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The Exeter Times-Advocate, 1975-06-19, Page 1BUFFALO TO GO — Tom Webster, left, and James Irvine, right, of the Royal Canadian Legion, Grand Bend, watch over cooking buffaloburgers with chef Bob Wilson. As soon as the burgers were ready, the Legion members were off delivering them to senior citizens in the community who were unable to get out for Buffaloburger Fest. T-A photo ii PARTICIPATE IN CAVEN CENTENNIAL — George Stutt portrayed Rev, John Ross in Sunday's Centennial service of Coven Presbyterian church in Exeter. Rev. Ross Served this area in the early 1800's, Shown above are mayor Bruce Shaw who read the lesson, George Stuff and Coven minister Rev. Wilfred Jarvis, "f-A photo HOUSE DAMAGED — The home of Mr. and Mrs. Jerry Boersma of Hay Township was damaged Sunday when a large maple tree was up- rooted, falling into the house. T-A photo Winds batter area, trees, barn toppled One Hundred and Second Year EXETER, ONTARIO, JUNE 19, 1975 Price Per Copy 25 Cents Refute charge of irregularity in accepting London tender WELL-COME-INN NOW OPEN — The new senior citizens club roams at the Exeter Scout House known as the Well-Come-Inn was officially opened Saturday afternoon. Shown cutting the ribbon are Geoffrey Knight of the New Horizons program, Exeter club president Murray Neil, mayor Bruce Shaw, RAP committee member Ruth Durand and Michelle Vandergunst who provided organ music throughout the afternoon. Well Come Inn opened Quash electrocution :charge About 75 persons were on hand Saturday afternoon for the of- ficial opening of the Well Come Inn senior citizens meeting place at the Scout Hall on John Street in Exeter. Mayor Bruce Shaw officiated at the ribbon cutting ceremony 'assisted by the president of the senior citizens, Murray Neil, G. O. Knight and Mrs. Ruth Durand. After the ribbon cutting, the doors to the Well Come Inn were Opened by Mr, Neil as Mayor Shaw spoke a few Words and invited all inside, Miss Michelle Vandergunst played "Bless This House." A GOOD CATCH — Fishing in the Ausable River at Crediton Saturday afternoon was rewar- ding for John Nedza, Above, John holds the 30 inch, five pound pike he . was able to land. TV may come via microwave Exeter residents may be among the first in the nation to have their cable TV brought in by microwave. • Ron McIntosh of Bluewater Cable TV Holmesville, appeared before council this week to ex- plain that microwave has been recently introduced to cable TV and this has forced his firm to take a new look at their planned service in Exeter. This will require a new ap- plication being presented to the CRCT "late in the fall at the earliest" and McIntosh asked for some consideration in using the old water tower behind the town hall as a temporary antenna site to be used until the application for the microwave has been heard. He said the site would have to be tested on a temporary basis, Reeve Derry Boyle noted that the PUC would have to give the final permission. Mayor Bruce Shaw explaned that the PUC had been con- sidering removal of the water tower this fall now that the new storage tank is in operation on Nelson St, and said the use of the facility for a cable TV eatenna would delay plans for finishing off the parking facilities behind the town hall. When asked how long the water tower may be required McIntosh said he knew better than to speculate short periods when talking about government decisions and suggested he would like to have use of the facility for one year. In answer to a question from Councillor Lossy Fuller, the cable company executive said his firm would be prepared to pay a reasonable fee for use of the tower. Council agreed to recommend to the PUC that permission be granted for use of the tower for a period of up to one year. Reeve Derry Boyle said this week there was "no damn way" he was prepared to make any retraction for his comment pertaining to the location of three mobile homes on George St. by mobile park developer Len Veri. Veri's lawyers, Raymond & McLean, wrote council this week saying that a retraction for some comments made would be ap- preciated. It was claimed some of the comments had been irresponsible. The law firm, which also acts as solicitors for the town, noted that Veri had received per- mission to place the three mobile homes on the property near Peace Lutheran Church, It was indicated that Mayor Bruce Shaw had given verbal approval to the placement of the homes. Shaw contended Monday night that the permission given by council was for the placement of the homes on the subdivision owned by Veri and other mem- bers of council backed him up in that. A motion stating that fact was read from the minutes. It was also noted that when Veri asked for permission to erect the display units, he had been advised by council that his plans should be in writing, He has not yet replied to council in that regard. Reeve Boyle also explained that Veri had not received building permits to erect the homes and that council could remove them if they so wished. Two weeks ago, following complaints from property owners in the