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HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Goderich Signal-Star, 1976-12-02, Page 35Candidates speak out ,.... (continued from page 18A) didates for deputy -reeve choosing instead toreview her term as councillor, She said she had made an effort. during the two years to keep abreast of . the doings of council and to keep the voters aware of what was going on. She said she tried to keep everything council was doing out in the open but said she may have missed her ob- jectivf the results of the. Signal -Star telephone poll could be applied to the towr as a whole. "There is something wrong with me if so many people in town don't know what council, is doing," she,said. Joan Vanden Broeck isolated government in- volvement in recreation as an issue and cited the Goderich arena as an example. She said the 'province has become involved in recreation more and more over the past few years as is witnessed by the rapid development of , the Ministry of Culture and Recreation. She c•laimed that. provincial involvement has alienated groups' and organizations in communities and problems facing the arena issue in Goderich is evidence of that fact. PEOPLE NOT APATHETIC "The activities of service clubs in town are not ap- preciated," . she said. "I dispute the argument that. people in Goderich don't care." Mrs.' Vanden Broeck said that there are over 60 .groups and clubs In Goderich •and. that the only way community spirit here can be measured is through the efforts of those. clubs. She pointed out that the clubs, like the Lions, had come through with donations to the arena fund and were• not apathetic . in their response to the 'appeal from ' th town. She also_pointed out a' need for a strong urban plan for Goderich claiming .such a plan will be the key to the future of the town.. She said. such a plan would serve to assist council in making important decisions that will• affect the majority of people. in town. "With no plan the town -will flit from issue to issue until a point is reached where future decisions will be beyond our control," she warned. Ben Graham told the Lions he was concerned about the heavy taxes in Goderich and about a number of other issues about which he didn't want:to comment. He said he intended to present himself to the town on his own merits as an honest, sincere man and for those that chose to vote for him he would endeavour to serve. ''. QUALITY OF LIFE Dave Gower said he was very interested in the quality of life in Goderich in the future. He said council should be concerned about quality as opposed to quantity and should set its priorities to preserve a quality of life for , children here. ' • +. Mr. Gower said • decisions concerning the preservation • of green areas in, town, the erosion of the, lake and river banks, the non agricultural use of prime farm land, the Industrial Park Storm Sewer, the widening of Highway 21, Storm and sanitary sewers needed in Goderich, .the expansion of the Goderich sewage treatment plant; the revitalization of• the core area, a master plan for the town of Goderich, the public utilities commission giving away water Eo customers and' residentail taxes subsidizing industry, all had major effect on preserving the quality of life in Goderich. He said his involvement in those areas would be with that fact in ming. Stan Profit said he did not want to comment on some of the issues. brought forward. during the meeting and felt that bad tempershad been prevalent at the dramatic council meeting Thursday afternoon. He explained to the service club that he didn't have any fancy phrases or slogans in his campaign, adding he was leaving county politics for. personal reasons. He said his decision was based on time, time he no longer had to devote to county affairs. "I can afford the time for the.town," he said. CRITICS SHOULD ' PARTICIPATE Don. Wheeler'said he felt it was the duty of any critic to become involved in whatever he was criticising and. believed . that one should participate in order to' look for fault in something. He said it was very easy to sit back and pick council apart -if you're going to do anythingto correct problems; - He said he .looked on municipal representation as an' honor as a resident of ,Goderich :.. and_was looking forward to stepping up his involvement in municipal affairs. He pointed out that he had chaired the Goderich ,Area Ho.usi g Action com- mittee for two years and had been successful with that ;committee 'in bringing a senior citizens' complex to Goderich. He : said the ex- perience