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Times Advocate, 1993-08-18, Page 1For your home or office. Green plants dt: Flowering Pots r� Ori Sr 1 COUNTRY FIOWFRS Exeter • OD Gaiser-Kneale Insurance Service Experience Value 235-2420 Nortr tvtirltilesex. & Lamhton Since 1873 Inside Weddings Local businesses keep up with trends page 6 Old autos Museum recognizing antique cars page 10 Strip parlours stay banned in Exeter EXETER - Strip parlours and other "adult" entertainment have been banned in town for good. Town council passed an interim control bylaw two years ago pro-, hibiting such entertainment from being added to the local bar scene. That bylaw expired this year and was replaced Monday evening by a new zoning bylaw that encompass- es the entire town. A public meeting held August 11 revealed no concern about adult en- tertainment, said councillor Ben Hoogenboom. "There was no one here in the gallery to either oppose it or sup- port it," said Hoogenboom. Town administrator Rick Hundey said the interim bylaw was passed two years ago because such enter- tainment might' have been consid- ered by some bar proprietors. "There was a bit of a gap in the zoning. It could have occurred," said Hundey. The pamtanent bylaw was ap- proved unantunialy, by council Monday everting, taking full effect after the 30 -day appeal period pass- es. Clifford stepping down after two terms LONDON - London -Middlesex MP Terry Clifford is stepping down after two terms as the riding's representative at Ottawa. Clifford, a PC candidate, an- nounced Monday he won't be run- ning in the upcoming federal elec- tion. First elected in the 1984 Tory sweep, Clifford has often been con- troversial, including a minor scan- dal when it was discovered he and another MP hired each others daughters to get around a hiring ban on relatives at their Ottawa of- fices. The London -Middlesex Conser- vative riding association has sct September 9 as a tentative date for a nomination meeting to choose Clifford's successor in the coming election. No exclusive deals for rink advertising, says board EXETER - Ice level advertising will be offered at the South Huron Recreation Centre this year. The going rate is $1,000. The South Huron Recreation and Community Centre Board approved the $1,000 yearly rate for the sign- age on the ice surface boards at it meeting Thursday. Signs u ve the rink will still costadver- tisers $100 for the year. Mayor Bruce Shaw told council Monday evening that Kentucky Fried Chicken had offered a "hand- some" sum for advertising on arena boards, but wanted an exclusive _,Weement for food advertising. 'The recreation board, however, decided against the exclusive deal. "The committee agreed to shake the bushes to see. if there are any other chickens4otrt there that would like to be plucked," said Shaw. * Muck Yuck day in Hensall Muddy waters were the specialty at the Hensall playground last Wednesday afternoon. Here Amanda McGregor of Hensel) enjoys a cold mud bath as part of Muck Yuck Day. Local hospital aiming for more outpatient services .Fred"Groves T -A staff AMMETER - With the social contract nearing comple- tion, it looks as though South Huron District Hospital will be able to get back to looking into its future. Wednesday night, the local hospital, along with over 1,000' local residents, celebrated the hospital's 40th Anniversary with a good old-fashioned get together. The past was recognized, but while memories were the topic of the night, -the main busi- ness at hand for the hospital contin- ues to be it's strategic plan. Put on hold due to negotiations which surrounded the social con- tract, the strategic plan will not bring immediate drastic changes to the hospital. "Our strategic plan and building process has been put on hold be- cause all our time and effort has been put into the social contract," said SHDH adminis- trator Don Currell. Describing the plan as being, "midway on the front burner," Correll said the 38 -bed facility will soon be gearing towards more out- patient services. "That's probably the way we're going to go. It's the logical move and it's the way the government wants hospitals to go." Currell said the hospital will have less beds in the futurebut clearlyindicated that it would not affect any jobs .nor .would ‘it decrease the type of caro patients now.receive. "There shouldn't be any panic to the community. We're not going to cui down .to the number of beds that would limit our ability to look after people." Over the past two years, South Hurpn has average 6}' about 26 beds ecegpiad.per No jobs ititte Cprrell said if An); jobs bre lost it would be through attrition and staff would be transferred from in-patient to