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The Exeter Times-Advocate, 1974-03-21, Page 1Reopen talks to end strike Dashwood fire loss could hi through the ruins of the grocery store por- T-A photo Cause of the fire which completely destroyed. Merner's Meat Market in Dashwood early Tuesday morning has not yet been determined according to Dashwood fire chief Emil Becker. The blaze which broke out shortly after 5 a.m. Tuesday was reported simultaneously by a neighbour Bud Durdin and a London Free Press truck driver. Fire chief Becker said the centre of the building was completely gutted when firemen arrived and they were able only to rescue six cattle and six pigs which were to be slaughtered the next day. The Dashwood fire chief said loss of the building was es- timated at $100,000 and contents at $50,000. An employee of the firm, Brian Lightfoot said Tuesday night total losses could be well over $200,000. Lightfoot said about 120 quarters of beef were in the cooler and about the same amount in freezing units along with about 20 hogs. In addition to a large stock of groceries, valuable slaughtering and meat processing equipment was lost in the blaze. The Merner Meats operation which is known throughout Canada and the United States as the makers of "Dashwood Sausage" was moved last fall to its present location last fall to its present The Merner Meats operation which is known throughout Canada and the United States as the makers of "Dashwood Sausage" was moved last fall to its present location about a mile north of Dashwood. At that time, an addition was made to the modern abat- toir which was built about six years ago. The meat and grocery store was moved from its Dashwood Main street location.. The owner of the business Ron Merner and his wife left Friday for a holiday in Puerto Rico and are not expected back until Sunday. Two large watch dogs owned by the Merner's were lost in the fire. Dashwood firemen stayed on the scene for more than five hours. Firemen Jim Becker and Market blaze. Jim Hoffman of the Dashwood Volunteer Department battling the Merrier Meat T-A photo EXETER, ONTARIO, MARCH 21, 1974 START AND END OF GAS' CRISIS — More than 1,100 homes in this area were affected by the Tuesday shut-off of a Union Gas line, south of Birr. In the picture below, Constable McNught of the London OPP detachment and Mike Stewardson, a Union Gas foreman check where the line was turned off. Above Lloyd Ross of Churchill Drive watches as a company supervisorj, personnel light his water heater, T-A photo Employee Brian Lightfoot is shown tion of Merner's Meat Market, Union Gas customers from Elginfield to Hensall were without service Tuesday as the result of another case of sabatoge against the company's, distribution facilities. Around 7:00 a.m., a valve on a line in the Birr area was shut off by vandals, cutting off service to an estimated 1,000 customers in Lucan, Centralia, Huron Park, Exeter and Hensall. The service was off throughout the day and it wasn't until late afternoon that company em- ployees started restoring service. The old argument of cen- tralization versus decen- tralization of Huron County's departments was revived at Thursday's session of county council when it was learned the county poblic,ljbrary board was considering building a new library headquarters building, It was reported the present rented facilities on Lighthouse Street in Goderich are only just adequate and the owners of .the building have other tenants in mind. The lease expires in 1976. "It would appear that the logical move would be to larger quarters and to a building owned by the county," said library chairman John F. Flannery, Seaforth. "It has always been the policy of the county to provide accommodation for all the various departments and then recover its monies by means of rent," In a four-point recom- mendation, it was suggested the building program be considered; that the future need of the various county departments be studied before a site is chosen, keeping in mind the crowded condition at the court house building in Goderich; that the location of the building be in the immediate Goderich area to function in conjunction with the court house where expensive office equip- ment is already located for use by all county departments; and that $30,000 be set aside as an initial amount in the reserve account for the project. During the short but hot discussion, it was pointed out once more that plenty of space is ready and waiting at Vanastra, nearer to the centre of the county than Goderich, The report was accepted as presented although it is assured that the location of the proposed new building will be a question for further discussion as con- struction time nears. The budget at Huronview is up 20 percent to a total of $1,434,970 this year($1,194,470 last year).The residents will contribute 44 percent($441,187); the Province of Ontario 48 percent ($695,857); the County of Huron, seven percent ($102,526); and miscellaneous non-subsidy, one percent($1,000). The planning board budget is "up substantially" to $136,395, said Chairman James A. Mair. This budget however reflects the salary for a new planning technician, summer student help and the non-recurring UDIRA (Urban Development In Rural Areas) study. The secondary plan for the village of Zurich was accepted after two and one-half years of planning. A bylaw was passed accordingly to amend Huron's Official Plan, The Historical Building (the former jail) was a matter for brief discussion at county .otlncil. The offer of a lease with he Town of Goderich was with- frawn and the county has ac- epted this change, Fur- It was Wednesday morning before some services were available again. ' As a result of the vandalizing of lines, Union Gas announced Tuesday they would offer a $500 reward for information leading to the arrest and conviction of persons responsible. The gas service cutoff in this area was one in an epidemic of deliberate gas supply cuts that began in early February the date when union