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The Huron Expositor, 1978-04-20, Page 1SCHOOL DAYS AGAIN--NA-0 Franklin 18 happy to be back to class, now that the teacher's strike is over and students have returned to class 'at Seaforth District High School. (Expositor Photo) ENDANGERED SPECIES — A low mileage used car is rare now in Seaforth. A shopper looks this one (Expositor Photo) Inside this week ?At Almon' Ccvesitor Watch for Skateboards P. 7 Carolanne boig to Scotlbnd ,, P.11 Area theatres plan seasons P.13 Reunion stirs Scots blood P.24 Whole No. #574.5 119th Year 7."17 •C", : • SEAFORTH, ONTARIO, THURSDAY, APRIL-20i 1978 — 24 PAGES mita $12.00d Year in Advance, Single copy 25 cents I. mileage cars ing of the past 'Seaforth council' members :will .be meeting with .0,• Fort~ uric developer to hear plans for a-. ireposed----607--tont---"-a I fordable- • - • • • housing subdivision" planned for. the southwest of Seaforth. The subdivision, - which will include both 'single-, family and semi-detached :housing units, will be loeated on a 10 . acre parcel of land, south of the railroad tracks, presently owned by the .town. Arris Land Development Ltd.. a Fort- Erie company . which recently serviced subdivisions in both Mitchell and Stratford. has been. selected for a low-cost housing development by council. Representatives of the -com- pany will meet with members of councilonVVednesday, April 19 to outline plans for the subdivision in greater detail. -‘ The- • town has owned the property in question . for about four years. and the original idea was to build a mobile home park. on the site. Gordon Rimmet, planning board chairman, said the board ' considered rem-nil-4 ibe-Priiperty for mobile homes, Two or three years ago the board sponsored a display of mobile homes at victoria Park and about 600 people- toured the-homes: : About 60 people completed questionnaires on the desirability of living in mobile homes. Mr. Rimmer said the planning board then decided convenience built homes would not ,be much ,firtife expensive than double-wide mobile homes' and might will more buyer approval. A sub-committee of council and planning board members has been working for abent., eight Months studying the queStionof affordable housing. Members of the committee ' included • mayor Betty Cardno, councillor Irwin Johnston .and Jim Sills (chairman), Town engineer Peter • Sawyer, County planner Roma Wt.'s, and Gary Davidson, PUS' Manager Tom Phillips. Town 'clerk Jim Crocker and Planning Board Chairinan Gordon (tinnier. the hog, the trio . had fled and nothing was taken in the robbery attempt. Mr. McLellan , said the three. people were wearing sunglasSes . and 'the men had, long hair; but were well dressed. After the, attempted robbery,, 'Miss McLellan noticed the key, en the cash register drawer, had been taMpered with, but she isn't g,-• • . These allowanees•are subject to ApOroved in principle---7---------<7.' .approval by town council- and the A113. . -• . ... . Two armed men and a female accomplice staged .an unsuccessful robbery attempt at the Kippen General Store on Monday night. KenMeLellan, owner of the store, said he and his wife were in Toronto • when the attempted ..robbery took place. His daughter Robyn,. 16 and her grandmother, Mrs. Ida Dickert, were working in the post office part of the store when three people came in, at about 5:50 p.m. Mr: McLellan said his daughter 'went out and asked the trio if she could help them with anything. They replied they were lust looking, but a Short time later, the girl. aged about 16 years, came up tit counter to paylPrdr a paCkage of cigarettes. Mr. McLellan said his daughter 'wahecoirthe when Miss McLellan looked Up, one of the men was standing at the end of the counter, holding a gun in his hand. • • Miss Mclellan exclaimed, "Oh ,Miss McLellan and her grand- mother immediately called the 0. P. P. and roadbloCks "Were' set- up in the Goderich-Exeter- Seatorth area for the next two • hours. Constable Bill McIntyre.fhe Armed robbers hit Kippen general store grandma" and when Mrs. Dickert., • , looked up from the post. office - • Counter, the' second roan was . sett! 6olding a knife. on her. Miss McLellan yelled, "I'll get the stri the dog" and dashed out the back door for the family's large * Dalmatian., Huron County's 274 high Before she could reit:On -with — school teachers ended a 31 day strike April 12 voting 205 to 47 to ratify their 1977-78 and 1978,-79 contracts. The acceptance of the pacts permitted schools in the county to re-open for the first time since February 22: The settlement by the. teachers was the final step in ending the strike. The board of education voted 12-1 in, a Special, meeting 'April 11 in favour of the contract sure whether she had, turned it in which was hashediout in a 33 hour her excitement or whether one of 'marathon. bargaining session that the robbers had tried to open the ended • at 5:45 a.ni. April. 