HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Citizen, 2013-04-11, Page 24PAGE 24. THE CITIZEN, THURSDAY, APRIL 11, 2013.
Obituaries
RUTH HELEN FISHER
Mrs. Ruth Helen Fisher of Clinton
passed away peacefully at her
residence with her family by her side
on Friday, March 29, 2013. She was
in her 97th year.
Ruth was the beloved wife of the
late Aaron Fisher and loving mother
of Jim and Helen, Goderich and
Larry and Anna Mae, RR 2, Clinton.
She was the cherished grandmother
of seven grandchildren and 12 great-
grandchildren. She will also be
remembered by three sisters-in-law.
Ruth was predeceased by sister
Evelyn, brothers Ernie, Earle,
George, Jack and one brother in
infancy.
Friends were received at the
Falconer Funeral Homes, Clinton
until the time of the funeral service
on Monday, April 1. Pastor Wally
DeWolfe officiated. Interment was
in Clinton Cemetery.
Donations to the CNIB or the
Heart and Stroke Foundation is
appreciated.
Condolences for the Fisher family
may be forwarded to
www.falconerfuneralhomes.com
ROBERT JOHN “R.J.” RATZ
Robert John “R.J.” Ratz of
London and formerly of Clinton, has
suddenly and tragically left us at the
age of 31.
He leaves behind his two beloved
children, Sophie and Robert, his
parents Robert and Karen and his
siblings Tracy and Troy.
Robert will be remembered by his
paternal grandmother Eleanor of
Alberta and his maternal
grandparents Barbara and Alvin of
Lucknow.
Robert will be missed by his aunts
and uncles, Brenda of Goderich;
Koreen, London; Harold, Jim,
Mathew and Sarah, all of Alberta as
well as several nieces and nephews.
He was predeceased by three
siblings.
Friends are invited to a memorial
service on Saturday, April 13 at 2
p.m. at the Heartland Community
Church, Clinton.
Cremation has taken place.
Interment of ashes will take place at
Avondale Cemetery, Stratford.
In lieu of flowers please consider
making a donation to a trust fund for
R.J.’s children through Falconer
Funeral Homes - Clinton Chapel at
519-482-9521.
Condolences for the family may
be left at www.falconerfuneral
homes.com
MERVYN SCHNEIDER
Mr. Mervyn Lorne Schneider of
Listowel passed away at Listowel
Memorial Hospital on Thursday,
April 4, 2013. He was in his 75th
year.
Mervyn was the beloved husband
of the late Lois (Hart) Schneider and
stepfather of Joan Hart, Dave and
Susan Hart, Jerry and Barb Hart,
Cathy and Dan Thompson, Bev and
Seif Kordie, John Elston, Sharon and
Ron Duff, Murray Beltman, Lloyd
Beltman, Robert and Jeanie Beltman
and James and Sharon Beltman. He
is also survived by several step-
grandchildren and step-great-
grandchildren and his sister Erma
Fleming. Mervyn will be sadly
missed by his dear friend Dolores
Dupe and her family.
Mervyn was predeceased by his
first wife Eldora (Campbell)
Schneider, stepdaughter Donna
Elston and brother-in-law Donald
Fleming.
Visitation was held at the
Eaton Funeral Home, Listowel,
on Sunday. The funeral service
was held Monday, April 8. Interment
was in Bethesda Cemetery,
Moorefield.
Memorial donations to the
Listowel Memorial Hospital
Foundation would be appreciated.
Online condolences may be left at
www.eatonfuneralhome.ca
ANN HOLLINGER
Ms. Ann Hollinger, formerly of
Blyth, passed away at Maitland
Manor Nursing Home, Goderich on
Monday, April 8, 2013. She was in
her 76th year.
Ann was the dear sister of Helen
Broadhead of Wingham. She was
also loved by her nieces and
nephews. Ann was predeceased
by her brother Peter and
his wife Deanna Hollinger, brother-
in-law Norman Broadhead and her
parents Clarence and Mildred
Hollinger.
