HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Goderich Signal-Star, 1976-08-12, Page 7•
.1•
Rovnd_�b�ut route.
BY JEFF SEDDON
Serving on a committee of council in
Goderich or any other municipality can
""at times r'equire•members to .work under
a strange type of pressure• that lingers
between fear of making a bad decision.
and appearing tQ bowto politics.'`
The pressure. is" at times undefinable,
causing members ofthe committees to
wonder why they feel uneasy. They sit in
meetings weighing information and
statistics ' placed before ,thein ,
calculating .the ,prgs ,and. ,cons: of
situations and attempting to make the '
right decisions with tlte; good of the...
community in m'ind
Some dec'sions are cut and dry, he
- members unanimously agree that the.
town doesn't need to be part and parcel
of the subject ,before them.
Eut.._;ntller deci,5iens,, Appear pe, _the
surface to be good moves•and, committee
members are 'interested, in they
— involved. But want to -be sure they know ' Y
what they're getting and what they're
getting into. '
.,r
GORERICHSIQNAT..WAR' Trir gflA , A ITO/ Tern 12,1976-•PAgE,5
Planning board is,. saddled- with thecommerce and recreation caused' •
chore of being watchdog over the growth members to wonder what they should do.
of the town: It -accepts a share of the ,Tom Jasper said that the board's
responsibility for ensuring that Goderich approval in ,principle did'not
has a smooth growth pattern thatmakes. green, light to'do what he pleased -in his
hest use of land available;` provides project. It inerely supported it, Jasper
adequate blendis'of com.meroe, industry said; leaving the board witfi.the power to '
and housing and,does not burden present ensure . that the 'project -met with the
taxpayers' in town by allowing expansion wishes of the -town. " ' '
of" the town that cannot be serviced • Ken McGee suggested that planning
resulting in the town fathers having to board• Should not hesitate in -making
dip '• into tax reserves to provide sewage, decision• sincer Mr. ,Sovie's.. waterfront. •
water, lightingandroads;: facilities are vital to•his business and in.
• The s.ituatien began to develop with a ' ,the interest,' of the man's livelihoo
d the
decision regarding the closing of a very - , Matter should be expedited, •
short segment of Mary-Street'to'im rove• T resin as `to grant°' the -
p he t w support
the road pattern, remove -an RYesore and . Mr.. Sovie sought, with -the intention of
•prom.otegenre, effective: _ is of taking a.c1o$er look at his propasal`when
residential and commercial property.. ,' it wasnearing reality. •
The st''eet bisects 'the rear or. The final decision.. was Dole regarding a
Strickland Motors and is never used as a zoning change requested ,by a„ Paul
travelled portion. , It leaves a cement Zubrick of Orangetown Investments:
barnlike stroc ure-perched in'theriiiddie`" "1Vlx 'ZubTi%`k{i„L'' Vested= z -change
ch'a'r•
of nowhere and prevents`q n d
'use of the land • on. a lots fronting on � Bennett Street and' .
for much or anything” • siding on Martha Street which. is •an
Planning board'.urged council to close undeveloped road in a subdivision plan
the 'short street end, about' I00 feet, re is ered on the property. The lot is a
a - also-wi-ng-a.r-e.'sidentiaslot-to-be-de,'eloped-_- .tone's -throw fro.riz the lot createdlzy_the_`
T -he resultlis-a••hesitanee=in-ri#a-ki-n•g-a
and giving some of the land to Strickland , closing of Mary Street. • •
decision: The hesitance is -not due to a •
lack of confidence in their abilities but "a
genuine concern for• the good' of the •
community. ,
The Goderich area planning board was •
caught' in one of those all -for -one or one- •
for -all' situations at - their fast .meeting.-
The reason for the problem was due
mostly to the agenda; Decisions made
earlier in the meeting had -an-:obvious
effect' on decisions to be made later and
the result left some members_ tern-
porarily lost for words.
and some to a property owner to do so. Mr. Zubrick requested the zoning •
•.Council immediately changedt'he zoning ,,,,;change"in late Marchand in a letter-tq
of the lot to residential to permit a house planning board said that he realized that -
to be put on it as part of a package deal.. thematter took: time, but asked if five :
Another decision 'concerned : the " months wasn't a little too much time..
board's-- opinion on the ' expansion of The lot is in . a subdivision that pla+h-
Sovie's Fisherieson the waterfront. Jiro ning board wants no part of; the way it is '
Sovie met with the board ,to explain his now. Members are not opposed , to ,
proposal and to seek its approval.. developing the land -but the ownership ..
