The Wingham Advance-Times, 1979-05-16, Page 1LAND -KA -AIR FACKA" TOM -
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FIRST SECTION Wingham, W0404 WAY. 'flay 16.1979 Smgle Copy Not Over 85c
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Members of the Wingham and instead found itself being told the conjunction with the pilot project restored if it decides to gq along 1 apologize." an obviously
District Hospital board, doctors hospital still faces the prospect of turned out,to be only so much thin with the experiment • Ho%X.V4W. angry Norman Hayes. executive
he s id the ministry
air.
has 'ill' director of the Wingham hospital,
and other interested citizens closing seven beds this year. i`�
received a rude shock last week And when the topic did turn to Dr. Allan Dyer, the senior tention at this time bf supp�yin0 told the board. "It's obvious what fk
nistry official in charge of any capital funding. c 1 hear in one location is different
when they met here with discussion of the HSO board mi
representatives of the provincial members found surprises institutional health care, told the "What capital funding do yob from what i hear in another ti 9
health ministry. awaited them there too. What board he thinks the HSO "cer- need^" he asked. "We're 110t location I've been had."
Expecting to hear details of the they had regarded as a com taiply would be an interesting talking about putting a buildiajg . Following a` meeting last :
health services organization mitment by the health ministry concept for you to embrace" and up or changing the practiced month with ministry officials inf'
tW fry to apt the inPtiu•ine iust different fut- Toronto Mr Haves hari fnhi the
Y
(HSO) the ministry has proposed to tuna 'construction of a i;i Yromis� ., € t;;
as a pilot project here, the group million addition to the hospital in hospital's full operating funds ding." board the ministry agreed to
provide capital funding for an
�-
expansion to the hospital in 6F
conjunction with the HSO. The Vit'
Director calls ministryoffer a addition would provide more
facilities for outpatient treat-
ment as well as offices for doc-
tors and other health-related
organizations. He said the added
facilities are necessary to permit"°; .
The Ontario health ministry's He pointed out that when the obtained a similar commitment the hospital to provide the type of
offer to reinstate seven beds here ministry deducted 1188,000 from from Health Minister Dennis treatment required by an HSO.'
However, Chetram Singh, a
as chronic treatment beds the hospital budget this year for Timbrell regarding conversion of ngz ,
(detailed in another story on this the 14 active treatment beds active to chronic beds. will make Ilii' member of the ministry team,
page) is nothing more than a declared surplus it had to add out. Goderich Administrator c claimed that at the earlier
misleading' numbers game, some money to bring the budget Elmer Taylor said last week the meeting, "We were talking
r s level in
generalities," and that the
executive back u to last ea _
e Y
Norman Hayes, P
Y hospital behoves rt has a commit ministry had never promised
director of Wingham and District line with its commitment that no
ment from Mr. Timbrell to allow
Hospital charged Monday. hospital would receive fewer the conversion, but added that capital funding would be
dollars this year. Once this available.
Repeating his contention that some interesting verbal com- COULD STILL LOSE BEDS°
bonus' is deducted from the �>
the bottom line in this whole ments from'others in the health According to Dr. Dyer the
promised 184,000, together with minist have cast doubt on the
affair is dollars and not beds, he r Y Wingham hospital could still face
other adjustments for the amount agreement.
said the so-called reinstatement g a cut in beds, despite what board`
of money the Hospital is expected P
of beds offered by ministry of -members believed was a pledge
to collect through the daily user He said that following the
ficials during a meeting here last GRADUATE' by Health Minister Dennis
fee for chronic patients, less than meeting with Mr. Timbrell, y
week would return only 12,780 to g Timbrell to restore fundi and '•
12,800 would be left, he which took lace the same da as Rick Demaray, Son of Mr.
the hospital budget—not nearly calculated. P Y and Mrs. Max Demaray . Permit all beds to remain open.
the Wingham hos ital's meeting enough to keep the beds open. At an operating cost of roughly g P ng RR 2, Bluevaie, .recently: After meeting with Mr. Tim -
with the minister, the board sent brell a delegation from the board
The rest of the $84,000 the beds 1100 per bed per day, that would a letter asking for written con- graduated from Centralia and a local citizens' action TALKING WITH AUSTRALIA is Wingham Mayor William Walden. Bill Cruikshank, .
