HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Citizen, 1986-03-12, Page 1Bly th firm gets $190,000museum contract
BY BOB MURPHY
Approval was given by county
council Thursday to a recommend
ation that the Blyth architectural
firm of Christopher Borgal be
engaged as architects for the
design of the Huron County
Pioneer Museum project.
The recommendation was made
by the museum committee during
its report to council in the court
house at Goderich.
The Blyth firm was among six
which made presentations to the
committee at a meeting Feb. 27,
Coun. Dave Johnston (Bayfield
Reeve) told council.
Johnston, museum committee
chairman, said that the Borgal
firm’s bid - based on an estimated
building cost of $2.8 million - would
cost $190,000 maximum.
Other architects interviewed
and their proposed costs were:
• Paul Dawson, Architect, costs of
$129,060 based on $1.9 million
building program; costs of
$190,000 on $2.8 million building
program.
•Snider, Reichard and March,
costs of $210,000 based on $2.8
million building program.
• Moffat, Kinoshita Associates
New minister
comina
for local
Anqlicans
Bishop Derwyn Jones, Bishop of
the Diocese of Huron has announc
ed the appointment of the Rev.
Patricia Ann Nunn as priest in
charge of St. Mark’s Auburn,
Trinity Blyth, and St. John’s
Brussels.
Rev. Nunn starts her ministry in
this parish on April 15.
Auburn store
re-opens today
After being without a store for
two months, Auburn will regain
onewhen J J’s General Store opens
today (Wednesday) on main street.
The store in the former Village
Market (still known to many as
Robinson’s) will be operated by
Jetrid Rueger, better known in the
Blyth areawhere she grew up as
Jetty Cartwright, and Jacques
Lapierre.
The couple has been working on
the store in preparation for open
ing for three weeks. They hope
eventually to expand the business.
Mr. Lapierre also does carpentry
work.
Inc., costs of $282,000 based on
$2.8 million building program.
• Stevens, Kroetsch Architects and
Sears and Russell Architects, costs
of $190,000 to $200,000 based on
$2.25 million building program;
costs of $266,000 to $282,500 based
on $2.8 million building program.
VOL. 2- NO. 11
Serving Brussels, Blyth, Auburn, Belgrave, Ethel,
Londesborough, Walton and surrounding townships.
WEDNESDAY, MARCH 12, 1986.40 CENTS
Two Brussels dance teams came home with championships from the interclub figure skating competition
at Mitchell, March 2. Peter MacDonald and Kerrie Shepherd of Blyth took first place in the senior dance
competition and Lisa Pennington and Scott Johnston were first in the novice dance category. - photo by
Pat Langlois.
Storm closes down Huron county
The most vicious storm of the
winter closed down the northern
part of Huron County Friday.
As temperatures piummetted
from above freezing on Thursday
to some of the coldest tempera
tures of the winter on Friday,
vicious winds swept snow squalls
• C. A. Ventin, Architects, costs of
$260,400 based on $2.8 million
building program.
In reply to a question of why the
committee chose the Blyth firm
when the bid of the Paul Dawson
firm was also in the amount of
$190,000, Johnston said that the
over the area closing virtually all
roads. Highway4 wasclosedfor
the first time all winter.
Among the hardest hit people
were those whofound banks closed
in both Brussels and Blyth on
Friday so cashing pay cheques and
getting enough cash for the
weekend was impossible.
Borgal bid was firm in its $190,000
maximum.
With the other firm, he said, if
the program exceeded $2.8 million
the architect’s fees would also be
higher.
Another factor, Johnston said,
was the assurance that the commit-
More than a dozen transport
trucks were marooned in Blyth
when both Highway 4 and County
Road 25 were closed.
The Novice Hockey Tournament
planned by the Blyth Lions Club on
Saturday was postponed because if
was early Saturday before most
roads were opened.
tee was getting “someone who
possesses a fairly substantial
background in museums and
museum design.”
Price, he said, ‘‘was important
to the committee ... but of equal
concern, were experience and
qualifications.”
Board wants
speech
pathologist
BY RHEA HAMILTON SEEGER
Lackof speech pathology ser
vices in the county has caused
considerable concern especially
for school age children.
