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HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Exeter Times-Advocate, 1976-01-08, Page 1roe exelerZtnesataxica One Hundred and Third Year EXETER, ONTARIO, JANUARY 8, 19 Price Per Copy 25 Cents LARGE ICICLES — hanging above the store on Main St. in Exeter could have been dangerous had there been p warm spell, however the Exeter works department arrived on the scene Tuesday and hoisted a man to pull them down. photo by Youngs. Ont. Hydro increases rates to Exeter PUC by 21.8% CABLE TELEVISION— is making inroads into the Exeter area, and special preparations have to be mode for it. Dave Donsincire hooks up. wires that will eventually transmit pictures and sound once the "juice is turned on" as he says. photo by Youngs 0: IT'S A GIRL — The first baby of the year arrived January 5 at 1:40 p.m. The 8 pounds, 8 ounce girl is The daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Jim (Wendy) Kerslake of RR 1 Centralia, The Ketslake's hove two -other children at home, Sherry, four and a half and Jeffrey, who is two, Phtto by Youngs. Police dispatcher may lose her job By LEIGH ROBINSON Lorne Dale, who handles the telephone answering service for both the Exeter Police and the Exeter area Fire Department, will be wtbout a job if council agrees t a motion to accept anottercouple's offer to da the - job for less money. Mrs. Dale provides 24-hour, seven days a week telephone answering service to both the police and fire departments. Its a job that keeps her at home most of the time, where the telephone and radio equipment are located, It involves a number of duties in addition to answering the telephone, For this service Mrs. Dale has been receiving $5200 per year, which includes the cost of using her own room to house the necessary equipment, plus the cost of heating and lighting that room, which Mrs. Dale describes as a large one, At the end of 1975, she decided that she required an increase for the service that she provides and asked council for $9,000 for 1976. Council apparently thought the figure a little high and went shopping for cheaper service. Presently, they are considering an offer from Mr. and Mrs. Bill Musser of Exeter to carry out the duties of the job for $7200. Reeve Derry Boyle who made the motion to hire a replacement, told council that his decision wasn't based on lack of service. "I visited Mrs. Dale and could see from the receords she kept that she has been doing just an excellent job", he said. "But this is a tight budget year and when we receive a lower offer, we have to consider it". Mrs. Dale could not attend the council meeting to speak on her own behalf because she must stay on the job at all times, except when she can manage to hire a replacement, usually during her two week vacation which she takes once a year. "The job is confining and you have to get away once in awhile", she says. She has been providing the service to the town since 1969. "It's a great deal more than a telephone answering service", she told the T-A. Its really a dispatcher's job, only I am on duty 24 hours a day rather. than the normal eight. When you consider it, its pretty cheap service for the town. I'm really doing the work of three dispat- chers for the price of one. Her duties include locating police and fire officials when they are off duty, making decisions with regard to the seriousness of calls, doing police checks on suspicious persons and vehicles in town by contacting other police depart- ments, and even escorting female prisoners to court on occasion. In addition, she must keep a written record of each call and know where the police and firemen are in case of emergencies. At the council meeting, her husband, Ronald, who represented her, told the members that he couldn't blame council for looking into cheaper service but felt that the Mussers did not know what they were "getting themselves in for," He said that increased costs for heating and hydro plus increases in the costs of living had promp- ted his wife to ask for the higher rate, Mrs, Dale says that crime, especially break and enters, has , been on the increase in the past couple of years and that it has increased the work load."It's the kind of job that requires more than is expected. I put more into the job because I like what I am doing and I enjoy police work." It was pointed out to council that it will cost something to move the equipment to a new location, which would considerably reduce the savings anticipated by replacing Mrs. Dale. Reeve Boyle responded to this fact by stating that "it might not save us much the first year, but we would save some in the second year." The Musser's have offered their services within the framework of a two-year con- tract, Council's decision was to table the motion until more in- formation could be acquired with regard to moving the equipment and the costs involved, Approached for a comment on the quality of Mrs. Dale's ser- vice, Chief Day told the T-A, "Its taken six years to establish an effective radio system, Mrs. Dale Please turn to page 3 MAY LOSE JOB — Lornp Dale, radio dispatcher for the Exeter Police Department and the Exeter area Fire Board may lose her job if Exeter Council decides to switch to another couple who have proposed to take over the 24-hr., seven-days-a-week service for less money. Mrs. Dale has received numerous recognitions for her service which she has been carrying on since 1969, photo by Robinson Workers ask PUC for duty changes Council puts lid on town employees' benefit requests Following a refusal by the Exeter P.U.C. to change service duty requirements for outside workers of the utility about a month ago, the workers requested the commission to reconsider their request when it met last Wednesday morning. The workers had desired certain changes to service duty requirements which would allow them to accept emergency calls from a place in town other than their own residence. They are required to take service duty on a rotation basis in case of emergency breakdowns in the hydro or water system. At the meeting a month ago, Hugh Davis, manager of the P.U.C. had told the commission that he felt no change should be made in the requirements. The 3udget topic at inaugural Monday night's inaugural meeting of Exeter