Confusion surrounding the proJect due to pattern of the .,land and the way it could
ownership of the land and : proPer ' be developed - if some of the ;own•
ers
planning of the waterfront with regard -to • wanted to build on their -land and some
didn't - could end'up costing the town a
fortune in services* _ against a.:annals
portion of tax dollars gained fromthenew units,
Planning board- proposed a deeming
bylaw for the area several months again
aneffort .to remove the subdivision plan,
Wit the Move backfired. The ,board failed
in its bid to eiricourage the owners to get
together and meet with the board to alter
the road pattern' 'of the: subdivision, to:
make it a little more 'viable to service,
and• to: try to-.• enoourage :cornple.te
development of the area in one stage..
Mr. Zu-brick's, request for. a zonin
,chap e _ -._ir g
g, , has- been delayed primarily:
because,.the board does not wish^.to •en-.
courage pieceineal" development of the
` area and so don't want the lots built on.
one.at a time over a number of years:
The hesitance came to a head at the.
'last meeting.. Elsa Haydon suggested
`-that 'perhaps- -the -lack of fire boarif'_ _
apparent desire' to not -change the zoning
could be construed as ',preferential
treatrnent -since other 'lots had- had,
zoning'. chasiges..done :on them `to allow
_.building and -the -board -felt compelled to
support Mr. Sovie's plans 'for the
waterfront. ° -
Charles Snell took exception to the•
suggestion, defiling to the best of his '
knowledge the planning boardha.d•never'
shown any. .preferential treatment to
anyone anyone 'in the seven year association he
has had with the board.
Mayor Deb Shewfelt pointed out that_
the board had just approved a zoning
Changeon a. lot very close .to Mr.
Zubrick's property - *under the same
servicing circumstances.' The ehange
-
permittedconstruction of a residence on'
/an. unserviced Iot and -although the
reasoning behind the: change may have
been different, the fact. remained -that
the:change had been made.
° The, result caught planning board with.
• egg on its face. After some "but, but,
buts" by members Mayor Shewfelt
suggested that maybe an irinpast'charge
should be 'levied "on the gruperty, the
money to be. used Tor sewer installation
when a greater: need was'there, He said -
. the' move would insure development ,of
the. lot. if a zoning change was requested •
an=d would allow- the town to install the a
needed service's, when the area, was'
better developed.
Dave Gower added. that perhaps the
town, should •be requested to
deterinnine the costs • of installing the
sewers needed to service the property
—And to.- Brea k;... th o se :casts ;.:do ff
averaging -them ,over the number' of•iots -
:;to determine- the charge. The ::board
accepted that theory and intends to • •
recommend to council that the charge be
levied.• "
The decision, although •'not exactly
what planning board wanted .ideally,
seemed to -remove a burden from the-
members' minds. Plagued by a desire to -
serve the" community in a fair manner
and still Permit development of the -",:
town in both large, and small projects,
the board- was in a quandry about what
to do with the undeveloped land on
Bennett Street. ;
Although they took the roundabout
route, members seem to have - found a .
way to do what they feel is best.
•
:Second Chalk' River "incident" retold by biologist dt BeitStij.10t
• . ' •. N ,
This week, Don McKee of Benmiller this reactor began to rise inexplicably.. "Soiree 24 hours later the attempt was end of • the. extraction-
'sends along what he calls Canadian"... The automatic controls then' shut the repeated Usinga larger .extra p tube p it was
g . coon tube... slowly moved towards: the: spent fuel .•
Nuclear Experience - Episode, Two: This reactor town.` The control room was at a When the .defectikre rod had been par- storage area.•in this process observers
. incident; according, to Mr, McKee,_oc- _ : loss to know why, when attempts to staet tially withdrawn" from the reactor it waswere horrified .to see
curred some six years ; after the Chalk the reactor. un: again, resulted in an . ; . realized that theatwelve inch •
" Rv<e� inedettt ' ... .. _ ,_7.-7'7,-.77.77'...-7.77-: ..:�.�. . --- _:= •, :-- ; :. • . -� cool -a -tit � had drained � � length of the•fuel rod dro out of the,
automatre •control slhut -own and-th- =-= :a�yv077—t•h-ezarii p°reeoufse:4aigo: . _' Te . ;extraet-i .n .
