HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Wingham Advance-Times, 1984-01-05, Page 1First Section
Wingham, Ontario, Thursday, Jan. 5, 1984
Wingham council shorts
Budget guideline
The Town of Wingham has "died with the old council",
again set five per cent as the_ Councillor Jack Kopas said.
limit to which it hopes to hold - However both Councillor
spending increases during Tom Miller and William
the coming year. - Crump said they don't think
Councillor Jack Kopas, the town should be renting
finance -..chairman, told publicly -owned buildings to
council Monday night that " ' people in competition with
the finance and management local merchants.
d set five per r achan
'Mr.
committee ha
cent as a "tentative stan-
dard" for increases in all
committee budgets. The
increase would apply to
actual expenditures in 1983
operating budgets, and not to
one-time capital expenses,
he explained.
He noted this limit is in
accordance with the new
provincial guidelines for
1984.
He also set dates on which
the finance and management
committee will meet with
other committees of council
to review proposed budgets;
these reviews willbe held in
February.
Last year the -town also
adhered to 'a five per cent
budget ., increase, and 'was
successful in holding its
property tax increase to the
same five per cent level. In
reviewing the 1983 budget,
Mr. Kopas forecast the town
will end the year with a
modest surplus of $20,000 to
$25,000.
0-0-0
Fines for parking viola-
tions in the Town of Wing -
ham will rise, in some cases
substantially, under a new
schedule of fines approved
by ,council Monday night.
The newfine schedule was
presentedto councils,. by
Councillor *James A. Currie
in one . of his final acts as
chairman if the police
committee. Among other
things, it -raises the fine for
overnight parking on town
streets during the winter to
$10 for - a first offence and $25
for subsequent offences. '
The oldfine of $3.00 proved`
insufficient' incentive for
,people to keep..their cars off
the street, Mr. Currie said,
and recently.,police had to
have some cars towed away
to 'accommodate snow -
clearing crews. In response
to a question from Councillor
Tom Miller, he added that
the fine does not include the
cost of towing.
The fine for parking large
commercial vehicles on town
streets for more than two
hours also has gone to $10 for
a first offence and $25 for
subsequent offences.
Other fines for improper
parking or for parking ina•
restricted area have gone to
$7.50 from $3.00, while the
fine for improperly parking
bicycles has been, set at
$3.00.. ,
Police Chief Robert Wittig
explained_that bicycles must
be parked upright on a stand
and not laid on their sides or
leaned against' a' parking
meter or other post in a way,
that might interfere with
pedestrian traffic along the
sidewalks:
0-0-0
Council plans to consult its
solicitor before passing
regulations • governing the
rental of the Wingham
Armouries.
Reporting for the property ,.
committee, Councillor Bruce
Machan told councila
controversy had arisen
regarding who can rent -the
Armouries,' fon what reasons
and the .amount of .the -rental _
fee. He explained that some
local merchants had com-
plained after the building
was rented to someone from
out of town who wanted to
hold a sale •of merchandise
there.
A previous Council had 'a
policy •of not renting town
buildings to profit-making
• enterprises, but that policy
said
he
would'
like to get a legal opinion council shoulitchecieWiththie,
before having a new policy members of the board first,
drawn up. to see how they feel about it,
Council also ^ tabled a noting .that most of them are
motion which would have volunteers.
turned over the operation Later in the meeting,
and administration of the council appointed two. neat/
. Armouries to the recreation members to the recreation
and community- centres board. Mrs. Lynn Marr and
board. Mr. Crump suggested Grant Currie will take the
places of retiring 'board
members Paul Paton' and
Mrs. Shirley Walker:
0-o-0
Council passed a ,zoning
ttylaw amending the zoning
on the Mr.. -Carl an used car
lot to C1-1' fropli C1. The
rezoning permits- the use of
the land for `&a business
THERE' WAS LOTS.OF' SNOW In Wingham last week,
as.the town started to dig itself ,out fromunder• the
Christmas blizzard„ Traffic on the main street" crawled
between high barnks of snow, and every building and
• office with service shop
including auto repairs and
touch-ups and general auto- -
mobile maintenance", in
addition to all other C1 uses.