area, council had ordered that the homes be removed from their present location and moved into the area agreed upon by council, Mayor Shaw said that Veri had subsequently talked the situation over with the property owners and that they had been satisfied Agreeing with arguments presented by Goderieh lawyer Jim Donnelly in a special court sitting, Friday, Judge Glenn Hays:quashed -a charge against Jatues Murray .Construction Limited, Moorefield. The firm had been charged following the electrocution of Bruce Vincent, 103 Gidley St., Exeter, on June 14 of last year, Vincent was standing on the back of a large dump truck When the vehicle hit overhead hydro wires carrying 4,800 volts. The accident occurred on Highway 4 three miles south of Exeter. - A debate on several legal technicalities regarding the charge and the information Exeter's Canada Week celebrations are receiving some extra publicity throughout Western Ontario thanks to the balloons launched on June 10 by students at Exeter public school. RAP committee chairman Jack Underwood who was in charge of the' "balloon caper" along with Ruth Durand brought three cards which were returned by the finders into the T-A Tuesday afternoon. Despite the fact the 18 balloons launched by EPS students and mayor Bruce Shaw headed west about 3:30 p.m. the three reported were found the same day in locations east of Exeter, Underwood said, "They cer- tainly appeared to be heading for Michigan behind •a strong east wind but must have been caught in wind currents and reversed their direction." The three notes came from Mr. and Mrs. Keith McMahon, RR 7, Arm badly cut by saw • Usborne Township farmer Gerald Prout sustained a severe cut to his upper left arm Tuesday morning while cutting tree limbs that had been twisted in Sunday's high winds. A branch he was cutting fell onto the chain saw and forced the blade into his arm. The cutting chain went through his muscle and nicked the bone. He was rushed to University hospital in London and un- derwent an emergency operation. , His wife, Dorothy, told the T-A Wednesday morning that doctors were quite pleased at the results of the operation and anticipate no serious damage to the arm. "He was pretty • lucky," she explained, adding that hospital officials noted the cut came extremely close to damaging the main nerve in the arm. Mrs. Prout said her husband was up in the bucket of the tractor cutting off the damaged limbs when one of the branches fell in the opposite direction they had anticipated. She had been operating the tractor and was at the scene when the accident occurred. "It looked pretty serious at the time," she noted. with the plans and had asked only that Veri put in writing what he was going to do with the homes and how long they would be on their location. However, the property owners had not received that written communication "and at this point are still objecting" Shaw told council, Reeve Boyle said he didn't think council should back down from their stand of two weeks ago ordering the homes moved. "I'd be very disappointed if we did," he added. It was suggested that the clerk write Veri's lawyers regarding the situation, but this was amended to have the letter written by Robert Mountain, Stratford lawyer, who has acted for council in view of the conflict of interest position of their own solicitors regarding matters pertaining to Veri and his development. featured the Friday session in Exeter, At the outset, Mr. Donnelly advised the court he was unable to appear on behalf of his client due to discrepencies on the in- formation about previous court appearances. He said he could appear only as a friend of the court, Richard Perdue, special crown prosecutor for the ministry of labor, contended that Donnelly either had to appear as counsel or agent for the accused or not at all. Judge Hays then recessed court for 15 minutes to allow the two lawyers to discuss the situation. St, • Marys, Mary Loring, RR 1 Harley and Mrs.Althea Stevely, Woodstock. In an accompanying letter, Mrs. Stevely of Woodstock writes: "My son Jim, who is 18 went fishing at Burford yesterday and found the balloon you launched. He brought it home to Woodstock and showed his sister Mary who is 10. It was nice that he brought something interesting home because he didn't bring any fish. Is there a good fishing place near Exeter that he could try?" "We all think the launching of balloons was a really fun thing to do. We would be interested in knowing at what time the balloons were launched and if you used helium." "Hope you have a lot of replies. Hope Canada Week is a great success and I especially hope you all pass your exams." A note from Mr. and Mrs. MacMahon said "Found the balloon out in the back corn field. This is a clever way to get people involved. Good luck." The cards returned were from balloons launched by rooms two and three of grade one and from grade seven at EPS, Other balloons were launched later in the week by students at Precious Blood Separate and Stephen, Usborne and McCurdy public schools. A fourth card was returned Wednesday morning from Gordon Knott, RR 2, St. Marys who found