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The Huron Expositor, 1988-09-07, Page 1Sports - A8-A1Q Births - A10 Classifieds - A11-Al3 Walton - A13 Weddings - A14 Hensall - A16 Canadians $0, received in China. See page A5. Serving the communities and areas of Seaforth, Brussels, Dublin, Hensall and Walton Seaforth, Ontario Wednesday, September 7, 1988 50 cents a copy Investment opportunities tour to come to Seaforth Over $11 million dollars in potential in- vestment will soon be passing through Seaforth, and town officials will be attemp- ting to convince the investors that Seaforth could be a profitable place for a business venture. Investment Tour 88 will see 22 investors and their spouses from the United Kingdom touring the four counties of Huron, Mid- dlesex, Bruce, and Grey. Each ot the in- vestors is part of the Immigr t En- trepreneur program organized by the Ministry of Industry, Trade and Technology. (MITT). The purpose of the program is to provide investment in the Area, and to recruit the immigrating businessmen's en- trepreneurial talent, Each of the investors on the tour must have at least $500,000 for potential business ventures. Last year the tour was in Eastern Ontario, • and it resulted in just over $10 million dollars being invested. For almost a year an MITT committee has been putting together a tour which will impress professional business people who are interested in investing in and im- migrating to Canada. And for almost the same length of time, towns and cities along the tour have been looking for investment opportunites which will catch the eye of the investors. A Huron County Planning Committee has been organizing the tour in Huron, and serv- ing onithe committee from Seaforth are Mayor Alf ' Ross, Mainstreet Coordinator Tom Lemon and Reeve Bill Bennett. They, with the Seaforth Economic Development Committee, have put together about 12 business opportunities which they hope will catch the eye of the investors. BUSINESS OPPORTUNITIES Included among these opportunities are various retail business opportunities, a motel, a franchise donut shop on Highway 8, and some more involved schemes which. were all derived from available market -search. One of these is the restoration of Cardno Hall. The idea behind the massive invest- ment which would be required for this refur- bishing would be to provide live entertain- ment in the hall. The hope is to make Seaforth a destination point for the same au- diences which attend the popular Stratford and Blyth Festivals, and provide them with some light entertainment such as a jazz concert. Another opportunity to be presented will be a small plastic container factory which would produce containers for area based businesses. An industrial product marketing service is another possible investment opportunity. The idea for this business arose from the knowledge that there are people in the area who have skill to produce goods, but not the resources or knowledge to market them. This service would act as a middleman, and be a link between local producers and available markets, A small advertising agency is another potential investme{it:,'hecommittee saw a lot of need for an aciv rrtising agency in the Seaforth area, but. OSP saw that businesses can't afford to pay ajn expensive Toronto firm. The proposed 2irtagency would have to have a small overiihad,, and be flexible enough to produce "everything from the pamphlet for a FallZi`rair program, to an en- tire ad program fonn'ae arge company. The investors could also be involved with existing businesses foil either recapitalizing the existing business;; branching off from the business in a new direction, or outright acquisition of the buSijness. Some Seaforth businesses have expressed an interest in these possibilities. , Of course obvious�pportunities such as the former GenesGo factory with 22,000 square feet available have not been overlooked. Each of these oppo 'tunities is presented with as much information as is available, and a mini business,plan for the investors to examine. , Mr. Lemon says:, the committee is prepared to justify the opportunities being presented to the investors based on gathered market data. The investors are looking for major, realistic investment op- portunities, and the committee has prepared them with afnumber of choices. The investors will tour the four counties in Main Street summer business Business in Seaforth was doom for a while this summer while the drought threatened farmer's crops and incomes, but rains evenutall , pulled the crops through and gave Maui Street an agreeable summer. Trade varied from shop to shop, but most merchants found business was on par with past years or just slightly better, while a limited number admitted business was down. Stewart Brothers and Seaforth Jewellers both say they had average business sum- mers. Sills hardware reports business drop- ped during the drought as farmers tightened their belts, but