1970-12-02; Clare Sentinel

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CITY  LfBHART
4TH &  «c£%N
49617
XX
FIFTEEN CENTS
16 PAGES
WEDNESDAY.   DECEMBER % 1970
OUR 93rd NEW YEAR SERIES
VOL. 79 NO. 13
Clare School Bond
Election Next Week
Voters in Clare will be asked to
approve a special $2.2 million
bond proposal in a special election
.next Wednesday to provide funds
.Q relieve overcrowded school conditions in Clare.
The $2.2 million request is being
sought by the Clare Board of Education and if approved, would provide funds for the construction
of a new primary grade school
building and extensive remodeling
• of the existing elementary school
building.
The bond proposal is basically
the same request school officials
sought approval of last June, At
that time voters rejected a $2
million bond proposal by a vote of
642 to 403.
Residents of the school district •
with questions about the proposed
bond request may call beginning
today and through next Tuesday
at WCRM radio station in Clare.
Officials from the school system
will be at the radio station each
day from 10 to 10:30a.m. toanswer
questions over the air.
Board members voted in July
to seek nearly the same request
after considerable study on the
matter. The additional $200,000
in the current request accounts for
increases in construction costs
since original estimates were secured several months ago.
In July board members felt one
of  the  primary  reasons  for defeat of the proposal was a general
voter reaction to the state of the
economy and high taxes.
While the voter turnout for the
June election was higher than on
previous school elections, school
officials are hoping for an even
higher turnout next Wednesday, especially since nun-property owners will be permitted to vote in
the election for the first time in
the state, according to school officials.
Prior to this election only pro-
perry owners could vote on school
district bonding issues, but a
recent attorney general's opinion
stated   that   non-property   owners
At Dow Chemical
are now eligible to vote in school
bonding elections.
Clare's school bond election is
thought to be the first of its kind
in the state that will provide an
opportunty for non-property owners to vote.
School officials from across the
'state are expected to watch the
outcome of the election and study
the possible effect of non-property
voting and its possible use in
other school districts.
Clare's school board has received the endorsement from the
City Commission, the Chamber of
Commerce and the Clare Rotary
Club in fayor of the proposed bond
election.
Approximately $400,000 of the
bond issue will be used to finance
essential remodeling of the
existing elementary school building. Included in the projected
remodeling are extensive renovating of plumbing, heating and
ventilating systems throughout the
building, installation of new wiring, ceilings walls and partitions
as well as interior painting. Plans
also call for remodeling the exterior of the building.
The remaining funds will be used
to finance the construction of the
proposed primary school building.
The classroom wing will contain three kindergarten rooms
and five rooms each for the first
and second grades on the ground
level. On the second floor will
be five third and fourth grade
rooms and one special education
room. An instructional materials center also will be located
on the second floor.
A service wing in the proposed
building will contain a cafeteria
and divided multi-purpose room,
offices, and audio-arts room and a
stage that can be used both from
the cafeteria and the audio-arts
room. Officials say the cafeteria will be large enough to provide a hot lunch program for stu-'
dents in the school system.
The bonds are programed to be
paid for during a 25-year period.
On an individual basis this should
not cost property owners more than
6.5 additional mills. The additional millage will bring about an
additional tax levy of approximately $32.50. per $5,000 of state
equalized valuation, or an additional $6,50 in taxes for each
$1,000 in state equalized valuation.
$308,000 Pledged
GOLDEN RAYS OF sunshine filtered through the
branches of trees freshly covered with snow along
the Tobacco River in Clare County and caught the
fancy  of  the eye of a Sentinel photographer.   The
beauty of the season's first snow fall quickly
disappeared this week with three consecutive days
of rain, and the weather forecast calls for continued rain through Thursday.
Hospital Drive Enters Final Stage
Bond sales to raise funds for
needed improvements at the Clare
Osteopathic Hospital will continue
until the end of this year, according to officials of a citizen's steering committee directing the drive.
