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Clinton News-Record, 1964-04-16, Page 1THE. HURON .Racp.RD,..810 YEAR No. 16--The Home Paper With The News CLINTON, ONTARIO,. THURSDAY, .Apiku. 10, ,964 $4.00 Per Year Cents Per Copy—First Section linton School Boards Faced With Major Problems Wins Award The long and:the short of it as depicted here is that 'Doug Cantelon, left, won a prize as the top mem- her among his 36 class- mates in the motor veh- icle repair apprentice- ship course he completed recently at the Provincial Institute of Trades, To- ronto. He shows the let- ter containing ,this in- forrndtion to' his boss, Dory Rutledge, at Dory's Supertest. Doug receiv- ed his award at the grad- uation activities, Friday. I The. strt. COIntil11.74:r4 THE NEW ERA 9?th YEAR CHSS Seeks Answer On .How Bid fo Build "The Case for ;Incorporation" was presented in Bayfield, Friday, •and it is doubtful if even Perry Mason, television's never-beaten lawyer, could have expected better results. The jury—some 225 Bayfield residents who packed the town hall—didn't even take time out for any deliberation as they returned a completely unanim- ous verdict to move ahead with the project. The case was presented in about two hours by Brigadier F. A, Clift and the other two members of the "fact finding committee", H. H. Ormond and The nuisance of students at , CI-ISS loitering on private pro- perty to have their noon-hour smoke is a problem for Clin- ton police and not . the school board. That's the decision the board reached last week after learn- ing the problem was. drawing complaints from residents in the high school area. 4 . The complaint had been first aired at the advisory vocational committee meeting, but they decided to take no action and turned it over to the CHSS board, Principal D. John Cochrane also reported he had received several complaints about the bard Turns Problem To Police Of Halting Smoking Loiterers UNANIMOUS VERDICT OF MEETING the 250 not shown% all rose to their feet to indicate their approval of the resort community becoming incorporated. (News-Record Photo) situation from residents a n d from the Clinton police. It was the board's contention they held no jurisdiction over the students in this regard. Ray Madill, Blyth, contend- ed 'it was up to the police to take action and if necessary disperse the students on the grounds they were loitering and greeting a nuisance. t' ' 'beard- was 'shocked- , to Barn that some of the smokers were even so brash as to go right onto verandahs and por- ches to smoke when the, weath- er was nasty. "The authorities can keep them from loitering," corn- merited Bob Elliott, Goderich With aceommodation 'already taxed-eand even overflowing— members of the Clinton Public School Board learned. Monday night they will not be permitted to erect their proposed four-• room addition because council refuses to issue the $110,000 in debentures needed for the pro- ject, The finance committee of councillors H.^ F. Noonan, Don Symons and Reeve Morgan Ag- new said they felt the proposed highway and drainage project on highway 8 should be given priority over any other propos- ed large scale financing. This statement was contained in a report tabled by Noonan, who is chairman of the rom- mittee. It was read after board members George Laois and Clayt Dixon appeared before council to ask what steps had been taken in the request of the school board for issuing the debentures. There was no indication whe- ther Noonan, Symons and Ag- new were the only members of council who 'had decided this course of action, or whether the issue had been discussed at one of council's closed sessions. No discussion was held on the committee's report at all, but this made it rather obvious that all members of council felt the highway job was more im- portant than providing accom- modation for the education of children, As Noonan, stated, the whole town .would benefit from hav- ing the highway job started. The school project of course would only be a benefit to the students and their parents; al- though as the citizens of to- morrow, would, to .ao. extent affect the entire community if. they did not receive the best possible education. Board. Dismayed' Lavis and Dixon looked on somewhat dismayed as Noonan read the report advising that the request be, postponed for Township representative. the present. Council Won't Approve Debentures For Proposed Four-Room-PS. Addition. Favour Incorporation WE RATHER heSitate to Start this week's column off With Mention of the weather. In fact, we rather hesitate to mention it at There can be no question but what the weatherman has been hay- ing himself a real barrel of fun reading Pomments in this paper in the past month or so, and we have no intention of putting the jinx on the present prevail- ing atmosphere . . . In the past, along with our Bayfield correspondent, Lucy Diehl, we have watched out the window and come up with reportings of beautiful spring weather, only to have the paper hit the street at about the same time as snow squalls, bitter winds and what- have-you . . . This week we're going to predict the present Spring won't last on the full expectation (and hope) he'll proye us wrong. THE LETTER of application is ,still