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HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Goderich Signal-Star, 1980-03-20, Page 1Strategy Will invite public views O.K., you skate over the blue line and wait by the boards, and you wait in front of the goalie for a pass, and I'll go for a hotdog. The action has been As soonas possible after next Monday's special cornmitteeemeeting of council, a public meeting will be called to discuss the work to be undertaken with Commuteity Service Con- tribution Program (CSCP) funds. Clerk Larry McCabe told council Monday evening that of the proposed $600,000 to be spent m Goderich"s south-east portion . of town (an area bounded by Park Street, Hlghway 8 and the 'river) , the town's share would be $150,000. Of that $600,000 though, a minimum of $240,000 must be spent on soft services, McCabe advised council. Soft services include recreational facilities and parkland, for instance. They are the op- posite of hard services such as sewers, paved streets and drainage. Council will meet in committee next Monday, March .24, to talk about the kinds of spft ser- vices that should be considered for this area. Councillor Elsa Haydon felt the public meeting should be called, to allow the residents of the area concerned to tell council what kinds of soft services, they would like to have included --iia-teject_.-- PUC trades truck; adding new bucket The Goderich PUC will soon be in possession of a new truck and bucket at a cost of a little over $62,000. The PUC is purchasing the 1979 Chevrolet cab and frame from Jim Hayter for $15,240 plus tax. It will be sent to a firm in Mississauga where the ariel device and bucket will be added for $39,886. A storage area with drawers and shelves will also be installed at a cost of another $6,946, bringing the total cost to $62,072 plus tax for --the truck. __ Al Lawson, manager of the PUC, says the commission expects to get close to $20,000 for the old truck. Committee met for initial talks The newly formed Vandalism Committee met for the first time on March 13, in the town hall council chambers. Deb Shewfelt was appointed chairman. Other members of The committee are: Chief Fat King, John Penn, Councillor Jim Searls, Norm Pickell, Ralph Smith, Clerk Larry ,McCabe, Bruce Betties, Bill Tigert, Muriel Murphy, and Audrey Royal. The purpose of the committee is to formulate a brief on vandalism to be forwarded to the Goderich town council for their endorsation and then submitted to the government Task Force on Vandalism. Chief King presented members with a report entitled,. 'Vandalism- what type of property is C7' attacked? What damage results?' and also a report on 'Mischief and Wilful Damage' for the years 1974-79. The first report states that, by far, the highest number of vandalism incidents is done to vehicles, at 32.8 per cent of the total number. Second is businesses at 14.4 per cent. In his second report, Chief King stated that for the purposes of offences and for police reporting, vandalisin is broken down into two categories: mischief, where the • damage caused is in excess of $50, and wilful damage, where damage is less than $50. In 1974, the dollar value of local vandalism was $8,720, In 1979, the figure increased to $15,773. Chief King stated that while the figure is higher, there may not actually be more vandalism ocurring: The cost of materials has increased subs:tantia'lly over the lastsix years and this taken into consideration, the overall cost perhaps has not increased. However, concern does exist with regard to vandalism in the town of Goderich, and the committee recommended that more detailed reporting of incidents be made. Chief King stated that the theme of Police week this year is vandalism. He is going to attempt to have grades 8 to 13 enter a poster contest. Prizes will be distributed for first, second, and third. Police Week will probably be held the first week in May, said Chief King. brisk during Young Canada Week a.t the Goderich arena as pee wee hockey teams of all calibre compete for trophies (photo by Dave Sykes) boos .t Optimist return on,musie BY SHIRLEY J.KELLER The focal point of the Goderich and Distfict Optimist Club's outdoor .1estiva1 at the end of June may be folk music and crafts, but a beer garden is the scheduled moneymaker. This fact came toe light at this week's town coancil meeting when Councillor. Elsa Haydon claimed she had been misled by represen- tatives of the Optimist Club when they ap- peared before council at its March 10 meeting. Haydon introd>izced a motion at this week's meeting to rescind the previous motion by council to give tentative approval to the Optimist festival. Haydon's motion'included an invitation to the.Optimist Club teere,urnia_the__ -ermined table to explain, more completely the group's plans for their festival. The lady politician said there „was nothing "shameful" about a beer garden, but insisted the Optimists "should have called a spade a spade". • itayd-oreserrrotion was seeundert`by-Cot1nci1tor Jim Searls. He agreed with Haydon there had been no mention of a beer garden in the original submission by the Optimists. He said if he had known a beer garden was included in the plans, he would have urged that the festivities be held at the beach rather than in Harbor Park. Both Searls and Haydon believebeer gardens should be set up in the waterfront area to give patrons optimum freedom. The submission from the Optimists to council at its March 10 meeting called for an outdoor festival iii Oo:derich on June 27,28 and 2$,1880; proceeds for area youth projects; the festival open to all Goderich and area residents. "This is nota rock concert," the brief stated. The following "points in favor" Were listed:- homegrown isted:homegrown talent, tourist promotion, proceeds for charity,- a chance. for youth to "discover their cultural background through folk music and 'crafts, and an opportunity to "put Goderich on the map as a cultural centre". . The Optimists agreed to finance the stage concert; to police the area under the super- vision of the'Gaderich Police I?epartment; to "fence off" the park area; to be responsible for clean up and vandalism; and to report to all related com.mittees.. The Club'noted that since the event preceded the Art Mart, it would "enhance" rather than "take away" from Goderich's summer ac- tivities. It was also pointed out that since the facilities necessary for the festival were located in Herbor--f?ark -dray sftoal.d_.lieiftilildd-"for ftfe __...._.