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HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Citizen, 2012-09-13, Page 27The halls of Hullett Central School welcomed approximately 100 new pupils last Tuesday. Hopefully all are settling in to their new surroundings. Even pupils familiar to Hullett are finding their way this year as the need to accommodate more children resulted in some room shuffling. I’m not sure any of this year’s classes/teachers are in last year’s room. And the Clinton Co-operative Day Care has a satellite situation at Hullett Central this fall. They are offering before-and-after-school- hours childcare in the school. I expect there a some parents who will appreciate having this closer to home. Those caregivers and children are having to use one of the classrooms at present despite the fact that Hullett has a portable room this year, the first time for many years for that situation. Bursting at the seams the school is. Isn’t it great? The staff has increased as well. At present the Kindergarten children are being introduced to school by Elizabeth Thorpe-Hearn and Mrs. Campbell-Taylor. There is one Grade 1 class currently being instructed by Traci Thompson. Jill Hausen has the straight Grade 2 class. Apparently there is a bulge of Grade 3 pupils at Hullett. Sarah Gerber has a split class of Grades 2/3; Craig Caldwell has a straight Grade Three class while Leeane Middleton and Ms. Elder are sharing instruction of a Grade 3/4. Junior rooms are Grade 4/5 with teacher Sydney Elder and Grades 5/6 with Julie Gilroy in the portable. Senior students are taught by John Coups in Grade 7 and Abby Armstrong in Grade 8. Susan Barnett is teaching music and is involved with Special Education. Julie Maver is working with our other official language and helping in the primary rooms. Janice Richardson, Helen Vanden Heuvel and Donna Douglas are the school’s Educational Assistants. Mark Campbell rounds out the primary help. Glenda de Boer has returned to the library/computer room. Keeping everyone in order again this year from his office is Shawn Allen. Morag Watt had been secretary in Blyth Public School and has transferred to Hullett Central which should help the former Blyth pupils feel more at home here. And, of course, Allan Bosman is keeping everything spitspot. Extra activities have already become part of the activities with Grades 1 to 8 enjoying the steam show in Blyth last Friday. Friday, Sept. 21 will be the annual Terry Fox Run. This is a fundraising event so children will be looking for some sponsors for this worthwhile event. The September character attribute being stressed is ‘respect’ - valuing self, others and our world. The school ‘open house’ will take place on Thursday, Sept. 20 beginning at 5:30 p.m. A barbecue will be followed with informal visits. THE CITIZEN, THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 13, 2012. PAGE 27. Sunday school classes resumed at Londesborough United Church on Sept. 9. School was the topic of discussion with the children when they gathered at the front for their time with Terry Fletcher. He admitted to the children that there was a time when he didn’t really think he liked to go back to school. He came to realize that at school he had friends to play with and to share fun with. Although one might be able to learn on one’s own w ith the help of books, being part of school expands one’s life in good ways. Terry told the children that he is still learning and he starts his cyber learning again this Tuesday. That’s the day he meets online his professors and the other students in his theology courses. He reminded them that by coming to Sunday school they learn about God, His love and how to live a good life in Christ. Incidentally the Sunday School needs teachers for this year. They would appreciate anyone coming forward to help if only for a few weeks at a time. The Minute for Mission, read by Jane Hoggart, was titled "Life Lessons". Monies donated to the United Church Mission and Service Fund support a chaplaincy at McMaster University in Hamilton. Through discussions, evenings together and working for needy causes, the young people realize they always have a support system if needed and they can continue their faith journey away from home. The senior choir offered the hymn anthem, “Look to the Lighthouse”. Psalm 146 was the morning’s responsive psalm. The supporting scripture passage for the message was 2 John 1:1-19. Walking in the Truth was the title of Terry’s message to the adults. The supporting scripture was written about 60 years after Christ’s death. Terry explained that the ‘elder’ mentioned in the verses was actually John. In this case an elder meant someone who had actually walked and talked with Jesus. He was a direct link to Christ and was writing to ‘the elected lady and her children’ or a church and its congregation. He was applauding them for continuing to worship God and spread His message. These verses note that the only solution to the world and its problems is love, walking in the faith and truth. Terry reminded the congregants that the church is our heritage and it is important to pass on that inheritance to the children in the church. You are reminded that currently there is a Thanksgiving challenge ongoing to see who can donate the most non-perishable goods to the Friends of the Community Foodbank in time for Thanksgiving. Don’t forget your donation[s] next week. NEWS There are a number of community folk who might enjoy a quick visit to keep their spirits on the up side of things. Ann Adams is recovering from surgery and could probably use some company. Hazel Watkins is currently having a holiday in the village with John and Shirley [Watkins] Mallett. Hazel had a fall and injured the hip that was replaced some time ago. After time in hospital, she decided this little holiday would get her ready for life on her own again at Huronview. Clare Vincent is a patient in Wingham Hospital currently having suffered a heart attack on the holiday weekend. His boys and their families might be encouraged by a word or two of concern. News came to Londesborough United Church on Sunday that Roy Krauter, a former resident of the village, had passed away in Tempers flare at fire meeting Hullett Central welcomes 100 new pupils Thanksgiving challenge begins Continued from page 1stated that, during the meeting, hedid some research on Central York. “Their operational budget is $17.5 million, their population is three times the population of the county and the annual growth rate there is higher than the population of Morris-Turnberry,” he said. “We’re not Newmarket and we’re not Aurora, they have different resources and growth and I’m discouraged that there are no working volunteer fire department agreements that we can look at. “We don’t want to reinvent the wheel or be guinea pigs,” he said. “I’m disappointed that there isn’t something more applicable to us.” Vincent asked if there were any example where, instead of equal partners, two municipalities owned different portions of a fire service and thus had different sway when it came