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HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Goderich Signal-Star, 1976-11-25, Page 7MIL d• . e4 Two per cent of Goderich voters In an effort to get an indication of just how concerned Goderich residents are about local municipal government, how • much they knew about it and what areas are most important to them, the Signal- Star/conducted a _random„ telephone survey .on.Mo nday. A sampling of 100 local residents was contactecJ Each of the four editorial staff embers was given approximately one qmuarter of the phone book and was asked to select 25 numbers at random. . Those -contacted were asked if they could identify the present mayor; if they could name the members of the 1975-76 town council; if they had ever attended a council meeting; and what to them` as voters, were the important issues at stake in this election. ' Althougha few of the responses were unusual, a few even startling, the survey produced no surprises. Of: the 100 asked to name the mayor, 81 identified Mayor Deb Shewfelt, 15 did not know who the mayor was -and four refused to answer. One of those who did not know suggested that Reeve Stan Profit was the mayor. . When asked if they could name all the members ,,cif council, only two persons contacted ` were successful. Another 94. people named from one to six members of the present council. members and four refused to respond. • Trends•pointing to seniors' uflit:, - The complex planned for, ministry survey was a Goderich to provide low rental senior citizen ac-,• commodation will alleviate several problems in Goderich housing brought -on by the high number of elderly people and the low.nuniber of rental unitsavailable in town. Figures _ compiled by the Ontario Ministry of Housing when surveying the needs of senior citizens • here demonstrate a ' housing pattern that strays from the provincial averages. The minis statistics for Ontario .'sho that about 63 per cent of, a housing .in a. community • owner occupied leaving the •. remainder open for -rental accommodation. In Goderich, and Goderich and Colborne townships about 90 per cent of the housing units are owner occupied and that figure is reduced slightly in Goderich where about 75 per cent of the homesare owner occupied Goderich' is also unique from the province in its population trend. According to recent census figures about 20 per cent of the people in Goderich are 60 years of age or older. •That.,figure• is. not getting smaller but is in- creasing, and over .the past five years has increased ina manner parallel, to the in: crease in. population of the town. In. 1970 there were 1,331 people in Goderich 60 or over and in 1975 there were 1,532: The neighboring townships -are very similar in their population trends:" Goderich township- has about a •10 per cent population over 60 and Colborne : about .15. per cent. Both municipalities are: in- cluded in the ministry needs survey since both are sharing the .responsibilities of the senior's complex. with the _town of Goderich. The net • result of the • Boy Scouts, . took. place this T w o s week.. Anyone ;who may have eek ° been missed, or 'who would recommendation that the town be ; provided with a government. rent geared to income senior citizen's builds The ministry looked at th ousing :trends in : the area and realized that 'it would be impossible to come up with enough ac- commodation to .meet the needs of the area and were left with no alternative but to build a new complex. They predicted a future need in the town and town- ships andcombined it with their present figures and . suggested a 40 unit building. The Goderich. Area Housing Action , committee had pressed for a 60 unit building and after considerable discussion . the two parties agreed to a 50 unit project. The project wil mean immediate savings for the elderly who . now pay an average of $190 to $200 per monthfor housing rental in Goderich. That figure varies sharply according to the type of unit rented butthe ministry officials feel that .isan ac- curate average for the town: They also project that the bulk of the,,.seniors moving into the new units' Will save over $20 per month on housing costs. Jubilee Three invitations. still -• available• Residents of Goderich should, by this,,tirne, have.. received' copies ofinvitations from the . Goderich Jubilee Three Committee for mailing to friends and relatives with their Christmas cards. Distribution, through the volunteer support of the local :school. post In the \past Huron County separate school supporters have electeil•,one represen- tative to the Duron County Board of Education . but redistribution, has created a secfond seat. and •that has "resulted in a contest for the north region. During, the .past • term 'Charles Rau represented all separate school supporters and has been returned to a seat by acclamation as the representative of Huron South., Highway numper eight serving as the boundary line. In the north, two candidates have come forward seeking the new seat. They are'Oscar Kieffer of Wingham and. Eugene • Frayne of Kingsbridge. . like additional invitations, can pick them up at the Royal Bank, the . Liquor Control Board outlet, the Toronto Dominion Bank and Worsen Brothers There were a few imaginative, though incorrect, answers to the questa According to the survey, Leroy Keller is a member -of council. There were two. votes for "Sheardown", Jack Grace, Bruce Ryan, 'Dorothy Wallace, two for Eileen Palmer.,. one.. for• "Taylor" and' one person who suggested "two lady members" but couldn't come up with any names. Of. those' attempting to answer that question, 38 named Elsa Haydon; .23 named Dave Gower; 21 named Jim . Peters and Bob. Allen; 18 named Leroy- ` Harrison and Frank Waikom; 17 named Stan Profit; and 14 named Bill Clifford. now their Of the IQpersons contacted only six p11, had ever attended a town council meeting at any time in their lives; 90 admitted having never attended 'a meeting; and four refused to