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HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Goderich Signal-Star, 1982-06-09, Page 1the kir SI erich NAS - STA 134 YEAR -23 GODERICH, ONTARIO, JUNE 9,1982 50 CENTS PER COPY Portrait artist Cyril Leeper of Goderich unveiled his latest completed portrait Sunday evening, that of Archbishop Joseph Wilhelm of Kingston. The 40x50 Inch framed portrait will hang among eight others in the Archbishop's Residence at Kingston. Leeper is now nearing completion on another commissioned portrait, that of the Honorable Chief Justice G. Evans of Ontario to hang in Osgoode Hall. (Photo by Joanne Buchanan) Town layout attracted renownedportrait artist BY JOANNE BUCHANAN Goderich can now claim one of Canada's best young portrait artists as a resident. Cyril Leeper, his wife Anne and daughter Marian moved here December,l from Barrie. Leeper was attracted by the layout of the town as well as the lake after a visit to his brother, Dr. Desinoild Leeper, a Goderich veterinarian. This past Sunday evening, Leeper held a reception and unveiling for Goderich residents at his home on Nelson Street. The unveiling was of his latest por- trait, His Grace, Archbishop Joseph Wilhelm of Kingston. He was commissioned to paint the portrait by the Archdiocese of Kingston and it took him ap- proximately one month to complete the work. Early this week, he delivered the 40x50 inch framed portrait to the Archbishop's Residence in Kingston where it will hang among memorial portraits of eight other archbishops which have been painted as part of Aradition since the 1800s: Leeper is presently working on another portrait; that of the Honorable Chief JusticeG. Evans of Ontario. He expects it to be completed by the end of June. It willbe unveiled at Osgoode Hall in Toronto where it will hang in the main foyer. Leeper estimates that he has painted over 200 portraits in all, many of them of prestigious Toronto families. However, he thinks of Chief Justice Evans and Archbishop Wilhelm as two of his most important ,ones along with His Grace, Archbishop Phillip F. • Pocock of Toronto; His Worship, Mayor Les. Cooke of Simcoe County; Mr. . and Mrs. Reginald Quinn, President, Canadian Tire Corporation; and Mrs. Charles Baker, wife of Lieutenant Colonel Charles "Bud" Baker ( best remembered as the Queen Mother's Lady in Waiting on her last visit to Canada). Leeper started drawing at the age of two, keeping a pencil hidden under his pillow so he could draw at night. As a young boy he attended Art School at the Grange with instruction by members of the Group of Seven and throughout his school years, he studied privately in weekly lessons with H.D. Sheppard. As high school years drew to a close, he was faced with a dilemma. He had become an accomplished violinist as well as a painter. The total dedication required in either discipline dictated that he must choose. The commitment was made to painting and he accepted, scholarship to study at the Accademia Di Belle Arte Di Roma in Rome, Italy where he completed his studies in portraiture. While in Italy, he mastered the Italian language to communicate with his instructors and other artists He then commenced the study of Spanish and after, exhibiting his work at the Centro Romano di Arte in 1970, he went to Spain and entered the Escuela Superior de Bellas Artes de San Fernando, Madrid where he specialized in the study of portraiture and anatomy. This school, which has had such distinguished students as Pablo Picasso, was'founded Turn to page Town will rectify old sewer problem BY DAVE SYKES Residents in the Hincks, Jones and Mary Street area of town won't have to bail out much longer. Many residents in the southeast section of town, served only by sanitary sewers, have beers plagued with flooded basements during periods of heavy rainfall recently, and in most cases the backup has contained raw sewage. Subsequent to a petition by residents at Monday's meeting of council, the town will take remedial measures this year to alleviate the backup problem. Spokesman for the area residents, Fred Salter, told council that the people were entitled to services and that those services, in view of „ the circumstances, should be looked into immediately. "We will not rest until proper services are provided because we are paying for services that we're not getting, " 'Salter said. " I will call on the Ontario Ombudsman if there is no action by August." There are no storm sewers in the area and streets are serviced by a combined sewer that carries bath. storm water and sanitary sewage. The matter was previously brought to council's attention by Mr. and Mrs. David Fox of Hincks Street, who sought com- pensation from the town after their basement was flooded with storm water and sewage. The Foss were denied compensation on the advice of the town's insurance adjustor who claimed the town was not liable for the damage. Subsequent to the, most recent flooding problems on Thursday, May 27 the Huron County Health .Unit has informed council that the lack of sanitary sewers has created a serious health problem with the surcharge of sewage. As a driving rain reinforced the urgency of the problem, council passed a motion4o take immediate action to alleviate some of . the flooding. It will. cost $300,000 to install a complete set of storm sewers in the affected area, which also includes catch basins and