Loading...
HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Wingham Advance-Times, 1985-12-11, Page 3E 1y 1'1 Bc,x .� Blyth, ;rt. NON IH Jt, PATRICIA DAER was presented with a framed `letter of commendation by Ian Moreland, chairman of the Wingham Board of Police Commissioners, during last. week's ••ard meeting. Miss Daer, 13, the daughter of Wingham Const. Ed Daer, is credited ,.�. helping the police to apprehend thieves who stole a number of wallets from dress' rooms at the Wingham arena earlier this fall. Gir 's quick thinking helps foil wallet thieves Quick thinking by a Wingham-area teenager helped to foil the plans of thieves who made off with a number of wallets from a dressing room of the Wingham arena this fall. Patricia Daer, who was at the arena at the time, happened to notice a suspicious -looking vehicle which kept circling the area. She noted the licence number and, when the theft was discovered, passed the information along to her father, Const: Ed'Daer of the Wingham police force, Her action enabled the Wingham police, in coopera- tion with the Goderich pol- ice, to apprehend the ve- hicle, with the wallets still inside, at Goderich. Arrests were made and two suspects are currently awaiting , a court appearance. The missing wallets, containing valuable personal papers and approximately $150 in cash, were returned to their grateful owners. Last week, at a meeting of the Wingham Board of Police Commissioners, Miss Daer, 13, was honored for her part in solving the crime. Chairman Ian Moreland presented her with a framed letter of commendation and congratulated her for her presence of mind. The fact 'that she noticed the suspect vehicle and thought of writing down the licence number made the quick arrest and.recovery of the wallet's possible, Mr. Moreland noted. The suspects were arrested "before they ever got home . to divvy up the loot." . He said Miss Daer's ac- tions were a tribute to her upbringing. Police Chief Robert Wittig reported to the commission that Const. Daer also has received a special com- mendation in his personal file as a result of his handling of three occurrences during the past year. On March 29 the officer checked a vehicle on Josephine Street and discovered two men with a quantity of hardware ar- ticles. Upon questioning them it was found they had just completed a break, enter and theft at a nearby village and were en route New council passes policg benefit bylaw In a unanimous vote coming at the end of its inaugural meeting Monday night, the newly -installed Wingham council passed the controversial bylaw provid- ing for the early-retirement benefit to be awarded to members of the town police department. All discussion of the bylaw was held in -camera, after council had moved behind closed doors to read a letter from its solicitor regarding' this matter. Neither Mayor Jack Kopas nor Reeve Bruce Machan could be reached for com- ment Tuesday morning, however Deputy Reeve (and former mayor) William Harris said the solicitor's letter had advised council to pass the bylaw, - ---The letter- outlined- pro- cedures and what •council can and cannot do, he said, adding it had been "ex- plained very' thoroughly". - He also said the majority of police forces now have the early-retirement benefit and "it was going to come sooner or later." The new councillors had some questions about the matter, Mr. Harris said, but "whe everything was ex- plaine to them, everyone seemed airly happy." He ad ed tlat council still plans to Old joint meeting with the police commission sometime next month to clarify their respective areas of responsibility. The new council's action represents an about-face • from the stand taken by the previous council at its final regular meeting in Novem- ber. At that time a number of councillors questioned the new benefit, which was awarded by the Wingham Board of Police Commis- sioners in a three-year con- tract signed earlier this year, and council declined to pass the bylaw. Former councillor James A. Currie objected that council had been given no infdrmation about the early- retir,ement award, describ- ing it as a luxury the town cannot afford. Ata subsequent meeting of - the police commission, Mr. Kopas had proposed a joint meeting of the commission and the new council, and as recently as last week he had said such a meeting "should precede further considera- tion of the (early-retire- ment) bylaw." However the bylaw was on the agenda for Monday night's inaugural meeting of council. The police benefit repre- sents an additional cost to the town of $41,519 in a lump sum or $72,750 spread over 15 years. from the crime. The accused were sentenced to :jail terms in September • and the property was returned.to its owner. • On May 31 Const. Daer was dispatched to 'a parked vehicle' left overnight on a commercial' • lot. Although the vehicle itself revealed nothing ' unusual, serial number checks on articles found in