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The Wingham Advance-Times, 1983-05-04, Page 1- :yt 'J Bob Idbrary Box 2U2 B17tb, into NOM 1HO :an. 4 MISS MAJORETTE OF WINGHAM five_ different. •tafe�®ilei=ra�a-WWweek- at` a-campetitkiifrelai by the Wingham Canadettes. Leyq DeBruyn was the junior winner; Shelly Tolton took top spot in the senior KYTH Would replace police committee Commission proposed to run poiice department in Wingham The chairman of the other "appropriate ap- dramatic changes in police to criticize the police com- Wingham police committee pointees". Commission committees from council to mittee. has strongly •recommended members must be approved council, he noted. This can More and more small to council that it form a by the solicitor - general's lead to problems in contract communities are going to a police commission to take office, he said, adding that negotiations as well as in police commission, he noted, over the management of the most other municipalities in management of the police though Goderich` is the only town's police d+partment. Ontario operate under police department. one so far in Huron County. In a prepared statement at commissions. Police Chief Robert Wittig "I don't see anything the close of his committee There was no discussion of said he sees the commission negative from it. Nothing but report, Councillor James A. the proposal, which ap- proposal as a positive step good things." Currie urged that council peared to catch other and would welcome it, He said it is asking a lot commence proceedings to councillors by surprise, though he too was careful not from elected represen- prepare the necessary bylaw during the meeting. establishing a police com- Following the meeting, mission, with the objective of Mr. Currie explained that having it in place by the end the recommendation came of this year. from him personally and not Council "voted 6-3 to con- from the committee. He said sider the recommendation he preferred not to elaborate and refer it to an appropriate on all the reasons for urging committee for study, the change, but he is ab brief- statement - to solutely convinced a com= councir, Mr: : Currie -said a mission would provide a commission would provide more "consistent and for "stable, objective con- .lcijowledgable police govern- sistency" in providing law i --.• authority. enforcement and in _ he has nothing negotiating police contracts. agai the council com- He said that historically mittee ' ;;stem, which can there has been a degree of work , it does have instability and "the pote ' roblems such as rationalization of the governing "authority (the police committee) has been called into question."sion He rioted that a Com- mission would 'be appointed from.withintth ,a�,ipat;ry and •cliuliichit n moria : . . and one. coui10, dr'Otrellas competition- and Hair Rober#son-was he-lntetmedl�ate- ' winner. In front, Andrea McBride took the Tiny Tot title and Jennifer Eadie captured top spot in the juvenile competition. Opposition leader discusses concerns with local farmers Ontario's opposition leader, David Peterson, made a, brief stopover at the Turnberry .Tavern•. last. Wednesday to discuss such. things as' high interest. rates, foreign ownership and farm credit with a group of area farmers. The stopover was part of a tour of Southwestern Ontario by the leader, who also visited Kincardine and Port Elgin that day. Huron -Bruce MPP Murray Elston said the purpose "of the tour .was to gather feedback from far- mers about, the state of the industry. The information gathered will be valuable to the opposition when the Conservative government brings down its budget next month. The Liberals are proposing that the Davis government allot more money for tile drain loans, as well as offer long-term financing for young farmers, said Grey MPP Bob McKessock. Nick White of Londesboro asked what the criteria would be to qualify for a young farmers loan. Mr. Elston replied it 91101.y.woulid inclugi who entered'the basin around .14:77 or '78;-when,land 'prieesnd�;rterest`rates. were -high: But Robert Trick of Londesboro disagreed. While it's good to help young farmers, they aren't the only ones in trouble, he said. Aiding only young farmers could force some of the older, more experienced ones out of business. Another proposal put forward by Mr. McKessock was reducing farm credit loans back to eight per cent interest. A lot of people who took out farm credit loans last year got stuck paying 16 per cent interest and over. Bert Sanders of Morris Township is one of those people. When he went to the bank to borrow money this spring. he said his high farm credit mortgage actually worked against him. Grant MacDonald, an auctioneer from Ripley, said the government never should have let the interest on farm credit go as high as 16 per g; cwt Also,,he said he,ought,.._ ess 4' ttie-jrea�r^Moan policy." ' should be extended to a more LEADER MEETS FARMERS—David Peterson, leader realistic time period, like 25 years. I N O W N j1rRSHIP. M':.,Peterson .-asked` lbw Please turn to Page 5 Could reopen this month Sale appears imminent of Wingham chair factory A deal appears imminent which would• ,reopen a ' Wingham furniture factory that went into receivership at the end of March, raising hopes that the factory could be operating again by the end of May. Robert Harlang, vice president of the company which has been acting as agent for the secure creditors, said Tuesday that an offer has been received and accepted which would make the business a going concern sale, so operations would continue there. The deal has not closed yet,, he said, but barring unforeseen circumstances the factory should be operating under its new owners by the end of the month. The prospective purchaser is Strathearn House Group Ltd., a Toronto-based fur- niture company with plants in Durham, of the provincial Lhoerma, with several local farmers at an informal discussion period held last Wednesday at the Turnberry Tavern, outside Wingham. Things such as low commodity prices, high in- terest rates and government stabilization programs were discussed. Mr. Peterson met personally after the meeting with Hans Rasmussen of Fordwich and Bob Col- eman of Kippen. rivet Stratford, Toronto and western Canada. Among its holdings is Kroehler Furniture, which was a customer of Conestoga Chair though not connected with the company in an ownership or management capacity: Mr. Harlang said he anticipates the deal will close sometime this month. He added he does not know what the prospective pur- chaser's immediate or long-term plans for the business are. It had