Loading...
HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Exeter Times-Advocate, 1976-01-22, Page 1excierZfitnesaboocafe One Hundred and Third Year EXETER, ONTARIO, JANUARY 22, 1976 Price Per Copy 25 Cents JACK McCUTCHEON, the newly-elected warden of Huron County, had a question for provincial treasurer Darcy McKeough at a meeting in Wingham last Thursday. He wondered why local officials were not con- sulted before the Goderich Psychiatric Hospital was announced closed and also told the treasurer that the government should have planned to close down some of the beds in the hospital rather than the entire in- stitution, which he said is one of the most highly rated of its kind in the province, photo by Robinson Town hall committee receives $2500 grant to go ahead ev* PLOUGHCARS — for CN travel regularly between Hensall and Goderich to clear the tracks of snow. Above the gaping mouth of the ploughcor pictured here is CN employee Steve Clark clearing away snow before resuming his trip to Goderich. photo by Bagley NOSIONATMINMIUMEM.M.iMNwrP,Mir.MnfflitniMMEMPAMMMEs• fammamons Garnet Hicks . .. onus on younger people Penny Watson . .. agrees with Trudeau Dick Bakker . blames the unions No fringe benefits for works employees, but new uniforms Exeter council says no to saving Goderich Psychiatric Provincial treasurer, pare)/ McKeough, addressed an auditorium filled with representatives from municipal councils and school board trustees last Thursday at the Budgets must reduce new building on its own. She cited increases in the mill rate as the only recourse if alternative ac- commodation were sought. In allowing the LIP grant, council also had to make a decision with regard to who would administer the grant. After another lengthy discussion in which some members of council wondered whether the citizens' committee should have that responsibility, it was resolved that the committee be allowed to administer, although it must still refer its plan to the property committee before proceeding with projects, Council also resolved that any public canvassing money that the town hall committee collects must come under the same rules pertaining to the LIP grant, meaning that the committee would also have to check projects out with a council committee before proceeding with work funded by this source. Deputy Reeve, Tom Mac- Millan, made a final motion which summed up council's immediate concern with respect to budget restraints this year. "The citizens committee must be definitely warned that council will not hail them out if they get in over their heads." The motion was passed unanimously. Mayor Bruce Shaw was pleased that council had taken a definite stand on repairing the old town hall. Prior to the vote being taken, he had warned council that they should either support the motion to allow repairs to proceed or move to cut restoration to the building completely. In making his statement, Mayor Shaw said that council had to escape the policy they had developed over the last several years with regard to the building, calling it a "makeshift, do-nothing program," The subject of the Goderich Psychiatric Hospital came up at Exeter Council this week and Council voted to turn down a resolution from Goderich Alexander Marine Hospital to condemn the Ontario govern- ment's decision to close it. Reeve Derry Boyle led the discussion calling the closing "lhe smartest move that the government has ever made." He said that the province could save a great deal of money by moving the patients to another in- stitution, such as London. Mayor Shaw said that in- formation in the press that the hospital would be closed down was misleading because he had heard from provincial treasurer, Darcy McKeough last week that the province was planning to use it as a centre for the mentally retarded. He said that the treasurer had quoted a statistic of 11,000 psychiatric beds in the province with only about 5,000 to 6,000 actually being used. Reeve Boyle added that a Rev. Don Forrest .. , wage and price controls stir things up Key Carpenter .. . government's priorities are wrong At least a portion of town employees' concerns were cleared up Monday night at the Exeter Council meeting with a decision that the town could purchase uniforms for the public works department and not violate a resolution passed at council two weeks ago, that no additional fringe benefits be given to em- ployees this year. Mayor Shaw told Ted Wright, chairman of the public works committee, that the purchase of uniforms for the department did not necessarily constitute a fringe benefit. At the last meeting Wright had expressed displeasure at council for voting that no fringe benefits hospital for the mentally retarded was desperately needed. "We've got the mentally retarded in homes for the aged, That's no place for them. There's no reason No decision on dispatcher No announcements have been made yet concerning the town's police radio dispatch service. Lorna Dale, who provided police and fire dispatch service to Exeter on a 24-hour-day, seven