HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Goderich Signal-Star, 1979-08-16, Page 3Goderich`
SIGNAL-ST
The County Town Newspaper of Huron
Founded In 104® and published every Thursday of Goderich, Ontario. Member of the CWNA
and OWNA. Advertising rates on request. Subscriptions payable In advance '14.50 In
Canada, '95.00 to U.S:A., '95.00 to all.other countries. single copies 95'. Display advertising
rates available on request. Please ash for Rata Card No. 0 effective Oct. 1, 1970. Second
class mall Registration. Number 071e. Advertising Is accepted on the condition that in the
event of typographical error, the advertising space occupied by the erroneous Item,
Together with reasonable allowance for signature, will not by charged for but the balance
of the advertisement will be pafd for at the applicable rate. In the event of a
typographical error advertising goods or services et a wrong price, goods or service may
not bo sold. Advertising Is merely an offer to sell, and may bo withdrawn at any time. The
ilgnel.Star Is n.. responsible for the loss or damage of unsolicited me uscripts or photos.
Published by Signal -Star Publishing Ltd:
ROBERT G. SHRIER — president and publisher
SHIRLEY J. KELLER — editor
DONALD M. HUBICK - advertising manager
Mailing Address:
P.O. BOX 220, Industrial Park, Goderich
Second class mail registration dumber — 0716
Business and Editorial Office
TELEPHONE 524-8331
„ area code 519
Think it over - again
At least one citizen in Goderich is ready to raise
the issue of water meters once again. Harry
Bosnell, once a candidate for the mayor's chair,
this week sent letters to the town council and to the
P.UC asking officials of those bodies to please,
consider again the arguments for installing water
meters in town.
Bosnell has charged that the present system of
charging a flat rate for water in Goderich, no
matter how much water is used, is "antiquated"
and "unfair".' He claims it is "quite evident that
those who live in modest homes on moderate or
fixed incomes are subsidizing the majority who live
in luxury". '
Bosnell's letter appears in this week's Letters to
the Editor column and is worth the consideration of
Meters
Dear Editor,
Over the years many
improvements have been
made toward equity of
taxation that are ap-
preciated by most of the
taxpayers of our town..
There are probably many
other areas that require
attention, but the most
important and urgent is
the antiquated and unfair
each and every reader'. Whether you agree or
disagree with Bosnell's assessments, it behooves
every citizen to think about what he has to say.
But more importantly, it is time that the PUC and
town council once again reviewed the pros and cons
of water meters in Goderich. There are some very
legitimate concerns among those who think that
moving to water meters only tends to become a
costly administrative nightmare that creates un-
necessary burdens on the consuming public.
But times change. Situatipns alter. Two years can
make a tremendous difference in son -ie things.
Water meters may be one of them.
Now would be a good time to rethink the whole
question of ,water service to the homeowners of
Goderich. SJK
Say alive and healthy
A picture on last week's editorial page in this
newspaper proves once again there will always be
people who defy. reasonable safety measures and
risk painful injury, even permanent crippling or
death, for a"moment or two of excitement.
The photograph showed two young people diving
off a small building on the pier at Goderich harbor,
over -several feet -of concrete into the water of Lake
Huron. Just one slip -one tiny miscalculation on the
part of the diver - and tragedy could have resulted.
Apparently these kinds of dangerous diving
antics have been discouraged in the harbor area.
Watchful -safety personnel there have repeatedly
issued warnings about many foolish tricks in-
volving people of afl ages, but as often happens,
these warnings sometimes fall on deaf ears. When
an accident happens, it is too late to be careful.
Living is one big adventure. Just staying alive
and healthy can bea challenge. It is unfortunate
then that some people insist on reducing the odds
even more by - deliberately flirting with the '
ingredients for misery and grief.
If only people would understand that safety -rules
and regulations are enforced for the happiness and
well-being of everyone, and should be obeyed for a
long and prosperous future. - SJK_. . ___.: .
Getting the best advice
The approval of a mini -shopping plaza by
Goderich town council this past week is a fine
example of 'how an elected body has totally
disregarded the advice of a group of individuals
who have a great degree of expertise in the field.
Contrary -to what Reeve Eileen Palmer believes
the role of the Huron county planning department is
more than just to advise the town, on the physical
concerns of buildings. It's the economic effect on
the downtown core by a shopping plaza which
should be the main concern.
Roman. Dzuz of .the planning .departmentwas.
quite correct in stating that the maintenance of a
healthy core was' imperative for a healthy com-
munity and that the type of businesses approved for
the new shopping area could harm the core.
While Palmer was correct in saying that the new
development would add to the town's assessment,
Goderich might not be any further ahead a few
years down the road if the core begins to
deteriorate.
On a matter of this importance it's only common
sense to listen to the best advice possible.
