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The Times Advocate, 2008-03-05, Page 22 Times–Advocate Wednesday, March 5, 2008 SHDHS student winners Monthly winners — South Huron District High School recently handed out Student of the Month awards for October and November.Arron Kramers, second from left, was January's winner, recognizing his growth in all areas of the special education programs. Andrew Spier picked up December's honours for excellent skill improvement in the Grade 10-1 I technology program.With Spier and Kramers are Susan McGregor, left and vice- principal Petra Goetz.The monthly awards are sponsored by the School Council. Missing is February winner Marlee Heywood, who won for her work helping other students during class time in the Grade 9 program.(photo/Pat Bolen) Single dwellings to be developed By Nina Van Lieshout TIMES -ADVOCATE STAFF EXETER — South Huron council passed a bylaw Monday night repealing the deeming of selected lots in an Exeter subdivision. Council carried a bylaw allowing lots 27 to 38 inclusive and lots 63 to 70 inclusive on Darling Boulevard and Eastern Avenue to be developed as single detached dwellings, under the Registered Plan 383. In the early 1970s, the Registered Plan 383 was approved as a plan subdivision by the province of Ontario. Planner Claire Dodds says, "The municipality entered into a develop- ment agreement in 1975 with Alfred and Marion Darling to develop the 84 lots contained in Plan 383." But to repeal, on behalf of 5D Realty, Joe Darling was to: • Prepare a stormwater manage- ment plan to the satisfaction of the Ausable Bayfield Conservation Authority and South Huron; • Enter into a new development agreement with South Huron and; • Obtain letters from property owners on Sanders Street who have double lots that front Darling Boulevard and Sanders Street to confirm whether they want to install a service on Darling Boulevard. The Registered Plan 383 was developed in phases, with the fronting lots on Pryde Boulevard, Motz Boulevard, Sanders Street and Rivers Boulevard, which were devel- oped during the 1970s and 1980s. In 1994, Exeter passed a deeming bylaw, effecting those specific lots. "The rationale for passing the deeming bylaw at the time was to re -allocate servicing capacity to per- mit Jack Taylor to develop 28 town- house units in what is now known as Shadow Lane," says Dodds, adding, "As no roads or underground ser- vices had been installed on Darling Boulevard and Eastern Avenue, and as there were only lots on one side of these streets, Exeter did not believe Darling Boulevard and Eastern Avenue would develop in the short term." Dodds explains, "The effect of Exeter passing a deeming bylaw on the lots that front Darling Boulevard and Eastern Avenue is that the owner of the lots, 5D Realty, cannot sell the lots individually, nor can building permits be obtained until the deeming bylaw is removed," says Dodds. With Darling following all guide- lines, the bylaw was carried with no discussion. `Business Retention and Expansion' project unveiled before public Continued from front page as a lack of skilled labour, youths leaving the area for education and jobs, and a lack of communication and co-operation among organizations and businesses. According to the study, 91 per cent of those inter- views rated South Huron "as a good to excellent place in which to do business." Several barriers to expansion were identified, such as skilled labour, properly zoned land, a lack of proactive new business recruitment, business taxes, business insurance, serviced land and water and sewage capacity. Recommendations were divided into: community unity, economic development, downtown revitaliza- tion, labour and training, tourism and business devel- opment and enhancement. Of community unity, task force member Jerry DeBoer said, "There seems to be a lack of unity and we're not all pulling in the same direction." He said the different sectors in South Huron don't always find the time to communicate with each other and that is something that needs to be improved. One of the rec- ommendations of the study is to "develop a local com- munications plan to provide regular updates to the community via monthly newsletters, press releases and (the) website." DeBoer said there is a tremendous potential for growth in the area. Claire Dodds, a task force member who worked on the retail portion of the study, spoke on economic development. One recommendation to improve eco- nomic development is to form a `Community Economic Development Committee' to help with communication between the Exeter Business Association, the Chamber of Commerce, the Huron Park Committee and the municipality. Another idea is to hire a community development co-ordinator and come up with a market- ing strategy that includes branding and signage. Another possibility is looking at the feasibility of the municipality buying industrial land for new serviced industrial parks. South Huron councillor and task force member Cathy Seip spoke about downtown revitalization, explaining that a healthy downtown is important. One of the ways South Huron will seek to improve economic development is to participate in the Ontario Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs (OMAFRA) `First