve a grant from the town but council hasn't determined what committee budget the donation should be applied to. Finance chairman Don Wheeler said he had no qualms about donating $1,000 to minor hockey to assist with expenses but added the money should come from the recreation board rather than council. "I agree with the necessity of the grant but it covets a specific area," he said. "We should take it out of the recreation budget but they have no funds for grants. Perhaps the recreation board could simply grant minor hockey a rebate of $1,000 for ice time." Councillor Jim Scads said that minor hockey was attempting to alleviate the deficit themselves and their efforts warranted council assistance. "Minor hockey's ice rental costs were $14,000 this year and they held a skate-a-thon to raise money," he said. "They are going out of their way to pay ,,the deficit and council should help out." a Councillor John Doherty claimed the minor hockey association simply experienced a bad competitive year, something,he insists, happens regularly. "It was just a bad year for hkey and it happens every once in a while," he said. "i'h teams didn't do well in playoffs and the association missed out on gate receipts. It's just one of those years when the teams don't do well." ' The motion to donate $1,000 to the Goderich Minor Hockey Association was tabled until council can determine exactly what expenses the grant will be applied to. Springcan't b off - or can it? So you got caught with your longjohns down eh. Just when you got the snow tirea off the family wagon, put the winter coat, boots and mitts away, winter delivers a final parting blast. Is there no justice? Tuesday brought with it a few unpleasant surprises in the form of biting winds and blowing snow. Memories are short and many drivers had already slipped into summer habits. But we will have to live with winter for a bit yet and even though spring officially begins Friday, the cold weather is expected to linger into the weekend. So button up and stay warm with the friend of your choice. Spring can't be far off. Peewees invade town for YCW The 32nd annual Goderich Lions Young Canada Week faces off. this Friday at 5:30 p m. and.continues. all day everyday ( except Sunday) until March 28. Sixty-two pee wee hockey teams will be competing in the `biggest little hockey tournament in the world' for championships in five divisions. A team from Schubinacadie, Nova Scotia will be travelling the greatest distance to come to Goderich. For the twenty-fifth year, St. Lambert Quebec will be here. Another team from 'la belle province', Ste. Foy, will be competing. The Godexich'Lions Pee Wees are classed iri the B division this year and will be facing off for their first game on Friday, March 20 at 7:50 p.m. The Goderich B Pee Wees will also be playing in the tournament. The AA championship game will be played on March 27 at 6:40 p.m., and that division's consolation game will take _place the same day at 5:30. TheA championship is on March 25 at 9 p.m., while the consolation match will be played at 7:50. The championship game of the B division is at 3:45 on March 28, with the consolation game at 1:30 -the same day. The C division finals will be played at 5:20 on March 28. The C consolation is at 4:00 the same day. In the D division, the two final teams will face off at 9 p.m. on March 27, while the consolation teams will play at 7:50.. The Lions Club is stili looking for homes to billet out the youngsters who need overnight accommodation. If you have room for one or more 12 -year-old boys, call Bob Keown at 524-4689, or Bill Chishohn at 524- 2467. Cable viewers get selection treat - Viewers of television- in, Clinton and Goderich hooked up to the Bluewater TV Cable network may have noticed a sligh change in programing on their sets�in the last couplef weeks. Instead of the regular Channel 9 Windsor, viewers have been treated to a host of American stations, including Atlanta, Georgia; a New York City station; one from Chicago, and The Movie Channel, a station that shows nothing but recently made movies, 24 hours a day, with no commercials. Don Stinson, general manager of Bluewater Cable said in a recent interview that he is showing the other stations to illustrate to customers the variety of programing that is available on satellite. The signals are picked up from the satellite by a dish antenna at Holmesville and Mr. Stinson ad- mitted that he wasn't quite following the letter of the law for his licence. The stations that Bluewater is allowed to carry are regulated by the Canadian Radio and Television Corporation (CRTC) and so far, the CRTC hasn't told him to shut down his `dish'.• "We just want to show the people what they can't have," Mr. Stinson said. "We (the cable TV owners in •-% Canada) are trying to create some public interest in the stations and then we'll see if we can't get some support to put them on." "We've pleaded to the government to let us use some of those stations but they're just not listening," he noted. Mr. Stinson said there were some 20 stations available from the satellite, ranging from the all family WTBS, to an all -religious station, to Home Box Office, to even an all -blue movie station, but Mr. , Turn to page 6 Turnout always food in Huron -Middlesex riding This week the residents of Ontario will go to the polls for the 32nd general election in the province since Confederation. The last provincial election was in June 1977 when Premier William Davis and the Conservatives were re-elected with a minority government. The Con- servatives took 58 of the 125 ridings while capturing 39.7 per cent of the vote. The Liberal party narrowly retained its opposition status electing $4 members to the Legislature compared to 33 for the New Democrats. Despite the one seat differential the Liberals outpolled the NDP by31 to28percent. In 1977, 5,123,768 Ontario residents were eligible to vote in the election but the actual turnout was 3.3 million or 65.6 per cent, Historically, the number of people who do vote has averaged around 65 per