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HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Goderich Signal-Star, 1980-01-24, Page 4E ' zHURSDAY* ttl A. The County Town Newspaper of Huron • founded' Ian llineaci puklished every Thursdpy of Goderich, •Ontario. Member of the CCNA and CW,NA. Advettlsing West on request. Subscriptions, payable in advance '14.00 in Canedp.*MOO to U.S,A.,'3 AN to all ogler countries.' Ingle copies 3.5'. Display advertising retro avelleble ea requoat.,Plootse ask for Rate Cord,Np. 9 effect!? Sept. 1, 1979. Second Own antl.;Reglstration Number Q710• Advertising As accepted en the cbndlslon that in the Qvent of typograpllkal array, tho advertising {pace occupied by the erroneous Item, together wi'tI reosgnable allowance for signatgro, wilt not be charged for but the balance of the advertisement will be paid for at the applicable rote. In tho event of a typographical error Bdvorflsing goods or services et a wrong price, goods onservico may not be sold. Advertising is merely an offer to sell. and may be.withdrawn of any time. The SlgnalStar is not responsible for the loss or damage of unsolicited menuscrlpts or photos. Business and Editorial office `� Published by Signal -Star Publishing I,.td. TELEPHONE itoria31 ROBERT O. SHRIER president and publisher area code 519 SHIRLEY J. KELLER editor DONALD M HUBICK -advertising manager MailingAddress: P.O. BOX 22o, industrial Park, Goderich Second class mail registration number — 0716 efficiency deserve praise One of the town's most efficient operations is the environmental division including the sewage disposal plant supervised by Gerry Eisher. Every month, council gets a full report from Fisher and staff. And every month, things are shown to be running smoothly and seemingly ef- fortlessly at the plant. But a closer inspection of the report shows a great deal of on-going effort goes into the operation of that place. Take this month's report, for instance. It notes that walls, pipes and the pump were painted in the 'final settling pump house;. that a pipe hoist was made up to pull pumps in the pumping lift station; that a valve handle extension was fabricated; and that 179 persons had toured the plant during 1979. It recommends that in 1980, the glazed brick on the north wall in the foyer be repaired. "The report show;eed that 548- rhillion:-gallens-of` sewage-azrd waste -water passed -through the plant - 1979,. about 42 million gallons more than in 1978 and about 59 million gallons less than in 1976 when the use of the plant peaked. ' It showed that the pumping'lift station which was put into service December 17, 18.79 is now under surveillance and that -No: One'puinp is running about one hour out of 24 hours and handling about 9,000 gallons per day. • It showed that the quality of the effluent leaving the plant remains high, consistently well above Ministry of the Environment requirements for such effluent. But one little item.. perhaps most -clearly demonstrates the personal care and attention that goes into every detail at the sewage treatment plant. The report stated that the truck box was cleaned and inspected. It was found that the box on the truck was badly deteriorated, probably because of the type of materials that are hauled in the 10 - year old vehicle. The truck box was patched, the. report noted, but the.recommendation was made to consider the purchase of a new truck for plant use in 1980. An example of the sound management and ' the good planning at that site. A few weeks ago, the town received another report about the -sewage treatment..plant It wasn.t_ _ prepared by plant_Aersonnel, but ..by provincial inspectors. And the report gave glowing praise to the staff at the sewage treatment plant for the cleanliness and efficiency of the operation. Good work; fellows, and thanks. It is this kind of performance that proves that local people with --local- interests :and -looal• concerns at heart can di3 -a better than average job when given the op- , portunity. - SJK a Nature -has the answer . You've heard about the energy crisis from just about everyone. But have you noticed that nature really do:es appear to have things •in control? • At the very time when poiiticians.and economists and conservationists ,are. -telling' Canadians that home heating fuel, and fuel for transportation is in short supply ... along with predictions of gas rationing and.oil shortages •in.the winter of 1980 ... nature is turning on the sunshine and turning off the snow. • Although ,it ip understood that average tem- peratures haven't been much warmer .than usual for December and January it is safe to say less home heating energy has been consumed this, . Winter than in some previous winters. Maybe itis psychological. Brat when you see chefs ''out with their barbecues and_ golfers out with their • clubs• in January in Huron County, you've just got to feel warmer. - Cyclists still haven't put away their bicycles' and hang gliders are soaring in the skies. Why, folks are even out working in their yards..,these days. No wonder fuel consumption is down. -It doesn't even seem like winter. • ' - Last week, Goderich town council learned from its town foreman Stan Meriam that only eight hours of snowplowing time had been tallied ' up in December. Doubtless, rib more than that has been run up so far in January. • The story will be similar in Huron County and in the. province of Ontariq ... and that's a break for the taxpayers who have to pay salaries of snow crews and- •finance -expensive snow clearing equipment operation and maintenance. But think of the thousands of .gallons in fuel all across Ontario that have been saved by nature's kindness. Surely it should have somepositive affect on the dire predictions about. fuel made earlier in the 1979-80 winter. This milder, snow free winter so far'could *ell be nature's answer to man's foolishness: - SJK Things look good here •' When many municipalities throughout the province were complaining about the dearth of new building starts,.,, the town of Goderich's record - remained pretty good iny,relation to the previous year. There were, for instance, •15 . new single residences created in Goderich in 1979, five more than in > otal estimated value of the building - was '.