Times-Advocate, 1978-08-10, Page 1 (2). Fire Ievels arealurnipplant,
loss listed at quarter million
•
•
The cause of the I Ire w bleb
destroyed a turnip
processing plant valued at
�15o,uIN) west 01 Hensall
early Saturday morning is
still undetermined
A spokesman for the
Ontario fire marshal's of-
Itce said ttraL ts..departiiiertt
has determined they vilI not
conduct an investigation into
the cause of the blaze.
Ken Pipter, a senior in-
vestigator with the office
said only tires where arson is
suspected or where a loss of
over -$(51N),100 is probable are
investigated.
He s ii f_lhiat the -company
which insured the building
had requested the in-
vestigalron by the fire
marshal .
Pipher suggested that the
insurance company may
conduct its own 10-
vesligation into the cause of
the fire.
The tw'O year old_ byilding
which was owned by Peter
• Oud of RR 3, Kippen was
p
They'd be 1eaed machinery, plus records andcompletely destroyed alnng/1 with three trucks, the plant's
•
an amount of cash.
seerands tand o 71st blaze broke out at
g g around 5 a.m. Saturday
• morning witheaneighbor
While the future of the
grandstand al Exeler's
community park ap.
somewhat c•loude_•d. the
iow•n's insurance carrier
would probably be happy to
learn that'lhe facility may be
demolished.
Dave Reid of Frank Cowan
Insurance and local agent
Niel C;aiser attended
Tuesday night's meeting ofL
counciI to review the town's
insurance coverage and Reid
noted that l he grandstand
has resulted in the major
No answer
on calls yet
The Exeter „area lire board
has still not reached - a
'deli title-decisitan on haw fire
calls` will be handled when
the new Huron County police
communication system
starts operation next year
('tlaif•mmn Don ;MacGregor
told Exeter eouneil this week
the board was still workink
on the matter. •
It has n indicated thbt
the local answering service
may
terminate
when the new
police syslen1
comes into
ctlecl and at a previius
meeting it was reported -that
this hoard was attempting to.
'have South.limn Hospital
handle the ei Is. -�
"We : hop -6 to • h -ave
something definite .by Our
next meeting," Mayor Bruce
Shaw advised,
llac•Gregor nisi) advised
.that Exeter and'the Town-
ships of t'sborne and
Stephen haveagreed to set up
a reserve=fitud for the future
nurehatse of a new fire truck.
.1ay .n t. (f . (fed --sot to go
along wd„h the ficheme,
which w o r d build up funds
for a new truck over the nest
Iew• years.
claims inihe past two years.
The facility has been
danfaked twice in wind
storms and •the insurance
firm has paid out about
$5.0n0 in claims for repairs.
When Reid asked aboul(he
future of the grandstand,
Mayor Bruce Shaw indicated
its futur't is undecided at
the -present.
"We'll keep il, as long as
we can collect from the'in-
surance company," quipped
Reeve Si Simmons.
• Few changes. in the in-
surance coverage were
rt•c•0nlrnended by Reid-.
Everyt to pretty.good
shape,'' he advised. •
Ile cautioned;council about
acting hastily in taking out
errors _• and omissions
coverage being offered to.
tnunfcipa11ties . by other
firms Ontario.
'Chef coverage is available
ler colrn(il members and
erupluy'ees. but Reid said in
411 'years there has never
been' a ease where the
nui.rlicipality was not held
liable lor-ennployo s' errors
or -emissions.
Richard Willer( hearing an
explosion and notifying the
I ire -department.
By the time the Hensall
fire department reached the
Scene, the building was
engulfedin flanges with only .
one wall left standing. ac --
Full grant
is received
"We did very, very well
there's no doubt about
it," commented Mayor
Bruce Shaw this week after
council learned- that the
ministry of culture and
reoreation had approved ail
expenditures submitted for
Wintario grants on the South
Huron Rl c Centre.
The grants covered all the
equipment as'well as the
building costs on the ratio di
52 for every $1 raised locally.
