The Wingham Advance Times, 1995-02-15, Page 3OFINES
AY, fEDRUARY 15,1895
Group hopes toattract tai interest
'Continued from front page
The land on which the mill is lo-
cated is under the auspices of the
conservation authority and is al-
ready
Following nan g thee initial meeting
with the MVCA, the authority's
general manager, Ross Duncan,
presented a report to the authori-
) ty's directors at their Dec. 14 meet-
ing, and the project was given ap=
proval in principle by , the
directors. It is likely the MVCA
Foundation would be willing to act
' as treasurer for the project.
A visual inspection by engineer
Art Clark of Wingham established
the structure is basically sound.
The conservation authority in-
tends to apply fpr two summer
students under the Environmental
Youth Corps and the Summer Ex-
perience Program. One student
will research the history of the
mill and the other will research
markets, source grants, etc.
TIME FRAME
The group would like to restore
the mill and surrounding. park area
as a centrepiece for a number of
possibilities, including:
—To attract tourists to the area;
—To create employment and
business opportunities ' in the
township;
—To create fundraising opportu-
nities for township organizations;
—To enhance the vitality of How -
ick Township;
—To use the midi and conserva-
tion park area as an educational
resource for industrial, social, cul-
tural and natural history;
—To preserve and promote the
heritage of the township.
Already involved in the project
besides interested individuals and
the conservation authority are
community andchurch groups
and the municipality.
The group also has established
a time frame for the restoration
project. The aim. is to have the
mill and its gift shop open in May
1996, as well as have the park
area improved and summer events
planned.
Building
official
presents
report -
Paul Josling, Turnberry building
inspector, gave a report on the
township building activity in 1994.
He made the report at the Feb. 7
meeting of council.
Josling reported that permits rep-
resenting $1,878,816 in farm and
commercial buildings, residences,
additions and renovations were is-
sued in 1994 in Turnberry.
The township realized $8,850 in
building permit fees and paid Jo -
sling $10,331.95 in wages and ex-
penses.
Although the permit fees did ng�t
cover the building inspector's wag-
es and expenses, Josling said Turn -
berry's permit rates are in line with
other local municipalities. He did
not recommend increasing them
and council members agreed.
"It's hard to put up (the cost of)
permits," said Deputy Reeve Mery
Baker. "Part of it should be ab-
sorbed here (at council)."
When asked how many permits
he is missing, Josling said it is hard
to know. Interior renovations can
be hard to pick up as all the work is
being done inside. Any renovatins
over $2,000 require a permit and
any building larger than 100 square
feet.
It was suggested that a reminder
of the building permit requirements
and fee schedule be inserted in this
year's Turnberry tax bill.
Permits issued in 1994 'in Turn -
berry include:
--6 demolition permits;
--5 barns housing animals;
--11 farm storage buildings;
--2 silos;
® --1 steel granary;
4 commercial structures;
--7 new residences;
--11 residential additions;
--4 residential renovations and;
--1 swimming pool.
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Old Gorrie MIII...A group of Howick residents, as well as the Maitland Valley Con-
servation Authority, are interested in restoring the old Gorrie flour mill. An ambitious program
for restoration has ben planned to include the surrounding parklands. (Banner Photo)
• By May 2000 the mill machi z. funding have been identified.
ery is to be restored and complet- --'`_'f'tltial fund-raising activities
ed, the gift shop operating at max- could include: outdoor concerts or
imum, school tours established plays in the park, using local tal-
and a pictorial history finished. ent; a 'Market in the Park' in the
By May 2006, which will be form of an outdoor farmers' mar-
Howick Township's 150th birth- ket; a 'Picnic in the Park' with out -
day, the mill machinery is to he door barbecues, corn ?oasts and
operational for demonstration pur- old fashioned picnics, duck races,
canoe races, etc.
HISTORY
The Gorrie mill was built in
1856 by the seven Leech brothers,
who arrived in the area in 1855
and purchased land from the
Greers, who had settled there the
previous year.
They laid out the village with
two business blocks, a large saw-
mill and a 'grist mill, calling it
poses only. r,
The group would also like to in-
volve the , villages of Fordwich
and Wroxeter, possibly using the.
Maitland River as a.link, as well
as the rest of the township.