Town Council was a busy one for councillors and there was a preview of what is to come over the next 12 months. The key words were "budget" and "restraint". Although most of the com- mittees were not ready to give year-end summaries of budget forecasts for this year, the matter of curtailing unnecessary budget items and setting up priorities with spending con- straints in mind was on most councillors' minds. New committee heads were appointed and citizens to serve on various ad hoc committees were also approved by council. Mayor Shaw will continue to head up the executive committee in his position as mayor, Lossie Fuller will continue in her role as chairman of the social services committee, new since last year, Public works will also retain its Please turn to page 3 Hospital could till be saved The Goderich Psychiatric Hospital may still be saved. Ontario health minister, Frank Miller announced Tuesday that after meeting with, several groups, both hospital officials and workers at the hospital, he has decided to reconsider his original decision and present their arguments to the cabinet where a final decision would probably be made, Meanwhile, Mayor Deb Shewfelt of Goderich announced Tuesday night that the town of Goderich would seek a court injunction to prevent closing of the hospital even though he was aware that the cabinet meeting had already been set up, "We've been muddled around with too much", he said, He made his remarks at a rally of about 750 persons who turned out to discuss ways of saving the hospital which has been scheduled to be closed as of March 31, putting the 300 employees there, out of work. The Ministry has said that the 200 patients who reside at the hospital would he transferred to London, Public officials, and hospital workers were not the only ones upset by the government's plan, Both residents at the hospital and families of patients who live Darby, opposed the move, 'A government decision on the hospital's fate was expected to come in the very near future, commission accepted his suggestion asking that he provide written reasons at the next meeting, Wednesday, Davis told the commission that there were several reasons for maintaining the current procedure regarding service duty. He said that even if the worker could be reached at another location besides his own home, he would still have to return home to dress and proceed on the call which would slow him down. The workers disagreed. In a letter to the commission they stated that they could take their work clothes with them when they went visiting while on service duty. Davis agreed that the workers could bring their clothes but alluded to another concern, namely that it is not as easy to have control of a telephone belonging to someone else. Citing phone tie-ups as a problem which could prevent the service call from getting through, ,Davis said that it is much easier to keep track of one's own phone. The workers responded in their letter to the commission that a phone could be tied up whether at home or in someone else's home. Replying to that point, Davis said, "When I was a service man and had service duty I managed to police my own phone quite well. You can't do that when you visit. Time is of the essence on one of these jobs", he said. Davis also stated that the commission has no objection to workers on service duty switching the nights,that they are on call with another worker if they have something that they wish to do or in matters of per- sonal emergency. He also said that the workers are allowed to leave their house for short in- tervals while on service duty. Rates are determined on the basis of several factors, including equity or ownership in the Ontario Hydro plant, and load factor, which involves the amount of energy consumed. PUC manager, Hugh Davis, said that the-new rates are subject to Homeowners get a break Exeter homeowners will be able to take advantage of a new government program soon, if the ministry of housing approves council's request for a $35,000 grant which would be distributed to Exeter residents for home repairs in the form of loans and grants. Deputy Reeve, Tom MacMillan explained the procedure at the Monday night council meeting, stating that if the grant goes through that it will become the property of the town of Exeter for use in making loans to homeowners whose incomes are less than $12,500. These are the basic requirements, although there are other factors involved which will be detailed when and if the grant comes through, A portion of the loan would be forgiveable and would depend on the income of the home owner. The name of this beneficial program is OHRP, Ontario Home Renewal Program, and it is designed to bring homes in Ontario up to standards prescribed by the ministry of housing. Loans will be ad- ministered by the town and an interest rate of eight percent will be charged. If the town Manages to make any money on interest it will be recirculated into the fund for further home improvement loans -and grants. Commenting on the program, MacMillan stated, "We feel that in certain cases people con- necting their homes to the new sewer system will be able to get it done through a loan from this program. I think it's a good program and a good way for a homeowner to make im- provements by way of a cheap loan." review and adjustment and could increase even more during the year. Ontario Hydro had originally asked for a greater increase, but an average rate increase of 22 percent was the final recommendation from the select committee. In another matter concerning rates, the commission has received a petition from the North York PUC asking other municipalities to protest the current hydro rate system. The petition stated that large in- dustries have been able to pur- chase cheaper rates than municipal utilities if they buy more energy, The petition called for an end to any inequities in the rate schedules, claiming that direct industrial users received a smaller rate increase than municipalities even though loads and load factors were similar this year. Commenting on the petition, Mr. Davis said that it had been handled improperly and should have been sent to the Ministry of Energy's resolutions committee rather than to member utilities commissions, for consideration and possible