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Times Advocate, 1989-11-08, Page 3Cottage country wants respect Continued from front page township," said Les Hosier, presi- dent of the Association. When original Association was formed in 1984, one of its goals was to make the hamlet into a vil- lage. Its application with the Onta- rio Municipal Board was put on hold in 1987 pending county re- structuring proposals. The organi- zation reformed only five weeks ago to make sure Port Franks' voice was heard at restructuring discus- sions. Bill 35, supporting restructuring, encourages the elimination of mu- nicipalities with populations less than 4,000. The separation of Bluewater from Bosanquet would still meet those population requirements for both municipalities, providing Bo- sanquet were to amalgamate with Arkona and Thedford. The proposed township's munici- pal office, said Hosier, would be at Northville in Bluewater's geo- graphic centre, so that no one cot- tage community would have prece- dence over any other. Hosier claimed the Port Franks area has long suffered with its im- age of being "just a hamlet" in the eyes of Bosanquet, even though it boasts some 1,300 electors and its own cottage subdivisions. "Some have said Port Franks should be named Dangerfi ld Vil- lage after Rodney Dangerfiild...we don't get no respect," said Hosier, adding that image will have to change. He said 87 percent of Bosanquet's tax revenues come from west of Highway 21 - the cottage country area. The association's vice-president, Bob Rutledge, said the creation of a whole new municipality is an alter- native sought by Port Franks be- cause of Bosanquet council's rural bias. "With few exceptions, Bosan- quet's rural electorate...11%as always looked on the beach communities as somewhat of an annoyance," said Rutledge. Rutledge and Hosier offered the audience two alternatives to the creation of a new township - both called for ward representation to meet the electoral needs of Lake- shore communities. The first seeks dividing Bosanquet into four wards, each with its own councillor. The second calls for ward representation in a restructured North Lambton County. Hosier showed the audience how each proposal took into account the division of the voting population. Hosier said both alternatives could be completed before the next municipal election in 1991. One man in the audience wanted to know why such a drastic course of action was necessary, another wanted to know who called for such action. "One of the reasons I came to this meeting is because I wanted to know who the hell the Port Franks ratepayer's association is," came a question from the back of the room. He said he had been in the area for. three years and hadn't heard of it. London alderman Ted Wernham, a Port Franks cottage owner, praised the Association as a group of citizens who were getting in- volved in an issue many people knew nothing about - the restructur- ing of the county. "The time to get involved is now," said Wernham. "Things are going to change." Bosanqet reeve Fred Thomas de- nied the township had been insensi- tive to the needs of its Lakeshore communities, but he dismissed the idea that rural and urban areas have different needs as a "myth". "I believe there is little difference in where we live and what we do for a living. We all require. the same services. Our children in this Overthrow rural council? PORT FRANKS - Les Hosier, president of the Port Franks Rate- payers' Association, offered a last-ditch solution for getting a voice for the lakeshore communi- ties in mainly -rural Bosanquet Township. His "ballot box op- tion" suggested the urban voters pool their power to, elect their own candidates in the next mu- nicipal election. Hosier pointed out the lake - shore communities have, tradi- tionally, very low voter turnout at election time. Only 17.1 percent of Port, Franks area electors showed up at the polls in 1988. Grand Bend did only marginally better at 20.8 percent. Many of the eligible voters in those areas are cottage owners who often do not make use of their electoral rights. Hosier suggested that if all those voters were to substantially support their own "Bluewater Co- alition" candidates in 1991, they could displace the present council and replace it with one that would make ward representation within the township a priority on their agenda for 1992. area all go to school together....This is part of what makes this township strong," said Thomas. "I cannot support this proposal of splitting up Bosanquet Township into two municipalities, no more than I can support the Village of Grand Bend taking about 20 per- cent of the township away," he said, referring to the village's aims to expand its boundaries to the south. Grand Bend reeve Bob Sharen commended the Association for their comprehensive presentation. "I don't agree with all the parts of it, but I think it's very important to become involved with it." He did say he wanted to see this Port Franks