``I' think 'your readers should know sounding of several alarm . systems,. "� Te YT1S he b tkin p -f ie1 rod-avas�b;-�-•
the defective fuel rod tile's%'"'•irit`ZY^'Athe . viously breaking up, -
about these affairs if only to dispel the 'operators were forced to 'the conclusion. reactor. In attempting to -do this .it • '`The molten uranium on the floor w�"r-
illusion tnat nuclear power is, clean and •
; th_ _t_ _ _ th_ _ g �tias_wrong. .
safe, 'especialt the; CANDU s stem,"dammed• dazing, fillnthe_luildmgwith dead3y
Y The heavy water moderator, in the : ^"The fuel rod' -'was now without : radio -active- gasses:`• The radio-activit
says. Mr week,aMcKee, a biologist. reactor showed- above normal: radio- coolant; and heating up rapidly to. the, was so `hot' in some' arts of the g
Next according to a cKee, activity, and this suggestedp building
one or more point -where'it would ignite: The only that it sent meters over the top of their ..,-
he will "conclude -this ser . s ' s ding damaged ..fuel rods. It was decided to. action possible . was to pull it into'the 1,000 rad s,cale.'(,a, brief exposure tow along a brief.outline of of own `attempt to locate and remove;su'ch rods, uncooled extraction tube; with•• anything over, 500 rads is generally
major nuclear mishaps in both t'e US - "The removal of fuel rods required the emergency crew dressed in masks and: considered lethalao adults}
--
and abroad. use of a special overhead crane which protective suits ready to ;cool it "with, • "Crews- wearing protective suits
and
The 'following is the report submitted pulled the rod out of the reactor core into water hoses respirators, g handled tools
by Mr -.'McKee: '' a special extractio ;tube with cooling using long
g "At. this' point. a new problem arose.; doused the falining.uranium with sand.
- • .h..:.. , + .. "___ system,_ This was a delicate operation as Because the extraction tube lacked the...
"Some six `years after the.near `hot' fuel rods could burst into flames if essential
disaster with the .CANDU system NRX'left :un cooled for -shortperiods of time coolant a safety switch had
deactivated the cranes mechanism: The
reactor at Chalk River, Ontario, trouble and of course were highly radio -active. • jammed rod could neither be extracted
was being experienced with the fuel rods . "One defective fuel rod was identified or -cooled. Using a :wire to "um' the
in the NRU reactor, another CANDU .and successfully extracted. The second ` p
proto-type reactor. Fusion- products • defective rod had become too swollen
were, building up in the reactor core and and warped to enter; the extraction tube.
the instruments becoming unreliable. Attempts to withdraw it had .to . be
"On Friday, May 28th, heat output of abandoned. i -•
-
•
tudents make a clean
A group of 33 young people
from.- the Maitland. River
watershed - have - been
reportbd travelling in- gangs
of seven leaving clean parks
and riverbanks in their wake..
The gangs,- operating under
Valley Conservation
Authority -and •a grant from
the Ontario Youth
Secretariat,'. -answer-• tp the
. name SWEEP. The. SWEEP
banks along Salt Mine Road.
SWEEP is a province wide
project funded by the Ontario
Youth Secretariat through
Experience • '76.'
team was in Goderich Friday, Approximately 38 Authorities -
in answerto..a.: municipal across :the Province employ:
the auspices of the Maitland request, 'cleaning ' the steep 7800 secondary anfl1 post
, at A IN S L I E MARKET where Quality is a Tradition,
KING: OFTHE -ROAST....._
PRIME .1 RIB ROAST
LB.
•
Plftestet: mart—sHo,
PORK ..:
(HOFS ,..1
1.8
.FRESH LEAN.
GROUND
CHIJ(K ..
FREEZER SPECIAL
QTR'S BEEF
(15.18 STEAKS)
A.I.anmetedereetelleblitn
STEER
HDt•
BAR. -B -Q
CHICKENS$ ••.
.9 5 EACH
' LIMITED
CALL 574-8551
Nome Dressed Inspected Meats at Wholesale Prices
s-afety switch, the crape was again' '
A' operational: .
`After . extraction water - was poured
over the now red hot fuel rod. Hot highly
radio -active water cascaded out of the
secondary students in the
program. The Ministry. of
Natural Resources also
participates in the program.
