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HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Goderich Signal-Star, 1979-11-01, Page 1Library headquarters to cost n BY ALICE GIBB Construction will be starting soon on the new headquarters of the Huron t4iunty Library after county council accepted tenders for renovations of the former Bethel Pentecostal Church, Goderich. Council purchased the church building last spiing as the future Huron County Library headquarters. A tender of $87,810 was accepted from Bratt Construction Co..Ltd. of Hyde Park, Ontario. The next lowest tender for the renovations was sub- mitted at a cost of $97,393 by Frank Van Busse! and Sons Ltd., R.R.3, Lucan. When the church was purchased last spring, council •was told a number of renovations would be necessary • to bring the building up to the required standards. for a public facility. The building r- was purchased for $70,000 and it was hoped that with the renovations, the total cost to the county would be $100,000. That figure has now risen to $169,000, if a number of items are deleted from the renovation. The price of con- structing a ,loader con- veyor for books will be an additional $3,500 over and above the tender price quoted for renovations. • Althoh the construction costs are higher than originally proposed, the architect's fee will remain the same, at $5,67. The firm Snider, Reichard and March of Waterloo is supervising renovations to the building. Among the items deleted were construction of an asphalt driveway, the front entry and metal soffits, eaves and doW11Sp0UtS. 1 re than expected The library headquarters will remain in the present Lighthouse Street location until renovations at the former church are completed. The present lease expires at the end of December, but the landlords have agreed to extend it. The library is presently paying $1,000 a month rent at the Lighthouse Street location. Reeve Ervin Sillery of Tuckersmith Township, past chairman of coun- cil's property committee, told council the- com- mittee pretty well had to accept the lowest tender since everything was in order. Another council member asked why no local contractors had bid on the renovation con- tract.. Clerk -treasurer Bill Hanly said a bid bond was -required with the con- tract, .and local con- tractors indicated they had enough work ahead where bid bonds weren't necessary. There are now 28 branches in the Huron County Library system, now in its 12th year of operation. Circulation in 1978 was 367 ,093, well up from 1977. One of the main problems with the present library headquarters has been the lack of storage space for books. ;pa YEAR 132 — 44 THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 1, 1979 35 CENTS PER COPY Accident victim A 13 year old Goderich girl suffered a con- cussion and some cuts and bruises last week when she was struck by a car while riding her bicycle on Bayfield Road. Kim Schwitzer, daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Terrence Schwitzer of 241 Tilt Street in Goderich, was struck by a car Thursday af- ternoon. Godorich police reported that Jeannette Little of 11,,5 Picton Street was driving south on Bayfield Road when she struck the girl. Police reported the girl was riding in the middle of the street and Little swerved to avoid the child but collided with the bicyclist. The youngster was taken to Alexandra Marine and General Hospital and rushed to University Hospital in London for treatment of a possible neck injury. University Hospital reported the girl in satisfactory condition. No charges were laid in the incident Smith suggests farmers could use break BY SHARON D ETZ Ontario liberal leader Stuart Smith told a Liberal fund raising rally in Lucknow on Tuesday night he would cushion the blow of high energy .costs and interest rates for f°ar- mers with specific programs. He suggested a . program whereby banks. would treat farm and small business loans differently _and possibly government in- tervention to guarantee farmers' loans as two methods of dealing with the problems farmers are facing. Smith said after several lean years, farmers took out loans and the rates on these demand loans are increasing faster than the, farmers can make up the difference in the price of their products. Smith said he would be pleased to know the Davis' government'spolicy on higher interest rates. Darcy McKeough, the former treasurer of Ontario, knew his policy and could speak out on any financial issue. Smith criticized the current. treasurer Frank 'Miller because Miller plans to listen when he speaks with the federal minister of finance John Crosbie. Miller has 'said he will meet Crosbie. with an operi mind. Smith. commented "There is a difference between a mind that is open and a mind that is vacant." hr ith called Miller's lack of a financial policy, a "complete abdication of this major monetary area without so much as a wimper from the people of Ontario." Smith made his remarks at a Liberal rally in support of MPP Murray Gaunt of Huron -Bruce held at the Lucknow District Community Centre. Some 200 Liberal supporters paid $25• a couple to have dinner with the party leader. Canadians should not have to pay world prices for oil from Alberta Smith told the meeting. He can think of no other oil producing country which pays world prices for its own oil. Smith would call for a $1. increase on the price of oil in January and another $1. increase in July. He said Canadian manufacturing in- dustries needa breathing space to regenerate. Smith called' Alberta premier Lougheed's remark that he has the unilateral right to set the price of oil "a more separatist remark than any made by (Quebec premier Rene) Levesque." 