considered by many as one of the most important as- pects in evaluating job applic- ants and with this thought in mind we wonder how the chap will make out who sent us a "blind" letter this week to see if there was an opening for a printer in the back shop . „ The letter started out in much the same way as many we have cross , our desk, but it 'took a sudden switch that really left us amused . . you'll quickly see what we mean, as the first couple of lines were as follows: "You no doubt will be suiprited at receiving this letter from me and doubly so seeing that it is coming from the County Jail" . . And the chap (whose identity we did not know, hon- est) wasn't fooling, as the well written letter was on the sta- tionary of the Lambton. County Jail and was stamped "CEN- SORED" on the back with big bold letters. THE APPLICANT, w h o came up with an unquestionable understatement in noting: he was "taking a chance in writing 'to you", was however wise (Continued on Page Eight) Councillor. Duff Thompson was ordered -to follow parlia- inentary procedure in council meeting, Monday, but couldn't persuade the rest of the council that they in fact were not fol- lowing parliamentary procedure by conducting secret session. Thompson presented a mem- orandum at the last meeting calling for council to dispense with 'their closed session on the Monday prior to their monthly Meeting when all business is thoroughly discussed, most de-' cisions made and motions typed out. ,He said at that, time that such procedures were not in the best interest of the ratepayers, whose business council con- ducts. He broached the subject 'again this month and met strong opposition from most Members. Clinton Lady • Takes Tumble On Birthday Mrs. G. W. Nott, 107 High Street, marked her birthday in anything but a pleasant way on Monday, April 6. She took a nasty fall while working in her kitchen and ended up with a broken leg and multiple bruises to the rest of her body. A former first lady of Clin- ton, Mrs. Nott was taken to Clinton Public Hospital a n d then transferred to Victoria Hospital, London. Her •husband reported this week she will probably be con- fined to hospital for about one month. 0 Bayfield Girl Wins Spot In Speaking Final Beverley Sparks, daughter of Mr, and Mrs. Lorne A. Sparks, Bayfield, copped her fourth con- secutive speaking contest in Shelbourrie, Tuesday, to earn a spot in the Ontaricp final of the Royal Canadian Legion competition, The pert CHSS student won the area championship in the junicae secondary school clasS in competition with top speakers from a wide section df Ontario that stretched front the out- skirts of Toronto through this Section of Western• Ontario. To gain entry into this Com- petition. She had to Win the local, district and zone honotitt. The ProVineial contest will be held at the Xing Edward 'Motel an Toronto 'on Mdy 15. Confused by coofusing re- ports -of a confusing situation, the board at CHSS decided Wednesday - 'to take immediate steps to end the confusion as soon as possible. The confusing situation is the .question of how big the next addition at CHSS should be. What makes it so confusing is ,,the fact T no one can accur- ately predict haw many stud- ents will want technical educa- tion at CHSS in the next few years. And too, the local board is in the confusing situation of not knowing what the three boards at Exeter, Goderich and Sea- forth plan in the, way of their own facilities for the coming years. The -confusing reports on the situation are coming from the advisory vocational committee, At the March meeting the CHSS board received a recom- mendation from that commit- tee that an -addition to house 380' students be built, to. be opened for September, 1965. At . that time, one of the MSS representatives on the AVC; Walter Newcombe, re- ported that the recommenda- tion had passed by only a slim majority' in the committee vote. • The issue was discussed for a lengthy period at that meet- ing, and was then shelved' by. the CHSS board, - At the April meeting of the At one juncture, Mayor W. J. Miller ordered Thompson to "rise to 'yours feet if you want • to 'get down to parliamentary procedure". The brusk Com- ment came as the new council- lor was sitting at the table discussing the issue. "I don't like to do it," the mayor said in reference to mak- ing Thompson stand, nut added, "I must." Clerk John Livermore ex- plained there • were regulations in the Municipal Act which pre- vented council from holding closed sessions unless the busi- ness to be discussed was not in the best interest of the public or was confidential./ He inferred that council's practice to hold monthly Meet- ings, known as committee-of- the-whole, was quite constitu- tional. "The bylaw doesn't affect committee meetings," the clerk stated. , Mrs. Alice Thompson added that she had never been at a closed session of council. Duff Thompson then pointed out if the monthly sessions were committee meetings ,he would not have to attend unless it was his particular commit- tee meeting. (Continued on Page i'ight) board, held Wednesday, iNew- Combe reported . the AV.C.. could not understand why the board didn't go for their suggestion of an addition for 380 pupils. He again indicated the "mix- ed thinking" by the AVC on the size of the addition. However, the confusion start- ed again when chairman John Levin read a report from the Exeter Times-Advocate in wh- ich Garnet Hicks, SHDHS rep- resentative, indicated that only ."the Clinton boys wanted to go for the '540-student addition,. (Continued' on Page Eight) 0 Clinton Rate Remains Same As Last Year Although a. budget hasn't been drawn up as yet, council set their 1964 mill rate, Mon- day, and it remains the same ae• last year. Residential rate is 78 mills and commercial is 88. H. F. Noonan, chairman of the finance committee, reported about 90 percent of the figur- es were available and his com- mittee dedided this provided sufficient detail to show that the same rate as last year would result in all the 'bills be- ing paid this year. However, Clinton residents can almost be assured they will see their tax rate jump next year. The highway ,!improvement job on highway 8 is expected to cost another four mills •and if 'the public school addition is approved, it could increase the rate by at least another three mills. 0 Won't Require Much More Cash To Operate PS Clinton Public School Board will require approximately the same amount of money to oper- ate this •year as last. Estimated outlay for the year is $96,300. The amount to be raised by taxes is $21,906. Other sources of revenue will come mainly ,from government grants of $70,000—an increase of $10,- 00 over last year—and a bal- ance of $3,393 left over from last year. The $21,906 tax levy will mean 'eight mills on this year's tax bill for public school sup- porters. Salaries for the 18 teachers, plus two part-time teachers will amount to $72,000. The board has accepted the resignation of Mrs, June Irving and Robert Hanna. Mrs. Rhea Jones, Clinton, has been ap- pointed as part-time .kindergar- ten teacher. The move to incorporate was given further unanimity when Irwin 'Pease, who earlier ,had indicated he would resign his position as a Police Village Trustee unless a secret vote was conducted, reported. "I'm with the majority" when the question was raised as to how the trustees. felt. Frank McFadden,. and LeRoy Poth .also supported the move, and it was reported after the voting of the large crowd that about 25 letters had been writ- ten to the committee in support of incorporation. "It was wonderful," Brigadier Clift stated in regard to the support of the meeting. Have To Work However, he warned t h e large crowd that he didn't fear the Opposition of the few in de- feating the proposal, but rather the lethargy of the majority. In a move that was appar- ently designed to overcome this as much as possible, 10 persons circulated petitions through the crowd to get as many signers as possible before the ratepay- er dispersed. An "interim" Ratepayers' As- sociation was 'also formed to spur the activity along. Brigadier Clift told the aud- ience he hoped to have 75 per- cent of the residents of Bay- field sign the petition before it is forwarded to, the Ontario Municipal Board. Frank McFadden, chairman of the Board of Trustees, acted as chairman for the meeting and bid a welcome to the large turnout, many of whom had motored front London and eth- ee centres to attend, He also gave a special Wel- come to Mrs. Diehl, The Weather Itah Low High Low 1964 1963 April 9 10 / 44 25 46 28 46 28 39 27 58 27 47 32 11 12 68 0 51 28 14 13 63 45 51 29 63 44 51 30 15 55 29 52 28 Rein: ,10" And they certainly received little encouragement when he =eluded by saying it should be postponed until next year at least, indicating council did not think the situation impera- tive enough to promise money for facilities even in one year. However, due to the fact they are elected for only one year, council can in no way set policy for next year's council in this regard. Although the added cost to the taxpayer was one of the reasons given for turning down the request, the committee re- Council's perennial project— a sidewalk on East Street— was again discussed Monday night and Reeve. Morgan Ag- new made the comment that it was discussed more seriously than ever before. However, the 'project appears to be no nearer realization than it has been during any of the times it was discussed in the past six years. Although ratepayers in the area have had the impression council would consider the mat- ter, one member of council came forth with the startling Farmers Toil But Need Rain ' Doug Miles, Huron County's agriculture representative, re- ported this week that many farmers have started their spring seeding operations. While the land is d1 'on top, be said it is "still a little soggy underneath". Miles said warm rain was needed to promote growth as moisture in the soil is very low. Fertilizers are now being ap- plied to wheat, hay and pas-. tures. McFadden outlined some of the history of Bayfield in re- gard to their original incorp- oration and the ensuing action when they again came under township control. in 1927. He commended the hard work of the three members of the fact finding committee and added that at a March meeting of the Trustees, they decided to take every step necessary to work towards incorporation. The chairman pointed o u t there had been "quite a lot of street-corner