should be worth under the be sufficient to keep the seven firmation of what it interpreted College of Agricultural Tedi- committee reported he had of- standing, now talks with Wingham, New South Wales, Australia, every week. The local
ministry's $12,000 per excess bed beds open for about four days. P notogy in the Agricultural, ma and the or of the Australian town talked with each other by single side bandpenaltypalty formula would disappear Mr. Hayes also said he is to be the commitment. It is ex- Busipess Management' pro.. fered the possibility of converting mayor mayor
back into the ministry's coffers waiting with interest to hear how petting a reply to the letter this gram. Rick plans to:. seek the 14 active treatment beds radio Monday morning and compared notes on the two towns. The Australian mayor will
through its budgeting process. the Goderich -hospital, which week. employment in the Poultry
the new visit here during the town's centenary In August.
rY' funding formula *to 'floating'
industry. beds, which could be used for • • •
i0m,active or chronic care as needed.����r�''�n m or to v�s�t
Pre�l in hand Tuesday night Dr. Dyer denied the meeting here last
-r having heard of the term • •
floating' and said figuresIll/* ham ear' �n Av ustpr(, d, 1 by the hospital show ag y gfor biggrade. on August 4 � , tor only seven more chronic t" The mayor of Wingham, New dreamed of talking with someone transmission conditions .were
treatment beds, not 14. South Wales, Australia, will be so far away. He described the excellent Monday morning, so
Pennsylvania. nin s of the big weekend in Mr Singh, who is the here for Wingham's .centennial local town and Mr. Walker, in an Mr. Walden and Mr. Cruikshank
"Ii you wanted the parade to Y g g ministr. 's senior consultant for
start tomorrow morning we could The parade will start at 1 p.m. August. this are: paid the ministry would celebrations in August. accent similar to an English were able to talk with three
probably get it arranged," Tom at the intersection of Josephine Pilots from a large area will be considei request from the Local Mayor William Walden accent, reported that his 'New amateur radio operators in the
Deyell, parade committee Street and the Turnberry B line invited to fly into Wingham for F.�s ital re fund an additional got the news Monday morning Smith Wales town is one of the Australian town, though by 9
chairman told the Wingham It will proceed down Josephine one of the community breakfasts P when he talked with Bill Walker, smallest in the area and that one a.m. their `iradio signals were
Street to Victoria Street, turn and to spend the da helping seven chru..ic beds, which he said
Centennial Committee at its right, and then to Minnie Street Y P should cope reasonably well with mayor of the Australian town, of the main industries in the area weakening.
weekly meeting last Thursday. 8 celebrate the town's centenary. the patient .oad. He noted the with the aid of Bill Cruikshank's is the timber industry.
and back to the marshalling zone If the weather is good as man 2,000 -watt single side band radio. Mr. Walden also talked with Mr. Cruikshank now talks with
preparations for the Saturday,g Y hos ital had asked that all 14 be The Australian mayor, his wife Ralph Metcalfe, Wingham, g
in the industrial area in the north P Wingham, Australia radio
t' -Au 4 rade are in cod shape, as 100 airplanes could fly in for kept open as `holding' beds, but operators each Monday morning.
