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HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Huron Expositor, 1983-11-23, Page 1• rating up,10s1 504 Or tiopY I .t • • • ersmit BY WANK OKE Water rates at Vanastra will increase in 1984 following • approval of rate hikes ' Ts(esday by Tucketstnith Township council. • 11 c tate increase •will take effect Jan. 1. TIM new service charges for each tear month billing periost are: a single family duplex and semi residential units, 520, an ase from 515; multiple units containing to four residential units, 530, multipl. Ccontaining five tL six residential units, $45, multi le units containing seven to eight residential units, 560; multiple units contain- ing nine to 10 residential units, S75; multiple units containing, more than 11 residential units, 5100; and a, small commercial building, 525, up from 515. "r SEAFORTH ONIAR'1O; WEDNESDAT1 'NOVEMN 'DDroVeS An additional consumption charge of 50 cents a cubic. metre for every foitr-ninth billing • period will be levied. This is an increase of 10 cents. / Jack McLachlan, township Clerk, reported the new fes will bring in an additional 57,000 in consumption charges and More than, $2,500 in service charges. ife said it costs 588,000 h year to operate the system. Councillor John Broweridge of Vanastra opposed the increase as he ,had when they were .first proposed last month. „' ' LANDFILL SATE APPROVED , Council a(iproved in principle -the agree- ment for the .nevi landfill site it will share with Seafoftit and McKillop Township, • subject to submission for Ontario Municipal Board approval. The landfill site located iu McKillop Township, *bout a' mile north of Seaforth, will bepurchased from John McLlwain for about 5120,000. (The cost per acre is about 53,300 for approximately 38 acres). Addi- tional charges will include costs of purchas- ing land for an access road, a fence around the site and about 585,000 for environmental assessment costs (engineering fees) of the site and other possible Sites that were assessed as well. The total costs will be debentured by all three municipalities with Tuckersmith issu- ing the debentures when all the details are finalized and OMB approval is received. M.. McLachlan said eNue illegal (mistakenly made) ttook-ups In -`the Vanta�ttra sewage system hal% . identified and located by the A.of the Environment staff at the water sewage gpartment. It Was incorrectly reported ihat there was going ta. be an inde ndenf httiea<tf_ga3ion. Five, the hook-ups have been correctly installed and four others Will be. Clerk McLachlan wasauthorized to attend two seminars. both being held by Ministry of Municipal Affairs and 'Housing, The first is in Gode 'eh on Dec. 7 at the Court House for the preparation of financial statements and the other in London on Dec. 8 advising of changes to the Ontario Building Code. Station renovations under budget Seaaforth council will send letters of thanks to police chief, Hal Claus, public works 'superintendent, John Forrest- and members of the Seaforth police department. AB of them worked on the conversion of the new police station gratis in their spare time. The work on converting the former fire hall to a new police station was 'more than 5500 under budget and cost a total of - S24.493.84. Maybe we should give Mr. Forrest his communication system,'suggest- ed councillor Hazel Hildebrand, who heads council's £mance committee. "Without him it wouldn't have been under budget. 512,986.08 .was spent on materials; 53,036.73 on services and 58,471.03 on wages. luncil a s- uncil reviewed detailed budget and actual figures at the Nov. 8 meeting. In other police news, councillor Wayne TEENS AND SEX—A society where birth control Is readily available (that's Seaforth pharmacist Shauket Mangal)i with the pill) but not always used by sexually active teenagers, sends out conflicting messages about sex. How do teens cope with the pressure, what are they learning and what do they think? See story on page 7. (Photo by Wassink) Christrnas at the Expositor Christmas means something different to each of us. At least some of that difference has to do with *hat age you are. what stage of life you're at, what your family circumstances are like. In the Christmas edition of The Huron Expositor. to be published just a month from now on Dec. 22, the editorial staff hopes to share some of our readers' Christmas stories. If you know someone who will spend a first Christmas away from home; a young couple working out how 'to spend holiday time with both sides of the family; a family with young children; someone who has a houseful of guests at Christmas