employees at the gas company walked off their jobs. Non-union supervisory and technical repair crews from thermore, the brief of the Huron County Branch of the Ontario Architectural Conservancy for renovations at the jail will be investigated by the property committee at a meeting soon. "We're almost back to where, we started from a year ago,'-'remarked Chairman Harold E. Wild, Wingham. He suggested that councillors should familiarize themselves with the brief which is lengthy and suitable to "read yourself to sleep with." Goderich Reeve Deb Shewfelt said that in order to prevent duplication of meetings, Goderich town council had deemed it wise to have the Conservancydeal direc tly with the property committee. He said that if a board was appointed to operate the jail project, the town should have representation on that board. Negotiations have been resumed in an effort to end the strike at Dashwood Industries Limited. The 185 members of Local 3054 United Carpenters and Joiners of America have been on strike since February 14. Talks between company and union officials last week proved futile, but new negotiations were started yesterday under ministry of labor mediator, Jack Hopper, The company had requested that negotiations be reopened. There was both good and bad news for Exeter ratepayers at council's meeting, Monday. The good news was that an "end" may be in sight for the town's drainage and sewage problems, The bad news is that the "end" may not come until late next year and that the means to that end will cost in the neighborhood of one million dollars, However, drains committee chairman Tom MacMillan said the expenditure on the projects in the one million dollar bracket "will cure a high percentage of Our problems," The completion of the sanitary sewer project (a project initiated by council on March 17, 1971) is now expected to get underway in 1975, although some work may be done on the project late this fall. Works superintendent Glenn l<ells said the tenders for the job - London, Chatham, Sarnia, Waterloo, Guelph and Owen Sound were called in to restore service to customers affected by the area cutoff, Tuesday. The company said that since the strike started, about 7,000 customers have been affected by the sabotage in St. Marys, Elmira, Fergus, Ayr and parts of Hamilton and Burlington. The $500 reward, according to a statement released from the company's Chatham head office, will be given "for information leading to the arrest and con- viction of any person or persons for deliberately tampering or interfering with any valve or other installation without authority to do so, at any point on the company's transmission and distribution systems." The company asks that such information be given directly to municipal and provincial police. Since the incidents began, additional security forces have been manning key points along Union's nearly 9,000 miles of pipeline and police patrols have been stepped up. The pet8ong responsible' for Tuesday's break in service, walked through a field to get to the line near Highway 4 at Birr. Two sets' of footprints Were discovered by police. Huron deer hunt wins narrow vote There will be a deer season in Huron County this year, although it is not a unanimous decision on the part of county councillors. On a recorded vote, council voted 27-27 with the tie being broken by Goderich Reeve Deb Shewfelt in favor of the deer season, Reeve Elgin Thompson showed his displeasure to the way in which Reeve Shewfelt broke the tie by saying in his opinion, it was unfortunate that today's people would allow animals such as deer to run around with an arrow or a bullet in their hind quarter. Reeve Shewfelt countered with, "That might be better than starving to death." Evidence brought to county council last month by lands and forests officials showed there are may deer in Huron, enough to warrant a deer season. The county development committee also recommended a deer season and approval was finally given by council for a gun season from November 11-13 and an archery season from October 29 to November 25. Costly proposition estimated to cost $643,000 - may be advertised around July 1 and this means a contract could be awarded by mid-October of the current year, Kells said that B. M. Ross, consulting engineer, had suggested this may enable the winning contractor to start work on the John St. pump house and force main this fall, Council members are hopeful that would come about, as it would probably end the basement flooding problems experienced by residents in the Carling St. area. For the past two years, they have had water (some of it containing sewage) backing into their basements, With the completion of the sanitary sewer project in 1975, problems being experienced by several ratepayers with septic tank operations would also be eliminated. One Hundred and First Year Seek office for rec head Exeter's RAP committee has "tentatively" hired a recreation director. Chairman Gord Baynham in a verbal report to council this week, said the new director is James McKinley, Kitchener. He gave no further details of the man's experience or salary, but did indicate the new recreation head would commence duties on April 15 or May 1. Baynham said the hirth created a "small problem" in that RAP had no office for the new official. He asked council to help solve the problem. Some suggestions, including the former fire hall, were aired but no decision was made. Reeve Derry Boyle, chairman of the property committee said his committee would investigate the, situation, Boyle had stated earlier he thought it would cost about$2,000 to convert the former fire hall into offices. Baynham also had some comments on the proposed sports complex, saying he supposed council members were aware of the enthusiasm being shown by various groups through reports in the newspaper, He predicted it would be five years before any complex would be completed, and said in answer to a question from Councillor Hoogenboom that he hoped the arena would hold up for that