a balloon sent up by grade three students. It was found next to Wildwood Dam. Canada Week celebrations will officially start Friday, June 27 at 7 p.m. with a flag raising ceremony at the cenotaph. At 9 p.m: the same night a summer frolic dance at the arena will feature ,Joe Overholt and his Orchestra. Saturday will feature opening of the new tennis courts in the afternoon and a talent show at the — Please turn to page 3 Stewart has heart attack Middlesex-North MPP and Minister of Agriculture for the past 14 years, William A. Stewart is resting,comfortably in Toronto General Hospital following a heart attack suffered Thursday. Mr. Stewart, 60, suffered the attack about suppertime Thur- sday at the Royal York Hotel after returning from the Legislature. He had suffered chest pains during the afternoon and entered hospital that evening. He was placed in the intensive care unit of the hospital but was expected to be removed from intensive care yesterday. Bob Eaton, well known parliamentary assistant to Mr. Stewart who appeared with him at a recent meeting of the Huron- Middlesex Progressive Con- servatives in Dashwood, said that Mr. Stewart had been working very hard lately. Mr. Eaton will take over duties normally assumed by Mr. Stewart and this may include some legislation the Ministry of Agriculture would like to see passed before the end of the Legislature session this month. The recent developments further substantiate rumours. that Mr. Stewart will not seek nomination for the election ex- pected this fall. He was recently appointed co-chairman of the Progressive Conservation election campaign. With the resumption of court, Donnelly said that he was in fact appearing on behalf of the ac- cused, He said he had been concerned because the endorsements on the information did not indicate clearly that the matter was to be before the court on Friday. However, he said the court reporter had cleared up the situation for him and ; he was prepared to proceed, At this point, he argued that the charge against the construction firm had been incorrectly worded because it was stated negatively. He said the information on the charge simply stated what the law prescribes under provisions of the Construction Safety Act, but that it did not in fact say the law had been breached. The Goderich lawyer added that the charge laid against the firm's superintendent Brian Cole, had been worded differently, "One of them has to be wrong," he argued, adding that in his opinion the charge against the firm was incorrect. Perdue agreed there was a mistake, but said he didn't think it was fatal to the charge. He said there was one too many words in The area south and west of the village of Hensall was par- ticularly hard hit during the high winds which blew across south- western Ontario Sunday af- ternoon. About five o'clock Sunday afternoon, after winds had blown from the east most of the day, the sky became ominously dark and the wind quickly changed direction, coming from the south- west. On the farm of Jerry and Ann Boersma on the second con- cession of Hay township, two the description of the charge. Noting that the word in question was "not," Judge Hays . opined that it was indeed a very important word. He said he could not amend the document to make it an in- formation if it was a nullity at the outset, He then granted the motion to quash the information as a nullity. At this point, court was again recessed, so the lawyers could determine what should be done regarding the charge against Cole, Perdue asked at the resump- tion of the hearing that the charge against Cole be adjourned until October 14. He said he would have to receive instructions from the ministry, noting it was the feeling of the ministry that if anyone is convicted in the case it should be the company, and not the superintendent. Perdue hinted that the ruling quashing the information against the firm may be appealed. Judge Hays agreed to set the Cole charge over to the date mentioned. It is expected it will only be spoken to at that time. huge maple trees were literally torn out by the roots. The trees, located on the Boersma lawn, left gapping holes six feet across and four or five feet deep, As it came crashing down, one of the trees struck a gable on the south side of the house causing some damage, Mrs. Boersma said her husband Jerry was in the barn when the extremely high winds began and as he made his way to the house, he was lifted almost off the ground. Once inside, the couple took their three children, Norma, David and Edwin to the basement of the house until the winds subsided. On the next farm to the north of Boersmas, Mrs. Harold Camp- bell was in the back porch with family and friends preparing for a barbeque when they saw the black cloud of wind approaching, carrying dust and dirt in swirling confusion, A small shed housing a tractor collapsed under the pressure of the wind and Monday morning Mrs, Campbell still hadn't been able to find some clothes which were torn from the line during the winds. Ontario Hydro crews from the area office in Clinton were busy near the Campbell farm cutting down