Clinton News-Record, 1979-05-17, Page 1Why is this man smiling? He's just given the Gift of Life
you see. Jake DeRuyter, Clinton was only one of the
many are people who came out to the Blood Donor Clinic
at CHSS on -Monday. Mrs. B. Relly, a registered nurse
from London, was one of the people who helped at the
clinic. (News -Record photo)
114th year -Na. 20
Thursday, May 17, 1979
Old pool to be used again
Complications in buyilding a new
swimming pool for Clinton have forced
the town to make several thousand
dollars. worth of repairs to the old pool
and make it do until this fall, when the
town hopes to begin construction on a
new one.
The town and the recreation com-
mittee has called for new tenders for
the pool because the old tender did not
deeds left of list, can still vote
Contrary to the rumours have been
spread around town, the Liberal Party
has not been scheming to undermine
the' Conservative voting power in the
upcoming federal election.
The rumours began after it was
learned that large number of residents
.in the Huron -Bruce riding were left off
the voters' lists. Although no definite
figures have been established it has
been said that up to 100 people in
Clinton were not enumerated, while .in
other areas, like Lucknow some 80
elligible voters were missed. '
Despite the public outcry over 'the
situation,. polling clerks, various party
members, the enumerators and Huron -
Bruce's returning officer, Garnet
Hicks, ,all said that the oversight was
not intentional.
There is no one reason. why voters
were missed and election organizors
say the problem .can be easily
remedied in the rural areas.
Those whose names do not appear on
the lists may vote on May 22 simply by
being sworn in by another voter in the
polling district:
Returning officer Garnett Hicks said,
"We have no way of knowing how many
people were left pf the lists until the
people 'raise an objection."
Mr. Hicks gave several reasons why
the -problem :pray -have occurred.:. He
noted that the voters in Lucknow were
left off because Of the boundary
changes in the new riding. He did ex-
plain that all the elligible voters who
had been missed are now included in
the revised lists.
"Some people think that the
enuemerators are selling something
and won't let them in the door," he
added.
The enumerators only had five days
to call on 44,000 possible voters in the
riding, "Now how do you do that?" he
asked.
Russell. Grainger, at the Con-
,..servative offices in Zurich said that the
office had been swamped with calls.
"Some people are just wild about it.
There's no fooling about it," he said,.
He added, "Some people said that
they were home on the days when the
enumerators were to call but no one
came."
Clinton enumerator Mrs. Edwin
Meyers said that the worst winter blast
of the season' on April 6 hampered her
attempts to see all the voters in. her
area.
"The returning officer suggested
that we enumerate people by .
telephone," she explained.
. "We were, told•to try to get as many
voters as we could, Liberal or Con-
servative," Mrs. Meyers added.
She added that cards, saying that an
enumerator had called, were not given
out in tnis election and the only in-
formation she received to do her job
was a written description of the area
she was to cover.
"Some of the boundaries were
confusing. Like Mowhawk Cresent in
Clinton, it wasn't listed," the first time
enumerator said.
Another Clinton enumerator, Freda
Slade said that she had few problems
and has had few complaints.
"I think the procedure was usual,"
Mrs. Slade, who has worked as an
enumerator before, explained.
"I did all my enumeration before the
storm hit," she added.
"It stands to reason that some people
are left off. People are out so much now
and neighbors don't know each other as
well as they used to," Mrs'. Slade ad-
ded.
While most areas in the Huron -Bruce
riding will be able to recover from the.
temporary loss of voters, urban
municiplaities with 5,000 people or
more, like Goderich, are facing greater
problems. Voters not enumerated in
Goderich will not be able to cast a
ballot on May 22 since the Elections Act
says that possible voters living in areas
with a population . over 5,000 are not
allowed to be sworn in. London,
Toronto and the Kitchener -Waterloo
areas have all said that they have had
hundreds, even thousands of people not
Hullett taxes jump 14%, average $62
By Jim Fitzgerald
Municipal taxpayers in Hullett
township will see their taxes rise 14 per
cent this year, after township council
last week struck the 1979 mill rate.
