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HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Citizen, 1985-12-04, Page 1Serving Brussels, Blyth, Auburn, Belgrave, Ethel, Londesborough, Walton and surrounding townships. WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 4, 1985. VOL. 1 NO. 7 40 CENTS There were plenty of children taking part in Saturday's Santa Claus Parade in Brussels as well as watching it. These two young girls not only had pretty costumes, they had warm ones, a special consideration on a nippy day. They also kept warm throwing out candies to children along the way. In all, there were enough candies given to children to keep dentists in business until next Santa Claus Parade. Trophies and tragedy hit family in one week First storm socks Huron The first storm of the year hit Huron county Monday closing schools and some roads but leaving storm-toughened residents gener- ally in good shape. Winds of up to 75 kilometres per hour swirled snow into frequent white-out conditions but the Wing- ham Detachment of the Ontario Provincial Police reported only one minor accident in its coverage area. All schools took the day off and many people had to stay home from work but most commercial trans- portation seemed to keep on going, judging from the large number of trucks on the roads. It seemed just a little warning to get ready for what's to come. One Blyth auto-supply store reported selling four new batteries before noon. Committee meetings opened BY BOB MURPHY In a move termed "progressive" by retiring Warden Paul Steckle, Huron County council passed a resolution Thursday leading to the opening of its committee meetings to the public. Up until Thursday, the last session for the current council, all committee meetings of county council were "closed" sessions and proceedings conducted at those meetings did not become public knowledge until a commit- tee reportwas presented before open council. The issue of open and closed meetings was controversial each time it came up during prior sessions of council and with strong arguments presented by both sides. That was not the case, however, Thursday as the recommendation, which was presented by council's executive committee, passed un- challenged. At the end of Thursday's session, council also passed the bylaw which will affect the changes in its rules and regulations to declare all committee meetings "open". Coun. Lossy Fuller (Exeter deputy reeve) told council she welcomed the move. `I think this is a good resolu- tion," she said during a short discussion on the executive com- mittee's recommendation, "it has been a longtime coming." In order to institute the change Section 14 (d) of Part 13 of the standing rules and regulations was rescinded and substituted with the wording necessary to declare committee meetings open "and no person shall be excluded except for improper conduct." Under the new regulation, the last item on the agenda of each committee meeting will be an "in camera" session to discuss issues which are too sensitive or prema- ture for open discussion, if necess- ary. Falling in this category are such issues as: • personnel matters involving one or more identifiable employees or prospective employees: — • matters affecting labor rela- tions and contact negotiations. • the acquisition or disposal of municipal real property. • exploratory discussions re- specting a future development within the municipality, including matters before administrative tri- bunals except where such develop- Continued on page 4 It was a "good news", "bad news" week for Jan and Joyce Van Vliet last week. The Van Vliets had some of their prize pigs at the Agribition in Regina and came away with several honours but while Jan was on the plane flying home, one of his barns, east of Walton, caught fire Tuesday night with a loss of about $140,000. BY BOB MURPHY The executive committee of Huron County council was unsuc- cessful in its bid Thursday to have council adopt a program of propos- ed adjustments which would bring salaries of department heads up to the average being paid to their peers in the adjoining counties. Most members of council were reluctant to decide on the issue at this, the last sitting of the current body. The consensus being that the decision was one for the incoming council, despite the assurance of legal opinion which said such a decision was within the jurisdiction of the retiring assembly. The proposal, was recommend- ed by the executive committee, also included a four per cent increase in cost of living allowance for 1986. The proposal recommended that the county negotiate a three-year agreement with its department heads to correspond with the term of council and that the suggested increases be averaged over that three-year period. The 1988 salary figures, as proposed for each department head with current salary in brack- Blyth Fire Department answer- ed the call to the fire Tuesday night at 10:12 and drove through fog that was thick enough that one fireman said even when they arrived at the farm they thought the fire was only Christmas lights from the road. The barn was in two sections, an older barn and a newer addition. The older barn and 90 sows were lost before firemen could take ets, are as follows: Medical officer of health - $70,694 ($57,512); Huronview ad- ministrator - $47,892 ($37,544); social services administrator - $40,820 ($32,578); clerk-treasurer and administrator - $61,542 ($51,974); county engineer - $57, 642 ($48,074). Deputy clerk treasurer - $53,430 ($44,460); planning director - $55,224 ($45,188); county librarian - $40,950 ($34,866); museum director - $38,298 ($34,060). During discussion on the issue, Warden Paul Steckle relinquished the chair in order to speak in support of the recommendation. Steckle urged council to adopt the proposal "in the spirit of a principle we adopted in 1978 ... that of fairness." In that year, he told council, the salaries of department heads were adjusted tobring them more in line with the average of their peers "and there has been no adjustment since then." The adjustments at that time were spread over a five-year period and, therefore, salaries have re- mained the same since 1983. Continued on page 15. action. They saved the structure of the newer section but damage was severe enough that the building will be of little use, Mr. Van Vliet said. Firemen also managed to save the livestock in the building but the animals suffered enough smoke inhalation that most have since been shipped to market, Mr. Van Vliet said. The damage and the cost of rebuilding is still being assessed, Mr. Van Vliet said. Cause of the fire has not been determined. The loss was partially covered by insurance. The fire spoiled what had been a happy month for the family. Earlier in November their herd had brought home the prize for su- preme champion sow in both the Yorkshire and Hampshire classes and Premier Breeder and Exhibi- tor in the Yorkshire class in the Royal Winter Fair in Toronto. They also had the reserve champion Yorkshire boar in the Yorkshire division. Then it was on to Regina where they won the supreme champion sow in the Hampshire division and won premier breeder and exhibitor awards in the Hampshire division. They also had the reserve cham- pion gilt in Regina. Blyth student wins county scholarship BY BOB MURPHY Deborah Gosling of RR 3, Blyth was presented With the 1985 Huron County scholarship for first year students at the Ridgetown College of Agriculture Technology. Retiring Warden Paul Steckle made the presentation during an awards ceremony at the college last Wednesday, county council was told during an executive committee report presented at the last session of the current council Thursday. Action on County salaries postponed Christmas stories wanted for Citizen contest All of us have our own precious memories about Christmas and dreams of the Christmas we could have. We want you to share your story this Christmas with others. The Citizen is sponsoring a Christmas story-telling contest. There are two categories of stories: 1. "My favourite Christmas" and 2. "The way Christmas used to be". Prizes of $15 will be offered for the best story in each category with $10 to the second best story and $5 to each other story printed in our Christmas issue. Entries should be of about 300words length or more. We must receive them by December 14. Particularly desired in the latter category are stories by people who can remember Christmases from long ago or people who can recount Christmases in another land before they came to Canada.