".'his is another after -the -
fact situation," Councillor
James A., Currie objected,
but Councillor Tom Miller
disagreed, saying it is a
"clarification". There was a
problem with the definition
ofpermitted uses under C1
zoning, he explained, adding
that a public meeting on the
rezoning proposal had
produced no objections. - "
0?0-0
Criticisms about' snow
clearing in town prior to the
Christmas blizzard sparked
a mild debate at the meeting.
Councillor ,James A.
Please tush to Pag, 5
NEW YEAR'S BABY—Little Breanne Patricia Gutscher is this year's New Year's
baby at the ,Wingham and' District Hospital. Breanne made her debut at six Mounts;
two ounces, Monday morning at 10:10. She. is the third child'of'Patricia and Brian
Gutscher of RR 1, Formosa, but their first girl.. With the baby are her mother and
Noreen Gnay who presented Mrs. Gutscher with a gift on behalf of,the Auxiliary to the
Wingham and District Hospital.
Pierre Trudeau will resign
Local notables take a, stab
at making predictions for '84
The year ,1984 has been
long heralded as the year of
- .. RPB g Broth ' ate. orcl g, ta,,
ver What Alias 19$4 fitild ,.
store for us? ,We asked a few
local notables -about their
predictions for the upcoming
tree wore a heavy crown Of snOw. Byy this week,
however, things started to -get back tonormal as town
works crews Used a lull in the storms to clear streets
and haul away the accumulation from the business area.•.
county will ltd farewell. programs for agriculture.
Pierre Trudeau and th . Also, a• freedom ^ of in-
ar y ilal u forrrtation act,is desperately
moo# tlo+t ' needed ,wad
a pew"Ierite �°;` Mrs Cie said • becoming. inereasinngly�'�r
She ; ,thinks an outside con- cult to get hiformatiod lodg-
tender will win and he, or ed in the memories of
she; will be a bilingual- government computers.
year:.. Anglophone, ' -` ' - . These changes are needed to
All-inall, onsidering the
unusual weather of the past
year, . nobody would touch
that topic with a 10 -foot pole.
But thereis near consensus ,
inonearea Trudeau 11 go, .
Jane Cere, a St. He n's
to ned
a •-prevent the Machines from.
But it will be to no avail', taking charge, he said.
because the Conservatives politically, Mr. Elston said
will win the ensuing election
anyway.
,' And, briefly, Walter
Mondale . will' be the Accid•ent '
Democratic contender for
; parea; astrologer
olitical scientist, sees a.
struggle' developing•between
the giant multinational
corporations and govern-
ment and labor which will
not end until the end of the
century. -
Economically, 1984 will
see • things become
"marginally better" in
terms of economic growth''
inflation and;unemploymen
In the political arena e
lit
the United States presidency -
in November. He will run
against Ronald Reagan and
List might beat him.
Huron -Bruce MPP Murray
Elston says •1984 should be a
better .year economically.
But there' are two areas that
need some' work yet:
agriculture and :freedom of
information.
The -province . r
oba
blY
will
institute some stabilzation
Controversy resumes at meevng of town council
The new year.began where
the. old. one _'left off, with a.
renewal of the .controversy
among members of the
Wingham ToWa. Council at
the January meeting,- held
Monday night.
Mayor William Harris had
• prepared an address urging
councillors to "forget about
personal prejudices and
feelings and work together
for the good of the town," but
before he got to' deliver it
council had to weather
another storm, with several
councillors accusing a
colleague of smearing
council in a letter to the
newspaper.
The meeting opened with
council going into closed.
session for about 15 minutes
at the request of Councillor
James A. Currie to discuss
an undisclosed topic.
When the open session
began; Councillor William
Crump led ;off by accusing
Mr. Currie of "literally
smearing" all members of
council and the adminis-
tration of the town in a letter
to the editor of The'Advance
Times.. .
