Clinton News-Record, 1984-08-22, Page 1r
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urns barn
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August n*t tthe
1e . tion was 0
I oca dents, fros
"Wter•
e've put 1113 with, ed for 15 years now,"
Mr. Bell Old4eWlell,:"WA"rehOt PAPS you
have to pave the street this year, but; the
near future."
It was noted'that the street now sees more
traffic since the opening of Charles Street.
While the town's paving program for the
year is already underway, Reeve Ernie
Brown said, "We'll consider it for a future
year."
de
11 Otif9t1onml, he
Tow + into bass► creed.Opening en
y�yy Street:-
All to tt land has been acquired
rile tom: and the first reading of the
street Opening bylaw was read al Clinton
Coanei h,• 40n August 13.
The ernportion of William Street
was of f dally closed by the town many
years ago after fire destroyed a building at.
the street's limits. after the 'street was
closed}e town sold the portion of land to.
George x•s1 •
Despite tha closing, the street contbntued'to
be a puiie throughway.
Council's move to re -open the ,portion' of
provides avoids traffic on privately owned
land and makes the street usage of ficial,
firs efforts are hampered
their atui.
plays havoc
in Stanley
A lightning strike started an uncontrollable
blaze in a barn at the Don Middleton farm on
Saturday. Firefighters from Bayfield, Clin-
ton and Goderich battled the flames for four.
hours but were unable to save the structure:
Damage has been estimated at $10,000. On
the way to a barn fire at the Don Middleton
farm in Stanley Township on August 18, the
Bayfield Fire Department's 3,000 gallon
water tanker crashed pito the I3ighway 21
Bayfield River bridge. Miraculously no one
was injured in the accident. The incident is
still under investigation. As well, . the
Goderich Fire Department ran into traffic
problems twice on .the way to the fire.
Lightning also hit a Hydro pole in Bayfield
and caused power failures in Bayfield, Clin-
ton and Holmesville and kept Ontario Hydro
crews on the job for several hours. Photos.
show firemen battling' the inferno and the
'Bayfield fire tanker's difficulties getting to
the blaze. ( Shelley McPhee photo)
STANLEY TWP. - A torrential downpour
and fierce thunderstorm created havoc here
on.Saturday afternoon.
The freak storm ripped through Bayfield
and Stacley Township, drenching the area in
heavy rains and destroying a barn on the
Don Middleton farm.
The barn was gutted after lightning
struck. Mr. Middleton was standing in a
nearby storage shed and he recalled, "I saw
s.. blue haze, went out and saw the barn
ablaze."
"I heard the lightning dancing around,
Snapping the meter box. I was enjoying the
nice rain," he said. "Lightning sure makes
you move in a hurry."
The 30 by 45 foot barn was completely
destroyed and damage was estimated at
$10,000. Mr. Middleton said . that damage
would have been substantially higher if he.
hadn't been home.
The Middleton's were able to rescue farm
machinery from a nearby driving shed. Fire
fighters hosed down the structure to prevent.
,the •blaze from spreading.
The fire did destroy a car,a weed sprayer•
and damaged a plow. As well, 4,000 apple
boxes were burned. The boxes must be
replaced immediately since the Middlton
apple harvest is due to startfin three weeks.
The Bayfield Fire Department was called
to the scene and Mr. Middleton commented
on their quick response.
However, the fire department was
hampered in its attempts to reach the fire
after the water tanker slammed into the
Bayfield Bridge.
Travelling south on Highway 21, the
tanker crashed on its side and came to rest
against the bridge. It was carrying 3,000
gallons of water.
No one was injured in the crash and the
accident is under investigation by the
Goderich OPP.
Bayfield Fire Chief Don Warner would not
comment on the accident, but said he would
make apublic statement next week.
The accident backed -up all weekend
traffic on the bridge for more than an hour
and , prevented the Bayfield Fire
Department emergency van from reaching
the fire.
The Goderich Fire Department tanker
was called in to assist at the barn fire, but
they also ran into problems. The tanker was
.forced to due to another accident
further north on Highway 21.
The tanker chose County Road 31 as their
detour, but faced a second accident at the
Holmesville railway underpass.
There, a Gardiner's Milk Transport Truck
from Goderich, driven by Robert
Cummings, scrapped through the
underpass. The roof of the truck was ripped
off .and damage was estimated at $3,000..
The Clinton Fire Department was also
called in to assist.
Despite the heavy rainfall, the blazing
barn required the fire fighters' attention for
more than four hours.