•31,000 or tly more than an average of 4042,000 for each hom at's'up slightly from 1978 when 10 building permits re valued at $403,131, or a little better than $40,000 eac And there were apartments cr-.ted in 1979 to a value of $550,034. That's somewhat markable -in itself since the previous year saw'16 dup , . es, semi • - detached or row houses created to a" ue of $989,000. In all there were 51 new dwelling units create. just ten less than in 1978. Minor residential repairs were up, from a value of $287,378 for 50 permits in 1978 to $329,244 in 1979 d for 58 permits. Ten more swimming pools were installed in• 1979, valued at $50,800, only two ,less than the previous year. Seventeen carports . and garages were added, up seven over 1978. The commerical sector kept'pace with the times too. A total of 19 permits was issued for com mercial projects in 1979, fewer than the 28 issued in' 1978 but having a value of only about $7,000 less. Government and institutional projects were up, • from seven in 1978 to 15 in 1979. 'Value was nearly double. There were seven industrial permits issued, having a total value of $302,093 ...not bad,coming on the_heelsof nineindustrial permits in 1978 valued at • well over $1 million. There's no doubt about it. These kinds of statistics demonstrate clearly and emphatically, that Goderich people have faith in the economy here. They speak of stability/and they give concrete evidence to the fact that this part of the country is ving ahead slowly and deliberately into a bright fut . Believe it. - SJK Here we .snow again By Dave Sykes <27 DEAR E Share thoughts Dear Editor, • We would like to share some thoughts on "World Religion Day's, which 'is now being celebrated all over .the . world pn January 20. Truth is •One Point and all truth whether social, scientific or religious flow . from that Point as the rays descend from the physical sun. - The purpose of World Religion Day. is'to give us time and. o.ppo•rtunity ,to . look with an unbiased mind at the similarity of. the 'Strong- threadof spiritual verities found in al the great religions of the world. • .The un- derstandingsmlay differ, the means of worship •may also differ but if the beliefs are founded on Teachings from God "they are the-- same • because- there' ecausethere is only One God. It is- a time, then, to invite' us to lay aside pree.ud ice ' born '• of pride that . says Revelation from God came only once and to open our minds -to the beauty and guidance brought . by many Reveaders including lufeses, Christ, Muhamad 4._ and Baha'u'llah.. All humanity depend on the sunas a source of life, growth and development. Just as the sun shines in every part of the globe, no people have been left without a Message or a Messanger to give'them hope and purpose. The' Revelations from God have been and will be "-'continuous; alVeys 'giving us opportunity to advance. Religion is not intended to divide, not • intended to leave some, people hopeless or out- ' side His love. It is rather intended to promote the well being, deep felicity, everlasting unity and world peace based on the understanding of the Oneness , of God, the essential oneness of His Revealers and the basic oneness of His creation. May all -people who long for world peace based. on love and knowledge of God, join in 'fervent prayer.that`'the Will of God replace m'an's narrow vision and illumine our world with that -Promised Day. Sincerely, Spiritual Assembly of 'the Baha'is of Goderich. Winter safety Dear Editor, 0 With relation • to ',the recent marked increase in snow vehicle fatalities, the following release has been issued by the Force news bureau. ,"The mild weather over the past weeks has caused -a number of fatal snowmobile accidents when ,snowmobilers broke through. thin ice. Four persons died near Sault F. Ste. Marie last weekend and two more . persons drowned in , the Kingston area. Several skaters also died when they -tried t, to take' ad- vantage of clear, sribw- free ice for some winter exercise. - "The O.P.P. urges you to stay off' lakes, and rivers until the weather is cold enough to build up a - good' solid layer of ice. If you're heading out on a snowmobile this weekend stay on the trails and off Turn to page.5 • 75 YEARS AGO Mr. William Graham, inspector of this district for the growing of sugar beets, was in town on Tuesday, arranging for a meeting (one of a series. in this county) to he addressed by Simpson Rennie and A.P. Shut- tleworth in advocacy of the cultivation of sugar beets as a profitable farm crop. The building that will be .known as the Public, or maybe the Carnegie, Library is now being fitted up for occupation. All members were present..on time Tot Friday evening for the town council meeting. His, Worship Mayor Murney was in the chair'. The County Treasurer made a report- of money paid by the county for water and light, rates in 1904, LOOKING BACK amounting to $484.40. The. Fire Warden reported six pairs of boots and one rubber coat wanted for the fireman and the clerk was authorized to pur- chase same. As will be seen by the list of Canadian grain carriers from Fort William and Port Arthur, the port of Goderich rises to second place in the list "Of grain poets in Canada, a very credible showing, as it ' clearly demon- strates that our marine captains have a safe port and fair treatment for