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Times Advocate, 1984-10-10, Page 4Page 4 Times -Advocate, October 10, 1984 Times Established 1873 Advocate Established 1881 Amalgamated 1924 dvocate Serving South Huron, North Middlesex & North Lambton Since 1873 Published by J.W. Eedy Publications Limited LORNE EEDY Publisher JIM BECKETT Advertising Manager BILL BALTEN ROSS HAUGH Editor Assistant Editor HARRY DEVRIES Compo4ition Manager DICK JONGKIND Business Manager Published Each Wednesday Morning at Exeter, Ontario Second Class Mail Registration Number 0386. Phone 235-1331 SUBSCRIPTION RATES: Canada: $22.00 Per year; U.S.A. $60.00 C.W.N.A., O.C.N.A. CLASS 'A' The ball is tossed The Exeter business community has been given an opportunity to express more than complaints regar- ding what many consider unfair competition from transients. After discussing the matter for about the third time in the last couple of years, council decided to hand the problem over to the business people in an effort to get some suggestions from them for a possible solution. The limiting factor is that the suggestions must Q~ BLUE RIBBON AWARD 1981 keep in mind the extent to which a municipal council can attempt to dissuade transients through restric- tive bylaws. Past discussions have failed to find a plausible solution, but given the fact two heads are often better than one, perhaps the business people will come upon something that may aid their cause. At any rate, they have no one to complain to if they can't and that may indeed be council's motive. Can it be justified? There was a time when slogans proclaimed that joining the navy was the best way to see the world. Now, it appears that joining the Exeter economic development committee has some basis for attaining the same goal. Chairman Bill Mickle announced this week that two representatives, the committee plan a trip to Germany" and .Ent latiid to Lalli to industrialists who have expressed son)e.im.te, asst. in..Tearning more details about Exeter. Mickle and Mayor Shaw embarked on a similar trip two yearsago and that resulted in three firms hav- ing representatives come to Exeter. To date, .that trip.abrpad has not resulted in any tangible benefits to the ratepayers who have picked up the tab, although that is still a possibility. Whether the planned trip can be expected to pay dividends is something that committee members should be able to ensure members of council and the public to the best of their ability. There is, after all, a limit to the funds that can be expended on industrial promotion and the trip can on- ly be warranted if it can be sincerely expected to bring some direct benefits that far out -weigh the costs involved. ' In additiox , there is a well-founded feeling that one person should be able to represent the to*n adequate- lyinsuchdiscussions with foreign interests. That would cut the investment in half almost, and leave the balance to pay for another such trip in the future, should the circumstances warrant, or be used for other types of promotion. Have you heardit? Last week the well-known entertainer, Gordy Tapp, was a guest on the Don Harron Show which is seen on the CTV network. Tapp is certainly an ac- complished comedian, as his roles in many network shows over the many years will attest. Commenting on Tapp's use of dialect in so many forms; Harron asked him how many the entertainer could employ. Tapp said he used serveral, perhaps a dozen or more. He spoke a few words in several of those and then said that he discovered a new one a few years ago when he was in the Exeter -Clinton area. Then he came out with some words in a broad country accent; reminis- cent of the "hayseed" portrayals on "Country Hoedown" -- tiWeiialgerated heck dialect which is supposed to fit the way an uneducated farmer might talk. One is left to wonder how many people Tapp ac- tually listened to when he was in our `area. After liv- ing a lifetime in these parts we have yet to hear anyone, educated or other wise, who speaks the way Gordy says they do. True, most localities at one time used a few phrases or sentences which were unique to their own neighborhoods, but never have we heard the typically backwoods jargon which Tapp claims is the trademark of our part of the country. Perhaps he has played the hayseed role so long he hears what he wants to hear. Wingham Advance -Times A side issue requires While members of Exeter and Hay council have expressed hope that their current stalemate regarding an agri- industrial park on the northern edge of the town can be resolved without going to the cost of an Ontario Municipal Board hear- ing, there is one aspect of the situation' that should be causing both municipalities some concern. That is the involvement of the Huron County planning department, and from that aspect, it would be beneficial to have the matter aired before an impartial hearing. In fact, there is basis for the suggestion that the Huron planning committee should pay the costs for the two municipalities if they are unable to resolve the issue through negotiation. One