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The Goderich Signal-Star, 1975-11-13, Page 11Ministry "Yes, Virginia, there is a Santa Claus!" That's the way Jim Banks, ,the administrator at Alexandra Marine and . General Hospital in Goderich feels about the recent announcement that the Ontario Ministry of Health has approved the expansion plans at the 'local hospital. "Santa Claus just delivered his gifts to AM&G Hospital," Mr. Banks saidjoyfully this week. The decision byythe . Ministry of Health was the culmination of over five years of planning, which was originated in 1970 following the publication of the Agnew -Peckham Report on hospitals and hospital needs in Perth and Huron Counties. This major expansion, ' of emergency and diagnostic care facilities at the hospital will benefit all users by increasing the capacity, upgrading the quality of certain diagnostic equipment, and HI - creasing the spectrum of tests which can be accommodated "at horse" in Goderich. The general contractor who has been awarded 'the contract John Refflinghaus of Refflinghaus Construction, Goderich. . Doug McNeil, chairman of the hospital board; acknowledges the great support afforded the hospital in its quest for this expansion by the citizens and councils of Huron County and the towns and townships -the hospital serves. He also acknowledged the many years ''of effort put into this project by'E.A. "Tim" Elliott, the previous hospital administrator. "To all the faithful, hard-working board members who have given freely of their time,r..j, doff my cap Suncoast refuses to pay 80 per cent Goderich Town Council learned Monday night that Suncoast, Estates Limited was not interested ° in ab- sorbing a major portion of the cost to move a hydro line that was situated in the middle of The—proposed . 200` lot sub- division. Bert Alexander of Suncoast 'Estates Ltd. delivered a letter to council stating that .he would not pay 80 percent of the cost of $36,000 to \ relocate the power line. The 27,000 volt power line is looted on the road allowance in the\ south-west end of town PiiRk meeting date\c an ed to Novem er 26 The public nil eting arranged by the C my of Huron for Clinton 11 be held November 26 a 8 p.m. in the Clinton Public School auditorium, not November 19 as previously announced. The" r date has been changed since . the October county council session to accommodate the greatest numbers of people. Citizens are urged to attend to exchange ideas on improving local government in ' Huron County. ' and members of town council and_the developers believed it would "detract from the aesthetic value of the' sub- division. Almost one month 'ago the Public Utilities Commission laid out guidelines ,they • wanted followed in the relocation of the line. A 30- foot easement was required without any fencing, to allow truck and equipment access in the event the line was in meed of repairs. To accommodate the new line, legal fees, survey fees and fees related to the fence line to be cleared of trees were, also labelled the 'responsibility of the developer. The old line was to be removed and the estimated cost was set at $36,000. Due to the fluctuation of the costs of materials the P.U.C. asked for an agreement within 60 days. At that time Mr. Alexander argued that 'the developers' share•of the cost should be in the neighborhood of $10,000. ouncil members suggested th t the relocation of the line wou be more benefipial to the d veloper and that the expense hould be shared on a 80-20 per cant basis. The reloc. tion 'of the old line involves oving it far- ther.south in th. subdivision. Mr. Alexander's letter in- • dicated that he wou o proceed with the initial plan of the development and aband the relocation of the hydro lin ves addition and say +h; ink you," says Mr. Mc- Neil. c- Neil. Architect for Nthe project is Roy Matsui of Matsui, Baer & Vanstone of Toronto. "Roy has been doggedly deter- mined , throughout some eight - different design phases, and feels theft the end result is a tribute to the many hours of time spent by Department Heads, Board Members and• Administration in developing the plan," 'Jim Banks said. Construction is due to start this fall and completion is expected sometime during late spring, early summer of 1976. Mr. Banks feels that this building project will ac- commodate the needs of the areafpr many years to come. ' "I -fa.. the County Planning Boards projections' are reali.zed,\ your hospital will serve its irttended purposes more than adequately for a long time," he said. +'r"r"sNRY+tt,w,. a •suwLv;a...n.�.y�'.>X�,' yflTrm Y 4fry obericij:. rtagoo The first South Street location of hospita SIGN .128 YEAR -46 THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 1 3, 1975 • J SINGLE COPY 25c Building permit extended one year Site may be sold to developers Township. plaza still probable Goderich may still be a two mall town in a year's time if an unidentified Toronto developm,ent company completes its plans for the dormant Rockledge plaza on No. 8 Highway east of Goderich. ' The revival of the Rockledge' mall was made evident at the last meeting of Goderich township council when a year's extension of the plaza building permit was granted Rockledge Properties Limited. The company was given until November 28, 1976 to com- plete the project, three years from the granting of the origip;al permit. .The extension of the permit accompanied council's permission to transfer it to another unnamed" Toronto developer to complete the project. The transfer was suggested by a company lawyer who revealed the name of the company to council ' but requested the 'name remain confidential pending completion of negotiations. The plaza project was delayed at the outset by Ontario Municipal Board hearings and a development freeze placed on Goderich Township in 1973 ' by then Ontario treasurer John White. The freeze was announced hours after township council granted Rockledge the permit for their plaza. The provincial treasurer ruled that his freeze was retroactive for the entire day it was announced but Rockledge got' •around the announcement claiming authorization of the permit was