the truck showed them to have been stolen recently from the Goderich area. Two persons were arrested for possession of stolen property and are currently awaitijig trial. Articles valued at approxi- mately $2,000 were returned to the owner. The third incident con- cerns the recovery of the wallets stolen from the Wingham arena Oct. 28 and subsequently found in a car in Goderich. Most of the discussion at the meeting dealt with. en forcement of the new two- hour parking bylaw along the main street of Wingham. Chief Wittig reported that Pat Angus, the department secretary and an auxiliary police officer, has been patrolling the street and chalking tires, adding he had received "a number of positive comments about her being on the street. Mr. Moreland noted that the police commission had not received any direction from town council on how it wants the bylaw enforced. "This is just a trial run. Jack Kopas, mayor -elect, suggested the ' commission should ask council to put in writing - its expectations for parking enforcement, ad- ding this would be an ex- t:ellent topic to add to the agenda of the joint meeting the commission hopes to hold with council next month. It takes considerably more time to enforce parking without the »meters, Chief , Wittig reported, saying the police will "do as much, as we can to the hest of our ability." However he noted that on the list of priorities involving police work, parking is probably near the bottom. If council is not -satisfied with the results, - can appoint someone else to do the job or else change the system, he suggested. William Harris, the retir• - ing mayor, repeated his prediction that the removal - of the meters will prove a failure. "1 hope they hung onto them, because I bet in five. years they I the meters) will be hack in," he declared. He said he hopes the• change has been for the good of the town, "hut 1've had a FIRST SECTION ibt 191 bbanciezeimiNe bain Wingham, Ontario, Wednesday, Dec. 11, 1985 Offer of advice brings eviction threat at council The chairman of one of the town's advisory committees was threatened with eviction from the council chamber Monday night for trying to offer advice to council on a matter it was considering. The incident came near the end of the lengthy but otherwise uneventful inaugural meeting of the Wingham Town Council when Ernest Eaton, chair- man of Heritage Wingham (the local architectural con- servation advisory commit- tee) attempted to speak to council on the subject of two bylaws being proposed to clear up the incorrect designation of a heritage property. Newly -elected Mayor Jack Kopas told council the bylaws were required for "more appropriate identifi- cation" of a property and had been prepared by the town solicitor. At this point Mr. Eaton, who frequently attends meetings of council and had been an observer throughout the meeting, raised his hand for permission to address council. However Mr. Kopas refused to hear from him. "This meeting is not open to the public.... The chair does not recognize the member of the gallery," the mayor declared, without looking at the man who had also been his closest rival in the mayoralty election, losing by seven votes. He said the public may only address council as a del4gation. "Does the chair not recognize its own committee to give advice?" Mr. Eaton inquired, then asking whether the council might consider "a momentary recess to the benefit of council" in order to receive his information, which he said was intended to prevent later embarrassment on the part of council. "I hope the chair will not have to request the member of the public to vacate the chamber," Mr. Kopas responded. "This is very embarrassing for us." Following this exchange council resumed discussion of the bylaws, which dealt with the heritage designation of a cast iron fence located on a residential property on Victoria Streo.t. The fence had • received heritage designation in 1983, however council was told the property description in the original bylaw was found to be in- correct, creating problems for an adjoining landowner. Council eventually voted to PUC employees are awarded five per .cent The Wingham Public Utilities Commission ha's granted its employees an across-the-board pay in- crease of five per cent for 1986. The increases, approved at a meeting held last Thursday evening, will bring PUC employees here' up to par with those at other PUCs in the district, according to Chairman Roy Bennett. Manager Ken Saxton's annual salary goes to $44,289, while PUC Superintendent Ken Simmons will earn '.