when the weather turned around so did sales, and it turned out to be a good year. A good share of tourist traffic went through the store, and Der Sills remarked that Family Paradise cam- pground in particular brings a number of consumers to the area. There were no complaints from the new businesses after their first summer on Main Street. "Everything has gone as I expected it to or better, " said Joanne Aubin of Kid's Kloze. She said she has heard a lot of en- couraging comments from customers who are glad her business opened. "Business is now a lot more dynamic than it has been in the past," she said, adding the changes being made in Seaforth business are definitely for the better, and the Main Street trade is not as sedentary as some peo- ple may think it is. Another comparatively new businessman, average;or up Chuck Hassonf Candlelight Studio of Photography, sal 'business was good for his first summer on Main. "Street. He com- mented that he met s -objectives for- the first year in business that he wanted to meet, and business was "a lot better than we thought it would be." • Ken Smith Pools, recently ,moved to Main Street from the industrial district, this year saw the wanted traffic which prompted the store's move. Nora Eckert of Ken Smith Pools said in terms of consumer traffic there is no comparison between the old store and the new one, and this year's sales were also much better. The hot summers of the past three years have made for good business for Ken Smith Pools, and Mrs. Turn to page 19 • Reassessment benefits majority of residents Taxes continue to be one of the most commented Gerald Morgan, who added 65 talked about subjects in Huron County. per cent of the population saw a decrease But, despite protestations in Seaforth in their taxes. about tax increases, the Regional Assess- "I'd have to look at individual properties ment Office in Goderich continues to say to see why taxes went up, but on the Seaforth was one of the "winners" in the average taxes went down in Seaforth." county -wide reassessment initiated this Mr. Morgan said the reassessment - in - year. itiated to ensure homes of equal value in "If you want to get right down to it, Huron County, pay the same amount in Seaforth wasn't treated all that badly," county taxes, showed Seaforth was paying Its THE FIRE ALARM which sounded last week sent the Seaforth Fire Department to Heritage Estates in RR 4 Seaforth, where a shed was on fire. The shed was being torn down by its owner, John Von Euw, when the fire broke out, and Mr. Von Euw believes the fire was electrical in origin. He and some neighbors fought the fire with a garden hose and spades, and had it under control when the fire department arrived. As the Sh- ed was being torn down, there was no real loss incurred by the fire, except for a mess in .141( Von_gutM'a_bacleiard COrbatt..nhofq too much compared to other municipalities, and the assessment was adjusted accordingly. For example, he noted in 1987 a Seaforth home valued at $50,000 cost a total of $1,152 in taxes. An equitable home cost $1,228 in Clinton, $829 in Hensall, $1,125 in Goderich, $574 in Hullett, $831 in Tuckersmith and $630 in McKillop. Had reassessment been done in 1987 taxes for those same homes in that year would have been: Seaforth $1,027, Clinton $1,106, Hensall $784, Goderich $921, Hullett $656, Tuckersmith $739 and McKillop $704. But while Seaforth's county tax went down (on average 9.88 per cent), other municipalities were not as lucky. Neighboring McKillop Township was particularly hard hit, and will experience on average a 17.18 per cent increase in its county taxes. Tuckersmith Township will see a smaller increase of 1.5 per cent. For further comparison purposes the Township of Hullett will see an increase of 11.19 per cent, while the Town of Exeter sees a decrease of 9.91 per cent, Hensall a decrease of 8.11 per cent, Clinton a decrease of 7.42 per cent, Brussels a decrease of 2.25 per cent and Goderich a decrease of 14.22 per cent. "McKillop had to pick up a fair amount to make them equal to what other municipalities were paying," said Mr. Morgan. "Seaforth saw a reduction. In fact two- thirds of its residents benefitted from the reassessment." Of the one-third of the Seaforth residents that did experience some increase in their 1988 taxes, few have done anything about it. In fact, Mr. Morgan noted, of the 1,463 assessment notices sent to Seaforth residents, only 29 prompted complaints - representing less than two per cent of the total. "As a percentage that hardly registers," he said, adding there was no better response to open houses held in Seaforth, following the reassessment. "Complaints have been very low key," he said. According to Mr. Morgan some of the in- creases in assessment, which resulted in higher taxes for Seaforth residents, may have been due to home renovations that were previously unrecorded in home assessments. He pointed out only property, alterations