Loading...
HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Goderich Signal-Star, 1979-10-11, Page 2A. Sifto Salt, a• division of. Domtar Chemicals Group, plans to reclaim this section of Lake Huron to use the area for bulk storage of salt. The area will be filled with gravel, topped with asphalt and used to • store salt mined during r January, February and March. The project is designed to permit Sifto to maintain full production during the winter months when shipping lanes on the Great Lakes are frozen. Mine officials are hopeful the project will be completed by January 1. The $750,000 storage area should allow the mine to avoid what has become an annual layoff of 60 mine workers during the winter. (photo by Jeff Seddon) Storage area could prevent winter layoff at Sifto Salt BY JEFF SEDDON A scheme to bulk store 150,000 tons of salt above ground this winter may eliminate the annual layoff of 60 employees of Sifto Salt, a division of Domtar Chemicals Group. Bill Coughlan, manager of the Sifto mine in Goderich, said Tuesday the firm plans to reclaim three acres of Lake Huron to be used as a storage area for mined salt. Coughlan said the firm plans to fill in the area between the north pier of the Goderich harbour - and the Sifto mine operation to store salt while lake shipping is shut down for the winter. He said the project is designed to permit the mine to operate at full capacity during January, February and March when frozen shipping lanes normally force a slowdown of production. He said the firm bppes to complete the project by January 1. He said he didn't know how much the project would cost but suspected it to be worth $750,000. The area to be reclaimed stretches 250 feet north of Sifto's present mine head and 500 feet back to the firm's landed operation. The area, now under water, will be backfilled with gravel and topped with asphalt. Coughlan said 4 the gravel will either be trucked in from an area gravel pit or brought in in a self unloading lake freighter. He said the idea of the above ground storage area was conceived at the Goderich operation and streamlined in Sifto's Montreal office. He added that the project is now in the hands of Sifto's Montreal office. He said the storage area will be outdoor this year but eventually would be enclosed. He said one or two buildings will cover the entire area adding one may be built next year and the other the following year. The manager said Sifto annually lays off about 60 employees when the shipping season ends. He said it appeared as though the outdoor storage would enable that layoff to be avoided. Sifto ships 2.25 million tons of salt a year from the Goderich mine. Lottery tickets still available There are still tickets available for the mini - lottery draws for $500 per week that began October 1. The Goderich Sports Committee sponsored lottery has already begun but tickets can still be obtained at the recreation office on Waterloo Street. The tickets are $50 each and are eligible for a weekly prize of $500 for the next 48 weeks. A'Iso, on September 13, 1980, there will be three draws for additional cash prizes. The draws are made each Monday and Mr. and Mrs. Ted Rowe and the employees of Green and Parent have already won $500. The lottery is being held to help offset part of the $102,000 debt on the Ron Feagan Memorial Grandstand. If all tickets can be sold the sports committee would realize a profit of $70,000. Editors for the day on the job Winners of The Editor For A Day Contest were announced this week by R.J.Shrier, publisher of The Goderich Signal -Star. They are Debbie Barz, Robertson Memorial Public School; Jeff Bisset, Victoria Public School; laripykstra, Colborne Central School; and Judy Carmichael, Brookside Public School. These four young people were invited to The Goderich Signal -Star office on Wednesday of this week. They enjoyed a day -long experience in the newspaper plant and lunch with Mr. Shrier and the contest judges, John Penn, director of Family and Children's Services; John Stringer, principal of Goderich District Collegiate Institute; and Sylvia Brady, Guide leader. Watch next week for pictures from their visit. .It's just the berinnin . ,ai :a&' w. ': v 1 d�16 06 .., Ve s °, � G� ) gu �. +!5.. V �.� °� a .i k'�*,„,-mag3o" i'e r 1 '; L . ' 4+,, ` 'rear.. .. ', rsr.'us.al r � G i'S6: {' �y «�i�re `v� l �y w1�4ataw 'n t .„ k �1-v' q^` �' ',V. t a 4r:' +, Cold enough for ya' lady? • Don't despair. That winter prelude that s dumped dumped an early Wednesday ice .. fY, " ,. „ AV �•Y��': ` n. .9 "iki t,., xis; �Eff ffE 11.Y�-okf...