Loading...
Times-Advocate, 1988-08-03, Page 3r h n keeping ocal me c a iseyes business has been good, but 1 don't think you can attribute that tothe beach case." Andrew Clark, owner of "Our An- drew's" fast food stand, claims the dispute has helped at the cash mis- ter. "I think this whole deal has been. good for business," Clark main- tains. "All the advertising in. the pa- pers and on TV has made people want to come to Grand' Bend to see what it's all about." Clark isn't concerned about the outcome of the trial. . "If he does actually own it (the beach), they'll (provincial govern- ment) work some kind of deal out," Clark predicts. - Our Andrew's owner had a run in with Gibbs when he ran a paddle - boat rental off the beach several GRAND BEND - Store owners store on Main Street before the here are keeping a wary eye on the beach. Dependent on young beach - court proceedings underway in Sar- goers for business, Cheepies stands nia in which Malcalm "Archie" to lose a lot if Gibbs closes the Gibbs is trying to prove ownership beach to the public, but Stafford of the now public beach. Gibbs claims to own the stretch\ of beach. from the end of Main Street, south to the government pier on the Ausable River. He is ' pressing for damages of $2 million for trespass and loss of income; as well. as $500,000 in punitive dam- ages. An additional claim equal to the value of the beach estimated at Si million has been launched. Gibbs says his legal costs to date are in the neighbourhood of $1 million. Should the Parkhill resident•win the suit, he may pursue plans to develop the beach with condomin- iums -- a move which could have profound affects on Grand Bend business. Interestingly enough, none of the merchants the Times -Advocate talked to this week expressed re- sentment toward Gibbs. Many ad- mitted that they would follow the same course of action if they had a legitimate decd to the property. One business owner, who declined to be identified, went so far as- to cheer Gibbs on, explaining ,thatif hetruly owns the property, he has a right to compensation. The owner criticized the village council for their refusal to acknowledge Gibbs over the years and pointed out that they welcomed the Heevey beach de- velopment -- a mule -million dollar condominium project on the grounds of the old casino -- with open arms. But generally, despite weeks of 'testimony which seem to .weigh in favour of Gibbs' claim, few -believe he will win. Mark Stafford is the manager of Cheepies Barrel of Fun, the last i•►, "1 dont think any emotional dem- onstration on behalf of the mer- chants is going to affect the judges decision either way," Carter says. A,,17 year veteran of the Grand Bend business scene, Carter d t thin) he beach will be closed to the public,AWhen asked if he is worried that Gihbs will develop the property privately, Carter sheds light on an important factor. Times -Advocate, August 3, 1988 Page 3 on beach trial than anyone else," Clark says. "If • he's got a bonafide claim, then go to it." Clark continues, saying village council was slow in reacting. He cites the fact that Grand Bend coun- cil had the.chance to buy the beach years ago. Vida Iskauskas, owner of Inspira- tion, a fashion boutique on Main Street, says that business would be dramatically altered but not de- stroyed should the beach be closed to the public. man," Iskauskas says. "ilc's been planning this for a long time." John _Musser, manager of Gable's and the Colonial Tavern, trusts that r Mark Stafford doesn't think it will come to that. "I doubt very much if he .will win," Stafford says. "There's very little chance." Stafford is more concerned about increased police activity in the vil- lage. Claiming the OPP have been pulling people over for spot-checks at 8 a.m. on holiday weekends, Stafford says the police detachment is doing more harm to business than the beach dispute. Toward Gibbs, Stafford feels no resentment. "If I owned the property, I'd do the same thing," he says. On the other side of the street, Nick Carter, owner of The Surf Shop, views the situation calmly. Nick Carter "That .would never happen," Car- ter notes. "It's (the property in ques- tion) not zoned for commercial de- velopment and I can't see council rezoning it. If Gibbs does win the case; Carter says the. province will have to ex- propriate the land. The Surf Shop proprietor doesn't think the publicity from the beach trial has drawn more people to the resort. "We've had excellent weather and EXETER HOSPITALITY - Lions exchange student Roberto Cappuccio from Italy was entertained Thursday. evening at the home of Lions Club president Jack Fuller. From the left are: Jack Fuller, Rosemary Straw of the Lio- ness Club, Cappuccio, Lions member George Godbolt and Reeve Bill Mickle. Views of Canada from .Italian student EXETER - Roberto Cappuccio, visiting Canada