connections. council will seek t� provide relief from the flooding. conditions by constructing part of the storm sewer system and by providing ovetdlows from the com- bined ombined sewers to the new system. The temporary overflows would be located at' the corner of }limits and Jones Street and the corner of Walnut and Mary Sreets. • r� The cost to provide the temporary relief is estimated at $100,000 but the town hopes the project will be subsidized by the Ministry of Transportation and Communication as part of the 1983 road program. The project would also require Ontario Municipal Board approval. All illegal connections to the combined sewer in the area will be removed, catch basins will be metered to restrict the flow of water into the sewers and council will proceed with partial construction of the storm sewer system, possibly by late summer or early fall. The funding for the storm sewer project will create some cash flow problems, Administrator Larry McCabe said, but councillor Jim Searis said council should borrow the money if necessary to get the job done. "Council has been aware of the problem for a nurnber of years and the people are entitled toser- vice," ervice," he said. " If we have to borrow the money, the people are entitled to it. We have learned our lesson to look at priorities and take a longer look at the budget." Councillor Elsa Haydon stressed the need for or- derly, rational and planned action and urged council not to seek hasty remedies. Deputy -reeve Bob Allen reduced the options available claiming the town could spend $100,000 now and hope flooding does not occur, ' or wait until next year and complete the job. The remedial measure agreed to by council does not preclude the threat of flooding during heavy rainfall. Jim Magee said the residents' problem was nothing short of an emergency and Searls added the town's insurance agent should have to explain before council, why no compensation was awarded. Stan,. Profit agreed the town should proceed im- mediately with remedial work in the area and Glen Carey agreed that seeking OMB approval for tem-' porary work was a "rational course of action:" • With respect to the separation of sewers in the area, council, through previous motion, had authoriz- ed the town engineer,. B.M. Ross -and Associates- to . prepare construction drawings for the placement of sewers. The plans were to have been completed by the end of 1982 and council would have been free to call tenders in 1983. Education trustees increase salaries by $100 per ,month Huron County Board of Education trustees have given themselves a $100 a month increase for 1982. Approved earlier this year, the increase raises trustees' annual salary from $3,600 to $4,800. The chairman's salary has increased from $5,400 to $7,200. The chairman receives a trustee's regular salary plus one half. Chairman Dorothy Wallace said trustees had been receiving $300 a month as remuneration for "quite a number of years". The increase was passed without discussion as part of an executive committee report in February. "I was surprised it went through so quickly," said chairman Wallace. She said in the past some members have argued strenuouslvih favor of leaving the figure at $300 per month. The Education Act allows trustees of the Huron Board of Education (because of its size) a maximum salary of $400 per month. The chairman. guessed those who had argued against increasing the fee in committee had tired of doing so. Mrs. "Wallace said the extra $100 a month doesn't make much difference in a $32 million budget. The board has 16 members, including the chairman:She added even the extra $100 a month does not make up for the time spent on board business. The chairman, who attended an Ontario trustee conference in London over the weekend, remarked that Minister of Education Dr. Bette Stephenson had said in the future, trustees and municipal officers may be setting their own salaries. Mrs. Wallace said that would make it very difficult for trustees. Loss of education trustee is unfair to town council says Losing a representative on the Huron County Board of Education due to changes in the electoral districts disturbed members of Goderich town council. Huron County council passed a bylaw at its May 11 • �~J�L.n+�A91M11Qi. Construction on the expansion at the pollution control plant is proceeding and many forms have been built on the site. Stone Town Construction of St. «... • t. • Marys i handling the expansion construction, estimated et $1,394,434. Government grants cover 75 per cent of the cost and the town's share is $350,000 plus engineering costs. When completed, the ex- pansion will effectively double the capacity of the pollution control plant. ( photo by Dave Sykes) session changing the electoral districts for represen- tation on the board of education. Representation will now be based on residential equalized assessment. Subsequent to the passing of that motion. the town of Goderich had its representation on the board reduced from, two members to one. Reeve Don Wheeler and deputy -reeve Bob Allen, the town's representatives on county council, tried to have the matter tabled for a month for adequate review. ' The bylaw passed despite efforts to have it review- ed and the town will now make its concerns known to county council and an education task force on representation. Council felt the elimination of a trustee was unfair and will submit