of the unusual aspects of the situa- tion, and one that is causing some conster- nation, is that the county planners are in effect employees of both municipalities, and therefore there is the rather obvious question as to whether the planners can in effect serve two masters when those masters are in conflict. So, not only are planning principles in- volved in the issue, but also the question of the credibility of the county planners when it comes to an argument between municipalities over planning opinions and documents that have been formulated by the planners. There appears to bean obvious conflict of interest for the planners in their role of serving all Huron municipalities and it is difficult to envision how they can cons- cientiously continue to serve on any plan- ning issue over which two of their own employers are not seeing eye to eye. Exeter has been wise in seeking the opi- nion and direction of an independent plan- ner on the matter and it would appear that Hay should have considered the same action. The county should have a policy whereby member municipalities are obligatedjohire independent planners in matters conflict that arise from the nor- mal duty of their planners, with the costs involved being taken from the planning department budget. r Planning, of course, is not an exact science. It is to a considerable degree a matter of opinion and taste and is con- stantly undergoing change. Planning documents are open to inter- pretation that differ widely at times in the minds of those doing the interpretation. Many intangibles and concepts are involved. That is patently clear in the current • BATT''N AROUND with the editor dispute between Hay and Exeter over the planned project. The independent planner hired by Exeter cites portions from the Ilay official plan and zoning bylaw to back up her contention that Exeter has a legitimate case in objecting. Meanwhile, Huron planning director Gary Davidson continues to advise Hay that the proposed bylaw is in conformity and they should proceed. A point that must be considered is that Davidson has little choice in the matter as his department assisted with the of- ficial plan and zoning bylaw and again in formulating and considering the bylaw for the agri-industrial park. It would, therefore, naturally follow that he would defend the action because the objection in reality is an objection that falls primari- ly on the county planning department as authors of the documents involved. He's saying his department is right, while Exeter's independent planner is saying the Huron planning department is wrong. One of them is right, but it will ob- viously take an independent expert to sift through the various arguments to satisfactorily make that determination. The main problem with the Huron plan- ning department continuing their direct debate involvement is that they will come out of any OMB hearing as losers in the minds of one of the municipalities involved. That will be damaging to the depart- ment's credibility in further planning matters with either of the municipalities, or quite conceivably, both of them. The absurdity of the situation is that Ex- eter, as a member of the Huron communi- ty, could have demanded that a member of the county planning department go through the Hay official plan and zoning bylaw to the same extent as did the in- dependent planner to draw council's at- tention to any areas where an objection over the proposed project bylaw could have been made. In theory, they could have asked that member of the planning department to represent their interests in any hearings into the objection. regardless of the fact he/she would have been arguing before an OMB hearing with another member of the same planning department staff. That scenario is beyond comprehension and prompts the conclusion that the Huron planning department should have removed itself from the scene immediate- ly upon there being any suggestion of a possible dispute between the two municipalities over the issue and advis- ed each to seek out independent planners to provide the expertise the municipalities required to settle the matter either through negotiation or before an OMB hearing. By taking the costs out of the planning department budget, both municipalities could proceed without fear of costs involv- ed to pursue their interests as they saw them. In addition, it would perhaps provide some emphasis to members of the plann- ing department that the budget to pay their salaries could be jeopardized by steering any municipality onto a course that could prompt a costly objection from a neighbor. There are principles involved in the cur- rent situation that should prompt some serious discussion by county and municipal officials in Huron. "Are you sure you were on my list of campaign promises?" Pregnancy big aid There is only one way to do major home renova- tions - and that is make sure you're about six months pregnant. (This advice is for the ladies among my readers, not the men, by the way.) We are now down to the nitty gritty in the addition to our home. We're