He said the letter accused
Snowaramas planned
to start in January
Snowmobilers who want to
really enjoy winter, 'and do
something' good at the same
time, are being invited to get • .
involved with one of the
world's largest snow events,
Timmy's Snowarama for
Easter Seals.
The snowarama is
celebrating its 10,th an-
niversary: in 1984 and this
year promises to be
especially exciting. During
the past nine years, snow-
mobilers have raised more
than $5 million to help'
physically disabled children
in Ontario.
To kick, offsthe next 10
years, 28 snowmobile rallies
and 10 new crosscottntry ski
rallies are , being 'planned
throu: out the province. The
first a e scheduled for Jan.
21, w' ' rallies set for every
we : end nmore than 35
locations til March 4.
La . Fear the "Timmy
Run" in this area had to be
cancelled due to lack of
Snow, but that appears most
unlikely this year. The date
for the snowarama in the
Bruce region has keen set for
Jan. 29. -•Wingham will be
among the starting points,
with pledge sheets available
from .11.&M Rentals, Fred
McGee, Lynn Hoy or the
Turnberry Tavern. -
The .Wingham Lions Club
is the local Easter Seal club
which is helping to organize
the event.
,
council of bad faith and
sabotaging the town zoning
bylaws, and called on Mr.
Currie to. either substantiate
it with names, places. and
dates, or to make a public
'apology or resign from
council.
His concerns were echoed
by Councillors Tom Miller
and Jack Kopas, who said if
Mr. Currie has the facts to
support his statements he
'should furnish them to
council.
Mayor Harris, on the other
hand, said he felt Mr.
Currie's letter.. had , said
things which needed. to be -
said, and he did not intend to
ask the councillor to resign. '
"As far as I'm concerned, '
I thought it was a damn pod
letter to the editor." -
Mr. Currie himself insisted
that his response had been
only to the editor of the
'newspaper. "He had his
opinion and I have mine. I
standby my words."
He said he has apologized
before and will apologize
again when it is necessary.
"This time it's certainly not
necessary."
When challenged to sup-
port his allegations, he said
he was quite prepared
"bring the record out".
"You don' find it yourself ;
it's all there," he told Mr.
Kopas, saying•all that is
necessary is to review the
record of all decisions of
councils and planning boards
since the . inception -of the
zoning . bylaw and compare
them �.
Eventually council agreed
to hold a special meeting, in
camera, . to discuss the
matter in detail. Mr. Currie
said the meeting should be
closed to the press and public
because former council
members are involved..
"Otherwise you might as
well take it to a court, of
law."
The furor arose over a
No action planned'"
on zoning charges
It appears that Wingham
Town Council intends to take
no further action on charges
that the developer of. five
homes on the old Lloyd
factory lot 'violated sections
of the zoning bylaw.
Council met in closed
session for about 4'0 -minutes
Monday night to discuss the
contents of a letter from its
solicitor on the matter. When
it returned to open session,
Mayor William Harris said
the contents of the letter had
been "reviewed ' and duly
noted", and council passed
on to 'other business.
Following tb„e meeting,
Mr. Harris- declined to in-
dicate what the solicitor's
advice had been, but said
council does not, intend to
pursue it further.
Council , referred the
.dlatter to its solicitor
following the December
meeting, at which Ernest
Eaton; chairman of the
town's property standards
committee, charged that at
least some of the homes had
been built illegally.
He said at least two homes
were built on one lot as a
result of building permits
being issued before a
severance was obtained, and
claimed the building in-
spector had been -misled by a
forged plan showing lot
boundaries which did not
exist in fact. ;
also suggested..that to.
t the severance retro-
actively would make the
town an accessory after the
fact in the matter.