on a student exi- change program organized by the Exeter Lions club, has been the guest of the families of Jim and Barb Beckett, George and Lois Godbolt , and Niall and Rosemary Straw. He will return to Italy this weekend, but before he leaving, he offered his impressions of Canada to George Godbolt during an inter- view. "i like this country very. much," said Cappuccio. "It's completely different from where 1 live, but it's very beautiful." Cappuccio lives in Trieste, a city in northern Italy about the size of London, Ontario. Visually, he says, Canadian cities arc very dif- ferent from their European counter- parts, because we have mare trees and the houses arc spaced further. • He also observes that Canadian people are different than Euro- peans. Perhaps this is due to our lower -key lifestyle, he guesses. "There's not the stress, life doesn't run as fast as in Europe," said Cappuccio. "Maybe because this is not a big city and that's why." Some of the best things' about ltali}itns can also be said of Canadi- ans hie says. . "IS'coplc are friendly and kind. They are similar in this to Italian people." Part of Cappuccio's exchange program involved a Lions - sponsored camp in St. Marys, at- tended by the other 23 exchange students from all over Europe, Ja- pan and the United States. • "It was a great expriencc," he said. "It is a great thing to meet people from other countries and get in touch with other cultures; differ- ent opinions. it's good because Sunday. shopping Continued from front page will lead to Sunday shopping through thc back door. In my view, the competitive nature of business, combined with the fact municipalities exist side by side, would result in the domino effect, That means as soon as one munici- pality allows Sunday shopping, others will be forced to follow suit". you can understand better the other people." The camp was so successful, the students are planning a reunion for Frankfurt in September. Cappuc- cio noted it is unfortunate theJapa- nesc and Amcrican students will not be able to attend. Cappuccio has just turned 18 and is. planning Co study ancient histo- ry at University, but hc has already travelled extensively since hc was 15. Canada is just another -'stop in a travellers diary which includes England, all of Italy, Austria, and Switzerland. "1 like travelling," said Cappuc- cio, confirming the obvious. . He had difficulty picking out one special highlight of his stay in Ex- eter, but he was impressed with his treatment as guest of honour at a party hosted by the Lions.. He -spent fife evening telling others of his home country after he was pre- sented with pins from the Lions and Lionesses. Another highlight of his visit in- volved a privilege few Canadians enjoy. He shook hands with Brian Mulroney during the Prime Mini- ster's visit to Godcrich last week. "Well, Roberto, welcome to Can - Andrew Clarke years .ago, but he holds no resent- ment. "I don't think he's any different Vida Iskauskas "That's what Bayfield is -- private beach," Iskauskas explains. "People will still come, but it will be a dif- ferent clientele." Iskauskas voices a feeling of helplessness: in the village. "I was (following the trial) when it first started, but now -- what's the use?" She says villagers never took Gibbs' claim seriously. "He's (Gibbs) not stupid. Every- one thought he was a crazy old John Musser the government will step in at some point, should Gibbs win. "I'm quite sure Mi -(David) Peter- son's aware of the situation," Mus- ser says, explaining the Premier of - Ontario was seen in Grand Bend re- cently. "I can't see there being any changing of hands with the proper- ty. - "It seems to be all one-sided at this point, but I don't think the Crown or the village has called any witnesses yet." Asked -what effect the -privatiza- tion of the beach would have on his business, Musser is undecided. "If they took the beach away -- that's the life -blood ofthe town. "It'sdefinitely. got to affect it (business). Whether his (Gibbs' po- tential) development ,would attract people to the beach -- I don't think so." Lucan stops negotiations with developer of Sunoco property LUCAN - Lucan council meeting July 26 withdrew: from negotia- tions with a developer attempting to obtain water for the former Su- noco property at the south end of the village. —Dcvclo}tc�Brian Haskctt and so- licitor Paul Stacey said while the property is in Biddulph township, officials of that municipality told them-theyhad to make their own deal for water with Lucan. Lucan and Biddulph have an agreement whereby township resi- dents may get water at a'ratc two and a half times the rate paid by Lucan users. • As the result of a number of pre- vious meetings Stacey said, "You wanted the first right of refusals on the -type of users we would have and wanted assurance that the "sunset clause" in the