For the average public school
residential taxpayer in Hullett, with an
assessment of $5,000, their taxes will
climb $76.45,from $547.05 of last year, to
$623.50 this year.The total mill rate this
year for that same resident is 124.7,
compared to 109.41 of last year.
The increase is spread across all the
levies, as the county rate was up 20 per
cent, the public school rate climbed 13.7
per cent, the secondary rate was up 5.6
per cent, and the township's own rate
jumped 18 per cent, due mainly to
construction of a new township
maintenance and office building, and
replacement of several bridges.
The tax jump will be felt even
heavier for Auburn residents, who will
see their mill rate leap 39 per cent to
141.10, which for 1 average
residential public school supporter
with an assessment of $3,000, will mean
a tax bill of $423.30, up from $349.86 of
the last year.
Separate school supporters will pay
only two mills more taxes than the
public- school supporters, and com-
mercial and businesses will pay about
four more mills.
The tax rates for 1979 (with last
year's in brackets), are: •county rate,
20.68 (17.4) ; public school, 37.83 (33.27) ;
secondary school, 30.38 (28.76) ;
separate, 39.13 (34.13) ; township rate,
35.61 (29.98); Auburn 16.40 (11.61).
On top of the township rate, Lon-
desboro residents pay an addition five
mills to cover their street lights.
In other business, Hullett tentatively
accepted the Seaforth Fire area
budget, and will investigate the Nesbitt
subdivision before accepting the cir-
cular turn and the township's lot.
Hullett gave all three readings to a
bylaw to regulate the use of land and
Finally, I'm getting around ' to
writing this column, about two hours
behind deadline, with the composing
room boss breathing down my neck.
For some reason, this has been an
extremely busy week - both for
Shelley and myself. There seems to
be an overabundance of news to
cover, between rec., council,
elections, and sundry other items,
all going on at the same time.
And of course, just like the far-
mers, Lois and I have been trying to
do a month's worth of outside work
in about a week, and it's made it
pretty hectic.
Well, I finally got the garden in, all
but the tomatoes and peppers, which
can wait 'til Jack Frost decides to
make his final exit, and all the heat
has even got the radish and lettuce
popping their heads out of the
ground. But still, the storms are not
done yet, and if the grass is soon not
cut, I'll call in someone with a forage
harvester and feed it to the cows.
A + + +
And next week doesn't look like
any holiday, either. The holiday on
Monday, as a matter of fact will just
make it that much harder to put out
a big paper next week, so please, all
you correspondents, try and have
ypur news in as soon as possible.
There's plenty going on to keep
everyone busy, whether you be a
politi ian, a hockey fan, a camper or
gard net.;
Fir 't oflail, for all the hockey fans
there's the Stanley Cup finals, and
even though I'm not a fan of Les'
Canadiens, Montreal haters sure
went off half-cocked following the
first, game win by the New Yorkers.
Remember fellows, you can't cotlnt
the Canadiens out until the final
whistle of the seventh game.
+++
And another game that has beenti-
played for the last two months or so
will be finally decided this coming
Tuesday night when the Liberals
take on -the --PC's and the NDP in a
game of MI6 can B.S. the voters the
most. We're still calling for a
minority Conservative government
with a new public works minister
from Huron Bruce.
If you find out when you,go to the
polls on Tuesday that you don't have
a vote, don't worry, you can still vote
if you get a neighbor to vouch for
you, that is, if you live in a
municipality with less than 5,000
people.
+ + +
And in between hockey games and
elections there's a minor hockey
banquet and a Cub and Scout
banquet, and of course the Victoria
Day holiday on Monday.
As with any holiday, most
businesses, banks and post offices
will be closed on Monday, and
reopen on Tuesday, and all but the
banks will offer regular service on
Saturday, including the post office.
enumerated. They too will fall under
the Elections Act stipulation for urban
areas.
meet specifications.The new pool was
to have cost $103,000,but costs, the
News -Record has learned, have
escalated into the $175,000 range, and
the town will have to decide if it can
handle the exttra debt load.
