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HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Goderich Signal-Star, 1987-10-28, Page 1G&ier ich 139 YEAR — 43 GODERICH ONTARIO, WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 28, 1987 Aquatic Committee disb BY PATRICK RAFTIS The Aquatic Centre Committee, a volunteer group set up to study the feasibility and costs of construction of an aquatic recreation complex in Goderich has been dissolved by Goderich Town Council at their own request. The committee, which presented a plan for a $3.1 million complex to council, on Oct. 5, sent a letter to council at their Oct. 26 session, asking council to rescind the by- law creating the committee. Council, at the Oct. 5 meeting, passed a motion to "receive" the report, but took no further action, leaving the issue in limbo for the time being. The letter, signed by Aquatic Centre Committee Chairman Dr. Don Neal said, "since there has been no action taken and no referral for further assessment at the council level, we feel that our mandate has been fullfilled and the committee has no further role to play. "At this point in time, the future of an Aquatics Centre in Goderich sits ex- clusively in the hands of Town Council. We hope that the project will proceed through further planning stages and that it will receive constructive and positive action from council," said the letter. Neal told The Signal -Star the committee feels the public may have been confused by council's decision to "receive," the report and may have the impression that forward action on the matter is continuing. He said the committee hopes the disban- ding of the committee will stir up some "political action," in the form of letters or deputations to council and discussion in the local media. Council passed the motion granting the request to dissolve the committee with lit- tle discussion. Afterward, however, Mayor Eileen Palmer expressed council's ap- preciation for the committee's efforts. "I'd like them to know we appreciate the excellent work they did while they sat as a committee. Unfortunately, or perhaps for- tunately – that's democracy in action – council did not view their recommendation as acceptable under the present condi- tions. But, that doesn't take away from the hard work that they did," said Palmer. Neal said Tuesday, he was not surprised. by council's acceptance of the request to dissolve the committee. "I think we really had our answer two weeks ago when they didn't move to act in Multi -Cultural Festival a hit A one -day Multi -Cultural Festival, sponsored jointly by the Goderich Recreation Department and the local Baha'i community, was held at Robertson Memorial 'Public . School on Saturday, Oct. 24. In addtion to a variety of displays and a multi -cultural pot- luck dinner, ethnic dancing highlighted the afternoon activities. From left: Brian Livesy, 11, perfornis an Irish Jig; some Goderich area square dancers give a - demonstration and Wendy Wilson, of Colborne. Township represented the Middle- - Eastern art of Belly Dancing. (photos by Patrick Raftis ) 60 CENTS PER COPY any way, shape or form on our recommen- dations," said Neal. "Having done so, they have terminated any further activity on the subject." Neal said the only way the committee could have proceeded was with "some sort of partnership," with council. "There really wasn't any more we could do as a group of volunteer individuals who have no real expertise as far as civic projects." Neal wants the public to know that as far as the committee was concerned, "at the moment, the future of any sort of complex in Goderich is stalled and going nowhere". The Aquatic Centre Committee had 10 active members who met a total of 11 times over the summer, in addition to "a lot of individual work and research at the committee level," said Neal. Council opposes delegation of authority Goderich Town Council has officially The report states the town "cannot support voiced their opposition to a request by at this time," the delegation of authority Huron County Council to have the Ministry which has been, requested by county of Municipal Affairs delegate approval council. authority for five planning functions from County Council, at their October session, the provincial to the county level. made therequest for delegation of authori- At their Oct. 26 meeting, council adopted ty for approval of the following functions: a report prepared by Town Administrator subdivisions, condominiums, part lot con - Larry McCabe at the direction of council's trol, road closings and zoning comments. Administration and Personnel Committee.' For the ministry to consider such a re - Defies building code, man charged A Goderich man, who defied a dir'ee` lotto vim council:, at their Oct. 26 Live from Goderich Town Cooed to'tear , #1 .ntil-tvee past dawn a garage on • his property. a e d ad ixine iiepited4xeulayone