cent. In 1975 the turnout reached 67 per cent but in 1971 it was a phenomenal 73.5 per cent, mainly attributable to the fact it was the first time 18-year-olds were allowed to vote. Once the novelty wore off the per- centage returned to the norm. In the riding of Huron -Middlesex, there were 30,130 eligible voters in 1977 and 76 `per cent or 23,166 cast ballots to put the riding -near the top of the heap in the province. In. Huron -Bruce the voter turnout was 26,694 or 74 per cent Liberal Murray Gaunt was elected in Huron -Bruce riding in 1977 with a plurality of 9,833 votes. Gaunt captured 17,356 votes •or 65 per cent while Con- servative candidate Sam MacGregor had 7,523 and NDP candidate, Davy Zyluk 1,754. In Huron -Middlesex, Liberal MP Jack Riddell retained the . seat with a 3,871 vote plurality over Conservative candidate Anson McKinley. Riddell polled 12,749 votes compared to 8,878' for McKinley and 1,405 for NDP candidate Shearly Weary. The election in the two ridings may be m ich closer this time, especially in 'Huron -Bruce. Wingham lawyer Murray Elston is the Liberal hopeful following Gaunt's retirement and will get a fight from Conservative candidate, Gary Harron and Tony McQuail of the NDP. In Huron -Middlesex, incumbent Riddell is challenged by Conservative candidate Jim Britnell, a former Huron County engineer and NDP candidate, Gwen Pemberton of Bayfield. On election day, Thursday March 19, the polls will be open from 8 a.m. to 7 p.m.' There are 18 polling stations in Goderich. Candidates prepare for close election Historically the voters of Huron -Middlesex have supported a man rather than a party and that support has remained loyal. Liberal MPP, Jack Riddell was first elected in 1973 byelection and has represented the riding in Queens Park since that time as a member of the opposition.- Federally, the riding has supported Conservatives in Bob McKinley and now Murray Cardiff. Indeed, the battle lines may already be drawn if history and loyalties play a major part in the predominantly agrarian based riding. But in- cumbent Jack Riddell may get a bit of a scrap from Conservative candidate, Jim Britnell, a 52 -year old former county engineer. In the 1977 provincial election, Conservative candidate Anson McKinley ate into Riddell's plurality, losing by little more than 3,000 votes. Also, if leadership is an election issue it may of be as big a factor in the riding of Huron -Middle. The loyalties can run deep. At the- beginning of the campaign, Britnell thought ht' might have a chance but now "en- thusiasm is catching and it's more than a chance." Britnell admitted there are no burning issues'in the carnpaig,-r but stressed the need for a candidate to be cognizant of the little concerns of the elec- torate. lecttorate. "What I can do for the riding is most important," he said. "It is the little concerns of the people here that are more important." Although he has been actively involved in county business for over 20 years, Britnell conceded that gaining recognition was. a tedious task in a large riding. While he is confident of a Conservative victory in the election, he claims a member of the governing a party could better serve the riding. "There are advantages to a member being in government and those who deal with government directly prefer to have their member in the governing party," he said. "It allows access to caucus and gives people a chance for input before policy is committed." While many economic policies fall under federal jurisdiction, Jim believes the Conservatives can play a vital role in the promotion Of small industry for Ontario and lauds the premier's B.LL.D. program for taking steps in that direction. "Small industry is definitely what we need in this riding because communities with one industry are too vulnerable," he said. "The opposition has ac- cused us of a branch -plant philosdphy but there are a few industries in this riding with branches in the States." Britnell says his contact with farmers through county business is a big plus and adds that his engineering training will lend itself to the political process. "Because of my training I am methodical, thorough and plan carefully. which stops waste,'.' he said. ','I have benefitted from my association with the county job, and municipal affairs. I know the problems of farmers arid know where to get help." Riddell has served the riding of Huron -Middlesex since his byelection victory in 1973. He has been active on provincial committees and is a respected member of the opposition. In a conversation early in the campaign he in- dicated the Liberal pa ty was more than optimistic about the election. "I haven't seen as much op- timism in the party. It's time for a change." Riddell maintained that economics and leader- ship were the basic issues of the election and Jack Riddell Jim Britnell claimed the Tories had fallen flat on both counts. "We are the slowest growing province with the highest rate of unemployment," he said. "We are losing our young people by the thousands and the province lacks industrial strategy." The winter campaign favored the Conservatives, Riddell said, but added that leadership could be the determining factor. "Money was plentiful in the 60s but now under Premier Davis times are tough," he said. "The Liberals have the policy to 'turn the province around." Much of the economic malaise results from the province's dependence on the federal government Gwen Pemberton and private sector. he said adding that 1977 election promises contained in the Charter for Ontario were never carried out, The Stephen Township farmer reiterated Liberal party leader, Stuart Smith's sentiments in calling the Conservative advertising campaign an insult to the intelligence of the people. New, Democratic Party candidate. 69 year-old Gwen Peniberton of Bayfield, admitted that her campaign was late starting and has been low key. Mrs. Pemberton said the NDP policy has been getting a good reception at several candidates meetings in the riding.. "There has been a good reception to our policy Turn to page 11 J9