proposal brought to the next "secret" boundary discussion meeting - sessions which are usual- ly held behind closed doors: A show . of hands proved most people at the meeting were from the immediate Port Franks • area. Hosier asked for a show of support for his organization and only two people were 'opposed to the initia- tive, thus giving the Association the mandate to pursue its aims. Hosier described the "Bluewater Township" proposal as an extreme measure, but suggested the compro- mises that call for ward representa- tion should be seriously taken into consideration by both township and county. Rutledge after the meeting con- firmed the hypothetical nature of the Bluewater proposal, but said it was necessary to generate an awareness among Port Franks rate- • payers. "Most certainly we wanted to shock a few people that things were going on around them (restructur- ing) withbut them knowing any- thing about it," he said. "It has to come to ward representation." Times -Advocate, November 8, 1989 Page 3 A A A A A A A A A A A A A A A A A A A A A A A A A A A A A A AAAAAAAAAA A A• A A A A A A *66* A A A w A AAAAAAAAAAA• A A A A A A A A A A A .A A A A A w A 4 AAA A AAOAAAA AAA A AAA A A A A A A A A A A A A A A A A A A A A A A A A A A A A A A A A A A A• A A A AAA A A AAAAAAAAAA A AA. w • w :AAAA A A A *AAA." A •• A A AAAGiand &A , „„AAA A A A A A A A w w wA A A A AMA A A A A A A A A w A•• A la”w w w w• • A w w• w w w A A w w A w'••A w w w w AA ^' w w w w • w w w w A A A A A A• A A A A A A A A A A A A A A A A w w w/ ` . A A A w A A A A A A A A A A w w w w A A \\ .,wwAwA AA AA AAA A AAS AwA A A A AAA • A • '\\`� wA A AAA AAAAAAAA A w A A A A A \ . 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Woodley, who attended Sun- day's public meeting along with reeve Bob Sharen and councillor John McDowell, described Grand Bend's plan to create a new "Big Bend" municipality as little more than a "pipedream ', but he said it serves the same purpose as the Port Franks Bluewater proposal - that of geeing the population aware of each municipality's con- cerns. Woodley said he 'didn't care for the Bluewater idea and expected Grand Bend would continue with plans to expand its boundaries into Bosanquet and Stephen Townships. McDowell said he envisioned the Grand Bend of the future as a town with a tax base large enough to be able to afford the facilities it deserves. Otherwise, he said, Port Franks' concept to unite the lake - shore communities had "merit". Woodley said it made sense that the cottage subdivisions join Grand Bend. "The people in Southcott Pines are more interested in what goes on in Grand Bend. They're not in- terested in Bosanquet Township," he said. Furnace "gremlins" uncovered at police station EXETER - The "gremlins" that have plagued the Exeter police sta- tion's furnace have been discov- ered, councillor Dorothy Chapman told council at Monday's meeting. Duct work for return air to the fur- nace has never been installed in the 10 -year old building. "We have no duct work in the building, never have had," said Chapman. "We have a furnace that works overtime trying to draw air in and we have ducts in the ceiling that go nowhere." Chapman said she couldn't un- derstand why this had not been dis- covered by various building inspec- tors in the past. It wasn't until police chief Larry Hardy investi- gated the problem by lifting some ceiling tiles that the omission was discovered. Chapman wants the issue sent to the executive committee for discus- sion. Mayor Bruce Shaw noted the contractor for the heating system was still in business. "It's like forgetting the front door of a house or something," said Shaw. •Chief Hardy has been appointed chairman of the Ontario Crime Pre- vention Association, an organiza- tion that seeks corporate sponsor- ship for the creation of crime prevention packages, such as in- structional videotapes, for commu- nity use. •Canada Post has announced the Hay Township Post Office will be closed next year and replaced with an RPO at the same location. Dave Tavern dispute Continued from front page place is so dangerous. She added that Earl's Taxi "has continued to come and pick up my customers". Brunner said that in the past year about six or seven calls have been made to the police from the tavern. Four concerned vandalism to cars parked in the lot, including her own. Only two or three were made because of fights. The inci- dence of crank calls and false re- ports, however, has increased since the report appeared in print according to Brunner. - Walker, too, has hired a lawyer. He informed the T -A that he "has no animosity toward Kim Brun- ner". However, he is not retracting what he told Hensall councillors at the public session in October. New agreement EXETER - Workers at United Plastic Components have ratified a new three-year agreement. Teamsters business representative Wayne Gibson, London, made the announcement after a recent meeting of members of Teamsters local 141 employed at the Exeter company. The contract provides an in- crease of $1.85 per hour over the life of the agreement as well as additional statutory holidays, va- cation time and health and wel- fare benefits. division of Barrincor/99p� tnc `s Inc., Toronto. . Frayne -will remain as the operator • of the outlet. ',Reeve Bill Micklc told council he is aware that all Huron rail lines will be abandoned. Line crews are no longer patrolling the lines con- necting Goderich to Stratford and Clinton to Centralia. "It's an -indication that the lines in this area arc rio ldngcr a concern with them (CN)."