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Times Advocate, 1999-12-08, Page 5Wednesday,December 8, 1999 Exeter Times -Advocate Non-voting mayor accused of sitting on the fence Bycrags Bradford Iahes-cA7s STAFF • EXETER — Often it's the little things that get Exeter councillors fingers point- hig.and tongues wagging. Case in point: Monday's meeting and a seemingly innocent discussion on how much the town is going to charge someone applying for an official plan amendment. Ruth Haines had applied for zoning bylaw amend- ments to allow the proper- ty at lop Marlborough St. to permit an existing trucking terminal and a home. Since Haines hadn't lis- tened to town staff's advice to hold off with .the rezoning application to wait for the more suitable official plan amendment, town staff had done $925 worth of the work. Councillors were dis- cussing which of three options chief administra- tive officer Rick Hundey had come up with was the most far financially to Haines and the town. The first option was to force Haines to pay the ini- tial $925 rezoning fee plus the `$2,865 official plan amendment fee. The sec- ond; 'option recognized mo»t of the work had already been done so Haines would only pay another $2,400. The third o itinn�called for Haines tto tt pa single joint fee of $2,$65. The:controversy came when- Mayor Ben Hoogenboom wouldn't vOtty on two separate motions to either accept options two or three. "You can't sit up there and sit on the fence on issues," Reeve Roy Triebner argued echoing sortie of the other council- lors' feelings. Hoogenboom countered he believes he doesn't have to vote in unrecorded votes 'and that the two motions failed due to a tie vote. Coun. Robert Drummond settled the matter by requesting a recorded vote to accept option three. Nay votes were cast by Triebner, Coun. Joe Hogan and Coun. George Robertson. Yay votes were cast by Councillors Peter Armstrong and Drummond, Deputy Reeve Dave Urlin and...Hoogenboom. The public meeting on the decision will be held Dec. 20, 7:30 p.m., at council chambers. Another public meeting is scheduled at the same time to get input on the proposed rezoning of 20 Kalisch Ave. (off George St. south of Thames Rd. E.) to become a mobile ho, park. Exeter's La, h Inc. has applied rezoning. .Jtner notes from the meeting: Counterfeit flak Thomas H. Fine Menswear owner Tom Hartai shared his con- cerns over name brand clothing counterfeiting in Exeter. Hartai said someone recently had a one -day sale on fake Tommy Hilfigher, Nike and other clothing brands out of a garage, adding a similar sale was held at a Main St. store m the summer. He said people selling the illegal merchandise aren't "hardened crimi- nals" but they are cheat- ing when it comes to pay- ing taxes and supporting the community and he wants. the practice to be policed in Exeter. He called the Exeter OPP about the recent sale but by the time the OPP •responded to his com- plaint the sale was over. When the summer sale was on, Hartai bought a piece of clothing to be used as evidence and called the brand name head office. By the time a cease and assist order came to Exeter the busi- ness had closed down. Hartai said he wants the town to create a bylaw to help fight counterfeit clothing sales. "It's not going to put -me out of business but it's -not fair," he said. Staff were directed to write the offending person a letter to say selling coun- terfeit merchandise is ille- gal in Exeter. The Exeter Police Services Board is to discuss the issue. at this morning's meeting (Dec. 8). We support you Stephen Township Coun. Drew Robertson appeared before council to drum up Bnanclal . support from the town for the Stephen Arena expansion/renova- tion. So far the fund-raising drive has raised about half of its goal. Robertson noted the township will match any outside fund- raising three dollars to one. The township had earlier earmarked the first $80,000 towards the total $500,000 project. Exeter Reeve Roy Triebner suggested the three municipalities merg- ing in 2001 to become South Huron should get together and work out an earlier merger deadline so the Stephen Arena project, the $900,000 new South Huron Library (to replace the deficient Exeter Library) and the $200,000 new South Huron Rec Centre roof can be funded through the combined tax assessment of all three municipalities. Robertson seemed to favour reconvening the merger transition board to talk about the issue and said he would report back to his council. Robertson said the plan is to break ground on the expansion after the hockey season is over but funds need to be in place to start work. He said tenders would have to go out in January for approval by the spring and he urged a transition board meeting be held before that time. Robertson added they have had no luck so far getting