Lightning also left Bayfield, Hohnesvile
and part of Clinton in the dark for the
afternoon.
Ontario Hydro spokesman Gord Yohn said
that lightning struck a 27,Q00 volt line to
Bayfield, leaving Clinton without electricity
from 4 to 4:40 p.m. and in Bayfield until 8
p.m.
The damaged area was located in a low
swamp area near the Bayfield River.
Ontario Hydro worker Don Eastman said
that problem was in "the worst possible
location it could be."
The pole is part of a system of eight that
provides power to the Bayfield, Clinton and
Goderich areas.
More than 7,500 customers were affected
by the knock -out. Heavy rains and the
Highway 21 bridge accident prevented
Ontario Hydro crews from . reaching the
area immediately. ' One crew member was
able to reach the swamp on foot and the
truck was rerouted through Varna.
Ontario Hydro estimated that damage
amounted to up to $2,000, including
materials and labor time.
Newsp:aperpoil shows that
voters are still undecided
By Stephanie Levesque
With the. federal .elon less than two
weeks away, a at w conducted, by the '•
tewater Region °s Newspaper: Network
(MINN) last week indicates 51.4 per cent of
voters are undecided about how they'll vote.
BRNN, of which this newspaper is a
member, conducted the poll in the federal
riding of Huron -Bruce during the week of,
August 13 to 17.
Of the 160 people polled, 82 of them or 51.4
per cent said they were undecided when ask-
ed . "Which political party will you be sup-
porting in the Sept. 4 federal election?
The BRNN shows `that 73 per cent of the
committed voters'polled said they favoured
the Progressive Conservative Party, 19.2
per cent of the committed voters said they
would vote Liberal and 7.69 per cent said
they would support: the NDP.
Pollsters indicated that the majority of
thosC polled were women: sTile-calla were -
made "at all times of the' day thcltidix g the
early evening hours.
Prof. Ed. Grabb . of the University of
Western Ontario's science department said
polls deal with probabilities and it is dif-
ficult to know how accurate any poll is. He
did, however, say the high number of
undecided voters in the BRNN poll is signifi-
cant.
Prof. Grabb said that in his personal opi-
nion, gained from media 'coverage of the
election, the high undecided factor in the
BRNN straw poll is similar to the national
leanings. ,
Taking. into consideration that Huron -
Bruce is held by a Progressive Conservative.
MP, Prof. Grabb said the poll follows the
general patted►geen$acrs.,the,,cou►ltry. ,
In this election, encumbelit . Murray
Cardiff faces Liberal candidate Bruce
McDonald, NDP candidate Valerie Bolton
and Libertarian Joe Yundt. •
In Huron -Bruce, people were polled in the
areas of Clinton, Exeter, Seaforth and
Wingham. • -
The PC's led.the straw poll in every com-
munity, •and there were no votes for the
Libertarian candidate:
Overall, . the PC's had 57 votes, the
Liberals had 15 and the IiI)P six. •
About 30 people refused to respond to the
poll and that figure has not been accounted
for in calculating the results of the poll. •
•
Planner estimates Bayfield expropriation
could cost village more than X200,000
By James Friel
BAYFIELD - Expropriation proceedings
the village of Bayfield is currently engaged
in could ultimately cost the municipality a
minimum of $200,000 according to Donald
May, a Burlington planning consultant. This
figure does not include land costs or the
necessary comprehensive erosion controls
for the Bayfield riverside property.
At a day longhearing in Bayfield on
August 14, the consultant was described by
hearing officer Charles McKenzie as a plan-
ner "par excellence" • He has been advising
municipalities "much larger than this one"
to use expropriation only as a last resort due
to the prohibitive costs incurred by ex-
propriating authorities in recent years.
Mr. May,,one of the train of experts hired
by landowner Andrew Turnbull, said the
lawyers, appraisers, , planners and
engineers required to outline each side hi a
recent case before the Ontario Municipal
Board (OMB) came to over $200,000 ex-
cluding the price of the land. This price: tag
was paid by, the expropriating,authority.
Bayfield . Clerk Pat Graham, contacted
Thursday, questioned'the relevance of Mr.
May's example,case due to the dissimilar
nature of the two cases. He said he was
aware of the case Mr. May introduced but
stated the engineering costs were excep-
° tional and not applicable to the Bayfield ex-
propriation.
Reeve Dave Johnston, another witness at
the Bayfield hearing, explained funding for
the project at the Bayfield Ratepayers'
Association's Annual meeting August 4.
