HomeMy WebLinkAboutWingham Advance-Times, 1981-05-18, Page 1t
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KEVIN SMITH of Wingham won the Honor Award as
the top boy of all four AWANA Clubs at the Wingham
Bible Chapel. Claude Martin, AWANA Club con -
mender, presents the award. AWANA, which stands
for "Approved Workmen Are Not Ashamed”, is a
Christian youth group just completing its first full
PUC facing deficit
in
ro rates
in harn
Customers of the Wingham
PublicAltilities..Conamission
can pipeet Webb their hydro
rates rise again later this
spring or summer to offset a
growing deficit in the PUC
hydro account.
Any interim increase still
must be approved by Ontario.
Hydro, which also decides
how much the PUC can raise
its rates, but it appears
likely consumers will be
paying at least four to five
per cent more for electricity.
Local customers got off
lightly earlier this year when
the PUC adopted a new rate
schedule prepared for it by
Ontario Hydro which. in-
creased the retail cost. of
power by only 3.1 per cent.
Tom McConkey, a Hydro
representative, told the
commissioners at that time.
that due to the hefty 16.4 per
cent increase in rates last
year, the small increase
shouldsee it through 1981
in spite of the 9.3 per cent
increasein bulk power rates.
However at a meeting last
Tweek, commissioners
learned that during the first
four months of this year the
.PUC had accumulated a
deficit of more than $38,000
n itshydro account.
Commission Manager Ken
axton attributed the deficit
to the PUC being allowed
Only a three per cent in-
prease in revenue while its
post of power rose by nine
r cent, and he predicted
the situation will not im-
rove significantly unless
ithe PUC is allowed an in-
terim rate increase.
He pointed out that about
6 per cent of the revenue in
e hydro account goes
,
toward purchasing power
:from Ontario Hydro, which
'doesn't allow much leeway
rin trimming costs. He could
.',eut back on things like
aintenance, he said, but
hat would prove costly in
.:01e long run.
He said the commission
as never been more than
,000 in the red at this time
f year, and ideally should
shave about $60,000 or $70,000
n the bank to pay its next
ydro bill; instead it is
acing an overdraft.
He said he was surprised
t the low rate increase
anded down by Hydro back
11 January and reminded
mmissioners that he had
arned at the time it would
t ben enough. The PUC
ight have got by on a seven
eight per cent increase, he
ggested, although Com-
ission Chairman Roy
777
•
Bennett declared 13 per cent
•would have been "more like
it".
Mr. Saxton reported the
computer projection
prepared by Hydro forecast
$1.8 million in revenue for
the commission as opposed
to $1.3 million in bulk power
costs.
The, estimate of power
costs is .about right, he said,
but somewhere the computer
went wrong and the actual
revenue will be less than $1.5
million.
He said he has contacted
Mr. McConkey, who will do
some checking. Hydro can
allow an interim increase
halfway through the yearif
there was a mistake made in
Post Office
closed Monday
„ There will be no counter
service or rural delivery at
the Wingham Post Office on
Victoria Day, May 18.
However, the lock box will
be open and mail will be
collected from the red box in
front of the post office at
noon Monday. Outgoing mail
also will be collected -from
the street letter boxes in
town.
GERALD JEFFERSON
Gerald Jefferson of RR
1, Belgrave, is among the
160 students who will
graduate from the Ridge -
town College of Agricul
tural Technology May 22.
He graduates from the
Agricultural Production
and Management course,
majoring in field crops
and livestock.
year of operation here. About 60 children between
Kindergarten and Grade 8 are involved in the club's
various levels. Mr. Martin reported that Kevin actual-.
ly did two years work in one, including memorizing
more than 100 verses of scripture in one week.
could rise
this summe
the forecast, he -explained.
,W added it prohably will
a month or so before the
PUC learns whether another
rate increase will be per-
.mitted.
If it goes through, this
would be the first time the
PUC has had an interim rate
increase, Mr. Saxton said. It
probably should :ohave had
one during , one ' previous
year, but managed to strug-
gle through.
"I don't know if we can
struggle that far this year."
In other business, the PUC
is considering a policy which
would require new homes to
'display a house number
before any services are
connected.
