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The Wingham Advance-Times, 1985-05-08, Page 1Blyth Brtanch L1 raay Box '2D2 Blyth, Ont, NOM 1H‘ Jena. i e A BOWL-A-THON for members of the Wingham Beavers and Cubs was held last Saturday at the Wingham Bowling Lanes. Harry Train helped mark score and had a group of assistants surrounding him. They are Nathan Laidlaw, Jason Richardson and Mat- thew and Noah Train. Murray Elston wins easily as a Liberal tide sweeps Ontario "I can't believe it," was the most frequently -heard comment at Murray Elston's, campaign headquarters in Wingham last Thursday night as the incumbent Liberal MPP found himself re-elected for a second term with a stunning 8,600 -vote margin of victory. Mr. Elston ' clearly was part of the Liberal tide which swept the province and reduced Premier Frank Miller's Progressive Con- servative majority govern- ment to a precarious minority. Incredulous local Liberals stood watching the returns and merely shook their heads as the party made gains never believed possible in its best showing since 1937. When the votes finally were tallied, the Conservatives held 52 seats, the Liberals, 48 and the New Democratic Party, 25. When the polls closed at eight o'clock the mood at campaign headquarters was tense, but the momentum started building once the first few polls to report in- dicated Mr. Elston had pulled off a landslide victory over PC Mike Snobelen and Norma Peterson of the NDP: The mood became livelier and more buoyantas sup- porters started pouring in to congratulate Mr. Elston. There were a few moments of anxiety too when it ap- peared the Liberals actually had' a chance to form the government, but it was not to be. A large crowd of sup- porters, was waiting at the Teeswater Community Centre for the victory celebration. Mr. Elston and his family were welcomed by loud applause and piped around the hall. The memory of his 1981 cliffhanger win by only 224 votes was "a long, long way off", Mr. Elston told the gathered crowd. He thanked his campaign workers, those who have stuck with him for the past four years and first-time voters, pledging ' himself to "uphold the trust they have placed in me". He said he was delighted with Liberal gains across the province and attributed it to the positive approach of leader David Peterson, whose campaign captured the imagination of voters across Ontario. " "I was pleased to run in a campaign with Mike (Snobelen) and Norma (Peterson)," he said, calling it a good, clean campaign. Moments before Mr. Elston went to the podium, Mr. and Mrs. Snobelen en- tered the hall and conceded defeat. Police await directions on parking enforcement The Wingham Board of Police Commissioners is waiting to see just what town council has in mind before deciding whether its police officers will enforce a two- hour parking limit along Josephine Street. During its meeting last week, Councillor Jack Kopas told the board that a bylaw has been prepared for council to implement the two-hour limit once the parking meters have been removed. He said he assumed there would be a request from council for the police to continue to monitor parking along the main street, ad- ding there has been discussion about how other ` communities handle en- forcement, "including the notorious meter maid or meter person." Asked by Chairman Jack Gillespie if council would indicate what level of en- forcement it expects, Mr. Kopas • said council would make a request and the board would have to consider it, possibly at a joint meeting of the two bodies. "We will have to formulate a response to this (request) and we should be knowledge- able about what it will mean to the force and the board to accept — if it takes three or four times the man-hours to enforce, for instance,"' Mr. Gillespie commented. Police Chief Robert. Wittig agreed to gather information but expressed no opinion on the matter except to say tlfat at the moment he was unsure just what would be required to enforce a two-hour limit. "I think chalking tires is a waste of time and money," board member Ian Moreland declared and fellow -commis- sioner Margaret Bennett ex- pressed agreement. Mr. Kopas assured the board that council only expects enforcement "within the resources and staffing of the existing force," however Mr. Gillespie expressed concern that the board might find itself in the line of fire if problems arise. . "Council made a decision and then they hand it to the police and if problems crop up it will be blamed on the police or. us. We. must know. what we're getting into." In other business during . the open portion of its meeting, the board heard frdm Mr. Kopas about the possibility of a pedestrian crossing at the post office corner and from Chief Wittig about a communications system meeting at Goderich. Mr Kopas reported that the finance -management committee • of council had met with a representative of the Ministry of Transporta- tion and Communications to review the regulations gov- erning a cross -walk. The committee agreed there might be a problem with children and seniors trying to cross the street at that corner, he said, but it also learned that the regulations are currently under review so it decided not to recommend any action until the new regulations are announced. He said an eight-hour study must be done during a heavy traffic period and the" results submitted to the MTC to decide whether a crossing is warranted. However he later added that even if the MTC did not agree a crossing was warranted the town could still go ahead and pay the bill itself. He said the cost of a crossing was estimated at between $3,000 and $5,000 for markings and signs, while a full set of traffic lights would run between $35,000 and $49,000. He also reported