Contrary to reports published
in the Farwell. News atid the Mt.
Pleasant Daily Times News, a two-
month extension has not been granted   by  the   State   Department  of
Public Health. Stories in both
newspapers Incorrectly stated that
such an extension had been granted. ."    v
"No extension has beeri granted
at all by the health department."
according to Miss Helen Morgan,
administrator of the hospital.
She explained that the- hospital's board of trustees, upon the
recommendation  of  the  citizen's
steering group, decided to extend
bond sales until the end of this
year, rather then ending sales on
November 1 as  earlier planned.
Officials said the extension of
bontf sales was approved by the
board in order to allow area residents additional time to secure
funds to purchase a bond.
"We believed right from the
start that it would be nearly im~
Strike Averted, Atomic Hearings Go On
While negotiations appeared
successful on one front to prevent
a strike at Dow Chemical Company in Midland, action on another
front could perhaps seriously hamper future expansion of Dow and
Other industry in Midland and areas
near Clare.
Representatives of hourly workers at the huge Midland chemical
plant and company management
officials reached an agreement
over the weekend which will avert
Death Takes
Clare Man
Roy Alex Dunbar, 43, prominent
Clare real estate man, died at his
home Monday evening, following
a brief illness.
He was born in Flint, February
14, 1927, the son of Leroy and
Carrie Dunbar, and was graduated
from high school there. In 1945
he enlisted in the armed forces
and  served  in the  Korean War.
After his discharge, he moved
with his parents to Lake Station
in 1946 and was married to Barbara
Jean Zinser in 1948 in Clare. They .
resided at Lake Station until 1954,
moving to Clare.
He was active in the real estate business since 1950. practicing
in Clare county area. He was a
member of the United Methodist
Church of Clare, The Clare
Chamber of Commerce and active
in other civic affairs.
Surviving are his wife Barbara,
two sons, Daniel and Donald at
home* two daughters, Jean of Midland and Sallie at home, one brother
Gerald Dunbar of Grand Rapids,
two sisters Mrs, Bernita Hays of
Sarasota and Mrs. Wanda Powell
of Mt. Pleasant,
Funeral service will be held
Thufsd-ty afternoon. December 3,
from the Chapel of Brokering
Funeral   Home*   at 2 p.m.
a strike tht was scheduledfor this
Tuesday.
News of the labor agreement will
mean that approximately 400 Clare
County residents will continue
working along with nearly 8,000
other hourly workers at the plant
unless  further  disputes  develop.
The dispute involved an alleged
seniority list violation in which
a utility man was assigned a task
in a department other than his
own.
Meanwhile, a public hearing conducted by the Atomic Energy Commission began Tuesday in Midland
over the question of granting a
building permit to Consumers Power Company to construct a nuclear power generating plant at
Midland, The proposed plant would
provide steam and electrical power
to Dow and other industry and would
provide power for future industrial
expansion in outstate areas such
as Clare County.
Last week Clare County officially joined th e ranks of counties
supporting construction of the nuclear plant as a result of action
taken by members of the Clare
County Board of Commissioners.
The Clare Chamber of Commerce and the Clare City Commission also have endorsed the
proposed construction. Resolutions from the three organizations
have been forewarded to the AEC
for presentation at the hearings
which are scheduled to continue
through Friday.
The request to endorse the nuclear plant construction was made
by James Collison, executive
director of the East Central Michigan Economic Development District. Clare and 13 other counties
are   members   of the  ECMEDD.
possible to obtain the $700,000
needed to make the required improvements from only the local
community," spokesmen said,
"But we did and still hope to
provide as much as an opportunity to develop local support as
possible." •
"We are quite proud of the fact
that over $300,000 has been subscribed to the hospital fund drive
by local residents," Miss Morgan
stated. "It is heartwarming to
know that the hospital has such
a large amount of community support, and we thank the community for its demonstration of confidence In the operation of the hospital."
