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HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Goderich Signal-Star, 1977-12-29, Page 1Cornmittee accepts Graham's proposal The Goderich Eeonomp is Developmentle a Com -not be less than 10,000 square feet but Graham's gen e has accepted of Goderiprincipurchase aproposal from m intended building size is only 5,000 square feet. back p his report, Hill stated that of the two sites, Tand whjch en Gr Station i s Highway feet t to the rear of the the one off highway 8 to the rear of the Texaco Station is advised as the most promising, With Graham wants to erect a new building on the the building of the Suncoast Drive extension and site to accommodate and allow furthur ex- the completion of services, says Hill in the pansion of his business Graham Electric, His report, this would be a well used area with an present' site on Cambria Road lacks space for opportunity for small special industrial buildings expansion and the expansion would also be in- such as proposed for Graham Electric. Such empatablresidential ith land neighbourhood in the awhich is an special status, he goes :,on to say, may allow p prepared by accordinglimned retail sales, sit is not permitted in the evaluation report re ared architect and town's Industrial Park site. town planner Nick Hill. Graham also told the committee that he would Hill was present with Graham andlawyer Paul require about four times as much space for a iyers at the committee meeting on Wednesday, parking area as he would for the building area gcember 14 to present his evaluation of and this would not conform to one of the con- ternativelocations for Graham Electric. ditions of locating in the Industrial Park. Hill told the committee that he felt the building could be laid out attractively and efficiently on the highway 8 site. He also. said it would be fairly well integrated into the surrounding area with a buffer zone between the property and the residential area to the north. In his report Hill said that the new building oposed by Graham is envisioned as being a ndard industrial building up to 5,000 square tin area for fabrication, assembly and repair electrical items with storage, office and staff )cilities. Limited retail sales are anticipated the port states. Graham said he wanted to make it ear to the committee that the retail business ould definitely be limited' and that he was not king fora showroom. The Economical Development Committee's eptance of the proposal regarding the pur- se of the property is subject to site plans and (ding design. The committee also passed a otion to have town council set the price on the perty. The site in question is about 65,000 square feet d is already properly zoned for Graham's urposes according to members of the com- ittee. "I think the site chosen and the size of the land ideal," said Gord McManus chairman of the mmittee. LIMITED !phis report, Hill stated that at present, access d visible presence of the site is limited. wever, the report goes on, it is contemplated to new road will be built to join highway 8 thll which will form a southerly boundary. To TIMING Graham told the committee that his basic concern was timing and that he wanted to start building as soon as it was possible. In the future too, he said, he may be interested in developing three other adjoining lots in the same parcel of land. At present though, both he and the com- mittee are interested only in the one lot. The committee agreed all along that the site off highway 8 was preferable to the one in the Industrial Park and indicated that their recommendation would be made to town council as soon as possible so that negotiations and an agreement could be worked out. In other business, the Economic Development Committee passed a motion agreeing in prin- ciple to the idea of possible advertising i>i►Quebec for the relocation of Quebec businesses and in- dustry in the Goderich area. Recommendations on how to handle such encouragement to relocate will be wdrked out by Spence Cummings and presented at the next meeting. Some committeemembers questioned the expense and effectiveness of advertising in trade south of the contemplated road too, the papers and magazines. A suggestion of ad - port says, it is expected that a new industry, vertisement through direct mailing was made: rgWarner will locate. The second In regards to the 1978 budget, the committee aham Electrialternativ site d ofor H lyse location of decided to request of town council, $25,000 to go reportc ted on between toward the development of roads irt4lndustrial HuromiciIndustriesintthe town sII dustr.B. ial en Park and $5,000 for the committee's operating s. One of the conditions of locatinghere expenses. IThe year end statement was approved by the d be that the gross floor area of the building committee: hoppers' on venience tory on Page 3) presentatives of real te firms in Goderich ered at the offices of Lander and Chapman ay to reCeive their copy the Multiple Listing Ser- catalogue- published by Huron Real Estate Board. catalogue is an in - tion in real estate sales the county and the Huron d is one of about a dozen Canada to adopt the idea. Alexander, president of Huron Board, presents a ague to Jim McCaui of Points Realty as (from Harold Erb of Hughes I Estate, Pete Bettger of diner Real Estate, "h Sully, MLS com- chairman, John ker of Clifford Real te, Lynda Smith, tive officer of the Huron d, and Toni Tobey of Real Estate, look on. photo) ee ►r•r• Jit'" (N" 10110ii:itTiIZ 1 i11 0 +arall■1 Exchange students here (Story on Page 2) Goderich Rotary Club member Howard Aitken, left, gave two students from South America a tour of the newspaper and printing operation of Signal Star Publishing recently when the pair were in Goderich to speak to Goderich Rotarians about the student exchange program they are involved with. Stratford club member Bert Clifford accompanied Marcus Diniz of Sao Paulo, Brazil and Andres Yoyos of Cucuta, Colombia on the tour. The students have been in Canada a year as a part of the program and the Goderich club will be hosting an Australian student for a year in 1978. (staff photos) 130 YEAR -52 THURSDAY, DECEMBER 29, 1977 30 CENTS PER COPY Special New Year's Eve • service free to revellers Revellers having a few drinks orf New Year's Eve don't have to worry about guiding their car home in the wee hours df the morning thanks to a special service provided by some merchants in Goderich. A special taxi service will operate from 9:00 p.m. December 31, 1977 to 3:00 a.m. January 1, 1978 and will be free for anyone calling either 524-6594 or 524-7305. Ron Allin