day a week basis, was informed by council two weeks ago that it was considering replacing her with another couple, Mr. and Mrs. Bill Musser. Mrs. Dale had asked for an increase in fees to $9,000 a year and the Mussers had offered to take it over for $7200. Although a decision has not been made, the town clerk's office reported that the town is in negotiation with Mrs. Dale. by Fred Youngs On October 13 of last year Prime Minister Trudeau went before the country on nation wide, television to announce plans for a wage and price review .board to monitor the economy of the nation. With this plan to combat the rampant inflation of the seventies, Trudeau ushered in 1976 by calling it the year of restraint. Almost evey politician, from the Prime Minister to municipal councils have called 1976 the year of restraint. Budget cutbacks and spending ceilings have become the main concern of government, and with them have come the suggestions that the consumer prattice restraint in his spending and strict measures to his budget. Most Canadians agree that there is a need for reappraisal of the economy and a means of combattinginflation'but many,are split on just' how to implement means and ways of stopping it, or who should be the ones to restrain themselves. The only point that • most people agree on is that further restraint is impossible, as they have cut back in their spending, or been cut back,'as far as possible. Rev. Don Forrest said that he plans no further restraints on his spending because he has "cut back as far as possible. I don't spend that much." He feels that wage and price controls are not be allowed, before any negotiations had taken place between the employees and the town, Wright said that although he did not believe that employees in general should receive a clothing allowance that cir- cumstances were different with the works department. "Sanitation people are in a little different position' than most groups. They are asked to handle the garbage from everyone in town. Its hard on clothes." Wright also suggested that the workers needed gloves in their job. He termed the basic need for work clothes in sanitation a "good health measure." Exeter's RAP committee, the other town department affected for this to go on." Deputy reeve, Tom MacMillan said that the government could have taken more care to inform hospital staff and local health care officials that the govern- ment was going to close it down. The Goderich Hospital provided beds for 230 patients up until the government an- nouncement of its being closed. According to the hospital's ad- ministrative office, it had one of the best patient-to-bed ratios in the province, averaging 94 percent of its beds in use. In addition, the hospital has been providing day care facilities to emergency and outpatients, averaging 500 a month, As far as can be determined from all known sources, the decision to turn the hospital into a centre, for the mentally retarded came somewhat later than the original decision to close it. A final decision on the matter has still not been reached and is presently a matter for discussion in the Davis cabinet. the answer to our economic woes, "I can't see how they will solve the problem" he said, "they're just stirring things up," "As far as myself, I don't ex- pect to spend less', said council member Garnet Hicks, but he feels that the onus on restraint should be on the younger people." Mr. Hicks suggests that those who are younger should be more "cautious" and consider things when they go to buy a new chesterfield or change "a good black and white TV for a ,coloured one." He also feels that the public have to practice restraint at home. Mrs. Penny Watson, an em- ployee of. Country Flowers in Exeter said that she is "always on a budget." She said with prices rising the way they are "I can't afford to keep going on," She feels that the Prime Minister is right, as "everyone has to cut back, not just one person," Then she added "I don't know if wage and price controls will work." Dick Bakker echoed the con- fusion of many Canadians in his statements, saying he is "planning to cutback; but I don't know if wages and price control is the right idea, What,can bedone? The unions are causing the problem," Mr. Key Carpenter had some definite opinions, his most im- portant one being the priorities of Please turn to page 3 by council's decision on fringe benefits, did not have a report for council Monday night on their reaction The RAP meeting had not been held for January. The matter of fringe benefits has been discussed between department heads and recreation director, Jim McKinlay had said that the matter would be up for con- sideration of RAP at their next meeting. Coun. Wright will bring a motion to the next council meetinglrequesting that uniforms for the public works department be purchased, In the meantime, he will check out the cost of uniforms, which he estimates at a $400 to $500 yearly expense to the town. Wingham High School, that in- cluded members of Exeter Council. His talk