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HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Huron Expositor, 1979-04-12, Page 11120th Year Whole No. 5796 r SEAFORTH, ONTARIO,. 'THURSDAY, .APRI. '12, 19: 2e PAGE. S13 a Year in advance Single Copy cents a • y. A. Seaforth taxpayer with an ,average house assessment of $3,000 will pay $24,81 more than last: year intaxes to -run the town. in 1979, following; passage Tuesday night by council of its budget. The residential munie' al` mill rate is 4(97.07 8 I S mills.tr�197 an the 0..3 . ) d commercial rate is '123.93 mills (114,,20 in 1978), That means a residential taxpayer with a: $3,000 assessment who paid municipal taxes. (not including school or county levies) of 5291.21 last year will have a tax bill of 5316,02 in 1979. "We've gore over it and over it anal, pruned as much as we can,;" commented Mayor John Sinnamon, Among the things pruned: was, a pick up. truck for public works, (a new dump truck. was left in the budget), a• replacement for the town's 1975 police cruiser, and about $6,000. from last year's culture andrecreation budget. It will cost'local; residents 5288,734 to run. Seaforth this year, after grants are deducted compared to $256,524 last year;an: increase of 8.5 per cent. Education and county levies, aren't included in the tax hike. They will be set at the May council meeting,, All council committees have higher bud- gets thisyear than last, except recreation. All figures are gross expenditures, all offset •. by grants and some by revenue. Finance and general government will ;Streets, sidewalks to be irn prove'd mayor.. says Seaforth council hopes to start a major street reconstruction program with its 1979 budget, Mayor John Sinnamon said Tuesday night, James . St. reconstruction will be finished. Other—budget—highlights he - cited were continued street light and sidewalk improve- ments, continuing the Huron St storm sewer,: the new police communication system; an official, plan review and . the int;r' worst BY ALiCE GIBB The wintersmmppst violent storm, w i ch ripped throughso1ithwe n pp stoer Ontario on Thursday :night and Friday, resulted in hydro service being cut to many 'Huron County residents schools and highways were closed and many people ended up being stormstayed for the two day ;period; Seaforth PUC manager Tom Phillips said the storm "was defin itely the worst we were with this winter. Mr .. Phillips said the hitrt p four man PUC crew, who were assisted by Peter Kling and Jim Sills,were seriously hampered in making repairs by the high winds and blowing.. snow on Friday. Y The winds resulted intrees falling on a number of hydro wires around the town. Mr. Phillips said: he receivedthe first. call about a tree down across primary and secondary power lines at 3a,m. on Friday morning,The tree was down at thecorner of John and Ord Streets and power was off on John Street from Jarvis to Sp arlin and also P B on the south side of Goderich street from Louisa to S arlin P $ Mrs Phillips said most homes had power P P restored within a two to three hour period. The next complaint came when a tree in front of the PUC residence on Victoria Street collapsed across some wires, knocking out the street lighting: A single phase .primary line was also down, knockin ,out power from Govenlock 8 Street to the Lions :pool. Also between 7 and 7,.30 a,m. a' double circuit went out at . Main Stationi, south of Chalk Street, When this was shorted out g due to hi h winds -kroG gi kin out fuses at the station,power was off in homes south of the'. purchase of industrial property on Crombie St. , The mayorblamed higher tenders for sewer construction and higher sewage lagoon charges last, year for the fact that a 525,000 reserve fund was not set aside as planned7ast Year:. This leaves the Town of Seaforth in the position of having to budget for the 1977 deficit of.S20,100'rile added: �.r n CN tracks and:. along Main . Street Mr. Phillips said' the PUC crewhad most power restored in this area by 9a.rn. The most serious power blackout occurred when a tree fell acrossp rimary and secondary power lines at the rear of Bob Be utenmiller's' home,pulling the hydro stack off two homes in the area and breaking the transformer pole on Duke Street between WestWilliam ' W' it • and North Main Streets, in the' Householders area a e were .without w .m. to about'I .m, power er from 7a p Tom Philips said'. the 'PUC staff really P appreciates the co-operation they received .during the storm from people who were without power. He said crews started working at about 3 a.m,..Friday morning and continued until 7 p.m, going back to work for two hours Saturday morning, IN DUBLIN Mr, Phillips said the local crew also spent an hour in Dublin' on Saturday repairing streetlights in the village. He said