The Goderich Signal-Star, 1985-04-03, Page 1EAT ALA„. uuNtgo. aiahomemptiarrY INVIVI t9NpAPIRO i.IN CANADA
rouition Clasd MOO - 4500pater Newspaper Cnmpefit,ion 1984
137 YEAH. 14
GODERICH, .ONTARIO, WEDNESDAY, APRIL 3, 1985
50 CENTS PER COPY
Members of the local Lions Club did their share during the 161/2
hour Superthon on CBC television over the weekend, manning
Goderich phone lines from the Standard Trust building on The
Square. Don Edward, and Paul Spittal handled the incoming calls
Sunday while watching the totals flash up on the television screen.
More than $1.7 million, a record for the Superthin, was raised over
the two days. (ph, by Dave Sykes)
County asks Ontario Hydro to
put lines through Essa to Bruce
BY STEPHANIE LEVESQUE
Huron County Council is opposed to On-
tario Hydro transmission lines going
through the county and will ask the provin-
cial utility to "consider strongly" the M3 -
Bruce to Essa - route for the lines.
Council is now "on record" as being op-
posed to the possible transmission lines go-
ing through the county in a unanimous
recorded vote at its Mar. 28 meeting.
"Huron is the leader in agriculture pro-.
duction in the province," states the approv-
ed motion which was prepared by several
reeves and presented by Turnberry Reeve
Brian McBurney.
County council would like hydro to choose
the M3 route, one of six transmission cor-
ridors initially proposed by Ontario Hydro.
Council maintains that M3 is less disruptive
to agriculture as a whole in the province.
Ontario Hydro had prepared a detailed
study of a modified M3 route, including a
line along the 401 to London, but last year
that was thrown out of court. Hydro then
decided that along with M3 details,it would
prepare details of Ml. It has proposed three
routes which have been presented at public
meetings across Huron County.
County planner Dr. Gary Davidson said
he will -be meeting with Ontario Hydro
representatives on Apr. 3, when he suspects
he'll learn which of the three routes through
Huron is favored by the utility.
The planning director said in mid-May
Ontario Hydro will choose which of the two
routes - Ml or M3 - it prefers. In earlier pro-
ceedings Ontario Hydro favored Ml, but
after hearings in Stratford,_the consolidated
hearings board chose a modified version of
M3 as presented by the agriculture sector of
the province.
During early dilscussion of the
transmission lines at county council,
Tuckersmith Reeve Bob Bell said people in
the county "are upset that we have not
taken a stand".
Dr. Davidson said the planning depart-
ment couldn't recommend one of the three
routes tnrougl;Tiuron because it didn't know
the impact on the land. That information
will be coming from the Apr. 3 meeting, said
Dr. Davidson.
"What are we willing to accept?" asked
Reeve Bell, then answering his own ques-
tion, he replied, "none."
"No one in Southewestern Ontario wants
it," said Dr. Davidson, ,'If everybody has
that position - not in my backyard ... it
negates the participation'process."
"The reason we got this back is because
county council went on record in support of
Ml," said Reeve Bell explaining what he
has heard from the public.
"We (the planning department) think it
should go through Essa, not through
Huron," said the planner, "although I can't
say which has more land. Hydro will tell us
that on the third."
Every reeve present voted in favor of the
resolution. Those absent were Wingham
Reeve Joe Kerr, Howick Reeve Jack Staf-
ford and Hay Township Reeve Lionel
Wilder.
High winds combined with freezing rain Sunday
morning to wreak havoc with tree limbs and
power lines in a few spots around Goderich. On
Cambria Road, PUC and town crews were called
out after a tree split in half, felled power lines
and snapped two poles in hall near the in-
tersection of Anglesea Street. The Public Utility
and town crews were also called out to other
trouble areas. (photos by Dave Sykes)
Levels are
on the rise
Levels of Lake Huron could reach or ex-
ceed maximum recorded levels as soon as
this June possibly causing localized
flooding: Goderich council was warned at
s meeting of.Apr. 1.
The Great Lakes are approaching the
s e levels we had in 1973 which were
record high levels for the last 100 years.
They're back again and we're expecting
major slumps and scours," says Ian
Deslauriers, watershed planner of the
Maitland Valley Conservation Authority.
The higher lake levels could cause a
shorter beach and eventually a loss of one
to five feet of the banks. In 1973, high lake
levels resulted in millions of dollars of pro-
perty damages throughout the lakeshores
of the Great Lakes.
"This news is important and should be
passed on to council and individuals who
own lakeshore property in your
township...By taking this action, hopefully
precautions can be taken in order to create
unnecessary damage," says a letter to
council from the Authority.
Resource kits containing information
about ways to control erosion from gabian
baskets to armor stone hardpoints and the
pros and cons of such devices have been
picked up by 25 per cent of the owners of
lakeshore property in the area, says Mr.
Ileslauriers. All owners had been con- ,
tacted by the Authority last year.
"You can't protect your bank alone. The
key is to get a number of property owners
organized regardless of any damages done
or not," he says.
Technical assistance can be obtained by
calling the Maitland Valley Conservation
Authority.
An erosion control package for Goderich
is now being discussed with the Ministry of
Natural Resources. After approval for
Ministry funding of the project, a study
could be completed within the year and
construction of the determined erosion
controls could be completed in 1986, says
Mr. Deslauriers.