$34,450 in 1986. The salary of PUC office manager and commission secretary -treasurer Brenda Adams will go to $21,793 in 1986 aid office,employee Don McKay will make $16,482 next year. The hourly rate fora PUC lineman. will to go $13.70 from $13.04. Mr. Bennett said the commission members also will be requesting a five per cent increase in their own honoraria. The chairman currently is paid just over $1,000 per year for his work on the com- mission, while the other two members ' received ap- proximately $200 less. The increase in the commission honoraria must be approved by town council. pass both bylaws, the first revoking the bylaw passed in 1983 and the second re - designating the property with the correct description. Councillor Bill McGrath asked for assurance that all was being done correctly this time, and Mr. Kopas assured him that it was. However after the meeting Mr. Eaton said council had erred once again, this time in failing to follow the procedure set down by the Ontario Heritage Act for dealing with such bylaws. The Act requires con- sultation with LACAC and public notification before a bylaw is either passed or. repealed, he explained, and neither was done in this case. He also pointed out that the revoking bylaw passed by council is incorrect in that it contains the new land description rather than the old one. Had it been routed through LACAC, as required by the Act, or had council permitted him to speak at the meeting this could all have been cleared up, he said. . Single Copy 50c CHAIN OF OFFICE—Outgoing Mayor William Harris presented the mayor's chain of office to his successor, Jack Kopas, during ' c swearing-in ceremony preceding the start° of the inaugural meeting of the Wingham Town Cot,,incil on Monday night. McGrath wins council seat Recunt confirms Kopas Although his margin of Victory shrank to just seven ' votes, a judicial recount last week confirmed the election of Jack Kopasas the. new mayor of Wingham. • The final tally was 417 votes, representing 36.6 per cent of the total votes cast, for Mr. Kopas, 410 votes (36 per cent) for Ernest, Eaton and 312 votes (27.4 per cent) for Tom Burrell, the third candidate. In a separate recount concerning the election for council seats, Bill McGrath managed to overcome an apparent two -vote victory by Dianne Grummett to claim. the sixth and final council seat. The initial count had Ms. Grummett winning by a margin of 541 votes to 539. .However the recount last Wednesday found an ad- ditional two votes for Mr. McGrath while Ms. Grum- mett lost four, giving ,him a 541 -to -537 victory. Candidates had until Monday to challenge the recount, but Clerk -Treasurer Byron Adams, who also was chief returning officer for the. election, said Monday afternoon he had not been notified of any intention to mount a challenge. There also is a provision in the Elections Act allowing 90. days to challenge the validity of an election. If successful, such a challenge would require a complete re - vote. The recount, . which was requested by the Wingham Town Council as being in the public interest, was made necessary when Mr. Eaton hell of a time• finding a THE GRADE 6 PUPILS from Mr. Whiteley's class at the parking space arou d here Wingham Public School held a "Sex -Change Day" last recently." Friday with the boys dressing up as girls and vice versa. Everybody said they had fun dressing different for one day, but were glad to revert back to their old roles when Friday was over. discovered a discrepancy in the vote count for mayor at Poll 5, where the number of votes counted for the three mayoralty, -candidates ex- ceeded the number of ballots reported as cast. Mr. McGrath filed a separate request for a recount in the council election. Mr, Eaton said following the recount he was satisfied the discrepancies had been cleared up. Although the recount did .not change the results of the mayoralty election, it did produce a number of changes in the vote counts. While the official results initially showed Mr. Kopas with 428 votes, Mr. Eaton with 415 and Mr. Burrell with 318, the recount changed the numbers to 417, 410 and 312 respectively. A total of 41 ballots were unmarked and 15 were rejected as spoiled. Ad deadline is advanced As our issue during the week of Dec: 23 will be coming out on Monday, Dec. 23, please call us by next Thursday, Dec. 19,,with any classifieds you wish to have published in the Dec. 23 issue. This Monday will of course be the regular deadline for the Dec. 18 issue. Art Clark is chairman, of board of ed. Art Clark of Wingham was acclaimed chairman of the Huron County Board of Education at the board's inaugural meeting last Thursday in Clinton. Mr. Clark represents the Town of Wingham, as well as the Townships of Turnberry and Howick on the board. Mr. Clark, vice chairman of the board for the past two years, was unchallenged in his bid for the chairman's position and all positions on the board were filled by acclamation, he said. John Jewitt of Londesboro was acclaimed vice chair- man and Eugene Frayne of Goderich is past chairman. Joan Van Den Broek of Saltford was acclaimed chairman of the education committee, Tony McQuail of West. Wawanosh Township will head the management committee and Graeme Craig of Walton was ac- claimed chairman of the personnel committee.