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HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Huron Expositor, 1988-03-16, Page 1'Re x X40:1 �7C,'' ",�r'.' #A F: 1.""• giN Walton — A7 Sports — A8, A9, Al0 Hensall — All Dublin — Al2 Obituaries — Al 7 Births — A17 Graduates — Al7 • ar /in the black. See A5. Serving the communities and areas of Seaforth, Brussels, Dublin, Hensall and Walton 'iron xp..itor Seaforth, Ontario HURON EXPOSITOR, WEDNESDAY, MARCH 16, 1988 50 cents a copy Poor relations, rumors give pant plant bad name Poor public relations and a misconception about wages are being cited as the reasons for the recent withdrawal of the Pants Manufacturing company from Seaforth. Al Norman said he didn't realize when he was hired as plant manager one month ago, there was such a poor image of the company in the community. He agreed that image was caused in great part by the "very poor public relations" by the consultant hired to get up the Seaforth Pants Manufacturing Company, and commented Larry Portnoff had been released of his duties. "I just stepped into a bad situation," he said. "Larry's the best in North America at training - nobody knows dress pants like Larry - but he's not very good at public relations." Mr. Norman was in Seaforth almost a month before he realized anything was wrong. Since several hundred people had responded favorably to the initial survey done for the pants company, he said he assumed there would be a sufficient workforce in the area. However, when it Crime Stoppers is in effect BY LOU -ANN DE B1iUYN A program which will benefit Huron County in the solving and prevention of crime was officially opened last week in Goderich. Opening ceremonies for Crime Stoppers of Huron County were held Thursday mor- ning at the Huron County Courthouse in the provincial court room with a number of dignitaries in attendance. "Crime Stoppers is a program that in- volves the citizen in helping solve crimes. It is not a police program," Inspector W.E. Trachsel, of the No. 6 District Ontario Pro- vincial Police (OPP) detachment in Mt. Forest, said to those persons in attendance at the ceremony. He said the lack of a complete Huron County Crime Stoppers program, as well as similiar programs in Perth and Well- ington counties, was evident when the district's programs were reviewed in 1987. Inspector Trachsal has been uzerseeing the creation of Crime Stoppers programs inithe three counties since that time. He noted the program, which has its origins in a similier program operated in the United States, is a "very important community program." HOW PROGRAM WORKS "Today is the beginning of an important program. Crime Stoppers is a program that involves the citizen in helping solve crimes. It is nota police matter. Crimes are solved and prevented and everyone benefits," he said. The program operates on the basis of anonymous callers and reward money, a OPP Constable Jeff Sabin, co-ordinator of the Huron County program said. He ex- plained how the process works. Anyone who rails Crime Stoppers with information on a crime is assigned a code number in order to keep his identity secret. A reward is issued, at the discretion of the pro- gram's board of directors, to a caller whose information has helped lead to an arrest. Anonymity is still maintained when rewards are collected. The caller is given a place and time to meet a board member who will hand over the money when a code number is repeated. The member's clothing is also described to the caller to make the meeting go smoothly. However, it is not the caller who picks up the money but rather, for example, the spouse or good friend. This guarantees the informants anonymity. Inspector Trachsel told those people gathered the program has been successful in other areas. "The Grey -Bruce Crime Stoppers pro- gram, since its inception, has led to 18 ar- rests and 50 cases cleared," he said. The program relies on the efforts and the working togetherof the people in the com- munity, the media and the police. "This is not strictly a police effort. Itis a combination of community, media and police," Dave Herbison, chairman of the Crime Stoppers Board of Directors, said. Turn to page 19A • Church sends corn to Africa The Egmandville United Church recently sent a truckload of grain to a starving nation. The congregation of the Egmondville United Church decided on February 21 they were going to make a donation to a charitable cause, and they wasted no time in organizing the effort so they could have their donation ready to be shipped by mid- March. The congregation discussed what type of donation it would like to make, and decided to use the Canadian Food Grains Bank -which is an interchurch agency for famine relief- to send a load of corn to a struggling nation. They chose this agency because it has a good reputation for being able to ac- count for its donations and make sure food gets to where it is