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HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Huron Expositor, 1989-01-11, Page 1( INDEX lNalton - A5 Sports - A6; A7 A8. A10 Obituaries - A9 Births - A9 People - A4. A9 Dublin - A 13 Trio to initiate HensalO day-care. See page A3. i'Set tspiaa' ( Serving the communities and areas of Seatorth. Brussels, Dublin Hensall and Waltor Seatorth, Ontario HURON EXPOSITOR WEDNESDAY JANUARY 11 1980 50 cents a copy bancioned rai8w149, orae can be THE CANADIAN PACIFIC railway line, from Goderich to Guelph, will become a recrea- tion corridor tor use by snowmobiles, hikers, cross-country skiers etc. A committee tn Goderich is at work putting together a.proposal to have the province obtain the railway, rights -o$ -way So It can be turned into a recreational resource, Corbett phots ' County irked by government BY BILL HENRY The Ontario government's "fermenta- tion" of seniors' care policies is frustrating Huron County Council's plans to rebuild its Huronview Home for the Aged. A county application for 50 per cent capital funding for the project, expected to cost as much as $10 million over the next several years, is under review while Com- munity and Social Services ministry of- ficials revise policies, Huron County Coun- cil learned Thursday. Some councillors said the delay is likely to extend beyond the county budget process, effectively scuttling the $10 redevelopment for at least another year. A London-based ministry official said Monday she was aware of no recent discus- sions on the Huronview application, which remains under review by senior MOSS officials. Linda Girard, an MOSS program super- visor, said senior officials are also review- ing the policy which dictates the level and type of services available for Ontario senior cltizens. A�draft policy is m the process of being modified to become provincial policy, partly in response to the growing shift toward seniors remaining longer in their own homes with the help of a wide range of pro- •vincial, municipal and private homecare services. Meanwhile, the Huronview project and others like it from around the province are on hold, Girard said, adding she did not know how long Huron County officials can expect to wait for approval. "It's certainly my understanding that the Huronview proposal does meet all of the criteria of the draft (policy) proposal." she said. Huronview's administrator, and several councillors whohave worked together on the redevelopment project for several years, expressed concern over the delay Thursday . "The province has put us on hold for a . of time because of a corporate policy d>wnt' that they want to make," Huron - view , ,r Wayne Lester told coma cil Thursday. "They are in a period of fermentation, whatever that is...they tell us an to Traits have stopped using the Canadian Pacific Railway line from Goderich to Guelph as of January 1. 1989, but a group in Goderich proposes that the route can still be a benefit to the communities along it. The group, a committee of the Maitland Trail Association, has been investigating the possibility of turning the route into a "multi -use recreation corridor." to be used by hikers, ;cyclists, cross-country skiers. snowmobilers, horseback riders and even sled dog racers. This idea - is not a new one. Abandoned railway lines in the United States have been converted from rafts totrails, and have been found to be generators of tourist dollars. In Ontario. a 17.2 mile abandrmment was ap- proved for development in Collingwood. and a recent acquisition of an abandonment was made in the Kawartha district. The members of the Maitland Trail com- mittee have been meeting with. and are still looking for, potential usergroups and people whe would like to be a part of their initiative: Joan Van Den Broeck of Saltford. a member of the committee and a horse en- thnsiaat. says the committee has met witn enthusiasm or at least favorable response 1' um groups approached. Sled dog racers. for example. have already made a commit - meat to make use of the recreatioh corridor . if it is acquired. Other groups such as riders, cyclists, hikers and snowmobilers are represented by the committee, have also suggested they would make userof the cor- ridor. Even Mennonites along the route have suggested the corridor would provide an alternative to risking their horse-drawr, buggies On roads. "It's very important that user groups learn to work together,".says Mrs. Van Den Broeck. adding once the trail was establish- ed, the various. user gratms would'have to accommodate each other when using it. ECONOMIC BOON Because of the corridor's great value as a recreational resource, the committee sees it as an economic opportunity with massive