'Smith said the Davis government has no energy conservation program. I1tead of providing leadership, "Davis plays 'a violin tide federal -provincial meetings and holds a tin cup out to Lougheed." The Liberal policy on energy conservation would not raise the price' of oil, would stress conservation of oil and encourage the development of substitute fuel -alcohols to reduce the dependency on oil Smith wants mandatory home insulation, standards in gas consumption for cars, more money put into public transit and invest_rnent in renewable sources of energy such as portable liguid fuels. The province does not require more hydro- electric generating capacity observed Smith: "'The crisis is not at the wall plug, it's at the gas pump. Cummings wants to promote industry BY ALICE GIBB Spence Cummings, Huron County develop- ment officer, told members of Huron County council on Thursday, that land must be made available immediately to encourage industrial development in the county. He told council he hopes to catalogue available land in the county this winter so complete data will be' availa le' by the spring of 1980. Cummings,said his staff has already worke on the Vanastra area and find that "although property owners want to sell their land, they will not put a value on it until they have a buyer in front of them." He said he has the property listed but doesn't know its value. The development officer also asked council to consider giving his department More money in the future to advertise Huron County. He said, "We need to put the county towns and villages before the public by newspaper and specialty magazine advertising. We need to let the executives of companies in Canada, as well as, the United States, know that we have land to settle an industry on in our towns and villages." Cummings said $3,000 was currently budgeted for advertising but that his depart- ment needs about $15,,000 to do an effective job. He said in .comparing notes with other e onomic development officers at a recent conference he found firms are hesitant to make commitments now because of the current high interest rates. He said companies are holding back, waiting for a more favorable financial climate before expanding. However, the development officer said established Canadian firms who have an ekport market are finding business is booming since the devalued Canadian; dollar makes Canadian goods very sale:ahle on the American market. He told council in the past year there have been expansions in some plants in the county, as well as plant closings. He said although the county lost employers when plants like Gay Lea .(egg grading station) in Seaforth closed, "we hope that eventually these excellent buildings can be filled again in the near future." Mr. Cummings said his higgest worry in the development area is still Vanastra -"which has lost 'more industry in the last three years than any other community." The development of- ficer said he had been trying to interest the federal government in the community and "although they profess sympathy, they do not do anything about it." he students at Queen Elizabeth School in Elizabeth, and Judi Williams, got dressed early through holes in the masks and uncovered who oderieh got a treat Wednesday morning when for Hallowe'en and delighted the children with the two little pigs were. (phodo by Teff Sedden) these two pigs name to the school trick or their surprise visit. The two refused to reveal treating. Patty Powell, a teacher at Queen their identity but the children were able to peak He said a recent proposal by a local MP and Tuckcrsniith Township council that Vanastra Ix' used as a training centre for the Vietnamese "boat people" settling in Canada, was turned down by the federal government. • Dr. Stuart Smith case in c�urt`again Huron County Crown Attorney Garry Hunter will have to wait another month to have charges against local businessman Cayley Hill returned to the court room. An exploratory hearing before County .Court. Judge Roger Salhany of Waterloo was post- poned to December 5 when Hill's lawyer, Malcolm Rohb, of Toronto, told the court he was not able to prepare a case for his client because transcripts of Hill's first trial did not reach him in time. Hill was charged with defrauding Champion Road Machinery Ltd., of $25,000 in traveller's cheques. The .case arose. last year when Revenue Canada raised some questions about the money while•rc.vie.wing the fir.m.'s books: Those questions lead to the charges against Hill, who worked at Champion 30 years and was vicepresident in•charge of manufacturing prior to his resigning to pursue his own business interests, Hill was accused of taking the money which he was given to pass on to a private agent in Turkey. The -agent was to receive $75,000 for his efforts in selling several million dollars worth of Champion road graders to the Turkish government. The charges came before Judge C.E. Perkins in June and Perkins discharged Hill claiming there was insufficient evidence. At that time Hunter said he was not satisfied with Perkins decision and intended to take the matter before a county court judge to have Hill indicted. Robb, defence counsel for Hill, told Judge. Salhany Monday that transcripts of Hill's June trial were sent to him Friday but sat in a Toronto bus terminal all weekend and did not reach him until Monday. He said he needed the transcrip to prepare his case. Hunter said he sent for transcripts of the trial September 24 and suggested that if Robb needed them he should not have waited until Friday to send for them. Robb told the court he understood Hunter had unearthed more ,evidence against Hill but the Crown claimed his case would be based on the transcript of the June hearing. The exploratory hearing will be heard December 5. Goderich farmer's market How about a farmer's market in Goderich? Considering that the Goderich area is inundated with agricultural concerns the idea is a stable one. The idea was put forth by recreation board member, Randy Smith, at the board's regular monthly session last Thursday for further in- vestigation. Smith suggested, in light of the hoard's continued efforts to utliize the new grandstand, that a small farmer's market could be held on the ground floor inside or even in the parking lot area. "It doesn't have to be anything like Kitchener or London ,hut just a small farmer's type market," he said. "It could bring some people into town." Board members were responsive to the idea claiming that farmers of all types in the area might he anxious to sell their products in a market atmosphere. The hoard instructed recreation director Jim Moore to explore the possibility by talking to farmers about such a project. The tourist committee will also be appraoched. si e this section. Bluewater staff hosts drug seminar. 0® ... 0 0 0 0 0 0.. T hangars at Sky Harbour .. o . Vikings host Exeter in final Page 6 . m Page 8 Page 10