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HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Wingham Advance-Times, 1989-04-11, Page 1FIRST SECTION Wingham, Ontario, Tuesday, April 11, 1989 Lake Wingham proposal put on 'hot seat' at meeting Single Copy WO The Wingham Business Associa- tion's Lake Wingham proposal was put on the "hot seat" at a public 'meeting last week. Over 50 interested citizens attended last week's association - sponsored meeting. While some said they could see merit in the concept, others raised serious9on- cerns. Jack Kopas, WBA president, chaired the meeting and welcomed past president Elmer Squires, the man who proposed the idea just over one year ago.. The lake concept is not new, said Mr. Kopas, but it never has been pursued. A lake could provide such benefits as recreation, tourism, increased property values, water - Township's spending up me per cent fowl and fishing habitat and even have a hydro -generating capacity. "The association feels it is time to put the concept to the test" he said before introducing Mr. Squires. A veteran of the Churchill Falls power development, Mr. Squires first said the term "lake" is a mis- 1:Plrer. protiposal,wouy4,deyel; 'Op the river for the benefit'of farm land and people along its shores. The proposal would see a dam constructed at Zetland Bridge to raise the water level to 1,005 feet above sea le0v,,ffiproximately the same level as "Sfiring flood waters. The river bed *Iso would be widened an piled to create enough flo iwatetifrom becoming stagnant. Damming the river would help the tax base and increase property values, said Mr. Scjoires. "The resource is there and the technical expertise available, all it requires is the will," he said. However, he said, there- is no thought of "bulldozing" the project head. Plans must be made, eau- ( Continued on Page 2A) 's first priority is to update clam's cost estimates A citizens' group has been formed to study alternatiVes'for Wingham's Lower Town Dam and its first .priority is to update four- year-old engineering estimates to 1990 p/ices. • —Rick--Whiteleyra, mern -the.--,eammittee!s-first-job -is' ter tipdatt4"tiorteillivetioterfitatliTfittigAiti5thid man of the committee Bill Glassier While h put forward, including a new dam, ham's industrial sector. a weir and even leaving the area a Mr. Tervit admitted that if the greenbelt for recreation. Prices upper dam were to go, damage to a quoted a number of years ago structure at Lower Town could be range from $100,000 to $600,000, substantial. which is why Mr. Whiteley said the However M W Spending for township purposes in Turnberry will increase by nine per cent in 1989. Clerk -Treasurer Dorothy Kelly 4 presented the 1989 budget for coun- cil's approval at the first monthly meeting. In addition to allotting more money toward roads this year, council also added to a number of reserve funds. While council has been notified of the county mill rate increase, schoOl iiOard figures may not be available until the end of this _month. This may change the due date for the first installment of township -taxes to later than the tra- ditional end of May date. • y cau- Wingliagt Optimist Club, is chair- estiMates. Saying "what if" is not the answer has agreed to act as treasurer, whil John Chippa is secretary A number of interested citizen attended last Monday evening' organizational meeting, the consen sus of which was that somethin must be done with the dam an pond area. Les Tervit, manager of the Mait- land Valley Conservation Authori- ty, was on hand to answer ques- tions and former Wingham Mayor Jack Kopas provided background. The dam washed out during heavy flooding in 1984 and its fate has been the subject of discussion ever since — at the council and community level. Numerous proposals have been e admitted he is working either. e on a $500 budget supplied by the When contacted after last week's Wingham Optimist Club, Mr. meeting, Mr. Whiteley said the s Whiteley said he hopes it will not group will meet again once the cost s prove too costly to merely update d earlier estimates. At last week's meeting, a number of ideas were up for discussion, including the Lake Wingham pro- posal, which also was discussed at a separate public meeting last Wednesday evening. While the consensus of those pre- sent appeared to be to restore the pond to its original state, a number of people expressed concern. One man said the town's main concern should be the Howson Dam, which may have to be replaced in the near future and is a direct link to Wing- v7A24.0' 010v; 1 0 PHAIM 104(047 'atav fy0, •///0"" frete TURNBERRY SCIENCE FAXR—Students at Turnberry Central School were judged on science fair projects last week and winners are: Grades 6-7, Jane Darling, first, Dana Mathers, second, Patrick Nelemans, third and Grades 7-8, Colin Darling, first, ,Tom Hawkins, second and Janice Nicholson, third-; Colin and Tom will compete at the county -wide science fair April 21 and 22 at Clinton. updates have been received. The -next step would be to consid- er the alternatives, select one and then petition the appropriate gov- -e'rnment ministries for approval. Once approval is in place, the committee would get down to the serious business of fund-raising, Mr. Whiteley adds. At this point, town council's only commitment is a moral one. Damage minor • in car fire on Wingham Fire Chief Harley Gaunt reports minor damage in a car fire Monday morning three kilo- metres east of Wingham on High- way 86. The call came at 6:55 a.m., according to Mr. Gaunt. The vehi- cle, a 1978 Chevrolet, is owned by Vernon Bridge of Brussels. Mr. Gaunt says a short in wiring system caused the fire, which resulted in $200 damage. Nursery school gets good report The Wingham Nursery School received an "A" in a recent assess- ment report, Wingham Town Coun- cil has learned. At its regular April meeting, council was told that the report was based on an inspection tour by rep- resentatives of the Ontario Ministry of Community and Social Services. The announcement was made during the report of council's day care board representative, Council- lor John Schenk. "In summary, the report points out that the nursery school has an excellent program that runs very smoothly," Mr. Schenk said.