tag . charges from the building department,ull Lien agar Becker er bn 1Vion ay. strutted without proper a YIaa been Seeker fad fi re charges under the ancharged under the Ontario Building 'Cad+e Ontario Building Conde, including and a local zoning hplaw. building without a pewit and failure to Juergen Meeker, of tdownewthe heed .aStop Work fir. t�le also faces given until Oct. 15 to tear he ' one charge under a iocpl zoning by-law, building by . council at their Sept.ft�>` meeting. Commissioner of Works and He will appear in Provincial Court Chief Building Official for Godelrielt K.ett Nev.12 . , quest, the ministry must have: ap- propriate offical plan coverage, perma- nent professional planning staff, satisfac- tory adminstrative procedures and ade- quate financial resources to carry out the responsibility. Huron County has been determined to meet all four criterion. One concern expressed in the report, is the possibility of the county adding a re- quest for approval of Official Plans and Amendments in the future. Huron is the first county in Ontario to re- quest such delegation under the planning act, although a number of Regional Municipalities do have delegated authority. The report notes a basic difference bet- ween most regional governments and those in a county structure is that regions are usually centred around large urban areas and governments are more urban - represented than most counties. "Certainly the activity that occurs within an urban centre requires a somewhat different perspective concern- Warning signs ing planning issues and the Planning Act than does rural development in a rural municipality," states the report. "The Town of Goderich feel the present ministry involvement as a mediator and second source of consultation with regards to planning and mediation is desirable," the report continues. Council passed a motion adopting the report and directed it be sent to the ininistry for their consideration while deliberating the county's request. A copy will also be sent to county council. "The present system is working very well. Why then fix it, if it's not broken," said Councillor John Stringer. Deputy Reeve John Doherty expressed mixed emotions on the subject, as he has sat on the county planning committee for a number of years, but agreed he would "vote with this ( town) council". The motion to adopt the report, which also includes a request for a meeting with ministry officials to record input from the town, was passed unanimously. New MOH believes in prevention BY PATRICK RAFTIS If an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure, then Dr: Nfaarten Bokhout, Huron County's new Medical Officer of Health, is steering ;,the Huron County Health Unit in the right direction. Bokhout believes prevention is the key to an effec- tive public health system. "If a problem can be prevented from oc- curring, it saves a lot of pain and suffering and trouble later," he said. Cost, says Bokhout, is a key factor in the need to place the emphasis on health education and disease prevention. "The problem is that the new technology that is available now and the new drugs that are available now are very expensive and the cost of providing that kind of care has increased astronomically," he ex- plains, adding that neither the govern- ment, nor private citizens can any longer afford to foot the bill for increasing medical costs. "Public health care provides a different approach and part of the reason public health is becoming so important is that it is getting so darn expensive to cure problems at the other end." Wider access to health education and promotion of public health programs, Bokhout believes, are the best solution to the problem. STARTED SEPTEMBER 14 Bokhout took over the MOH position as of Sept. 14, replacing Dr. James McGregor, of Wingham, who was Acting MOH for more than a year, in the wake of the resignation of former MOH Dr. Harry Cieslar, of Goderich. Bokhout was born in Gouda, in The Netherlands and came to Canada with his family in 1957 when he was five -years -old. He lived for a short time in Ottawa, before moving to the Kingston area, until moving to Toronto, where he lived from 1965 to 1980. He enrolled in the University of Toronto in 1970 and entered medical school in 1972, graduating in 1977 after taking some time off during his fourth year to work as a sheet metal worker. He worked as a general practitioner in the Toronto area from June 1979 to March 1980, From March 1980 to June 1983, he was District • Health Officer for the Grenfell Health Service in Northern Newfoundland. As the only doctor covering a 2,000 square mile area, Bokhout was "primary care physician and consultant," for about 8,000 people, a job now handled by three physicians. He returned to Toronto to study Public Health at the University of Toronto until June, 1985, when he completed his residen- cy in community medicine. Then