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.