TheeMVCA has 33 stridents
"It-ItsSWEEP staff that are
divided into. seven crews,
'working- in four areas. The
crews are responsible for any
developmental work in ,their
area plus municipal requests
and river=bank • and park
cleanup. r -
The : seven . crews are
assigned to four different
areas With one `at Falls
They could only be exposed to this level
Of. radiation for •,a: brief number .of.
"seconds when a replacement crew took
over. The sand.a'nd uranium was loaded
into a trailer truck. Every road it was to
travel to the disposal,area was cleared of
traffic and persons. With its tiny load of
'hest' fuel. the truck. was driven slowly to
the disposal-area,amile away.
"After the truck:•had passed, the road
in area county
Reserve Conservation A,rea, .
one in- Brussels,. two' at West.'
Wawanosh Conservation
'Area • and -two , -in the"
Galbraith -Listowel area. The
Work periods, .are staggered
with post -secondary students
working ..13 weeks and
secondary students ,. seven,
weeks. Supervisory personnel
in charge of establishing
program • itinerary work an
additional week.
"T=he, work projects for the
summer are set up in March
and sgbmissions are.
requested from 'watershed
towns for passible municipal
work projects- to be un-
dertaken . • by the . SWEEP.
crew. Monthly and summer
end reports are submitted to,
the Ministry- by the super-
visory personnel. '•
Close to 100 applicants were
interviewed. for the 33
positions .available on . the
project and,senior supervisor
of the program,' Rob 'Keip,
said that although the wage
was: not much of a drawing
card the outdoor work was
was monitored for radiation' and it was
considered advisable to hose down the.
road and..stretches, that gave high
,readings were dugopand buried.
-`The ....clean up . job :was ..long and "
halaa�•-dou-s:� `I~li��vlaale:buildin=g`ha�i-to:..be.::-_:-•.:.
repeatedly scrubbed and flushed. After a '
week' the personnel :at -Chalk River, .
including volunteers from the offide etc,.
• had picked - up all the radiation they
could be asked to. tolerate and the
government had to send in volunteers
from =the armed forces to complete the -
job. _ ,
•• "Three months after this accident;
• levels of .radiation had been reduced=to
levels':'reasonably safe' 1evels'• '
:"It is sobering to .realize that this
situation had been caused. by a fraction
of a single' 'hot' fuel .rod; - Reactors. •
contain a.thousand or more such rods..
"'While there were :no apparent in-•
juries to persons involved in- this ac-
cident, it, must be ,involved
that the
effects of exposure to radiation may take,
up to fifty years to show up in the form of
genetic defects, various types of cancer
etC. etc.''' .
side
enticing to the students.
The successful candidates';:
we're given a . one -day
orientation program by the
MVCA prior to their'starting
date. Kelp estimated. that in
excess of. 926 percent .of the
students were from the,
Maitland River watershed
area. - •
The cre' s -still have,
A,ethority work and• several
municipal projects to .-cam-
plete before the programs
termination "date, of . August
20: -
• E
i•011 SWE •
l�
r
crew, ew,me ri
eers were
1nG acyl hlast week prb
gr ni funded 'by tie.
Onto io 'Y
Doth Secre
lariat. The
cleanirg,up the banks along Salt Mine .,.
Road at the reque"st. ,members of this crew include John Hak, Irene Wubs, Beth
of the nitNicipality. This year's 33 students' are working , Chowenan tMarilyn Wise. (staff•photo) '.:� •
with the Maitland Valley Con'serrvatlon Authority on the,. •
EAR EDITOR.
(continued from page 4)_
wrong to call this censorship
and• completely un-..
-.democratic? What's next?
U.S. television. Why net?.
Who is to blame?- I :am to •
blame, because I am a typical'
Canadian.' I believed my
government was tuned to the •
"Majority's'' feelings and
beliefs. Instead of this I find
that they are so busy greasing
the squeaky wheel they forget
the quiet "Majority".
Our only hope is for that
"Quiet Majority"•to become a
•'`Squeaky Majority We
must openlyand publicly
discuss our views and
teelings. They are busy
people and'',will not .un-
derstand unless we spellat out
for them: :
If we ' allow, the "Cen-
sorship"' of U.S.: radio and, or
U.S. television from our
hones we should be ashamed
ourselves:
We are being treated `like -.
babies. I don't like being
treated that way: How about
you?
Ron McIntosh Jr.
Get ft : off
yot r ,ehe:$t!
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