In a Clinton News -Record report of
August. 8, 1984, it was recorded that the
village had set aside $12,000 for 'lawyer's
fees and that the, marina, with a revenue of
more than $10;000 a year, will also con-
tribute.
Reeve Johnston said the Ratepayers'
Association had sanctioned a spending ceil-
ing of $60,000 in 1983.
The Bayfield hearing Of necessity a
prerequisite under the Expropriations Act,
saw many heated exchanges between Earl
Cherniak, Mr. Turnbull's legal represen-
tative, and witnesses called 'by village
counsel Peter Hockin.
George Fellows,' in unediate past reeve
and a member of a fact finding committee
which investigated the 'expropriation said
the village had expressed interest in parts
2,3,4 during his tenure as reeve primarily
because of erosion problems experienced on
the south bank of the Bayfield River:
Mr. Cherniak su'gested that erosion con-
trol by private landowners, such as is done
by the other residents of the south bank and
planned by Mr. Turnbull; is preferable. to
spending public funds with the same aim.
During cross examination by Mr. Cher-
niak, Mr. Fellows maintained that, while
there were not any corporate acts of the
village or any references made in council
meeting minutes to verify their intentions,
two successive councils had discussed
developing a passive park or greenbelt on
the land in question. •
Mr.. Fellows said village council meetings
are informal enough that some of the items
discussed may go unrecorded.
Mr. Fellows' testimony also touched on
another area of Concern for the village. The
north side of the river has been developed by
commercial interests and the municipality
hopes to preserve some of the waterfront for
the public.
Mr. Fellows noted, "I have been assured
this area will not be developed (by the
village) into a costly park area or marina."
He also said he had reservations about the
result of private -ownership.
Mr. Cherniak replied the village is respon-
sible for zoning and effectively controls
development of Mr. Turnbull's land. It 'is
currently zoned residential.
Brigadier Fred Clift, the village's second
witness and president of the Bayfield
Ratepayers' ,Association, summarized the
brief prepared by the fact finding,comrnit-
tee consisting of three former reeves and
three past presidents of the association.
They concluded a park is the best use for the
land. •
After presentation at the ratepayers' an-
nual meeting, the group endorsed the docu-
ment by a 45-2 vote: .
Brigadier Clift said the committee was
formed to consider the expropriation issue
and "to bring truth to the publicity" in, the
Clinton News -Record.
Mr. Cherniak attacked the basis of the
brief, questioning the research done by the
committee. Brigadier Clift said the
members discussed the matter with Reeve
Johnston and Clerk Graham,• but revealed
Mr. Turnbull's view of the issue was taken
from newspaper reports. The lawyer ques-
tioned the validity of newspaper reports.
Brigadier Clift also said the committee
was formed and proposedthe fact finding •
mission to both the village council and the
ratepayers' association.
The, retired officer echoed Mr. Fellows'
' concern of the necessity of keeping commer-
cial interests from developing another
marina on theriver.
Mr. Turnbull's witness said the proposed
park would be more abusive to the fragile
land than a single family dwelling. They ,
also maintained that the erosion control
plans Mr. Turnbull has are adequate for the
erosion problem and that they have been ap-
proved by a technician of the Ausable-
Bayfield Conservation Authority:
The lawyers will make,their verbal, sub-
missions summarizing the hearing on
August 24 at 1:30 p.m. This last stage of the
hearing will return to the Bayfield
municipal building.
Four earn designations
CLINTON - Four more Clinton properties
have been given heritage designation by
town council,
Acting on recommendations . from, the
Local Architectural Conservation Advisory
Committee (LACAC) council approved the
designations at their August 13 meeting.
The properties join the more than 10
Clinton buildings that have been designated
in the past. The new designations include
the former Molson's Bank Building, 23-25
Rattenbury St: E.; Farran•Rance House, 40
Rattenbury St. E,; Peacock -McMurray
House,139 Ontario St.; CN School on Wheels
No. 15089, Slotnan Park.
The designation process protects the
architectural anu tustorlcal value of the
properties. It ensures that no cosmetic or
structural changes _, are made without
approval of LACAC and;. the Ontario
Heritage Act.
Councillor Charlie Burgess 'Opposed the
designation process, calling it "a straight
infringement on the owners of any
building.", •
Councillor Burgess stressed, "When the
owner owns the building and pays taxes,
Ontario Heritage should Mit litiVeve the right
to say what should go into tha building if
they don't give financial support"
Councillor Jim Monter pointed out that
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