P 8 g 8 a feeder line going. from Dublin to Mitchell was knocked outm the storm, but this was repaired aired byOntario'Hydro crews on Friday, pY Y in Tuckersmith-Township,tive consecutive poles, two miles south of Kippen, went down in the high winds, playing havoc with hydro service in the area:; One of the more unusual storm stories involved the rescue. Friday of an expectant mother by 'Frank Hulley, who, drives the. McKillop Township plow; was w rkitl Mr.Hulle said- he o g in the Y township shop when he had a call from the Seaforth Ambulance service about 11:30 a.m. The ambulance drivers had been on their way to pick up Mrs. Diane McCallum, ANOTHER VICTIM --+These lines came tumbling down on Harold Coleman's' iawli during Thursday night's storm with it'd sudden ' thunderstorm followed' by hlgh winds. A number of area residents woke 'Friday morning nbarn tloorsblown er�pd ��ds, 61acked by tla nueua�prin�torr. ( sposItphto) • <spend 5136,218 this year, versus 5107,173 in 1978, Planning and social services as well as administration and a land purchase. of 525,000 included here, Police and. inspection. '.expenses will be 5156,146, up from S130,979 last year. Capital and operating costs for the new police dispatch and one time sick leave credit payment account for a good deal of the increase according: to clerk Jim Crocker. Councils transportation and environment committee will spend 5320,582 this year, up from 5302,819 in 1978. Most of that increase is caused by overestimated revenue and. underestimated expenses on sewage lagoon operations, according to the clerk. The arenacommittee will spend $1 14,028 1979, up from .589,034. A payment on the debenture for the new roof is included here.` Booth supplies will cost more but there will be more revenue too, clerk Crocker said. Recreation is the only budget figure that's down this year, to 536,909compared to 543,168 in 1978.. Althoughthe recreation .. committee's budget hasn't been cut, more programs are self supporting and regist- ration fees and recoverable wages are up, according: to The clerk,. For example, he said Seaforth's sister city program may have high expenses ;but, • they've been' more than recovered by grants and fees, The Local Architectural ' Conser- vation Advisory Committee's budget was set., at 51100, down from the 51900 the LACAC asked for;. 'e e b` committee A more detailed committee Y look at the town's 1979 budget will appear in next week's Expositor,. i • of RR 1 Walton, expectant ex ectant mother, when they were . stranded • by the storm in Winthrop. .! ,Mr.Hulle met the ambulance drivers and Y v,. •-Dc,John Underwood at the Winthrop store, and he and the doctor started out to the McCallum's with the grader. Mr,Hulley said visibility was almost .nil, and he and; the doctor used the hydro wires se oftreeto assure and the odd • glimpse a s 8 P themselves they were still on the road , • The grader got through to the McCallum. home outside Walton and Mrs. McCallum.. rode back into town with the doctor and Mr. Hulley in the grader: The - Seaforth ambulance followed the grader back into town from Winthrop. Mr.Hulley said'. the 22 mile trip to pick up Mrs. McCallum and deliver her safely to.. Seaforth Community Hospital took from 11:40 a.m: to about1:20 p,m. The grader driver agreed the storm was "T he worst storm this winter:" The haPPY ending of the tale is that Mr, and Mrs. , Paul McCallum now have ' a new baby daughter, born later Friday afternoon.. Another', victim of .Thursda y's freak lightening storm . was the Seaforth police department's radio service., knocked out when lightening struck the atenna.. on the roof of the town hall. Police 1 chief John Ciarns said the lightening burned out the radio set and kicked but the fuses,leaving' the town hall without power for. awhile. SYSTEM OUT The radio system.!^: expected to be . repaired by Thursday, . connects Seaforth withP P olice dispatchers atchers in Goder'ich... The police chief said police calls Were. again answered through the dispatch service at Seaforth Community. Hospital and-` the police constables had to periodically check: with dispatchers there to ensure they ,were. not missing any calls, The radio dispatch system was only installed in the Seaforth police statron.lwo weeks ago. Lightening is also blamed for starting a fire in the Zion Lutheran Church, Dashwood, which completely gutted the 70 year old structure. • GilEarn Campbell, meterological technician at the, Sky Harbour Weather A FUTURE STAR Justin Rodney tries out' his skatingskills during the 9 Seaforth; Figure . Skating Club's Achievement Ni ht held at the: Night Seaforth Arena on Monday. (Story onthe sports .page.) Seaforth ended :1978 with a $20,102' deficit, and expenditures in; most: depart- ments were above budget, auditors from Clarkson, Gordon told council' when they reviewed the 1978 financial statement. Tuesday Knight. Actual total expenses were about 5150,000 above what was budgetted, but revenue too was much higher than. expected. The biggest .cost over ` run was; in. Environmental. Services Where sanitary sew- ers Cost, . sewage treat- ment costs and new storm sewers were nearlyS110, 000 over budget, Al) figuresare gross and many of then} are offset by revenue, eta Wage costs for a new secretary„, office renovations and purchases, plus financial andinterest charges of about 57,500 and a Main St; land purchase of 520,000 combined x to put general'. government e p endtiures., budget, t roughly 540,000 over . 