Mr. •Eaton, who attended
the meeting Monday night,
made no fu`ther comment to
council on the :matter. tie
later said he understood that
the town committee of ad-
justment had granted con-
sent for the required sever-
ances, which would bring the
development into compli-
ance with the zoning bylaw.
letter to the editor which
appeared in the Dec. 21
edition off The Advance -
Times. In the letter, which
was critical of an editorial
which had appeared in the •
paper the' previous week,
Mr. Currie stated, among
.other things:
"I have no doubt in my
mind that in addition to this
(bad advice/ our official
plan and the zoning bylaw
were deliberately sabotaged
from within council because
of expediency, political and
personal opportunism and
plain old bad faith.''"
closes
highway
he feels,all eyes are on
Ottawa waiting to , see what
`� wig _ If "'Cu0
r `tdi' ear ere
be^a pr cial pleat -UM
in '84, ibly .withilut
Davis at 'the helm of. the.
Progressive Conservatives,
But with_visits from the
,.Sween and the Pope, plus the
province's bicentennial, Mr. •
Elston. said he is rather
doubtful there will be no
e:aetion: .
James H. Currie of"Centre
Street in' Wingham doesn't
know 'whether Pierre
Trudeau will survive the
;year oar' not, but local '"
historian John Pattison says
he thinks there will .be an
election this year with "The
Jaw That Walked", Brian
Mulroney, coming out on top.
Mr: Pattison said our
world. is becoming closer to..
Orwell's vision of 1984
because "everybody is
sticking their nose into your
business" and it's- getting
harder every day to get
information.
Gordon Godkin, also of
Wingham, said Trudeau will
not resign this year, just
because he likes to do the
opposite of what people think
he will do.
Reeve Bill Elston of
Morris Township 'says the
opposite: he thinks Trudeau
will be gone after April' 1, but
he is not, sure who will
replace him,
Patricia Hay; former
librarian at the Wingham
.Public Library, said she
thinks inflation will rise in
1984, due to increased food
costst, Also, interest rates
will continue to improve.
An American presidential
electidn in 1984 is a Certainty,
but Mrs. Hay said she has a
feeling Jesse Jackson will be
the choice of the Democrats
to run 'against Reagan, • a
.shoe -in for the Republican
nod. But she's not making
any predictions about the
,,roast a duck when an elec- outcome of that one.
trical element in the stove Rea Grant, minister at the
oven malfunctioned, starting - Wingham Unitec� Church,
a fire which caused an said he has no predictions as
estimated $50 damage to the such for the upcoming year,
stove. ' but there are some things he
The chief reported that would like . to see happen in
during the pasfyear firemen ]',•4.
responded tat!
o 87 fire calls First of all, he hopes the
around this area, anunusual-unemployment situatiOn' will
ly. high. number, of which improve this year because it
about 60 were classified as •' is a shame to have so many
major fires. qualified young people out of
He estimated fire calls - work,
were up by 10 per. cent over Also, Mr. Grant'said he
1982, and said the r�niajorfty hopes there will be an easing
resulted from efeetrIeal of world tefbsions, because
malfunctions or from wood- "we haven't come out of the
burning stoves and fire- old year . in very good
,,lac, • shape."
A twowvehicle accident on
Highway 4 south of Tees -
water last Friday resulted in
thehighway being closed to
traffic for several hours.
Provincial police at
Walkerton reported there
.were no injuries in the
mishap, when a pickup truck
and a station wagon collided
on a section of die highway
which had been narrowed by
drifting snow.
The pickup truck, driven
by • Douglas Gaeler of
Chesley, was southbound on
the highway and had been
forced by drifts into the
northbound • lane when it
encountere'd.the northbound
station 'wagon driven by
William Clark of ,Flesherton.
Damage was estimated at
$800 to the 1976 Dodge pickup
and $1,500 to the 1979 Ford
station wagon. No charges
were laid.
Firefighters called
to two minor fires
Wingham firefightgrs
were called out to two minor
fires over the Christmas and
New Year's holiday period,
ched.iief; Dave ,Crothers .report -
On the night of Dec. 26,
firemen were called to a
chimney fire at the home of
Raymond McDonald on
'James Street, Wingham. It
was, extinguished without
damage.
they were called out again
on the afternoon of New
Year's Day to an incident at
the Gordon Carter ;house on
Josephine Street, Winghatlt:
Chief Crothers reported that
,, Mr. Carter was preparing to
.i*
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