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HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Goderich Signal-Star, 1986-12-03, Page 1Traffic lights a possibility on Bayfield Road in'1987 Approval for new traffic lights on Bayfield Road has been granted by the Ministry of Transportion and Communica- tions and it is expected they will be install- ed sometime in 1987. Goderich Town Council passed a motion at their Nov. 24 meeting to remove the flashing beacon at the cojr,ner of Bayfield Road and Bennett Street, once the propos- ed traffic light at the corner of Suncoast Drive and Bayfield Road has been' installed. Earlier efforts to obtain ministry fun- ding for a traffic light at the Bennett Street corner failed because ministry studies concluded the traffic situation at that cor- ner,did not warrant it. Therefore, the town of Goderich would have had to pay the full cost of installing a light at that corner. If a ® •, corner meets ministry traffic warrants, a 90 per cent grant is available. Town Administrator Larry McCabe said the Suncoast corner does meet the criterium for the grant, so budgeting for the project is expected as soon as funds are available, possibly in March or April of 1987. The criterium takes into account traf- fic volume, number of accidents, side. street traffic and pedestrian traffic at a given corner. "They told us we couldn't have it (fun- ding for the traffic light) in '86, so vt+e'Il have to wait until the MTC sets their priorities," said McCabe. A proposal for 'traffic lights at the Ben- nett corner was the subject of controversy for council from 1981 to 1984. In January, 1984, council voted to have traffic lights in- Goederich stalled at the corner despite the results of a town -wide traffic study which indicated the lights were not warranted. At that time, the lights were expected to cost the town $40,000 to $50,000. Concern was raised over the timing of the traffic study, which- cost the town $18,000. It was done during the summer when school was out and workers at the Champion Road Machinery plant were on holidays, and some councillors felt it did not paint a true picture of traffic on Bayfield Road. Installing a light at Suncoast should im- prove the traffic situation at Bennett, said Public Works Commissionor Ken Hunter. Since the two streets are only a block apart, the red light at Suncoast will create a lull in traffic flow at Bennett, he said. However, Hunter said traffic on Bennett is no longer the problem it was in 1984. "The opening of Suncoast was really the solution to the problems on Bennett Street," he said. . While approval has beep given and all the legalities taken care of, Hunter said it Council reversed their decision later in `.is too early to be sure when funds will 1984 and deleted the funds for the light become available. However he expects from the town's budget. The. decision to in- funding to come through in time to have stall the present flashing beacon at the cor- the traffic light set up in time for the July 1 mule by ^nnncil in April 1984. long weekend in 1987. ,0 138 YEAR, - 49 GODERICH, ONTARIO, WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 3, 1986 60 CENTS PER COPY Government add y not be enough h BY PATRICK RAFTIS Huron County farmers are expected to account for approximately 10 per cent of the 18,000 Ontario farmers expected to ap- ply for assistance through the new aid pro- gram announced last week by the provin- cial government Don Pullen, Huron County represen- tative of the Ontario Ministry of Agriculture and Food said 900 applications for the Ontario Family Farm Interest Rate Reduction program (OFFIRR) from Huron County were approved last year and he expected that number to be roughly double, under the new OFFIRR Plus enhancement program. However, even the combined help of the OFFIRR Plus program and the $10 million in announced special assistance for adverse weather damage may' not be enough to pull many farmers, reeling from the rainiest growing season in a decade, out from under, warns Paul Klopp, presi- dent of the Huron County chapter of the Ontario.Federation of Agriculture. "It (the assistance package) sounds like a lot of money at first, but when they break it down to individual cases, they would pro- bably be further ahead to give everyone a couple of hundred bucks and forget all the paper work," said Klopp. Using his own case as an example, Klopp said he expects to realize about $15 per acre for his 54 acres of cash crops this year. Had he produced an "average crop" and been paid average prices, Klopp said, his return would have been approximatley $100 per acre. Klopp said he estimates himself in the 30 per cent crop loss bracket eligible for full assistance under the an- nounced package. If the federal government were to "sweeten the pot" by, meeting'the provin- cial contribution, said Klopp, it might get farmers up to the $30 or $40 per acre return level, which might help those on the ,..dge