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HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Goderich Signal-Star, 1976-12-02, Page 30PAGE 18A--GODERICHSIGNAL-STAR, THURSDAY, DECEMBER 2, 1976 DON WJIEELER Goderich Build -All What special abilities would you bring to the council table?" I could answer the question better if it had read, "What experience andtraining do you have thatyou feel will assist ypu in carrying out the • responsibilities of a con cilor?" To that I would say that I have had Armed • Forces, University training' and practical experience in the fields of Administration, Economics, Accounting, Public Relations and Technical and personnel supervision. I have had ex- _ 'perience and training in the operations of all levels of government, Federal, Provincial and Municipal.I have 'some municipal ex- perience, here in Goderich, as a member of the Goderich Area `Housing Action Com- mittee, and previously as the Mayor of. an Armed Forces Community, ' Mont Apica, Quebec. Apart from the above all I can really offer is the` determination to carry out the responsibilities of a councilor to the -very best of my ability. Do you as a candidate,feel you have the time necessary to attend all meetingsof council and its committees and to be . in attendance during the whole of those meetings? A definite Yes.. I believe that it is essential to attend all meetings of' council, and any committee or board to which one is assigned. The member should also try to be in at- tendance during the whole of those meetings 'to ensure continuity.. I . realize there may be times when the above .is impossible, however it. -should •be ones aim to 'con- ' form--wi-t i. -the--above. I have missed only one meeting of the Housing action committee ., since my appointment to that committee and this was due to conditions beyopd my control.,.•. „ -""• • dormer mayor of armed fortes community in Quebec:. where to cut budgets would be determined by the needs and priorities at .budget time. Needless to say allsuper- fluous expenditures should be cut and the townshould en- sure that it co-ordinates its major expenditures so that they are integrated into Federal and Provincial programs so as, to take ad- vantage of all subsidies and grants available, Do you feel that the Ministry of Transports recommended redesign of Highway 21 through Goderich is the best possible solution? I have• looked at the other solutions, ie, By Pass, cut off and extending. the road straight through. All these alternatives' xcept a By Pass would cost considerably more. and the By Pass 'would 'not solve the problem insofar as it exists due to local trafflc.It comes down to whether there - is a need to do something about the problem or not. The survey of two years ago in- dicated that there.was.indeed a bottle neck at Britannia Road. but caused largely by through traffic, however with the • opening of the- Mall and the ever expansion of the industrial park the problem is being caused more and more by local -traffic. A solution is needed and up to the present the redesign seems to be the best and most economical. The Mayor's .inaugural address promised Suncoast Drive would be paved during the 75-76 . term. This has not been done. The Inaugural address also said the main priority .for the . 75-76 term would be road improvement. Do you think this promise has been fulfilled? Where does road improvement' stand in order of priorities for, the new term? . Except for Suncoast, road improvement has been given priority and should continue 'to be given a high priority. As for•Suncoast I understand the problem was that. the street had not been accepted by the Council 'by by-law and therefore was not eligible for subsidyk. This is either being remedied or is now remedied and since Suncoast is still on the planned estimates forthe • If expenditures had to be, cut during the coming term, where would you economize? Harbor, Airport, Parks, Works and Engineering, or other areas? It is difficult to arbitrarily pick one area and say I'd cut back -there. Each budget has to be examined individually to determine if economies . can be made: Smaller budgets like Parks, Airport and Harbor are only a small part (percentage) of • the whole budget so savings in these' areas would do little to cut down the overall budget. , My approach to the _question of economies ....and. 1 LARGEST STOCK IN THE COUNTY WORK BOOTS —Industrial Farm —•• Factory. Plain or safety toe PUNCTURE PROOF SOLES 142 The Square Goderich,. Ont. • next five years it will probably be done. However I understand Suncoast will be building on the opposite side of the road in 77 and until this phase is completed it would be foolish to pave the road only to have it broken down by heavy trucks and machinery. As stated any municipality should have street maintenance as one of its highest priorities, however these construction and repair, programs should be planned to take advantage of such programs as NIP etc so we get the most , out of the municipal dollar.