Friends will be received at the
Falconer Funeral Homes, Blyth
Chapel on Thursday, April 11 from 2
to 4 p.m. and 7 to 9 p.m. The funeral
service will be held on Friday, April
12 at 2 p.m. Interment is in Brussels
Cemetery.
As expressions of sympathy
memorial donations to the Canadian
Diabetes Association would be
greatly appreciated.
Condolences for the Hollinger
family may be forwarded to
www.falconerfuneralhomes.com
North St. West, Wingham
Mac & Donna Anderson
519-357-1910
A cemetery is a history of
people, a perpetual record of
yesterday and a sanctuary of
peace and quiet today. A
cemetery exists because every
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remembering - always
Distinctive Memorials of
Lasting Satisfaction
BOX 158 WINGHAM ONT NOG 2W0
Continued from page 22
service the fire department offers.
“Also, with one person, should
there be a domestic dispute or
accident, there isn’t anyone to watch
the back of the one responder,”
Bailey said. “Quite often they are
ahead of the police, sometimes they
are ahead of the fire trucks, and
sometimes they are first on scene.
They’re alone in that case and have
to wait for the ambulance anyway.”
Vincent said that the response time
of the ambulances is sometimes
higher than that of the fire trucks due
to policies that the ambulances have
to follow and that, in reality, those
policies and procedures can take
longer than the time it takes for the
firefighters to don their bunker gear
and arrive on scene. He also said
that, many of the responders in the
rapid-response units are advanced-
care paramedics, who are better
trained that other paramedics and
have more ability to react on scene.
“There isn’t any system where we
will win all the time, but we’re
waiting on a report right now to
show how these measures are
working,” Vincent explained.
Councillor Bailey stood alone
when the vote was called to support
a return to the previous EMS model,
as it was defeated.
Bailey stands alone in questioning EMS effectiveness
Continued from page 7
Works Department.
Rennick told councillors that there
are five substantial budget
challenges facing the county going
forward that will make creating a
balanced budget tougher and tougher
as the years go on.
The first challenge, Rennick told
councillors, is that operating
expenditures are increasing more
rapidly than the rate of inflation. She
said that changing economic and
business cycles have also made the
budget process difficult, as well as
an aging population and changing
ratepayer demographics.
Another factor making her job
tougher, Rennick said, is revenue
constraints tied to inconsistent and
unpredictable grant and subsidy
allocations from various levels of
government.
The final factor, Rennick said, is
the resistance to tax increases.
Councillors’ desire to hold a zero
dollar tax increased is not reflective
of the rate of inflation, she says.
Rennick explained to councillors
that by the end of 2013, she
anticipates there being $38.5 million
dollars in reserves.
Council approved the report and
the budget with a 2.47 per cent tax
rate increase.
Morris-Turnberry Council
awarded tenders for the supply of
gravel and for roadside grass cutting
at its April 2 meeting.
Joe Kerr Limited of Wingham won
a $354,340 contract for gravel for
municipal roads. It was the lowest of
three tenders.
The contract will deliver
approximately 34,500 metric tonnes
of granular “A” gravel for the south
half of Morris Ward, 9,000 tonnes of
“A” gravel for the north half of
Turnberry Ward and a stockpile
of 5,000 metric tonnes at the
Turnberry shop of the road
department.
There was some discussion over
testing the gravel to make sure the
quality remained high. Gary Pipe,
director of public works, said he
tries to take at least one sample a day
at a random time and have it tested
for quality.
“It’s important we’re getting what
we’re paying for and they [the
supplier] are providing what they
promised,” agreed Mayor Paul
Gowing.
“We should be diligent about what
we’re getting with the amount we’re
paying for gravel,” said Councillor
Neil Warwick. “ I’m not concerned
about spending a little extra [for
testing].”
There was considerable debate
regarding the cost of roadside grass
cutting before council finally agreed
to award the contract to Van Driel
Excavating of Clinton, the only
quote received.