he picked up on that body would help, him to^work effectively on. council. Bob Allen was late for the candidates' night and told the Lions he was working with the Tri -Jubilee committee earlier in the evening. He said4 he felt the Lions were far too intelligent for him to tell them the 'do's• and don'ts of municipal politics adding he would continue to do his 'best for the,town•if he was elected to a second term on council. John Doherty, a candidate for town council, did not attend . .the candidate's . meeting. , �kPr,i BEAR PIT SESSION The .. meeting was then turned into a bearpit session at the conclusion of the candidates'. remarks and one of the first areas brought to ' the attention of the politicians Was the cost and benefits of Sky Harbor. Airport. One man complained that taxes in town were very high and the town was supporting an airport. Mr. Profit did say, however, that the :.Borg- Warner project would not benefit one industry only. He said that the- extension of Suncoast Drive to give the firm access. to their land would also reduce truck traffic. on Bayfield Road from . . the Industrial Park and would have some ,bearing on the Highway 21 widening project. "All those projects are so intertwined it's not funny," said Mr Profit • ' > that benefitted very few people and was more of a serviceto industry. _ Eileen .Palmer -replied that she felt the town was;putting too much into the airport and should sell. or lease the facility to Dominion Roads or the Benmiller Inn,' taking care that small aircraft using the airstrip are still protected and can use it. I)'ave Gower said he felt the airport had potentialbut felt he couldn't directly answer the question because . he couldn't assess .the real value of the facility nor predict what it • could bring to Goderich. Leroy Harrison pointed out that the town's projects, such as Sky Harbor, had very little affect; on the taxation in God.erich. He said taxes had risen by 60 mills in the past four years 'and 41 mills of that increase was due to education costs. "If you want to know why the taxes are up so much ask your trustees who are in office by acclamation," he said.Mayor Deb .•Shewfelt came under fire from one man who said he was very upset over the dealings 'with Borg-Warner. He said when his firm located in Goderich they paid their- own way and even had to raise the level of their land 10 feet, to prevent flooding of the facility. He said when• companies come looking for handouts they are not very good in- vestments and. should be turned away' if they are not willing to come here prepared to spend money. • He added that one of the worst things he had heard of was the town -paying out $740,000 for a sewer for Industrial Park when there are 200 homes in Goderich with septic tanks. Mayor Shewfelt said he did not know where the man got his information claiming he knew of about 20 homes in Goderich still on septic tanks. He said after eight years of getting angry calls for 'sewer service •he got to know who has a sewer and who hasn't. He: said he knew, the Industrial Park sewer was a big investment but the town se, far had not 'spent the money. He said the town was not spending everything it had on the park but ' was ,-T merely trying to keep every avenue open to vailow for future growth. The mavor said he felt Goderich w<is in a dangerous, position. He said there seemed to be a growth vacuum between populations of 7,500 and . 10,000 and- Goderich was in that vacuum. ' He'explained that over the. past 18- yars the population, here had only gone up 1,000 and: 'that the Industrial Commission had been working recently , trying to attract industry to, overcome that problem. The • com- ..mission had met with*quite a hit of objection, he added. MAYOR ACCUSED The mayor was then _ac- cused of being opposed to the Lions Club donation to the arena fund by virtue of his opposition to the deal between. •the club and the recreation board ,whereby the. town. board gives. the Lions 100 percent of the gate from Young Canada Week in return fora $14000 pledge to the arena building fund. . Mr. Shewfelt said his op- position had nothing to do with the Lions •or any other individual club but rather the continuous deficit the arena is operated under. He said One_ major criticism of the arena was its $30,000. deficit and the rec bbard had just managed to get that deficit down to about $7,000. The mayor said his theory always .was that the town' should bear the responsibility of providing an arena but.that the user should pay for its 'maintenance. He'said that by,. granting