ont•patientcare. - However he noted, "I don't anticipate any huge changes in this hospital in the next two or three years." Following a two-year study, the Ontario Hospital As- sociation has released a final report on Small Ho-pitals in Ontario. Contained in that report is a list of threats which could affect the smaller hospi- tals future. Among those are fiscal restraints, government imposing standards and regionalization of servi es. There were numerous recommenda- tions made in the report about the fu- ture of small hospitals and Currell said the report has been quite helpful to the local hospital board. "When this report carne out, it showed what the options are." According to Currell, it is becoming more and more difficult to put hospital plans into gear because of re- straints put upon by the government. For example, if South Huron, as part of its strategic plan, wanted to expand it's lab, it would be told by the government that it couldn't. "The answer comes back, you can't do it because there is a provincial study going on on pros and cons of how they should do lab work." Correll said if a lab was moved, the Minisuy of Health feels it could cost the province more money. A few months ago, South Huron's administrator and it's board seemed excited about it's strategic plan. How- evcir, their approach to it now seems to be a little more cautious. "I'don 'tanticipate any h uge, lges in this hogritai in the next two or three years." Wednesday. August 18. 1993 Money by next spring? 75 cent.. Will the province support Exeter's new pipeline bid? EXETER - A $3 million dollar water pipeline from Stephen Town- ship, needed to supply Exeter's fu- ture growth, can't be built until --grant money is available. The PUC has learned, however, that money may be available by next spring. The Ministry of the Environment and Energy has already committed to 58.89 percent assistance with the cost of engineering the pipeline project. While the PUC has not been offi- cially advised, manager Hugh Da- vis has learned that if the project is ready for construction by March 1994 "there is a strong possibility that construction funding may be available". In order to be prepared for con- struction, all agreements and about three months of engineering work would have to be completed. Reeve Bill Mickle pointed out to council Monday evening, that while negotiations will be needed with Stephen Township eventually, a first step is to clear up the pro- ject's procedure with the PUC. Mickle said since water lines aren't really the PUC's responsibili- ty, but town council's, council must decide what shape the project will take and employ the PUC as its agent to see it carried out. Councillor Ben Hoogenboom re- minded council the town has had "tremendous cooperation" from Stephen Township in the past over this project, and expressed hope that relations would remain in good standing once negotiations re- sumed. At a previous meeting, Mickle said Exeter will be needing a for- mal agreement with Stephen to es- tablish exactly what supply of wa- ter the new line will be providing the town. dl'P takover delayed Fuming continues over chief's expenses EXETER - Town council Mon- day evening was still fuming over the police chiefs $990 trip to a con- vention, while on an absence from active duty. Chief Jack Harkness attended the Ontario Association of Chiefs of Police convention even though he has been off active duty since the Civilian Commission on Police Ser- vices suspended their inquiry into the actions of the chief and the po- lice services board in June. Councillor Robert Drummond said he couldn't let the issue drop after being confronted about it by several Exeter ratepayers. "The more I think about it, the more I get upset about it...an em- ployee under suspension attending a convention?" commented Drum- mond. He asked a letter be drafted de- manding repayment of the expenses from the government, but mayor Bruce Shaw said the issue may be out of council's jurisdiction. "This is something that would be handled by the police services board and not council anyways," said Shaw. "He [chief Jack Harkness] had the approval of the police services board?" asked Drummond. Shaw said it wasi`tacit approval" due to 'negotiations between the hearing lawyers and the Civilian Commission on Police Services, but the board members did not ac- tually approve. The board was told about the agreement after the fact and was advised "we should not in- terfere", said Shaw. "This council and the police ser- vices board are being made laugh- ing stocks in the community...it's about time we put our backs up and said enough's enough," said Drum- mond. Reeve Bill Mickle said he didn't disagree, but pointed out Bill 107, the Police Services Act, has left councils. -without control of their tairpayer's money. 