or someone who'll be alone (or if you are any of those people) we'd like to interview you. The Expositor would also like to meet families who spend a day in the bush getting a Christmas tree and of, families who have a tree -trimming party. Let us know. Just call Ron or Susan at 527-0240. • The Expositor is sponsoring a Christmas story contest, with one prize for adults and one for children under 15. The topic is The Best Christmas Present i ever Got and entry deadline is Friday, Dec. 16. The winners will be published in the Christmas edition. Watch for a festive atmosphere in the Expositor right through December. Again this year we welcome your favorite recipes for special Christmas food and we'd be glad to hear from anyone with Christmas traditions or crafts they'd like to share with other readers. Man charged in break-in A man has been charged with the Oct. 27 break-ins of United Trails and the Petro -Can- ada gas station on Seaforth's Main Street. Barry McCallum. of Kippen, also charged with a number of break-ins in Exeter, appeared in Exeter court yesterday. Results were not available at press time. Vandals put their own finishing touches on the new police station in the early morning 0 hours ofllov. 11 with two and a half foot high black teeters on the south wall. The graffiti which included paint on the front door window and the south window caused damages of S30. Although there are no suspects, Seaforth police chief, Hal Claus says, 'We must be doing our jobs - we're getting to someone." Ellis, chaitbtan of the police committee, noted that Goderich Fire Department had been given permission to use the county police dispatch system, at a cost of 52000 a year. He objected to comments on meetings on the matter published by columnist Elsa Hayden in Focus. Yod'd almost think she hadn't attended the meetings....to set the record -straight, (other municipality's objections) were that Goderich had arbitrarily allowed the fire department to become part of the system, 450 pigs last in firs without consultingiOklie>f' members of the county wide group. !,:•, Saying the coluinti'bad "given the -other four municipalities in Huron a had bathe," he. added "it made me road and I- haggis* Exeter will be even madder:'' - - ' In other business, council's -inflame is still trying to determine Joe Nigh's elegibilltyir a permanent disability pension. Mr. Nigh, who was a public works employee froth Sept. 1980 til July 1982, is not able to work for medical reasons, BY WiLMA OKE A raging fire killed 450 pigs and levelled a barn on the RR4 Seaforth farm of -Robert Vah • Den Neucker early Friday. Damage is estimated at 5200.000 for the dead livestock, the building and feed and equipment stored inside. • in an interview yesterday, a shaken ,Mr. Van Den Neucker said he art%his family were away from the Tuckersmith Township farm most of Thursday evening. When they returned home after 11 p.m.. they its- ' covered the barn was on fire. in the time it took for Mr. Van Den Neucker to call, for help and for the NQObteCtiOtS A public meeting Monday night to discuss a proposed zoning bylaw amendmentlasted five minutes and attractd only one ratepayer. Several people had -said ere were objections to the amendment in off-the-record conversations last week but councillor Bill Martin who chaired the meeting "had no knowledge of any written objections." The planning advisory committee will now tecofnmend that Seaforth council amend the bylaw to allow building oh commercial lots which have --less than the now required frontage. provided all other zoning bylaw Brumfield Fire Department to get there. the blaze bad grown, spread and become unstoppable. Until 7 a.m. yesterday, firemen remained at the scene of the fire to ensure it didn't'. spread to any other buildings. Late yesterday afternoon. the charred remains of the barn still smouldered and the barnyard was littered with the carcasses of dead sows and young weaner pigs. as Mr. Van Den Neucker prepared for the long. toilsome clean-up' job. Insurance will partly cover the loss. The fire department is still investigating the cause of the blaze. oto 1 requirements are met. As the bylaw now reads, buildings cannot be constructed on commercial property with less than ebb foot frontage. OVERSIGHT "Residential property can be built on if lots are narrow, but not commercial lots," said Mr. Martin. "One lot was sold and we (the planningcommittee) encouraged' the owner to buid on it. it was then that we found there was an oversight." The amendment would allow building on most narrow commercial lots, including one on Goderich St., East owned by Leo Medd. .Y, ri BEAVER CEREMONY—Kevin 'MacDonald and Kevin Coleman look solemn as they're welcomed Ir(to the Seaforth Beavers. 