Loading...
HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Wingham Advance-Times, 1985-12-18, Page 1;S'r.J .E3v %22 Bly-th, .Dista NCM 11-140 SALVATION ARMY CHRISTMAS BUREAU—The Salvation Army Citadel in Wingham is one of the distribution centres for the Huron County Christmas Bureau. Janet Hubbard, Hope Garlick (a cadet from Toronto), Greta Stokes and Mrs. (Capt.) Vera Linkletter display a few of the toys which have been collected for distribution to needy families. Mrs. Linkletter estimated that some 70 to 75 families in this area, including over 200 children, will receive food, clothing and toys from the Christmas Bureau this year. Wingham Town Council shorts Council passed a motion authorizing a refund of the $100 fee paid by Bill McGrath for a recount in the recent municipal council election. The recount enabled Mr. McGrath to claim the final seat on council by four votes over Dianne Grummett, who had originally been declared the winner. "Is it within our power (to grant the refund)?" Mayor Jack Kopas asked. Clerk - Treasurer Byron Adams promised to check. 0-0-0 Bill McGrath, William Harris and Donald Carter have been nominated as council's representatives on an ad hoc committee to study off-street parking in town. They will join an equal number of members repre- senting the Wingham Business Association. • A letter from the business association proposed four members for the committee, Pat Bailey, Bill Keil, Bill Crump and Patti Robertson, leading council to discuss whether it should also add a fourth member: However Mr. McGrath opposed putting "half of council" on the committee, saying he Hl, GORGEOUS!—Just before this picture was taken Helen Houghton. of Wingham was complaining that she never gets her picture in the paper nor ever gets a hug. Then along comes this handsome, orange -haired fellow and solved her two problems all in one day at last Satur- daySaritaClaus-Parade in Wingham Gas leak causes explosion at Madill A propane gas leak resulted in a minor explosion in one of the science laboratories at the F. E. Madill Secondary School in Wingham last week. Two students suffered minor burns in the blast, which also resulted in the temporary evacuation of the building, however damage was not -severe Monica Jenkins of Wingham and Jayson Piel of the Ripley area suffered burns to hands and arms and some singed hair in the explosion, which occurred when a leaky gas fitting allowed the propane to collect inside a desk, Principal Ken Wood report- ed. Teacher Murray Hunter immediately cleared every- one out of the room and the building was evacuated until the cause of the explosion could be determined. Mr. Wood said they found that a joint in a pipe leading to a gas burner had leaked, allowing the gas to pool inside a desk. The leak is being repaired and all other joints are being checked for similar leaks. .-'It--could-have--been-a very serious thing, but we were lucky and it wasn't," Mr. Wood commented, noting that Miss Jenkins and Mr. Piel were both back at school Monday after having missed one day. The accident, which oc- curred last Thursday bet- ween 2:30 and 2:45 p.m., was investigated by Wingham Fire Chief Dave Crothers and an inspector from the fuels safety branch. would prefer to see it stay with the smaller format. Council agreed to refer the matter back to the business association, asking it to consider appointing three members instead of four. The letter also asked that the $11,000 which had been designated for repairs to parking meters as well as $3,000 already alloted to off- street parking by the previous council be placed in a special "parking fund". The association promised to donate $1,000 a year to the fund. However this issue was not discussed by council at the 'meeting. • 0-0-0 Deputy Reeve William Harris suggested council `should send a letter to the WinghnBusiness Associa- tion asking whether it is interested in taking part in a Commercial Area Improve- ment Program (CAIP). Clerk -Treasurer Byron Adams said he was not sure at first what CAIP was, but found it to be a re-enactment .of the old BIA (business improvement area), provid- ing funds for improvement of designated business areas. He said the deadline for applications is early in the new year. Mayor Jack Kopas noted that such a program would require the active participa- tion of local businesses. 0-0-0 Council voted to table a grant. 'request from the Wingham ' and District Association for the Mentally Retarded until it can be studied by the finance and management committee. The AMR had asked for a $375 grant from the town toward the operation of the Silver Circle Nursery School. A motion was made to approve the grant, which is the same amount the town has given in previous years, however Councillor James McGregor said he is "not one for routine compliance" with such grant requests. While he has nothing against the AMR and ,agrees its work should be supported, council. must look at all requests for money objectively, he said. For example, would council also consider giving $375 to a progratn for "gifted" in- dividuals? He proposed the motion should be tabled until the finance and management committee could