10. • lucked drawer.. The settlement was a saw off • .6. • ow Cosi. orries tree trimming had been complet d in both Scafoith and Dublin Iylanager Tom Phillips reported • ( o ue on age ) investigating,. officer, said the roadblocks failed to turn up the suspects. ' Although Miss McLellan and het grandmother couldn't identify any of the would-be robbers, a. neighbour reported a man driving a dark car had spent sonic time watching the 'Store from the churchyard earlier in the, ,.."..When officers investigated the chureh grounds, they discovered cigarette stubs of the same brand as those purchased by the female accomplice. Constable McIntyre said composite diagrams ,of the suspects have been prepared for circulation and . officers, are following leads on. the 'vehie'le.' used , in the holdup fittem13It:••:..44,„„,„,„„,.,,..,..... Thc.O.P.P. arc continuing their investigation into the attempted rob.berv.• Mayor Cardno said the commit- • proposed development in tee advertised the fact the town Seaforth. administration And general. ex- penses: $10.000 for billing .04 collecting the water bills and *$9,000 - for services and ,hydrants. "--"The-3"TiTa-nlommission set their. 1978 stipend at $55 for the chairman for each regular month- ly meeting and $50 each for the other two commissioners. AB-will receive $20 for • each special. penditures will be $20,000 for . meeting. KINDERGARTEN REGISTRATION - Jonathan Wheatley sampled kindergarten life this week when he registeqed for next . year's kindergarten class at Walton Public School. More pictures of registration on the Walton page. • (Expositor Photo) By Alice Gibb The, ays when a: man traded in the family car every year may well be a thing of the past. Today, good, low-mileage used car. is becoming harder and hardor to find, and people' aren't trading in their older cars on new models like they once did. Gerald Groothuis, of Gerald's Datsun, Seaforth, said as the price of new cars goes up. people are driYing their cars longer to get the full value from them._ 'He said,for example, in 1972 a Datsun 510 sold for $2,400, while -today the price has almost- doubled: • • Another Seaforth 'dealer .said people • are keeping their. older curs tenger since they're not' getting the prices they want When they trade them in. • e. added that dealerSNaj. r,arep't getting the, prices When: they . -re7sell ---the older cars. A A. major reason is the... fact car buyerstoday are looking for smaller models with better gas mileAge. • Richard Wright, of • Wright-. Taylor (:hey. -Olds, in Seaforth, said . while' he doesn't have 'as many used cars on the lot as he did in the past', .he's still getting a lot '.of two and three 'year old Conference for Management of - • the Association of. Municipal' Electrical' Utilities in Peter- borough June- 7, 8 and 9. Mr. Phillips was authorized to attend the Ontario Section of the American Water Works Associat- ion in OttaWa May 7-10 on the (Continued on Page 3) • attend a one-day PUC Con ference But the dealer said, normally an individual get more money- when he sells his used car attend 'along with one commissioneN----the..---kawottha- in St. Mary:S in May. Mr. Phillips wits authorized to , Telly at e I h ti in According to, national statistics, there is usually a $500, difference between the wholesale price '(what the dealer will allow On ap trade-in) and the retail price (what•-t-he dealer will fry to sell it for on the market.) Local dealers agreed the $500 this car, then he only pays sales tax on the diffenec in the amount he's allowed lot his used cal and the price of the new car. $9.000, However, if he trades in 0 • back in the classroom, catching up on the work they've missed, Harry Scott, Vice-Principal of Seaforth District 'High School, 'said he estimates about 90 per cent of the students have, return- ed to class, a figure which conipares with the rate of return at the four other county high schools, . • . ,Mr. Scott said he spent most.of Thursday phoning the homes of the students who hadn't returned to class, He said some of the students were Ihbsent for the normal reasons - they were sick or they hadn't realized the strike was over and school was starting again. Also some students had taken jobs, and were committed to work until the weekend. Mr. Scott said he expects 10 to -12 students won't return to class. Two of the students have transferred to Alma College, a private boarding school in St. Thomas, and at least two other students have enrolled at Wester- velt Business College