presentation at the annual meeting in March. Mayor Shaw said that he would introduce the petition before town council for its donsideration,and suggested that the commission file the petition for the present time. At the year-end meeting of the Exeter Public Utilities' Com- mission, Hugh Davis told the commissioners that a sum of $242.77 was considered a write-off. The sum represents overdue bills that theutility has issued and could hot collect from delinquent customers. In most of the' situations the customer has moved out of town, Normally the commission will enlist the help of another municipal commission to collect on old bills, but that will only work if the customer has become a customer of that utility. Davis explained that the "write-offs" do not mean that the commission will give up on the overdue accounts. R merely Means that the delinquents will be filed it a different account, reflecting a lower priority for collection purposes. Councillor Ted Wright was a little upset with the executive committee of Exeter Council after they presented a motion to keep the lid on added fringe benefits for town employees in 1976. Council's resolution was to give employees the maximum allowable under the federal wage guidelines, amounting to eight percent base increase on salary, two percent more for cost-of- living, and another two percent for work productivity. Mayor Shaw commented that the in- crease would probably work out to only eight percent, because a four percent deduction factor would come into play due to the employees receiving cost of living increases during the past two years. The contentious portion of the motion was for no change in present fringe benefits to town employees. It has been an issue in the past few weeks because town employees have wanted benefit parity with the town police force. The police received additional fringe benefits when they settled a two- year contract with the town back in June. The executive committee's argument for curtailing ad- ditional benefits boiled down to two arguments. There is some difference between the police and other town employees because the force has an association to negotiate contracts with the town. Since their contract was agreed to on a two-year basis, they would not be eligible for any additional fringe benefits that other town employees might have gotten if the matter had been allowed by council to be an item for negotiation. Secondly, council felt that in a tight budget year, allowing no extra benefits would cut down on increased town expense. Councillor Wright, who chairs the public works committee, and is responsible for negotiations with employees in the works department, felt differently about the issue: "I don't like the idea that we didn't offer the remainder of town employees the right to sign a two-year contract. What's the use of negotiating with them when we have already slapped their fingers before talking to them? Wright maintained that he and others involved have been asking council all year long for a change in the present scheme for negotiating agreements for town employees. At the last council Three B & Es are reported Three more incidents of break and enter. were reported to Exeter Police this week. They all occurred on January 3. John Wraight 94 John Street in Exeter reported that his house had been broken into and that a 21 in. Admiral colour television set had been stolen. Don Hooper, 15 Gidley Street reported a .break and enter at his home but it didn't appear that anything had been stolen. Dr. Harvey Cowen of 27 Victoria Strut E. also reported that his house had been broken into with nothing apparently taken. Const. Robertson is in- vestigating the incidents. On January 2 an accident oc- curred at the intersection of Main and Wellington in Exeter at 4:45 p.m. A motor vehicle driven by Lloyd Allan of 71 Queens Street, Hensall, was involved in a collision with a vehicle driven by Simon Smith of Rosalee Street, Zurich. A third vehicle, owned by George Dobbs, was also involved. Cecelia Smith who was riding in the Smith vehicle, was injured in the accident and was taken to South Huron Hospital along with her daughter, Nadine Smith, age six. Damages were set at $1400. meeting in 1975, Jim McKinley, recreation director, told council that RAP was recommending that a central negotiating committee of council be formed to deal with all town employees at the same time, rather than the current system, where em- ployees bargain with the various committees heading up the departments that they work in. Reeve Derry Boyle, also a member of the executive com- mittee, told Wright that town employees should have brought their employment benefit requests to council prior to the start of 1976 if they wanted input before the executive made up its mind as to salaries and benefits for the new year. Glen Kells, superintendent 'of public works responded to Boyle's statement by saying, "Last year we (employees) were told by council that we couldn't deal with wage negotiations before the new year," Councillor Wright termed the actions of the three-man executive committee as un- democratic and wondered what kind of negotiations were possible when council has already decided what the workers were going to receive. "I have a letter right here which I planned to present to the finance committee tonight regarding fringe benefits that members of the public works department wanted", he said. I didn't even get a chance to present it." He told the T-A that the letter included requests for the town to pay for new overalls and other work accessories that they felt should be financed by the municipality. At the close of the sometimes heated discussion, Mayor Shaw suggested that if there was enough dissatisfaction with council's decision that Wright could bring the matter up again at a future council meeting and that the resolution could be with- drawn by council if they deemed Please turn to page 3 The Exeter PUC has received notice from Ontario Hydro that as of February 2, rates to the commission will increase by 21.8 percent. The rates were ap- proved by the select committee of the Ontario Legislature which is made up of members from the three major policital parties. Exeter's increase will be slightly different than increases for other municipal utilities.