Loading...
Times Advocate, 1994-10-5, Page 11_IN_THE NEWS Times -Advocate, October 5, 1994 Page 11 Australia Day at Usborne Elizabeth Leutgendorff of Usborne Central School tries her hand at the strange game of cricket Friday afternoon. The game for the grade 7-8 class was not in response to the baseball strike, but part of Australia Day, to raise awareness of "down under". Students also saw a live emu and wallaby as well as taking part in a bush dance, a "sausage siz- zle" for lunch, and sang Australian songs for a full day's activities. Bend works shed may go into Stephen Twp. The village is looking to unclutter its municipal area GRAND BEND - The possibility of the Grand Bend Works De- partment moving to the MTO Pa- trol Yard at the corner of Highways 21 and 83 is getting a little closer. Monday night at the Grand Bend Council meeting, mayor Tom Law- son said he has spoken with Huron MPP Paul Klopp who seems fa- vourable to the idea. "We're still pursuing that option," said clerk -administrator Paul Turn - hull of moving the department into Stephen Township. "1 still have some loose ends." The village has been looking for a way to unclutter an area near the municipal building which has that huilding, a bank, public utilities, the Legion, works department, rec- reation facilities and the fire hall. "At the Tri -Municipal meeting, Stephen Township said they have no objection," said councillor Phil Maguire. If the works department is moved, what will become of the old huilding? "Do we leave the building or take it down to enhance the area?," questioned Lawson. Bend still fighting for Gibbs beach Nearly five years after the court decision, the appeal still stands By Fred Groves T -A staff GRAND BEND - On December 20, 1989, Parkhill's Archie Gibbs became the owner of one of the best known beaches in Ontario. Following an 80 -day trial which involved Gibbs and his lawyers on one side, and the province and the village of Grand Bend on the other, Gibbs was granted ownership of the sandy haven in the resort com- munity. He .didn't get the entire beach and that was a beef with previous coun- cils. Many visitors heard through the media the beach was closed when, in fact, it wasn't. The province who owned the land before Gihhs, and then leased it to Grand Bend, announced it would appeal. With Gibbs' ownership a couple of months away from celebrating its fifth anniversary, the ownership issue is once again in the limelight. Recently the village and ttfe prov- ince took possession of a 148 -page document which council members will thrash over for a few weeks. The 300x100 metre stretch of beach in Grand Bend awaits a final court decision. The document is Gibbs' response to cision. They are supporting that certain events occurred," said Grand Bend mayor Tom Lawson. In a nutshell, the province still wants the Keach hack and Grand Bend want to be able to reap the re- wards from the beach - namely the revenue collected for parking. "It's in the hands of the province to resolve," said Lawson who noted that Gihhs was the first to sign his the appeal. "Whcn we filed the appeal two - and -a -half years ago, we had to present our reason for appealing it," said Grand Bend administrator Paul Turnbull. "It's taken them (Gibbs and his lawyers) a year to build their case and put it forward." "It's their (Gibbs) side of saying how they support the judge's de- Hensall gets its signs Don Holm, chair of the Hensall Economic development committee stands with the long-awaited entranceway sign for Hensall. Last week work crews began putting up the $9,000 signs in between rain showers. There are four signs in all, two on Highway 4, and two on Highway 84. 1 application for nomination to the office of mayor. In March 1991, the- reeve Bruce Woodley called a town meeting and it was decided, by the res- idents, to waive a $1,100 municipal tax on Gibbs' property. The two sides have always been able to work things out. Gibbs has allowed the village use of the beach for such things as the air shows but on the other hand, the village has lost a lot of parking lot revenue and has gone so far as to build two new lots. "We've been looking after the beach and working with Mr. Gibbs," said Grand Bend deputy - mayor Cam Ivey. "We have life- guards on it so all the beach looks the same." Turnbull said the appeal is a joint one and that local residents shouldn't expect the next step to be in the near future. "Ours (appeal) was filed with the province. We did it together and now we're waiting to set a date for the hearing. I expect mid-to-late 1995, that's my guess and that's what the lawyer said," noted Turn- bull. With the 1994 municipal election next month Ivey said the local res- idents still care atxwt what goes on with the court battle and the beach is a very important piece of