The Huron Expositor, 1988-06-22, Page 1Weddings - A4
Hensel) - A6
Sports - A9 -A10
Dublin - A11
Obituaries - Al 7
Graduations - A17
Local painter uses local subjects. See page A4.
renreeere
Serving the communities
and areas of Seaforth,
Brussels, Dublin, Hensall
and Walton
Huron
xposrtor
Seaforth, Ontario
HURON EXPOSITOR, WEDNESDAY, JUNE 22, 1988
50 cents a copy
County autonoy threatened
Many of the changes proposed to
strengthen Ontario's county government
system could at the same time erode the
autonomy of local councils, area politi-
cians warned a provincial task force last
week.
Giving counties the option of taking over
such municipal services as planning,
recreation and economic development
would be "the first step towards
regionalization," Exeter Reeve Bill
Mickle said.
But others said counties should continue
to assume administration of services as
each becomes too expensive or un-
manageable for the municipal councils.
"We're not out on a power grab to take
over these roles," said Turnberry Reeve
Brian McBurney. "It's a matter of the
local municipality coming and asking the
county to take over what they can no
longer handle."
That has been happening for years
(welfare, libraries, municipal planning
and other services) in Huron County and is
contipuing with the recent move to study a
county -wide waste management, agreed
Hallett Reeve Tom Cunningham.
But Cunningham later said some ser-
vices, especially recreation, sewer and
water and municipal drains should remain
with the local councils.
"I believe iii a strong county council. I
don't believe in weakening the local coun-
cils," he said.
Mickle said that although the current
council may not envision taking services
from member councils against their
wishes, subsequent councils may, once
counties have legally have the power.
"Once you give the power, power is taken,
and power will be used."
An alternative would be for counties and
local councils to contractually agree that
services be operated by the county for a
fee, Mickle said later.
Much of what was discussed at the day-
long meeting was contained in last
November's "Patterns for the Future"
report of the provincial advisory commit-
tee on county government.
Other highlights among the report's 36
recommendations: that all heads of coun-
cil sit at the county level and the positions
of reeve and deputy reeve be abolished;
that wardens be elected by secret ballot;
that counties be required to operate homes
for the aged, administer welfare and
operate a county roads system; and that
each municipality have et least one county
council member . while additional
representation (another vote or an extra
body) be based on .2,500, 5,000, 7,500 or
10,000 electors as thi%county chooses.
The advisory report, with the exception
of one recommen+ : A on calling for a full
review of small m i .' cipaiities, was en-
dorsed by Huron Co '7 ty Council in April.
But the dominant. /'tie of last week's ses-
sion before the task e which is current-
ly assessing respo ,l to the report, was
one of laissez faire.
Huron County reevt said the system
here works well.
"I think the county system works very
well in Huron Count and I don't think we
need to tamper with,: it too much," said
Hensall Reeve Jim Robinson.
Other reeves agreed that any changes
eventually put through by the provincial
government should be permissive, mean-
ing individual councils implement the
recommendations only if the choose to do
so in a majority vote.
Toyvn action sparked by petition
A petition circulated to Seaforth Town
Council by residents of the terminal north
portion of Church Street, has drawn atten-
tion to the deplorable condition of that
stresit. Council decided at its June meeting
to do something to improve the situation.
The "deplorable" situation came about
last year after the paved road surface from
the Church Street/Centre Street intersec-
tion exteii�iipg north approximately 150 feet,
warremoved during the 1887 resurfacing
program along those streets. Instead of
repaving the road, the town applied scrap-
ings from the resurfacing of Highway 8.
Those scrapings, according to residents of
Church Street, have not proven an adequate
replacement for the "good quality" paved
surface that previously existed.
"The paved surface of this section was of
good quality due to the fact that this is a
'dead end' street, not a thoroughfare," they
said.
The residents noted they have experienc- driveways and on lawns," they said, adding
ed numerous personal aggravations at two intervals during the 1987 winter, the
because of the loose nature of the substitute build-up of this material was so extensive in
surface material. front of driveway entrances, a private con -
"Seasonally the large calibre of ag- tractor had to be hired to remove the debris
gregate affords no moisture retention and as residential snowblowers could not be
therefore remains loose all winter and will used. �p
not freeze. Continually, when the municipal The residents also noted the LOwn's public
grade plows the snow, large furrows of the works department had to supply manpower
road surface are deposited In froncof * •^,m to page 16Ao•
Pole fire results in power outage
A pole fire in McKillop Township Hydro crews were forced to switch con -
resulted in a power outage in Brussels, sumers onto another wire, then replace the
Walton, Winthrop and half of Seaforth on pole.
Friday morning. Wayne Kuntz, line trade supervisor for
Ontario Hydro, said pole fires are rare,
Power was out for close to one hour after and the failure of the insulator may have
an insulator failed and a hydro pole caught been caused by anything - possibly even
fire on Concession 2 pf-McKillop Township. the storm earlier in the weak.
HEARTY APPETITE - Seaforth Manor resident Elmer Bakcsy was not the only one who
enjoyed a heaping helping of strawberry shortcake on the weekend. Seaforth Manor
hosted Its strawberry social Saturday afternoon and attracted a number of interested
parties. The event is an annual fundraiser for Alzheimer's research, Mcllwraith photo.
Continued hot, dry conditions could harm
The dry weather in Southwestern Ontario
lately is causing concern in the field of
agriculture. Brian Hall, Farm Management
Specialist with the Ministry of Agriculture
and Food says until the small rain of last
week many crops were at a critical stage.
And unless more rain comes down soon,
yields are going to be affected.