potential, "Villages along the route.would see great benefits," claims Mrs. Van Den Broeck, making reference to when the railroad was first built, and villages and towns were anx- ious t.Ce see the route come through their municipality, because they knew their town would live or die according to where the railroad ran. "This would bring as much prosperity to fermentation uron county the route as the original railway did," she says Mrs. Van Den Broeck notes recreational trail in the United States bring tremendous amounts of tourist dollars to the areas they traverse. and thinks the development of this trail should be looked upon as an economic development project for southern Ontario And at a time when people are steadily losing 'access to recreation land. Mrs. Van Den Broek calk this -probable , the least ex- pensive way to obtain recreation lands for people m Ontario to have presented itself m the past decade " "It's a very valuable recreation resource -it's irreplaceable. And if we lose the in- itiative now .. we've lost the land forever " • The committee has been looking into a variety of issues which will have to be ad- dressed Concerns of •landowners adjacent to the corridor will have to be dealt with. maintenance of the path and who will carry it out. and liability are all hurdles which will have tote overcome PROVINCIAL COMMTPTEE FORMED • There have been many enquiries about the acquisition of abandonments' in ("Marie. ane .the provmcia; government has put together a committee to deal with then. Tj}e mtermmi aerial committee was form- ed on December 22., 1988 to consider provin- cial acquisition of railway rights-of-way for transportation. recreation and other public • uses • "In recent years. raiiway rationalization programs have resulted in the abandonment of some 1.500 kfloineters of branch lines in Ontario" said Minister of Transportation Ed Fulton in announcing the formation of the committee. "If present trends continue. even more lines will be taken •out of service. • • • "The vacant tights-of-wayhave the poten- tial to be developed•by the province for a variety of uses. If we do not act quickly. however, we may be faced with the perma- nent loss of these valuable tracts of land." The Maitland Trial committee will soon be before the interministerial 'ommittee with their proposal. If they can show the provincial committee their plan is feasible. the province may acquire the Goderich to Guelph line and allow it to be developed as a recreational corridor. According to Cilda Thomas. secretary to the interministerial committee, the commit- tee will be interested to see what uses are proposed for the abandonment, hog issues such as' maintenance and liability will be dealt with, They will want a concrete pro- posal before the province negotiates the pur- chase of the rights-of-way. The province assuming a railway's right- ofway. and even the liability, would make it much easier for groups who wanted to develop the corridor; , The committee does, not yet know what it would cost to develop the 77.2 mile corridor from Goderich to Guelph. -A major expense would be the modification of bridges to make them usable by traffic. Plantings may be needed along the route for aesthetics. to inlubitlarge vehicle entry, to help designate the trail and to act as a buffer. The cosi is estimated at 8900.000 for development of the 17.2 mile trial near Coll- ingwood, so the cost of the 77.2 mile .trail is expected to be a proportionate several million However. the Maitland Trail committee feels that over the long term the cost of developing the corridor will. be more than made up for in the benefit of having this-, recreation facility. and in tourist dollars. Mrs. Van Den Broeek points out the fact the government of Ontario has put together • an interministerial committee to in- vestigate acquisition of abandonments showstheprovince realizes it•ean't afford to give up this resource. The Maitland Trail Association would be interested' in speaking with any potential user groups, or anyone who wou1d�like to become a part of their initiative. Mrs. Van Den Broeck can be contacted at 524-2845. to get our act together and make a proposal and then they put us on hold," Huron„Council agreed in Juiy to rebuild Huronview in three,.separate phases, begin- ning with a replacement of part of the 90 -year-old Huronview complex near Clin- ton. Later, the project calls for northern and southern satellite centres, as well as private washrooms and apartment -like accomoda- tion, an aizheimer's daycare centre and other services not currently offered at Huronview. The proposal, approved by county coun- cil in July, followed two extensive studies. The•first determined that it would be too costly to