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The Goderich Signal-Star, 1976-09-30, Page 9uron vo A: proposal to have ,Huron County establish an annual grant of up. to, $1,000 ona matched . dollar£or . dollar basis, as an incentive to municipalities to fermand operate co=operative area Recreation Boards was defeated on Friday by the council. The vote showed 33 opposed and 'ply 20 favoring the motion. County Council did support the theory of'forming such area boardsto facilitate "better co-operation between municipalities and to en- courage better utilization of "� facilities and service's.' The Clinton Town Council had first asked Hurgn Cottnty • Council to' investigate .the fiaiancina. of recreation services within the County in January of 1974. Since that time, the County Development Officer, Spence " . Cummings, in co-operation with representatives from the Ministry of Culture and° Recreation andseveral of the Recreation Directors from municipalities within Huron County, has worked to assess and evaluate the, current status quowithin the County._ In September of 1975, this group submitted a report to County Council which in vestigated the atY.eas- of existing facilities, . facility uses, a breakdown of the recreation finaecing in the County, population statistics, the .planning , prpcess for recreation in the County, the extent` of co-operation in planning,e,akl. actionthat exists at present,' future in divi.dual plans of municipalities and the at- titudes of both. elected and municipally appointed of- ficials to the question. -As a result of that study the conimittee .recommended to ' council that Huron become CIVIC MEETINGS Monday October 4 the Goderich Town Council will meet at ..7':30 p.m. in -the council. chambers: ' Tuesday • October 5 the Plannin'g Board will meet in the Council Chambers at 7:15 p.m. and the Committee of ' Adjustirient. will meet in the Mayor's office at 7:00 p.m. Colb°brne Township Council will hold --its regular council meetings for . October • on. Tuesday October. 5• ',and Tuesday October 1.9. more involved in the assess.xnent,, planning, development and . support of recreation • in the County. They also ' suggestedthat neighboring municipalities be 'encouraged to develop methods of co.cperatiori in the delivery of recreation services and education in changing 'trends , f n the philosophy of leisure. It was also suggested that equitable and -fair system for cost sharing and decision making arnongeemunicipalities that 'are sharing programs and facilities. be developed, using an appropriate formula. system. County Co.uncil accep_ ted that,report,• as presented, and asked the Development Committee to research the topic furtherand to come back with suggestions on how those recommendations might be carried Out. The Development Corin mittee then formed an in- ternal . Recreation Study Committee to deal with the issue,composed of three members from the Development Committee, the County Development Officer and two Recreation •Directors from within the County, This- subcommittee, together with the Develop- ment Committee, held three meetings, at Exeter, Clinton And Witigha ri, for focal councils • and recreation committees. A questionnaire was completed • at th,e meetings, and based on the results the committee • presented Friday's recommendations te- County Council. • Development Committee. chairman Frank Cook (Deputy ' Reeve of Clinton) told the council that he did not believe the grant, which could reach a maximum of only - $26,000, nly$2'6,000,. would solve the problem. "But it could serve as a carrot, an encouragement, to the municipalities to get together in local boards," he said. • # Goderich Deputy Reeve Bill Clifford asked just what the criteria for receiving a grant would ,be, ,pointing out that Goderich has worked in co-operation, with . Colborne and. Goderich Townships for ghee tizn : ' . ° Clerk Treasurer B.G. Hanly explained that any such cn.:opex.ative, . board operating programs valued at $6,000 would be eligible. He went on to point ,out, that 'es •County y1/on'f angle 4,000 carrot recrea formation of the area boards would in no way affect the existing recreation conn- mit'tees-in the municipalities. Those `committees would continue to operate as always. Finlay MacDonald, Deputy Reeve of Ashfield told •the meeting that in his opinion this is a time of restraint and the County • was `"into too many, things already. 'We don't need- td go into recreation as well". As the final vote -bn, the recommendation reflects, a number, of- the councillors •4'r were willing t endorse the proposal to encourage the area boards, but not to sweeten the pot 'with any financial assistance. • - McKillop , Reeve Allan Campbell suggested that .at presdnt a great deal of voluntary .assistance 'goes into operating the cotnarlenity arenas across the county, especially the smaller ones, and he • told council that in- troducing more grants might well serve to- destroy this "home effort and local philosophy" ° Hensel' Reeve John Baker- • said that in his village there was a real -need for area recreation. "Even if this proposal is defeated, I want to sit down with the surrounding town- ships and talk about area recreation," said Reeve Baker. ' • • Noting that council seemed unwilling to put up the necessary.;funds to introduce the grant system Harold Lobb, Reeve of Clinton,ewen suggested that the :County ` consider starting . its own lottery to -raise the necessary funds... ,129 YEAR -40 e • THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 30, 1976 •SINGLE C(JPY 25e Vista corners The old and the new • Council. clears Athe way for building d, emotiton 3t. didn't take Town r; Council long Monday evening to decide that :it had no;' legal right to delay demolition of the for%ter Colborne House at the corner of Hamilton