The Huron Expositor, 1987-07-29, Page 5.. •
rderman expands on his comments
DITOR'S NOTE - The following is a letter
ritten by London Alderman. Gary
illiams following the uproar caused by •
his comments hi The London Free Press
' • earlier this month. The letter was address-
ed to Mainstreet Coordinator Tom Lemon
but copies were sent -as well to The Huron
Expositor, Seaforth Mayor Alf Ross and
•Londoa Mayor Tom Gosnell.
"Thank you for your letter of July 6, 1987,
outlining your concerns with my comments
• reported in the London ,Free Press July 4,
1987.
1t is always interesting for any politician •
to see what eventually gets reported as
result of a relatively long interview 'with,
the media. This case is no exception! •
---The specific comments in Th—e-Fire-CPress
are correct, but unfortunately the context
. in which they were made is missing.
The essence of the entire interview -was
that each municipality, large or small,
rural or urban, should and in fact must par-
ticipate vigorously in the hunt for new job
producing businesses and industries. Those
municipalities that do not will rarely gain
new jobs, and in fact will start to lose those.
they previously had.
In all instances the economic develop-
ment search is beneficial to the municipali-
ty, In addition to any jobs gained (or retain-
ed-) -t-he whole process' forces the
• municipality to seriously assess itself; to
identify strengths and weaknesses; to put
together a comprehensive and pragmatic
•plan (within its financial resources), and
• most important to implement that plan.
- Now let's examine the specific comments
attributed to me and how they fall into the
above context:
' WIDENING HIGHWAY 8
The widening Of 'any highway is based to
a large extent on the number of vehicles
.presently using it. •
The busiest street in London, for exam-
ple, is Wellington Road between Cornmiss-
sioners and Southdale Roads, with a daily
average vehicle count of almost 40,000. This
four lane road is being planned for expan-
1
.WEDDINGS
- LETTERS TO THE EDITOR
sion to six lanes.
,At the north end of London, Fanshawe
'Park Road (Highway 22) , has a daily
average vehicle count of 18,000, between
Highway 4 and Adelaide Street,. This two
lane road is being planned for expansion to
four lanes.
The Ministry -of Transportation and Com-
munications indicates it will not add a' third
lane to a Provincial highway, for safety
reasons. To double the number lanes .( ie.
make highwa 8 four lanes) would re tiire
an average daily vehicle count in excess of
10,000 for planning to start, with counts run-
ning in the 15,000 to 18,000 vehicles per day
range before construction would likely
begin.
Actual average daily vehicle counts in
the Seaforth area are 2,800 westbound and
3,100 eastbound. (Clinton's counts are 2,800
eastbound and 4,000 westbound).
Even the concept of four laning highway
f north of London and Arva will be waiting
a while. The counts are only at 7,100
' vehicles per day .on an annual average
basis.
- However as much as some of us would .
like our highways expanded, I think
highways 4 and 8 will be two lanes for many
years to come.
ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT
Various studies- have revealed ' that
relocating industries view a number of key
factors in their search for a new location.
The list is shown below, in the order of
importance: •
a )Availability of trained labor force
b)Access'to markets and suppliers
clEnergy costs
d.)Community facilities and quality of life
e)Labor' condition - wages and
'productivity
f.) Local taxes and other costs
g)Transportation
h >Return on investment profitability,
i)Custoiner requirements
I/Business/government relatibns
k )Management and operational needs
• • 11Cost of land
m)Local capacity for 'groWth
' Many of the above critical determinants
are effectively beyond any municipality's
control, so it is the few that we can in-.
fluence that shoujd occupy most of our
efforts. ••
Let's examine just a few of these items;
AVAILABILITY OF A TRAINED LABOR
FORCE
You • will notice that my comments
• related to a MAJOR INDUSTRIAL
DEVELOPMENT and. its need for a large
SKILLED labor force. • •
• When one talks of a Major employer
needing 500 or more new employees, many
of •them in -the skilled trades, it would be
well nigh impossible to find that many
. qualified AND AVAILABLE persons in the
Seaforth and surrounding area. If the new
• industry attracted existing employees from.
other firms throughout the county, could
- those firms carry oh? Even then would
there be enough SKILLED LABOR?
• There is no question that the workforce in
the Seaforth area is ready, willing and able
• to meet most challenges thrown its way. A
challenge 'of this magnitude (500 plus new
jobs in one indristry ) while it would be nice
Turn to page 12A ••
MALKUS-YIM
Teresa Veronica Malkus and Frank Yu
Fay Vim were united in marriage on Satur-
day, June 27, 1987 at Robinson Memorial
United Church, London by the Reverend J.
Bruce Small, assisted by the bride's
brother-in-law Reverend George Schmidt.
The bride is the daughter of Dr...and Mrs.
Edmund Malkus of Seaforth and the groom
is the son of Mr. and Mrs. Wah Yim of Wind-
sor. After a honeymoon'eruise to Bermuda
the couple now resides in Guelph. Photo by
Ali Farag.
PEOPLE
' Douglas Wright of Kanata spent the
weekend with his parents Mr. andMrs. Art
Wright of 104 John Street.
Mr. and Mrs. Paul Hubley of Montreal
visited the past nine days with Mr. and Mrs.
Norman Hubley at Seaforth.
Thursday evening visitors with Mr. and
Mrs. Norman Hubley were Mrs. Terry
Ward, Mrs. Bryan McClure and Amy, Mr.
Ron Ward, Mi. and Mrs. Bill Ward and boys
to bid farewell to Mr. and Mrs. Paul Hubley
who left for home in Montreal from London
Airport on Friday evening.
Recent visitors with Mr. and Mrs. Bryan
McClure and Amy were Mr. and Mrs. Paul
Hubley, Mr. and Mrs. Norman Hubley, Mr.
andMrs. Bill Ward and boys, Mr. and Mrs.
Ron Ward and children.
Mr. and Mrs. Bryan McClure and Amy
visited with Mrs. Terry Ward at Monkton,
(1)=-34
Loans te
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•
THE HURON EXPOSITOR, JULY 29 1987 A5
Effective Thursday, Friday, Saturday-- While.Supplies Last
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A WIDE VARIETY OF
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THANK
You
Clinton Raceway would like to thank the following
businesses and the Seaforth Horsemen for donating
blankets for the races last Sunday.
*COMMERCIAL HOTEL
•SEAFORTH LEGION
•SEAFORTH INSURANCE .BROKERS
•SEAFORTH FREEZE KING
•GINETTEIS RESTAURANT
•SEAFORTH GULF SERVICE
•McLAUGHLIN CHEV-OLDS
*SILLS HOME HARDWARE
•TOWN OF SEAFORTH
•DR. BRIAN NUHN
*JOE LANE-