in London. Mr . Scott said students who wi.re elaSses in Kitchener-Waterloo schools have .already returned...WS:MIES'. He said students who transfser- red temporarily to' other systems • • of subdivision is proceeded with by the developers, it is likely the property zoning will have to be 'changed to allow a smaller square foot area per lot. Originally the housing sub- committee hoped the homes. would qualify under the Assisted Home , Ownership Program (AHOP) sponsored by the Central Mortgage Housing Corporation. Under this program, buyers receive ' assistance through pre- ferred and low interest mortgage rates if their home meets stan- dards laid down by CMHC. In the Seaforth arca. the ceiling price for a home qualifying for AHOP •financing is $34.300, Since both the development company and Members councili • feel it would be impossible' to • service raw land and put up new - homes for that price, council and the developer will ask for a review of the AHOP ceiling by CMHC. Mr. Crocker said there is also a • • SUBDIVISION DESIGN — This is one of the designs for a single family home Submitted by Arris Land DevelopMent Ltd., for the proposed 60-unit affordable housing subdivision proposod for Seaforth. had a parcel of. land for sale and Mritfr-proPosaInZr serviced,•— low cost housing. The committee were most impressed • with the Arris pro- posal, but no agreement between. the town and the developer has been signed ho date. Mayor Cardi) said council is at the stage of saying, "We want you as our developer." • • The council hopes the company will tiny the parcel of land and then be responsible for servicing the property and building and marketing the single and semi- detached homes. Herb Clayton. vice-president of Arris Land Development Ltd.. said his company has serviced the lots in the Mitchell and Stratford developments and then sold them to local builders. • - While Mr. Clayton said he handling the Seaforth proposal: he -added there are builders in his company who can. put tip the homes 'fa • the Second program, the new housing deVelopment might 'qualify for. • Under the Municipal Incentive.. Giants , -(MIGy program. ,a subdivision has 10 units per net acre, then the municipality re- ceives' S1,000 .for each building permit issued. However, Mr. Crocker said the deadline for applications. _under this program is Dec. 31. 1978 when MIG' will be discontinued. Under the proposal submitted by Arris 'Land DeVelopment Ltd., construction of the Seaforth-hous- ing subdivision would be spaced over a three to five year period, ' Mr. Crocker said since ,the parcel of land is completely unserviced now. the next step is for town council to sit down with the 'developer and work out a subdivision agreenient. As least One member of council expressed concern that the ..developer not buy the land and then resell it to other builders. Mr. Crocker said a clause . can be built into the subdivision agreement stating the land can't be resold to another builder. The clerk said Railway, Brant-. ford and Elizabeth Streets will be extended to service homes in the new subdivision. -H-e--said there are a number of considerations which must be discussed before a subdivision agreement is finalized. For ex• ample. while tar and chip read3s would be cheaper to build from the subdivider's point of view they would be more costly for the town to maintain after the fact. But regardless of the outcome of next week's meeting' with the developer. Seaforth council's ex- periment has been unique. Mayor Cardno pointed out, this is one of the first times a Municipality has advertised for a developer to build a housing subdivision on land currently ow ned hr the municipality. In the past. develOpers have usually approached a mun- icipality for permission to build a subdivision'on a certain parcel of laird they've already purchased. ‘-' buyers have been forced into the small car market by government legislation which makes smaller engines mandatory by., 1980, The dealer said/the only car left with a larger engine will by the Corvette, Although the big car' fanciers may nOt welcome 'the change, the deal er said there won't neces- sarily be less profit for' dealers when they're selling only small ears. But two ,of the four dealers surveyed said they definitely still have buyers who want the larger cars. However, only are people going to have to -change their buying habits with new cars but also with used models. As on Toronto car' auctioneer said recently, "At one time in the used ca,r market you, can buy any mileage-yoa. wanted, but not anymore." The clean, low-mileaged used car is becoming as hare! to find 'as the larger, luxury model new, oars will, be 'after .1981. " to the work force. Mr. Scott said at least two, students from th lower grades had taken jobs at the local ,shoe factory. Although teachers were strik- ing, Mr. Scott, principal Bruce 'Shaw and the office staff reported to work as usual during the 31-day strike. • Mr.