The Goderich Signal-Star, 1973-01-18, Page 2PAGE 2--GODERIGH SIGNAL -STAR; THURSDAY, JANUARY 18, 1973
ED1T'OERIAL.I.ONMENT
Drainage Act versus Gene.ral.'Ievy
Goderich Town Council is faced with a .
huge problem so early in the new year. It is
the type of policy decision which will have
some far-reaching effects on the future of ,
this municipality. It will take clear,
progt'esSive..thinking_on council,s..part in the
next few weeks.
The matte,r involves the South Storm Sewer
which will have its beginning at the corner of
Bayfield Road and Bennett Street, proceed
south for a .short distance and then wind its
way westward through the now -vacant land
at the southern edge of Goderich to the take.
The drain is presently planned to be finan-
ced - under the Drainage Act, legislation
which stipulates that those landowners who
will benefit directly from the installation of
the drain will pay tor --the drain.'.
A meeting of the maipt landowners in the
vicinity of the drain was held last week at
Town Hall. The purpose of the meeting was
to discuss how the drain should be built - as -
planned.;. -fully closed at an estimated cost of
$28,3,000; open from . Bayfield Road to- the
lake which would be ,the least expensive
method;. or partly open and partly closed,
"which -...would be a middle road to take, -
Persons attonding that meeting made few
comments about the cost of the drain' and the
wisdom of a fuljy 'closed dram was not
seriously challenged. Fez.
The main concern of the citizens at the
meeting was to petition cou'ncit to change
the manner of financing the drain - that is, to
take it out from under the Drainage Act by
which a few will pay and' put it under local
improvements or the general levy so that all
• Goderich citizens would share equally in the
cost of the work.
General feeling' was, of course, that since
many of the landowners at the meeting had
resided in Goderich for sometime. and had
helped pay for all other storm sewers in'town,
it was only. fair that the rest of Goderich help
them pay for the storm sewer in their area.
The 'plans for the South Storm Sewer have
been underway for about four yiears,now. The
,drain is'designed particularly to benefit the
development lands at the south of Goderich.
Once installed, the drain will make all the
property south -Of Bennett Street to the town
limits very 'valu-able and highly desirable.
The land is, presently held by a variety of
owners, some .who have purchased- the
.Property for the prime pure of developing
it into residential'tots and homes'; some who
claim to•have - and probably don't have - any
-.immediate intentions to develop the extra
acreage whidh surrounds the' area; some
, who are, responsible for public land holdings,
such as St. 'Mary's School and some who
have business and commercial properties in
„the area.
• According to the wording of the Drainage
Act, all the people who benefit from the drain
will pay for, it. However, those persons who
benefit the least pay.the least, and those per-
sons who benefit the most pay the most.
•' In other words,. the owners of ,large
acreages presently undeveloped 'will pay the
--Jioa's:sbare of-the-..nnsts fn .ibs.:SouthStorc
Sewer under the present scheme because,
they ,are -the onee who stand to make finan-
cial gain when the drain ,is completed. .
The best example of this is the company. ,
o known as Sunpoast Estates which is presen..
tly planning a large housing development
east and south of Sunoeast Drive. The•
developers are anxious ' to see the South
Storm Sewer installed. They recognize it -as a
valuable asset and there is every indication.
. that Suncoast Estates is prepared to accept a
substantial share -of the cost of the drain. ,
In' fact,, at the meeting in town hall 'last
week none of the town's developers com-
plained about the proposed cost of the South
Storm Sewer or their share of the cost.
The bulk of the complaint came from per-
sons who owned small parcels of land in the
area - maybe..five or ten acres - and had been
notified of a possible assessment of several
thousand dollars over --a-,:period of several
years. It is this -small group which is deman-
ding that the entire municipality share in the
cost for the South Storm Sewer just the same
as they shared the cost for the: Elgin 'Street
drain or any other....,drain in ,the. Town of
Goderich so far. They say it is fair .and just""'
and _they are circulating a_petition to prove
that, there is plenty of support for -their
argument.
While the first reaction is to sympathize
with these 'ratepayers, upon closer in'=
vestigation it becomes clear that these
people own valuable land in relation to the
drain. It may be true that none of these
citizens have intentions to develop their extra
acreage in .the imm.ediate_ ttiture, but can they-_,-
: honestly predict that there will be no
development o These ands—trr'fi" years; In'
ten years, in 15 years? Do they realize that
because of the installation of the South
Storm Sewer the value of their property im-
mediately leaps higher? Can they argue then,
with good conscience,.that the ratepayers of
the Town of Goderich should aid them in. in-
creasing the value of not just their house and
the lot upon which it sits, but also the extra
acreage surrounding that house and lot
which today lies dormant but tomorrow may
be as gold? •
It has been estimated that the average
homeowner,in that area; the person with one
house on one lot - wilt -pay -anywhere -from
,,,$.L(„to,, $60 assessment if the drain is installed
under the' Drainage Act.