at the stage of nailing on trim, sanding, painting and wallpapering. And through all this I have decided that my being pregnant isa real asset. In fact, this pregnancy has probably saved our marriage. I had better explain that statement, before you get some romantic notion that we are in a euphoric state, blissfully awaiting the baby's arrival. No, I haven't fallen for the belief that the patter of lit- tle feet are going to bring Mom and Dad closer together. What I mean when I say that this pregnancy is pro- bably saving ' our mar- riage is that it is actually keeping us apart when we're working on the house. I'm sure that anyone who has been through it could probably attest to. the fact that couples who undergo home renovations together are probably destroying their mar- riages. I am convinced that all those stories about divorces resulting when couples wallpaper together are true. This pregnancy has quite conveniently prevented me from help- ing my dear husband with the work around the new addition to our house. After all, how could I possibly paint - the fumes make me nauseous. Besides, the paint fumes could be harmful to the baby. Nor could I assist with the wallpapering - everyone knows that preg- nant women shouldn't be stretching. And carpentry work is out of the question - I certainly shouldn't be carrying around lumber or saws or hammers. So that leaves me with the simple things to look after - getting the meals, watering the plants and other household jobs. These are chores my hus- band used to share - before he became carpenter, Mary's musings By Mary Alderson painter and paper hanger. So I stay in the older part of the house, conveniently out of his way, as he toils away in the new part. Even as I pound out this column on my typewriter, he is pounding nails into a closet door frame. Now you may think I had this whole clever scheme planned. Unfor- tunately, I can't take credit for it - the addition to the house was under- way before the baby was; in fact, the original plan was to have the house all completed before any babies were on the way. No, I have only my girlfriends to thank for this arrangement, whereby I'm pregnant while all the construction is going on. Those are my girlfriends who advised me that it can take a year or more to get pregnant - well, girls, it just isn't necessarily so But as I have learned, there are many advan- tages to being pregnant' while the house is under construction. The baby's arrival provides a definite deadline for the project. Knowing that all work must be totally complete in less than three months keeps my husband busy. Without such a deadline, I'm afraid that building projects could drag on. One warning girls - don't push your luck when using your pregnancy as a means for getting out of work. While it has been determined that stret- ching and reaching is dangerous, noboby says much about bending over. And as long as you can still reach the floor the men will expect you to clean up after them. Once my husband leaves the construction site, I am called in for clean up du- ty. I hope he gets finished soon - I don't know how much longer I'll be able to pick up the scraps of wood and pieces of wallpaper. Prestige and power Women's rights! Affir- mative action! These are the catch words of the 70's and 80's. Women are demanding equal pay for doing the sameob, freedom from sexual harassment by supervisors, and equal op- portunity in the job market place. It would seem to me that these rights are beginning to be accomplished and that women are gaining some of the goals for which they have been looking. We have come a long way since a woman had to disguise herself as a man in order to get through medical school and practise medicine in this country. In my own profession, teaching, women have been given equal pay for equal academic qualifica- tions for a long time. However it is in the area of directors of education. The reasons and ex- cuses were diverse. Women were not sup - Perspectives By Syd Fletcher equal job opportunity that women have had to take a back seat, especially in the elementary schools where the women teachers far exceeded the number of men yet tradi- tionally men have become principals and superintendents and posedly qualified for the jobs. They were more in- terested in staying in a partictilar area and not travelling. They couldn't maintain discipline?!? The hiring board didn't think the community would go along with a woman with all that responsibility. Probably the biggest reason, in truth, was that women were discouraged from believing that they were capable of handling the jobs. The picture is changing. More women now have jobs of responsibility and supervision and more are training themselves for upward mobility. More power to them. Literally. I might point out though to all you ladies out there that with the 'prestige and power' come all the goodies that men have traditionally also been the not -so -proud recipients of : shorter life span, ulcers, heart disease and hypertension. i guess you can't have your cake and eat it too.