length of time. In another item in his report, the RAP chairman told council the gabion baskets at the point of the island below the dam at Riverview Park were un- dermined and in "really bad shape." Mayor Jack Delbridge said he thought the Ausable-Bayfield Authority had planned to rectify this problem this spring. and asked Clerk Eric Carscadden to bring the matter to their at- tention. The other part of the one million dollar project is the construction of storm sewers to eliminate the flooding con- ditions in town, on the east side in particular. At a special meeting one week ago, council authorized B. M. Ross & Associates to prepare the final plans for this project, which Will be undertaken in two phases, The first phase will see the construction Of a 54-inch storm drain which will parallel the present Anne St. drain from the seuth-east corner of the town through to a point between William and Carling Streets. This would eliminate the floods which have been experienced several tithes in recent history, culminating in the disastrous flood on July 24, 1969. The second stage would be another storm sewer running from Eastern Ave, along Sanders — Please turn to Page Price Per Copy 25 Cents to fill out a questionnaire and answer questions regarding payment of such a system. Council has refused to answer the questionnaire regarding financing because cost estimates were not included. A motiong passed Monday night informs the Ontario government Ministry that the questionnaire will be answered if an Environment representative attends a couhcil meeting. Grand Bend council also asks that similar questionnaires be sent to the neighbouring town- ships of Bosanquet, Stephen and Hay as "their later input into the system will be greater than that of the village." In other business, council: Authorized works foreman Vic Anysymiw's attendance at the upcoming T.J. Mahoney Road School at the University of Guelph. Gave approval in principal to the phase two development as proposed by Southcott Pines Park Land Limited. The reply will mention that village council is desirous of another access road to the development. Report unavailable, forget firm's name The long-awaited engineering study of the Exeter town hall has still not been made available to council. One of the problems is that Reeve Derry Boyle, who lined up the firm to conduct the study, has forgotten the company's name. He said this week he knew where they were located in London and would drive down at his earliest convenience to pick up the report, couldn't see where council would be criticised for approving the larger sign. He said in so doing, Mathers may be persuaded to withdraw his application for rezoning of the official plan and zoning bylaws. Councillor MacMillan said approving the sign was not council's prerogative. He said the changes had to be made in the bylaw, When Mayor Delbridge ex- plained that the clerk would have to undertake considerable work regarding a rezoning application, MacMillan said this was still better than breaking bylaws. "It's the principle of the thing," he explained. At this point, the Mayor reported that. Mathers had been looking at commercial property in Clinton and Seaforth and "just may go." Reeve Boyle said such talk wag "blackmail" and noted that he had been "burned a couple of times" in granting permission for projects that didn't come Off as proposed and "that's why I won't bend," Grand Bend council protested vigorously Monday night when Reeve Robert Sharen reported an increase in the Lambton County mill rate for 1974. Sharen said the Lambton tax rate which was officially ap- proved a week ago was up about three and a half mills from last year to slightly over 24 mills. He said the Grand Bend requisition for this year will be $48,116.21 an increase of $6,192,32 or 17.32 per cent, Councillor Murray Des Jardins first raised the objection and he was quickly joined by councillor Tom Webster. Both said the levy against the summer resort was too much for the amount of services received from the county. Des Jardins and Webster proposed and seconded a motion which will be sent to Lambton officials. It reads as follows: "Grand Bend council having reviewed the County of Lambton budget for 1974 and while recognizing in- flation has raised the cost of some essential services such as road maintenance, deem it necessary to strongly protest the minimal cuts made in the budget and the many non-essential items left in to burden the taxpayers of the county and Grand Bend in par- ticular." Of the Grand Bend ap- portionment almost one-half goes to county roads. One of the complaints from Grand Bend is that there aren't any county roads close to the summer resort. Ask for meeting Council recently received a letter from the Ontario Ministry of the Environment saying a survey on a proposed sewage system has been completed. The Ministry also asked council at the right of the picture going County will consider building library office Reward of $500 is offered after area gas service cut off The 'end' in sight! GB protests county rate, want sewer system costs Plan board suggests rezoning for block The Exeter planning board has suggested that the entire block of Main St. between Wellington and Hill should be rezoned com- mercial. A formal request that this be considered by council and the planning board has been made by Jerry Mathers,. who operates a typewriter sales and service business in the block. Council recently turned down a request from Mathers to have a sign at his property enlarged and he has now asked that his property be rezoned to com- mercial, which would allow for a larger sign, He said in correspondence he was planning to expand. The planning board had recommended to council that Mathers be permitted to erect a larger sign than presently is permissible in a residential zone, thbute cboyul an wc i vetoed 'the suggestion On the basis it was contravening Mayor Jack Delbridge, member of planning board who was absent when council opposed the recommendation, said he