Times Advocate, 1994-06-08, Page 23Times -Advocate, June 8, 1994
Page 23
Hensall Public School
track and field day
High Jumps were a bit part of the competition as well. Here, Michelle Zwant concentrates on
getting her legs over.
Grade 5 and 6 boys at Hensall Public School get ready for an 800 metre run is during track
and field competition at the school last Thursday and Friday. Pictured from left are: Shawn
Willert, Gresham Bayley, Nick Bayley and Brandon Martin.
Showing h /e E �' ci f:
s
ng
Style Matthe ,"u('nr -
clears his hg� °gym seau
p.
re ares for another
tt er first
jump.
G a Student She toppede Consitt p n running
Thursday morning.
80 metre run and 400 metre run.
1 TT
our Views
Letters to the editor
Traffic enforcement too lax
"Do you want a place that is
simply for drinking beer, swearing
loudly, blaring music all night,
and urinating on other peoples'
property?"
Dear Grand Bend Traffic and Policing Commit-
tee:
It was a delight to arrive in Grand Bend for the
Victoria Day Weekend and see the newly -
completed parking lots so beautifully paved. They
are definite and much overdue improvements. Con-
gratulations to all those who made it possible.
I also had a delightful weekend attending the
event of the "Up, Up and Awaves" activities. The
balloons taking off from the Oakwood Driving
range is an incredibly beautiful sight 1 will long re-
member.
Unfortunately 1 will also long remember how my
weekend was ruined by, what 1 describe as "lax" or
"too liberal" police and law-enforcement.
In our supposedly quieter Walker St./Elmwood
section of Grand Bend (north of Oak St.), there
were many times that our lawns were used for uri-
nation by drunken non -property owners. We also
ha illegal parking, dangerous driving, ear damag-
ing oise, trespassing on private property, and ille-
gal I f burning. Numerous neighbours, and myself,
comp ined to the proper authorities. The enforce-
ment s med to he inconsistent.
• One eighbour complaining about a dozen peo-
ple trespassing on an absent neighbours' property
was told by the authorities they wouldn't do any-
thing because they were "quiet".
• Another time, when illegally parked cars were
brought to the attention of the authorities, no ticket
or towing resulted.
• The constant patrols of last year by police and
bylaw were not in much evidence.
What 1 would like to strongly recommend to thc
committee is the following four point plan to return
control of Grand Bend to those who own property,
pay taxes and year-round speeding thcir,money in
this community rather than having it controlled by
the weekend out-of-town transients, who, at best,
buy a case of beer and a hag of chips.
First: "Zero Tolerance" in all cases if there is a
bylaw or legal violation; issues such as "they are
quiet" should never come into play.
"Tow, Tag, or Charge" - no first warnings should
be the weekend norm rather than the attitude 1 en-
countered this weekend of, "if they are still here at
?:OO p.m. we will do something about it."
Second: Constant patrols, pro -actively "towing,
tagging and charging". Instead of waiting for a com-
plaint, get out there all weekend, actively looking
for any or all violations of the bylaws and legal
codes. I personally observed countless motor vehi-
cle violations, from not wearing a seat belt, speed-
ing, and outright dangerous driving. Do we need an-
other innocent pedestrian killed to get action?
Third: Allow property owners to re -install their
fences, barriers, rocks, or whatever they used to use,
to control unwanted partyers and parkers. Since en-
forcement is not working, let's bring back the
roped -off areas in front of the homes of residents
and cottagers who are attempting to make Grand
Bend a better place, rather than what resembles a
long weekend "war zone."
Fourth: Go after the landlords of these "party pal-
aces."
How do you expect Grand Bend to truly become a
"year-round destination resort" when we have
streets in the "jungle" Tined with buildings, that are
little more than shacks to drink beer in front of.
Many of us pay local contractors year-round to land-
scape and maintain our residences, while not far
away we have streets full of these "party palaces"
littered with garbage, unraked leaves, uncut grass,
and unmaintaincd buildings.