Similar projects have been
completed in other parts of Cana-
da and the United States and in-
formation is being gathered on
them. Several sources of potential
Gorrie after the town near their
parents' home in Ireland. The set-
tlement had been called Howick
Village.
In 1867 the mill was remodeled
into a three storey building. It was
unusual in that it was one of the
few [lour mills, in contrast to the
grist mills in the area.
By 1879, six of the brothers had
sold their shares in the mill to
Robert Leech. According to histo-
ry, the last owner/operator of the
mill was Benjamin Maguire from
1922-1962.
In 1962 the Gorrie Community
Club headed by H. J. Hyndman
and R. W. N. Wade began negoti-
ations with Mr. Maguire to pur-
chase the site. Later that year the
MVCA bought the property.
911 planning moves swiftly,
County still couple years away
By FREDGROVES
Special to the Advance -Times
GODERICH - While ,the 911
emergency phone service is still, at
least a couple of years away for
Huron County, things seem to be
moving along quite quickly.
On July 7, county council ap-
proved the establishment of a work-
ing committee. Since that time a
special committee of council has
been meeting on a regular basis to
discuss the biggest step in the pro-
ject, municipal addressing.
Carol Leeming, 911 Project Co -
Ordinator ways that Ashfield
Township has been selected as th'e
municipality in which the -pilot test-
ing will he done. In other words,
the leg work of getting the address-
ing will be done there first. "We're
looking at support from the munici-
palities in order to proceed with
municipal addressing." said Leem-
ing.
What has been done in Ashfield
is that the roads have been driven
and distances between each proper-
ty have been measured. The com-
mittee is considering naming the
side roads and concessions in the
county and the goal is that every
property in Huron will have a
'unique' address. ''We need to sit
hack and see how we will do the
whole county. There needs to be
an overall scheme approved too,"
said Leeming.
Bell Canada has made a driver
and vehicle with a fifth wheel
measuring device available. The
vehicle will he recording the loca-
tion of all driveways and other 'in-
formation necessary. It is hoped
the survey crew will be able to cov-
er 60 kilometers of road each day
and complete all the necessary field
work. "Actual doing could take
four months. It's the related deci-
sions that take the time." said
Leeming.
One of those decisions, and one
of the most expensive parts of the
project, will be signage. Signs for
all road names and proper identifi-
cation signs on each resident. It is
estimated the cost of the intersec-
tion signs could he $100 while
those on each resident will be $20.
"The county is looking at co-
ordinating the signs. How they
(municipalities) pay for it is up- to
each municipality," said.Leeming.
When Bell Canada made its ini-
tial presentation to Huron County
they put 'forth an option as far as
the central- dispatching was con-
cerned. Bell can provide that ser-
vice, or the county can opt to set up
their own.
Presently the county is investi-
gating who would best be the Neu-
tral Answering Station and deter-
mine - the exact cost of this
particular service.
"That's one of those decisions
that have to be made down the way.
We know how much (Bell) will
cost," said Leeming.
And how much will 911 cost Hu-
ron County?
Besides the signs, there is also
the expense- of the service itself.
There would be a 32 cents charge
each month on every resident's
phone bill. This covers the up-
grades and continued maintenance.
If the county decides to have its
Township
shed to
open Apr. 8
Turnberry Township has sched-
uled the opening of its new munici-
pal garage for Saturday, April 8, at
2 p.m.
Council members were to inspect
the $277,000 shed last Saturday af-
ternoon, Feb. 11. The building is al-
most complete and the contractor.
Allan Domm of Ayton, soon ready
to hand over the keys provided it
meets council's specifications.
The works crew will move into
the new shed late this month or ear-
ly in March.
Representatives of all Huron
County municipal councils will he
invited to the opening, as will the
provincial and federal membes of
parliament. The municipal garage
was funded to the tune of $147,000
in supplementary subsidy from the
Ontario Ministry of Transportation.
own N.A.S. then it is estimated 'the
annual cost would be $1.47 per per-
son in the county which is expected
jo be paid out of the general county
tax levy.
And what exactly is enhanced
91 1 ?
This computer based system
links telephone numbers with prop-
erties. Calls made to 91'1 are
locked into the system and cannot
he broken by the caller.
Huron County residents should
look for the service to be in place in
a couple of years.
"A lot of things have to fall in
' place. Bell says it usually takes
two years to be able to dial 911,"
said Leeming.
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