granted by the township two weeks .prior to' its issuance. IAt"1-the same time as Rockledge was wrangling with the provincial govern- ment, the Goderich businessmen were mounting opposition to another' plaza being developed by Suncoast` Estates. The • businessmen took their opposition to an OMB hearing but eventually dropped their opposition when they learned of ' the reactivation of the out -of town plaza. The businessmen agreed with Suncoast E states'to drop their opposition claiming that of the two developments, the in -town plaza was preferred. • At the height of Monday's windstorh the waters of Lake uron were thrown into a frenzy by the, howling gusts.'This, picture `was takenin the early af- ternoon when the %1rinds were reported to have peaked at 64 miles per hour. The gale forced two lake freighters bound for Goderich for salt to head to the, other side of the lake for protection until they could put into the harbor here. (staff photo) Constructionbegan and a new one was granted simultaneously on both the township would face plazas but Rockledge en- . problems with the province countered financial and for .contravention of. the economic hardships . that freeze orders. stalled their development, The,freeze isefte-c0u. ti1 after about $60.000 worth of, the township's secondary tile drainage had been in- plan, now in its draft stage stalled. and due for public perusal in Township council took issue the early part of next year, is with the problems Rockledge put into effect. faced and considering that The secondary plan has the the project had already been •area around the plaza zoned started they granted • the . for commercial highway extension of the•permit. The 'development which does not extension is a year in necessarily allow for plaza duration which according to .development. If thne plaza is council is time enough for a not -constructed and the plan serious developer to build the is p .it into force the township plaza. council would have complete The present permit on the control over construction on ,Rockledge plaza avoids the the site of the plaza. development freeze on- the The Goderich businessmen township which is still in have no.. alternative but'to effect. If the permit expired wait and see what' happens with the Rockledge development: John Schaefer, head of the association, said there is nothing 'the businessmen could do about the ,plaza but that they were planning to get the renovation plans for.' the downtown business area off the ground. -The' plan for The Square rejuvination, now three years old, is a co-operative project between the town and the businessmen . to- reconstruct sidewalks on 'The Square, install new lighting and to landscape the core area. Both mall projects are unfavorable to the county planning board. County planner Gary Davidson said that the plaza developments • don't conform. to the county official plan; and never did. (continued on page 16) High winds cause little damage Goderich battens hatches in sale Goderich and the rest 'of southwestern Ontario had a taste,f. what the Great Storm must hire -been like when on Monday, 62 years and one day after the historical storm, high winds whipped the shore of the lake leaving a trail of wreckage in their path. Winds • averaging 50 miles per hour lashed off the lake for most ,of the .day Monday peaking • in the early af- ternoon at 64 miles per hour. The gale churned the waters of the lake into a white mass of waves while on land they snapped liens; caused power failures and played havoc with roofing and construction sites. The storm began brewing early Monday gradually picking up speed until they reached gale force by mid morning. Goderich escaped most of the damage reported in other lakeshore towns and ,in rural areas., Holmesville, Bayfield and Goderich and Colbo"rne Townships werte left powerless for about 20 minutes,in the afternoon when aunexplained power failure `acked out„ the Clinton area Hydro customers. Walter . Palmer, area manager for Hydro, said his office did hot know what p w caused the failure, since, no enter the harbor due to the lines were damaged but the force of the wind and the manager suggested that a.. rough seas, The two arrived tree limb had brushed against off. Goderich in the morning a power line and blown some and after several hours of - conductors in the system. laying offshore both ships The Goderich hpublic made for the other side of the utilities commission suffered lake for protection from the no damage from the storm. storm. Utility foreman Evert Middel Sifto spokesman Karl said that Goderich had no Butler said the company power ,interruptions during began loading the ships when the'storimpand had only to deal they arrived . Tuesd.ay in with seteral , minor .ca'lls calmer waters. during the day. The winds played havoc "Usually a blow like that with shingled roofs . in downs some lines or services Goderich. Many buildings in but we had no problems aside the new subdivisions in town from the odd limb down," had their shingled roofs said Mr. Midden �, damaged by the high winds as the water proof covering was ripped e, away and blown across backyards. The apartment building on Bennett Street had a large section of its roof removed by the winds. In the early af- ternoon the edge of the roof pulled away from the building and a section of the roof over two apartments was lifted awaq and peeled back leaving the apartments with no water protection. Barns in the rural areas were shaken by the gale and , dine farmer, Don Scott of the Two ships, the Algoway and Dungannon area, had his the Prin4doc were due at the nearly completed,, diving Sifto pier to take on salt shed blown down by the Monday but neither' could storm. Huge waves on the lake and swelling in the harbor basin caused some problems for both Sifto-Domtar and the Goderich Elevator and Transit Company. The grain elevator received a lake freighter at one o'clock Monday morning and began unloading the ship at the beginning of the woik day, Swells in the harbor began to rock the ship seriously for- cing the men to stop work aboard her and wait out the storm. • ." y.:l .114,* , ,f4 t.