centred around budget restraints that the Ontario government is initiating in 1976, along with suggestions to municipalities and school boards with regard to curbing local spending this year. The audience included municipal and county officials from Huron, Bruce, Perth, and Grey counties. In his opening remarks, McKeough said that in keeping with the spirit of the federal wage and price guidelines, the Ontario government will hold spending increases to no more than 10 percent this year. He presented tables illustrating various spending increases during the past five to eight years, including one that showed the anticipated gap between provincial ex- penditures and provincial revenue to reach close to a $2 billion deficit by the end of 1976. McKeough said that although the province had imposed a 10 percent spending ceiling on itself, that no spending ceilings would he imposed on local municipalities or school boards. Economic assistance to local governments will increase by only eight percent this year, McKeough said, He told his audience that it will be up to local municipal councils to keep spending down and he added that the province was relying on the "wrath of local ratepayers" to convince councils and school hoards that restraints are in order. In the question and answer portion of the meeting, Ed Dearing, chairman of the Perth County School Board challenged Mr. McKeough's education has led us to the edge of a precipice and now it expects us to jump over." He said that the provincial government and specifically, the ministry of education was largely to blame for increased ex- penditures during past years and that when it came time for someone to accept the respon- sibility for curing economic ills, the provincial government wanted local governments to do if ." Commenting on the need for restraint, McKeough said, "Any reasonable person will un- derstand how it all happened. The factors and forces at work in the 1960's and early 70's gave rise to policies and actions on our part Pages out of sequence Many of our readers were as surprised as we were when they opened their T-A last week. We apologize for last week's •mixup and are expecting everything to be back in its proper order this week. A "goof" in the printing process resulted in several pages in the newspaper appearing out of sequence. The odds against this type of error happening are probably about a million to one, but last week fate must have been working against us. and yours which benefitted the mood of the public and the state of economy at that time. 'The demand for services was strong, the financial resources were available. And so we marshalled those resources and met those demands." "At that time it was the responsible thing to do. Now, the responsible thing to do is to curtail any new growth in spending." "You (local governments) will possibly have to make use of your liquid assets this year, including reserve funds, but mainly you must find ways to cut back on costs." He cited austerity measures that the provincial government was taking including a reduced budget for provincial roads, no salary increases for senior civil servants, no increases in spen- ding for housing, and no new government buildings, as examples of the province's effort at restraint. One program receiving budget cutbacks that the treasurer failed to mention was health care. Jack McCutcheon, the newly Darcy McKeough elected warden of Huron County, wondered why the provincial government had not begun a, program of restraints much sooner and accused the Ontario Please turn to page 3 Wingham story, "Tighten belts" Commenting on his reaction to the regional municipal meeting in Wingham with provincial treasurer, Darcy McKeou.gh, Deputy Reeve, Tom MacMillan told Exeter council Monday night that the province "appeared to be serious about restraining budgets in 1976." "It may be an old cliche, but Mr. McKeough said that we will all have to tighten our belts in 1976 and that is just what we are all going to have to do." "No doubt all local mill rates will rise, but school boards were told that they will get the same treatment as municipalties. Some services will suffer and some projects will just have to be deferred to a later date." "If we can't get along with what we have then we will have to get it from our local taxpayers", MacMillan said. Mayor Bruce Shaw, who ac- companied MacMillan to the meeting, remarked that Mac- Millan's summation of the meeting weas in agreement with his own. After a volley of motions had hit the floor and several had been passed, Exeter Council finally decided to grant the citizens' town hall committee $2500 to proceed with renovations to the building. Explaining the decision of the property committee, chairman Garnet Hicks said that con- sidering the present budget situation and the amount of work involved, the grant had to be minimal. Heza id the $2500 would be used to take care of priorities to maintain the building as office space for the police department and other practical uses, but would not