It has also been estimated that if the work
is carried out under the general levy, each
property owner in Goderich will pay accor-
ding to the assessed value of his property,
and one house -one lot owners (including
those in the present "pay” area of the drain)
will pay no less that $70, likely more. -
lt has also been estimated that if the work
is put on the general levy, the people to
benefit most - those folks with development
land in their present possession - will pay a
very minimal amount since their holdings are
presently undeveloped ,and therefore
assessed very low.
In short, the one house -one lot ratepaYers
in Goderich will be subsidizing the develop-
ment land, owners, if. the cost for the South
Storm Sewer is put on the general levy.
The office of the Town Engineer Burns
Ross believes that the undeveloped lands in
the Town of Goderich should pay their right-
ful share 6f the cost of the South Storm
_Sewer, a drain designed specifically to
benefit the development lari'des south of Ben-
nett Street. '
--Up to now, the town "council has.had to
give very little 'thought to this kind of
problem. Indeed, the South Storm Sewer is
the first of its kind in this municipality` You
-my t adk, I'll scratcti'yours&'... and that
work: ii " betl 'when ,.thee iitork -was" being`
carri d out in the already de`Yeloped part of
town. -
Now it is a different matter. The "new"
Goderich is growing sou-thward while at the
same time, "old" Goderkkti rs struggling to
maintain itself and to keep, pace with a con-
stantlyc changing environment. Old drains
need replacing, new drains must be built to
commodate changes. That costs money
and already, ' old',' Goderich Is faced with
some astronomical bills for drains which
must be installed in at (east three areas im-
mediately and several other districts as soon
as. financing can be approved,
It is possible then. that - 1"'f t tie South Sform
Sewer was put on the general levy,_that the
town's financing could be tied up for a coni
siderable time, curtailing much of the
necessary work and all of the less urgent
projects..'
As the problem is studied in depth, it
becomes increasingly plain that development
land must pay its fair .share of the cost of
development. it follows then, that. all those'
persons fortunate enough to own "develop-
ment land'° in Goderich should recognize the
worth of their holdings and be -ready to pay to
increase its value still higher. That's the price
one pays for progress, these days. •
It remains for Goderich Town * Council to
weigh .the pros and cons of' residential
development; of the value of the South Storni
Sewer; of .financing it via the Drainage. -Act
versus adding the cost of the general mill
rate; of tying up the itpwh financial affairs:,
indefinitely. - `" -
There are indications council may already
be split on the issue. -Before a tfinal decision"
is made let it be understood that the, policy
followed here may- make or -break -Goderich,-
may mean the difference between a thriving
modern municipality and a choking, stagnant
town.
t
"That reminds me. The druggist phoned ... something about ,the prescription he gave you
being recalled:"
DEAR READERS
By Shirley J. Keller
• Some say this is the week for
this writer to eat crow. That's
-because I picked Ed: Oddleif-
son of Bayfield for the Warden
df Huron gCounty and as
everyone knows. now, Reeve
Roy Pattison of Ea-st
Wawanosh was accorded the,
honor.
I'm. quite willing to, eat crow;
I forgot that molt. observers
(me luded, I guess), pick a
Warden •,using an entirely dif-
ferent formula than :the rnetn- .;
bets of ,Huron County Council.
Triat.'s the reiison:.. for . °l he i
misplaced forecast that Ed. Od- ,-
dleifson would be the' victor.
In` all fairne4s. though, -
readers will have to agree .that ,
-I had only Oddleifson out of or-
der.' I • said Pattison 'was a
strong contender with Hugh
Flynn running just behind ,him
followed by Everett Mcllwain .0
with Clinton'°s Harold Lobb Ashfield, another Clinton
-running la t. And by'golly, with neighbor in, a sense.; • and
•
the exception . of OddleifsonHarold Lobb's own two votes.
who ran second las`t,..not first, He had ,no :support from the
the rest of ,my prediction wasn't north or the south and no
all that far wrong. ,Can't we block support from arty one
�►e 1'7I n "E'=-for.effe t"-at--/jhuipality except itis.,own.