and Newgate Streets. : The town'ssolicitor Dan Murphy told , council that in his opinion, the building inspector acted properly when he issued the demolition permit to McGee Motors, owners of the building. - Members of the .1Qcal branch of the Architectural Conservancy. of Ontario had approached council last week asking it to temporarily suspend the demolition Council divided on tree cutting incident r BY RON SHAW e The Signal Star has lear- ned, from sources within the Menesetung Park Property Owners'- Association, that London lawyer E.A. Cherniak, has been retained to in- vestigate means bywhich the property owners, can obtain redress for damages suffered When, trees were cut' at the west .:and of Sky Harbor Airport last March, In a,_ telephone interview rlast week property owners Elizabeth Kilgour' and .Mrs.' A. Laing confirmed that they had placed the matter in the hands of •their ' attornies.. Mrs. Kilgour would not comment further • but Mrs. -Laing said Mr. Cherniak would be acting for her. Mr. Cherniak confirmed on Tuesday that he had been retained by '..`a number" of property owners, 'at the Menesetung • Park . but ed -to say declined -to how many or name any of his clients. Approximately . 200 trees were either., trimmed or topped to a•height of -30 to 60 feet by work crews of the Cod'erich Public ' Utilities Commission on March 29 underdirection from Godeih Mayor ' Deb Shewfelt. That order was issued, to the attention of Don IVIacMiilan of • the Public Utilities Commission management staff, on March 12, 1976- over the sigh;eture of Mr. Shewfelt. A previous notice to the P.U.C. signed by the Town Clerk -Treasurer 3, Harold Walls, was .issued on -• IJeCember : 30 ° of 1975. Although . the matter had enesetun never been brought to the Town 'Council' for ' con- sideration the order notes: ';`The Municipal Council of the Town of ;`Goderich • ap- preciates • the co-operation 'of - the P:U.C. in assisting in the. tree trimming program that will have to be.undertaken in • Colborne ,Township.. in don - junction with operations of the Airport." . . The . trees were being trimmed because it was the opinion of the Airport Committeethat they were obstructing' the landing path of aircraft at the airport, and that.. they were one of the obstacles . in the way of Sky -Harbor receiving ac--, creditation for . night operations erations • That December 30 direction went on to state that, "The Town of Goderich is ac- cepting . all: liabilities con- cerning this operation in the event that any action is brought on by outside. property, owners or due to accidents involving P.U.C.' workers." . ' - It is interesting to note that the Town of Goderich felt confident enough of its position to accept "all liabilities" in spite of the fact that on two occasions prior to issuance' of the final order to the P.U.C. 'the Town's solicitor, Dan Murphy, had advised 'against proceeding with'the work On May 14; • 1975 Mr. Murphy had advised in ° a 'on't reduce A final tte Pt to pass. a motion calling for aa private members bill which would have reducedthe size of County Council from its present 45 members to 36 failed at the' September session of Huron County Council in Goderich on Friday. If passed, the bill -would have provided for the com- position of county council as. follows:. the reeves of the towns; not being separated towns, and of the villages and townships in the county, together with the deputy reeves of such towns, villages and townships where there were 2000 or more municipal electors. • - Where a town not being a separated town or village or township in the county had more than 4000 and not more —tan 6000 elec"tors, the reeve as a member of the county council ,would have• an additional vote and *ere the m,ai•rii'cipality has more than 6000 electors, the reeve and . deputy reeve as members of the county council each had an additional vote: Speaking before defeat of the motion Cecil Desjardins, Reeve of Stephen Township, noted that.teintroduCtion of the motion was another attempt to change "what is working just fine". ' " The motiottwas lost on a "vote by show of hams', permit until tiaeuse�nf the land. on which_ Colborne. House ' stands had been determined. The Conservancy members strongly oppose, lylcGee's'propesal to locate a car lot on• the .property, one of the "vista corners" from The Square. • "Council has . soine right to decide what happens in the downtown area," argued Councillor .Elsa Hayden. -"We have._a unique Square,.and an obligation to that Square. I: believe we have some right if we wish, but of course the wish. has to be there first." . "You would have to have a firm policy," Mr.Muphy advised council. . "It isn't a `question .of "refusing a permit. You've already granted one under your bylaw and now you're trying to revoke it," explained Mr. 'Murphy. "On the face 'of it, I wouldn't have known': how Mr. Breckenridge could have refused it. The committee itself wasn't concerned with saving the building it- self,.....bnt ..rath.er• what the owner was going' to do with the property when the building was down." ' "You mean we really have no'power residents threaten legal until the ow.ners violate the zoning bylaw," asked Councillor Bob Allen. "Yes,"' confirmed Mr. Murphy.' • Mrs.: Hayden made a motion that the town ° • temporarily suspend the .demolition permit until the future use of ' the 'property was determined. Reeve Stan P..rofit seconded the motion, at the same time announcing he would vote . against it. . , . "Mrs. Haydon s motion deserves to be voted en," said Reeve Profit. ' In a recorded vote, only Mrs, Hayden voted in favor of the motion. . letter addressed to. the Town Clerk -Treasurer • that the town "would certainly be ill advised to cut 'any trees". Again on September 15, 1975 the solicitor wrote to Mr. Walls noting :that he