• There wigs some question
whether the grants would be
paid on such things as tables,
chairs Wand other furniture
and equipment.
Pays $200 penalty
for $2:50 item theft
A fine of- $200 or 20 days •
alas levied'I'uesday by Judge
W. G. Cochrane against an
.Exeter man convicted of
stealing $2.50 wor-th of aik
rifle pellets. `
-Michael ..Lloyd Keller
pleaded guilty to the charge
?when he -appeared in Exetef
courl. '
.The court was toldlhat the
.tccttsed :stole two containers
.of pellets'gn July 10.
Ile was givTn'90 days in
which to pay the fine.
p•r+
--a
YOUNGSTERS IN PARADE -- Two of .the youngest par-
ticipants in Saturday's Friedsburg Days porade in Dashwood
were Chris Watson and Stacey Rader. • T -A photo
Bad holiday weekend
A •Listowel driver,- George
John Vandereyk, was. given
a conditional discharge and
placed on probation for one
year aftei`pfeading guilty to
three . cou(!ts• of.-'• wilful .
damage.' - He was .charged after
spinning his tires at Cen-
tralia College on April 20 and
sending stones flying into
several nearby vehicles.
Total damage to the three
cars was listed at. $365 and
Vandereyk was ordered to
make restitution for the
damage.
Terrance Laframboise•
Clinton, -was found guilty on
a mischief charge and given
a .suspended sentence a
placed on probation for o
year.
The court was told he
damaged a'relative's motor
vehicle. exceeding $200.
t,14`illiam_. Lloyd Medd. •
Exeter. was fined $150 or 15
dAys on a charge of refusing
to provide a sample of breath
-for a breathatizer test.
Robert .1. Dobson, Exeter.
was fined $250 or 25 days and
had his licence suspended for
Three months on a charge of
impaired driving.
The charge was laid on
May 20 when he was stopped
becauseje had no headlights
on. A-br;eathlizer test gave a
reading of 220 mgs. -
A Huron Park man, Robert
IT . Stuck •ss. was also fined.'
$2511�or 25 • •s on a charge of
driving 'with rea ing 01'
over 80 mgs, laid n March
:11. His licence .was also
suspended for three months
and he was given 15 days in
which- to pay the fine.
--A breathatizer test gave a
reading of 170 mgs.
cording to assistant tire
:chief Bruce Moir..
Moir said there was very
little his fien could do aside
Irom watching two storage
buildings that were adjacent
to the processing pIAtgf.
Firemen remained on the
sW till adult 12 o'clock
Moir said.
Oud said "We just don't
kilo what -happened" with
regards to the 6,000 square
tool structure, •
}ie said the building was
one of the- most modern
turnip pr(icessing plants In
'Chi area with the structure
being constructed yith fire
proof materials.
The farmer who has been
in the turnip business for 17
years said he had left the
plant at 10 p.m. Friday with -
••e verything in 'perfect
condition".
Out! who lives three Hiles
from the plant's location,
• said that by the (Line he
i p...t_ rd at the Want
Saturday, morning "There
was nothing left."
The intense heat of the
bunting building which
contained wax and various
chemical s caused me safe to
melt, he said.
._The plant which employed,
12 )workers and which was
partially covered by in-
surance will be rebuilt, he
said.
PLANT DESTROYED
A turnip processing
Saturday morning.'The building which
Ames
Serving South Huron, North Middlesex
One Hundred and fifth Year
plant owned
was valued
by Peter Oud of RR 3, Kippen was completely
of $250,000 was partially covered by insurance
destroyed by fire early
Staff photo
dv�cate
& North Lambton Since 1873
EXETER, Oi 'TARIO, AUGUS1 10, 1_978 ;
Price Per Copy 25 Cents
•
TWO ARE BETTER • Suzanne and Leeanne Sleeper
attempted to persuade visitors to Saturday's Fyn Day in
Granton that two heads are better than one. . T -A photo
�a Grant is available
town matches it
- The restoration of the
Exeter town hall could
receive smother grant of
$17.500 from the • Ontario
•Heritage Foundation, but the
money woq'1 be forthcoming
unless council agrees to pay
a similar amount in .a
municipal grant for the
project
The ()Marks grorip has
already provided a grant of
547,100 for the project. and
an additional amount
requested' by the local
Herilage people is being
oliered, but is cl►ntingent
upon• council making an-
egafgl contribution.