to voting. Gannon said he was not aware of one. Both councils had numerous questions for both the Fire Marshal representatives and for each other. Unfortunately, however, for an expedient decision making process, many of the questions for the Fire Marshal went unanswered. Many of the questions from North Huron, including queries related to costing, the benefits of amalgamation and the liability of a possible reduced budget due to another municipality having a say at budget time were not answered by Gannon. Some questions weren’t answered due to it being outside of his job at the Fire Marshal’s office, such as those doing with workplace health and safety and how it relates to fire fighting, while others were simply that it wasn’t his place to suggest an answer one way or the other. The meeting did, however, provide an opportunity for some questions to be answered by North Huron Council regarding their costing.Vincent explained that the cost forthe fire service was bigger than North Huron had anticipated due to equipment failing that had been purchased from the area fire boards. It was also explained to Morris- Turnberry Deputy-Mayor Jason Breckenridge that the loans for buying out the fire boards were not part of what Morris-Turnberry was paying on an annual basis. While approximately 50 per cent of the operating costs of the Fire Department of North Huron are being paid for by service agreements to Morris-Turnberry and North Huron, North Huron representatives explained that there were major costs associated with the fire department above and beyond that operational budget including loans to set up the department. Gowing asked Gannon, after the discussion on costing, what the most prevalent method for cost-sharing would be, however, Gannon said that the different kinds of cost analysis are as varied as the number of fire agreements in the province. “Each agreement is different,” he said. “Assessment is a common starting point, but the number of calls is also used. Some organizations use a flat rate plus calls while others look at the hourly cost of calls and bill that. There isn’t really a standard.” The discussion eventually got back to the big problem that Morris- Turnberry and North Huron are having at the bargaining table: Morris-Turnberry believes they are paying too much. Between paying into capital expenses they don’t have ownership of, paying for aspects of the budget they feel they shouldn’t due to a duplication of services in their own municipality and the sheer increase of the cost of the service, Morris- Turnberry councillors said in several different ways that the price needs tobe reduced.North Huron Councillor Archie MacGowan, however, was curious as to how Morris-Turnberry councillors would reduce costs of the overall fire service if they did buy into it since he, and other councillors, stated the quality of fire service would not be sacrificed. Sparling also addressed the issue saying that there had been close calls in the past. He indicated that equipment had failed just weeks after it was used in fires and that he had seen firefighters have to use expired or unsafe equipment before the late Fire Chief John Black took control of the department. He said that the fire department provides the same services they did 30 years ago but now did so with proper training and equipment which represented a large part of the price increase. “We used to be cheap and now that I know what we were risking, I’m not going back to that,” he said. “We don’t want to spend money, but the safety of the firefighters is more important than that. I won’t accept a budget, or a department, with substandard equipment and training. The wives of the firefighters won’t accept it. I appreciate the cheap, but I’m not going back to it.” Both councils learned that North Huron compliancy rating, an oft- contested number used in the agreements, was at 100 per cent as far as the Fire Marshal’s office was concerned. Most fire departments, however, share that number. The 85 per cent compliancy that is often discussed has to do with other acts and other governing boards that dictate, among other things, health and safety in firefighting. Several council members from both municipalities discussed the failings of the fire board system and why it wouldn’t work again and Gowing agreed, but said the focusneeds to change from why the pastdidn’t work, to making the future work. “We agree that the past wasn’t the best scenario with the fireboards but I think we need to put the past behind us,” he said. “We appreciate the invitation to meet here and we’ve discussed a number of the concerns Morris-Turnberry Council has with the current agreement. If we go ahead, we need to work on the issues and we need to do so in a timely manner.” North Huron councillors agreed, however, they had some issues with the information presented. MacGowan stated that council would need to sit down and discuss the information that had been presented and determine whether they wanted to get into a situation that he likened to the fire boards. Councillor Bernie Bailey reiterated a statement he had made earlier in the discussion that, if Morris-Turnberry wanted equal say within whatever group governs the fire department, they would need, in his opinion, to be equally responsible for costs and liability. He felt that the Aurora and Newmarket example wouldn’t work since he wasn’t comfortable giving 50 per cent of the decision making process to anyone who isn’t 50 per cent invested in the fire department. In the end, both councils agreed to take the information they had received from the meeting and discuss options. CENTRAL HURON PRESENCE Council and staff members from Central Huron Township Council were also at the meeting and their presence provided a point of contention for North Huron staff and councillors and Morris-Turnberry council members. Gowing said that they were welcome to observe the meeting since they could be affected by any decisions made there, however MacGowan and Sparling didn’t feel their presence was warranted. MacGowan said the meeting was about Morris-Turnberry buying into the Fire Department of North Huron and that, if Central Huron was supposed to be at the table, they should have been involved and not a part of the gallery. Sparling had fiercer words for the group, stating that, as a Central Huron ratepayer, he hoped they were not getting paid for their presence. “I appreciate you being here for the information, but part of me hopes that, as a ratepayer, you’re not being paid for being here,” he said. “If you were going to be a part of the meeting, it would have been nice for the presenters to know that.” Mayor Jim Ginn didn’t appreciate Sparling’s tone and spoke up to let him know that. Vincent, however, ended the discussion stating that the meeting is about Morris-Turnberry’s desire to own a portion of the fire department and it didn’t include anyone else. “There is no disrespect meant here, however the agreement never included anyone else.” By BRENDA RADFORD Call 523-4296 PEOPLE AROUND LONDESBORO NEWS FROM LONDESBORO Continued on page 34