needed. The Church's goal was 500 bushels initial- ly, but when donations to buy the corn with were asked for the response was over- whelming. In one Sunday alone there were 800 bushels donated, so the ante was upped to 1,000 bushels. Even people from outside the church gave donations to the cause. The whole operation was done on a local level, so the church had more control over how the resources were used, rather than just giving in a general way. About 500 bushels of grain were purchased from Ken Carnochan, a member of the congregation; and Mark Smith, who is another member of the congregation, did the trucking. The other 500 bushels of corn were bought from the Hensall Co-op. The Hensall Co-op also helped the church by donating the bagging of the grain. The 1,000 bushels of grain will now be ship- ped to one of three A£ricantions -either Mali, Ethiopia or Angolan. The Canadian International Development Agency has a policy whereby they match donations such as this by giving the same item on a 3:1 ratio. So the Egmondville United Church is actually responsible for sending 4,000 bushels of corn to Africa. The church committee members who organized this project were Rev. Cheryl Ann StadelbauereSampa, Jim Papple, Ken Car- nochan, Bruce Coleman, and Milt Dieu. Rev. Stadelbauer-Sampa says she has seen such a good response to the project this year that she hopes to see it again next year, but on a bigger scale which would include other churches and the entire community. FEEDING THE NEEDY - The Egmondville United Church donated 1000 bushels of corn to be sent to Africa recently. Bruce Coleman, Jim Popple, Rev. Stadelbauer Sam - pa, and Milt Dietz were members of the committee which helped to organize the event, and the entire congregation, and many memberS of the community at large, donated funds to purchase the grain. The grain will be matched 3:1 by the Canadian Interna- tional Development Agency, so the end result in 4,000 bushels of grain to a needy country. Corbett photo. came time for hiring the workforce, it disappeared. Mr. Nowas unable to get the minimum' of 65 people needed to make it feasible to open the pants manufacturing company. Any less than 65 to start and the company could not make enough pants to break even. "Of the 140 people who applied in early November only 41 were still available," said Mr. Norman. "Some had decided to retire, and others I called said they 'just weren't interested'. That's when I realized something was wroSo Mr. Norman advertised further in 12 weekly newspapers in the area. Those 12 advertisements only netted an additional 19 responses. "In the end I had 62 people - if no one quit, and you have to assume that a few are not going to be satisfied," he said. "I had enough people for March and April, but not for Mayor June. An I had to take in- to consideration I had no c,ne to draw from." Mr. Norman added he hadn't realized part of the problem lay in the fact rumors had been circulating the plant only intended to pay minimum wage. "That was a misconception," he said, ad- ding employees were to be paid according to their ability. Some might have started at the $4.55 minimum wage but would work up to a $6.60/hour base rate within a few weeks of starting. They could ,continue to increase their rate to $7 or $8 per hour under a piece work system of payment. "The employees are measured on perfor- Turn to page 18A • SNOOPING AROUND - Dogs snooping around the landfill site are just what operators of the Grey Municipal Landfill site DO NOT want, but they may not get what they want, if users of the site con- tinue to dump dead livestock there. Grey Township officials said three separate piles of animal carcasses were found at the landfill site last Saturday. This carcass, clearly recognizable as a calf, was badly burned. The origin of the carcasses is unknown, and could have come from peoplo in any of the three municipalities of Morris, McKillop and Grey, that use the site. Citizen photo. Township outraged by ignorant acts There has been unauthorized dumping of livestock at the landfill site used by the townships of McKillop, Merits And Grey, and council members from the monitoring township of Grey are not happy about it. "We understand we have to allow people to come in, and we can't turn them away, but it's fair to say on Saturday, when we saw the site, we would have been prepared to close down permanently," said Councillor Graeme MacDonald. Grey Township Reeve Leona Armstrong said three separate piles of livestock car- casses were found by the two site operators after they reported to work last Saturday. The carrssees, clearly recognizable as a calf, a pig and three lamhs, were found such a distance from each other officials feel they must have been deposited by different peo- ple. The calf and the lambs were badly burnt, suggesting they were deposited in the special trench where wood and wood by- products are burned. 