"The partnership prin-
cipal is important." the
Ontario group said in a letter
recently sent to local
association chairman- Doug
Gould. A copy was sent to
council and read at Tuesday-
night's meeting.
The letter went on to say
that the- Ontario Heritage
Foundat1(01 regretted that
decision nfay create some
financial y(liltii,•ulty for the
local group.
mayor Bruce Shaw said
the 517.500 was probably the
rnaxnnunrtadditional grant
available and any amount
under that-. granted by
conned- would be eligible for
an equal grant.,
"It may cause you to do
some thinking," he told
fellow council members. who
in the tryst have not seen fit
to aid the restoration
project.
Al the suggestion of
Councillor Ted Wright, the
matter -was tabled until the
September meeting due to
the fact Wary, members were
absent this week. •
Damages over $20,000
Crashes seriously hurt three
Three - people sustained
serious injuries. several
others were victims of minor
injuries anct property
damage- amounted to over
$20.0(I0 in ' accidents in-
. vestigated by the Exeter
OPP this week.
The majority of crashes
occurred over the Civic
Holiday weekend period
•Seriously injured were
Gladys Quinton. Sarnia;
Robert W. Brand. Exeter;
and Robert Scott Mayer,
London.
The Sarnia woman was
injured in an ac•cislent at 6:30
•p.ni., Friday; al the junction
of Highway 83 and Huron
Road 11 east of . E:xeler. She
was 'a .passenger in a car
driven by Itolx•rt Quinton,
Sarnia. which was involved
in a collision with a vehicle
• driven by Wilfred Reeves,
'Exeter.
t„ .Quinton had been east-
bounif on Highway • 83 and
Reeves was, northbound on
the county. road. The latter-
sultered minor injuries.
The injured woman was
taken to University Hospital.
Constable flit! Osterloo in-
vestigated and set damage
al $3,l00 ,
Brand was also taken to
University Hospital after his
car went out of eontro1 on
concession 8, Stephen
township, around 4::10 a.m.,
Sunday. - '
The vehicle. wept off the
right shoulder, veered back
IA the other side, jumped a
ditch, and hit a tree.
Constable Frank Giffin set
.local damage at $5,000. • '
The other -serious injury,
sustained by Robert Scott
Mauer. occurred at 2:00
a.m.. Sunday, when ,his
westbound car veered across
Highway 83 near the main
intersection in Dashwood
w
and flipped onto its roof.*
Ile was token to South
Huron Hospital. Constable
Giffin set total property
damage at $4.500.
A Huron Park man, Larry
Parsons. suffered- minor
injuries -in a crash' on Friday
at 7:15 "p.nl.' -when his
westbound. vehicle left
county road 21 west of High-
way 4 ar)d came to rest oh its
roof in the south ditch,
A fence owned by William
Elliott was hit and total
damage was set at $1;700 by
Constable Giffin.
in another collision in the
Dashwood area, a car driven
. by Mark Slice; Dashwood.
hit a parked vehicle owned
by Glen Thurman on Helen
SI. Total damage in the 2:80
a.m. collision was listed at
$1.700 by Constable Giffin.
A car owned by Douglas
Meidinger, &frith, was hit
by an unknown vehicle
1
while parked on the Thuss
Garage parking lot. in
Mensal( earlier in the week.
Damage to the Zurich
vehicle was estimated. at
$6011 by Constable Jim
Rogers.
On Sunday at 9:30 p.m. a
car- driven' by John
Cascadden, London, backed
Into a parked car owned by
Barry Dawson; Oshawa.
That collision occurred neat'
Turnbull's Grove and
damage was set at 1150 by
Constable Bill Osterloo.
CycliW injured
Al) Exeter teenager.
