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Zurich Citizens News, 1966-05-05, Page 1No. 18—FIRST WITH THE LOCAL NEWS ZURICH, ONTARIO„'THURSDAY, MAY 5, 1966 7 CENTS PER COPY Remove Debris Two employees of the Hay Municipal Telephone Sys- tem, Bill Wagner and Lloyd Denomme, remove broken-down telephone lines from Highway 81, southeast of Grand Bend, following last Wednesday's devastating sleet and wind storm. Three or four miles of lines were destroyed in this particular area, while losses in other sections were as bad or worse. (Citizens News Photo) Temporary Repair Job Miles and miles of telephone lines in the Hay Muni- cipal System were broken down by the unseasonable sleet and wind storm throughout this area last Wednesday. In many places the employees of the system are just pulling the broken section of the pole out of the ground and setting the remainder back in the same hole, to restore temporary service to as many subscribers as possible. Shown here is line foreman Harold Zehr. supervising the replacement of a broken pole, as fellow workman Stephen Meidinger operates the truck hoist. This activity was taking place on the Bron- son Line north, in Hay Township. (Citizens News Photo) Wind and Sleet Storm Causes Telephone and Hydro Damage A vicious sleet and wind storm last Wednesday after- noon and evening caused thou- sands of dollars of damage throughout this area of western Ontario, as both hydro and tele- phone lines suffered extensive damages. The heaviest hit, no doubt, was the Hay Municipal Telephone System, which had mile after mile of poles and wires snapped off. • According to Harold Zehr, line foreman of the local sys- tem, about 30 to 40 miles of telephone lines were caught in the storm's fury. However, by the end of this week, officials hope to restore temporary serv- ice to most of the subscribers. In several areas, where dam- ages were heaviest, the system had planned on replacing the old lines with underground cables, and the storm means that the work will have to be rushed through much faster than had been planned. Two members of the Morn- ington Telephone System at Milverton have been brought in to help the local crews, who have been working day and night since the storm to restore service to as many customers as possible. As well, former telephone lineman Harry Hoff- man, of Dashwood, has been a.gsistin g the men, along with John Soldan, a former council- lor; Mike Soldan, Lloyd Smith, and Bill Ingram a former em- ployee. Hydro Hit Hard Most of the area was without hydro for at least eight hours, due to falling hydro lines. Ac- cording to E. W. Oddliefson, area manager for Ontario Hy- dro, 100% of the area was blacked out for an hour and a half. The power break came to most of the area at about 7:15 p.m., and by morning there was still 60% of the area blacked out. By Thu r s d a y night, Mr. Oddliefson said, there was only 40% of the area still without power, and by Fri- day night this was reduced to only about five per of the total area served by Exeter Rural Hydro. Mr. Oddliefson added that he was most impressed with his crew of workers, many of whom worked 48 hours straight through without a rest, to re- store power as quickly as pos- sible, "Had it not been for the co-operation of our ambitious crew and the general public, power might have been off much longer," he concluded. An interesting point was pre- sented by the area manager when he reported that most people were more concerned about their livestock than they were about themselves. The biggest worry, he pointed out, seemed to be from farmers who were •concerned that their cat- tle were not able to have drink- ing water, and that they could not use their milking machines. Hydro crews from Brampton, Woodbridge, Chatham and Wal- laceburg were brought into the area to assist the Exeter crew repair the damage. Help seemed to come from all over, Mr. Oddliefson added. The worst part of the storm seemed to- come to the area in late afternoon and early eve- ning, as sleet started to form on the trees and wires and winds continually grew strong- er. At times gusts of winds were reported to be travelling as fast as 75 miles an hour. An interesting point of the storm was that a number of lake freighters which were out in Lake Huron at the time came in close to shore to escape the rough waters. Throughout the evening lights from a number of these boats could be seen along the shore at St. Joseph. Since the wind was blowing strongly from the east, it meant that the lake was much calmer close to shore than it was miles out. The storm was believed to have been the worst cf its type in this area for many years. Hensall Dump Creates Big Problem Hensall town council met in, the council chambers on Mon- day, May 2, with Reeve Noakes, Councillors Knight, Baker and Lavender in attendance, the main problem .and headache being the town dump. No word had been received from Us - borne council regarding Hen- sall's proposition for dividing the costs of operating the dump. It was decided that council should view the mess and hire a bulldozer to make the neces- sary repairs. It was suggested that the dump be locked. The public is warned that anyone found dumping dead animals will be reported to the health authorities. Don Travers asked for per- mission to place another house on a lot which he owns. There is no law prohibiting putting two houses on a lot but he was advised to contact the building inspector, Norm Jones, and also Jim Pinder, of the County health unit. Charles Hay inquired about the building of a sidewalk in front of his house before