The Authority has completed a study of
bluff stabilization of 18 kilometers of
shoreline from Ashfield Township to
Goderich Township south of the town of
Goderich.
' As a result of the study, the town has
entered into a co-operative project with
the .MVCA and the Ministry of Natural
Resources that calls for the creation of 26
acres of reclaimed land in the area south
of the water treatment plant. Dredged
materials from the harbour expansion pro-
jec will be dumped in the area and a re-
taining wall will have, to be built to prevent
the material from washing away.
The project will be phased over several
years and while the cost of the retaining
wall is estimated to cost $1 million, the
town's share would amount to $150,000.
It is estimated that 10 to 15 per cent of
the dredging will be completed within the
calendar year.
PUC awards
new contract
The Goderich Public Utilities Commis-
sion awarded a nearly $1 million contract
to build a booster pumping station and
reservoir, at Parsons Court, to a St. Marys
contracting firm.
Stone- Town Construction LW., St. _
Marys, submitted the lowest bid for the
job, at $957,500, and was awarded the con-
tract at a special PUC meeting on March
28.
The highest bid of the 13 tenders receiv-
ed, came from G. W. Harkness Contrac-
ting Ltd., London, who offered to build the
pumping.. -station----for---$171-993-900: The-- -
original engineering estimate` on the job
put the cosi at $1,014,200. There were no
tenders submitted by local contractors.
The new facility will upgrade the pump-
ing capability of the town's water treat-
ment plant and increase water storage
capacity.
The project is expected to be -completed
within. 6 weeks.
Windstorm
puts out hydro
High winds and ice caused damage to
hydro and telephone equipment, causing
two Goderich homes to be without power
or telephr;hae facilities for several hours
Sunday.
Goderich Public Utilities spokesman
Jim. Scott said only two PUC customers
were affected when the storm caused tree
branches and two hydro poles to fall across
power lines. One of the -homes affected was
on Cambria Road, while the other was on
Nelson St.
' One of the residences was without power
four or five hours, as metering equipment
was damaged and an electrician had to be
called in. The other home was without
power for about two hours.
Scott said the damage was less extensive
than it could have been.
"I guess you could say we got off lucky,"
he said.
01,
Town gives
$467,373 to
county budget
The 26 municipalities comprising Huron
County will have to contribute $4.1 trillion
to the county's $17.8 million budget for
1985.
Huron County Council gave final ap-
proval to its budget at its regular monthly
meeting March 28. Last year the county
went to the municipalities for $3,9 million
and this year's $4.1 million request
represents an increase of 5.56 per cent.
Individual municipal percentage in-
creases range from Bayfield's high of 14.3
per cent to the lowest increase of 1.24 per
cent for East Wawanosh Township.
The town of Goderich contributes the
largest share of the county requisition as
local taxpayers pay $467,372 or 11.2 per
cent of the $4.1 million budget. The
Township of Stephen is a close second,
paying 10,g per cent or $454,949 of that
amount. The average share for the re-
maining towns and townships would be in
the four per cent range.
Last year the town paid $438,390 towards
the county expenses and this year's total
represents an increase of $28,982 or 6.61
per cent. The Township of Ashfield will
`pay $196,626, a five per cent increase; Col-
borne Township's portion increased by 3.96
per cent to $138,021 and Goderich
Township will contribute $190,372 to the
county budget, an increase of 9.21 per cent.
Thieves smash
Nabour safe
Thieves made off with over $3,000 in cash
after smashing their way through a con-
crete wall and then into the safe of a depart-
ment store on the weekend, OPP said Tues-
day.
A police spokesman said that the theft oc-
curred at Nabour's department store on
Highway 8. The theft occurred sometime
between Saturday night and Monday morn-
ing.
Police said the thieves probably used
sledgehammers to smash their way through
a wall leading into the store, after they
broke into an adjacent vacant building. The
safe was dragged from the store into the va-
cant building before it was smashed open.
Thieves broke into Morris Draperies
sometime on March 27 or 28 and took a dolls
dress. The dresswas covered with $125`in •
small bills. The thieves, aged 19 and 20,
were apprehended by police with the help of
some passersby.
All of the money taken has been
recovered.
The police are grateful for the public's
help in apprehending the thieves, said
Goderich Police Chief Patrick King.
INSIDE THE
SIGNAL -STAR
Breakin' loose
Everybody got footloose, as the East''
End Breakers, a group of break dancers
from London performed before a large
crowd at GDCI on Saturday afternoon. The
Breakers gave a display of the strenuous
dance form and even got members of the
local audience involved. Photos inside this
section.
Sunset rises up
The Sunset Golf Club won the Goderich
Recreational Hockey League title last
Thursday, defeating the Bedford Flyers
two games to one in an ;,exciting best -of -
three playoff final series. Story and photos
.in the Recreation section.
Organ transplants
While medical science has advanced to
the point where virtually -any failing organ
in the human body can be replaced via
transplant, there is still a problem with the
current system of getting organs from
donors to those in need. Dr. Calvin Stiller,
from University Hospital, London recently
spoke on the subject at North Stre t United
Church, Goderich. Details inside