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HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Goderich Signal-Star, 1983-06-08, Page 1• • - •• , • ' • the erich SIGNALN-m STA 135 YEAR -23 •••••••---••-. --- - • • • GODERICH, ONTARIO, WEDNESDAY, JUNE 8,1983 Grace Patterson, a charter member and driving force behind the Kinette Club of Goderich, became the first local member to be awarded the Life Membership plaque for District One. District Kinette Co-ordinator, Dianne Garrett and District Governor, Brian Cleaver made the presentation at the club's special awards ceremony Friday evening. The ceremony was also attended by Kinsmen club founder Hal Rogers. (photo by Dave Sykes) Town must make .decision The Ministry -of the Environment has given town- • officials until the end of the month to make a decision - on whether or notitwili proceed with the ellxpansion of the waterStorageanddistribution-sy-stem A joint committee, consisting of members of • council and the Public Utilities Commission, met with Ministry officials in Toronto Thursday to see if the • town could extend its deadline on the project. The total cost of the expansion and construction is estimated at $2 million with the ministry covering 45 per cent of the cost. The town would have to commit $1.1 million to the project. While conceding .thai the storage, filtration and distribution systems were inadequate,, the joint o, c rrunittee has been at odds over the financing of the project. A reserve account was established last year and the committee will ask council to endorse a $2 increase in the monthly water bill to raise $110,000 annually in extra revenue. Requiring time to get its financial planning ib or- der, the joint committee approached the ministry • Thursday with an aim to buying that time before, starting the project. As a result of that meeting the town •must notify ilae -ministry that it intends to • proceed with the project and attempt to meet the 50 CENTS PER COPY Whelan, Domtar push for expansion Seaway depth needed industries claim The Federal Minister of Agriculture, Eugen Whelan, supports the town's bid to have a new seaway depth harbour created north of the Domta Sifto Salt mine. Town of Goderich officials met with Whelan in April to discuss the contents of a feasibility study regarding the port requirements for the Bruce Energy Centre. The study, a joint venture by Tran- sport Canada and the Ministry bf Transportation -and Communication, was released. April 19 and recom- mended that 'the port of Goderich, was the most suitable location to expend funds for harbour development. Two days after the release of the feasibility study, Whelan met with town officials to discuss possible harbour development. He later received a letteefrom Huron -Bruce Conservative MP, Murray Cardiff, on the same subject. Subsequently, ° Whelan wrote to his cabinet colleague, Transport Minister Jean -Luc Pepin - outlining tne aavantages or areagmg a new harbour to seaway depth. He asked that Pepin give the matter careful consideration. • "I understand the town and iota' industries would like to. have the harbour dredged to seaway depth. This would permit Domtar's Sifto Salt ,Corporation and Goderich Elevators and Transit Company to load vessels to capacity and thereby ship more products from this port," the letter read. "Goderich Elevators loaded 40 vessesl with South- western Ontario grain in 1981-82. Each of their vessels was underfilled by approximatek2,000 metric tonnes due to the shallow harbour channel. The company ' estimates that these reduced shipments cost the firm $849,000 in lost revenue. Future grain shipments • could double over the next ten years if the situation was improved. I am certain you can appreciate the • significant impact such atop stunity would have on - the agricultural comn1 'es of Southwestern • Ontario." The April federal, budget of Finance Minister Marc Lalonde allocated $4.2 billion to a national recovery. program, and some of the funds are designatedfor_. -.harbour- expansion -and' development. Mayor Eileen Palmer Says,,kre is a ' demonstrated need, con- sidering the requirements of Goderich Elevator and Domtar's Sifto Salt Mine, for expansion and development of the Goderich Harbour. Unless the harbour expansion is included in the Federal Works Program., Domtar will not be able to e proceed with its own expansion plans that call for the construction of a new evaporator plant alongside the mine at a cost of $25 million. The plant would produce 300,000 tons of evaporated salt, most of which would be shipped to the United States and processed and distributed by an additional 30 employees. • Domtar spent over $35 million to expand its mining facilities here and the expanded mine will result in the hiring of 112 additional employees at full .capacity. • •• On an average year, Domtar hips 1.4 million tons by vessel and that amount is expected to increase to 3.3 million tons in the next three years. More than two-thirds of that shipment, valued at $55 million, is destined for the United States. • With wharfage charges presently set at 26 cents per top, a new harbour facility could generate revenues of $858,000 for Transport. Canada in the next three years. The port of Goderich is already the largest revenue producing port of 37 under federal . . . . iu c ion in Ontario. Domtar requirements call,, fOr a new harbour facility before thecompany can feasibly proceed with expansion at the mine site. Production will nearly triple in the next three years but vessel congestion and water depth are making it difficult for the company to proceed. • -financial commitment as outlined by the ministry. Ontario MunicipalBoard approval is required. • The town- will also be required, if it cannot proceed ......as.outlined, to re-apply-forthe grant -with the ministry by October 1, 1983 and commence the project by April 1984. By starting preliminary work and commissioning drawings and enginering work, the town can „ef- fectively delay the project for a year administrator Larry McCabe told council. "Water rates, -could be high," he said. "But you must decide if you want to proceed now or wait andyou have to figure out how to finance it." The....method of financing may be a point of con- tention with council but the matter has been tabled until the June 20th meeting of council. • Mayor Eileen Palmer suggested a proposal. currently before the provincial cabinet, calling for a change in..the grant structure to municipalities, would have a marked .impact on council's decision. "There is a proposal before the cabinet that calls for grants to be uniform and not based on the per' capita system in 1984-85,".she said. "A municipality would receive a inaximum 30 per cent grant which Turn togage 2 • Subsequent to the meeting with Whelan, town -administrator °Larry McCabe wrote to Pepin, outlining the obvious reasons why local officials believe- Goderich should receive more than $12 million to expand the port facility. Transport Canada tested the depth of the existin channel to determine if it COuld be dredged to seaway ' depth of 27 f • eet. If the rock bed will not accomodate a Grant refused for library work We. Ontario Heritage Foundation will not monetarily support the restoration of the Goderich Public Library Connell learned in a letter Monday. 