any grants from the provincial or federal governments and that a similar Millennium project in Alberta was turned down. The Stephen Arena was built in 1963 and its use has expanded beyond the space it has can accom- modate. Plans include a bigger warm area, larger locker rooms, a new entrance and a bigger concession stand. A school, parldng & snow Hundey has written a letter to Exeter Public School principal Ric Graham outlining council's and staffs ideas on solving the snow/parking problem in front of the school. Carnival gets $1,500 grant GRAND BEND — The Winter Carnival committee will receive a $1,500 grant from Grand Bend coun- cil for the February event. Committee representatives came to council asking for a $2,500 donation but heard council discuss amounts between $800 and $2,500 before a motion finally passed. When event co-ordinator Dave Sheppard and chairman David Gray appeared at the Nov. 15 council meet- ing asking for a donation, council was concerned there wasn't enough cor- porate sponsorship of the annual event. At Monday night's meeting, council had the same concerns. Coun. Bob Mann admitted it's diffi- cult to get the businesses benefitting from events such /as Canada Day and the carnival to help cover the costs... Mayor Cam Ivey said while the in- kind donations from businesses help, cash donations are needed to cover expenses such as the co-ordinator's $6,300 honorarium. "We're the only corporate sponsor who's putting out hard cash," Ivey said. He advised the carnival reps they have to build a sponsorship base that isn't based on municipal support if the event is going to continue. As of money night, the carnival bud- get for 2000 had a deficit of $929 although there is a reserve to draw upon. Graham had brought the concern of parking prob- lems in front of the school on Victoria Street and on the sidewalk_when snow isn't cleared. Another of Graham's concerns focussed on Victoria St. traffic congestion at the start and end of the school day posing a risk to chil- dren crossing the road towards the Rec Centre. The proposed solutions include: *Having a public works staffer call Graham between 5-6 a.m. on snowy school days to see if the school should have a snow day; •The school could get its snow removal company to spend extra effort keeping the Victoria St. sidewalk clear; •Erect no stopping signs on the north side of Victoria St.; •Designate a parking area in Rec Centre park- ing lot; •Install a speed bump on entrance exit to Rec lot; •Write parents about parking ban on Victoria St. E.'s north side and park- ing only allowed in two parking areas and on south side of Victoria St. E.; •Get the Parents Association's help to moni- tor children crossing Victoria St. Hundey explained to Graham the town's snow clearing priority is streets and the town simply does- n't have enough money to improve sidewalk snow removal service. At Monday's meeting, clerk -treasurer Elizabeth Bell pointed out the area directly in front of the school is signed as bus loading zones with park- ing prohibited. That means the Exeter OPP can ticket offenders. The Exeter Police Services Board is sched- uled to discuss the matter at this morning's meeting (Dec. 8). Police costs down? The Exeter -only quote for 2000 OPP service came in at $525,454, down from '99s budgeted $530,806. Final figures for this year are based on actual occur- rences so they aren't known The above 2000 figure might not be used if the county -wide OPP service proposal is finally accept- ed. Sewer line path? Urlin proposed establish- ing a walking trail along the Stephen sewer line extension that hooks up with Exeter's sewage treatment facilities. Situated on flat railway lands, Urlin said some res- idents have approached him saying the line would be an ideal walking trail. Hundey said the town would have to get permis- sion to use private land and reminded council about possible public and private liability if someone is hurt along the trail. Elliott lights? Urlin's second bright idea was to install improved lighting at Elliott Park so children tobog- ganing there don't run into trees or each other. Urlin noticed how dark the park was at night dur- ing the recent snow squall. The issue will be dis- cussed at the Dec. 10 Exeter Hydro -Electric Commission meeting. Permits way up The six Exeter building permits for November totaled $1,230,316 com- pared with last November's six permits worth $294,500. The big ticket item last month was the $1,108,816 expansion to Precious Blood School. So far this year, 42 per- mits have been issued worth $4,894,191. Last year up to this point, 80 permits worth $2,973,800 were issued. Heart month Council proclaimed February 2000 as Heart and Stroke Month on the request of the Huron County Heart and Stroke Foundation Chapter. Plus: Selected stock up to 1