Impressions' program, a project that sees communities "twin up" with each other, visit each other's communities and make recommendations about improvements that can be made. Seip also said a signage project needs to be done to direct visitors to parking, local attractions like MacNaughton Park and the downtown area. Other recommendations are a streetscape beautification plan, local promotions for businesses, improving the look of vacant buildings and the possibility of having a crosswalk on Main Street downtown. Speaking about labour and training, Joh Cusveller of the task force said there is a concern about local youth leaving the area to study and not coming back. Suggestions are to work closely with local high schools to promote apprenticeship and co-op programs Also, local employment and training opportunities could be advertised on municipal and Chamber of Commerce websites. On tourism, McMaster said Exeter has a busy high- way that runs through town and affects every busi- ness. "We have to get people to stop here," he said, speak- ing in favour of having a tourist information booth here and the creation of a visitor's map identifying local tourism attractions. Other ideas are to strengthen local relationships with the Huron Tourism Association and the County Tourism Marketer. McMaster pointed out that many people don't know the Grand Bend Motorplex and Oakwood Inn are in South Huron. "Let's make people stop and look around," he said. "We have a lot to offer here." Task force member Frank Palen said there is a per- ceived lack of trust between local organizations. "The time is now to work together," he said. "There are common goals that will work." He said the entire community of South Huron needs to be promoted and said a tourist information booth has been talked about for five years. "Signage is very critical," he added, later saying we have to make "people want to come here instead of somewhere else." Now that the final report has been done and the rec- ommendations made, the SHARE project will continue and will form an implementation committee consisting of about 12-15 people. "We need some fresh faces to help," said Kerri Herrfort, the downtown revitalization co-ordinator for Huron County. Herrfort wrote the SHARE final report and said now that the recommendations have been made, they need to be put in place. "We need to come together, we need to work togeth- er." An information meeting for those interested in join- ing the implementation committee will be held April 2 at 7 p.m. at the Olde Town Hall. "We need to as a community move forward," Simmons said concluding the meeting. He referred to South Huron as a "rich, dynamic place." Simmons credited McMaster with stepping forward and spearheading the SHARE project, adding lots of useful information was collected during the interviews. McMaster told the Times -Advocate he is pleased with the report and said it gives the community a "blue- print" from which to move forward. He said it wasn't hard to get businesses to co-operate hi the project, but getting the agriculture to participate was a challenge. McMaster said with amalgamation, municipalities are bigger than they used to be and individual roles within their communities are evolving. He said he is optimistic about the future of the pro- ject. The project had a $50,000 budget with partners including OMAFRA, the Chamber, the Exeter Business Association, the Municipality of South Huron, the Huron Business Development Corporation and the County of Huron. REGIONAL WRAP • REGIONALWRAP • REGIONALWRAP • REGIONALWRAP • REGIONALWRAP Imeson hearing Dec. 8 GODERICH — Accused killer 22 -year-old Jesse Imeson will not have his prelimi- nary hearing until Dec. 8. Imeson is charged in the slayings of Mount Carmel elderly couple Bill and Helene Regier and Windsor area Carlos Rivera. Imeson appeared in Goderich court by audio link Feb. 29. Two weeks are set aside for the preliminary hearing on charges of first-degree murder. In the court room Feb. 29, were several members of the Regier family. Imeson's lawyer, Raymond Boggs, said outside of court, that a preliminary hear- ing date in the Windsor case has not been set yet. Imeson was arrested in Portage -du -Fort on the Quebec side of the Ottawa River after a nearly two-week manhunt. The Regiers were found shot to death July 23 in their farmhouse. Over 1,000 mourners from the community attended the Regier's funeral. Ilderton man inducted ILDERTON — An Ilderton area man will be inducted into the Middlesex County Agricultural Hall of Fame 2008 today (Wednesday). The induction is part of the 70th Annual Western Fair Farm Show. Renowned Ilderton-area stockman Joseph Patrick (1863-1939), also a director, exhibitor and judge at the Ilderton Fair, Western Fair, the RAWF and the Chicago International Stock Show, will be honoured at the luncheon. For 50 years, Patrick masterminded the importing, breeding, sales and export- ing of large numbers of sheep and livestock to and from the Ilderton area. In 1901, Patrick participated in one of the most spectacular shipments which saw a train destined for Idaho, containing 600 ewes. In 1921, Patrick exported a shipment of Holstein cattle to Japan. The farm show runs until Friday, featuring "Farm Fresh Ideas" as the show's theme.