a written report to both the county and the provincial task force. Allen said he tried to have the matter tabled for review but was unsuccessful in two attempts to delay the passing of the bylaw. Councillor Elsa Haydon couldn't understand the hasty decision by council and claimed the move was not made in a decent manner. "It took them less than 10 minutes to do away with a• representative when to delay it for a month would have been the sensible thing to do. It was a disturbing experience.' she said. "The county had the power to do it but does it make the decisio . air or decent." Wheeler • said representation b ssessment may not be a fair and equitable approach. "It disturbs me and I can't understand why this act remains as representation by assessment. I am astounded it was not questioned." he said. A report submitlwced to council by administrator Larry McCabe indicated the town's population of 7,391 represented 13.1 per cent of the population of the county. The town also contributed a significant dollar amount to the education system. compared to other electoral districts. The town contributed 15.3 ner cent of the total education requisition paid by municipalities com- pared to 8.6 per cent for Seaforth, Hullett and McKillop and 12.4 per cent for Wingham, Turnberry and Howick. Good response? to school petition Diane Ladd has extended the deadline for in- terested persons to sign a petition calling for the implementation of Grade 7 and 8 at Victoria Public School The last day for the signing of the petition was to have been Friday but Ladd says the response has been so good, that the deadline has now been ex- tended to Sunday. The petition will be presented Monday to Huron County Board of Education chairman, Dorothy Wallace. Victoria School has kindergarten. through Grade 6 classes. After Grade 6, students must attend Robertson Memorial Public School for Grade 7 and 8. Mrs. Ladd says the distance that some students have to travel to school is one of the reasons for the petition. There are other reasons which she does not want to expand on at; this time. She says that the names on the petition represent at least half of Victoria School at this time but she would still like to see more. She notes that the parents of children in the primary grades are not as well represented on the petition as the parents of older children. She says she feels that these parents should be thinking ahead to when their children will be in Grade 7 and 8. She also stresses that people who sign the petition do not even have to have children in school, as long as they are taxpayers. For those people interested in signing the petition, call Mrs. Ladd at 524-6764 or Bonnie Hudson at 524- 7583 or drop by 199 or 203 Strang Court. Six injured as car slides into van ,Six people were rushed to Wingham Hospital with serious injuries early Tuesday morning and one was later transferred to a London hospital following an accident on County Road 22, about six miles north of Auburn. Doreen Jefferson, 19,. of R.R. 1 Belgrave was driving her car southbound at 3:25 a.m. when she slid sideways into the back of a van, which was one of two vans parked at the side of the road. Five persons who had been picking worms and who were then loading the worms into the vans, were struck. All received serious injuries and were rushed to Wingham Hospital along with Jefferson. The five who were struck have been identified as Slobodan Nikolic, 37 and Mirijana. Nikolic, 31 of Stoney Creek and Dragon' Nikolic, 31, Ann Obrovac' and Milena Kresina, all of Hamilton. Obrovac, who was pinned between the sliding car and the back of the van, was later transferred to a London hospital and is listed in critical condition. The others are listed in conditions ranging from fair to satisfactory. . The Goderich Detachment of the OPP is still in- vestigating and charges are pending. PUC contract goes to conciliation . Contract negotiations between the Goderich Public Utilities Commission and members of CUPE Local 2478 will be going,,to conciliation on Friday in an at„ tempt to reach a settlement. • According to London CUPE representative, Gord MacDonald, the talks broke off after two meetings between union representatives and PUC officials, in May. He would not comment on the what the union is asking for. The 14 members of CUPE Local 2478 received their first contract last year after applying for conciliation to the Ministry of Labour. At that time the employees received an 11 per cent increase for a one year con- tract The wage increase gave linemen foremen $11.85 per hour, linemen $7.20 to $11.48; meter foremen; .$11.48 and meter employees $6.75 to $10.43. The 14 members of CUPE Local 2478 were certified , in January 1981. • . INSIDE THE SIGNAL -STAR ti Dungannon Twirlettes The Dungannon Twirlettes were revealed some of their skills at a showing last week. Joanne Buchanan captured some of the activity on film in pictures that appear on page six of the first section. Baseball action Dave Scholl powered Hayter's in two wins last week. That story and other baseball action can been found in the Recreation Section of the Signal -Star Hire a student wne 14 to 18 is .Hire a Student Week' in Canada and the Canada Employment Centre for students is hoping that people will take advantage of the many student available for work. Read about . the ad- vantages of hiring a student on page 12 of the Recreation section.