the MTC representative had suggest -- ed the present crossing could be made safer for pedestri- ans by eliminating one or ,.two.,parking spaces at the corner to provide a better view of oncoming traffic. Mrs. Bennett expressed concern that this would mean even fewer parking spaces downtown. Chief Wittig reported that the Goderich fire depart- ment is now using the cen- tralized police dispatching service to answer its fire calls and the same service is being offered to other fire departments in the towns which currently belong to the system. He said the Wingham Area Fire Board has said it is not interested right now, but if the system can offer a cheaper rate and better service other fire boards might take a look at it. The dispatcher would; just take the first call and activate the fire alarm, he explained. After that the fire depart- ments mould take over their own communications, The police communica- tions system, which is locat- ed at Goderich, is owned and operated by the five towns in Huron County. Mr. Elston captured 17,148 out of a total of 27,700 votes or 62 per cent of the votes cast. Mr. Snobelen was second with 8,521 or 31 per cent, while Mrs. Peterson came in third with 2,031 or seven per tent: Voter turnout in Huron - Bruce was estimated at 72 per cent, 10 per cent higher than the provincial average. Mr. Elston's four Queen's Park colleagues from mid.* western Ontario also were returned with large majorities: Jack Riddell in Huron -Middlesex, Hugh Edighoffer in Perth, Bob McKessock in Grey ' and Eddie Sargent in Grey - Bruce. The. Liberals also picked up a seat in Middlesex, where Doug Reycraft edged incumbent Bob Eaton, PC, by about 800 votes. Across the province the. Conservatives lost 20 seats from their `'total of 72 at the time the election was called, while their proportion of the popular vote plummeted to 37 per cent from 44 per cent in the 1981 election which gave them their majority government. , For the first time in four decades the Liberals led in the popular vote with 38 per cent, up four points from their share in 1981, while the NDP was up three points to 24 per cent. The Liberals also added 20 seats to their pre-election total while the NDP picked up three. (Three seats had been vacant at the time of the election.) 1' FIRST SECTION (4l nctzZimie Wingham,'Ontario, Wednesday, May 8, 1985 Single Copy 50c 1 Property taxes in Wingham up by six per cent for '85 Property taxes in the Town of Wingham will be up an average of six per cent this year to pay for spending by the town, the school boards and the county. Under the new mill rates approved Monday night by the town council, the taxes on a modest residential property assessed at $3,000 will amount to $987 in 1985, an increase of $55 over last year's bill. For a separate school supporter the increase will be slightly higher at about $59, bringing the total tax bill on a $3,000 assessment to $1,002. Setting the mill rates is a formality after the town has set its own budget and has been notified how much it must contribute toward the school boards and the county. As a result there was 'little discussion, by council members except to pat themselves on the back for keeping taxes so reasonable. In presenting the mill rate bylaw to council, Finance Chairman Jack Kopas blamed decreased provincial funding for the need to in- crease taxes. He also told councillors that over the three years of their term residential taxes have gone up an average of slightly under five per cent each year, which he described as "not terribly out of line". No one likes to increase taxes, he said, but it is "one of life's realities". When council increases its em- ployees' wages to help them keep up with inflation, it must raise the money through higher taxes. He added the comment that "perhaps there are economies within the present town budget that could be realized," but neither he nor anyone else \pursued the point. He noted that about 48 cents of every tax dollar collected is used by the town for its own purposes, while 43 cents goe's to the school boards and nine cents to the county, a»breakdown which is about the same as last year. Councillor Tom Miller took pains to point out that the town portion of the mill rate, while it is the largest single component, is going up by the smallest percentage this year at about 4.4 per cent, compared to over five per cent for the county and elementary schools and nearly 11 per cent for the secondary schools. This is the reverse of the situation last year, when an actual decrease in education taxes helped to hold down a substantial increase in the town mill rate. Mr. Kopas, an employee of the Huron County Board of Education, blamed the in- crease in school taxes on. Bill 82, which requires school boards to provide special education programs. Staf- fing for those programs must be, in duce by this fall, he said, adding. he suspects provincial funding is not sufficient to meet the true costs of the programs. oving out of Wingham, town councillor resigns Wingham Town Council has accepted with regret the resignation • of ` William Crump as a member of the. council. A five-year veteran who was just completing his. second term; Mr. Crump stepped down, Monday night on the grounds that he plans' to move outside the municipality this summer. Although he still owns property in town and would not be obliged to resign, he said he feels it would not be proper for him to continue taking part in decisions affecting the future of Wingham ratepayers. He added that his resignation has nothing to do with any decisions of council "or disagreements or fights or anything like that." It is simply in the best interests of himself and his family. Mr. Crump has purchased property in Turnbesery