•�ki;'4•w9C'u.EN A'1,6i,' l;Jf, i,il� a warning on us' morning is ,just the beginning. Areas alongthe Lake Huron shoreline 132—Y -E A.R 41 THURSDAY, OCTOBER 11, 1979 35 CENTS PER COPY Meals on Wheels needs you now 1!. BY JOANNE BUCHANAN Glenn Rittinger, a geography teacher and part-time guidance counsellor at G.D.C.I., started delivering meais as a volunteer through the Meals on Wheels program the first year it got started in Goderich almost six years ago. His ten -year-old son Mark has been helping him for about three years. Every Tuesday at supper time, Mr. Rittinger and Mark go to Alexandra Marine and General Hospital cafeteria and pick up a hamper containing seven or eight meals. They deliver 'these meals by car to those . people or "customers" on the program. There are basically two types of customers, says Mr. Rittinger. There are those who are shut-in and can't cook for some physical reason (one woman simply had a broken arm and was only on the program until she had the use of her arm again) and those who are old and alone and won,'t'cook proper meals for themselves. For as'little 'as $1.25 these customers can get a hot, nourishing meal consisting of soup, meat, vegetables, nett -goes -and dessert. But Mr. Rittinger believes that the meal itself is quite' often the fringe benefit of Meals on Wheels program. Many of the customers mainly look forward to having someone visit them each day, even if it is only for a short time. One problem, which is the nature of the beast itself, is that the volunteer deliverer only has about five minutes or so to chat with each customer because he doesn't want the other meals waiting in the car to get cold, explains Mr. Rittinger. Mr.Rittinger says he has pretty well had the same group of people on his delivery route for ° the last year and has gotten to know them fairly well. He mails a letter or two for some of them and once in awhile he even shovels their snow. There is one frail old lady who insists on shovelling her own snow though, making a narrow path for him up her walk. Mr. Rittinger really enjoys visiting the people on his route and feels that they in turn enjoy visiting him. They especially seem to enjoy visits from his son Mark. One woman doesn't like her desserts so she .saves them up and ,gives them to Mark. Another one always makes sure she has a chocolate bar to give him.. When Mark decided to start helping his dad deliver meals, he belonged to Beavers. The Beaver motto is "Sharing, sharing, sharing" and Mark figured delivering meals was a good way to share his time. "It's fun. 'You get to know people. I like helping people," says Mark Mr. Rittinger says he himself had three reasons for joining the Meals on Wheels program as a volunteer deliverer. As a Christian, he felt it was a fine way to help other people. He was brought up with his grand- mother living in his house and this helped him to become more aware of the needs of the elderly. And Meals on Wheels was something which he could fit into his busy time table. While he didn't ave the time to get involved with any big community projects, Meals on Wheels deliveries only take him about three- quarters- of an'hour once a week to make in the 'summer and about an hour in winter. Delivering meals on the program can be a real eye-opener, explains Mr. Rittinger. You see people living in conditions that are not the best and you meet people who are all alone in the world. There are so-called slums in Goderich too. Mr. Rittinger has seen people who live in one shabby room with all their worldly possessions. You can encounter the odd crisis too: One nigh0a man on the route didn't answer the door when Mr. Rittinger knocked. The man had fallen and when Mr. Rittinger went in, he found him with his head stuck under a chair. He was caught helpless on the floor., Another time, an elderly woman fell shortly after Mr. Rittinger delivered her meal on Tuesday night and wasn't found until the next night when another volunteer came to deliver her meal. Although she had been calling out for help, she had been unable to get up. Two of the people on, Mr. Rittinger's route have died since he began delivering their meals and one has been placed in a nursing.home. However, Mr. Ri,ttinger would not discourage anyone from becoming a volunteer deliverer because of these things. It's a very rewarding, enjoyable and worthwhile job with lots of happy moments as well as the sad ones. Although you don't develop any deep relationships, you know your little visits are appreciated. - Some of -the elderly people on Mr. Rittinger's route like to give him advice. One lady told him she thought he would look better if he shaved off his beard. One man on his route is "really upon . things" and can give opinions and talk about the oil crisis and other current events. In 1976 a group. of Christian young people 'at G.D.C.I. called Reach Out decided to try an adoptive grandparent program whereby each member could pick an elderly person and visit with him or her regularly on a one to one basis. Meals on Wheel§ was used as the contact and about four to six "grandparents" were selected for the program. . Mr. Rittinger is not sure if these visits are still going on or not but he is hoping the Reach Out club, of which he was a part, can be formed again al. itegardless, he intents to keep delivering meals through the Meals on Wheels program as long as he can. If you would like to become a volunteer driver and deliverer for Meals on Wheels, you can contact Isabel MacDonald at 524-6746. It won't take much time and you'll be doing yourself and others a worthwhile service. Mark Rittinger... you get to know people Glenn Rittinger... delivery can b6 eye opening receive a s owermg of snow pellets