to survive. Klopp, said his first reactions to the • assistance programs included three main points: a great deal of "paperwork" is in- volved; the dollar amounts for which in- dividual farmers are eligible were "not much"; and the "vegetable people will be helped a little more because they are deal- ing in larger dollars". Klopp said the larger the farmer's operation, the larger his assistance cheque will look, but added the amounts will not be enough to compensate for losses suffered Turn to page 2 Qutdoor rink is considered The possibility of installing an outdoor skating rink in Courthouse park is being in- vestigated by the Goderich Works and Pro- perty Committee. The rink could take the form off either a natural, or artificial skating surface, depending on which pro- ves most feasible. Following a request from Tourism Pro- moter Robin Stuart, Works Commissionor Ken Hunter was authorized to look into having the rink installed through the PRIDE program. The Recreation Board also talked about the idea during their meeting Thursday night, and the board was in favor of it. "A lot of people enjoy skating," Deputy - Reeve John Doherty said during the Recreation meeting. Questions still have to be raised concern- ing the entire issue, the board agreed, and correspondence will be sent to Mr. Stuart stating that the board is in favor of the idea in principle'and will wait for more infor- mation on the matter. Good Cheer Skate Sunday At Friday evening's Festival. of Lights at Court House Park, Ashley Anderson in mom Suzanne's arms receives a candy cane from Santa Claus. In the photo above, members of the GbCI jazz choir entertain listeners with Christmas music. At right, a youngster examines a lighted display under the watchful eyes of his mother. ( photos by Lou -Ann Hope ) Local resolution granted priority status at convention The strong support shown federal Liberal Party leader John Turner at last weekend's policy convention in Ottawa should 'sit well with Liberals from the Huron -Bruce Federal Liberal Association,. according to association president Howard Aitken, of Goderich. Although Aitken said there was no official movement to support Turner among the Huron -Bruce delega- tion, Aitken said the leader has few detrac- tors in this area. "Nobody is questioning Turner from around here," he said. A full delegation from the local associa- tion attended the convention, which gave Turner a 76 per cent vote of confidence, in- cluding Goderich area delegates Muriel Murphy, Mike Murphy, Young Liberal Association President Doug Lounsbury and Aitken. Other voting delegates. from the Huron -Bruce association included: An- drew and Win McLean, of Seaforth and Only McBurney runs for warden Only one Huron County Reeve has an- nounced his intention to seek the warden's chair for 1987. Turnberry Township Reeve Brian McBurney, of RR 1, Wingham was the only member of Huron County Council to announce his candidacy before the cutoff deadline. McBurney will be sworn in at a ceremony on Tuesday, Dec. 9. D Bruce and Maggie McDonald, of Mildmay. Although pleased with the result's of the leadership vote, Aitken expressed concern so much emphasis was placed on the sub- ject of review at the convention. "It irked me, that so much stress was put on this thing," he, said. Aitken -said there did not appear to be a strong pro - review presense at the convention. "It seemed like there were only a hand- ful of people ready to declare themselves in favor of a review — and most of them weren't even delegates." Many of the review proponents at the convention "handn't even purchased observer status ( passes )" said Aitken, and ended up being banned from the conven- tion floor and relegated to the lobby. During the policy -forming portion of the convention, a resolution from the Huron - Bruce association was passed and given priority status, by a committee dealing with resolutions pertaining to agriculture. Basically, the resolution recommended the Liberal party develop a comprehen- sive farm policy to address all aspects of agriculture. "Although it was a rather general resolution, it was one that seemed to be of great interest to the agricultural com- munity," Aitken said."The idea was to have the party give a high priority to pro - blems facing agriculture and deal with them in an all-encompassing approach, as opposed to a band-aid sort of situation." Aitken felt this convention had a "dif- ferent air about it" than past policy con- ventions he has attended. He attributed the different atmosphere to the fact the Liberal Party is not in power at the mo- ment. At past conventions, he said, many resolutions "obviously had support from higher levels," said Aitken, adding that cabinet ministers often would address an issue they were particularly interested in. "There's not' too many people ready to argue down a cabinet minister," said Aitken. Mayors' delegation to address county BY PATRICK RAFTIS A delegation made up of the Mayors