Loading...
The Goderich Signal-Star, 1979-02-22, Page 1Reeve Eileen Palmer made no bones about it Monday evening. She intends to fight tooth and nail to see that the new lights on The Square - "heated bird cages" the reeve calls them - are removed to the spoke streets where she feels they will be more effective. The reeve will have Church gets council nod The bylaw which will permit the congregation of Bethel Pentecostal Church to construct a new worship centre on Bayfield . Road on the northeast corner of Suncoast Drive extension was passed by town council Monday evening. A recorded vote showed. only. Reeve Eileen Palmer_opposed to the decision. Deputy -reeve . Rob Allen was absent from the meeting and did not vote. Reeve Palmer said the town needs the tax revenue from commercial enterprises and felt the church group had not "honestly con- sidered" other locations in town. Councillor Elsa Haydon reminded the reeve " the Pentecostal people owned the land and unless they sold it again, would certainly want to build on it. Councillor Haydon further stated tb.at.-in_her opinion, a church building would be a much more suitable development at the town's en- trance than another body shop which was easily approved by planning board and council Reeve Palmer said not has "ordered, in- structed or even suggested" that .the church group sell the property. She went on to say that legal advice in this matter. ..bad been "typical" and didn't give any clarification at all on the point the planning board had made. "It was but end. Paragraph," said the reeve. The necessary bylaw permitting a body shop and coffee 'shop in' the former Carlisle Ban- nister premises on Bayfield Road was ap- proved Monday evening by town council without difficulty. Joe Essex is the owner of that development. Rec director here The post of recreation director, vacated by Mike Dymond in December, will be filled the first week of March. Jim, Moore, 30, of Palmerston was selected over 80 applicants for the job and will begin duties March 5. Moore was approved for the job 'by a special committee of recreation board and council endorsed the selection at its February 5 meeting. Moore is a graduate of Mohawk College and has been recreation director' for the town of Palmerston for the past six years. He is married with two children. assistance in her battle from Councillor Stan Profit who Wants the new lights turned off immediately and the old lights turned on again. The present plan is to remove the former light standards to Highway 21 south when reconstruction is done there this --summer but if Reeve. Palmer and Councillor Profit have theirs.iva1y, the municipality would need to purchase new lights for High- way 21 south. The new lights on The Square give off a much more subdued light, exactly what the executive of the Business 'Improvement Area (BIA) said was the objective of the new decorative lighting. To date, Goderich police department has not reported any traffic problems because of the new lights. Town council did agree this week, however, to continue planning for 'the remainder of the new brick sidewalks on The Square . 132—YEAR 8 THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 22, 1979 35 CENTS PER C(IPY G'swamped with calls over deep freeze Boy JEFF SEDDON Record low temperatures in Goderich have caused an epidemic of frozen water seryices in town. Public Utilities manager AI Lawson said Tuesday the PUC water department had thawed out over ..60._frozen...services in the past week and the calls were still coming in. The manager said two factors were com- bining go create the freeze up of the un- derground water services. He said extreme cold temperatures this month .combined with the fact that the town has little insuiatory snow cover has caused the frost 'line to penetrate deeper into the ground than normal. He said once the frost line got down to the depth of the water services they began to freeze up on a regular basis. Lawson said thawing out the frozen pipes was a fairly simple task but pointed out that keeping them thawed may create a greater problem than the freezing. He said one sure way to keep the services from freezing was to keep water flowing through them at all times. That keeps the PUC employees from worrying about water services freezing but worries fire chief Bill Beacom. The water needed to open a tap in every' home in Goderich can't be supplied by the water treatment plant without depleting a water supply kept on hand for fire protection. Lawson explained that one sure way of preventing any freezing of water services wa to keep water moving through them. He "said- the said the slightest trickle of water .is sufficient. He said once the utility has thawed a service the employees have been going in the home and adjusting the float on the water tank for the toilet to keep water running through the toilet Bed guts taken to county BY SHIRLEY J.KELLER The community health committee of Alexandra Marine and'General Hospital. hopes its letter will get on the agenda of Friday's Huron County Council meeting. At a meeting on Tuesday' at noon, the com- mittee chaired by Gerry Zurbrigg drew up some