-Mickle said, stat- ing that county council aims to pre- vent the complete loss of rail ser- vice. "Our hope at the county level is not to wait for CNR's application for abandoning the railways, but to get ahead of the game." Councillor Ben Hoogcnboom said he sympathizes with CNs attempts to cut costs of service, but said he considers the service very important to the entire country, "I don't have the answer, but I think to cut out the service...just doesn't make sense to me," said Hoogenboom. Mickle said the cost of a return, London -Toronto club car ticket, on Via Rail has increased from $60 to $90 in the last few months. He said the increase was a way to make sure use of the service will diminish and be less missed. •Council concurred with the City of Orillia's protest against the in- crease of jobs open to bilingual - only person in the government. Councillor Hoogenboom voted against the Orillia stance, suggest- ing that the province is not promot- ing bilingualism enough in schools. European countries, he said, often have jobs requiring multilingual persons. The same, he said, applies to government positions in a bilin- gual Canada. Councillor Morley Hall disa- greed. "What concerns me is that they've zeroed in, not on your qualifications for a job, but your language," said Hall. Five accidents investigated EXETER - Five collisions were investigated by town police in the four days from October 31 to November 3. , The first, on Main Street at Macleans Home Hardware, involved drivers Lisa Hewitt, Crediton and Clifford Ersman, Exeter. In one of three on November 2, drivers Dorothy Peat, Grand Bend and Louis Byrne, Essex, collided on Main Street at the crosswalk. The same day, a vehicle owned by Tracy Meloche, Zurich, was parked at the Huron Dental Clinic where it was struck by a vehicle driven by Catherine Bell, Hensall. Donald Triebner, Exeter and Bradley Oke, Grand Bend, were in- volved in an accident at the junction of Thames Road while both were northbound on Main Street. On November 3 vehicles owned by Exeter residents Sandra Herron, Harvey Pfaff collided at the Legion parking lot. Crime Stoppers boasts impressive successes GODERICH - Last. week was Crime Prevention Week and many of the area police detachments opened their doors to the public for tours of the police stations, but Crime Stoppers of Huron County were counting their statistics after more than a year and a half of oper- ation. Police officer Wayne Moulton acts as the program's coordinator, but he is careful to point out that Crime Stoppers is not connected with the police. It is a non-profit, charitable organization that is sup- ported by fundraisers, and commu- nity service groups. Crime Stoppers recent; . ,slebrat- ed its 10th annivcrsnry of olving crimes around the ".'rki. To -date, Moultun s 'ie Huron County uni' F ists ccovcring $15,$35 wo of stolen property because of tips from the public. An additional $35,220 in drugs has also bccn seized through the pro- gram. "Our program is right on target as far as hcinl: comparable to the national statistics," Moulton said. Thirty-three cases have been cleared from the books of Huron County police departments because of Crime Stoppers, including an armed robbery, and an arson case. The organization relies on the support of local media to not only make the public aware of ongoing police investigations, but to keep the Crime Stoppers phone number prominent. Many unsolicited call come through on the line, sonic times warning of a crime that has yet to be committed. Even though thc organization pro- motes its use of cash rewards for in- formation, only $1,850 has been awarded to the anonymous callers. "Most people don't request the re- ward," said Moulton. "There's just something going on in their com- munity that they don't agree with." Crime Stoppers works on the as- sumption that callers remain anony- mous. When someone gives his or her name, Moulton simply asks them to call their regular police de- partment. The fact that a tips line does exist, however,might have an effect on potential criminals or vandals. "It's a deterrent," suggested Moul- ton. war dead. At the Exeter service, politicians, service groups, scouting groups, and t the parade and ceremony. ' e egion Io ne Council confirms BIA rejection GRAND BEND - Village coun- cil officially turned down the Chamber of Commerce proposal for starting a Business Improve- ment Area in