8 , Transportation services cost about 520,000 more than planned in 1978 because of extra. snow clearing'" androad maintenance (56,000), higher payments to CN R for crossing maintenance (52,000),parking meters .(53,200) street lights (51;500) and other costs, including wages (510,000). Actualpolice and social and. family - erviees expenses ;were. about what was S - 5 and. S 41, re budgetted: 129,2.1 3, 9 spectively, Culture and recreation in Seaforth last year cost about 513;,000 more than was expected, mostly for roof repairs and other capitol costs atthe arena. Planning and development cost about. 521400 more than anticipated, because of plan and :zoning surveys done, the . ac- countant explained, A planned transfer of 525.000. to a reserve fund was not done: - Tax revenue too was: higher than expected last year by about 540,000. , . about 534,000. in sewage connec "'on and frontage charges and 56,400 1 Mm in su eri eta taxes. About 512;000 more was received in grants, including a land in fill grant for the dump. Fees andservice charges brought about FAB dispute heats u The dispute between Seaforth and other members of the Fire Area. Board (FAB) over .. back payments for • fire hydrant rentals maylonglasting have results. "We may have to look at the possibility of a fire department ourselves in future," esug8 ested FAB member and . Seaforth •councillor,Gerald Groothuis. The : FAB is seeking a • legal al op inion' 8 P on. Seaforth's request that it include fire hydrant rental costs in its budget, and - councillor Groothuis* nd-councillor'Groothuis" comment wasmade at the end of a short report to council from t , FABchairman Irwin Johnston. • There was :some criticism ata recent FAB meeting of the recent use of a fire truck to pump out manholes on Jarvis :St, for thetown, 'Mr. Johnston said.. There could have been a health ,P roblem:. there; and as firechief of Seaforth HarryHak had: authority,to do the pumping, clerk. Jim. Crocker said. "But ' under command hes of the fire area board. He needs a foot to star "' said councillor Groothuis. d on" "Common sense is the best foot to stand. on," said councillor Jim Sills. ,Council okays share o of Station. Goderich, said there' was a•weather advisory issued Thursday night warning " 'about coldLalt coming in from the west, The cold air Whit a warm front which, in Mr, Campbell's words, "Made a beautiful storm!*' I he unexpected blowup Thursday night meant a. number of area residents were Storntstayedaround the county, •' The 14 men attending a knighhs of Columbus+ " executive meeting in ' St. Columban ended up being stormstayed at' theFatherStephen Eckert: council rooms until Friday afternoon, ' The mefnbers were sustained by a midnight snack at the conclusion of their.' meeting Thursday night, and hot soup and rolls supplied` oh Friday by Mrs. John Moylan,the mother -of one of the members. The large sign at the entrance to the Seaforth Lions park was blowtt down when one of the. posfs supporting the . sign `collapsed in the high wind. At the Same time a large Maple tree in front of the 'park pavilion Was uprooted and blown overduring the wind storm. system county police dispatch s s em Y Seaforth agreed to pay its share of the new a lot more costly The new system:isn'ty police communication system to be P `than ;therese t. one at .:5300 to the n operating. tri- Goderich thin, week, but ,not. without some comments on rising': costs.'