-t� _ On thug second ballot, we'll
and soliciting votes. It may in- Turnberry; two of four votes
deed, be true, then, that for the from Goderich (Deputy -reeve
'county election for warden, at Stan .. Profit); , and one of two
least, a well-planned, vigorous votes from Grey. •
`campaign is the answer.
* * * And do some county -coun-
A closer look at the voting cillors have difficulty making
gives an eveh better insight into up their minds? Ihdeed they do.
county voting habits. Roy .Alliri•of Colborne voted
Let's llok to see who voted on the first ballot j; or McIlWain
first � There .____ .and .on, the fourth
for
for Reeve Harold Lobb of Clin- on the second and third
ton on the fir t ballot e Flynn, a f th for
was Clinton's . Deputy -reeve Pattison.
1 aitk Cook,. ,quite. naturally;. Derry, :Boyce df' Exeter
* * *
Girvin Reed of Ashfield;. Deb
Shewfelt of Goderich; and of
course, Pattison himself.
1: And in all fairness, some sup-
ported Flynn through the whole
election. They were Allan Cam-
pbell of McKillop; Robhie
Lawrie or Blyth; Bob Lyons of
West Wawanosh; Jack McCut-
cheon of 'Brussels; Stan Profit
of Goderich; C. Scanlon of
1-Iullett; Elgin Thompson of
Tuckersmith; Jack Turkheim of
split
,Zurich;. and43'of course, Flynn
Cal'Horton, the:deputy-reeve of,.. his two votel3,.on egch. ba t so himself. Y
Stanley. Townshi which is that hegave one vote each *-4`
*`?
p .� .fir,.
right next to Clinton' (itwasballot to Pattison and one each . Getting down to the nitty-
likely agreed that some support, to Oddleifson, Mcllwain and gritty as far as Goderich is con -
for Lobb was necessary).' Ervin ` Flynn. .cerned, ""it .was perhaps under-.
Sillery, Deputy -reeve of Witmer Cuthill of Seaforth -°- standable that Reeve Shewfelt
. Tuckersmith who was probably voted on the, first and fourth':...and Deputy -reeve. Profit split
in much the same position as ballots for Flynn; on the second their four votes down the cen-
Horton because of Tucker- �w:-ballot for Oddleifson; and on tre - two each time for Flynn
smith's proximity to Clinton; the third ballot for Pattison. and two each time for -Pattison.
Warren' Zinn, Deputy -reeve` of • • ,Joe Dietrich of Stephen gave It may well have been. that
Goderich wanted to support a
winner and could, not make up
its mind' which man would
come out on top.
It is to be hoped, though, that
Goderich representatives do'
not continue to split their votes
on important issues. Thal tends
to- weaken- Goderich's position
in the county and from what
I've seen, there are very °few
members of municipalities out-
side of Goderich• who do not
hope,, that happen.
roe-* *
IOOKING jCK
tiY
WPM=
40.•
A
eoberiih
SIGNAL -STAR
ra
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Published by Signal -Star Publishing Ltd. " '
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Second class mail registration number -0716
his first two votes to Oddleif-
son; the next two to Flynn;, the
next two to Mcllwain; and the
last two to Pattison.
John Flannery of Seaforth
supported Oddleifson on the
first two -ballots; on the third
voted for Pattison; and on the
By the way, I find `I did take a look at'Oddleifson's sup- fourth- voted for Flynn.-- - -- .. •
'ReevPLobb one injustice. I said porta He had one of Exeter Robert Gibson;'Hop'ick, with
that Reeve Lobb was the -, Reeve Derry Boyle's -two votes two votes supp'orte the can -
newest to county council of the. -(the other- went to Pattison as it didates thus: on the first ballot,
fson,
he m upport first of ablothth Seaforth tison; onOhe -.had one for t dlhee1secendnande rth rd
five candidates- for Warden . I
members, Reeve John Flannery ballots, one each for Flynn and •
and 'Deputy -reeve Wilmette Mcflwain; and on the fourth)'
Cuthill; h6 had Mrs. Helen der- ballot, two for Pattison.
myn's vote (she's the new Cal Horton of Stanley picked
Deputy -reeve of Exeter); 'the Lobb on the first ballot. Lobb
• vote of Harold Wild, the went out. He then switched)
deputy -reeve of Wingham; and support. to Mcllwain on the;
his own .vote. You could say he next two ballots until Mcllwain
had.. municipal block support went dowrr and on the fpurth
from Seaforth and Exeter and ballot, he gave his vote to Pat -
one stra vote-from-the=north.•-= - tison. •
' On the third 'ballot, Oddleifson voted for himself
Mcllwain had one .,of Boyle's on the first two ballots and
votes Attie other still went to then split his `support -on the -
Pattison); the . support of . last two ballots between Pat-•
Stephen Township with -Reeve Lison and Flynn. He voted on
was told later that Reeve Od-
`Z1leifson came into council just
three years ago too, with Reeve.