Also,it has been rumored that the
provincial government will be cutting
off Wintario capital grants after the
federal election is over, leaving the
town to come up with the bulk of the
money themselves.
Although the bingo committee has
raised about $30,000, coming up with
another $100,000 in donations could be
difficult should the government cut off
either the Wintario or the Community
Centres Act grants.
The town spent soi'ne money on the
deck of the old pool, getting it ready for
temporary use this summer.
But the town has received $44,000
from Wintario and a $33,200 Com-
munity centres act grant for the ne`w
arena floor, leaving about $30,000 left
to raise.
The recreation committee learned
last "Thursday night that they have
received a $1,540 grant to hire a student
for the summer to conduct a
, recreational needs study done in town.
The committee is also replacing the
main feeder line -to the lights on the ball
diamond after they learned the un-
derground cable beneath the new
grandstand has shorted out, leaving the
diamonds black. !
Mayor says:
`Enforce laws or I'll quit,'
by Shelley McPhee
Clinton Mayor Harold Lobb has given
an ultimatum.
"As long as I'm sitting in this chair,
the by laws will be enforced," he stated
with firm conviction to council at their
regular meeting on Mo tday night.
"We've been a little lax in the past
arid a_lot pg ay
wrh thngs. people
the bylaws don't-
start
ontstart
to be enforced then I won't sit is
this chair any longer," he declared.
Mayor Lobb said that in the past
"he'd let sleeping dogs lie." However,
he has taken a stand since council has
come under heavy criticism from the.
public.
The complaints began after council
decided to enforce a bylaw asking the
Clinton Taxi to meet specific
requirements before the business'
operation ii•cence would be approved.
One of the major requirements is that
the transportation service, owned by
Doug Howse, move from their
residentially zoned location to a proper
commercially zoned spot in town.
"If Mr. Howse hasn't moved by May
31, 1979 then his licence will be null and
- void." the mayor stressed.
Ile went on, "We have found that
other businesses have been operating
in the wrong zone. We must find out
who they are and send them letters. We
can't come down on one person and let
the others go..
In response to other complaints
voiced by the public, the mayor stated,
"It was suggested that this council was
hired not elected. I would like to report
that this clerk does not run the town. He
is part of the system that runs the town
and we appreciate his advice."
As part of the crack down, Mayor
Lobb went on to say that people with
unclean properties will be send a
registered letter. If they don't look
after the problem then a fine should be
levied on them.
"We want to see our town cleaned up.
I hope council backs meinI'm_.___
saying."
Clerk Cairn Proctor informed council,
"We hope to have a really tough
property standards bylaw shortly. We
have several examples to look at."
Reeve Royce Macaulay said, in a
cynical tone, "We always say, they
could be fined but it's never done."'
"That's why I.,say that in the past
I've been a little too easy," Mayor Lobb
admitted.
the character, location, apd use of
buildings and structures, 'as allowed
under section 35 of the Planning Act.
Council also pas§ed a bylaw to
borrow $500,000 for the construction of
drainage works, and approved
severance to Lot 25 Concession 11. •
Insurance coverage for the township
was altered after consultation with a •
representative of Frank Cowan
Insurance, and council accepted the ,
tender of Pollard Brother to supply
calcium chloride at $103.50 a ton.
Building permits were issued to R.
Peel, J. Verwey, J.Van Baaren, E.
Lapp, T. DeBoer, J. f oggert, Murray
Adams, H. Thompson, L. Penfound, J.
Greidanus, Jas Greidanus, and D.
Hugill.
�x.
Despite warmth
farmers behind
Despite the summer like weather of
last week, area farmers are still behind
in sowing their crops this year, and
need at least another week of warm,
dry, sunny weather to catch up.
According to farmers and
agriculture experts, the spring grain is
mostly sown, but the corn crop is still a
long ways from being in.