.' Total budget for nine months is about 553,000 and Seaforth's Share, the smallest of the five . county town's is $5,722 or 5476 a answering service plus long distance calls, said councillor !Bob Dinsmore, chairman of, thepolice committee.' "We'd' have to replace PP e the P resent radio system soon if we didn't have, this", he added. Wingham council had expressed concern • Council authorized the agreement. $90,000 morethan was budgetted for into municipal coffers. Parking teeter revenues contributed about 54;500, sewer surcharges about 552,000, sale of industrial park land 518,000, Ontario Home Renewal Plan 58,300 tax penalties and interest $2,700 and a water works surplus $2,270. Major capitol expenditures, the ac* countant explained were street lights,, parking meters, sanitary sewers, arena improvements and a ' 55,000 debenture - repayment., ' . -- Council has an industrial;' reserve fund of about 525,000 and councillor Bruce Hoelscher • asked why this wasn't applied against the deficit. "With the reserve fund. we're not actually in the red," 'he said, The accountant explained that a policy decision had been made to hold that money., forindustrial development. '‘It's not a general reserve.", 1n future council i ght want to use that to offset deficits,at he said. The Clarkson, Gordon accountants praised the town, clerk and staff. "The progress I've seen here in two years-is.second to ,none," said Archie Leach. They said interest charges :• to the town could be redgeed through a bank loan which' should improve. the town's cash position and which has' already been put into operation. AII gr finance All request for grants will be prosessed by its finance and general government commit- tee only, Seaforth council agreed Monday night, There was no discussion on the decision, which had been recommended by the finance committee following a review of the town's. grant giving procedures. The, finance committee's: grant recom- mendations `• will continue to come to council. • . The committee okayedan increased grant to the Seaforth Agricultural Society of 5600, up ..;5100. That•got councilov a r al as did.a approval, decision by the town's rec committee; to turn down a grant request from the Seaforth. and District Pre -School c e 1 Learning e C titre for help in buying tumbling mats: The rec committee, also turneddown a verbal request from, .the Happy -tizens for helpin buying small bowling trop les. : ` . y B g. . . • tenders n i a lllf ders • extension Although the extension of the Huron St. -: •storm. •drain won't be needed for the first phase of Seaforth's . new West Branch 'subdivision, council decided Monday night to go ahead and call tenderson the e Work. It needs to be finisheventually. s ed There. aren't enough dollars involved to put into any other street program", and so council's public works committee decided to go ahead as planned, chairman councillor .Jim Sills said. . "If weput it off we could bein a major bind next year,'" he added: HoPp Y efull there',11 be major road con- .:. struction y next year, Mayor John Sinnamon. Y said. Will Arris, have model homes up in:the sundivision this year, councillor Gerald Groothuis :asked. "They're Supposed .to,"' clerk Crocker replied. ` at escalating costs. and Exeter had even /t' o n survey ey • • "thought of opting out commented Mayor . John Sinnamon. "if there's a deficit at the Rec V gets end of theyear'I: wonder how much we can absorb') ' "I said 550,000 last August and they said 'no, no"' said deputy reeve Bill Dale, "Now it's over $50,000, for a nine month period," .s • Will consider C'of C grant request Seaforth council took no action Monday night on grant request from the chairman of the Chamber' of Commerce retail promotion committee which would. help finance advertising of Seaforth and its businesses on CKNX radio and TV. Councillors decided! to seek more information,' at a meeting set for Monday night, oncosts and merchant contributions to the advertising. plan. Jerry .Hetherington wrote that 53000 is being sought from the "C of C and asked council to provide part of that amount since the advertising Would promote the whole town. • "It's worthwhile iooking into", Said Mayor John Sinnamon, "It let's people know' we are here and might attract, Some small industry".. Thcmayor said he 'assumed the 53000 Wilt over and above the estimated 550 amonth the program will cost participating; merchants. "It will promote the town itself, therefore they'd like the town to share frosts)", The request was sent to council's finance' and general, government committee. little response in town A survey on how well recreation needs are being met in Seaforth has been dropped, because it didn t get much participation, council heard Monday night, The survey was planned by rec committee member Gary Montgomery. Sithe: enough recreation is going on in townor there's a lot of apathy toward it,'' commented Mayor John Sinnamon. Although survey forms were at the high, school , not one student .picked them up, councillor Jim Sills, a member of the rec committee reported. "Maybe they were directed at the wrong. people: School kids already .have lots of activities,':" said councillor Bob Dinsmore, Council's rec committee voted to can the survey and thank Mr. Montgomery' for his efforts. *fottlOi'keirociAtott �f11S1'�e'thiS week Change at Family Paradise . .. .. ., -P. ,. 6 Energy Day in Mitchell . , .. ,. , . P. 6 Bible Bill in Alberta . , , .... O. 10 Longtime Hensallbusiness sold 8 , . P, 17