with accumulations of up to 3.8 cm. And Graham Campbell of the Goderich Weather Office claims that snow flurries are a possibility right through Saturday. The 'mock winter' has October temperatures running 10 degrees below the norm and that may continue through the weekend. - There usually isn't any significant snowfall in the area in October although October 197 produced 10 cm. and there was 4.9 inches in 1972. But for the past two years there has only been a trace of the white stuff according to weather office records. Drivers needed There will be a meeting Friday evening at 7:30 pm of persons interested in the Meals of Wheels service which has been operating in Goderich for the past five years. The long-standing Volunteer ,.administrative -personnel of Meals on Wheels, Isabel McDonald, Muriel Stokes and Evelyn Washington, are retiring at the end of the month. The community is seeking interested volunteers who will take over in these vital roles. Last week, a steering committee met to. arrange Friday's meeting. Included were Dr. Brian Lynch, medical officer of health for Huron County; Betty Cardno of Huron's Home Care program; Catherine Walsh, director of nurses for the Huron County Health Unit; and Theresa Kirkey, head of the dietary depart- ment at Alexandra Marine and General - Hospital. It was pointed out that the need for continued support of the Meals on Wheels program is great in Goderich. Fifteen meals each day are delivered from Monday through Friday to persons living in town who qualify for this service. More persons could benefit from the service, it was agreed, if more volunteer drivers could be found, to deliver the meals each day. The committee has tried to stimulate interest among men and women and young people throughout the community by sending letters to service clubs, church groups, industry and the high school about Friday's meeting. However, anyone interested in Meals on Wheels, whether prepared to volunteer or not, is urged to he in attendance. Location` of the meeting room is the assessment office. ; McGee Motors use of car lot still an unsettled issue BY JEFF SEDDON McGee Motors use of a lot on Newgate Street for storing cars and trucks for sale was thrown back at council in September despite a council decision two years ago that McGee was not ' illegally using the lot. Bob Gibbons sent a letter to council recently asking that the McGee use of its lot on Newgate Street near The•Squa-e be checked into. Gib- bons claimed McGee's use of the lot -for storing new cars, and trucks was illegal under the town's zoning bylaw and asked council to look into the matter. Gibbons, who recently lost a bid to construct a restaurant and tavern on the Goderich waterfront, did not specify in hi4 letter why he wanted the McGee matter checked. Council sent the matter to planning board for review, just as it did two years ago when the controversy first surfaced, Planning hoard, on a motion by reeve Eileen Palmer, voted to table the matter until an update of the town's official plan and zoning bylaw is done. Council and planning board discovered recently that the town's zoning bylaw, as it relates to the downtown area, needed review and possible updating.• That review could be a year or two in the making but planning board was content to let the McGee issue ride for that period.' The issue of McGee's use of the lot first came to council in 1977. The car dealership pur- chased, and despite some resistance, demolished the Colborne Hotel on the corner of Newgate and Hamilton Street. Tl�he firm had no use for the ancient building and was not interested in renovating it. i'Ieeding.space tb store carsand trucks McGee II 1 demolished the building turning the corner into a parking lot. The demolition of the building miffed the Local Architectural Conservancy Advisory Committee and efforts to save the building were started. The efforts were futile. But the demolition of the building didn't settle matters. Efforts to stop McGee from using the site for storage of cars were started up. Council was urged to enforce its zoning bylaw which some felt outlawed McGee's use. Council sought legal and planning opinions on the matter and finally ruled that McGee's use was legal under the bylaw. The planning opinions council received did nothing to resolve the issue. Municipal Planning Consultants, auth ,r of the official plan and zoning bylaw, was o the opinion that the McGee, use was legal Ii and conformed with the zoning regulations. The Huron county planning department, which handles the bulk of the town's planning concerns, felt the car dealership was illegally using the lot. Council went behind closed doors with its solicitor. The decision to allow the McGee use of the lot was called a precedent at the time. Critics of council warned that by not enforcing its zoning bylaw council opened the door for more of the same. Many felt other town bylaws would be challenged and suggested that at some point council. would have to be prepared to stand by its guns. Council may yet have to take That stand but after planning board's decision it could- be a year before the matter is settled once and for all.