Mr, Hall says the rain helped and there
might be an average yield on the wheat
LOCAL FOREST FIRE - Members of the Seaforth Fire Department were summoned to
a fire in McKillop Township late Saturday afternoon. The fire, which burnt grass and
destroyed newly planted trees, was spreading throughout a 'forested' ravine at Con-
cession 2, McKillop Township when firefighters arrived. It is believed to have been
started by debris which was dumped over the side of the ravine and ignited. Mcllwraith
photo.
crop. Wheat is at a critical stage now
because it is flowering, and ideal conditions
are cool and moist. But the rain we did get
was spotty and a lot of areas in Huron Coun-
ty didn't get any. In Vanastra, for example,
there were some areas that didn't see any of
the rain. Seaforth got about one-third to a
half inch of rain, but about two inches was
needed. But without that bit of precipitation,
Mr. Hall says there may not have been a
wheat crop.
local farmers
"We're going to need another good rain to
get average yields," says Mr. Hall. He add-
ed the heat is hard on cereal crops as well.
The prices for corn and soybeans were
looking good for this fall, and Mr. Hall says
there is potential for producers to make
money. But bean crops don't tolerate this
dry weather well, and need moisture to
emerge. So we're going to need a good soak-
ing to get a good bean stand, allowing
farmers to take advantage of what look to be
good prices.
Mr. Hall says things could be worse. In
some areas of Michigan, for example, the
wheat crop has been cut for sileage.
Asked if farmers are worried about the
dryness, cash crop farmer Mert Keyes of
RR 4 Seaforth said: "We're always worried.
That rain Wednesday helped but we could
stand more."
Mr. Keyes agreed the need for rain is get -
Turn to page 16A •
Seaforth gets in on real estate boom
The real estate business is booming
across Southwestern Ontario and Seaforth is
no exception. All four realtors in town report
sales are up and Seaforth's real estate is
becoming more popular.
Maureen Wildfong of Culligan Real Estate
has been in the realty business for 10 years,
and says she has never seen sales higher. In
fact, only halfway through 1988 the sales
record for 1987 has already been broken at
Culligan.
Mrs. Wildfong says Culligan is now anx-
ious to get more available housing after the
summer holidays sales surge which hits at
this time almost every year.
She says she can see three reasons for the
boom in Seaforth. The first market is an
overflow of customers from cities
-particularly Toronto, Kitchener and
Stratford- who are squeezed out of the
larger centres by a lack of housing. The se-
cond is local people trading in their homes
for larger or nicer homes. And the third
reason is the hydro line being extended from
Kincardine to Stratford over the next three
years, which is bringing more people to the
area. This coupled with a healthy economy
has people coming to the Seaforth area.
Henry Mero of Workman Real Estate says
the real estate boom has been going on for
the past couple of years, but this past spring
and summer have been the peak so far. The
reasons Mr. Mero gives for the boom have to
do with the characteristics of the town itself.
He says prices here are inviting, there is a
good selection of properties here, and
Seaforth is an attractive town.
As to what these new buyers are looking
for, Mr. Mero says "you name it." Basically
everything is selling right now from a two
storey Victorian style home to a three
bedroom bungalow.
"It all sells if it's in a good location and
has a good price," says Mr. Mero.
Mr. Mere predicts there will be no change
in the market in the near future, although he
expects sales to slow down after the
summer.
-- ... yam _ _- `. '' Aa,
REAL ESTATE BOOM - All of the real estate agencies in Seaforth report that the real
estate boom is as prominent in Seaforth as anywhere else in Ontario. First home
buyers, city dwellers, and people seeking nicer homes are taking advantage of
economic conditions to obtain housing, and are attracted to Seaforth's rural market.
Here Gretta Miller, Culligan Real Estate's newest sales representative, shows off some
of Culligan's recent sales. Corbett photo
"There are still lots of buyers and lots of
property and it's a healthy market," he
says.
In his years in real estate in Seaforth Mr.
Mero has noted this area to be very steady.
There is an agriculturally based economy,
and a lot of older people in the market place
-all of which make for a steadier market.
Century 21's Kathy Larone has been sell-
ing real estate throughout Huron County for
the past seven months. She says Century 21
has 15 sales representatives in its Goderich
office and all are busy.
Ms. Larone accounts the boom to the fact
we came out of a small recession when in-
terest rates were up at 22 per cent. Now that
rates are down people no longer feel a risk
factor in buying a house, and those who five
years ago were scared to buy a house or
couldn't afford to, are today's buyers.
"Also, people from the city think the
market is great. They're probably the
cheapest prices in Ontario. Where else can
you put a roof over your head for $24,000?,"
she asks.
While the $24,000 homes are becoming
rarer, Ms. Larone says the average cost off a
one and a half storey frame home in
Seaforth is between $35,000 and $45,000. The
same house in Toronto would cost $200,000 to
$300,000.
Ms. Larone has been selling the one and a
half storey frame houses to a lot of first time
buyers. The retirees who buy in town favor
single storey bungalows, she says, and
newcomers to town have a weakness for the
older Victorian architecture.
Sharon Medd of Mclntee Real Estate says
realtor's sales have basically doubled over
last year. Again people from the cities are
the culprits, drawn by the rural deals.
Recently she had an inquiry from a
woman from Toronto who wanted a 3,000
minimum square foot Victorian home with
at least four bedrooms.
"I kind of cringed," she says,"there are
houses like that in Seaforth but they're not
for sale."
Mrs. Medd says rentals are becoming
short in Seaforth, and knows people who
have had to resort to camping until they can
find housing.
Asked if she expects the real estate boom
to continue Mrs. Medd says:
"It's simple, people need housing. Look at
all the people getting married this summer
-where are they going to live. Everybody
needs housing."
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