Michael Paul Sass, sustained
minor injuries when he fell
off his motorcycle while
travelling on a trail east M
the Morrison Dani on Friday
at 4:45 p.m.
The machine hit a bump
and the youth rias tossed
from it and injureg his•Ieft
knee.
•('onstable Oster loo in=
vestigated. There was no
damage to the motorcycle.
The other two accidents of
1 heweek were investigated by
Constable Larry C'hristiaen,
the first at 12:55 -p.m.,
Sunday. -involving vehicles
operated by John Wilson.
1,00don: Thomas Staples,
Hanover: and Theodore
Dockstader. London. They
collided on Highway 4 just
south of Exeter. .
Dorothy !fay. Jim passenger
111 1 he Staples vehicle..
sustained minor injuries. '.
.Damage was. listed al
$2.700 ' • -
The other crash involved
vehicles operated by Jeffery
Desch, RR 2 Zurich. and
Jerome Dietrich. RR :f
Zurich. They (Collided on
copcession 12 of Hay at 2:;10
p.m., Monday
Estimate of damage was
$1,350.
s`�
Pprking group makes headway
on developing lot behind stores
The Exeter parking
authority cleared the first
hurdle this week in their bid
to develop parking behind
the stores orated on the west
'side of Main St. between Ann..
and John Streets. -
It Washurdle th they've
a e e
been: trying to clear since
their inception five years .
ago.
1\t that time. they
recommended to council that
the lot owned by Fopex
behind G &. G. Discount
fronting •on William St. be
purchased -to provide
parking as well as a suitable
access to the area behind the
stores.
Earlier attempts to pur-
chase the property -were
uruueccsstul but,this week
council agreed to make an
otter to purchase it at a price
of SI5.000. That was the price
set by Fopex officials at a
meeting last month with the
parking authority and other
merchanfS in the area.
The offer is 'contingent
upon other owners agreeing
to ,provide easements on
their property for a storm
sewer and development of
parking. as well as reaching
a suitable cost-sharing
agreement with the town for
the all purchase and the
nve•ralt- development of the
ar•t'a - '
At 'fuesclay night's council
Meeting. Reeve Si Simmons
initially side-stepped the_
parkingauthority's
NAB CATS
Exeter's animal control
olticer has slatted a cam-
paign to capture the many
stray eats that once lora_ged
for their sustaante in .the
vicinity or. the former ('ann's
hill 00 :Main St.
- Councillor 1!(ssy, Fuller
-reported that four cats had
already been. captured and
destroyed and the report
from the Exeter Animal
Hospital indicated that as
-many. as 10 Others may sb11
• be on the loose.
Feconunendatton to make a
purchase offer when he
presented a, motion that_
council write Fopex and ask
for written confirmation of.
thc_priee • -
Alter that motion was
approved. parking aul
chairman Hili •f3atte
yised council that the-mt
Would do little to further
project. as, soine defin
c•ommitmentiatvas .required
o steps coulde
btaken to
•'sproceed.
This led to a' discussion 'on
the merits of purchasing the
lot and Councillor Ted
Wright suggested the town's
.solicitors be asked for an
opinion on hots to handle the
matter.
Gerry- Gray. who was in
the building fo-r another
meeting, was called in and
-said that Fopex had given a
firm price on the lot and
recommended • that council
-accept the offer.
'• 've never seen anyone
buy land and go broke."
Wright said after Gray
explained thatathe lot could
- be resold by the town if tho
parking project failed to.
materialize.
"i was under the im-
pression the municipality
was not in 'the land
specula tion game." Sim,
mons replied. - -
Councillor- Lossy Fidler,
who said that the parking
authority has asked to have
'the lot .since she joined
council. said it was
"something we have to do."
She presented a motion to
rescind Simmon's original
motion -and to make an offer
as.. recommended by the
piirking authority. Those two
motions were approved.
' After the meeting. 14 was
arranged 10 have the parking
authority meet with Sim-
mons 8101 works superin-
tendent Glenn 1 ells to
rkiew the cost M developing
the parking area .and to
formulate a suitable system
for the property owners to
0
'sty
ad -
tion
to
to
share in those costs. in-
cluding the purchase 01 the
Fopex bot.