Township, just north of the Wingham town limits and plans to build a house there this summer. "I realize I won't be moving for a few months," he said in his letter of resignation, "but I don't think I should be taking part in town business that will affect the future of ratepayers of Wingham." Trailer -collapses, I.o....,c..a..I.ln.ianis.Idi..le A young Wingham-area man was killed Monday at Teviotdale in what has been classed as an industrial accident. John tenPas, 25, of RR 2, Wingham was crushed when a trailer carrying a section of a prefabricated house collapsed on top of him. Mr. tenPas, an employee of Royal Homes Ltd. of Wingham, was involved in transporting the building when he stopped at the Teviotdale truck stop al. the junction of highways 9 and 23 at about 7 am. Provincial police from the Mount Forest detachment reported that he was un- derneath the vehicle working on the large float trailer owned by Royal Homes when the trailer collapsed, crushing hint. A large crane had to be summoned to lift the trailer so Mr. tenPas could be re- moved. He was pronounced dead at the scene by coroner, Dr. G. A. Vanner of Palmer- ston. Police said their in- vestigation of the accident is continuing and an inquest is, expected. 0-0-0-0 John Henry tenPas was the beloved son of Henry and Sonja tenPas; dear grandson of Cornelus and Martha Ellen of Bellwood; brother of David, at home, Wayne of London, Marilyn of Banff, Alberta, 'and Nancy, Kit- chener. He was predeceased by his grandparents, Jan and Berendina tenPas of New York State. Friends may call at The McBurney Funeral Home, Wingham, tonight (Wed- nesday) .. Removal will be made Thursday morning to the Wingham Bible Chapel where funeral service will be conducted at two o'clock by Len Fex. Final resting place will be Wingham Cemetery. As expressions of sym- pathy, donations may be made to the Gideon Bible Plan or the Muskoka Baptist Conference. The letter was addressed to Mayor William Harris, however in the absence of the mayor who is visiting Europe for several weeks to take part in celebrations recalling the liberation of Holland; it was accepted by Deputy Reeve Patricia Bailey, who • chaired the meeting. ' The resignation took effect immediately following the council meeting. Council has not yet decided what if any action will be taken to fill the vacancy. Clerk -Treasurer Byron Adams noted that council has three options: calling a by-election, appointing someone to the seat or leaving it vacant until the municipal general election this fall. The matter was referred to the finance - management committee for a recommendation. - In other business . at the meeting, council took action to rectify a long-standing problem on Centre Street. In response to a letter of complaint from a neighbor, council spent more than half an hour in committee -of -the - whole before emerging to pass a motion instructing Don Carter to "cease all non- conforming uses" of his residential property. The complaint, the latest in a long line of objections going back more than five years, dealt with Mr. Car- ter's use of his driveway to park garbage trucks and to work on the trucks and other equipment associated with his sanitation business. Council was told that Mr. Carter has already taken action to. orrectthe problem by finding another place to work on the trucks. However in a recorded),vote�iat was split 5-2, council gay hire 30 days, to comply with the zoning bylaw. Voting in favor of the motion were Councillors James A. Currie, Jack Kopas, Bruce Machan and Douglas Switzer as well as Reeve Joe Kerr, while Councillors Crump and Tom Miller were opposed. Mrs. Bailey- was_ in the chair and did not vote. The total amount of taxes to be collected in Wingham this year comes to just under $1.5 million, an increase of about $90,000 over last year. Of this $710,500 is collected by the town for its own purposes; $288 124 goes to the Huron County board to pay for secondary schools; $335,964 goes to the board to pay for elementary schools; $20,199 goes to the Huron - Perth separate school board and $138,180 goes to the County of Huron. The actual amount of money being raised in each of these areas is up by 5.7 per cent in the case of the town, 6.1 per cent for both ele- mentary and secondary schools, 15.4 per cent for separate schools and seven per cent for the'county. (These percentages are different from the mill rate increases due to changes in total property assessment in town during the past year.) Says Hydro willpick Huron route Ontario Hydro will an- nounce sometime in July which of two systems it pre- fers to get power out of the Bruce Nuclear Power Devel- opment. Huron County's senior planner, Wayne Caldwell, said he had been given Hydro's announcement time recently and passed the in- formation on to Huron County Council. The two routes are, Ml, which would provide lines from BNPD to London through Huron County and. M3, a route from Bruce to Essa (near Barrie) and then along the 401 to London. Mr. Caldwell said he has been told "unofficially" that Hydro's preferred route through Huron County is the most westerly one, through the townships of Ashfield, Colbourne, Goderich, Stan- ley, Stephen and Hay. The planner said Ontario Hydro is expected to of- ficially announce the pre- ferred Ml route within the next few weeks. - Once the preferred system is announced, environmental assessment hearings, simi- lar to the ones which took place in Stratford in 1982, will be held. CERTIFIED TEACHERS—Debbie Clark and Lianne Shaw, two members of the Wingham Canadetttes, recently passed their Level 'A' of the Canadian Twirling Association's teachers' test. The two girls are assisting Patti Robertson, Clnadettes' director, with teaching some., of the younger students.