• "It just depends who you talk to as to
how far along their corn crop is," said
Mike Miller of the ag office in Clinton.
The optimum date for sowiung corn
in Huron is suposed to be May 15, and
theoretically, farmers lose one
bushel per acre per day for every day
the corn isn't in the ground.
"It's still pretty wet yet, and the rain
on Monday certainly delayed things a
couple of days," Mr. Miller said.
Because of the three week delay in
spring seeding, some spring grain
acreage may he going into corn, Mr.
Miller said, but if farmers miss the
corn, they can't put in soybeans unless
they already have a commitment for
seed, as there's no more early seed lett,
Some could also shift land to white
beans as they don't need to be sown
until the first week in June, and the
price is also on the rise.
� Weather
1979 1978
May 8
9
10
11
12
13
14
HI 10 HI LO
28 12.5 13 Ski
29.5 14,5 15 7 ,
27 16.5 11 5
29 16.5 12 6
17 6 17 12
16 5 17 13
20 6 15 10
Rain 10.8 mm Rain
11.19 mm
Last Sunday was couples Sunday at Holmesville
United Church as the year-long centennial
celebrations continue, and 30 couples who were
married in the church over the past century
returned. Among those returning were: Philip
Paquette and Laurie Ginn, married March 17, 1977,
as the most recent couple and Doris Heller and
William B atkin. married on June 30, 1932. The
oldest couple to be married in the church, not
shown, were George And Grace Addison, married
in 1930. (photo by Elaine Townshend)
Walker Street reconstruction abandoned
by Shelley McPhee
To the satisfaction of some and the
dismay of others, the controversial
reconstruction of Walker Street has
been halted, and the street will not
receive its final coat of asphalt this
year.
Clinton council made the decision not
to finish Walker Street, from Victoria
to King Street or Maple Street from
Mill to Whitehead Street because of
limited finances.
In a special council meeting on April
26, council decided that because some--
additional
ome*additional storm drain work should be
done within the town, and in an effort to
keep within the amount that will be
subsidized by the Ministry of Tran-
sportation and Communiciation,it was
agreed to elimiNate the final work on
the above mentioned streets for the
time being.
Council did, however, accept the
tender of Lavis Contracting to com-
plete three other street reconstruction
,projects in town, at a total cost of
$67,220.92. The Lavis application was
chosen over one subrritted by Cottrill
Fuels for a price of $81,680.
According to the Lavis cost
estifnates, and the Clinton streets to be
repaired and paved include: Towsend
Street, from East Street to Smith
Street, $19,828.77; High Street from
East Street to and including Winter
Court, $32,769.65; East Street from
Victoria Street' to Ontario Street and
Kirk Street from High Street to Ontario
Street; $14,622.50.
In addition to the costs, it is
estimated that about $3,000 worth of
storm drains fnust be installed by the
public works department as well as two
or three poles that need relocating by
the PUC.
The topic of reconstruction came to
council's attention at the regular
council meeting on Monday night
through correspondence from Mr. and
Mrs. William Makins on Queen Street.
They noted that the remainder of
Queen Street was to be paved a few
years ago and wasn't, but Walker
Street has been paved, despite the fact
that there are few houses on the street.
Mayer Harold Lobb has taken the
butt of complaints against Walker
Street for sometime now, since it
happens to be the street in Clinton that
he lives on.
Walker Street was reconstructed, as
many dther streets are in town,
because of the high maintenance costs
that ensue from the heavy traffic load,
that they bear.
"I wish that the letter hadn't men-
tioned Walker Street," Mayor .Lobb
voiced. "The decision to do Walker
Street was made long before I came,
but I've got broad shoulders and I can
handle it."
"We should make an effort to get all
the roads done, but we can't go out on a
limb and promise," councillor Ron
McKay explained. "You never know
what's going to happen in the upcoming
year."
"I can't stand all these comments on
the mayor having his street paved.
That's why I'm moving in June,"
Mayor Lobb laughed.
Council passed a motion giving the
public wo ks department permission to
I Turn to page 3