Mr. Saxton reported the
matter has 'been discussed
during joint utilities — the
PUC, fire department,
police, town works depart-
ment, Bell telephone, etc. —
and members of that group
Students
design
hospital
posters
Winners have been
declared in a poster com-
petition sponsored by
Wingham and District
Hospital. Students in art
classes at F. E. Madill
Secondary School designed
posters commemorating the ,
hospital's 75th anniversary
this year,
The winning poster has
been reproduced by silk
screening and is on display
at various locations in
Wingham and surrounding
conrimunities.
It was designed by, Sheila
Dorsch of RR 5, Brussels,
who was' awarded the $25
first prize.
Second prize df $15 went to
Pam Springer of RR 3, Tees -
water, and third prize of $10
went to Anne Alton of RR 7,
Luck now • •
Jack Kopas, chairman of
the hospital board, ex-
pressed his appreciation for
the cooperation of the art
department at the high
school, headed by Dian
Joanisse, in organizing and
judging the contest. He also
paid tribute to Sandra
Schistad, an art student, for
her wdrk in silk screening
the winning poster.
favor such a policy.
He - explainedit,. gambe
difficult for firemen, ser-
vicemen or police to find the
'right house when. no num-
bers are displayed.
"We're the ones who can
enforce it," he said, noting
the PUC would refuse - to
make .hydro or water con-
nections until a number was
up. These numbers . would be -
assigned by the town ac-
cording to its numbering
plan.
He said the policy couldn't
be enforced on existing
homes, though homeowner&
could be encouraged to
display house numbers.
The 'co-mmissioners
authorized Mr. Saxton to
prepare a resolutionforthe
next PUC meeting.
fha
orming
o
profit, :ho
to buildditional'
housiidg,
This qu
astugrdyallttoc'
and
cfunnst
oic,
24 units*, if$' housing.
Council7SA4.lion, taken
during arneethig last week,
f0110‘14 h. recom-
mend4004dita its own
ad
hoc committee, on senior
citizens!, .h�ising and from
the municipal housing study
conducted byWoods Gordon
manage** •Igensul tan ts
CouncillaiOita Currie, who
presented the report of the
ad hoe :-Antnittee, told
council -4.41 committee
generally ,,,ireatisfied with
the Wobds,lptlon report and
urged council to accept its
recommendations and
proceed -tith, the housing
corporatimfr4
He said: the committee
originally had some
reservations -about the need
for • additional seniors'
housing, ,,t following a
meeting, represen-
tatives of Gordon and
the Ministry of Housing it
concluded, a need does
Hisre.
ncil has
eed with
icipal, non-
orporation
perate ad -
citizens'
'4.he town for
, a feasibility
'4.' .as start-up
d lead to
an additional
that while
would .draw away rcitn the
present:rental uflitstintwn,
in the tight rental In 1,1tet
which exists here \tny
vacancies would not 1. for
long.
He also assured co it
that there would be
financial risk to the to
since any operating losses,
the municipal housiii
corporation would be borne
entirely by the provincial
and federal governments.
However not all coun-
cillors were convinced the
housing corporation is a good
idea.
Councillor Bill Crump,
who led the debate, charged
.• • ,;•.•
-4s- 4
9
counciI agrees to. fig*
rofit .housing corpqr,
that this subsidized housing
would place the town in
unfair competition with
private developers.
He also said the study
admitted it was just guessing
at the need for housing, and
said he wasn't convinced a
need exists, claiming that
Bill County housing authority
has been "phoning around to
people in private housing"
trying to attract them to
public housing.
There are people now in
subsidized housing' who
shouldn't be there, he
charged, noting that
Wingham already has more
public housing than any-
where else in the county.
Mr. Currie responded that
while the committee agreed
with some of Mr. Crump's
misgivings about the impact
on private housing, the town
is proceeding responsibly.
He said it is to the credit of
previous councils that the
town has so much public
housing; they saw the need
arising and grew with it.
councillor Dick LeVan
pointed out' there is no
disadvantage to the town in
approving the housing
report, since it still must go
to the Ministry of Housing
for final approval.
There really is only one-
, '-.4,,v(-•)•',,i44,0„,,e, - '
on lo say • ,
contentious issue, he said:
whether the town should
enable the government to
subsidize housing in com- -
petition with private
-developers. He noted the
housing would be for senior
citizens only, adding that
most rental housing these
days, with the exception of a
few high-cost, luxury apart-
ments, is subsidized in one
way or another.
