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Clinton News-Record, 1984-12-12, Page 1N^ Z BATING -THE BI;�YTIU STANDARD -THC JAYE1. U ',l UGLE. 1.CENTS WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 12,1984 itt'.Ie Inn By D isHunter BAYFIELD - Th Village of Bayfield was awakened by the :re siren at 3 a.m. on December 9 when firefighters from the Bayfield, Clinton and Goderich Departments were 4alled to battle a blaze at The Little Inn on plain Street. Six hours later the firefighters declared the building safe to enter. The amount of damage is still undetermined. • Owner Pat Waters believes that the fire started in the games room behind the barn "We believe, but we don't know for sure, that the fire began in the fireplace and burned through the chixrmey," commented Mr. Waters. "There wasextensive damage wEEKL. ., ., . WEATHER. DEC. 4 1984 1983 1 -5 2 - 6 5 -3 -6 2 1 6 -1 -7 1 1 7 •6 -9 1 -7 6 3 -6 -2 14 9 3 -4 0 5 10 4 1 0 6 Snow 7cm 7cm Rain 6tnni 25mm 119TH YEAR 0 NO. - 50 survivesfire to the laundry room, the sitting room and the electrical system. But the good news is that it could have been much worse." Abby Champ, The Inn's manager who lives in the building, was awakened by the up-to-date fire prevention system. She notified the four guests, then located the danger area in the games room and closed the doors. Finding the -phone system burnt out, she ran to the Waters' residence. The firefighters were on the scene minutes later. Bayfield Fire Marshal Percy Renner said another five minutes• and the entire building t ould have gone, repeating The Ritz Hotel disaster almost 40 years ago. Twenty-one Rayfield firefighters were at Steckle Huron s After a tense four ballots, Paul Steckle, Reeve of Stanley. Township, was elected Huron County Warder#• r 1985. The 42 -year-old hog; er and farm im- plement mplement salesman d ated three other candidates in the elec n: Grey Township Reeve - Leona ArniStrong, Turnberry Township Reeve Brian McBurney and Tuckersmith Township Reeve Robert Bell. The audience watching the proceedings overflowed out of the council chambers, in- to the hall and down the stairs of the Coun- ty Court House. They listened and watched as one contender at a time was dropped from successive ballots. The tension mounted, when after three ballots, only Reeves Steckle and Bell had their names remaining on the ballot. The ilii'early" mw "'fire eThe tittle ,'• :..:.. caused extensive damage tlre'eleey trical system, the laundry room and the games room. The Bayfield Fire Department, with the assistance of the Goderich and Clinton Departments, worked for six hours put- ting the blaze out on December 9. The bedrooms and dining rooms were not damaged. (Anne Narejko photo) Action now on ONIP By Shelley McPhee CLINTON - Town council must move, and move now, in order to develop a plan that will give them $175,000 in Ontario Neighbourhood Improvement Plan (ONIP) funding. Council has set a deadline of March, 1985 and much work and planning lies ahead before a Community Improvement Project plan will lie finalized. The Goderich engineering firm of B,M. Ross and Associates has been hired by counoil to work ,as consultants on the project. Burns Ross met with Clinton councillors at their December meeting to get the development ball rolling. "It may seem that things. are being rushed," Mr. Ross noted, "but we have no alternative." The sooner Clinton submits their Community Improvement Project to the Ministry of Municipal Affairs and Housing,. the soone they'll receive ONIP money. The moey is divided into allocations over, a three year period and Mr. Ross said, "Plans must°be submitted soon to get first year allocation." ONIP funding, matched dollar for dollar with municipal contributions, has helped to develop and expand many soft and hard service in hundreds of Ontario municipalities. However, before money is awarded, the municipalities who will receive funding, must develop a detailed plan of, priority projects, listed` in the Community Improvement Project. Mr. Ross explained that the plan must, "outline .the policies for the improvement area; the goals and objectives, tJreocriteria for upgrading the hard and soft services, the 'phasing (which areas first) and what tools can be used to accomplish the desired improvements." Before such a plan is developed, council must first designate a project area. The area encompassed any property which may be considered for ONIP development and must be at least 50 per cent residential. Council Members and Mr. Ross sketched the map boundaries at the meeting and a map showing the can be found elsewhere in this week's edition of the News -Record. A bylaw designating the' project arca will then be prepared and presented at the January 7 Clinton Council meeting. Once the designated area has been approved, Council can begin work to determine what projects can best benefit from ONIP funding. Mr. Ross noted, "To prepare the Community Improvement Plan requires a lot of input from your council, its various committees, the planning board, the PUC, the BIA, service dubs and the public in general. "This input will then be used to set the priorities for soft services; such as improvements to parks, the lawn bowling club house, and for the hard services, sewers, watermains, roads etc. Estimates of these must be prepared and tabulated into a program that attempts to match your cash flow from QNIP and other funding sources." Mr. Ross further : advised., "This represents a lot of work and since the plan should be submitted to the ministry for approval by early spring, we are really pressed for time. Approval next spring is required if we are able to completed the first one-third of the work during 1985: the first year of the three year program." He suggested that meetings be scheduled as soon as possible with various committees. Turn to page 3 Tom Cunningham hands the gavel to Warden Steckle Harvester sale effects uncertain an focal dealers