agreement would end when the -Lake Huron water system comes in." Thc proposed agreement which the developer disagreed pith, called for- water rales much lagher than the original agreement with Bid- dulph and a clause which would al- low council to decide when the special agreement would cease. Stacey continued, "if we can get a reasonable "sunset clause" we can live with the high rates. All we ask is that when you get water, treat us like other township resi- dents." ada," said Mulroney, "and I hope you have a great time here." - Cappuccio explains his home life in Italy is quite different from Cana- da One major difference in lifestyle is as simple as the times of day people reserve for eating. In Italy,. lunch is around one o'clock and sup- per isn't usually until 8:30 p.in. "The first days I was here 1 found it hard to cat at five o'clock," laughed Cappuccio. This means 'that shopping hours are rearranged in Italy. Stores arc closed from one to four p.m. and they re=open until 7:30. And as any Canadian who has ever, driven. in Europe has noticed, •.the roads and driving conditions arc worlds apart. "We don't have these huge roads without curves," Cappuccio pointed out, "but we don't have any speed limits so we can drive on the high- way at 200 kilometres an hour." However, since Roberto has been in Canada, the Italian government. - has imposed severe speed restric- tions in an effort to cut down on highway carnage in a country that claimed onc death for every yard of motorway last year. - Two men drown at Port Blake EXETER- 'fwo Kitchener men lost their lives while swimming at the Port Blake Conservation areaa, north of Grand Bend at about,7.35 p.m., Sunday evening. Pronounced dead upon arrival at South Huron Ilospital in Exeter were 27 year-old Karim Pirbhai of 42 Hillbrook Crescent and Karim Ladhani of 98 Hillbrook Crescent. Thc two victims were using an air mattress with two other men in about seven feet of water when the mattress lost its air. Getting safely to shore wcrc Za- hir Pirbhai and Salim Karmali, also of Kitchener. One made it to shore on his own and the other was res- cued from the sandbar the men were trying to reach originally. it is be- lieved all four were non -swimmers. Officers of the Exeter detachment of the Ontario Provincial Police in- vestigated the accident. During the week, three motor ve- hicle accidents were included in 70 gen4 occurenccs. On Sunday, July '24,• a vehicle operated by Jim Northcott, Huron Park had its rear axle break. Thc ve- hicle went out of control at the in- tersection of Huron road 4'and Con- cession 4 in Stephen township and struck a stop sign. Wednesday of the following week, vehicles operated by Margaret Phillips, Scaforth and Claudia Mur- doch, Windsor collided at corner of Highways 21 and 84. Thc two driv- ers and a passenger Samuel Phillips wcrc taken to South Huron Hospi- tal in Exeter for treatment. Thc ve- hicles were severely damaged. Friday at 7.20 p.m., damage was listed as light when vehicles driven by Michael Branderhorst, RR 1, Hensall and David Regicr, RR 2, Zurich were in collision on Conces- sion 14 of Hay township. Local OPP officers are forewarn- ing area drivers that RIDE spotch- ecks are continuing throughout the summer. Please don't drink and drive. Reeve Norm Steeper replied, "No, when we get Lake Huron wa- ter we would consider whether the agreement continues or not. We - feel we need some kind of control and may have to increase main siz- es forcertaintypes of businesses." To this Stacey replied, " Under the existing agreement there is no obligation to increase main size." Councillor Bob Hodge said, " We have other developers ort hold be- cause of the lack of water" and Deputy -reeve Harry Wraith was firm in his opposition to thc pro- posed agreement. Hodge continued, " I'm not against the project, but I don't want to give anything away. We are re- stricting everyone else." - Right before the vote Hodge added, " I wanted them to know I went to bat for them originally. But, now it's down to to take it or leave it." • The motion to cease negotiations which was supported unanimously read as follows, "It being apparent that council cannot achieve agree- ment with the developer of the Su- noco property which would protect and guarantee the continued and as- sired supply of water to inhabitants of the village of Lucan and the township of Biddulph, that council withdraw from. negotiations at this time. A public meeting will be held on August 24 at 7.30 p.m. at the Lu - can Community Centre to provide more information to village resi- dents on the upcoming watcr and sewer projects. • Okay Seniors project Approval for -servicing to the 35 unit Lucan community non-profit senior citizens apartment complex on Market street has been approved. An official :sod turning ceremony will be held Saturday, August 6 at 1.30 