Reeve Joe Kerr declared
that, as a senior, he feels it is
time the town did something
for its seniors. It's always
doing things for the young
people,he claimed.
"My mother is a senior,
and she says they never had
it so good," Mr. Crump
7H7 ,
' •••••,:s•
...
. • .
•
• .., • ' !P•7:i
•
• ,
retorted, •
Thar0 rae: for aoiae,.,
Kerr toneed4 !.bltt, asked -
what *Pei* those WhO'
cannot look after thenISOYeS
in theirownilipmes.
Mayor. Bill HariiS
predicted that five tO
years down the road the town ...,..,,,,
will needthis housing, "and —
Please turn to Page 2
•
Junior Citizens add,
summerfest committee
The Wingham Junior
Citizens, upset that they
were being crowded out of
this year's summer festival
by enthusiastic adults, have
been invited to sit on the
planning committee.
A delegation of Junior
Citizens attended Monday
night's meeting of the
Wingham Western Hoedown
Committee to express
concern that they were being
excluded from the planning.
They were assured by
committee members that it
was not their intention to
slight, the Junior Citizens
and, following a discussion,
representatives of the group
ew units • •
Delinquen taxpayers
I LIKE SCHOOL!—Marc Kell, lust 18 months old, has
a while to wait before he can attend on a regular basis.
However he found a lot to interest him In the Kinder-
garten room during The open house at Wingham Public
School last week.
were invited to sit on the
committee.
Adrian Keet, an adviser to
the Junior Citizens, said he
helped form the group six
years ago and it pained him
greatly to see the Hoedown
committee with not one
Junior Citizen on it.
He added the Junior
Citizens "gave birth" to the
summer Funfest and should
have a voice in organizing
the Hoedown.
Mr. Keet stressed that the
young people are the Lions
and Kinsmen of tomorrow.
citizensT eun ioofr the t i zfeun st u raer,e atnhde
excluding them would do' a
4.414*Ai'Olg„
could forfeit proper
Wingham ratepayers who
get too far behind in paying
their property taxes may
discover they have become,
tenants of the town.
Town council last ' week
passed, a new bylaw intro-
ducing a system of tax regis-
tration, under which the
wn can take title to prpper-
es on which taxes are more
an three years in arrears.
'previously a property
cold be put up for tax sale if
taiga had gone unpaid for
three years. From the sale
the -town would recover its
taxes and expenses, with the
balance going to the
property owner.
Under the new system,
, however, once a 12 -month
notification period . has
elapsed the town can auto-
matically acquire the
property and the owner gets
nothing.
Byron Adams, town clerk -
treasurer admitted the new
procedure is "not equit-
able", but explained it
is much simpler from an
administrative point of view.
The old 'process involved
elaborate notification, in-
cluding advertisements in
newspapers, while the new
system has a simple process
involving one notification to
all interested parties.
Once notified, a property
owner has 12 months to pay
all outstanding taxes or the
property is forfeited to the
town.
Mr. Adams noted that the
Ministry of, Intergovern-
mental Affairs must approve
Geneologi cal soc.
all tax registrations and
sales, which could act as a
check and balance in hard-
ship cases.
Councillor Pat Bailey
objected to • the change,
saying she wasn't sure it was
quite fair. She inquired
whether many people are
behind in their taxes, and
was told it is indeed a
problem.
Mr_ Adams calculated
later that currently there is
about $174,000 outstanding in
unpaid business and
property taxes from 1980,
1979 and 1978. This amounts
to about 15 per cent of the
town's total annual tax
• collection, and at current
interest rates is tosting
,Wingham about $7,000 a
'year.
Westfield Cemetery is
pilot project for study
The Huron County branch
of the Ontario Genealogical
Society began the mammoth
task of transcribing the 101
known cemeteries in Huron
County on May 2. The pilot
project was Westfield
Cemetery, a small, now
abandoned burying ground
in East Wawanosh Town-
ship., Blessed with sunny
weather members were able
to complete the physical
transcribing on the tomb-
stone information that day.