Lobb. My apologies to Mr.,
Lobb.
**,
What is the county formula
for choosing a warden?
One newspaperman in the
county who was scratching his
head for an answer as to why
Reeve Pattison led the pack,
said that if anyone ever figures
out the county system of voting
for the warden, he'd like to be
informed of it.
It is a difficult thing to assess
but on the surface, it appears
that the county sense of . duty
prevails at all costs. It is
significant, I believe, ' to note
that_both Warden Pattison and
Reeve Hugh Flynn ran for the
Warden's seat previously. It is
also significant that both men
ran strong from the intial
ballot to the finish
The voting was thus:
First' Ballot: Pattison 20;
Flynn 13; " Oddleifson 8;
Mcllwain 7; and Lobb 6.
Second Ballot: ' Flynn 22;
Pattison 113'; Mcllwain 8; and
Oddleifson 6.
Third Ballot! .Flynn 24; Pat
tison 17; •Mcllwain 13.
_ Fourth Ballot: Pattison 28;
-Flynn 26.
From those figures, one can
assume that Huron County
Council did not seriously con=
cider any other candidates than
Pattison and Flynn.
Why? Who really knows ex=
cent thereis a strong indication
that coup fll felt an obligation
to these two men Who had
failed in other years at their'
bid for the war'den's seat.
I was told by one county
councillor, however, that only
Pattison and Flynn really cam=
paigned hard • .that ilk, visiting
every single member of council
Joe Dietrich . and. Deputy -reeve the third for. Flynn and on the
Cecil ' Desjardine voting fourth for Pattison.
together (Desjardine had been Charlie Thomas of Grey went
'Mcllwain since the first ballot); for Pattison . on the first and
the vote of his Deputy -reeve ,fourth ballots. On the second., -
Gerry Ginn, the vote of Howick ballot he Vo -ted -for 'Flynn and`-
Reeve Robert Gibson; the sup- -on the third he voted for,
port of Stanley Township, both Mcllwain. '
Reeve "-Anson McKinley '" arrd4 Harold Wild was another
Deupty-reeve Cal Horton, man who had poor luck with
McKinley, from the first ballot; his choices for warden. He, sup-
the vote of Doug McNeil, ported ,Oddleifson on the fir.'at•
Colborne Township Reeve who ' two ballots until he went,down;
has supported him since the he switched on the fourth tqi
JANUARY 18, 1903
79 YEARS AGO
A number -of Goderich men
who were employed on the new
Grand Truck Railway station.
building at Petrolia, having
finished there are now working'
for the G.T.R. at London and
Stratford:
Thg Goderich Hockey team
--played at Lucknow on Tuesday
night and won by a score of 10
to 8.
Predictions for next year's
Warden? Are you kidding? I
had one county councillor make
me swear- that if he ever ran for,
warden I would not support
-him - .at least publicly:
There are already three can-
didates fol_ wardp.n -- Flynn,
Lobb and Mcflwahi. Maybe Ed
Oddleifson will get back in'the
race, too. Who knows?
You make up your own mind
about next year's race..I have
my own opinions but this
year I'll keep them to myself.
first ballot; the support of Grey
Township Reeve ' Gharlie
Thomas; the' vote of Harold
Wild; and his own two votes.
Where did Mcllwain's' sup •
-
port go on the fourth ballot?
Boyle split his votes between
Flynn' and Pattison and Cecil ,
Desjardine* voted for Flynn.
The rest of Mcllwaiir's support
.went to Reeve Pattison. -
Taking a look at Plynn's sup•-
port we see he had block sup-
port from' Henaall (1);
McKillop (2); Hay (3); Clinton
(3); Seaforth , (2); Hallett (2);
Blyth (1);, West Wawanosh
Brnssels (1); Tuckersmith (2);
and Zurich (1), He also had
two of three votes from•Exeter;
-one of , three votes from
Stephen; one pf tw'o votes from,
Mcllwain who went out; and
his final yote was for Pattison.