politics" in regard to the question in past years and the committee had gather- ed together in a non-official sort of way. Clift then took over the meeting and told the audience his committee didn't pretend to know all the answers, but add- ed that all figures presented had been double checked and he felt they would stand the test. Pointing out figures, he had posted on large sheets of card- board on the walls and at the front of the hall, he told the ratepayers that in 1962 "you didn't receive a red nickel" in grants from Stanley; and added he was able to say with con- viction they didn't receive 'any in 1963 either. He also explained that most of the figures on the financial statement for Bayfield were on- ly "in-and-out" bookeeping en- tries and the Trustees had little money to work with at ,all, and in fact knew little of what was going on. "it is impossible for you trus- tees to run our government ef- ficiently under the present sys- tem," he concluded. "They're not kept up to date on what is 'being spent and they don't control the money." "We've been inflicted With this type of government for 30 years," he went on, "and it's ruddy Well time we change it," Although he rioted it Was "the system" 'that was at fault in the fact Bayfield received no granta' for road Work and per capita grants! Brigadier Clift Said the resort community (Continued on Page hive) port indicated council discount- ed •some of the facts previously presented by the board in re- gard to the need for an immedi- ate addition. They noted the school board forecast a gradual increase of 170 students by 1968 or 31 per- cent above the present enrol- ment of 546. "However, Clinton as a whole has grown from 2,985 to 3,552 or 19 percent in the past four years," Noonan stated. Indicate Need However, the figures present- (Continued on Page Five) suggestion that now the rate- payers should present a petition to council to have the work done. A sidewalk for East Street, on which an estimated 250 children use to get to the pub- lic school, has been mentioned by Mayor Miller as one of his preferred projects in his last two inaugural addresses. , At each of those times he has also had strong backing from other council members due to the hazard of having that many children walking on the road. It has been pointed out time and again that an accident to even one child would be too costly a price to pay for delay on the matter. Noting the project had been pending for about six years, Reeve Agnew reported it was "a must" if any sidewalks were going to be •built this year. , "After that, I want one along my street,7 be stated. Councillor Don Symons said council was being too conserva- tive in not getting some things done which were essential, However, some councillbrs noted the children wouldn't use the sidewalk even 'if it was built. "The majority of kids use the pavement." stated Deputy- Reeve John Sutter in regard to what he nes seen in his own neighborhood. "Every black-top street is a playground," commented Ag- new. After it was noted the resi- dents in the area could be charged for part of the cost under local improvement, canna ell ended the discussion. Undoubtedly to discuss it even more seriously at a future date. Work Completed Before Council Approves Tenders Reeve Morgan Agnew has wasted little, time in his project of making the town shed a "show place", He reported Monday night that new wiring has been in- stalled and a new ceiling put in place. However, because of the un- expected expense of having the wiring done, it has been decided to forego plans to improve the heating system. 'After hearing that the work was almost complete, council passed a resolution accepting the bid of $389.00 from Wise Plumbing and Heating to do the electrical work, and a ten- der of $495,00 from. C. Doucette to install the ceiling. No tenders were read at the council meeting and it IS not known whether the ones .accep- ted were the lowest or not, No council member expressed any remarks about the work being done before the tenders were accepted. Last Member Of Doherty Clan Dies Word hat been received that Victor Doherty, last surviving member of his family, died hi tareheacl, Alberta, on Sunday, March 29, He was the youngest son of the late William Doherty, fours- der of the Doherty Organ and Piano Company,• Clinton, This is now Sherlock-Manning Piano Co. Ltd, Burial -Leek place in the Field of Honour at Barrhead, April 1, Fred Watson. There was only one or two cross-examination questions po- sed before the verdict was handed down in two standing votes, after one member of the audience had noted his lack of understanding as to what the question was on the first vote. On the second vote, only Mrs. Lucy Diehl, the energetic correspondent of the News- Record was unable to get up from her wheel chair to make the standing vote completely unanimous but her "ramblings" left little doubt as to her posit- ion in the matter. • Mayor Orders Councillor To Stand While Losing Fight On Secret Session Bayfield Residents As this photo shows,, the meeting held in Bayfield,Friday, was well-attended and later in the meeting these people, and the remainder o Bayfield Wants Incorporation East St. Sidewalk Seriously Talked -But Action Same As In Past