—The Zurich Citizens -News
GODERICH SIGNAL -STAR, THURSDAY, AUGUST 16, 1979—PAGE 3
DEAR EDITOR
method of charging for
water.
It is quite evident that
those who live in modest
homes on moderate or
fixed incomes are sub-
sidizing the majority 'who
live in luxury.
Consider the many
elderly people, single
people and couples
without children with
onlyone bathroom (in
some 'cases no tub), no
automatic washer, no
dishwasher, no automatic
sprinkler, no pool and
probably only a small
garden and lawn, who
pay exactly the same
water cost per month as
home owners with large
families, who, I would
guess, could use up to ten
times as much water as
the single occupant.
Water meters would
completely eliminate the
problem of trying to
enforce a bylaw with one
man that could not be
enforced with half of the
Canadian Army. In
Goderich • we have a
record for stealing water.
Meter -s would also save
the taxpayers many
hundreds, of thousands of
dollars in capital ex-
penditures and interest
required to. increase our
supply. ' With the in-
stallation of meters and
the resulting "pay for
what you use",we would
no doubt have a few
• brown lawns but we
would use a lot less
water. After the first
month or two, most of the
leaky plumbing and
dripping taps would be
fixed and• the water
guzzling appliances
would be used with
moderation.
_..- J-f..possible ,- the- .charge—
for sewage should be
incorporated into the
water cost as every
gallon used in most cases
must go in.the sewer. The,
meters could be read at
the same time as Hydro
meters,'' thereby.
eliminating additional
cost.
The cost of meters and
installation is no -doubt
substantial, but it is not
unbearable as many
cities and towns have
found that the cost of
meters can -be amortized
in one year.
f •
Meters for water
should be considered as
essential and equitable,as
ar-e-rn-eter-s for Hydro and
natural gas.
The Town Council and
the P.U.C. should give
immediate priority to this
situation
situation and prepare to
have meters installed as
quickly as •they can be
obtained.
Harry Bosnell
Candu
To the Edifor: '
.The news media are
having a field day
regarding the safety of
the Candu system. Every
day one reads or hears
some news item regar-
ding these power stations
run by Ontario Hydro and
it's usually on the
negative side. Maybe
Ontario Hydro's record of
safety is too good to be
accepted by the public. •
We're so used to
hearing our government
predict that ;X number of
Canadians are going tq,
die on our roads due to
accidents ... that X
number of Canadians will
be killed or ,crippled
operating farm
machinery; that. when an
industry like Ontario
Hydro fails to predict X
number of fatalities,
something must be
wrong.
Compare the auto in -
u.
dustries and their record
of producing a 100 per
cent accident -proof
car...how long have
Canadians been driving
motor vehicles?...how
many lives;have been lest
due to motor accidents?
How many lives have.
beep lost due to farm
machinery operation-
s?...how many arms;
Turn to page 4 •
Best friends
By Dave Sykes
75 YEARS AGO
Mr. George W.
Thomson informs us that
his brother, James,
formerly town clerk of
Goderich, now of Dakota,
has. sent him a cheque for
$100 for the furnishing of
a cot in the Alexandra
hospital, which will be
paid over as soon, as the
hospital is ready.
T.D. Stewart of Toronto
has installed a five
OCIKiNe.BACK
horsepower gasoline
engine' in Smith's bakery•
in town, which will fur-
nish the power for a
mixer. It is already
proving a • -great labor
saver. Mr. Smith will also
add a loaf moulder to his
plant, making it one of
the most modern outside
the cities.
D. Sare, proprietor of
the Colborne Hotel, is
making extensive im-'
provemen,ts, _to .._.__t1wtS'
property inside and out.
The break in the
granolithic walk at
Sharman's corner on the
Square and the unsightly
and dangerous breaks at
the Bank of Montreal
corner on West Street,
-are both still unattended
to and remain a menace.
The Public Works
committee hada meeting
at the harbor on Tuesday
evening to consider `the
_ques.Lion_. sf. bu.iIding -.a-
coal• •lift on the com-
mercial dock.
25 YEARS AGO
A -project aimed at
having street signs
erected at every in-
tersection in Goderich
this summer is nearing
completion. /The project.
is being undertaken
,jointly by the town and
the junior' Chamber of
Commerce _ ..
Tenders were called,
Tuesday for the erection
of a new Huron County
Court House in Goderich.
Official opening
ceremonies for the Trade
Fair being sponsored by
the Kinsmen Club are
slated for 1:30 p.m'. today
with the Honorable
Walter Harris, Federal
Minister of Finance, as
guest speaker.
Official opening
- ceremony of'..-..t-ne . new•`
$450,000 addition to the
Huron County Home in
Clinton will likely.be held
late next month, it was
learned Siesterday.