The Huron County Board of
Education March 3 supported a
briefbeingsenttoHon. Murray
Elston, MPP, Minister of Health,
asking that the situation be
reviewed and be given urgent
priority.
The brief will be brought before
the following groups for their
support: Goderich Alexandra Mar
ine and General Hospital, Clinton
Public Hospital, Seaforth Com
munity Hospital, South Huron
Hospital, Wingham and District
Hospital and Huron County Board
of Health.
In a summary of the speech
pathology services in the county
the board of education employs
five full-time speech correctionists
for a caseload of 200 pupils. The
hospital network continues to have
difficulty recruiting staff. The
summary reported that Goderich
and Clinton Hospitals deny access
to school-aged children and Sea
forth, Exeter and Wingham cannot
seem to acquire or retain staff.
The Home care program has
hired a full-time pathologist to
cover a back-log of 35 serious
needs.
The brief to the Minister of
Health calls attention to the
shortage of speech therapists in
the province and the limited
number of university seats avail
able for future therapists.
County councillors ask hard questions over library
BY BOB MURPHY
Huron County council learned
Thursday that for the fourth
consecutive year the county library
had exceeded its budget.
And, in most instances, the
overspending fell within the one
area - that of book purchasing.
Council spent a good deal of its
morning session Thursday in
discussion of the overspending
which came to light during presen
tation of the board’s report to
council.
Board chairman, Coun. Tom
Cunningham (Hullett Reeve), in
dicated to council that the 1985
budget had been overspent by
more than $52,000 and the major
share of that was tor books which
were received in November and
December although invoices for
those books were not forwarded to
the board until 1986.
The invoices, according toCunn-
ingham in his report, totalled
$42,890.95 and would be deducted
from the 1986 budget allocation for
book purchases.
Last year’s board chairman
Coun. Grant Stirling, (Goderich
Township Reeve) demanded an
explanation for the purchase.
‘‘As early as October the board
warned the chief librarian that he
was not to take delivery of any
books, ’ ’ Stirling said, “yet this
item is before us today... did he not
understand that he was not to
receive any books.”
ChiefLibrarian William Part
ridge told council that in November
“remedial” steps had been under
taken by the library “to enable the
budget to be on target.”
Some of the measures, he said,
included sending letters to all book
suppliers indicating that the lib
rary would not accept orders or
invoices until 1986.
Because of these steps, Part
ridge said, no book orders were
placed with the library services
between Nov. 1 and Dec. 31, 1985.
The result of this curtailment
“has meant a substantial drop of
new books placed in our branch
libraries, which has led to unfavor
able comments from our library
patrons,” he said.
In respect to the more than
$42,000 worth of invoices, Part
ridge said most of the suppliers had
complied with the library’s notice
that it would not receive any new
shipments.
One, however, had approached
him to indicate that it had no space
in which to store the books which
had been ordered earlier by
Partridge, the chief librarian said.
He agreed to accept delivery of
the books on the understanding
that there would be no invoices
issued until 1986, Partridge said.
Coun. Dave Johnston (Bayfield
Reeve) suggested that Partridge
had not “really answered the
question of why he had accepted
the books although he took three
minutes to state a bunch of facts.”
Johnston said he wanted to know
if steps had been taken “to curtail
the spending of the chief librarian
who, for the fourth consecutive
year has run over budget.”
Cunningham assured council
that “the mechanism to monitor
the purchasing will be in effect as
soon as possible.”
He said the board is taking steps
sothatitwill be aware of how many
books are outstanding at all times.
“It does seem that the book
budget is the problem,” Cunning
ham said, “and we are taking steps
to solve that problem.”
As board chairman, Cunning
ham said, his concern was “that
the chief librarian did not have
close enough tabs on his book
purchasing.
“My other concern was that
those orders were already in,” he
added.
The orders to which he referred,
Cunningham said, were for
$42,000 worth of books that he
(Partridge) was not authorized to
purchase.”
Cunningham told council the
$42,890.95 will be absorbed in the
$178,227 which the board has
budgeted in 1986 for book pur
chases.
“That means there will be
$42,890.95 less to spend on new
books this year,’’ Cunningham
said.