allow the committee to proceed with plans to restore the town hall to its "original historic beauty". "Finances are not available for complete restoration," he commented. The priorities will include' sandblasting the exterior, heating and plumbing and the replacement of downspouts. "We recommend that the work be done according to the order of priorities suggested", Hicks said. The chairman went on to say that a second area of priorities was also being considered if enough money was left over from the first phase of work, which would include repairs to the brick walls where bricks on the outer wall are found to be unstable, and finally removal of articles from the fire hall and alterations to that area of the building. Hicks said that the research of the citizens' committee had been taken into consideration and remarked that their wishes should be respected along with a council motion of last November that the building be restored to a reasonable condition. Other motions passed with regard to the old town hall in- cluded approval of the LIP grant being used to repair the bell tower. There was some debate on this issue as well, until it was determined that the property committee was referring to the portion of the tower which still remains at the top of the building, and not the belfry. Hicks said that the tower had to be repaired because "lhat portion of the building must be protected from the elements." Barb Bell, also a member of the property committee reminded c„euncil that the police still oc- cupied the building and that it would have to remain in a con- dition acceptable for that pur- pose. Referring to alternative ac- commodation for the police, Mrs. Bell said that the town did not have a great deal of choice. The provincial government has imposed a ban on new building grants in 1976 and the town would have to either purchase or build a New V.P. for Dashwood Ind. Dashwood Industries of Cen- tralia announced this week that they have appointed a new vice president in charge of general marketing. Jack Eskra, a resident of Minnesota, has been appointed to the position, which was left vacant when Jerry Finnen became president of the company at the first of the year. Mr. Eskra will be moving to the area with his wife and family in March. For the past seven and one-half years he has been the sales manager for Truth Tool of Minnesota, a major supplier of hardware to Dashwood, Mr. Eskra has been in the mill work industry for a total of 16 years. Most people practice spending restraints now Pato* and events? THE EXETER SQUIRTS SOCCER TEAM will receive a plaque of recognition for their competitive effort last season in the North American playoffs, where they were voted the most outstanding Canadian team, placing in the top 25. The suggestion came from Counc. Lossie Fuller. INTENSIVE INVESTIGATIVE reporting revealed the identities of the gorillas in the Grand Bend Santa Claus parade this past Christmas. According to sources the anthropoids were Dave and Gary Desjardines, Stan Lovie, and Roger Farrington. PUBLIC MEETING, OFFICIAL — A second public meeting to consider Exeter's proposed official plan has been scheduled for Thursday, January 29 in council chambers, located in the former post office on Main St. ALL interested parties are invited to at- tend. DEPUTY REEVE, TOM MacMILLAN — will be absent from council for the next three weeks, He's taking a well-deserved vacation, EXETER'S BILLIARD ROOM, a recent subject of discussion at council with regard to hours that a recreational facility may stay open, will probably not be affected very much by a new town by-law, which may call for such facilities being closed by 11:00 p.m. on Sundays and 12:00 midnight every other night of the week. SOUTH HURON HOSPITAL will be saved the burden of a $1,- 000 yearly charge for garbage pickup. Elmer Taylor, hospital administrator, has asked that garbage pickup be dropped on Saturdays during the winter, as well as two other days during the week, Council agreed to drop the charge for pickup on the three days that South Huron will receive the service. $10,000 will be set aside in Exeter's public works budget this year for a sidewalk installation and improvement program ac- cording to committee chairman, Ted Wright. LOUISE GIFFIN is this year's convener of Daffodil Day, slated for February and to be held at the old fire hail. Funds raised from the sale of daffodils, an event sponsored by the Beta Sigma Phi Sorority, will be donated to the Canadian Cancer Society, MINOR HOCKEY DAY in Exeter is slated for Saturday, January 31. A complete schedule of the activities will appear in next week's Times-Advocate. CELEBRITIES from a wide variety of sports will beat this year's annual Sportsmen's dinner on Tuesday, February 8. The event is conducted by the Lions club to raise money for community ac- tivities, FARMERS from this area are learning more about their oc- cupation by attending the short courses in agriculture at Cen• tralia College of Agricultural Technology. Ver.:27TORMLISZCS.3121MZE.,,LZ.