However, here the job
begins rather than ends,
cemetery coordinator,
Alison Lobb, noted. "Now we
have a map of the graveyard
with the individual tomb-
stones marked on it and
numbered, and we have all
the information from the
stones copied down.'
"Next we must try our best
to locate burial records and
cross check our information
with these. It is quite obvious
that there are many older
graves now without markers
in this cemetery, and our
earliest burial records start
in 1900 .•
• Oncr, the report is ready.
complete with maps, tomb-
stone data and an alphabet-
ical index, the branch will
send copies to the local
township council and to the
provincial and federal ar-
chives for the use of re-
searchers who may live at
some distance from Huron
County and yet wish to trace
their relatives here.
The branch would also like
to have a history of the
cemetery to include with this
report. The informatibn is
limited to the few lines
printed in the East
Wawanosh centennial
booklet of 1967. It states the
cemetery was registered in
1878, yet there is one stone
dated 1865. Anyone with
further details regarding
Westfield Cemetery will
please contact Mrs. Donald
Lobb, R.R. 2, Clinton,'Ontar-
io, NOM ILO.
The branch hopes to have
more volunteers turn out for
the next day of work,
Saturday, May 30 ( weather
permitting). The turnout the
first time was disappointing,
although one helper drove
from London to assist the
group. May 30 will be
devoted to work at the
Donneybrook and St.
Ausgustine cemeteries, and
more people will be needed if
it is to be a profitable day.
The group will meet at the
Donneybrook cemetery
which is 8.5 kilometres north
••- of Auburn on County Road
No. 22, at 10 a.m. Saturday
morning. The rain date will
be the following Saturday,
June 6, the same time, the
same place. Remember to
bring paper, pencils. a wire
brush (a real necessity), and
lunch. Please notify Alison
Lobb at 482-7167 if you hope
to attend that day.
• t
great disservice .
lan •Deplauriers;prinrio-
tion chairman,. said ,,,fhpt
during the early ,§tagiA
planning the Hilediiwa t
Junior Citizens did riot
pear to be interested He
*attributed this to the falet
that during the Yafjetfor
months the Junior Citkie4 or- ,
ganiZation was very, Small
and inexperienced:
the group is growing now
and becoming active, but the
time for .planning the,
Hoedown was three months
ago4 he added, As a con-
sequence a number ofgroups
decided to form acommittee
like the one which Awned
the 401,1 enniat ta take aver
Iri44.0
summer testivil.
Mr. Keet responded that
the Junior Citizens are not .
opposed to the Hoedown; .
they Merely want to be in on
the planning. He suggested
. appointing a youth adviser
from the group to sit on the
committee. -
Mr. Deslauriers than in-
vited Darrin ' Hickey,
president of the Junior
Citizens, to sit on the com-
mittee. The motion was
amended to include the ire
corning president, • Sheri
Walden, as well. -
Chairman Shirley Walker
said it was never the com-
mittee's -intention to exclude
the Junior Citizens, adding
they are Welcome to sit. in on
meetings.
In other business, the
committee discussed the
July 18 Hoedown parade. R
decided there will be no
entry fee and prizes of $50
and $25 will be awarded. A
new category was added:
most authentic rig. The
parade will be advertised in
several community news-
papers.
Jean Young and • Deanne
Dickson of the Town and
Country Homemakers were
present to discuss the July 18
Kidsworld vatieh will be held
in the Armouries. The
,committee decided to grant
an operating budget of $200
which will be used for sup-
plies and perhaps to hire a
magician.
Gerry Poulinoffered the
services of the newlk-formed
Wingham Knights of
Columbus-. Mrs. Walker
suggested the Optimists
might need help with the
food, or the Lions and Kin-
smen certainlywould need
help at the casino or western
saloon.
Mr. Deslauriers told the
committee T-shirts bearing
the Hoedown logo and a
slogan "Want to horse
around?"; are being ordered
from Gord Kaster of
Wroxeter. The committee
decided to order 50 each in
small, medium and large
children's sizes and the same
number in adult sizes.
Mrs. Walker informed the
committee that Hoedown
invitations will be available
at local banks. She en-
couraged people to pick up
an invitation and send it to a
friend.
The next Hoedown com-
mittee meeting will be May
25 at 8 p.m..