it was back to Grenfell, where he was MOH from August, 1985 until August 1987, when he returned to Ontario to take the Huron County position. He now resides in Clinton, with his wife Helena McShane and their four daughters, Rachel, 7; Jessica, 5; Stephanie, 3 and Sarah Louise, 20 months. VARIED ROLES Defining the role of the MOH, is not something which can be done in a few sentences. It is a complex position requir- ing the physician to wear a variety of hats. Bokhout has divided the role into six areas. Administration of the county Health Unit, is a major role. "I'm the ad- ministrator of the Health Unit. I'm like the Chief Executive Officer," Bokhout explained. The MOH is also the chief liason between the unit, the public, the county health Turn to page 2 • will be posted In response to concerns issued by area residents, the Goderich Police Depart- ment and Traffic Committee will be posting warning signs at the corner of Cambria Road and Gloucester Terrace. Goderich Police Chief Patrick King said the department had received complaints regarding speeding at the bend, where Cambria Road meets Gloucester 'Terrace, from area residents. The residents were concerned for the safety of their children as well as pedestrians in the area. In response, two signs will be posted in the area. They will be symbol -signs bear- ing the messages "slow, sharp curve ahead" and "caution, children crossing - playing in area", Chief King said. Although there have not been any ac- cidents at the bend, there have been "near misses" according to the police chief. The main problem with regards to the bend seems to be for motorists travelling north on Cambria Road and negotiating the curve. "If the motorist isn't familiar with the area, it throws him when he gets to the curve," Chief King said. He added, "At 50km per hour, you can lose control of the vehicle." The skid marks on the bend are proof of his state- ment. Motorists who travel to fast come very close to, sometimes hitting, the curb. He noted other motorists who have taken the bend to quickly end up in residents' la,wns. Driving in the wrong lane is also a problem at the bend for motorists who negotiate the curve at high speeds. Chief King noted, "There's not much else we can do ( besides posting signs ), however, if this continues they barricades near the roads might be the answer." Motorists are urged to drive slowly and cautiously in the area of Cambria Road and Gloucester Terrace to prevent ac- cidents from happening. br. Maarten 13okhout Police visible at Hallowe'en Officers with the Goderich Police Department will be making themselves highly,visible Saturday night in an effort to control Halloween mischief. "We will be using extra manpower and extra vehicles Saturday night," Goderich Police Chief Patrick King said. Although Halloween nights in Goderich have been "relatively quiet" for the past 13 years, the department is not taking any chances this year. "If people are out enjoying themselves that's fine but if they are out doing any kind of mischief, including throwing eggs, then they can expect to be arrested and charged accordingly," Chief King said. "We are encouraging everyone to have a good time and have fun but we want it to be done safely," he said. He also re -iterated the annual Halloween tips for trick -or -treaters, motorists and homeowners. For the children, he said, "Keep to one side of the street at a time, don't go back and forth across the street. Wear bright clothing and take a flashlight. Have a parent, adult or older sibling accompany you on your rounds. Respect other peo- ple's property. Don't walk in their flowerbeds. Don't wear, masks since masks can block your vision. Use makeup instead." Homeowners are advised to leave a light on in their home if they have treats for the youngsters. If there are any rakes or hoses lying around the yard which children could trip on, pick them up. Motorists are advised to drive with cau- tion Saturday night. "Watch for children out trick or treating," Chief King said. INSLJE THE S GNAL STrt, Country Fair The Annual Colborne Township Christmas Country Fair was held at the Saltford Valley Hall last Wednesday, Saturday and Sunday. There was a wide range of displays featuring the talents of local artists and craftsmen. For pic- tures, see the front page of the Communi- ty section. Effective speech Women who attended the annual Goderich IODE Afternoon Tea and Dessert Wednesday afternoon at the Legion listened to an eye-opening speech on sexual assaults and living alone by Const. Robin Shrive of the Waterloo Regional Police Department. For a story, see the front page of the Communi- ty section. Jr. Vikings win The GMT Junior Vikings football team clinched first place in the Huron -Perth Conference with a 52-7 win over Listowel last Thursday afternoon in Goderich. For story and pictures, see the front page of the Sports ,section.