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HomeMy WebLinkAboutZurich Citizens News, 1977-05-11, Page 1Chamber of Commerce Hydro commission defends advertising policies A dinner meeting of the Zurich and District Chamber of Com- merce was held in the Dominion Hotel at 7 p.m. on May 5, 1977. The meeting was called to order by the president, Ron Heimrich, grace was said, 0 Canada was sung, and a toast proposed for the Queen. Following the dinner the President called on Mr, Charles Eckel, a guest, to introduce the guest speaker who was Mr. William Metcalfe of London. Mr. Metcalfe spoke as a represen- tative of the Ontario Hydro NO. 19 Commission and welcomed the opportunity to present the con- cerns of the Hydro Commission to the Zurich and District Chamber and to the Community. The speaker said that he is asked, often, why Ontario Hydro advertised the extensive use of electricity a few years ago, but is now asking people to practise conservation. He reminded his audience that it is seven years since Ontario Hydro advertised its product and challenged the members of the Chamber by asking how many could advertise for seven years in the future. The last advertisement promoting more use of energy was published in 1970. He went on to explain that there are problems because of the shortage of money for buildings and the fact that it takes ten years to go through the period of designing a building and getting it into production. Meanwhile unpredictable changes take place. He cited the example of tremendous increase of the number of television sets in use in Ontario homes. The per- centage went from 50 percent of the homes to almost 100 percent in five years. The Hydro Com- mission has the problem of predicting the demands of ten and fifteen years from now. Until a recent year the increased demand was seven percent per year, then it became nine per- cent. At seven percent increase per year we shall be faced with enforced black -outs by 1979 or 1980. The source of energy has changed also over the years. At one time the hydro used in Ontario was produced almost entirely from hydrolic sources. No sixty percent is produced from oil, coal, and nuclear sources. A one percent reduction in the use of energy would equal - twice the electricity produced by Niagara Falls. Changes in the efficiency of light bulbs now makes it worth while to turn lights off rather than to leave them on for long or short periods. Mr. Metcalfe reinforced his - Please turn to Page 2 ...... ........ FIRST WITH LOCAL NEWS WEDNESDAY, MAY 11, 1977 Price Per Copy 20 Cents Tractor trailer wrecked Only two accidents were in- vestigated by the Exeter OPP this week, but in one of those, damage amounted to $7,200. It occurred at 1:15 p.m. on Fri- day, when a tractor trailer driven by Irvine Ferris, RR 3 Kippen, overturned at a private drive on Highway 21 near St. Josephs. Damage to the tractor trailer was estimated at $6,000 by Constable Frank Giffin. The vehicle is owned by Gordon and Wayne Prance, RR 1 Woodham. A steel fertilizer tank on the truck was damaged to an amount listed at $1,200. The driver sustained injuries in the accident and was taken to South Huron Hospital. The rear wheels of the trailer dropped into a ditch as the driver was entering the laneway and this flipped the vehicle onto its side. The other accident was a hit and run reported on Sunday. A vehicle driven by Charles Ort- manns, RR 3 Exeter, was struck by an unknown vehicle which left the scene on concession 2 in Stephen. Total damage was set at $150 by Constable Dale Lamont. - During the week, the detach- ment officers laid six charges under the Criminal Code, 10 un- der the Highway Traffic Act and one under the Liquor Licence Act. School support increase causes mill rate to rise Hensall ratepayers will face a 17.3 mill increase in their taxes this year, but the village's share of this increase is only 4 mills, the remainder of the increase being school support. Reeve Harold Knight ex- pressed some frustration at the council's regular meeting Monday night when he said "We fought like heck to keep our mill rate increase down to four mills and then the Board of Education hits us with a 13.3 mill increase in school support." - Council has no control over the increases by the Board of Education who jumped Hensall's assessment from $92,000 last year to $117,617 this year. This 17.3 mill increase will bring the general municipal rate to 42.94 mills commercial, 36.50 residential; the county rate to 24.06 mills commercial and 20.46 mills residential; the public school support rate to 38.39 mills commercial and 34.55 mills residential; the secondary school support to 33.04 mills commercial and 29.73 mills residential and the separate school support to 38.67 mills commercial and 34.80 mills residential. The village's portion of the increase is mainly due to the increases in operating costs, specifically in the increased costs of energy according to clerk Bob Heil. Tractor joy -riding "Joy riding" is nothing new, although two area juveniles gave it a new twist this week. They went joy riding on tractors. The two were arrested by OPP from Lucan and Exeter after a tractor was stolen in McGillivray Township and another taken from a Stephen Township farm. The latter was recovered in Hay and had sustained some damage. The two juveniles were also charged with the break, enter and theft at a Stephen farm home. About $15 worth of food was taken. An attempt was made to enter a McGillivray home as well. The incident occurred on Thursday. Early Monday morning, Ex- eter OPP investigated several incidents in Huron Park, in- cluding two false fire alarms around 1:30 a.m. A driving complaint was received around the same time and also one mischief complaint involving damage to a rear door of a van. Police liaison The Ontario Provincial Police have instituted a program of ap- pointing liaison officers with municipalities under their jurisdiction. The officers will function in public relations roles as well as upgrading sources of informa- tion. Each of the liaison officers will spend certain periods of time each week in the municipalities during their regular tour of duties. They will be visiting municipal clerks, elected of- ficials, businessmen and private citizens to hear complaints or receive suggestions. The Exeter OPP have ap- - Please turn to Page 6 DISPLAY BAKING — A successful bake sale and tea was held at the Bluewater Rest Home, Saturday. Shown with some of the goodies are Auxiliary members Amelia Prang, Thelma Thiel and Martha Blackwell. - Staff photo Arena contract to be let soon The building committee for the Hensall arena is looking at letting a building contract for the new arena within a month if all goes as planned says Reeve 'Harold Knight, chairman of the building committee. Reeve Knight made the an- nouncement at the regular meeting of Hensall council MOST IMPROVED — Left to right, Sandra Coleman, Elizabeth Datars, Angelo Zehr and in front Kathy Merner were presented with their Most Improved trophies from the Zurich -Grand Bend figure ska - ting club at their annual banquet last week. Monday night. He added the building committee would be meeting May 10 to discuss the final specifications and plans for- the arena. "We also got some surprisingly good tenders" for the demolition of the old arena said Reeve Knight. "It's going to take a lot of thinking to pick out the best one." The Reeve also mentioned council would have to soon pass a resolution supporting the fund raising committee to enable them to begin the processing of their Wintario grant. "Other areas building arenas seem to be running about three months behind on receiving their grants and some of them anyway must be borrowing the money to pay contractors," added Reeve Knight. However, before the resolution can be passed, the final specifications on the new arena must be completed and included in the resolution. Winning ticket not claimed During last week's annual banquet of the Zurich -Grand Bend figure and power skating club, tickets were sold for three door prizes. Unfortunately the winning ticket holders were not present when the draw was made. The winning ticket is number 582978, second prize goes to ticket number 582996 and the third winning ticket is 582994. The persons holding these winning tickets may claim their prizes by phoning Joan Regier at 236-4289.