study it and make a recommendation. The vote on that motion resulted in a 4-4 tie and Mayor Jack Kopas declared it lost. When Councillor Bill McGrath questioned him, the mayor explained that in the case of a tie vote a motion is defeated. "No, if it's tied you make the decision," Mr. McGrath replied and, following a moment of hesitation, Mr. Kopas cast the decidinqg vote in favor of tablinlg the motion. "I'd hate to see you cop out on •the first one," Mr. McGrath told him. 0-0-0 • On a similar topic, Councillor James- McGretor also proposed council should seek more information before acceding to a request from the Kidney Foundation of Canada to conduct a door- to-door canvass in Wingham. Giving approval would be tantamount to endorsement, Dr. McGregor said, and he doesn't know that much about the Kidney Foun- dation. He commented -there have been "a lot of problems with well-meaning in- stitutions lately," such as the March of Dimes which was found to be using 90 per cent of the , funds collected for administration costs. He said he would like to know more,about what the foun- datiodoes with its money before supporting the request. However other members of council did not agree with him and a motion to grant ( Please turn to Page 6) as 111 FIRST SECTION Wingham, Ontario, Wednesday, Dec. 18, 1985 Validity of town election to be challenged in court The Wingham municipal election, already the subject of a judicial recount which produced one change in its outcome, is being challenged again. This time the validity of the entire election is being questioned, based on alleged technical errors in the preparation of the ballots and their handling. If successful, the challenge could require an entire new election. -The challenge is being mounted by Ernest Eaton, who ran a close second in the race for mayor and later was successful in calling for a recount based on irregular- ities in the vote tally. Mr. Eaton announced on Monday that he has retained a solicitor and posted the necessary security of $400. The next step is to file 'a notice of action iri the district court, which will be done as soon as possible, he said. "During the judicial recount, a number of factors emerged which cast doubt on the validly of the overall election," Mr. Eaton said. He noted that a recount can only consider a single task, recounting the ballots ac- cording to the rules, and is not the proper forum to find out "whether these anoma- lies might invalidate the election itself. "It now appears things which were required to be done were omitted and ct stain things which took 1i;1^e should not have, with Hie result that a significant number of people who voted properly and correctly in the election had their ballots rejected for reasons which were not their fault." He said steps are now being taken to place these matters before the proper court and learn whether the problems were serious enough to invalidate the election. If the court ,decides they are, it could be expected to order that a complete new election be held. While emphasizing he is not suggesting that any person • involved with the election" acted improperly, Mr. Eaton said errors oc- curred because of "problems with the system". These included errors in' the preparation of ballots, the spoiling of otherwise valid ballots durinproces- sing and ballots being mis- handled during counting or Fire dept. called to Petro .:Canada yard Quick actionprevented what could have :been a major fire last Tuesday evening at the Petro Canada distribution plant on North Street in Wingham, ac- cording._...to Wingham. Fire Chief Dave Crothers. Mr. Crothers said his department received the call at 8:20 p.m. last Tuesday to the .distribution centre, operated by Bob Foxton of Wingham. An electrical malfunction in the tractor of Town postmaster, assistant retire Long-time postmaster Gordon Sutcliffe and assis- tant postmaster Donna Johnston both retired from the-Wingha-m-Post Office -this fall. So far a new postmaster has not been appointed, however David Munn, the postmaster at Arthur, is filling in as _acting post- master. Mr. Munn explained that a number of retirements have taken.place this fall under an early-retirement program being offered by Canada Post. The program is available to senior staff with a number of years of service, he said, noting that the post- master at Walkerton also retired' the same day as the Wingham postrnaster; - Mr. Sutcliffe started his career with the post office at Clinton in 1951 and was appointed postmaster at Wingham in, 1960. Mrs. Johnston also started at Clinton in 1964. She was transferred to Victoria in 1971 and promoted to financial supervisor before being transferred to Wingham .as assistant post- master in the fall of 1980. a freight liner carrying 52,000 gallons of stove- and furnace oil, was the cause of the fire. When the fire department arrived on the scene a number of people who had been nearby cutting wood, Mr. Foxton and the truck driver had the fire under, control with the use of some dry chemicals. The fire department hosed down the area and waited until the fire was completely under control. The only damage was to the wiring of the tractor, said