At a meeting in ,July. the
property owners involved
indicated a willingness to
share the costs. which Kells
has estimated at around
$-15.000 including a storm
drain which will he borne by
the town.
While Victoria & Grey
Trost have since indicated -
they are not interested.
Batten and Gray said they
telt the company could be
convinced of- the need for
their' participation.
11 has been estimated that
up'to a; parking spots could
be -created in the area -under
study. including the Fopex
lot, which presently provides
the only suitable access to
the open area behind ,the
- • stores
•
•
Area firm expects
sizeable contract
Bell Aerospace expects 10
he 'back in production
building Voyageur hover-
, crafts for •the United Stales
. Government. - The Americans plan to
order 512 million worth of 'air
cushioned vehicles and Bell
Aerospace in Grftnd Bend
1hniks•i1 w•111 get .part 01 the
action. .
"1 am very confident the
contract will come through,"
.nim 'Mills manager at the
plant. said yesterday.
"Nothing in this lite is
certain though," he added.
.The }(rand Bend plant has
been owl M production since
197( when it built its last six
units The staff has been cut
from 200 to 14.
if Bell Aerospace gets the
contract, part of the work
may he done by its sister
company in the United
States. Mills said _ they are
hoping most of the work will
be dobe in Grand Bend.
"A certain amount of the
work will have to he• done
fere." he said,
Mills declined to comment
on the future of the Grand
Bend operation if the con-
tract didn't come through
'Tin not even thinking
about that. I'm confident we
will get enough of the con-
tract 10 keep us busy.- he
said
Bell Aerospace has other
FRIEDSBURG QUEEN AND ATTENDANTS — The 1978 Queen -for Doshwood's Friedsburg
Days was Daryl Webber of RR 1, Exeter, representing the Dashwood Tigers. Second runnerup
was Debbie Towers of Hensoll, representing Dashwood Industries while tisa Homather also of
Hensoll and representing Jim Becker camstruction was first runner-up. • Stdff photo
1
prospects ,.tor selling its
Voyageur ' units. The
Canadian • Coast -guard • will
likely he adding air
cushioned vehicles to its
inventory in -1979. This Gould
mean a contract tor one 01'
two units a year. Mills said,
it the company gets the
contract' 80 extra people will
be hired At least a quarter
01 the new staff will come
from the immediate area, he
- said
London lad
dies on ride
The :\usable -Bayfield
Conservation Authority,
hasn't reached a •final
decision whether to continue
t •ir hayride program
f )Blowing the death 01 a siz-
yo\.ar-old child Saturday
night
Jeffrey, Hultbn, 'London,
Ic•11 Irom a wagon during a
ha•yride at ,the Parkhill
Conservation area and was
inured- by the wagon's
w heels - Several • children
and adults .seere riding.on a
pile of straw with the victim
w hen he tell nif
.•Th•e ('onserv-ation -
:\uthor•ltis treating it as an'
accident." said resource
manager 'fon Pearson.
The -hayrides ' were
suspended on the weekend
atter the fatality. but they
may be --resumed this
,weekend . No decision has
been reached yet. he Said.
!Mar of the tractor was
I)a n rel Kcnnaley:' - 20,
Parkhill Kennaley is' -
recreationco-ordinator_ for,
(he tnnseryation Authority.
New crop
looks good
The cauliflower' crop
currently le(ng harvested
cgnunerc•ralty •for" tlity first
time ;in this. arca iS 111ex-
('ellent (')ndition, Len Veri
said Wednesday
Vert, who introduced the
crop this year to Huron
County, said the harvest is
progressing eery well. -
"The quality • is looking
excellent and the demand is
good," he said
About 511 workers have
been hired to harvest •the
crop. There • is 175• acres
planted in the area.
The pepper crop harvest
Will start next week. The
crop didn't do as well as the
cauliflower crop because of
the cool. nights, but thele
should be excellent quality
peppers harvested. said
Veri. -