'You're not the - first one that's hollered about this in this commu- nity, you're not the first to holler in the .province," Mickle told Drum- mond. OPP delayed: Shaw noted Drummond left out the word "blackmail" in his complaint about the agreement, but the mayor con- firmed the board indeed went along with all commission recommenda- tions, including Harkness' conven- tion attendance in the hope for a quick transition to an OPP contract. "Now I'm told there's a good chance we will not be ready to go [OPP] by the fust of September," said Shaw, despite all the board's attempts to c6operate with the province. • Administrator Rick Hundey said he was continuing pressure on the province for as early an OPP takeo- ver as possible, but even an Octo- ber 1 date doesn't appear likely. Councillor Ben Hoogenboom said the real issue is perhaps not Harkness' $990 in convention ex- penses, but the hours and hours spent by the chief in preparing for his hearing. That, said Hoogen- boom, is the real outrage. Continued on page two Multi-party line days long gone or Local telephone systems keeping up to date By Catherine O'Brien T -A staff Telephone communication is something we tend to take for granted. Most people think little about the history of ,the system. Yet the beginning of the service in small centers and rural areas throughout Ontario is unique. For many areas of Ontario it was not Bell Canada that set up the telephonic systetn, but rather small independent com- panies, usually started by doctors connecting one or two lines. When Bell Canada was incorporated in 1880, demand for telephones was great. But it was going to take a number of years for rural areas to receive service. That's how the Blanchard, Hay and Tuckersmith Munici- pal Systems came into being. The 1920s were a peak time for independent phone sys- tems. There were more than 689 in Ontario. Over the years some dissolved while others were amalgamated by other systems. Today there arc 33 independents still in business. They use state-of-the-art equipment to service customers and only rely on Bell Canada for long-distance lines. Many of the companies in this arca are in the midst of up- grading the system further so future services can be added as technology improves. This includes services such as call waiting and call display. The Blanshard Municipal Telephone System KIRKTON - This system began on Christmas Day in 1898 and was known as the Sebringville Telephone Sys- tem. In 1928, it became known by its present name. Information provided by the Ontario Telephone Service Commission stated Dr. .1. Paul, of Sebringville, and Dr. Louis Eckert established a system with five local phones lines in the village and lines to several neighbouring com- munities including Stratford. By 1916 there were 300 phones, growing to 1,200 phones by the time Blanshard took over the system. 11 was the fust system in the province to dismantle the multi-party rwal line. Customers of all the independents in this area have the option of individual or two-party service. The system today has about 3,000 customers, said gener- al manager Bev Skinner. Their coverage area runs to rural location west of Stratford, as well as St. Marys, Granton, Sebringville and Kirkton-Woodham. The system is run independent of council and the posi- tions of the commissioners arc elected by the subscribers. Skinner said the success of the system lies in the quality and style of service "It's more personal than a bigger outside system could of- fer," he said. "Our goal is to remain giving quality service like we always have." The Hay Municipal Telephone System ZURICH - •Information provided b3 the Ontario Tele- phone Service Commission states that Edmund Zeller, a publisher, started this rural system in 1906 with William G. Hess as his mechanic and linesman. The first two Itgegeate lines were installed in a bicycle shop and jeweilty .tit;Otae. owned by Hess .bpd his brother Fred. At that time the system was known as the Farmers' Ex- change Line. It became the South Huron Telephone after taking over that company in 1910. In 1911, Zeller was bought out and the Hay Township Municipal System began. It had 138 phones and served al- most 400 subscribers. The Hess family operated, managed and maintained on a contract basis the system until 1957 when Grandson Gor- don Hess resigned. From that point on, the system has been run by Hay Township Council. The councillors act as commissioners for the phone sys- tem, said Hay Township reeve Lionel Wilder. He also acts as Chairman of the phone board. Continued on page three -+10.4