been reported the new owners plan to scale up operations here, possibly doubling the number sof employees. Conestoga Chair had employed up to 40 hourly and salaried workers last year, but more than half were laid off at the beginning of January. The rest received layoff notices when the company went into receivership. Optimists to' get wood from trees The Wingham Optimist Club. will be",given the wood h'on1 tre ; i t tkiWi ' i wn during theyear 1983-84, town council has decided. The Optimists approached council last month to ask for the wood, which they will split and sell to raise money for club projects. At Monday night's meeting, the public works committee recommendtiiid giving the wood to the club for one year, together with a suggestion the club should donate something to the horticultural society toward replacing the trees. The town will truck the wood to a vacant lot beside the Bob Foston fuel depot on North Street, where the club can cut and split it. Previously the wood from trees cut during the winter went to the adjacent property owner or to anyone else who requested it, and council had been considering charging $35 a tree for the wood to cover the cost of replanting. , Barn fire in Morris causes heavy damage A Morris Township farm- er, Louis Kumprey of Con. 6, Lot 11, lost his barn and its contents in a fire last Saturday evening at around 6:30 p.m. Blyth Deputy Fire Chief James Howson said his department received the call at 6:35 p.m. Saturday evening and called for assistance from the Wingham department, which sent the tanker and a crew. Mr. Howson said the cause of the fire has been deter- mined as accidental and estimated damage at around $50,000. A small quantity of hay and straw were lost in the blaze, but Mr. Kum - prey's hinters and calves were saved, as was a nearby storage shed and im- plements and the milk house. Firemen were on the scene until 10:30 p.m. that night. Wingham Fire Chief Crothers reported his department responded to several minor alarms in the past week in addition to the barn fire. At around 3 p.m. Monday afternoon, the department journeyed to Bluevale, Turnberry Towns- hip, to combat a fire at the Bernard Ortleib home. The fire, which was caused by an electrical wiring malfunc- tion, caused only minor damage, said the chief. Firemen were called out Sunday evening at 8 p.m. to extinguish a demolition fire in a vacant dwelling on Edward Street. Neighbors were afraid that sparks from the burning refuse would spread to adjacent homes said Mr. Crothers. No damage was reported in a wood stove fire at the home of Mrs. Clifford Bray of Alfred Street West last Thursday morning at around 9:30 a.m., reported the chief. The high winds, rain and lightening Monday afternoon caused a false alarm at 2:06 p.m., said the chief. Meeting planned on farm credit bill A joint meeting of the Huron and Bruce federations of agriculture will be held Thursday night, May 5, in Wingham to discuss Bill 0- 653, an Act to amend the Farmers and Creditors Arrangement Act. The meeting, which is being jointly sponsored by the two federations and the Huron -Bruce Farm Survival Association, will be held at F. E. Madill Secondary School beginning at 8 p.m. To explain and answer questions on the bill, there will be a panel composed of Brigid Pyke of the OFA executive, Larry Thompson of the Toronto -Dominion Bank and a representative from a large business in the area. Bill C-653 was introduced as a private member's bill by Ralph Ferguson in March, at which time it was approved in principle and sent to the agriculture committee for study. At this time it will receive all -party scrutiny and debate and amendments can be made to the bill. tatives, with no previous 'experience, to take on the delicate job of running a police department with its complex regulations and high profile. A commission, which is appointed rather than elected, could provide ongoing management and long-term planning. The proposal does not Please turn to Page 5 Group home may open by June A new group home for mentally retarded all the neighbors have been approached and adults could be open in Wingham by as early have agreed to the home. as the end of June, organizers report. "It's a good deal," Mr. Zimmer con - Things have" been falling into place more eluded "It gives _the clients- a_ place_ to live ___ _-__ _-•_ " quWaif an- expected; allowing -the--target- andsiinore-peop1e-in-town-employment." - _._.-- ..- --- ._ date to be moved up from the fall. As planned, the home will house eight Ron Zimmer, who now chairs the group in people — four from the community and four charge of planning for the group home, from the phased -out Bluewater. Centre — reported last week that only minor details of and will be run by a full-time director and financing remained to be worked out on the five counsellors, some full-time and some property selected for the home. part-time. The property chosen is the former Norm Advertising for these positions will begin Keating home on Edward Street, currently shortly, Mr. Zimmer said. occupied by Mr. and Mrs. John Schenk. The Residents will live at the home and work large house is ideal for a group home and at the Jack Reavie Opportunity Workshop, can be converted with very few changes, which was recently enlarged to ac - Mr. Zimmer reported. . cammodate more .trainees. Ministry "The home is in excellent shape — the regulations require that group home lady from the Ministry of Community and residents must have employment during the Social Services said it's one of the best she's daytime, and :also that at least half the ever looked at." residents must betaken from an institution. . "The" 'ministry, which will._ provide the Chris Dickson, an instructor at the Reavie financial; backing :to purchase and operate Workshop who had been heading the the group home, has already given approval ' committee for a group home, said it is really in principle and only the final papers remain fantastic the way everything has been to be signed, he added. coming together this spring. When planning He said the town planning board has been started a couple of years ago, they were told informed ofthe plans and "we have their the home couldn't happen before 1985, she blessing — no problem there." In addition, said. "Now it's just a matter of weeks! '•' THAT'S WHAT MOUT LOOK LIKE—Dale Lamont ano Robert Langley, both from Teeswater, hold up a stringer with three trout they pulled in abovelhe Howson Dam in Wingham Saturday. Then the boys headed into the Wingham Optimists' trailer to claim their prizes in the Optimist fish derby held here over the weekend.