Members of the citizen's steering committee, who have been
directing the activities of the fund
raising drive, will meet December 8 at the Doherty Hotel for a
breakfast meeting to map out final
activities in the drive.
The steering committee has been
selling bonds in $500 and $1,000
demoninations. The bonds earn
eight per cent interest over a
15-year period. To date $308,000
in bonds have been subscribed
and over $11,000 has ben contributed  to  the hospital fund drive.
The health department has stated
the operating license of the hospital
will not be renewed unless theim- .
provements are made.
Improvements required by the
health department call for the, construction of two new patient service
floors to be built on top of the newest wing of the hospital.
In addition, diet, x-ray and surgery facilities must be moved from
the oldest portion of the hospital
into the newest portion.
Michigan Department of Public Health officials notified the
hospital's board of directors the
hospital has 48 deficiencies in the
older portion of the building. The
"deficiencies" deal mainly with
improvements in the physical condition of the building such as increasing the width of hallways
and moving the operating room
to the newer portion of the hospital. While the deficiencies do
not indicate the building is unsafe
for use, the deficiencies must be
made-up for the hospital's license
to be renewed.
If state health officials do not
grant the license renewal, the hospital no longer would be able to
operate on a non-cash basis. If
the hospital lost its non-cash basis
of operation the hospital could not
serve patients on private health
insurance programs and governmental insurance programs.
The hospital serves a five county
area, and located in Clare, It is at
the crossroads 0 f the sate where
two major highways intersect.
Approximately 140 persons are
employed at the hospital, according
to  Miss  Morgan.     She  said  the
occupancy rate for the hospital's
'72 beds is 83%.
Santa Schedules Clare Visit
CLARE'S DISTRICT COURT—Richard Allen, assistant prosecuting
attdfney for Clare County, confers with District'Court Judge Jon
Ringelberg in the court's flew facility in Clare located next to the
Clare City Hall. Hours of operation for the court, which also serves
Gladwin County, are .from 2:30 to 4 p.m. on Mondays and from 1;30
to 2 p.m. on Fridays. The court's magistrate is available each
morning except Thursday and also is available on Friday afternoons.
* (Sentinel Photo)
That jolly old gentleman with
white whiskers known to youngsters throughout the area, will come
to Clare, next Saturday, December
12,
Santa Glaus is scheduled to make
a special stop over in the Clare
area beginning at 10 a.m. that
Saturday morning and is scheduled
to ride into town escorted by the
Clare City Fire Department, while
proceeding down McEwan Street
distributing Christmas candy to
young folks.
The following Saturday, on December 19, a free movie ha's been
scheduled at the Ideal Theater.
The special color showing is slated to begin at noon and will feature the production, "Ring of
Bright Waters."
Beginning Friday, December 11,
Clare merchants will remain open
each evening/ Monday through Saturday until 9 p.m. The extended
hours of operation are scheduled
to continue through December 23,
All retail  stores will be closed
Christmas Day and the day after
Christmas.
Also on December 11 area shoppers will be able to enjoy free
parking as a gift from the city.
Parking meters will display a seasons greeting bag until Christmas
Day.
Youngsters 10 years old and
younger will be able to mail special letters to Santa Glaus begin
ning on December 11. Letters
may be deposited in a special
mail box in front of Green's Clo*
thing Store. Prizes will be awarded by the Chamber of Commerce
for the best letters, and as in the
past, the outstanding letters will
be published in The Clare Sentinel.
A contest for the best residential
Christmas display in Clare is being
sponsored this year by The Sentinel
with cash prizes to be awarded in
three classifications.
Awards will be given for the
best out-doors religious display,
for the most creative out-doors
display and for the most outstand-*
ing out-doors decoration. Winners in the contest will be selected by a five member judging
panel.
To enter the contest, simply
write your name, address and
what classification you wish to be
judged in and mail it by December 18 to; the Clare Sentinel,
112 West F'ouith Street, Clare,
Michigan.
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