from five Huron County municipalities have requested an opportunity to address Huron County Council on subjects of county -wide concern. The excecutive com- mittee of county council approved the re- quest on Nov. 24 and invited the mayors to the February session of council. Mayors Eileen Palmer, Goderich; Jack Balfour, Clinton; Alf Ross, Seaforth; Jack Kopas, Wingham and Bruce Shaw, Exeter will appear before county council to discuss five points which Palmer said the mayors feel are "concerns they county points Pahner, for example, wifl; wake on should be involved with." the Highway 8 issue. The issues include: landfill, composition "Included in the brief on Highway 8 are .. .. __'"'_' the.e.,e....e we feel the. four -lane (portion county council's executive committee, reasons the (portion library, economic development and im- of the road) has to be extended from Kit- provements to Highway 8. chener," said Palmer. ",To promote This kind of collaboration between economic development in both Huron and neighboring mayors is a new wrinkle in be looked at, and improvements have to be Perth Counties Number 8 Highway has to county politics, at least in this area. made.,' "I don't know if it's done anywhere else If a four -lane highway was extended in the' province," Palmer said. "even to Stratford, with passing lanes bet - "We organized last year andstarted ween Stratford and Goderich," Palmer meeting to discuss mutual problems. We said, "it would niake this area more at - feel we can help resolve them through tractive to prospective new industry." inter -municipal dialogue," she explained. The next step in the push for Highway 8 Each of the mayors will present the improvments is a meeting between the roup's positon on one of the five main mayors' group 'and the Ministry of Transportation and Communications, which Cardiff and Riddell arel currently setting up.; Pahner said, e The 4th annual Goderich Good Cheer Skate will be held this Sunday afternoon at the Goderich and.District Community Cen- tre, and once again, the Goderich Recrea- tion Department is looking for a good response. During the regular public skating on Sunday, from 1:10 p.m. until 2:30 p.m., the patrons are encouraged to bring with them canned food instead of their admission price. These cans will then be donated to the Huron County Christmas Bureau, Bob Marshall, program co-ordinator of the Goderich Recreation Department said last week. "It's an event we've run the past three years," he said. "We encourage peupie donate food instead of paying an admission fee. "The people have donated quite a bit, really," he said, "an estimated 13 to 14 bags of groceries were sent last year. "It's always stayed pretty much the same every year, although we hope for more every year," he said. If you don't or can't bring food, Mr. Mar- shall said, the regular admission price will still be charged and that money will also be forwarded to the bureau. An estimated $50 to $75 was donated last year. Christmas Tree to help needy For the second year in a row, post offices across Huron Division (southwestern On- tario) will be serving as collection points for gifts and groceries for the less for- tunate this Christmas season, thanks to a joint,' effort •by- Canada- Post, Corporation Corporation and the Salvation army. Dubbed "Operation Christmas Tree", the program invites postal customers to leave a small. gift or grocery item under the Christmas Tree in the lobby while visiting their local post office. A total of 21 larger offices have been disignated as drop-off points where Salvation Army Staff will make regular pick -tips. during December. Smaller offices participating in the program can send collected items to a drop-off centre, or donate them to a local charity. Anton Tiller, Huron Manager of• Retail Sales, who is responsible for the creation and co-ordination of Operation Christmas Tree, estimates that 'needy families in more than 206 centres in the Division benefitted from the program last year and applauds the cooperation—shown by the Salvation Army. For more information, contact your local Post Office or Richard Bowness, Communications, Huron Division, London, 679-5050, Ext. 206. INSIDETHE SIGNAL -STAR Recreation survey How much do you really know about recreational activities in. Goderich? This week's Signal -Star includes a test based on the results of the Goderich Recreational Master Plan. survey. See inside the front section. CWL anniversary The Kingsbridge Catholic Women's League celebrated their 65th anniversary last week with a special mass and dinner at St. Joseph's Church in Kingsbridge. For a story and pictures on the CWI., see the front page of the Community section. Vikings defeated The GDCI Vikings' senior girls basket- ball team played at the WOSSA champion- ships over the weekend in Strathroy. The team was defeated in the semi-finals. Sar- nia"Northern went on to win the champion- ship. t'or story and pietures, see the Spouts section.