Times Advocate, 1994-12-28, Page 24Page 24
Times -Advocate, December 28, 1994 - F N rI . WS
Council seeks Bend's Main Street revival
By Fred Groves
T -A staff
GRAND BEND - With no per-
ceived plan or notions, Grand Bend
will take a shot at revamping Main
Last Monday, a night when only
two businesses were open on the re-
sort town's Main Street, council has
decided to establish a task force for
Looking back on 1994
November
November 2
•South Huron District High School students placed above provincial
averages in standardized testing of schools. All Huron County
schools placed above the provincial average, but education director
Paul Carroll cautioned that other factors affect the results.
•An all -candidates meeting in Grand Bend raised some eyebrows
when one of the three candidates for mayor, Lloyd Guillet, didn't
even show up for the public forum. The main issue of discussion
at the meeting was tourism for the village:
•An appeal wasn't being withdrawn by a group of residents in Hay
Township, opposing the construction of a new office in Zurich.
They claimed the office wouldn't meet the village's zoning re-
quirements. Reeve Lionel Wilder called the appeal frivolous.
November 9
•Both candidates for reeve iri Hay Township said that getting Lake-
shore development re -started in the township. Both Murray Keys
and Lionel Wilder said a sewage treatment plant for the lakeshore
was vital to those plans.
•South Huron District High School's field hockey team won their
third straight OFSAA victory at the provincial championships_ in
Kingston. Their winning streak is unprecedented in Ontario field
hockey history.
•An all candidates meeting in Exeter was dominated by discussion
about the renovation project for the Old Town Hall. Questions
about how much the project would actually cost swamped the can-
didates. Others were concerned about 24-hour policing, 911 ser-
vice, and the use of other public buildings.
November 16
•Ben Hoogenboom won the election for Exeter mayor. He had a
clear lead over contender Lossy Fuller from the earliest poll re-
sults. In Grand. Bend, Cam Ivey won as mayor in a landslide vote
over Lloyd Guillet and Ruth Margaret Kennedy.
•Zurich residents were calling parking tickets as "gouging" of vis-
itors to town stores. They were worried the $l0 tickets for parking
trucks and vans in a cars -only zone were driving people away from
town.
•Video cameras were being proposed for school buses to curb van-
dalism and rowdy behaviour on Huron County bus routes.
November 23
•Huron Park's water system ended up on the province's list of 120
water plants not meeting quality requirements. However, plant op-
erators confirmed that the problems at Huron Park were only dif-
ficulties in regular testing, and the water had always passed all
quality tests.
•Former mayor Bruce Shaw was awarded Exeter's highest honour as
Citizen of the Year at the annual Appreciation Banquet. Shaw
served 18 years as mayor.
•The Huron United Way fell short of its goal of raising $140,000 in
a one-month campaign. Only about 65 percent of the target had
been reached by the end of November.
November 30
•OPP were calling an attack on a high school student a "cowardly
act". Five young offenders, egged on by a small mob, attacked the
student, and faced charges ranging from assault to breach of pro-
nation.
•Hugh Davis, Exeter's PUC manager for 37 years, was honoured at a
retirement banquet. He was credited with helping make Exeter's
one of the best utilities in small-town Ontario.
•Huron County revealed it was prepared to pay $2,400 an acre for a
new county -wide landfill 'site. The selection process was now
down to four candidate sites for a new 62 -acre landfill, including a
buffer zone.
Looking back on 1994
December
December 7
•The Grand Bend area got some good news from the provincial gov-
ernment with the announcement of an 80 percent grant on a quar-
ter -million dollar sewage treatment plant study. The other 20 per-
cent of the cost would be shared between Grand Bend and Stephen
Township. -X
•The Huron Progressive Conservative Association put its support be-
hind Helen Johns of Exeter to lead thc party into the next pro-
vincial election. Johns won the nomination fronffive candidates at
a meeting at the South Huron Recreation Centre.
•Zurich rehired the same parking bylaw enforcement officer who re-
signed earlier in the year. Chris Littlechild re-applied for the posi-
tion after council decided not to bow to public pressure to hold off
on enforcement of new no -parking zones.
