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Times Advocate, 1999-09-01, Page 22 Exeter Times -,Advocate Wednesday, September 1, 1999 In the News .0 Regional Regional wrap u! Demonstration planned over Paramedics will still be at mconsistent Gitnd Cove rent work next year says boss SEAFORTH -- Ambulance services will continue to be provided in January, regardless of the lay-off notices recently given to paramedics in Seaforth, Clinton and Zurich, reports the Huron Expositor. "I want to assure the community that they should have no fear of being without ambulance services. Morally, I wouldn't allow that to hap- pen," said ambulance provider Brad Lucas. Paramedics working for Lucas were given their pink slips during the first week of August to meet Lucas' legal obligation under the collective agree- ment with the Ontario Public Service Employees' Union, (OPSEU) to which the • parajnedics who " work for him belong. Their collective agreement . requires fours months notice for lay-offs. "The paramedics have the right to know what's going on and need to have an opportunity to plan. their lives. I have a great deal of respect for them and want them to be aware of the situation," said Lucas. Huron County council has been given a year ex- tension to a Sept. 30 deadline from the province to decide how it will provide land ambulance ser- vices. The service was recently downloaded from the province to upper tier municipalities, such as Hu- ron County. The county is planning a series of . public meet- ings this fall to determine which of three options the public prefers, including contracting with ex- isting ambulance providers, providing ambulance $ services themselves or tendering to select ambu- lance providers. Mitchell woman wins CNE ambassador title MITCHELL -- Tracy Pfeifer, 19, is the first per- son from Mitchell to ever win the Canadian Na- tional Exhibition (CNE) Ambassador of the Fair ti- tle, reports the Mitchell Advocate. Pfeifer, • who represented tho Mitchell & District Agricultural Society won the coveted title Aug. 22. • She : competed against 87 contestants, including 82 young women and five young men, forthe title. "I didn't even expect to get in the top seven," said Pfeifer. She will stay at the CNE until Sept: 6, where she will make several appearances and present awards. In April, Pfeifer was named Ambassador for Dis- trict 8 at a competition in Mitchell. It was the first time a district competition had been held. Goderich attracting divers GODERICH -- Goderich is being touted as the possible new diving mecca for southwestern Onta- rio, reports the Goderich Signal -Star. According to the chairman of the town's new Marine Heritage Committee, this old port town could attract many divers who would otherwise be forced to take their sport into the waters off Tob- ermory and Kingston. -, , a x,, ,. r v.*`77' "(Goderich) would be an excellent spot, probably one of the , top spots in Ontario," said ,diver Bob Carey, the chairman of the committee. Carey - said the town is becoming popular be- cause of its close proximity to larger urban centers in southwestern Ontario. He said divers call trips to Tobermory "drive, drive, drive, dive, dive, dive, drive, drive, drive weekends." "Goderich is in a much better position for south- western Ontario divers," he said. Carey also said the Huron lake bed in this area is "ideal" because it increases in depth gradually and is made up of heavy sand and rock which is not easily disturbed." He would like dive sites to be developed to help draw more divers to the area. Carey said local stories abound concerning ships that have sunk in the area. If some of these can be found, he said, Goderich could become a major centre for diving. - The Marine Heritage Committee is also looking into the possibility of sinking a ship to create a dive site five to six miles off shore. By Scott Nixon TIMES -ADVOCATE STAFF GRAND BEND -- Upset at what he calls unfair and inconsistent rent rates, a resident from Grand Cove Estates is trying to force changes to the land lease. Don Overholt, who's heading • up a group at- tempting the changes, told the T -A many res- idents are paying more rent than they should based on the market. He said market value to rent a lot on Grand Cove is about $350 per month. In Grand Cove, residents own their homes and rent the land. "It's not fair for the older people on fixed in- comes," Overholt said: of the rent fees. Overholt is so upset at Grand Cove he's pre- paring a demonstration by the residents to take place in front of Grand Cove during the week of the International Plow- ing Match. He said he wants to make the public and the media aware of the "gouging" Grand Cove does to its res- idents. Overholt has s also sent a petition around to Grand Cove residents to get support. He said he has received 100 sig- natures back supporting him: Overholt says fees for selling a house at Grand Cove vary and can go up as . high as $10,000. He. said if the rent fee on a' house is too high, Grand Cove will sell it at a low- er price, meaning the homeowner gets less money from the sale. Rice Development di- rector David Rice ex- plained the process. He said when a home- owner at Grand Cove wants to sell a home, Rice Development will act as the homeowner's realtor if the homeowner wants them to. If the person's home is worth $70,000 but is paying rent over market value for example $500 — Rice Development will drop the price of the home to $65,000 be- cause the high rent de- values the home. On the other hand, a home- owner can sell the home. independently of Rice Development for what- ever price - they can get, Rice said. Overholt said It's dif- ficult to sell through a real estate agency be- cause it's in the lease agreementthat home- owners aren't allowed to put real estate signs on their front lawns. Also, Rice has control over who gets in Grand Cove because of a security sys- • Grand Cove resident Don Overholt holds a petition he sent around to other residents of the retirement park. Overholt is upset at high and inconsistent rent fees at the park. He is also organizing a demonstration in front of the park tem at the front of the park. Overholt said he's try- ing to raise awareness among Grand Cove 'res- idents that they Dave to .protect them elv, and stand up fog 'the' elves: But he said many res- idents live by themselves and don't want to raise controversy. As an example of the inconsistencies at Grand Cove, Overholt said he pays $120 more on rent than the house beside him and they're similar houses. - He said such in- consistencies have led to the many empty lots at Grand Cove and a gener- al confusion among res- idents. Rice told . the T -A - he agrees the inconsistent rent fees are confusing, but said those in- consistencies also occur in apartment buildings and other land lease properties. He said a site's rent is determined on its market value when it was first developed. A unit that .was developed in 1975, for example, would have lower rent charges than a unit de- veloped now, Rice said. Rice said he sym- pathizes with Overholt's concerns, and the confu- sion the inconsistencies cause, but there's really nothing Rice Develop- ment can do about it. Overholt doesn't buy Rice's explanation. He said his house and the house next door to him were built at the same time and he still pays $120 more each month. "What am I getting for my $120?" he asked. "I'm not getting any- thing," Overholt said, ex- plaining that all res- idents of South Cove receive the same amount of services no matter. what rent they pay. To protest the above - market value rental fees, Overholt said this month the people who are pay- ing over market value on their land will only pay what they have de- termined is market val- ue. Defending Grand Cove, Rice said Grand Cove has never raised rent above provincial guidelines, which, is approximately three per cent this year. Overholt, though, said there are no guidelines to standardize land lease parks and said he's try- ing to get the govern- ment to look into the is- sue. The problem, he said, is that he's talked to about 60 land lease retirement parks in On- tario and they all have standard rent fees, un- like Grand Cove. That makes it difficult for Grand Cove to pres- sure the government into doing something about the problem be- cause they don't have, thenecessary ' support from other . land lease parks. Rice said he is not be- ing unfair to residents. He said it's , Rice De- velopment's business to look. after its custom- ers, calling Grand Cove a "long-term in- vestment." Despite Overholt's complaints, Rice said residents -at Grand Cove are happy and Rice takes pride in the com- munity. He said he's worried the possible con- troversy arising from Overholt's complaints could hurt the business, which Rice said is hav- ing its best year since 1989. Overholt is waiting to hear back from Ontario ombudsman Dale Gold - hawk on the issue. He expects it will take a few months. .