Mr. Crothers. The department responded to a call at 11:35 a.m., also last Tuesday, in Turnberry Township. The fire was in a dwelling at Con. 12, Lot 28, owned by Hank Versteeg, but occupied by Ronald McCarthy Mr. Crothers said poor installation of a wood stove caused the fire and he reported about $800 in damage. The Wingham. department- responded to a call at 7:55 this Tuesday morning td the Ray R.ameloo farm at Lot 9, Con. 6 of Morris Township The Wingham firemen were called in by the Blyth department to provide mutual aid backing. recounting, ne claimed. He noted that the town council has the opportunity to defend against the challenge and said he assumes it will do so. When contacted on Mon- day, Mayor Jack Kopas said he had heard rumors of a possible challenge, but pre- ferred to say little until the matter had been discussed by council. "My best reaction would be 'no comment'," Mr. Kopas said, noting the town has already been through one procedure to verify the election results. He said he wants "every doubt removed" as to the propriety of the election process and "if someone sees fit to challenge, that's his prerogative." However he suggested things "have reached a point where one might ,conclude sport is being made of our community," and he said that is unfortunate. Clerk -Treasurer Byron Adams, who is the chief electoral officer for a municipal election, said he did not know exactly how much it might cost if a new election had to be held. He put $5,000 in the budget for the last election, he• said, but that might be a little high. He estimated that costs, in- cluding printing, advertis- ing, supplies and payment of the poll clerks and deputy returning officers, might amount to between $3,000 and $4,000. - Single Copy 50c B GRADUATED Lorrie Mathers graduated with a Bachelor of Science and Engineering from 'the General Motors University at Flint, Michigan. Lorrie is the son of Ila and Arnold Mathers and the grandson of Mel and Janet Mathers and Gord Pengelly. He is presently employed by General Motors at Oshawa. (Bart DeVries Photo) Leona Armstrong named warden of Huron County History was made last week when Leona Arm- strong became Huron County's first woman warden. Mrs. Armstrong, reeve of Grey Township since 1981 and on council there since 1974', was. unchallenged in her quest for the warden's position. She was defeated in a similar bid last year by Paul Steckle, reeve of Stanley Township. In addition to being the county's first woman warden in its 140 -year history,' Mrs. Armstrong also is following a family tradition. Her father, Harvey Johnston, 'a one-time reeve of Morris Township, was warden during the early 1950s. The new Huron County ,' Museum, renovations to Huronview at Clinton and Ontario Hydro's plans for another transmission line through the eounty'all'-*ere cited as important issues for 1986 by Mrs. Armstrong. "The new .Huron County Museum will get underway in 1986. It is anticipated that an architect will be hired early in the year and that we will be in a position to break ground for phase. one Driver pleads guilty to criminal negligence The driver of a car in- volved in a collision which claimed three lives late last summer has pleaded guilty to a charge of criminal negli- gence causing death. Appearing at . Walkerton provincialilcourt last Thurs- day, Keyin Koehler, 20, of RR 5, Brussels, entered a guilty plea to the charge. In return two lesser charges of criminal negligence causing injury and failing to stop for police were withdrawn. He was remanded in cus- tody at the Walkerton Jail for sentencing Jan. 9. Mr. Koehler was the driver of a car which collided with a provincial police cruiser at Kinloss Aug. 3, killing two passengers in his vehicle as well as a provincial con- stable. sometime in late summer. When all the phases of the museum are completed we will be proud that we had a part in making it a reality," she said. Mrs. .Armstrong also said she hopes the. county can match a $716,000 grant provided by the province for renovations at Huronview. "Our elderly deserve the best and that means the right to live in the most com- fortable • and enjoyable surroundings possible...The province has recommended for approval $716,0Q0 for this project. Hopefully' we can work together to come up with the funds to match this grant without over -taxing our people." On the issue of Hydro's plans for a new transmission corridor, Mrs. .Armstrong said: "We must work together to make sure that the routes taken will have the least impact, if any, on our county." Aside from her interest in municipal politics, Mrs. Armstrong also spends many hours working for her church, the Women's Institute and Brussels Horticultural Society. She and her husband, Jim, a teacher at the Mitchell District High School, have four children. The new warden was presented with a county warden's pin, a • key to the county and a dozen roses. OPTIMIST CHRISTMAS PARTY—A large crowd of .children gathered around when Santa and Mrs. Claus came on the scene at Sunday's Optimist Children's Party at the Wingham Legion Hall. In addition to the visit from Old Saint Nick, the children watched cartoons and a magic show.