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The Wingham Advance-Times, 1985-04-17, Page 8Page 8—The Wingham Advaiwe-Tunes, Apr 17, 1905 Fed up with council; firm won't move to A Cargill business which was going to relocate in Gorrie and hire up to 20 people from the area has decided not to make the move "due to recent deci- sions by Howick Township Council." Philip Englishman, gen- eral manager of Control - Tel Limited says, "An im- -passe has --been- reached -with Howick Township Council and we have made the decision not to relocate in the Village of Gorrie." Control -Tel refurbishes antique and modern phones as well as sells, services and installs business telephone systems. In addition to production and warehouse space, the company was going to set up a large showroom to display its products. Mr. Englishman says the firm's decision not to make the move came after Howick O Seniors' Day Centre News • By Pam Williams This week across North America many communities will be celebrating Volunteer Week. The Seniors' Day Centre uses over 50 volun- teers to keep the agency running smoothly. Volunteer drivers bring the seniors safely to the centre to par- ticipate in the day program. Our board members,are volunteers who give heir valuable time to administer the centre and' the day program would not operate if we didn't have volunteer kitchen helpers, piano players and program assistants. ! . The staff at the day centre , appreciates all thejsupport it. has received from these industrious volunteers. Sir- , Wilfred Grenfell said, "Real joy comes not from ease or riches or- the praise of men, but from doing something worthwhile." Did u know that voluntary activities account for an estimated 3.3 per cent of Canada's gross national product? One in every seven adult Canadians is engaged in some , sort of volunteer activity. Organized volun- teer' work in Canada amounts to some 374 million man-hours a year. Volun- teers are a great com- modity! Other events at the centre this week include a bus trip to Blyth on Thursday for the comedy play "Thank Goodness It's Friday (TGIF)". We will. top for - lunch and then take in the matinee performance. The hospital auxiliary will be setting up for its, annual rummage sale on Thursday and on Friday, the day of the sale.- There will be no day centre' staff at the Armouries. Next Wednesday Kath- erine Kaszas from the Blyth .hummer Festival will be our guest speaker, talking about - this summer's perform- ances. Nora Cundy from the Bank of Commerce will be the guest speaker on Thurs- day, April 25, discussing the special policies banks are now offering senior citizens. • The next foot clinic at the centre will. be May 9. Call 357=1440 if you wish to attend. The next fund-raising event will be a flea market May -4.. Tables are .still available for rental and we would appreciate any used articles you no longer need. Last week we' participated in Seniors' Day at the Belmore Maple Syrup Festival. Many enjoyed the pancakes, sausages and maple syrup and viewed ,the craft display's and baking.. and listened to the musical entertainment. Evening Guild • holds its monthly meeting The Evening Guild of St. Paul's Anglican Church in Wingham met in the parish room recentlywith several guests and 16 members present. The meeting opened with the Lord's Prayer. Audrey Ritter . and ' Lois. Cunningham were in charge of the devotions. - The minutes of the previous meeting were presented and accepted as read. Ruth King lave the financial report and moved its acceptance. Mrs. Ritter reported the new stoves have been pur- chased and installed in the church kitchen Tickets will be sold on a hooked rug which Jack Bilney has donated. The draw is to be made at the Christmas bazaar. The June Guild meeting will be held on the fourth as Guild members have been invitedto the United Church on June 10. ' The bishop will be at St. Paul's on April 28 and Arch- deacon Grahm on May 12. Guild members will be in chlarge of serving coffee and refreshments after the 11 a.m. service on those dates. Holly Keil' of Wingham spoke to the group after a film on battered wives. Mrs. Ritter thanked the speaker '•and lunch was served. Seniors' Happy Gang . honors latemember Two minutes of silence was observed in memory of the late George Taylor, a .faithful member of the organization, when the Wingham Seniors' Happy Gang met last' Friday.. af- ternoon. President Gordon Wall welcomed all, including two neW, members. He read a poem, "How Rich Are -You?", and roll kali was answered by 28 members. The Happp Gang agreed to host the Zone Rally May 31 at the Armouries and another successful dance was reported. • Mrs. Johnston Conn presided for the program and read a poem, "Triumph of Easter", Mrs. Addie Howson gave an inspiring message on Easter. A hymn was . sung responsively by two groups in the audience with violin accompaniment by Mr. Wall add Mrs. Conn on the piano. Mrs. Aitchison .read • One Solitary Life" and Mrs. William Ford played a : medley of Irish tunes. An amusing skit was presented in which two doctors (Alex Robertson and Gordon Wall) diagnosed the ailments of senior citizen clubs. Doreen Burrell