their vessels: 25 YEAR-S—A—GO- -- The new Huron County • Court House and County Building in Goderich definitely -rwili have outside clocks. Town colincil, in committee of the -whole Friday night, decided to accept plans from International Business Machines Co., • Ltd., for'' two four -foot clocks on the outside walls at the north and south . ends of the building. - Plans for the new bridge to cross the Maitland ' , River at Goderich, eliminating the use of the present bridge at • Saltford, have been changed and it is ex- pected .that an an- nouncement will be made soon stating exactly where the bridge will be built. • Goderich town council at ^ its next regular meet -Fr -1g will likely study a financial statement showing the cost, of operating Goderich's recreation program last `year and the estimated cost' for this year. The secretary of the recreation comrnittee.has been asked to prepare a statement before " "con- sideration is given to a grant to• cover this year's recreation program. Seeking a trailer by- law with "teeth" in it, town council, at its next meeting will receive a motion asking town solicitor, . J.K. Hunter to prepare such legislation aimed at licensing the use of trailers as living ac- commodations within the town. 5 YEARS AGO The Town of Goderich is faced' with a debt of about $250,000 if council approves the widening of Highway 21. Pedestrian safety is the largest hurdle council has to clear though on the widening.project. Goderich town council has elected to refuse, payment of over $11;000 .to MacLean -Foster Construction Limited for work done on the $88,000 South Storm Sewer last year. The Huron County Board of Education is interested in having "a school' health co- ordinating• . committee established in the county. The " board chairman's advisory committee was authorized at a meeting Monday to discuss setting 'up the committee. An early Monday morning fire destroyed a mobile home in Meneset _P_ark_ leaving a_fami1JLM four homeless. Gordon Fisher, his wife Beverly and their two children, nine-month old Julie and three . year old Bradley were asleep when fire broke out just after midnight. They escaped uninjured. DEAR READE BY SHIR,LEY J.,KELLER ' A letter to the editor a couple of weeks ago from a couple of Goderich kids about the lack " of good old- fashioned movies struck a responsive chord with me. Regular readers will know how I feel about these things. No need to bore you further. ' But it' sent me scurrying to read an article in a publication called CineMag about the Ontario Board of' Censors. It was entitled "Ontario Censors Defend Action" anddealt with the problems of the people who serve on this board. People who disapprove of censorship make life miserable for the board of censors. Censorship to some people is a , curse. They say itis the first step to lost freedoms. Many people demand the right to be their own censors " in everything. Ideally, it's the best way. But ideals are ellusive and strangely enough, the board of censors firmly believes the majority of people; approve of cen- sbrship. A provincial government 'survey in 105 revealled that of 1500 Ontarians 18 years of age and over who were sur- veyed, the majority concluded that censorship was indeed necessary. From that h was decided that the public wanted more films banned, particul,ar.ly those depicting violence. ,But I found the method of surveying was most interesting. The 1500 people were shown five films depicting in- tercourse, homosexuality, nudity, violence and using profanity. It was only AFTER the viewing they were asked for their opinions. It is my experience that curiosity accounts for much of the disapproval of censorship. Chances are that if those 1500 'persons were asked for their opinions without seeing the films, their reactions would have been nfuch, much different. It is safe to wager that at least of portion of them .would have lobbied • for uncensored movies.' It wouldn't be because they are depraved types who really get off on filth and blood, but rather because they are curious, eager to see what's so distasteful it requires censorship. But once they saw the films - once their curiosity was satisfied - they were .prepared to agree that -much of the movie should be cut out to protect - people from themselves. They agreed that what they were mature enough to° handle, was too torrid for others. Seven people are on the board of censors, four then and three women, from varied backgrounds with varied opinions.. Last year, between April 1978 and. March 1979 they- viewed 789 films. Of that total, eight were rejected for public viewing entirely. and 146 more films required cuts. The ratings were as follows: 103 for general audiences; 346 for adults audiences; and 312 restricted to' per- sons 18 years of age and older. That totals 761. Eight were rejected,. meaning. that 21 films are not ac- counted for in the ratings. Still it demonstrates that only about one out of every eight movies produced was suitable for general audiences. And it clearly shows that better than 90 percent of themovies produced are geared to adults. It's not surprising then, that theatre operators find it difficult to show general audience pictures in their movie houses. And it substantiates their claim that movie making is a business, aimed at extracting money from those who have it ... and those who are willing toyart with it to see what they want to see. As for censorship, it seems a little rifllculotis. Chances are if moviemakers shoved it all and moviegoers saw it all, people would soon become their own censors. It just seems to work that way. And maybe, if censorship were removed and people grew weary of skin and horror, the inove would be one to produce some movies like we used to see. A little less realism. A little more entertainment.