resolutions regarding the proposed bed cuts at AM&G which board members feel will seriously jeopardize the health care standards in Huron. These ,resolutions will be going to Huron County Council this week in time for Friday's meeting, and it is hoped councillors will take some time at that session to study them and possibly approve them. The resolutions will also go out to Goderich Town Council in time' for its first meeting' in March. Mrs. •Zurbrigg told the Signal -Star this week Stratford General Hospital and Wingham and District Community Hospital appear to be the only hospitals in Huron and Perth Counties. willing to fight the proposed bed cutbacks by • the provincial government. Letters will go out to these hospital boards in the near future. Board chairman Jo Berry will be attending a meeting of the Ontario Hospital ASsoctation in Toronto this week, and hopes to have an up- todate report of the 01 -IA's stand on the bed cutbacks for Monday evening's meeting of the board here in Go' erich. Pat Spence, secretary to Elmer Taylor, hospital administrator, is in charge of preparing a display to be presented in Suncoast Mall outlining how the bed cutbacks will effect each and every citizen of the area. "Younger . people in the area don't feel the cutbacks will effect them," said Mrs. Zurbrigg. "We hope to demonstrate to the people the affect the bed cuts will have on everybody, young'and old." Mrs. Zurbrigg said that a5 the bed cuts are imposed, and as the budget at AM&G gets tighter, the role of the members of the Women's Hospital Auxiliary will become more and more important. "Women, especially young women who have been hanging back frormembership, may now consider it seriously,' said Mrs. Zurbrigg, pointing out that new ideas and energy will be necessary to help the hospital through this period of restraint. ` For those who would like to become more familiar with the situation at AM&G, members of the board will be on Channel 12 at 7:30 Thursday evening with Stan Profit. Appearing will be Dr. Ken Lambert; Joyce Shack, director of nursing at AM&G; Jo Berry, chairman ' of the board at AM&G; Elmer Taylor, adm nistrator; and Gerry Zurbrigg. at all times. "That keeps the water running without any noiseand with no danger •thatsomeone will come along and see a tap running and shut if off," said Lawson. But the utility manager has just discovered that the cure is worse than the disease. The practice of running water in homes to prevent freezing services could drain the water supply maintained for fire protection. . Maurice Wilkinson, foreman of the town's water treatment plant, said the open taps in town is beginning to show at the pumping station. Wilkinson said more water had been pumped through, the plant this year than in the. first two months of any year in his 14 years experience. . The manager said' the problem of pumping extra water togavoid freeze ups is compounded by the fact that one of the main pumps is out of commission. The largest of the three pumps at the station was taken apart and sent to London for routine servicing. Wilkinson,said that practice is normal since the lowet pumping period of the year is in the first two months. completely drain the town's elevated water Wilkinson said the remaining pumps in the tank leaving no water on hand for fire treatment plant are fully capable of handling protection. the needs of the town but pointed out that they He said the key to the problem is for people cannot keep any water. in reserve. He' said to not to "panic". He said the water treatment keep one tap open in every home to town would Turn to page 16 • Dental clinic opposed BY SHIRLEY J.KELLER Twenty Cambridge Street residents have voiciod-their opposition to a proposed dental clinic on Cambridge, Street between Walnut. Street and Maple Street, in a petition which was delivered to town council Monday evening by a 10 -member delegation. , The group was successful in stalling the third reading of the bylaw to permit the dental clinic and the whole m,atter will be turned back to the. Goderich and Area Planning Board for another look. Spokesman Chris Kiar told town council Knembers the . petitioners opposed the development' because it would result in heavy traffic on what is now a quiet residential street. "We wonder if the planning board took enough time to consider this properly," said Kiar. "We think it is contrary to the official plan of the town of God'erich, and against the zoning bylaw." Councillor Elsa Haydon who regularly at - Turn to pa ffe 16 •- r. King of the Mountain These students at St. Mary's Seperate School in Goderich made it obvious they were pleased with the warming trend th t the town was blessed with this week. Temperatures soared to near freezing ending 'a cold snap that at times kept the children indoors due to the dangers of frost bite. The youngsters took Advantage of bright sunshine and a snow pile on the school playground to ham it up for the camera during a school recess. The Goderichweather office reported that the warmer weather Is expected to last until at ,least the weekend but made no promises the aunshtne would last. (photo by Jeff Seddon) Ir K1