'We're trying to do a good job - to deal with the garbage in a sensible and responsi- ble way," said Mrs. Armstrong, adding Grey Township even hired en extra man to ensure garbage would be deposited in the right spots, and in compliance with Ministry of the Environment regulations. "But up until now we've been operating on a honor system. Obviously it isn't working." Mrs. Armstrong said she suspects the car- casses were concealed in plastic bags or boxes and were only revealed after their coverings were burned away. "Maybe we've been a little lenient - not heavy handed enough," said Councillor MacDonald. "Maybe we'll have to have everything dumped right in front of our eyes," added Reeve Armstrong. Iq all fairness members of Grey council said they could not blame the landfill site operators for what happened, since it is im- possible for two men to be in four places at once. The landfill is open only one day a week - 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. Saturdays, and on that day is "very busy". There is only one access road to the site, and it is locked when the site is not open. Only the two site operators and the town clerk have keys to the gate. Anyone wanting access during non operating hours would have to come in the back way on snowmobiles or climb the fence. Grey couut- cillors said both would be difficult to do with livestock. They said they are outraged anyone would consider bringing livestock into a public landfill site - at all. "It's just ignorance it they don't know it's not allowed," said Councillor Lyle Pettapiece. Council noted the dead stock removal operation, which used to be located just south of Brussels is no longer there, and the removals in Atwood and Clinton may not be as convenient as the Grey landfill site. But that, they said, does not excuse the fact the landfill regulations were broken, and point out livestock removal is usually done at no charge. "Maybe the people who don't want to call for dead stock removal, want to go to a coun- ty landfill system where you'll have to take all your deadstock forty or more miles away," said Councillor MacDonald, adding not only does Grey have to comply with Ministry regulations but it can be penalized if it does not. Reeve Armstrong said the townships of Grey, McKillop and Morris also have to con- sider the implications such disposals will have on the life expectancy of the landfill site. Located on a five -acre plot of land one mile east of Walton, on the McKillop/Grey boundary the site was given a 29 year life ex- pectancy five years ago. That was when it was though McKillop Township would be leaving the site to join with Seaforth and Tuckersmith. McKillop will not be leaving the site. "The way things are going we'll be lucky if it last five years," said Reeve Armstrong. "We're just starting a masterplan with the county for a landfill site, but it could be several years before they get something. We want to keep our landfill site as long as possible because if we get a county -wide site, you might have to truck it (garbage) who knows where." Operation of the Grey Township Waste Disposal Site costs in the neighborhood of $40,000 per year. McKillop and Grey Township each pay 45 per cent of that cost, with Morris Township picking up the re- maining 10 per cent. "Certainly the education about what can and can't be done at the landfill site has to be ongoing," said Councillor MacDonald. "But I think we're going to be a lot tougher in the future." "We can't have people abusing their privileges," added Reeve Armstrong. Firm fined for safety infraction in fatality A worker's death in a trench collapse in Egmondville in 1986 has resulted in a $50,000 fine for Laois Contracting Co. Ltd. of Clinton. Ralph Melville, 26, of Thedford, was crushed and another employee received chest injuries when a 1.8 metre (six-foot) deep mhshored water main trench caved in during work in Egmondville on September a. Levis Contracting pleaded guilty Monday in provincial court in Goderich to a labor ministry charge of failing to ensure safety measures were in place during construction of the watermain extension. Two similar charges against owners of the family -run company and superintendent Kenneth Wayne Eagleson were withdraw. A coroner's inquest determined Mr. Melville died instantly of massive head in- juries. Terry Hodgins, 21, of RR 3 Parkhill, was buried to his chest. Labor ministry con- struction safety officer Arthur Godard from the London ministry office testified at the in- quest trenches of more than 1.2 metres (four feet) should be either propped or sloped at an angle. Chimney fire in Staffa The fire alarm sounded on Wednesday morning at 8:10 a.m. summoning Seaforth firefighters to a chimney fire in RR 2 Staffa, but the fire was out before they got there. The chimney fire was in a house belonging to Ted Stoneman of Lot 23, Concession 13, and it burnt itself out with no damage to the home. f