15 bogy joined the group' during Monday id ht's meeting at St: James Separate School. , • (Hundertmark photo) 'Hltten MrP Meddr'app - budding"t'"Fisher):-'spttiortt.praoner... =But . there are mit -per; it was discovered th t:xtie property - safeguards for extreme cases. 'If a roperty didn't meet the requirements. it was six inches less than the required 60 feel," said councillor Martin. I understand we need immediate action because the 7v., zoning bylaw won't .be out until next ear," said Ken Oldacre, chairman of Seaforth's planning advisory committee. VARIANCE The Huron County planning department favors the amendment. "Existing lots may be slightly deficient in frontage," said Cindy owner wants a larger building than the standards allowed, he would need.a minor variance." There are three or four properties along the highway (08) that are zoned commercial. lithe houses on the lots were torn or burned down, as the bylaw now stands. the owners can't rebuild." said councillot Martin. If council approves the amendment. "owners can build on narrow lots, providing they meet all the requirements such as sideyard and frontage.'" he said. everybody goes to fire says retiring fireman A veteran Brussels volunteer fireman for 38 years, Doc (Gordon) Stephenson epded his career the way he started fighting a Targe fire. Doc has seen a firefighter so long that locals say he joined when he was 15 and was the department mascot for three years before becoming a fullfled ed fireman. But Doc discounts the rumor. " 1 joined when i was 18. 1 was at a fire one night and firemen arcked me to help. I've been a member ever since." Before joining, Doc was like most Brussels residents --he followed the fire - truck when the siren rang. "'Phis is a small town. if there's a fire, everybody goes." And that's what Doc did when he went to his first fire. He followed the tfttck to a fire at Melvin Gregg's hardware (Cousin's Home Hardware). Back then, Doc says he received "510 or 515 a year." Doc remembers many o1 the spectacular fires he's helped fight, but those that stand out are the three where people lost their lives. "i was acting chief when three small boys died. The other Fries claimed the lives of two elderly sisters and the mother of three children. -These are the worst fires. They really stick in your mind," says Doc. NOTA CHANCE Doc shudders when he thinks of the three boys who died. "Their mother tried to rescue them. She had taken the boys to a second storey window. She lifted the window and was sucked out of the house. The boys didn't have a chance." He warns anyone trapped in a house during a fire "to grab anything and smash the window out. Never lift it. 1 always start eating when I know there is a person in a b Ing house." has fought many downtire fires. The Cal Kreuter Plumbing and Heating build- ing was gutted twice. Ned Rutled's five cent to S1 was gutted, as was Bab' Kmeeman's furniture store. His last fire was the worst the downtown" has suffered. The Olympia Restaurant and Turnberry Upholstery were gutted in October. Nearby businesses suffered smoke damage. Both his fast and last fires were extinguished. "But the difference is day and night in the techniques used. We have more modem fire fighting equipment • now." NiGHT FIRES Fire fighting Is challenging, especially the night fires, when volunteers dress in record time. Doc was one of the few firemen who had fire phones in their home. "1 would usually hear it on the second ring, rush down the stairs to aniwer it and find out where the fire .was. My wife would throw my clothes down after me and i would be trying to dress and answer the phone at the same time." Of all the night fires Doc's been to, he had to drive to only a few. "Murray Lowe is about the quickest fireman I've ever seen. He is usually one of the first at the fire hall." COLD, WET If he had a choice, Doc would sooner SEE FIREMAN ON PAGE 3 Iv A• 38 YEAR veteran of the Brussels fire department, DQo (Gordon) Stephenson re- tired. Fire chief for several years, his last -position was deputy -fire chief. (Wassink photo) County honors winners at 441 Achievembnt Night /A18 Over 350 in Seaforth broomball league /A13 SDHS grade • nine students. tour hospital /A4 Minor hockey raises $500 in bottle drive /Al2 The Day After, three days later /A8 Einci@m Births /A6 Brussels /A16, 17 Clasailled'IA14, 15, 18 Community Calendar /A3 Dublin 1A5 Entertainment /All Family /A6, 7, 9 Farm 1,418 Hensel? /A10 Kids /A8 Londeaboro /A17 Obituaries /A9 People 7A11, 16 Sports /Al2, 13 c