Number of tourists
visiting. Goderich - con-
tinues- to drop, according
to figures obtained from
the Information Booth on
the Square. '
Unloading of the first
cargo c.if grain at the new
UPjicr Lakes ' arid --S1'..
Lawrence Transportation
Company elevator here
took place on Monday.
5 YEARS AGO
For the second time in
as many years Domtar
Chemical's Sifto Salt
Division has had their,
production 'schedule
brought to a halt by
striking employees.
Fifty-three employees of _
th-e Siro evaporator pliant
in Goderich walked off
the job last Friday in
support of their union's
wage and benefit
demands.
Huron County Council,
at a special meeting
Monday, rejected the
Report of the Health
Planning Task Force of
Ontario, called the
Mustard Report, which
recommends sweeping
changes in. healthcare
services.
Construction of the
Textral Fibres Limited
plant in the Goderich
Industrial Park began
last week with site ex-
cavation.
A strike by about 475
deck officers and 400 ship
engineers against the
Canadian Lake Carriers
Association has almost
paralyzed shipping on the
St. Lawrence Seaway and
the Great Lakes, in
eluding' Goderich Harbor.
DEAR
READ E
BY
SHIRLEY J. KELLER
Last week, I took time out to have
lunch with Don White, public relations
officer for Hydro at Bruce Nuclear
Power Development, Douglas Point. I
hadn't Visited the plant for a couple of
years, and I was anxious to determine
whether or not the situation at BNDP
had changed in relation to Goderich.
I found out it has changed. I
discovered that fewer Goderich people
than ever before are employed at
BNPD. Not at all surprising, I:guess,
when you consider that BNDP is now
employing fewer persons than it has for
a number of years.
I was rather shocked at the statistics
given to me 'by White. There are
something like 87 persons employed at
BNDP from the whole of Huron County,
Or 1.32 pe'rce'nt of the total number of
stuff there. 1 say surprising because
from miscellaneous locations ... that is
outside the counties of Grey, Bruce,
Wellington, Waterloo and Huron.
there is 432 or 6.58 percent of the wbrk-1
force at BNPD.
These statistics were taken on 1St.
Valentine's Day this 'year. Figures at
that time showed the number of em-
ployees at BNDP as 6,570. And that's
thelowest the workforce has gone since
about 1974. It peaked at somewhat over
8,000 employees in the fall .of •1976 and
the spring of 1977. •
The, graph which was -supplied to me
• by White shows that according 'to
Hydro forecasts, things arc pretty
much as expected at BNPD. White
claims work is -slightly ahead of
schedule at the plant. 'and the number
of employees is- slightly fewer than
predicted for this period. by Hydro, hut
there isn't a big vat•iance. In fact,
White is delighted that things are as
good at the Bruce plant as they are.
And it is encouraging to see how
accurate the graph r riilly is, because
the for•erast for the next few years
shows a bit of an increase in the work-
force at BNDP in the next couple of
years, peaking somewhere around
1982. It starts to drop off again in 1983
and there should he a steady decline
until about 1987 or 1988 when .things
should level off at about' 3,500 em-
ployees,
White says unless there's. approval
for more construction at BNDP, the
workforce will remain static at 3,500
for years`to come.
+ + +
White is, naturally, interested in the
medias' treatment of Hydro's affairs
as it pertains to the nuclear situation.
And he was quick`to admit that Hydro's.
nuclear plants have been coming in for
more than their share of the headlines
in recent months.
Talking to White, one would be
convinced that nuclear energy is the
safest and cheapest way to produce
electricity for the consuming public.
That's .White's job, of course, and he
does it very well. But there is little
doubt in r ry mind that Don White really
does believe in -the nuclear program
and the benefits to be derived from it.
White handed me a copy of an
editorial which appeared Easter
Sunday, April 15 in The Philadelphia
Inquirer entitled "Nuclear energy: Our
only hope, or sure disaster?."
That article pointed out that while
the, 1 hree Mile Island accident was a
frightening thing, there was no loss of
life and no clear evidence of radiation
damage. On the other hand, the article
said, automobiles kill 50,000 citizens of
the United States every year, with
additional hundreds of thousands
maimed and hurt.
It asked: "If a zero -death accident
raises a loud clamor for an end to the
nuclear age, why is it that 850,000
deaths do not induce even a whisper in
favor of an end to the automobile age?"
It is a valid point. Coming back to
Huron County,•it is interesting to note
that the news media is quick to pick up
on the leaks and the failures at BNPD
while at the same time, Constable Bill
Wilson for the Ontario Provincial
Police is this week going:around to the
papers in this county asking for some
publicity for a very real problem in
Huron ... the increasing numbers of
deaths and accidents on Huron roads.
It doesn't make' sense ... and it''s
happening under'our noses. But Who
really cares? Nuclear plants are a
menace and cars are a useful con-
venience.I It was ever thus.
1