- At ollar.- At present assessment in Goderich stand at about 60 percent residential and 40 percent commercial. Ideally this shou)d be reversed. How can this be achieved. Fortunately or un: frortunately, depending on •your point of 'view; Goderich is a residential centre. In single unit dwellings we exceed the provincial' average by over 15 percent. We also exceed the provincial average .by more than 12 percent ' in the number of retired and senior citizens. For these reasons our residential stock and therefore assessment, is greater than our commercial assessment. The only way to change this would be to have a dramatic increase in industrial development over a .short period. Personally I don't thank this is desirable. I think steady planned growth is far better than explosive growth.. When explosive growth takes -place both community planning ' and 'quality of life. seem to suffer. Some of communities to the north will probably attest to this. So : with planned development we would not be able to over- come the, assessment problem in the short term so its something we will just have to live with. In . what terms do you see. Goderich 20 years from now? How during the upcoming term can the new .council prepare for the future in. terms oflong range financial planning, servicing, tram sportation, land acquisition, etc? I would like to see the town grow steadily to about 10,000 to 12,000 in the next 20 years.' As implied before I really believe in planned rather than explosive growth and it is therefore the responsibility of councils, new or old, to be continually preparing for the future. An updated forecast' should be requested from the planning . departrnents and ,the steps necessary to meet the forecast planned for. Short rangeplans should 'of necessity be the most detailed with longer range plans allowing, for change, Help in planning is available from all the senior levels of govern- ment..Possi"bly a 5*year, 10 year --and 20 year plan covering your points would be feasible, • Do you, feel public par- ticipation is desirable? If so what wouldyou do to increase public . participation in the affairs of the municipality? I think public participation is not only desirable but essential. Part of my cam- paign is designed to promote more public participation in the affairs of the community. I would also like to see more women on the more im- portant Boards and Com- '' mittees. Apart from Coun- cilor Haydon the only com- mittees with female representdtion are Day Care and The Rec Board. This is a poor show 'as far as I'm concerned. • F'emale representation on Housing Action, Planning Board: etc would 'not only be desirable but also prudent. • Can citizens • fully and ac- curately, understand ,,,the' dealings of council through -the local press? Yes and No. The Goderich Press and the London Press give what I feel is first rate. coverage '`to municipal af- fairs. By. reading thepaper one can know what is going on, however to fully gun- derstand what the problems are, why they, were saved in a particular way, takes a little more involvement. I•. wouldn't want to make it a three ringed circus but I do' think . more people should The electrical rush hour -5 to 7 p.m. Try to avoid it `During the winter months, the, rushplhour for electricity is between 5 and 7 pm. That's when more lights are turned on: the heat is turned up, meals are cooked; radios and TV sets come on. These all add up :to. create the rush hour for electricity. Your Hydro' has toupply the • power to meet this extra demand. And the higher the demand, the more facilities are needed... more transmission Tines, trans- formers, generating units... -all Of ,course, you can't' turn everything off at this time,"but there are some things you can do. Try,not to use the clothes. washer, dryer, dishwasher and, other big appliances during rush hour. Don't turn on TV, until you are ready to watch it. Take baths or -showers later in the evening, • or first thing in the morning. If- enough of us use Tess electricity during the rush ,hour,' it will help to conserve valuable resources, acid to keep costs down contributing to the Cost of power. Anything you can do to avoid the rush hour will lighten the load. While not wanting to redu a the spirit of Christmas, Goderich Public Utilities points out the need to moderate the sitef.the Ijghting display as part of its conservation program. It has also adopted the slogan of "Off until 7 p.m. and off again at bedtime" regarding