answer. The question, "For you, what is the. most important issue in Goderich?" brought a wide range of answers. Sixteen per cent of those contacted mentioned concern about. the arena, - pushing that subject to, the to of the list of concerns held by the electors. The question of industry and jobs placed second with 10 per cent naming that area as being of major interest to them. Seven per cent of the voters contn.cted mentioned high taxes, seven., per cent said they were concerned about the overall municipal financial situation and seven per cent Said .roads were of con- cern to them. - Recreational issues combined drew comment from five per cent of those contacted. Among the items mentioned were .the need for an -indoor swimming pool,. a lack of youth' activities, general recreation facilities and programs and.a suggestion that the town build outdoor rinks to make up for lost ice tithe at the Goderich Memorial Arena. The need for senior citizens housing and general `council, competence" each drew a four per ,cent response to the question about important issues for Goderich: •. Twe- per cent 'of those responding expressed interest or corcerrr in the • areas of development, . • low rental housing and the lack of crosswalks while •another two, percent admitted that they were poorly. informed; The;followingg topics were named as concerns by one per, cent of the: °poll sampling!. Loaf burning, the race track, day care, the. animal control officer, harbor problems, parking, high pay for :�:,• town councillors, sidewalks, overall upkeep of the town and.a suggestion that the size of council be reduced, were all, mentioned during the survey, 129 YEAR -48 THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 25, 19'76 SINGLE COPY 25c Fund raisers neer goal for arena roo The Goderich Memorial quit," said Mr. Cavanaugh. • Arena Roof fund got its "We owe something to the second wind last week and is 1,400. pmpl.e who either now only $27,.000 awayfrom,___ worked for the fund or its goal. A special meeting of donated to it." fund raisers called Wed- Larry Jeffrey said he was nesday night by committee aware of the apparent apathy chairmen Doug Fisher and in Goderich over the arena Chris Cavanaugh resulted in situation . and that he.was announcements of about aware of the criticism. Mr: $17,.000 in • donations- not . Jeffery said two weeks ago he previously recorded and in was up in arms over t' the striking of a proposal with reaction to the celebrit' the Goderich Lions Club that dinner planned for the fund could turn over an added ' raising. He said only 110 $12,000: tickets had been sold for the The: two fund raisingevent. which was an 'em - chairmen -called the meeting barassing situation for both. in,„an effort to either inject the town and the dinner new blood into the drive or organizers. turn it over to someone else. Mr. ' Cavanaugh told the Mr. Jeffrey said the meeting at the outset that he . organizers had arranged for had devoted about as much speakers for the dinner, all of time as he couldafford to the thembusywell knownmen in project adding • he really the sports world, and: had couldn't devote added -time to arranged for them all to come:,•, 'any extensive : means of to Goderich for the dinner,;for raising money. nothing. 'He said the speakers "I don't have time for any were not even getting paid for song and dance schemes," he the gas they would. use to said. •"If we set a date we drive to Goderich and it intend to meet for completion looked like there would be ofthe drive then we will meet . only 110 people out to hear - it or someone else can head what they had to say. up the effort." • He added, however., that The chairman said he felt • recent efforts byorganizers the fund raising had stalled • resulted in a selout for the and added he and Mr. Fisher dinner, an ' effort he felt were„looking carefully at the should • not have had to be reasons 'for the. stall. He said: done. ' •he felt perhaps the chairmen mit, "If people praised, the ef- were responsible, basing the lorts of workers rather than theory on, cornfnents he had ' knocked them we would have heard concerning the a tremendous response,” said methods • used to raise the ° Mr. Jeffrey.. money, . He said he had received plenty of advice both good and bad, from people in town and had decided hewould resign as chairman to let someone else with "fresh ideas and fresh blood" pick up theball and run. "We didn't want to just Ne w PEOPLE ANGRY He said he felt ,any more door-to-door canvassing would be a waste,of time. He said people just seemed. to be angry about the arena closing and were taking out their anger on the first person they flag to be dedicated The Jubilee Three organizing com- .mittee has announced final plans' on Wednesday for the dedication of the new Goderich Town Flag. A. ceremony of about one half hour is planned on December 1 at 1 p.m. in front of the Town Hall on West Street. At that time the new flag will be officially ",presented to Mayor D.J. `Shewfelt by Jubilee Three Committee representative Judge F.G. Carter. . — The flag will also be presented to Goderich Royal Canadian Legion President Ed Tonks,by Malcolm Campbell of the Jubilee Committee. °i After a dedication by Rev. G.L. Royal the new flag will be raised by William Elliott. In programs prepared for -the event the Jubilee Three Committeee has reprinted a reflection by Henry 'Ward Beecher who noted, "A thoughtful mind, when it sees a community's flag, sees not the flag only, but the community itself; andwhatever maybe its symbols, its insignia, he reads chiefly in the flag the principles, the truths, the history which belongs to the community that sets it forth." saw that seemed to be con - netted with the project. sign that contract. He said the "They're mad at the town, 'at me, at Mike Dymond or they're- just mad that the arena is down," he said. He said he. felt • people wouldn't give to the fund under those conditions but if you gave them something in return they may donate: He added that the working man with the disposable income is not as sure of his job now as he was even a year .ago and feels he can't give money. Mr. Jeffrey said the result is that fund raisers seem to be hitting the same people over and over and those people seem to be merchants and service clubs. "They're flushed," said Mr. Jeffrey. He suggested one method of ,rinsing themoney may be to hold dances or Special events to give people something for their. donation. He also". suggested the town give the arena to the Lions .since they seem to be one of the major shareholders .and let them run it. • Bob Allen ,pointed out that the building committee has to put two signatures on the contract for the arena roof and must havVthe'money for the'roof pledged when they town has -to be assured of the money raised either through cash or through. pledges. "We have to ' 'have the money pledged to go to Wintario," - he said. "The people that make the pledges may never have • to honor them but we still have- to be assured of the money." Mr. Allen said the com- mittee had thought of suggesting to the Lions Club that" they pledge ' the ad- ditional $12,000 they were asked for if the town gives them the Young • Canada Week gate for several years. "No one told us that," said Lion spokesman Paul Schutz, "All that was done was a request sent tous for $12,000, pretty well telling uswhen to pay LIONS WANTED SPLIT Mr.,. Schutz said that for a number of years the. Lions -have asked for a different split on the gate from YCW and have been turned down. He said the club made no money on the tournament and last year it cost thein $1,100 to sponsor the week long affair. He said the ice charges for the week amounted to about $20 an hour, a price no one else in Goderich pays,. and that the club has a proposal in' from the Clinton arena which gives them ice at $15 per hour. He added that the club had abandoned the. arena for. their weekly bingo games because of the dirty con- ditions of the arena and planned to stay out- of the building until- they know it is clean. • ' "The club works for this .town and now finds it has to go to another town to sponsor a project and' they're just damn sick of it," said Mr.. Schutz. "That's why they turned down the $1$,000. The fund raising committee had earlier 'appealed to the Lions for an additional $12,000 • ' . (continued, on page 3) Santa Claus is coming The Goderich Santa Claus parade will consist of at least a dozen floats this year and will be kept in step by two marching bands. Recreation director Mike Dymond said Tuesday his office . had received a dozen confirmations • for parade floats adding the Friday deadline may result in a few more entries. The parade will also include the Goderich Laketown Band and a mar- ching •• band from Forest. The rec director said there may be a third band involved in the 'paradebut he hasn't received final word from the band - spokesman. i Majorettes from Goderich and Clinton will be :twirling their batons on December 4 when Santa Claus makes his first appearance here. coming into town'. as the grand finale of the parade. Santa will be holding court -at the Park Theatre during the same afternoon when he wilFbe listening to Christ/hag Wishes anal• giving out apples, oranges; candy canes and kisses. • . • ' Logan Construction', Company of Stratford have been. working on the reconstruction of the Goderich Memorial Arena since the beginning of November. Sections of block wall•have been removed and footings have been installed on Huron Pines bid lowest for airport electrical work the east side. Crews willprepare footings on the west side of the biillding and structural steel is expected to arrive early in January. (staff photo) Clifford "totally shocked" at tender prices The Goderich Airport Committee will make a recornmendatioirto domicil to accept a tender bid of $28,568 for elec- trical work at the airport by Huron Pines Construction Company of Clinton.. Three, tenders were received for the work to.upgrade the electrical system at the airport by: splitting the service and supplying power for a rotating beacon • and new runway and approach lights: • The other tender bids received were $32,637 from • Graham Electric. and $35,133 from Wayne Davidson Electric in Ripley. Committee chairman Bill Clifford informed committee members prior to the opening of the tenders that money for the project.would be financed by . a prepayment of $20,000 by the Rosney Corporation on their 25 year lease at the airport, „ Clifford had received an estimata from a contract prior t8 the releaseof the specification from the engineers that called for a 30,day completion date at a price of $17,000, He also noted that the contractor did not submita tender after the specifications were drawn. "1 am -totally shocked," he said. "We. have $20,000 to. spend and it was the intention of the committee to recom- mend a tender to council for their special meeting Thursday." "Dominion Roads has not been in- voiced for the $20,000 but we could ac- cept the tender and go into next year with a deficit but how much do we have to gain by doing it?' ,,Clifford asked. Clifford . added that the .contract contained no frills and simply asked for the minimum requirements to operate the. airport. He said the tenders ap- peared high but the committee would, be chastised if the work wasn't put to tender since it was the taxpayers' dollars. , , But protecting the revenuesthat could be realized at the airport he believed the tender price could be handled by their Millg et. "11 we accept the tender and council agrees, to it then there - is little we will be able to do at the airport next year but it is not likely we have to do too much,'.' he said. "We will have extra, income from rentals and projecting that we sell" 100,000 . gallons of gas -next. •year we ,should make $10,000 on fuel." Airport manager. Allen Ball reported that 100 octane fuel hasbeen received and that the 220 line has been installed on the turbo fuel system-.