g• Pa g Pe, west part of town. the event, Dave Cameron said. declared that no such beds exist Helen and his father will be in Australia, deputy mayor. Radio Y ng•
with a number of good bands There will be first and second a midway hadn't been booked town for a day or two in the first
booked, Shriners committed to prizes in the best decorated Y in any other hospital across the week in August while on
cumin antique cars scheduled P as of the Thursdaymeeting,but g
g. q commercial, most humorous, the committee was hopefuit can province. vacation. He expressed hopes Firemen answer false alarms
to come and sores of groups, "We don't have holding g P most original and best centennial et a midway for much of the g that the local town will have a The Wingham Fire Depart- fire fighting and prevention area
businesses and individuals in- g Y (floating) P
theme categories. In addition successful celebration of its
forested in entering floats in the Aug. 1 to 6 centennial week. Mr. Hayes angrily responded mnt answered two false alarms ' and to participate in workshops
B there will be a 1100 prize for the Betty Thompson, daughter that the hospitalgsurve owed centnayy and said he is looking in the last week, but no alarms on fire fighting, hazards, fire
two or three hour centennial best overall float and prizes for When making plans fo; the of Robert and the late Mrs. all the beds here are full anyway, forward to his visit to his town's when there were fires. investigations, the Ontario Fire
Parade• the best horses. beer tent which will be erected Thompson of Wingham, re- al matter what the are alley, Canadian namesake. Fire Chief Dave Crothers Code, dealing with arson and the
Bands already booked for the For area people who can't adjacent to the Wingham Arena cently graduated from Cen- and charged that the are called,
is The Walkers will arrive in reported the department thinks it transportation of hazardous
paraCavaliers of Kitchener -Waterloo, parade committee s e include the Kiwanis enter a float in the look ng for suggested arade the on aresd residents of thoad, Don e area tralia College of Agricultural "going around again" on the Toronto about July 31 and will knows who is phoning in the false materials by truck or rail.
the Standish Senior Band from sponsors to help offset the high where the beer tent will be Technology in the Food Serv- matter of surplus beds. leave Aug. 6. Though they wish to alarms and is checking into the
Standish, Michigan, the Durham cost of bands for the big'parade. located should receive some ice Management program "We've already been over that see other sights in Canada they matter. Mr. Crothers was one of 230 fire
Girls Drum and Bugle Band, the In other business the cen- recognition for putting up with with honors. Betty plans to ground," he declared. "That just `"'ill spend a day or two in Wing- The fire chief was at an Ontario chiefs from across the province
Brussels Legion Pipe Band and tennial committee approved a the noise which will result from seek employment in the hos- won't do!" ham-, Association of Fire Chiefs con- to participate in the convention .
the Teeswater Pipe Band. There plan to have an airplane fly in for nightly celebrating. No decision pitality industry as a food Dr. Dyer offered that the Mr. Walden told the vention in Cornwall most of last and will report to town council on
wilralso be a band from Butler, the Saturday and Sunday mor- was made on the matter. service supervisor. Please turn to Page 3 Australians he had never week to share experiences in the the five-day meeting. /
Public approval of plaza plan dominates open meeting ..
The desire for increased supermarket
competition in Wingham and economic
growth in town set the tone foh a public
meeting called by the planning board to
gcp:..,.._ .hlic yiowa fnr and against a
.
shopping plaza south of the Canadian
Tire store on Highwav 4.
About 130 people were at the meeting
May 8 to hear the proposal of developer
Jerry Sprackman, the objections by M.
Loeb lawyer Lindsay Elwood and to
voice their own opinions. in a show of
hands at the end of the meeting 35
Wingham and area residents voted in
favor of having the plaza at the site and
six opposed it. The rest didn't vote.
Tom Deyell, chairman of the meeting
and of the planning board, noted that the
vote by people at the meeting is only an
indication of how area people feel about
the proposed development and neither
the planning board nor town council has
to heed the vote when deciding whether
to amend the official plan to allow a plaza
to locate at the site.
There were fears that both taxes and
flood waters will rise if land fill is added
to the site and a plaza built. A number of
people at the, meeting, held in the
courtroom of the town hall, expressed
concern about the affect on flood levels of
filling the plaza site with land fill
b
Flood levels would rise only about one
tenth of an inch if the whole 2.8 acre plaza
site were filled to the necessary level,
according to the Maitland Valley Con-
servation Authority, Gary Davidson,
Huron County Planning Departnne„t
head reported.
Mr. Sprackman rejected merchant Lee
Vance's suggestion that property taxes
might rise in Wingham if the plaza is
built. He said the plaza would pay for the
services provided.
"i can assure you that not one dollar is
(going to be) paid by the people of this
community," he declared.
The developer is also concerned about
the flood waters of the Maitland River.
but said he has no intention of con-
structing a building which floods or a
parking lot which becomes submerged.