fallen trees which had downed power lines, Don Eastman of the Ontario Hydro area office in Clinton told the T-A that power was off in the area for about three hours. In the Clinton district, served by that Please turn to page 3 situation ethically, "perhaps we did not take the best means possible," He said council had three alternatives: to ignore the letter, or to compensate the firm for their bid bond as requested, or to send a letter to all the bidders and ask them to re-tender. Shaw noted that council had been acting in the best interests of the town in accepting the low bid, which was $17,526 lower than the next highest, that being the Smith price. Reeve Derry Boyle argued that council had not acted improperly Family approves choice of name The family of the late Helen Jermyn have given "wholehearted approval" to council's plan to name the new senior citizens' apartment complex on Sanders St, after the former deputy-reeve. In a letter to council, Dick Jermyn noted that his wife had taken a great deal of interest in the OHC project and would have been deeply honored by council's suggestion. The residents of the apartment building will have to give their approval to the name and they are expected to be polled as soon as they take up residence next month. The official opening of the building is tentatively scheduled for this summer. Mayor Shaw in his address, outlined what the town of Exeter could be expected to do for senior citizens in the future. Mr. Jim McKinlay of R.A.P. and the town recreation director, commended those responsible for their efforts so far. He praised the decorating of the new meeting place and spoke on the various ways the recreation department would co-operate with the senior citizens in their activities, Seniors president Mr. Neil thanked Country Flowers, Exeter Flowers and Palmers Flowers for their part in decorating the new Meeting place for the official opening. He also thanked Mr. Thomas MacMillan for his generous donation of books to start a library. The ladies on the board of directors were thanked for their efforts in cleaning and decorating the hall, They include Mrs. Mabel Blackburn of Hensall, Mrs, Irene Harness, Mrs, Helen Wells, Mrs. Alice MacDonald, and Mrs. Thelma Neil, Mr. Neil mentioned several other persons who had helped the Senior citizens including Norman Whiting, the Tiines-Advocate, Miss Vandergunst, William Hart, M. E. Neil, and Wilson Morley. Exeter council have been accused of "irregularities" in their handling of the tenders for the planned renovations to the former post office. The accusation came from- Wayne and Harold Smith of Smith Construction Ltd., Seaforth, one of the four unsuccessful bidders on the project. They claimed that the irregularity arose when council accepted the bid of MR Con- struction, London, despite the , fact the firm had not enclosed a certified cheque for the $2,000 bid bond required in the tender notice. Council members were told in the letter from the Seaforth firm that the tenders without certified cheques should have been con- sidered illegal and not even considered. It was noted that other governments automatically reject bids not accompanied by certified cheques or bid bonds and that council had broken faith with the other bidders by ac- cepting the London bid. Smith Construction noted that similar dealings by others in- volved in tenders would result in an entire break down of the ten- dering system, They asked that council compensate them for the cost of their bid bond. Mayor Bruce Shaw termed it "incredible" that the Seaforth firm knew by 10:00 a.m. of the day following the opening of bids that the London firm had not submitted a certified cheque. He added that looking at the Battle over mobiles continues unsettled Balloons head west, but found in east because the tender specifications did not stipulate that a certified cheque was required. The bids were opened last Monday, and on Tuesday mor- ning Boyle took the MR cheque to a London bank to have it certified and delivered to the architect. He claimed this was "not illegal or unethical," Councillor Garnet Hicks said that he had been acting on the advice of the architect in the matter but suggested "some ethics cduld be questioned." "There's a little grey area to-- me in there," he stated. However, council agreed with a suggestion from Boyle that Smith Construction be notified that the proper procedures had been followed and that a certified cheque had not been required. Earlier in the meeting, Boyle said he had attempted to contact the department of public works about the lease for the old post office, but had been unsuccessful. He indicated if he didn't get some answers this week he would contact Huron MP Robert McKinley in an attempt to get some action in having the lease signed. Councillor Ted Wright asked if there was any chance council would get back the money they have already paid for rental of the building. "We shouldn't have to pay until the lease is signed," he argued. Council have paid three months rent on the building, but have been advised to undertake no renovations until the lease is signed.