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HomeMy WebLinkAboutZurich Citizens News, 1976-03-03, Page 13Page 14 - Citizens News, March 3/76 Fire area In the past five years, the vil- lage of Grand Bend has exper- ienced an average of four fires a year with an average annual loss total of $3,628. These figures, released by the office of the Ontario Fire Mar- e„y G r nd ...At the suggestion of works chairman Rollie Grenier, side- walks in the village will be clean- ed of gravel and sand as time permits. .Council has approved the addition of a sunporch on the honk of Maurice McDonald. The porch was turned down by the building inspector on the bas - en council bri is that the bylaw calls for nothing closer than 25 feet to the road but council considered that the addit- ion would not be nearly as close to the road as three neighbours i11 the area. ...Council voted to maintain their position on the assess- ment for the United Church property alleged to he used fs as a driveway to the manse. The church is claiming the lot is used for summer outdoor services. ...Council were upset when it was learned that the recorded message that is to be played when a ratepayer dials the old village office telephone number is not working. extended for Grand Bend brigade shall, indicate not only that res- idents of the lakeside village must be very fire safety conscious, but they have a very efficient volunteer fire department as well. A fireman for the past 25 years and chief of the 17 man brigade for the past five years, Harry Hamilton speaks with a great deal of pride when he talks of the fire department. Chief Hamilton recalls when the..brigadecovered only the vill- NEW GENERATOR - The Grand Bend, Stephen and Bosanquet Fire Department recently acquired a new portable electric generator, seen above with deputy chief Prosper Vanbruaene, fire chief Harry Hamilton and Gary Desjardines. This trio are seen in front of the department's new emergency van purchased last fall. News Photo Committee report utline parking plan A perennial problem in Grand Bencl, as predicatble as dogs and bikinis, parking may be some- what easier this summer if plans laid before council Monday night materialize . Councillor Bob Simpson pres- ented the minutes of a meeting of the parking committee made up of representatives from the village council and the Grand Bend and Area Chamber of Com- merce. Th: recommendations were as follows: 1. Restrict main street parking to a maximum of one hour on Saturdays, Sundays and holidays. Hire a parking Violation Officer (male or female) to enforce compliance. Use ticket system 2. Provide additional parking space operated by the council and paid for by the users such as the Wassman property now own- ed by Ausable Holdings, Ltd., Mr. Philip Gerais property on plain street and explore the poss- ibility of an appropriate lot on village property behind the Bank of Montreal and adjacent to the Fire Hall. These areas in total could provide at least another 90 parking spaces. 3. Council should continue to operate the Beach Parking lot for revenue on Saturdays, Sun- days and holidays. 4. Council to consider and set the parking charges to apply to public parking lots. We recom- mend that parking charges be set on a sliding .scale basis, that is the beach lot and possibly Mr. Gerais property should obtain a premium charge say $1.00. The Ausable Holding property might be 75 and so on. Parking lots east of Highway 21 probably would be FREE or no charge simply to take the pressure off the main street and the beach. 5. Official international park- ing signs be installed by May 15, 1976 to identify all village operat- ed lots. 6. The village parking lot loc- ated on Highway 21 should be utilized. Official signs should be installed as in para 5. 7. A private bus company be approached with the proposition of supplying public bus transport- ation (paid for by the rider) using prescribed routes (say from Pinery Park to the water- works) at scheduled lime , during the summer during weekends and holidays. The above recommendations arc considered to he short term immediate solutions to main street and beach parking congest- ion. They will have little impact on the congestion existing on weekends on the public streets in Plan 24. The committee can see no immediate solution at this time. However, as the population of the village increases togeth- er with the increase of tourists anticipated in the years ahead a long term solution will have to be found in the very near future. The council should investigate the possibility of purchasing or leasing land for public parking adjacent to the village limits 'and, possibly providing jitney service from the lots to the beach and business areas, public or privately operated. Such a