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Times Advocate, 1994-11-16, Page 3Hydro rate freeze for Zurich The village utility is now solvent, and can pass on Ontario Hydro savings, council is told ZURICH - Village residents will also be benefitting from a planned freeze in Ontario Hydros rates in 1995. The Zurich Hydro and Elec- tric Commission is putting together a budget without an increase in util- ity costs. "It looks like there's going to be a zero percent increase in hydro for next year," councillor Dwayne La- porte said at Thursday's Zurich council session. "I'd just like to add the hydro sys- tem is in good shape," agreed reeve Bob Fisher. The village's substation was paid off this year, and the commission's truck will soon be paid off. The only major project on the books is a proposal is for a new building at the substation. "They [increases] should stay at zero for many years to come," said Fisher. "Zurich shouldn't see an in- crease in hydro for a long, long time. We've just become financial- ly solvent." I N THF l\I S Times -Advocate, November 16,1994 Page 3 Father says drop-in centre a must Bob Sharen doesn't want other teenagers to meet with tragedy By Fred Groves T -A staff GRAND BEND - On October 29, two local ;cenagers were killed in a car accident. Killed were Jennifer Sharen, 17, of Grand Bend and Jon- athon Groot, 14, of Zurich when the jeep Sharen was driv- ing went out of control on a dirt road in Stephen Township. Jennifer's father, Bob Sharen of Grand Bend, doesn't want any more teenagers to have their lives come to such a tragic end. Bob ) as become a strong supporter of the pros- pect of establishing a community policing program in the village. He also believes that if such a program, which would in- clude a youth drop-in centre, was set up, it could prevent other teenagers, like his daughter, from meeting with such tragedy. Not wishing to have pity bestowed on the family, Sharen believes this is the time the community policing issue for Grand Bend should be seriously considered. "It emphasized the need for it. Two local teens were killed in an accident. Her (Jennifer's) parents strongly sup- port this program," said Sharen in a recent interview with the Times -Advocate. If you drive through any town or city, you will see young people hanging out on street corners or around variety stores. There are thir.gs for them to do, but perhaps they are simply not interested in what is being offered. "In Grand Bend, they are not that visible. I'm not sure where they go. As a parent that was our fault," said Sharen. On October 26, Sgt. Gord Perry, co-ordinator of the Lambton County Community Policing Program, came to Grand Bend for a public meeting.Tthree days later Jennifer and Johnathon were killed. "The people from the community who were involved in the meeting were very supportive," said Sharen. It's tough to look back on a child's life and say if this or that would have been done differently, maybe things would have worked out and a life would have not been loss. Sharen isn't looking back and saying "what if', but in- stead looking to the future and hoping some good may come out of this u-agedy. He has contacted a professor who may want to teach a computer course at the drop-in centre, Sharen also says there are others in Grand Bend who would be more than willing to help out your.. "A drop-in centre of this nature...there are adults who will help. In a small centre like Grand Bend there's not much for them to do." Grand Bend has many activities for youth in the summer, with the arcades, beach and fast -foot outlets to hang around. But in the winter, it's a different story. Dividing youth into age groups, 13 and -under and 14 -and over is tough. The social barrier is there. "This one (youth centre) is geared for the 14 to 20 year- olds from what I gather. It's important how you divide them (ages) it's an art form," said Sharen. At the recent all -candidates meeting for Grand Bends municipal council, candidate Barbara Wheeldon touched on the fact that young people should have more to do. The idea is to keep them off the streets and out of trouble. On November 30, another public meeting, will be held on the Community Policing Program, at the Legion at 7 p.m. Sharen will be there and hopefully so will many others. Perry said there are different programs which can come out of community policing but the citizens of Grand Bend feel a youth drop-in centre is needed the most. "This would be something new and the community feels they need it," said Perry. He added the centre in Grand Bend, through community policing, would be a first for Lambton County. Perry said the idea of a youth centre is for youth to come and do their homework, play video games or talk to coun- sellors. Counsellors would probably be members of the local community policing committee. "It is a partnership between the police and the com- munity. Rather than having people complain, the police sit on the committee," said Perry. Grand Bend has an OPP detachment but Perry said this is a different kind of policing in that the regular officers and those involved in community policing work together but they have to be separate. Perry said the best types of community policing com- mittees are the ones which have a mixture of teenagers and seniors (over 70) on them. Grand Bend, Stephen and Bosanquet are part of the Tri - Municipal group. This is just one more area in which they can co-operate together. "The idea is the committee can work with three councils and say we have a common problem." Car rolls on Kirkton road Exeter firefighters and Hoffman's ambulance attendants work to free Iwo people trapped in a rolled car last Tuesday evening on County Road 6 just east of Highway 4. Police say the accident occurred when a car driven by Cameron Macauley of Ripley struck the rear of a gravity bin being pulled by a tractor, and rolled. Macauley's vehicle then struck an east- bound car driven by Christopher Hem of RR3 Lucan. Two passengers in the Macauley ve- hicle were taken to hospital with non -life threatening injuries. Phillip Dzioba, the operator of the tractor, was not injured. SAVE SAVE SAVE SAVE SAVE SAVE SAVE SAVE SAVE SAVE SAVE Don't Forget The Night (Wednesday, November 16) Our Christmas Party is 5 p.m. - 9 p.m. SAVE 20t'�0 ON YOUR TOTAL PURCHASE A Ste ns Departtnent4Store Whom tionfic M AAwya M Style" Main St., Exeter Open Monday to Friday until 9 p.m • ExL !,Avl `,nvi ',nvl SAVE SAVE SAVE SAVE SAVE SAVE SAVI Poaching EXETER - The Ministry of Nat- ural Resources has been notified of a complaint of deer poaching in Stephen Township. The Exeter OPP say they notified the ministry after investigating a re- port that poachers were using spot- lights to hunt deer last Monday. It is illegal to hunt after dark, and the spotlights are used to freeze the deer in their tracks. The ministry will be stepping up patrols of game officers in the area in response to the complaint, say the OPP. Police are also investigating the theft of a puppy from a Hay Town- ship breeder on Thursday. The pup is described as being 14 -days old at reported in Stephen the time of the theft, and is a Bull Terrier, mostly black with white feet, chest and neck. The puppy, valued at over $900, also has un- usual red markings over both eyes and under the base of its tail. Zurich parking problems srContinued from front page "I warned from October to March," commented Dennis Regi- er, and said the restrictions were widely ignored. When former deputy -bylaw en- forcement officer, Chris Littlechild, was hired to write tickets, she said she warned some people of the by- law, but got the same reaction as if she had written a ticket. ,Td get people. when I said 'Do you realize you're in a no -parking zone?' they'd say "Well, I guess I won't park in Zurich any more," said Littlechild. Laporte, who will take over as village reeve next month, said a public meeting would be needed to decide whether or not villagers wanted a traffic light, and to find the best way to resolve the parking problems. • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • PRESENTING AVALON "SOPHISTICATED'. Welcome to the next level of comfort, room and refined driving performance. 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