If the owners of these places could be constantly
pursued by all means possible this unfortunate
"sleeze" clement in Grand Bend would gradually di-
minish.
I left Muskoka five years ago to come to Grand
Bend, believing it is a great year-round community.
I strongly encourage you and your committee to do
everything possible to improve our community.
Do you want a place that is simply for drinking
beer, swearing loudly, blaring music all night, and
urinating on other peoples' property?
Or do you want a year-round resort attracting "up-
scale tourists", families of all ages, and people who
will make a long-term financial investment in this
town?
It's your choice!
1 look forward to positive improvements for the
upcoming Canada Day weekend.
Sincerely,
Jim Gill
Grand Bend
c.c. Mayor Tom Lawson; councillors Cam Ivey,
Ed Fluter, Bill Uniac, Phil Maguire; Lakeshore Ad-
vance Newspaper; Exeter Times Advocate Newspa-
per
Irk and Field competition at, Hensall Public School on Thursday and Friday -also included
putt. Here, Grade 5 student Ben Parsons gives it his all while Grade 8 student Kim Tay-
lor looks on.
Exeter and Clinton may face
penalty for not paying fees
GODERICH - County Council
agreed on Thursday to take action
against Exeter and Clinton if pay-
ment of planning fees is not made
when the invoices are mailed out.
The proposal was carried out despite
some grumbling from a few county
councillors.
"I don't know whether Clinton
and Exeter are the bad guys," said
councillor Bea Cook. "Two differ-
ent consultants have told us the fee
is too much," she said.
The new planning fee structure
would see all municipalities being
charged the sante fee for certain
planning requests.
Many municipal officials have
argued over the past fcw months
that the fees are too high for work
being done.
Some municipalities feel thc new
system is unfair because many tax-
payers will he subsidizing com-
plicated planning matters in other
municipalities.
But Exeter and Clinton arc thc
only towns left that haven't passed
a bylaw allowing thc new fee stric-
ture.
Councillor Bill Mickle explained
Exeter's position on the issue by
Lucan
Community
Bingo
June 8
Bingo starts 7:30 p.m.
Regular Games
$1000
Jackpot Game
54 calls or less $1000. bonus
Total prizes
$3000
Due to the licence regulations,
no one under 18 allowed to play
Licence #537495
saying the county and Exeter have
a different interpretation of what
user fee means.
As well, Exeter has a unique
agreement with the county that al-
lows the town to do all its own
planning in exchange for some ser-
vices.
Mickle said the agreement states
that the town does all the planning
work and the county's role is only
as a commenting agency on that
work.
He also said Exeter councillors
don't want to pay for services they
don't use.
But Gary Davidson, the director
of planning for Huron County, said
under the new user -pay plan, the
fccs would be split between the
county and the municipality, de-
pending on which did the work and
which administration was used.
"County council felt everyone
was going to be treated the same,"
Davidson said.
Other councillors echoed this
view, saying it wouldn't be fair to
other municipalities who will be
paying the fee if both Exeter and
Clinton are allowed to opt out.
The soon -to -be -mailed -out in-
voice will explain thc possible op-
tions that are available to thc
county if payment is not made.
This could mean the county will
refuse its consent granting function.
For the two towns that would mean
difficulties getting approval for
such things as land severances.
IP
!tri•4,�y
sr_
i
``
ti
i1
4
"I%
(01.!
ondseaping
SOd Supply
V
Call
c='fe 2
ti
tg35 -l678
nan
g
R.R. 2 Hensall, Ontario
LANDSCAPING Your key to year round beauty
• Take advantage of our complete professional landscape design
i service.
• Phone and our landscape designer will make an appointment to cal
on you and produce a detailed drawing.
• Interlocking Brick
• Ground Work
• Sodding
• Cedar Lawn Furniture
• Seeding
• Railway Ties
• Design Service
• Nursery stock planting
Order your nursery stock now ... or the work
can be done by our
landscaping specialists
•
All tluttsery r y -
stock guaranteed
Phone 235.1878 238-445
uality Is first In our business
t •
oma•+ •
•