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HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Goderich Signal-Star, 1985-01-02, Page 1,4. a in,,: ;•nvna \i. y • • esT ALL (Circulation Cla0, ►ailscan�li r ur4J�r�r JEWspAPPKI4 dN CANAlliA 500 t50JJ C.C.N.A, Eletter Neyuspaper Competition 'teed 13z YEAR -1 GODERICH,'ONTARIO, WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 2),71.98p 50 CENTS PER. COPY 1 84 was a busy and prosperow year in (gip eine Welcome to a brand new year. One of the refreshing aspects o celebrating the arrival of another calendar - year is that New Year's Day bringsywith it promise of better things. It's a fresh start. A time to reflect on the events of the past year, take stock and approach the' new year with renewed vigor and enthusiasm. Life in 'the tawwn of Goderich over the past, 12 months was exciting even' en- vigorating at times, controversial, lively, busy and sometimes, even dull. Btit it was a. year of progression and it was a year of optimism, ayear, of planning and development and a year of anticipa- tion. Some of the biggest developments in- volved two areas that are vital to the towirs economy; the harbour and the tourist industry. a . It was -during the past -year that -town of Goderich municipal officials and represen- tatives of the two major industrial con- cerns at -the harbour, Domtar and Goderieh Elevator, petitioned the federal government to undertake an ambitious_ex-. pansion program here. During the . Months of . January ." and. February, members of town council and the administrative staff urged then Transport Minister Lloyd Axworth" to tweet with the town delegation and discuss the possible expansion of the Goderich Harbour. \, The town and the principle users of the. harbour had a. strong case. A study con- ducted by Peat -Marwick on the future port requirements of the Bruce Energy Centre strongly recommended" at the Port of Goderich was the most suitable portior ex- pension. That fact was also confirmed in other studies. The arguments were. compelling: The port ranks third among . ports under federal jurisdiction in Canada in terms of revenueproduction,__..._... _ _._, _. And that revenue could be increased substantially if the harbour.was dredged to seaway depth to allow ocean-going vessels. to load to Capacity here. Also, the creation .. , of a new seaway -depth harbour adjacent to the north edge of the salt mine would mean .that Domtar could increase its shipments of salt from the new $33 million shaft. Finally,, . in August, the federal Liberal government and Transport Canada an- nounced through Liberal. MP Ralph Ferguson- that $17 million would be allocated for the improvements to I Goderich Harbour in a phased project. By late November, contracts for several f phases of the work had been awarded and equipment was moved to the beach area. Work is progressing on extended thenorth breakwall and dredging of the inner har- bour and the area by the mouth of the Maitland River will commence in the new year. While there may not be tiny evidence of it now, the weatherman obliged with some snow over the Christmas -holidays. There was just enough to ,cover the ground which meant the snchv shovels got a workout and if you were young at heart, there was ample snow to test the new toboggan. This tree at St. Christopher's Beach was decked out in ice and snow before warm temperatures invaded'Friday: (photo byDave Sykes) TOURISM ' Tourism isa integral and vital compo- nent of the town's economy.. That fact has never been disputed but early in 1984, council wondered if the town's tourist com- mittee was fulfilling its intended function and asked the organizational review com- mittee to examine the status of the com- mittee. The result was that the tourist cominit- tee was officially disbanded in January subsequent to a number of resignations by committee members. -;The organizational review `committee - reasoned that the tourist committee was . serving a need but that perhaps its man • - date - was' not .clear. Tourist committee members, while performing a variety of tasks and physical labour, sometimes lacked direction. During the summer months, the corn- ' niittee held two public meetings to discuss • the future role of tourism as it related to the town of Goderich. While attendance was not great, the meetings were. somewhat productive in that they produc- ed a willingness and consensus on the part of some localbusinessmen and residents to pursuean active promotionalcampaign. The general feeling that evolved was that the town had reached.the point where it had to make a serious decision. That decision was whether it should hire a full - tittle professional to co-ordinate and pur- sue an ambitious campaign. of industrial and tourism promotionm. The idea is not u ponular one with all ,. __. mer .bers:of towncouncil. Some -argue that a full-time person will grow into a -depart-.. - ment -and require expenditures beyond just one salary. Others 'view it as an investment in the future of tourism and industry in, this town. • ' To -date, the committee advertised the position and the more than 100 applicants were reduced to ,two or three potential employees. ,The town will make a decision on the matter early in the new year., Things. started to improve in town over the past year sparked by the announce - Turn to page,3 • Oouimittee trimmed for tyear Late last Year, the organizational review committee of 'council reasoned that the composition of, the town's airport coma it- tee could be altered. Local members of the airport committee agreed that there were too many members considering =the workload of the commit- tee. While the committee had planned and overseen Several major 1lrojects over the past few yew's, Its mandate has changed considerably now. In view of that the number of represen- tatives serving on the cgpnrr/iitee was trim- med. At its last regular rneeetingcouncil accepted a bylaw appointing one Member from town' council, one, member from Huron County Council, one ,member from •b Colborne Township council and three members at large. Don Wheeler will represent the town of Goderieh on the airport committee for 1988 - and the members at large include Dick Wright, TetGozzard and Leonard Banner- man. Mayor annerman.Mayor Eileen Palmer will also sere on the committee. The ter* of office for members at large extends to December 31, 1980, while the term for elected officials only extends to November 30, 19&5. Town appoints new members .o committees Recently the council of the town of Goderich appointed, by bylaw, members , to its planning advisory and property stan- dards committees. The appointments to the planning ad- visory committee include; Vince Young; Bob Allen and cduncillors Bill Clifford- and Glen Carey will all terms of office expiring , within the calendar year. , Peter • McCauley is appoigted until December 31, 1986 while Chris Kier and • Paul"Zurbrigg will serve -until December 31, 1987, , 'Past chairman Dr. Tom Jasper has left the board after several•years of service. James Eric Kirk has been appoint d to' the Property Standards committee' appealthe the Coming year while Maurice Jenkinswill. serve until December 31, 1986 and Gordon Crawford will serve until December 31,. 1987. INSIDE THE, SIGNAL STA R Goderich youngsters took advantage of the snow last, week to test out some of their new tobogganing equipment. At left, Alana Graham (in front) and Tara Cornish glide down a hill .on their. knees and then join some others who all showed their own unigm(ie styles of sliding. (Photos by Joanne Buchanan) Sporting action Sporting action slowed down over the holidays, ,but many • local teams and leagues were active: We have bowling scores, local hockey action and other spor- ting news inside this issue. Receives award Goderich Lightkeeper Walter Shear - down -received an efficientcy award for his job at the Goderich lighthouse, at the an- nual Canadian Coast Guard Crristrnas Party and awerds night. Photo and details inside. A New'Yea.r Due to the holiday season, some of our regular features may be missing from this week's paper. However many of our regular correspondents and features are included inside. We will be back on ' schedule and regular deadlines will be in effect for the January 9 "issue of The Signal -Star.