indoor and'outdoor lighting displays for homes, stores and offices. • ••-•09-1)E.RICH• your hydro attend and observe council sessions to see how the affairs of ,their community are handled, In some cases it could be a real eye opener; I also feel that anyone making a presentation should have a copy for the press,I'm sure it helps you and makes your job a little easier. What motivates you to seek election ' to Goderich Town Council? "`' Mymotives go along with your•question 8. I believe that people should participate in the affairs of their conl- munity and I feel with my background I can make a constructive andpositive contribution to the com- munity as a council member. Candidates speak o (continued • from page IA) upgrading roads and sewers in.the north east portion of the town pointing out that by upgrading ' the facilities through NIP the town would be getting half the costs paid by the federal and provincial governments. "If you can get a 50 cent , dollar for roads you're going to build anyway, you grab it," he said. If the town becomes in- volved in NIP it may pay half the costs for upgrading the roads and sewers in the area bounded by Victoria Street and Huron Road and the river bank. The one problem plaguing council is. whether or not the town has the inoney..> to pay, its half of the costs. Mr. Harrison saidto the Lions that other communities are taking advantage of NIP money and - asked why Goderich shouldn't. "It's my idea of a good -deal," he said.. COUNCIL WANTS TO `CREATE. JOBS Elsa Haydon . told the service club she had no.. in - Also, and this may soundold fashioned and corny, I believe in Service, I served my country in the Ak'med:Forces, ^- I belong to a service organization and I feel as a member of Town Council I wilt have the rare opportunity, to be of further service to our community. Even if ,not elected ,I will offer my er- vices to carry out any task the town may want to have me do. I realize • the answers to your questions are not nearly' as complete as I or you would have like them, if you_ want me to expand en q,nypoint I" would be most w=illing to do so. Thank you for this op- portunity to express some of my opinions. Ut ...f• tention of commenting on the Borg-Warner motion that came before council, but felt that the ` two candidates • preceding her prompted her to touch on the subject. She said that it would be very simple minded to assume that anyone voting against the motion council had belfore, them ate -their Thursday af- ternoon meeting was voting against jobs. She backed her comment by '•adding that council voted in favor of a motion, stating its intent to make the Borg-Warner agreement beneficial • to 'all parties. Council passed a motion to meet with representatives of the 'company, the -town and the ministry of the environment to discuss all facts of the argument. . - • ' "People who voted for the. first motion today simply didn't know what theyy were talking about," said Mrs. Haydon. • She steered away from• issues raised by. the can - (continued on page 23A) MAP OF THE TOWN OF z 0 CODE R ICH ONTARIO •e. NOTICE -OF POLL Notice is hereby given to the Municipal Electors of the Town of Goderich in the County.•of Huron that whereas more candidates•'have been nominated to each of the following offices. than the number required to fill such offices, therefore polls will be held at the times and places stated in this notice for the purpose of electing the holders, if such offices. . OFFICE(S) FOR WHICH POLL TQ BE HELD: • Deputy Reeve • Councillors. • Goderich Public Utilities Commission. • • Huron. and Perth Counties Combined Catholic Separate School Zone Board. • Separate school elector for the Huron County Board of Education ADVANCE POLLS: Date: Saturday November 27Th, 1976 Location: Municipal office 57 West Street fs REGULAR POLLS: Date: Monday, December 6th, 1976 POLLING SUBDIVISION LOCATIONS No. 1 No. 2 No. 3 No. 4 No. 14 No. 5 No. 6 Na. 7 No. 8 No. 9 No. 10 No. 11 No. 12 No. 13 No. 15 57 Picton St. E. 148 Britannia Rd. E. 92 St. David Street 174 Regent Street 47 Raglan St. E. 10 Nelson St. E. 171 Brock Street 115 Victoria St. N. 225 Cambria Rd. N: 97 St. Patrick St. 57 West Street 56 Wellesley Street 187 Britannia Rd. W. 107 Britannia Rd. W. 187 Blake St. W. All polls will be open from 11 o'clock a.m. until 8 o'clock p.m. and no longer. . PROXY APPLICATIONS A person who has been appointed a voting proxy may apply to. the clerk not later than 5 o'clock in the afternoon. of Tuesday, November 30th, 1976 to receive a certificate to vote by proxy. Given under my hand this 17th day of November 1976 J. Harold Walls Returning Officer aax RRc11.9y_ . `Sky Harbour I milt Klncard int 33 miles TOWN LIMIT • Oowrose S ALT FOR0 • H u•A 51 TOWN O • •