Grand Bend at their regular meeting Monday night. The proposal first came to coun- cil at the October 3 regular meeting but was delayed when a delegation of businessmen in the village lob- bied council to wait until a public meeting could be held to decide the matter because they felt the Cham- ber did not follow proper proce- dures for starting a BIA. A public meeting was held Octo- ber 26 at the Pinedale Motel and the BIA bid was officially turned down by a 52-19 margin. Council had promised at this ear- lier meeting it would abide by what was decided at the public meeting. At that meeting Sharen stated that council's decision (either for or against), could be appealed at an Ontario Municipal Board hearing. irwever clerk Wayne Tingle told council he had been contacted by the Ministry of Municipal Affairs, who told him a rejection of the pro- posed bylaw could not be appealed because there was no bylaw to ap- Pe "I find that most interesting be- cause most by-laws can be ap- pealed," said Sharen Monday night * * * * * * The issue of finding a replace- ment councillor was brought up again by Deputy Reeve Bruce Woodley, who said he was dead set in favor of holding an election to choose a replacement to fill the va- cant councillors chair. Woodley put forth such action, which fell on deaf ears by the rest of the council. "My mind is blocked, I want an election," said Woodley. The scat has been vacant since July when deputy reeve George Kadlecik died. ' Council then ac- cepted applications for the position of councillor after Woodley had •been named by council to take Kadlecik's position. They received only two appli- cants in August. Since then council has been mulling over whether they want Marsha Lemon or Kyle Harrison to fill the vacancy. Reeve Bob Sharen said at the Oc- tober 3 meeting council should deal with the issue again at the last meeting in November but stated again he does not want to have an election because of the adherent CMS., Councillor Shirley Mitchell has been in favor, of nominating Lemon, while Councillor John McDowell has stated he would like to see Har- rison get the nod. The only motion ever put to a vote was in September when Harri- son was again nominated by McDowell and seconded by Sharen, after assuming the deputy reeve's chair to vote on the issue, but a stalemate occurred when Mitchell and Woodley rejected that nomina- tion. According to a letter council re- ceived from village lawyer Dan Murphy, "a motion moved and sec- onded is not required -to nominate a person for appointment, but that person simply has to be nominated by virtue of him or her applying for the position and consenting to ac- cept, if appointed". Sharen said the issue will be dealt with more thoroughly. He hopes a solution will be achieved at the No- vember 20 regular meeting. * * * * * Frustrated that council is keep her out of important meetings, Mitchell told Sharen it is time council started working together instead of wasting time on other unimportant issues. "It is time this council got on with the process of making decisions in- stead of wasting time and energy, blaming previous council and staff members. When is this council go- ing to stand on what it is or should be doing?" Mitchell. The Issue of Michell's missed meeting also came.up and was dis- cussed at length. "I want to go on the record as say- ing 1 have missed only four meet- ings in the 18 months I have been on council and I am sick and tired of hearing that I have missed more than that," said Mitchell. Woodley was upset that Mitchell missed an earlier meeting without informing council that she would be away. He added Mitchell had want- ed to take two months of vacations in the winter and was trying to ar- range a proper time with the others for him to take a holiday. ' "I think you have a responsibility to the people of this village to let us know when you are going to be away. You say it is council that doesn't want to work with you when in fact I think it is you that doesn't want to work with council. I want to take a vacation as well in March and I think w . need to work out a compromise so that we can all take our vacations when we want them and still have enough here to run a council meeting" said Wood- ley. Award for volunteer TORONTO - Leone Brock, one of Exeter's most dedicated and tireless volunteers, was in Toronto on November 2 to receive a life membership in the Hospital Auxil- iary Association of Ontario. The - honour was bestowed in recogni- tion of Mrs. Brock's . countless hours of volunteer work for the South Huron Hospital Auxiliary. Mrs. Brock is p charter member thc more than 100 area women who attended the organizational meeting of the local association in November of 1952, a few months before,the official opening oT South Huron Hospital. The life -time membership was presented at the final luncheon in the Royal York Hotel, Toronto, dur- ing the annual convention of the Hospital Auxiliary Association of Ontario. Mrs. Brock said later.