that add $5,000 or more to the selling price of a property -will result in an immediate assessment increase. Altera- tions under $5,000 are not figured into the taxes until the next general reassessment. Turn to page 14 • only 10 days beginning in London on September 11. On September 13 the tour enters Huron County beginning in Goderich. On September 14 the visitors will be welcomed by the Municipalities of Tuckersmith and Seaforth. Lunch will be served at the community centres. Following this a private meeting between the investors and various representatives of business in- terests will be held, and for an hour and a half the investors can ask questions about the prescribed investments. Following this the visitors will be led through a half hour tour of the town before they set off for Blyth. "We have a very professional presenta- tion that we can be proud of and that will hopefully result in investment," says Mr. Lemon. Because of the many municipalities which are involved in the tour, Seaforth will need a first rate presentation to attract invest- ment. In Huron County - Tuckersmith, Seaforth., Wingham, Goderich and Blyth are the municipalities involved. Mr. Lemon says he' has seen all the investment oppor- tunities put forward by the other municipalities in the county, and there are some good ones. But he says Seaforth's measure up. "I certainly feel that the opportunities we have are viable and we're giving it our best shot. We have as good a shot as anybody.' THE 1988 QUEEN OF THE FURROW was chosen at the Huron County Plowing Match on Friday, and the new queen, Cheryl Regele of RR 1 Dublin, is seen here accepting her crown from last year's queen, Audrey Bos of RR 3 Auburn. Cheryl will be com- peting again at next4'ear's International Plowing Match, and Audrey will be competing in this year's IPM in Stratford. The runner up for the Queen of the Furrow was Marina Rawlings of RR 1 Zurich. Corbett photo. Pleas premature County still inv BY BILL HENRY A Goderich plea to broaden the in- vestigation into moving Huron County's administration offices is "premature", says Warden Bob Bell. The county's executive committee has hired an architect to determine if the Huronview home for seniors in Clinton could be affordably renovated to house the county administration offices now in Goderich. But that report, due next week, is "as far as it's gone so far," Bell said. He later add- ed that renovating Huronview after its residents are moved to a proposed new facility, may well be termed too expensive. "If that happens, the whole thing is dead," Bell said Friday. The county agreed in June to accept in principle a report calling for a $10 million seniors care facility to replace the insitution-like facility which has housed the county's frail and elderly since 1899. The executive committee was instructed to look at the report and recommend a strategy. At the same time, it was to ex- amine the feasibility of moving the entire county operation to the vacant building which would be left by the seniors. DOORS TO CLOSE Bell said the county's executive commit- tee will probably recieve the architect's report on the Huronview renovation costs at a closed -door session since it would be discussing financial information. A date for that meeting has not been set. Saying the move to Clinton could have drastic economic implications here, Goderich Mayor Eileen Palmer urged county council Thursday to first look at all other alternatives, including persuading estigating uses an Ontario government ministry to decen- tralize to Huron County and set up offices at the Huronview site. "The currentfeasibility study is a little bit slipshod, since there are no terms of reference for the architect and only one alternative is being looked at," Palmer said. Palmer's comments echo those express- ed at a meeting last month between the county executive committee and Goderich's administration committee. WARDEN `RUDE' "I was disappointed that the warden took the finite stand that he did (Thurs- day)," Palmer said Friday. "I thought he was rude." Bell said at the meeting that "if and when a decision on this is made, it will be in the best interests of the county...I feel that concerns and presentations such as this are very premature at this point in time." Although some county council members had earlier objected privately to the ex- ecutive committee hiring an architect without first seeking approval from the full council, the criticism was not raised at Thursday's meeting. Warden Bell was the only one to speak after Mayor Palmer and Coun. Bill Clif- ford, who chairs the town's administration committee, requested that the county hire an independent consultant to look at all alternatives. "Every' resident of Huron County would be affected by such a move," Clifford said. A two-page letter from Goderich Town Council was distributed by hand to all members of county council during the meeting. Turn to page 15 • 0