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-
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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.