renovate the existing facility, which currently fails to meet some provin- cial health and safety regulations. The second gathered information from around the county and elsewhere in deter- mining the type of seniors facility best suited for the area. "I am certainly disappointed,” said Ex- eter Deputy -Reeve Lossy Fuller, who chaired the Seniors Facility Review Com - Turn to page 14A • Appliances, roof damaged by storm No serious damage resulted from an unseasonal electrical -storm Saturday night, but a number of Seaforth and area residents have reported damage to a variety of electrical appliances. One household even reported damage to the roof of their Chalk Street home. That damage occurred at approximately 11 p.m., during, the second storm, when lightning apparently hit a tree adjacent to the Costello house, then jumped onto the roof, causing a power outage to the.house,and leaving alarge holein its wake. A neighbor, Jim Palin, hooked up a.generator and helped as Bob Costello covered the hole with a ,tarp. "Everything's okay now," said Mrs. Costello Monday,.adding thefamily is in the pro- cess of renovating the exterior of the home, and was fortunate there was no fire. That was about the most serious damage done by Saturday's storm. Ken Cardno of Seaforth Insurance, said he's had no word on fires or other serious damage, but has received several reports of lightning damage to television sets, VCRs and other elec- tricalappliances. L c,: Jim Cardiff of ,McKillop Mutual Insurance and Steve Murray of Steve Murray in- surance, reported similar claims. Mr. Cardio noted damage was not centralized, andap- ,peeredto,be over the whole of Seaforth.and area. "So,far.-we've,been lucky," said Mr. Cardiff ,.addinghe's only had one reportof a VCR ;being hit,by lightning. ,Mr -Murray too, said repercussions of the storm;have iteenlairly minor,,with,only two claims being made, onefor damage to a.televisionsetand the other a VCR.,He;said it,was fortunate there. was .no flooding; as a reaultof the rains,:ancLadded this was• the perfect time of year<of it, since outlets,are frozen -closed, andJ aek;ups•ean.occur• Saturday's•storm is;being treated as a-rarity•forthisuWseof year. Areofficial from EluronsatellfteSystemssaidonecanusually_e$pect•aJallearythunderstomr ince stery y tFAt ttr- .two- .iearsebutadded it muallelacks:themtelidityof,Sat Y sditoraleThat etCtrlapep t I:tOHTi41NCti�left a:la(ge,hole.in;the.roof;of redFas a.sesulC;af a eoidsatr,loft;bsing.puahed4ahead6of.aucpldeliY� � Ibis Chalk Street home, Saturday' njght..taveragedSIPPreitimately-200,knots;perhour.Normal-windsat s year traoe1,100 ,Mcllwraitheihoto. to:120rknots,per,hour, THE SHOP AT SDHS had to be extinguished on Wednesday, as a fire was started b,' oily rags in the shop's office. The fire created a lot of smoke and heat which did an estimated $8,000 to the shoo. Corbett photo SDS smoke damaged d y fire A fire causing thousands of dollars in smoke damage broke out at Seaforth District High School at 6:45 p.m. Wednesday, The fire started in the school shop in a room used for storage and as the instruc- tor's office. SDHS principal Jim Empr- ingham says the room is surrounded on floor, ceiling and three walls by concrete, and on the fourth ,wall by concrete, glass and a fire door .which .was closed, so the fire was effectively contained and had a limited supply of oxygen. However, the fire smouldered and caus- e -de lot of smoke:and heat damage to the room's contents. -Burring wooden shelves were the ,main source of flame, and smoke from the fire damaged a router, grinder, Jigsaw .and other hand tools, all of in- dusteialquality. Also smoke damaged,was :ie.,dgacl ter's,deak. a fpbinet, and tiers Of resource nsategialsr some�f which were Of one of a •kiind Virl,ually-every item in the routn, inclwdipg.We,cs.,alls rid ceiling,•had to be act ubbed with epeeist materials to absorb the smoke, painted or replaced. The cost for the cleanup and to replace items damaged in the fire is estimated at approximately $8,000. • The cause of the fire is not yet certain. Some rags were burned in the fire, and it is speculated spontaneous combustion may have ignited them. Mr. Ewpruigham says' the fire was "definitely not caused by vandalism." The room tie fire started in contains ,a heat sensor ,.wihich set off an ,alarm in the school. Gerd Dick, clu todianatthe school, *fleeted the school after hearing the alarm, found the smoke in the shop, and called the fire department. Iylr. Empringham says the tire has not disrupted clashop ses. One sclass was in. volvedinJ roar► inventory of the burned items, .and ,another rias *en' ,given a mei gel Ptrw. d,s,a,pdrt.yf ;the currreultun, A company,was in todo a eleanpp Thurs- day morning. eel 1 a$