Looking at it from an out-
siders point of view, it is easy to
understand. why Cal Horton
and Harold Wild switched
three times but as for the -test
who can figure, it out?
' ***
I'f some councillors had dif-
ficulty being consistent, who
gave. support to the winner
right from 'the beginning?
There were Derry Boyle,
(well, he did give"Pattison''half
of all his votes all the way
through!); 13111\ Elston. of
Morris; Lloyd Ferguson of
Usborne; Joe Kerr ; of
Wingham; J.A.Mair of Morriis;
Walter MCBride'-- of- Osborne;
Harvey McMichael of Hawick;
Harvey Mulvey" of Turnberrv,
James Connoly, of Goderich
Township, was elected
president- of the Western Oft.
tario:Dairyjmen'_s Association a at_
the. annual .meeting held'' at
Brantford.
Farmers should take advan•
tage of the high price of fuel
and sell their old rails as some
are doing, and take the cash
and buy it good' wire fence that
will not foster weeds and rub.
bish.
Mrs. Colin • Campbell has
organized a branch of the
Women's Institute at Exeter.
The Huron poultry show is in
full swing at the town hall and
will, continue until Friday.
A new feature at North
Street Methodist Sabbath
schoolis a choir composed of a
number of the pupils and it is
intended to organize an or-
chestra also if possible.
Vital Statistics for 1902 •
During..he year -.1902- -there. (Gi
were' registered -with 'the town
clerk, 58 births, 49 deaths`and .,
48 marriages. The death rate Dear
for the year, was slightly over Ent
12 per .1000. for
• renev
JANUARY 18, 1948 P Fol
25 YEARS AGO notice
With ideal. weather con- itern
ditions prevailing, 'the Goderich subsc
'Ski Club - had an ,active He
weekend at the Maitland set's
property which is located two or 1
miles east of town on No. 8 week
highway. bone
A' new steel tugboat 43 feet they
long and weighing 174ons was
shipped liy C,N.R. to Fort
William. The boatwas built at
' the, Mathieson works site on
Newgate Street. • .
Exeter now . boasts a
population of 2,000'says the
..Times -Advocate, ,and - is now
eligible: to be' incorporated as a
town. -
t Mrs. George Reid, wife of the
famed Canadian artist who was
bora near. Wingham, sent that
town council one of his original
paintings entitled "The Conting
of the White Man". The pain-
• ting will be placed in the town
hall.u'
Hugh 'Berry, ' Reeve of
Usborne Township, was elected
Warden ..of Huron County at,
the opening of the County
Council meeting last week.
JANUARY 18, 1968
5 YEARW AG O- -
At 1
Holl
cha
teal
are
Lar
• ` •W.- J. Mills, president.. of the
Bluewater Shrine Club, was
recently elected aa a delegate
from Mocha Temple Shrine
London, to the Imperial Shrine
Council to be held in Chicago
in July:
A second period
comeback
saved the day• for the Goderich
Junior "B" Siftos as they over-
came the 3-0 lead of the
Chatham Maroons and fought
Council. elected women to its
two fop executive posts at its
annual meeting -at the-Bedfor'
Hotel - Monday evening. Mre
Charles -Robinson was elected
as president and Theresa
Kirkey was acclaimed vice-
president.
thein': to' a 3-3 stalemate,
Goderich and District Labour
Dear Editor: ' Dear" Editor:
I-. am very happy to inform During Our 1972-73 Annual .
you that one of your local, Appeal .which is.- just now en-
• citizens; George I,couch, Clinton;. ding, 'yournewspaper carried
Ontario has been appointed to our news release. As a result
the position of Editor of The we were able to .explain the
Himalayan Society Bulletin. work which CANSAVE under -
-The Himalayan Society is an takes to your community, while
organization dedicated to ,the asking, for. their support..
breeding, propogating and Because CANSAVE does.....14,r
exhibiting of the__ beautiful paid advertising, media"support
Himalayan cat. The Himalayan ,,is vital to our cause, par
Society hits members' from the ticularly at Appeal time Your.
entire United States, Canada response contributed 'to our
and Europe. success.
We are very proud to have Knowing that we are only
George on our staff one of ..m_any_. ogencies that
sure that you and the people request your generosity at this
from the Goderich area will time of year, we are especialY
join me in extending George ° "grateful for the coverage,
sincere congratulations and the Thank you.
best `regards `for a successful w Yours sincerely,
" term in this important position,
• 'Very 'truly yours,
Ray' Sadoski, 'President
The Hitnalayan Society
Neil Kozloff
rnfortnetion Offiter
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