By James Friel The sale of International Harvester to Tenneco Inc. for merger •with the latter's subsidiary ,J.I. Case has as 'yet unknowp' repercussions for area dealers of both Case and International Harvester. Fred I.'obb of H. Lobb and Sons of Clinton' said that there has been little information available to the dealers following the massive purchase. "All we've heard has been what's in the papers," he said Dec. 11. "Some dealers will be affected but we don't know how or when." Mr. I,obb said that while "one can look at the situation and make some assumptions" he declined to share them. "They're not going to touch the dealer organization until they get an assurance from the government that the deal is approved and that will come at the first of the year." After that approval "Rumour indicates what direction they intend to go in but when, I don't know. It could be 90 days, it could be two years." Mr. Lobb agreed that both Vincent Farm Equipment Ltd., of Seaforth, and he had been well as competitors but, "I can't imagine them having dealers eight miles apar%Ultimately, I mean," A recent report in The Huron Expositor stated that Marlen Vincent of the Seaforth dealership had been to a meeting in Dallas, Texas at which he was told that about 15 per cent of all the International Harvester dealerships will be amalgamated. "We don't know if we will be amalgamated, but we feel confident that we will continue to give sales and service that our customers have had over the past 60 years," said Mr. Vincent. Frayne back again Eugene Frayne of RR 3, Goderich has been acclaimed chairman of the Huron County Board of Education for another year. Mr. Frayne follows a tradition whereby chairman of the board, although named each year, stay on for a two-year term. The chairman is the Catholic school sup- porters% representative for the northern part of Huron County. He called the past year a "taskful" one but we have achieved many things. The vice-chairman and chairmen of the three standing committees are almost a repeat of 1984. Only the personnel commit- tee has a new chairman. Graeme Craig, RR 4, Walton, was named as personnel committee chairman. He suc- ceeds John Jewitt of Londesboro. Art Clark of Wingham continues to be the board's vice-chairman and as such, chairs the board's in -camera sessions. The only election took place for the chair- manship of the board's management com- mittee. Dennis Rau of RR 2, Zurichand Joan VandenBroeck of Saltford were both nominated for the position. Mr. Rau, the 1984 chairman, was re- elected as management committee chair- man. Frank Falconer of RR 5, Clinton will con- tinue to head the education committee. On the management.corrunitteg are Dr. John Goddard of Hensall, Clarence McDonald of•Exeter, Donald McDonald of RR 3, Brussels and Tony McQuail of RR 2, Lucknow. The personnel committee is made up of trustees Wallace, Murray Mulvey of RR 1, Clifford, John Elliott of Blyth and Mr. Clarke. The education committee is comprised of Harry Hayter of RR 2, Dashwood, Bob Peck of Varna, Mrs. VandenBroeck and Mr. Jewitt. - work, and the voice of Chief Don Warner directing action on the Zwo-way radio, was heard several blocks away. Since Bayfield belongs to the Mutual Aid Firefighters project of the district, Clinton and Goderich forces quickly responded, keeping the water supply flowing. Both Miss Champ and Mr. Waters were quick to praise the firefighters for, "a fantastic job." Reservations for December 9 and 10 were cancelled at The Little Inn, but Mr. Waters was planning to continue business as usual on December 11 as the dining rooms and bedrooms were not affected. warden fourth, ballot ended in a 15-15 tie. At that point, county policy calls for the head of the largest municipality in the county to in- dicate his vote. Reeve Harry Worsell of Goderich, a former candidate himself before withdrawing earlier this fall, voted for Steckle. If Goderich Deputy -Reeve Jim Britnell had been present, there would have been no tie. Reeve McBurney was eliminated from the running after a tie -breaking vote ended with Bell in the lead. The tie -breaking vote was in fact the second ballot. Reeve Arm- strong was ousted from the race after the third ballot. Nominated by Exeter Deputy Reeve Lossy Fuller, Reeve Steckle said, "dialogue, not confrontation" would be his method of governing the county. Restraint is important said the new warden, but he told his fellow county council] -us that they have to be "good managers". He singled out the road department, the Huron County Atlas, additions to Huron - view, the museum griestion and hydro transmission lines as issues to be faced in 1985. The new warden said the museum will N itausitigie most fididt dedisionmw face in 1985". He said there is no argument that there is a need to preserve the heritage of the county. Warden Steckle said postponing the upgrading of the county roads becuase it is too expensive would give, the county •a "false economy" because it will be more expensive down the road. "We can't allow our roads to deteriorate," he said. In his nomination speech, the new warden said if care of the elderly in the county is to continue, changes will have to be made at Huronview, the home for the aged in Clinton. The new; warden said he hopes he is able to see projects through to their completion. Previous wardens Tom Cunningham and Grant Stirling made similar comments about the Huron County Pioneer Museum when they were elected. Judge F. G. Carter of Goderich presided over the declaration of office made by the new warden. Devotional exercises were given by the Reverend Robert Crocker of Goderich. Councillor Clarence Rau of Stanley Turn to page 3 Santa received his fair share of hugs as the major attraction at a Christmas Party on Dec. 8 at the Clinton Town Hall. Well over 200 children attended the party sponsored by the Recreation Committee and the Clinton BIA and unfortunately some had to be turned away. (James Friel photo)