'The town is restoring the interior and exterior of the library on Montreal Street over the nest two years at a cost of $50,000. An $18,000 Wintario grant has 'already been secured and the town had hoped the Ontario Heritage Foundation would fund part of the $28,000 needed for exterior restoration. However, Foundation chairman John White told council that while the Foundation recognizes the building as a significant heritage • property, budget constraints have limited the group's ability to fund restoration projects. Council has committed $10,000 to the project this year mezMing it can use $5,000 in Wintario funds. Welfare caseload is reduced slowly Government employment programs and a brighter employment picture in the south end of the county have contributed to the steady decline of the welfare rolls. • Huron County council heard the good news for the third month running at its June session. "Things are looking pretty good," said social ser- vices administrator John MacKinnon. There was a total reduction of 29 castduring the month of April, a trend that started in February. The only bleak aspect of the statistics presented by Mr. MacKinnon is that the total caseload is still up over last year. Assistance - was issued to 283 cases during April of this year compared to 212 cases dur- ing the same time in 1982. The administrator said 26 people have'been placed on erriployment•programs from the welfare roll while others have found other work. "The south part is picking up, but in the north part there is very little activity. They (companies) may be hiring but not from our welfare cases," said Mr: MacKinnon. Council adopts 46 • 99 pen.gum „grey harmg h• to be sported by Huron County councillors. Despite some objection from Howick Township Reeve Bill Newton that councillors will look like "penguins" wearing similar suits, the majority of council agreed to go ahead with. adopting grey as the color of the blazers. But Reeve Newton and others sharing his senti- ment won't be forced to wear something they don't want to. The purchase of the jackets is optional and at , the individual councillors expense. During discussion on the blazers' at county council's June sesSion, Exeter Deputy Reeve Lossy Fuller was about to rise and question what the female coun- • cillOrs would wear when clerk -treasurer. William Hanly stated that grey cloth could be purchased by .the women. The blazers are to be purchased from Campbell's Men's Wear of Clinton at a cost of $110 for regular size& seaway chaiinel there, it may have to be created on • Grey was chosen as it will co-ordinate Well with any the north side of the salt mine: color of ,pants. - • ' II us ries-involved and a decision on. the commitment bf funds by the federal ministry is ex- pected any day. •If the project is given -approval, a -number of4op- tions are available. The feasibility study, prepared . by three consulting firms; suggests it would cost $5 million to dredge the existing channel and new har- bour to the north side of the salt mine. The study pro- jects that it would cost. an additional $2.8 million for brealiviall construction and $2.7 millitn for.the_creat__ tion of loading docks. i Transport Canada now has documentation from the • • • A fr b this summer as the number of rabies cases increases. ounty may offerrabies chnic ee rabies clinic in Huron County is a possibility Huron's district veterinarian Dr. William Thomp- son of Seaforth told the June session of county council that to the end of May this year there have been 44 cases of rabies reported. That figure compares to seven cases in 1679, 73 cases in 1980, 62 cases in 1981 and 79 cases in 1982. • Dr. Thompson said the last rabies clinic held in the county was in 1980. There were 12 such clinics held that year throughout Huron. But with the 1983 statistics already climbing, Dr. Thompson said he has been told by his superiors that it's possible a clinic may be held this summer. "It's not definite," stressed Dr. Thompson as the clinics have to be approved by Agriculture Canada. The veterinarian also pointed out that most of the animals affected by rabies are not domestic pets. Skunks and foxes take the highest percentage of rabies cases. Cattle, horses, cats and dogs make up a very small percentage of the rabid animals. Turn to'Oage 2 • District scouts, cubs celebrate 75th anniversary of scouting iNSID SIGNAL -STAR mtoi. More - More than 800 beavers, cubs, scouts and venturers from the district attended a three-day campout at Falls Reserve Conservation Area outside ll,enmiller on the weekend. Saturday was a special day at Falls ••• " • $ , • Reserve as the members of thescouting movement celebrated the 75th anniversary of scouting in Canada. On Saturday afternoon, each boy and leader in attendance released a hellum-filled balloon in -honor of the anniversary and enjoyed a piece of cake in commemoration of the founding of the scouting movement. Alex Kress and Jim Beattie, both 7, of Lucan Wad they could have their , cake and eat it too. The beaver duo enjoyed their cake after releasing balloons containing per- sonalized messages. (phota by, Dave Sykes) Mini conferend6 More than 75 spinners and weavers from South- western Ontario and Michigan attended a two-day mini conference in Saltford on the weekend. Several workshop g were held on a variety of related subjects and pictures appear in the first section. Karate school Ron Tyndall of Hohnesville, has been operating the Goderich TownshipKarate School for the past year and a half. While instructing his students in the Martial Arts, Tyndall also trieg-te teach self-control, perseverance and self-confidence. The story about the karate school appears on the front page of the Recreation section. Awards night On Friday, June 3 the Goderich Kinamen, Kinettes, • K-40 and K-ettes held their awards night at the Arena. Besides honoring various club- members, the fp groups announced their new executives. me ory , and *tures appear in this week's Signal -S r and More pictures will appear in subsequent issues.