December 14
•Huron -Bruce MP Paul Steckle admitted he had been "duped" into
signing a petition for the exoneration of an American neo -fascist
whose supporters claimed he had been a political prisoner. Eight
MPs signed the petition circulated by his supporters.
*The Exeter OPP said local residents have been bilked of thousands
of dollars through telephone scams. Rick Borden of the OPP said
the scams usually get victims to send fees for lavish prizes, which
never arrive.
•Wingham reeve Bruce Machan was acclaimed the new warden of
Huron County. No other representative at county council opposed
his nomination.
.Some Stephen Township residents were complaining that a ce-
metery near Centralia was not being properly maintained, given its
historical significance. Township officials, however, insisted it
was being kept up to standards required of an unused cemetery.
December 21
•After months of controversy, Exeter council gave the go-ahead to
plans for the renovation of the Old Town Hall into a new mu-
nicipal office. Reeve Bill Mickle was confident an impressive re-
juventation of the building could be accomplished well within thc
budget.
'Rick Reaburn of Grand Bend was just glad to have his family alive
after a fire destroyed their home. Reaburn made a dramatic rescue
of his 14 -year old son from the second storey of the home after re-
turning to find it ablaze.
•An earlier deadline was being considered as a reason why giving at
the Huron County Christmas Bureau in Exeter was a little slower
this year. Instead of handing out toys, clothing and food until just
before Christmas, organizers aimed at getting all distribution com-
plete by December 16.
the purpose of reviewing and fa-
cilitating the enhancement and re
development of Main Street west Ot
Highway 21.
In other words, once again, the
village wants to find a way to beau-
tify its main street in order to at-
tract some businesses that just
might not close up on Labour Day
weekend.
Councillor Bob Mann has in-
itiated the task force which is
scheduled to have its first meeting
in the new year. Members of coun-
cil, representatives from the Cham-
ber of Commerce, the Economic
Development Officer and- business
people will make up the group.
It was also decided that non-
business people might be helpful to
the task force. There is' no budget
as of yet, but no doubt improve-
_ menu will probgbjt[_ mean money
from the public.
When asked what the business
people who stay open all -year long
thought of the approach, Mann
said, "they are about ready to fold
up and go home now."
The task force, which will report.
back to council on a monthly basis,
will start up without any idea of
what they want to see happen to
Main Street.
Mann said businesses are spread-
ing out along Highway 21 which
may be the reason others on Main
Street are not staying open.
"It seems to be a less and less val-
uable main street. It may be due to
a lot of factors. The most obvious is
the recession," said Mann.
Attraction: Other towns have
gone through the long and ex-
pensive process of beautifying their
main streets to attract not only tour-
ists and shoppers, but new busi-
nesses.
For. Grand Bend, the season is
May 24 weekend to Thanksgiving.
After that, the For Sale signs go up
on the businesses and sheets of
plywood board up the windows.
In the summer, Grand Bend is
full of activities, from drag races at%
the nearby airport to air shows and
events on the beach. There is also
the magnetic draw of the bars, ar-
cades, and t -shirt shops.
The winter sports one of the bet-
ter festivals in the province, the--
Grand
he-Grand Bend Winter Carnival. And
while summer and winter have
their attractions, council and local
businesses want something year-
round to draw those that spend the
money.
"A lot of people have expressed
some interest about Main Street to
upgrade it." said Mann.
Ivey said that some leadership
has to be taken by someone. in this
case the task force to get businesses
to either stay pen in the winter, or
to attract w ones. That. in turn,
will get ople to come to, Grand
Bend in the winter.
"If we had more year-round busi-
nesses perhaps we would get wore
people," said Ivey.
Councillor Shirley Andraza said
on Sunday afternoons Tots of peo-
ple that drive up-and-down Main
Street.
Flower pots, new sidewalks, dec-
orative benches arW waste contdin-
ers and even new ramp posts could
all be pan of the new look Grand
Bend is trying to get.
"It may be all of that," said Ivey.
"Bob (Mann) wants to have a com-
mittee. I really believe it's part of
what this community wants to be in
khe future. We're trying to address
Ivey added that this is just one
point in the village's 20 year, long-
term forecast.
"It's a very demanding job. It's
one thing that will be an important
part of the update of the strategic
plan."
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