concessions •to the Lions Club the rec board is now open to all ,who..have given to the fund, asking what 'was in.it.for them. • He -said he felt the rec board 'had done its part in giving the Lions a fair share of the gate pointing out that the Last ones was 60 percent in favor of the service 'club. He said the roc - board may 'have been. receptive to a different •• arrangement but no' formal requesthad ever been made by the club despite several visitations to the board. The,mayoradded he felt the formula used to .work out ice costs was misleading. The' club he said, was not being GODERICH SIGNAL-STA12, THURSDAY, DECEMhi• charged 4,s0 an hour, but if the town's proceeds from its 40 percent of the gate was divided by the -number of hours the arena was used for YCW, it would appear it was costing $20 per hour. The mayor said he may have been wrong in his predictions- and the board may Dave made a good deal. He added however, that he felt , it would ' take a good strong committee to handle the situation and keep it in perspective. PROFIT UPSET Stan Profit interrupted .the, questioning of the .mayor, claiming he realized he was a guest at the,meeting but that he was getting angrier by the • second. He said .he was not having his abilities • as a councillor assessed, by having the mayor, who is' already elected, answering questions from .the•floor, • He said. he • was a little disappointed. 11y comments like "we givethat and. they only gave this". pointing out that organizations like senior soccer, whd'-as••a group will never use the arena, gave' to the fund. . "There should be no special privileges," said Mr. Profit, "but. special circumstances require special efforts.": Eileen Palmer told the club that what is done is done and if the town and the Lions wanted the arena rea•dy_.for. YCW, they should get behind the project and work at it. E.F:LECTIONS CHRISTMAS Pick out something very personal.. We have just the gift for him or her For Her MADE IN AUSTRIA PURE BOAR BRISTLE FOR LADIES OR MEN For Him 'For Her Charles Of The Ritz Night'nDay Beautifiers HYDRO—PROTECTIVE EMULSION PLUS OVERNIGHT CREME 50%*ff NOW $8 50 Yves Saint Laurent Eau de Toilette Special FOR HER $415 FOR HIM $4.75 For Him For Her Colorado Sage. Cologn by Jess Bell x1.50 TO $7.50 For Him For Her. Bonne Bell Good Nature Bath Collection $4.95 Personally yours.... m itt PHARMACY 14 Shoppers *ere Goderich 524-7.241 One man asked if anyone running for office. could outline the financial position. of the town. He said he had heard from both ends of the scale both that the town was in dire straits and that It was solvent. He said the town auditor had spoken in glowing terms about the financial management of the town and. at this meeting, he had heard miany comments to the acontrary. He wondered 11 any candidate really knew. - Leroy Harrison said he didn't have any figures • in front of him but off the top of his head he felt the town"was, in good financial shape. He said there were a lot of figures batted around during the : evening that make it sound like the town was tight for money but it is in good shape and would . be better with a broader industrial base. :; HINT OF 1977 The final issue touched on 2, 19 • PA E' 23A was the Goderich .harbor, A question concerning the future development of the harbor, its benefit to the Omni financially and its "od awful" appearance :from Abe la,` ked' e ;mayor tc revel somesparof what hea called loiskeinauguralaspethehch. Mr. Shewfelt .said he felt a committee should be formied by council to act as a'catalyst for harbor projects.a�iuch the way the. housing action committee had prompted'the: government `to construct a •a senior citizens'" complex here. The mayor said that council might have ignored the harbor by not appealing to the right levels of government. He added a large 'marina development for the harbor may not be a pie in the sky thing and maybe a private investor could develop something by having his money matcheddollar for . -. dollar by„. -the federal' government. - "But we mayhave to play a• game to do it," he said. "The money has strings tied to it," • BRUCE MAcDONALD ELECTRIC Domestic -Commercial -Industrial , 133 Britannia Rd. • Phone Evenings . 5 2 4-81 46 IN SUNCOAST MALL, GODERICH Is Having A ti ..s\t'sr All Merchandise in The Store 2 For The Price of -1 Plus 10cc SALE: HORS ONLY DECEMBER 1 WED. 10 9 DECEMBER 2 THURS. 10 — 9 DECEMBER 3 FRI. 10 - 9 DECEMBER 4 SAT. 9:30 9 No Exchanges - No Refunds • , SUNCOAST MALL GODERICH LOCATION ONLY SALE HOURS ONLY WEb - F121104 SAT 9:30-4 7-24=2425 master charge