is the promoter of the free ride and the merchants sponsoring the service are hoping to keep drinking drivers off the road New Year's Eve. Allin said over 100 people used the service last year and that not one accident was reported during the big evening. He said the service will be provided by Bluewater Taxi and Goderich Taxi and will be confined to the Goderich town limits. The merchants footing the bill for the rides are Ron Allin and Associates, Garb and Gear Sports Shop, Furniture World, Nakamura Pharmacy. Glenmark Lumber, Irene Hill Ladies Wear. Lyle Pinkney Insurance Adjusters, Alexander and Chapman Insurance, Whalen Insurance and Wayne and Heather Lyons Insurance Agents. There's still an arena deficit A statement prepared by the town ad- ministrator indicates a deficit of $21,673,90 still exists on the Goderich arena huilding project. The current outstanding loan on the project stands at $71,886 but grant applications to Wintario and Community Recreation Centres (C•R.C.) total $79,796 that would leave an ad- ditional $7,910 after the bank loan is paid. But there are also two outstanding accounts payable to C.C. Parker and Associates of Lon- do'n, architects, and Logan Contracting that total $29,584. That leaves a project deficit of $21,673. wo city couples choose country life BY SHARON DIETZ country general store as it was years ago You told the storekeeper what you wanted he took your list and collected the items youwaited at the counter has disappeared. ,Country stores still exist in little out of the ommunities like St. Helens near Lucknow e!Miller near Goderich. They have taken ew look so people from the city are moving villages to purchase these stores and keep Open to serve the community. Sleeker of St. Helens bought the general t► the village in 1974 and he has tried to e the country flavor which he feels is the attraction. le are comfortable wit is a come as you a am clothes." first took' the st ages but the peo tintend to time the d boots, e store," nys even if you're , John made some were lost with it, so major renovations. sold yard goods, feed, Miller from William Gordon who had started the store. Isaac's grandson Hugh Todd is now married to John Siecker's daughter, Jo -Ann. Hugh and his father both married daughters of a St. Helens storekeeper. Hugh's father married Isaac's daughter, Helen. When, William Gordon sold the store to Isaac Miller he moved to the farm where Hugh and Jo- Ann now live. Isaac's daughter Isobel operated the store after her father's death until 196Qwhen it was purchased by Mr. and Mrs. Don Pannahaker. When Don died, his wife, Margaret, ran the store until she married Jim Errington and then her sister, Marianne, and her husband, Sheldon Martin Nought the store in 1971. The Martins sold the store to the Sieckers who took ownership on April 1, 1974, ^ HOLLAND HOME John and his wife, Hanny emigrated from Holland to Canada in July of 1955. John worked in ut the "automobile has Toronto at a variety of jobs including a dancing aterwful lot of that" says John. q.� instructor and with an insurance company, They ter who was 84 years old ajten he died moved to Hamilton in 1958 when John took a job ...sossaid he co}eld grand beh• coming to with a printing Company and lived in Hidden store with his grandfather, recalls Valley in Burlington from 1959 to 1974. e� army, The decisioft to leave the city came wlien e was purchased 93 years ago by Isaac John's company was sold to a large corporation making things very impersonal. The people were no. longer people but numbers under the new management and John could not live like that. Their friends, ,Joan and Fred Page were living in Holyrood and they had visited them on oc- casion. They liked the country around this area and the people. John likes to he independent and he likes dealing with people so they purchased the store when it came up for sale at the time they were looking to leave the city life. The community spirit is terrific says John, and his family, Jo -Ann, John, Jr. and Robert have come to love the community. John Jr. works in Guelph through the week but returns home for most weekends. Jo -Ann has married and lives on a farm in the community. Jo -Ann remembers her years at Aldershot High School in Burlington where everyone put on a front. "It takes awhile to find yourself when you move to a community like St. Helens because you are so intent nn putting on a front," she said. She still has relapses when her husband will say "Your other self is showing" but she adds that in St. Helens you are what 'you are and people take you as you are. • THE HiLLiERS The Villiers who purchased the Benmiller General Store when they moved from Georgetown also like the friendly atmosphere and slower pace of life in a small community. "We left the city to get away from the night life and the rat race," says Ross Hillier, "but the farmers here will party anytime.all the time in the winter." • Their concept of operating the store as a general store has become modified during the two years they have owned the store. The big grocery chain stores in nearby Goderich have made their business a convenience storeand because of the camping grounds at,the Benmiller Falls, their business is also seasonal. The store thrives in the sumrnor when it takes five people to .run it efficiently with somebody using the phone and wanting camp fuel while others want groceries and sundries. in the winter they have started serving hot coffee and sandwiches for the cross-country skiirs who visit the Benmiller Inn. The Hillier family, Ross and his wife, Frankie, and their teenage children, Todd, Connie and Joanne, like the quality of life they have in Benmiller. Their cross country skiis are leaning against the wall outside the back door: they play rod hockey in a neighbour's barnyard. Ross says that they looked for a small business to own when they decided to leave Georgetown because Ross' company wanted him to move into Toronto to live. The Hilliers wanted something near water but found a general store in Dyers Bay about 20 feet from Georgian Bay to be too near too much water. They settled for the Maitland River running through Benmiller, instead. They like the neighbourhood feeling in a small community and find that their place is open house for their city friends who enjoy getting away to the country and pursuing their favorite sports on weekends. Frankie says that now when they return to Georgetown, they can feel the pace picking up when they reach Milton. "Everybody seems to be rushing," she says, Turn to page 7 • HAP' T NEW YEAR Look for special souvenir year-end review inside this issue 4P