service if provided in an attract- ive and unique vehicle (surrey type vehicle or London double decker) might be the final solut- ion and provide a one -of -a- kind tourist attraction. Reeve Bob Sharen and council for Harold Simpson both thought that the one hour parking limit was too short but met strong argument from deputy -reeve Grenier and councillor Simpson, both members of the commit- tee. "One hour parking will put the cars on the sidestreets all day," said councillor Green. "You'll just be moving the problem from one area to anoth- er," commented Sharen. Mr. Simpson suggested that contact be made with the owners of properties required as parking lots regarding leasing and a report be made back to the council by the committee at its next meeting. "That whole last section can be scratched for this year but it's a good long range plan," said councillor Green. Before discussion moved on, reeve Sharen suggested that a permanent legal parking author- ity of councillors and Chamber members be established. Shipka Saturday evening visitors with Mr. & Mrs. Lorne Devine were Mr. & Mrs. Ed Turnbull, Mr. & Mrs. Oscar Miller, Mrs. Raymond Kading, and Mr. & Mrs. Hugh Morenz when they celebrated Mr. Turnbull's birthday. Mrs. Ron Desjardine is a patient at University Hospital. Kalvin Wood, of Port Severn visited on the weekend with his sister and brother-in-law, Mr. & Mrs. Willis Desjardine and other relatives in this area. Mr. & Mrs. Dennis Durie, Pam Durie and her friend Cathy Dougall, all of London, visited Saturday with Mr. & Mrs. Sid Durie and Glenn. age itself. Stephen Township was added about 15 years ago and Bosanquet signed an agreement about 10 years ago. Most recent- ly, the brigade assumed respon- sibility for fighting fires in a portion of Hay Township. The Dashwood and Zurich fire dep- artments also cover parts of Hay. "We've got a good bunch of men who take the job seriously," says Chief Hamilton. "We have a high turnout percentage for practices and fires." Deputy -chief of the department is Prosper Vanbruaene while Don Flear and John Hotson are captains. Firemen include Roy Hanlan, George Winegarden, Jerry Vanbruaene, Dale Hayter, Bill Brenner, Stan Lovie, Russ Desjardine, Dave Desjardine, Gary Desjardine, Clayton Math- crs, Earl Thompson and Barry Davis. Chief Thompson told the News that the operating expenses of the brigade were shared between muiiicipalities with Grand Bend paying 40 percent and Stephen and Bosanquet 30 percent each. Hay Township pays a retainer of $1,000 per year plus $100 per fire. Time spent on fires over one hour is also charged. In 1975, the fire department received 19 calls but many were of a minor nature. There were a total of eight fires resulting in damage, which totalled $7,455. The most serious was a blaze which destroyed a small barn on the B-line. "We've been fortunate in not having any serious fires in the past few years," said Chief Hamilton, "We've also been fortunate that none of the brig- ade has been iniured." No doubt one of the reasons is training which is carried out at the fire hall on the second Mon- day of each month. Another is equipment. Chief Hamilton indic- ated a new shipment of safety boots which have steel -plate soles as well as steel toes had arrived. The department has three vehicles, a pumper truck which was purchased in 1971 for about $24,000. It has an 800 gallon tank for use on fires outside the range of fire hydrants and is equipped with a portable pumper which can draw water from farm ponds. A jeep equipped with hose is left in the fire hall as a stand-by unit when the pumper truck is out of the village. About three months ago, a 1975 model emergency van was purchased. The department's equipment also includes two air -packs which allow firemen to enter smoke- filled buildings, two rescusitat- ors, a portable pump, portable generator and portable saw to cut through roofs or car bodies. The fire department is a com- munity service group that doesn't conic into public view ---unless there is a fire! When a fire does occur, Grand Bend, Stephen and Bosanquet residents are very thankful they have a very complete and efficient fire department. LARGE CONSIGN ENT ucti n Sale of TRACTORS & MACHINERY Saturday, March 13 11 a.m. LAKEVIEW SALES & SERVICE 11/2 mile North, 1/2 mile East of Carlow and 7 miles North East of Goderich, Ontario, Canada. Consignments Welcome Telephone Lakeview Sales & Service524-6451 Terms Cash R.G. Gethke Pick up can be arranged Lunch Booth on Grounds Gordon H. Brindley Auctioneers Not responsible for accidents day of sale Richard Lobb HAY & STANLEY FEDERATION OF AGRICULTURE DINNER & DANCE PINERIDGE CHALET FRI. MAR. 26 TICKETS AVAILABLE FROM TOWNSHIP DIRECTORS OR CALL DONALD GEIGER - 236-4865 IVAN McCLYMONT - 482-3214