was their nurse, who introduced seven patients: Jean Ait- chison, Lila Treleaven, Margaret Hastings, Jean Robertson, Agnes William- son, Marjorie Wall and Bea- trice Errington. The various treatments prescribed a- mused the audience. - audience. Lunch was served by the group in charge. Include us in your pians - If you're planning a wedding, plan to visit us first for wedding stationery and accessories Listowel 291-1660 \?,, Mount Forest 323-1550 Milverton - 595-8921 Wingham 357-2320 Township Council insisted the company have copies of the building plans approved by the Ministry of Labor before a building permit would be issued. "This latest request was the last straw," said Mr. Englishman. "We contacted the Ministry off Labor and we were told all the ministry required- was a floor plan showing exits and doors." He says the company had complied with requests from the township's building in- spector, including a request for an engineer's report on a construction project to repair a portion of the for- mer Gorrie Building Supply outlet where the company would use about 9,000 square feet for prodi'ictitin and warehousing needs. "We've been trying to play fl 0 ball all the way, but it's been one hassle after another with Howick Township." Howick Reeve Jack Staf- .r ford, however, says ,,the township's requests were not unreasonable. "We're not asking this company to do anything that anybody else wouldn't have to do," he said. "This is nothing special. We have to act within our building bylaws and the Ontario Building Code." At a special meeting of Howick Township Council last • week, the council decided, not to issue a building permit until the company had complied with all applicable regulations. When Reeve Stafford phoned the firm to relay that decision, "that's when they blew their stack," he. says. Howick Township was acting upon Section 7 of the Ontario Occupational Health .and Safety Act and Regulations for Industrial Establishments. The act says "Drawings, layout and specifications •shall, be filed with the ministry (of Labor) for review . . . and be ac- companied with an ap- plication for review by the ministry and . . . where applicable, a 'plot plan, foundation plan, elevations and sections, structural details, floor plan, heating, electrical and sanitation details and details of ven- tilation systems and equipment and devises." "Our building inspector contacted the Health and Safety people ' and he was told that if they (Control -Tel) are changing the floor plan, putting in partitions, etc., then we require those drawings," said Reeve Stafford. He said council "agreed 100 per cent that the business would be good for Gorrie." Whyn it was discovered a zoning change would have to be made to . accommodate the business, Reeve Stafford said a motion was passed to make that zone change. The hearing for the zone change is slated for April 22 and will likely be held as scheduled despite the company's deci- sion not to move to Gorrie. "If he (Mr. Englishman) can bypass provincial laws, then he's a bigger man than we are," said Reeve Staf- ford. "But council must be responsible. We're the ones liable if anything should 1 happen to people working in that building. We have to make sure it's safe. We have to act within the laws handed do*vn by the Province of Ontario. We've done all we could." Wray Wilson, Howick's building inspector, says he made it clear to the company what was requimlbefore _ building permit would be issued. "They were not willing to conform to parts of the Building Code Act," he says, "This company for whatever reason, decided it didn't want to have the proper drawings done. All I wanted was something that was approved by the Ministry of Labor. I don't care if it was,a line -drawing or what." He says the company's decision not to relocate in Gorrie is not his fault, nor the fault -of council. But Mr. Englishman says, "Howick Council has blown a business that would have been good for Gorrie. We just decided we'd had enough." Letters from the company went out to more than 70 people who had applied for jobs_with t e firm. The -letter states "due to recent deci- sions by Howick Township Council," the company would not be relocating in Gorrie. ' In addition to the people hired from the Gorrie area, almost all of the company's 21 employees planned to move with the company. In fact it was reported that already two homes in Gorrie had been sold to employees of the company or were about to be sold. eittime (ped some In your Ontario, you want government that listens to what you want. You Nvant programs that create more jobs and more job security. - You want.. an education system that gives students the 4 skills they need to get jobs. YQU want equality for women,especially equal pay. gal You want a fair taxation system. You want health and dental care plans•without . . premiums and extra billing. 11 You want laws to control rents and protect tenants. But you ask yourself, will you get any of this in Miller's Ontario? fi It's a seinsible question to ask. And there's a sensible answer: The Liberal Party. The Liberal Party stands for you and the things you want. We stand for your Ontario.