__. event. From this information, Councillor John Doherty said there was "never any doubt in my mind there was going to be a beer tent there". He said he was surprised at how "dumb"., Councillor Haydon could appear by saying she didn't know the Optimists planned a beer • garden in connection with the festival. "At any function, the biggest moneymaking thing is the sale of alcoholic beverages," Turn to page 1 6 Rie 132 'YEAR --12 THURSDAY, MARCH 20, 1980 35 CENTS PER COPY Pogo is home again and three-year-old Vandersteen is ever so glad. Tony's parents, Debbie and Henry Vandersteen, claimed the puppy shortly after last week's newspaper came out. They had hoped someone would Tony answ er the ad they placed two weeks ago for the missing puppy, but instead found her on the front page in the arms of animal, control officer Dick Eisler. Someone had left Pogo on his front porch. (photo by Cath Wooden) ender priced right Town councillors were absolutely delighted Monday evening when one tender for the reconstruction of the sidewalks on The Square came in.$10,000 below estimates. The bid of C.W.A.Construction of Lambeth was accepted for $23,207.50 to reconstruct the final two blocks of The Square's sidewalks between Khwgston and Hamilton Streets. Commissioner of Works Ken Hunter said these two blocks were tendered last year and the lowest bid then was $28,300. •..,,ght last year';, price was ex- cellent," smiled Hunter. Council's engineering consultant advised that C.W.A.Construction is a part of Global Con- struction that has done work on the sidewalk project on The Square. There was a wide spread in the bids opened by council Monday evening. The highest bid was from a London contractor for $49,219.50. The next lowest bid to the one submitted by C.W.A.Constructlon was for $30,955 from a Sarnia firm. Reserve funding BY SHIRLEY J. KELLER The finance committee of town council has made recommendations that if accepted, would trim another $134,000 from. the 1980 budget: Chairman of the committee Reeve Eileen Palmer says that if council approves •the recommendations, it would bring the total cuts to date from the budget to $378,942. . -That would mean. that Goderich taxpayers would be'asked to raise for municipal purposes ' $1,309,945 in 1980. ' It would result in a commercial rate of 123.50 mills, a reduction of 4.48 mills from last year; and a residential rate of 104.97 mills, a reduction of 3.81 mills from last year. But, Reeve Palmer is quick to add, the fihance., committee is at. the same time recommending that town- council include another three or four 'Mills in the 1980, money to be set aside for future reserve capital funding for building and equipment. "The exact number of additional mills would be up t$ o;iTfcil," she said. At the present time, one mill in Goderich raises$11,500. The reeve feels .the philosophy of the finance committee is sound. It calls for long term financial planning beginning this year. It would provide reserve funding for the years to come and should prevent heeey•tax increases that would impose unnecessary hardships on the town's taxpayer ill atryeene-gTverreeal . The reeve believes that many taxpayers don't comprehend the differences in the tax base. In Sarnia, for instance, a one mill in- crease would raise $250,000. I.n Goderich, it would take almost an additional 22 mills to raise the same amount of money. At Monday evening's council meetirtg, the ,finance committee outlined the additional cuts that are proposed. They include funds from the public works budget. the tourist budget, the pollution control plant budget, the MacKay Hall budget, the harbor budget, the marine budget, the parks budget and from the recreation budget. At council's next regular meeting on Monday, March 31, council members will be given an. opportunity to arg_q:e for or against the finance committee's proposals. Some councillors found it' difficult at this week's meeting to refrain from stating their opinions about proposed cuts. Councillor Elsa Haydon, for instance, argued against the finance committee's proposal to cut funds from the Industrial Park budget. She said the p•ndustrial site is vital to Goderich's future, and claimed money should be allotted to im- provements there. Reeve Palmer said the finance committee agreed money should be left in the budget for the extension to Suncoast Drive. She said the extension to that street is of direct assistance to the Industrial Park. She asked that the Goderich Economic Development Committee recognize that the proposed $25,000 deletion for servicing of industrial lots along Highway 21 was necessary. The reeve did 'prom ise, however, that if same industrialist wanted to locate in Goderich durit g 1980 and needed services brought to the lot, the town would not hesitate to get the work done. Goderich is moving closer to inclusion in the .s.gtl . Community Service Contribution Program which is.a federally and provincially scheme to assist communities to update neighbors that meet,criteria. Thereeve pointed out that ifthe program is approved for Goderich, the town will need $300,000 in 1981 to get the project off the ground. Regulations 'call for the municipality to put up one-half the total funding applied for - 'Goderich's case $600,000 - with the municipality • to be refunded one-half of that expenditure - from provincial funds. The other half of the initial $600,000 is realized from federal funds. Neighborhood Improvement Program funds will be used in 1980, too, the reeve noted, to complete some work at Judith Gooderham Pool which the finance committee has proposed to delete from the recreation budget. Two other projects will be completed this year, despite proposed budget cuts. They are the sidewalk reconstruction on The Square and' the second lift of asphalt in the Delbar sub- division. Bridal special in this edition Getting married this year? Planning a spring wedding perhaps? Or a summer event? Fall nuptials? Brides for 1980 will enjoy reading The Goderich Signal -Star's Bride's World included with this week's issue. This special edition contains news and in- formation for young engaged couples. There's everything from where to buy your home furnishings to how to plan your honeymoon trip. Don't miss Bride's World 1980. Beautiful weddings don't just happen., They are planned.