had- :again ad:again checked . "with- the Department clf Justice • 'in Ottawa and theyadvised me that they are still doing some investigation into the mat- ter". "They are 'still of the ten tative opinion," -Mr: Murphy _ pointed out, "that although valid expropriation orders have been signed, except in rare cases, no compensation was ever paid and they are of •the opinion that the Town would be subject to a law suit 'these tocut if. you proceed trees at the present time." -"They are wondering if the Town and ° Department of Transport have .considered any alternative to cutting_ the said trees," he concludes. burin fithis- eriod, and for tg Phat ,matter rigl `t up to the day the town iroceeded to cut the trees, it was -no -secret,: to. the Airport Committee at least, that the residents, on whose property the ,trees would be cut, were vehemently opposed to the town's action. . Airport- Committee inemoer Dave Gower, one of council's representatives on that committee, had been told in early March of ,1976 by Charles Rowland, the' then chairman of the Menesetung Park Property' Owners' Association, that if the trees '' were cut , the town would be 'sued by at least oiwe. party, . and pos,ibly a number of others. - The property •owners, did .. not limit themselves to verbal - protest 'however andbom- barded the Town with letters concerning the matter. GET LETTERS Last week the Signal Star requested, and received, copies of letters concerning the affair. On January 7, 1976 Mr. Rowland received a letter from. ' the Town Clerk requesting permission from the property' 'owners in the area at the west end of the runway, extending to the.lake it :'�• h bank, to have the ' trees trimmed and cut as required," to meet "the 'Department of Transport regulations." On •February 27, 1976 Mr: Rowland replied to Mr. Walls noting, "I wish . to clearly express the vie* that I do not consent to any trees being . trimmed in the reserve area of Meneset Park." • The reserve area ,being• an un developed portion near the centre of the park which is owned in common by the property owners. In that letter Mr. Rowland goes on to point put, "Please • If the Huron County village of Blyth can betaken as any example, the larger t•, communities throughout- this. region might take a lesson indeterminatiomand enthusiasm for fund raisipg. That community has already be. un con- . struction of. a $'386,000 community•centre °. to replace their old arena closed by the fund 1GIinistrY of Labor andraising is progressing at an amazing rater . . r • h -i• + '-i The first stage of new regulatioes .of i the Ontario Ministry. of the Environifient covering soft drink containers Will go into effect across the province) Ron October 1. �- -1- -I- Canada is beginning to tighten up its immigration policies in earnest. Gone are the days of wide open doors and few questions asked. After holding :Out against world opinion, and in the face of United Nations sanctions, for eleven years the regime of Ian Smith in Rhodesia finally may have thrown in the towel and bowed to demands of blacks for tna jorit`y rule. be advised that no one. acts: for me in: anynegotiations with the Town of Goderich and I suggest that prior to any. steps being taken by the town, that it shouldsend notice' to each property ownerth offer' that, they might be heard,„on this matter." ' He goes on to sae :that, !'I `wish to point out that on a prior occasion I wrote to you indicating that`. at :,no time would I agree to stich tree trimming to which you, never replied." "I propose.to hold the Town liable for any action which results in any land in which I have a - beneficial interest from being'-advier'sel'y• af- fected." I feel that the Corporation of the Town of Goderich," he concludes, "is . refusing to recognize the law .and the most elementary principles of land ownership. I thought that such had been regarded as illegal for time intif memorial and at least since the signing of the Magna Carta, (1215)." ' In another letter from Mr. Rowland there is reference to a donversation between him and Mr. Walls oil February 23. "Almost immediately .after our conversation," Mr. Rowland writes (to Walls) in a` letter dated February 24, 1-976, "I received two long distance calls from the Grants and the Kilgours," (other Menesetung property oners). He explains • that the' Kilgours were acting on behalf of other property owners the Meanwells, Laingso, Marenta°is and relatives of their f°imily. Mr. action Rowland then goes on : to agree to -proposed 'trimm'ing 'based on a:formula presented to him by the ,town which • would have lowered the trees to 95 feet. The. agreement to. this . trimming was provisional on the ratepayers checking the paint lines for proper height. The Town Clerk- however, wrote again on March 25,1976 (four days before actual cutting began), saying that the formula„he had outlined was incorrect and tq "con- firm that the Municipality is prepared to trim the trees at Menesetung Park.” "The Municipality is prepared to undertake.'the- tree the -tree trimming program on March 29," he noted. 'When; that trimming was carried out the putting was to,a level much lower than 95 feet as the ratepayers had been prepared to agree to: ' . It can not be said 'that the indicate did not i ndi cate their displeasure with the proposed ' trimming. Con- sidefing the letters and -- meetings bet -weed Mr,, W,alls, Mr. Go*er and Mr. Rowland, the position of the Menesetung . Property Owners must" have been Clear, - . Never -the -less the P.U.C. 'received an order; signed by • the Mayor to proceed with the tree trimming, That order is dated March 12, nearly two wets before • the property owners had been informed by the . town that the cutting was going to be carried out to ta. level much lower than the one. to which they had been continued o, •; w Y; •