Tom Miller said 'a plaza would be a
definite economic benefit to Wingham
and area and said that while the local
supermarkets would find themselves
competing against a giant corporation,
the situation wouldn't be more difficult
than that faced by many local operations
which corppete against large companies
like Canadian Tire and Simpsons -Sears.
•
Mr. Sprackman's Listowel plaza is
scheduled to pay $37,000 in property
taxes this year, Mr. Miller said. He
pointed out that this money goes to the
municipality and contributes toward the
prosperity of the community.
UNFAiR COMPETITION^
A larize supermarket operated by a big
food chain could be unfair competition
for existing locally -owned supermarkets
and small food stores. Mr Flwood
charged.
A large food chain would likely operate
for the first while with low prices until
the existing food stores could no longer
compete and then food prices would rise,
he said
Though Mr Sprackman claimed a
Wingham plaza would stop an estimated
35 per cent of the grocery buying power
from leaving the area. Mr F,Iwood said a
plaza wouldn't be such a drawing card.
bringing shoppers back to town
Experience indicates that if a plaza
opened in Wingham, downtown stores
would either suffer or close, Nlr Elwood
charged.
The M. Loeb lawyer was met with jeers
when, in arguing how well Ken
Crawford's downtown iGA store serves
the community, he said the store had a
"great deal of parking". When the room
had quieted he said the iGA had
"potential for a great deal of parking''
TYPES OF STORES
Mr. Deyell reported the planning board
had developed a list of types of stores it
would allow in a plaza should the site be
rezoned to allow a grouped commercial
development.
The planning board favors having a
food store, a drug store, a fabrics outlet,
a financial institution, a barbershop, a
sporting goods store, an industrial supply
operation and a restaurant or fast food
outlet. The planning board developed the
list earlier this year.
In the 40 plazas Mr. Sprackman has
built in Ontario in the past seven years in
towns similar in size to Wingham the
plazas have included supermarkets.
financial institutions, small restaurants,
hardware stores, barbershops and
generally a drug store if the community
has only ane. _
Newly developed small plazas rarely
have fashion stores, Mr. Sprackman
said.
"You have nothing to fear here." he
told those at the meeting. He said a plaza
in town would create employment, would
bring more shoppers to town regularly
and would help Wingham prosper.
"None of our developments are doing
poorly," in the towns and cities where
they are located. "in the other cases all
the communities have prospered from
it.,,
The developer asked for a show of
hands to indicate how many people
regularly do grocery shopping out of
town. Only a few admitted to shopping
out of town once a week, a few more
indicated they shopped out of town twice
a month and mol$ than 20 showed they
buy groceries out of town once a month.
if a plaza were built many of these
people would come back to town to do
their major weekly shopping for
groceries, Mr. Sprackman said.
''If you get them in for the major
purchase here they're going to go and
shop in those other stores "
LOCAL STORES
ARE FRiENDLY
Patricia Bailey of Sun Rise Dairy said
employees and owners at the locally
owned supermarkets in Wingham treat
customers with real friendliness,
something not offered at many large
chain stores
She warned that the plaza could make
it tough on local food stores for a while by
dropping some prices below cost to at-
tract customers and then hiking the
prices after hurting the local stores.
The ultimate decision on whether there
should be a plaza should be made by the
public, she said.
Mr. Elwood got some sharp criticism
from the crowd when he urged that
existing independent stores be protected
from large chains.
Mr. Miller asked why the lawyer didn't
recommend that Macintyre's Bakery be
protected when the IGA store decided to
open an instore bakery. He noted that
r ---
before IGA opened in Wingham there
were several smaller grocery stores
which served the community, but they
were closed down by IGA competition.
With the public meeting over the
planning board will now make a
recommendation to town council whether
or not the town's official plan should lie
amended to allow a plaza to locate at the
site south of Canadian Tire, which is now
zoned highway commercial and doesn't
allow a supermarket to be built.
The town council can overturn the
planning board's recommendation with a
two-thirds vote and anyone in town can
appeal council's decision at an Ontario
Municipal Board hearing if one is
necessary.
The day after the public meeting Mr.
Deyell reported the planning board had
instructed Mr. Davidson to draw up a
proposed amendment to the Wingham
official plan, which will be reviewed by
the planning board before a decision is
made.
0