p.m. - Senior officer of the Ministry of the Environment Doug Matheson informed council that his group considcrs waiving- of the develop- ment constraints due to water and sewer problems is justifiable along with issuance of a building permit. - This year's supplemental MTC subsidy allocation has been reduced from $25,000 to $10,000. The lat- ter atter figure will support eligible road and bridge expenditures of $20,000 and is for reconstruction of. Buticr street and may not be used for other subsidizablc work. ' Council will co-operate with the Middlesex Library Board in sending out a bookmark with hours of the Lucan Library with municipal .tax notices. The Lucan Library is open 2 to 5 and 7 to 9 p.m. each Monday through Friday and Saturday morn- ings from 9 a.m. to 12 noon. Council decided not to participate in an AMO Pay Equity program at this time. Clerk Ed Mclansdn com- mented, "I don't feel Lucan should get in orrthis right ntw. Thc Mini-. stry is planning seminars on the same subject."' Present Hydra plans Lucan Hydro chairman Andy Van Gecl attended the latest riveting of council and gave a review of thc year 1987 and discussed•thc budget for this year. Van Gcci said the 1988 budget for Lucan projects was $97,000. He added, "This figure docs not include monies for power, capital projects, maintenance and upkeep." He said this year's rate increase would be 2.2 percent while the. charges from Ontario Hydro to the village would go up by 4.9 percent. An increase of 10.7 percent a, few years ago put the Commission in a good financial position.Powcrcosts– arc set by Ontario Hydro on demand peak hours. Van Gccl told council that hydro manager Jim Freeman was retiring as of July, 31 and his successor is Randy Kraul who has considerable experience with the Exeter Public Utilities Commission. Kraut was chosen•from eight other qualified application. A second person will be hired as journeyman lineman. Van GM add- ed, " We feel we have -enough work and with safety in mind decided to go to.two employees. Hiring of a manager was done after research into the possibility of con- tracting the work out to another utility. Thc managerial road was taken because'of public service and the availability in case of emergen- cies.. Lucan Hydro also has agreements with -Ailsa Craig and Granton to take care of their electrical utility re - PUC rectifies mistake Manager Hugh Davis related the chain of events leading to the pur- chase of a new refrigerator after Commissioner Harry De Vries ques- tioned the item before the hydro department financial statement was ap- proved at the July meeting of the PUC. It began ,when hydro was shut off in an apartment because the cus- tomer was delinquent in paying the hydro bill. The tenant made a par- tial payment to be reconnected, and said he was going to the apartment to turn on the air conditioning. A PUC employee radioed in the meter reading, and temporary office staff mistakenly recorded that the hydro had been turned back on. Thc man did not go hack to the apartment, adding onc more stcp toward the inevitable. Six days later, the building manager investigated an offensive smell coming from the apartment. Thc hydro had been off all that time, and food had rotted in the refrigerator. damaging the appliance beyond re- pair. Thc terrible odour had permeated three suits and the water bed. Thc PUC had the fridge removed and replaced with a new one, picked up the drycleaning bill for the suits and had the bed professionally cleaned. "When we make a mistake. we correct it as quickly as possible", Da- vis said. • The customer was reimbursed $75 for the lost food, and the amount was applied against what was still owing. Davis had more bad news in the water department. Revenues are down markedly this year. Last July a major customer's July water bill was $21,000. This year the bill is less than $10,000. June figures show equally drastic reductions. "Financially, the water department has been hit extremely hard". Da- vis noted. The break on Main St. South cost $8,000 to repair. ` Davis sent the old pipe to Toronto for inspection.. 1 -le can't understand why three holes appeared at the same time. In case corrosive soil is a contribut- ing cause. he had three anodes put on the new pipe, and took two soil samples. The results are not bai;k yet. Another break occurred in an eight -inch main at the comer of Wil- liam and Nelson a week after the works department had applied a sec- ond layer of asphalt on the road. • Davis did offer one up -beat note. Constant monitoring shows the five wells serving Exeter are holding up, maintaining the same level as last year. Davis hopes more rain will drop this fall. Davis reported that the hydro department has been accident -free for 18 years, and the water department has worked 113,238 hours without compensatable injuries. Y pairs. 1