he seeded his lawn. Council were not agreed, so they decided to survey the site and will rule on the matter at a later 'date. Norman Jones, the building inspector, brought in a request from Cook Bros. to build a dust bin 12' x 12' x 20', which was granted. Ratepayers are noti- fied that a permit must be ob- tained before either building or remodelling and the same may be had on application to Norm- an Jones, the building in spector. Mr. Neilans, of the recrea- tion committee, presented the need of a full time recreation director. It was decided that the townships of Tuckersmith, Usborne and Hay be approach- ed to help the town of Hensall pay the salary of this official as the ratepayers in these town- ships use the facilities provided by the Arena. Fire Chief David Sangster presented council with a pro- posal that county mutual aid association with John Scott, of Seaforth, as county co-ordina- tor. be formed. Council will meet with the department of highways on Wednesday, May 4, at 2 p.m. Mrs. Noakes, Mr. Campbell and Mr. Knight will attend the meeting in Goderich May 5 of the department of tourism and information centennial planning branch. George Ingram asked to have a dead tree removed and the PUC asked permission to re- move two trees that were a menace to wires. General expenditures of $2,- 301.02 were ordered paid, and materials to fix pot holes in the roads were ordered. The Town Hall requires some remodelling as the library needs more room and the front door requires a lock to prevent vandalism. Gerald Flynn received per- mission for remodelling, cost- ing $300. Cook Bros. also re- ceived permission to build the bin on the warehouse. Meeting was adjourned to meet on June 6 at 8 p.m. Hay Council Try New Dust Prevention The council of the Township of Hay, at their regular meeting on Monday night, decided to experiment this year on a two or three-mile stretch of road, with oil, •as a dust preventitive. In previous years calcium chlor- ide has been used on all the roads in Hay. Road superintendent Karl Ha- berer was instructed to pur- chase one tank load of oil and have it spread over a three- mile stretch, and then compare it with the rest of the roads which again will receive the ordinary coat of calcium. A petition for drainage was received by council from Har- old Campbell, Ken Elder, Lorne Chapman and Orville Taylor, on concessions two and three, Hay. The petition was approved and council have instructed C. P. Corbett, of Lucan, to bring in a survey and report as soon as possible. Council approved the paying of $4.00 for each single calf that youths from Hay Township exhibit in 4.11 competition at the annual Hensall Spring Fair. Reeve John Corbett and deputy -reeve Delbert Geiger were appointed as representa- tives from Hay Township, on the Mid -Western Development Association. Following a re- cent decision by county council to join the association at the county level, each municipality must now appoint two repre- sentatives to the organization. In other business the council approved the paying of $20 membership fee to the Huron County Municipal Officers' As- sociation. The annual meeting of this group will be held on May 26 in Brussels. Two delegations appeared be- fore council at the meeting, with different requests. Ivan Kalbfleisch and Ray McKinnon approached council on behalf of Blue Water Rest Home, ask- ing for a grant towards the building fund. Members of council indicated they were wholeheartedly behind the pro- jeet, and deferred the matter until next meeting when all members are expected to be present. Councillor John Tin- ney was absent on Monday night. Jim McAllister appeared on behalf of the Hillsgreen ceme- Crop Report Cool, wet weather has tem- porarily curtailed spring seed- ing operations, Frost continues to hamper the growth of for- ages. Feed supplies appear ade- quate on farms to finish out the stable feeding of livestock in Huron County. tery, asking for permission to clean up the grounds. He and Henry Fuss were appointed to look after this matter. Next meeting of council will be held on Monday, June 6, at 8 p.m. 0 ROAD SUPERINTENDENTS Melvin Good wa.r elected president of the 1Turon County Road Superintendents' Associa- tion at its annual meeting held in Goderich Township Hall at Holmesville. Other officers are: past presi- dent, William Taylor; vice- president, Harvey Culbert; sec- retary -treasurer, William Rout- ly, and representative to the Ontario Road Superintendents' Association, Roy Tyndall. Township, also spoke briefly. Other business included dis- cussion of a by-law covering construction of entrance cul- verts, led by J. W. Britnell, county engineer, and Ralph Betteridge, St. Marys, also spoke on weed and brush con- trol by spraying. Several new members from various villages and two town- ships in the county were pres- ent, as well as Ken Wilmot, from the department of high- ways. Grant Stirling, reeve of Gode- rich Township, and Harold Rob- inson, deputy -reeve of Howick Argot nor.c rramark Disappears The west side of Mousseau and Parkins business establishment in Zurich is being torn clown, to make way for a modern addition to their garage and service station. The building, which is believed to be almost 100 years old, was a former house and has been used for numerous pur- poses over the years. At one time there was a meat market located here, and after that it was the home of a lunch room and billiard hall for some time. During the past ,years it has been used for office space and storage. It is to be replace with a modern cement block structure. (Citizens News Photo)