“It’s quite an increase,” said
Councillor John Smuck, noting that
the $40,095 quoted for cutting in
2013 and 2014 (with an option to
renew for 2015), was 20 per cent
higher than the previous contract.
“I’m not willing to make the
motion.”
Smuck suggested the municipality
should look at doing the work itself.
But Pipe noted most
municipalities are hiring contractors
for roadside cutting. “They
[VanDriel] can get in places we can’t
get into,” he said. “They have
equipment we don’t have.”
“They do things I wouldn’t do and
I live on a hilly farm,” agreed
Councillor Jamie Heffer.
The contract calls for cutting right
to the fence-line in June and again in
September.
Pipe said he’d find savings
elsewhere in his road department
budget to cover the additional
cost.
Councillors agreed to a request
from the Maitland Valley
Conservation Authority to cut grass
at Pioneer Conservation Area in
Bluevale.
“What I like is that when we do it,
we do it right,” said Pipe. The
municipality doesn’t spend a lot of
additional money for cutting this
area, he said.
Inflation slower than increase in operating expenses
Whether by good luck or through
fire prevention efforts, the number of
fire calls answered in Morris-
Turnberry dropped in 2012,
councillors learned at their April 2
meeting.
Huron East Fire Department Chief
Marty Bedard, reporting for the
Brussels fire station, which serves
the southeastern part of the
municipality, said the number of
calls seems to go down each year,
though the actual hours may
fluctuate.
There was only one fire call in
2012, compared to five in 2011.
There were two medical calls, the
same as last year. In all, there wereonly seven calls in Morris-
Turnberry, two of which were
answers to alarms at Huronlea.
There has been one resignation
from the Brussels department with a
replacement expected to be chosen
soon. Firefighters have been
upgrading their skills at the
Emergency Services Training Centre
at Blyth.
Brussels station has purchased
$9,000 worth of extrication
equipment, with fundraising through
firefighters’ barbecues and $2,000
given in memorial donations for
former firefighter John Pennington.
There will be some cost increases
from Huron East for the coming year
because all Huron East firefighters
will be getting $30 per practice.Previously Brussels firefighters
received $18 while Seaforth got $27.
Firefighters who have served five
years will also get a uniform
allowance.
Bedard emphasized the value
volunteer firefighters provide with
the entire Huron East roster of 70
firefighters (at Brussels, Grey and
Seaforth stations) receiving
$158,869 in pay last year. The
average salary for one full-time
firefighter would run from $65,000-
$100,000, he said.
North Huron Fire Chief Keith
Hodgkinson reported calls to
Morris-Turnberry dropped to 26 in
2012 from 46 in 2011. Part of this
was a reduction in medical calls for
the Braemar Retirement Centrebecause of a change in protocol
which only calls the fire department
if they are the best option in a
medical emergency.
Dispatch was switched from
Hanover to Owen Sound and that is
working well, he said.
There was one major equipment
purchase with a new tanker for the
Blyth station. One fire engine at
Blyth was also altered to be able to
carry a 35-foot ladder.
There are three new recruits from
Morris-Turnberry for the Wingham
station, Hodgkinson said and they’re
young and keen.
James Marshall, Morris-
Turnberry’s fire safety officer, read
the report from Shawn Edwards,
chief of the Howick Fire Departmentwho said there were two calls into
Morris-Turnberry in 2012.
In March, the Howick department
received a grant from DuPont
Pioneer for equipment and training
for an agri-rescue program to better
respond to agricultural emergencies.
Edwards said he hoped to work
with Marshall in 2013 to be able to
visit Mennonite schools to speak
about fire safety and fire prevention.
As well he plans to do more
inspections of high-risk locations
within the area covered by his
department.
Mayor Paul Gowing praised all the
departments for their efforts. “I think
we have things covered well,” he
said.
Fire calls drop slightly in Morris-Turnberry
Morris-Turnberry Council awards several tenders
By Keith RoulstonThe Citizen
By Keith Roulston
The Citizen