real es- tate as far as the village's future is concerned. "1 think it's important," said Ivey. "When wsowent through the stra- tegic plafi, one of the concerns was the beach." Do residents want the beach hack? "A lot depends on what will hap- pen. What you're looking at is the ' uncertainty," said Ivey. "it's a moral issue. People dorLt want to see a change. Deep down inside, I believe Archie feels it should be in the public's hands," said Lawson. A look back on some of the events: • Archie Gibbs' great-grandfather John Gibbs acquired partial title to the land in 1893. Over the years, some of the kind was subdivided and the title eventually fell to Ar - chic's uncle, Harold from whom Archie secured title in 1979. • in 1979, Gihhs offered to sell the beach to the village. The village didn't make an offer and a few months later, Gibbs launched his lawsuit against the village and the province. • in•May 1988, local tavern own- er Gerry Saunders tried to rally the village in a 'Save the Beach' cam- paign. • December 1989, Gibbs is told by the Ontario supreme court, that after a nine-year battle, he is the owner of the beach. • March 1991, wanting a piece of the pie, Gibbs' brothers and sisters were suing an aunt Donna Gibbs who sold the property to Archie for SI. r Erosion project is put on hold The lowest tender for the job is a lot higher than what was thought GRAND BEND - If you arc thinking about buying waterfront property, here is something that might make you think twice. One property owner who is working in conjunction with the vil- lage and the Ausable Bayfield Conservation Authority will have to wait a little longer to stop erosion on her property. Monday night at thc Grand Bend Council meeting, a tender of 5113,367.46 was received to do the work but this, which was the lowest tender, is considerably more than what the job was originally expected to cost. "This is a travesty, a 54 percent increase, this is incredible," said mayor Tom Lawson. Of the total cost, 45 percent of it was to be picked up by the prop- erty owner and the village while the ABCA was putting out the rest. Originally, council believed their portion to be S$,000 however with the low tender, that bumps it up to $11,716. The owner was go- ing to pay $34,453 but that would jump to $50,455. "That's a big jump from the estimate," said dcputy-mayor Cam Ivey. The ABCA has indicated it would be able to cover their share of the escalated cost but the village had to act quickly Monday as the low tender acceptance is only open until October 21. It was decided to put the project on hold, possibly until the spring and try to figure it into the 1995 budget. "There may even be some advantages to re -tendering it in the win- ter," said administrator Paul Turnbull. "There is a contractor who says he may be interested." Smoke alarms on sale The Exeter and Area Fire Department will be selling detectors for $10 as their part of Fire Safety Week EXETER - Fire Safety Week for the Exeter and Area Fire De- partment will kick off a campaign to sell smoke detectors to town and local residents. The department is selling, until Christmas, a smoke alarm with battery for $10 - a price they say is well below the manufacturer's suggested retail price. From each sale, $ 1.66 will go toward fire safety education programs in Ontario schools. The alarms include a "pause" feature to quiet false alarms from cooking, without switching off or removing the battery, so that the alarm isn't accidentally left inactive. The fire department is taking orders for the units until November 30, and suggest they make good Christmas or housewarming gifts. New four-way stop endorsed Exeter will get yet another four-way stop intersection, but will one be taken away? EXETER - A four-way stop should go at the comer of Carling and Sanders Streets, concluded the public works committee at their last meeting. The committee, however, stopped short of endorsing a proposal to make the Wellington and Andrew Streets intersection a four-way stop. Installation of the signs will require a bylaw approved by council, which is expected to ¢c presented to the next session on October 17. School zone signs will also bc installed in the areas surrounding all schools in town. Ben Hoogenboom, when presenting thc public works report, made no mention of the previous proposal to downgrade thc Carling and John four-way stop to a two-way intersection. McHappy Day proceeds A total of over $1,400 was raised at the Exeter McDo- nald's last Tuesday as its part of the national McHappy Day program. Of that sum, a cheque for $700 was pre- sented by restaurant manager Jim Couturier (left) to Exet- er Lions Club president Jamie Grant on Monday for the club's Easter Seals campaign. A total of over $2.5 mil- lion was raised at McDonald's across Canada.