• ,Scott said parents and students phoned or dropped by the school every day. He added parents became most concerned when no settlement was in sight after the March break and this was the time some parents enrolled their children at high schools in neighbouring counties. Since the strike occurred during , Match, students .missed the set of exams they usually try at this time of year. Mr. Scott said heads of de- partments -will meet to decide whether or not there Will be June examinations in their subjects. The Huron County board of education has agreed to accept whatever recommendations are made by department heads. .Mr. Scott said with or without June- exanW, flie final -day of classes for the students is June 21. He added not only have the (Continued on Page 3) C ok's $128,000 budget by Wilma Oke . • • The.' Seaforth gublic Utilities Commission. approved a water- works budget of $127,800 for 1978 at a meeting Wednesday after- noon.' Included in the budget are capital expenditures of ' $75,900 approved by council last week and Maintenance cost of $51,900. , The main maintenance ex- " • • Previously 'the chairman re- . ecied $500 annually and the two commissioners $400-each;-',.. All members will 'receive $35 per day . for, each out-of-town meeting on PUC. basiness for each .normal working. day. Last year, it was $26 per day. It was noted there had been no ..,inerease• in•.the 'stipend over the past four year s. The new rates . are the same as what Members of . , council new receive.. trade-ins. While he agrees the family man is likely keeping his car longer, he attributes it partly to the fact there are more things for him to spend his money on. Mr. Wright said it isn't unusual to, see a seven year old car trailing a$12.000 boat behind it. However. since lie deals with a number of businessinen who are selling their two or three year old cars to take advantage of tax write-offs, he said he still has loW-mileage used cars come on the lot. All the dealers - interviewed agreed while there will always be semc customers who want large': ears, the gas-guzzlers are becom-' „nil.. a thine. of the past. • • 'Bigger in Past One dealer said even 'the rrni •,•teenagers: who' coult-1 be counted to buy .the igger cars in the • past, have- been buying the smaller models for the past. three . or four years. A fourth dealer agreed a. major mason why people are keeping ' their cars longer is the fact they're not ' getting ,• as ,good . trade-in value. He said people are also driving greater distances today, so even when the cars are traded in, they often fall into the high-mileage -category. Used, car trade-in values over the past two • years haven't • generally ,kept, pace with the rise in new car prices. The spead between the price they have to; pay for a new ear and the price, received for an old car is too much for ,many 'potential buyers. • , Also, a number of.car owners arc selling their cars privately, rather than turning them in as a trade-in on a newer model. Harder to Sell ' Mr. Wright. said it's harder to sell .a car privately. today than it once was. Ira, man sells his older. model car himself, and then pays $9,000 for new car, he has to • pay 7 per cent sales tax on, ,t he 'figure could be misleading. and said they wished- they made that much in re-selling used models. Gerald Groothuis said after reconditioning a older model car and passing the safety cheek there was often less than a $500 profit when re-selling the car. The dealers also agreed the day of the gas-guzzlers are almost over. Mr. Wright said the day of the big car is completely gone. He added this is the last year for the Toronado and Cadillac Eldorado, both larger General Motors (GM) models:. He added GM has been down-siting their-ears since 1976, reducing the engine size, the wheel base and overall length of the, cars to save on fuel. Xew.,Car Sales- , Mr. GroothuiS agreed that car • buyers are very conscious of mileage now, and added the last . month has been the best offal' in 'terms. of new 'ear sales for his dealersh ip Another Seaforth dealer said car, I dr': ere s e the two parties..agreed to, neither side -winning their case but neither side' losing. The offer made to the teachers in the marathon session settled the disputed workload clause in the Co' d 3 . • 90 */ SDHS students back to school The 31-day strike by Huron paid tuition fees to the., new County's secondary school system on a monthly basis. -teaehers--ts-over-an-d students are 0tlner students have beep _