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HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Citizen, 1988-05-18, Page 1Free Trade support Local PC's told support growing See page 6 Hospital wing opens Babies go first class at Clinton hospital See page 10 Student champ Blyth runner wins at H-P meet See page 25 Mini Belgrave tornado does little damage The normal routine of the school day was enlivened for students at •East Wawanosh Public School Monday when a tornado passed within a mile of the school, sending the children into the halls for protection. Ken Scott, principal of the school, said the funnel cloud was spotted northeast of the school about 12:40. At first, he said, the cloudjust looked like a jet’s vapour trail against the dark sky until one of the students in the school yard mentioned it was moving. Shortly after the cloud was spotted the bell rang calling students back into class so it was easy to get the students into the school. Mr. Scott said. They were then taken into the halls where they could get more protection. There w as little trouble with the students, he said. Mostwere enthralled to be so close to such a happening. The biggest problem was getting the senior students into the school. “They wanted to watch’’, Mr. Scott said, “and I can’t say 1 blame them.’’ Mr. Scott did get to watch himself as he stayed outside to see if the funnel continued to travel away from the school so he could warn those inside if it changed directions and came toward the school. The funnel touched down about a mile from the school near a bush. “You could see it sucking in a whole area close to 80 feet wide, or so,” he said. Dust and debris was thrown into the air. The funnel touched down only momentarily then went back up into the clouds. No damage was reported from the tornado. A tornado watch was put out for the whole Huron, Bruce, Perth and Wellington area after the cloud was sighted but later the watch was cancelledfor all but Huron then for the whole area. The funnel was also spotted by an OPP officer, officials of the Ministry of Natural Resources south of Wingham and Judy Somers of the Citizen staff. She was travelling on Highway 4 south of Wingham when she noticed another driver pulled off the road looking at the sky. When she looked she saw the cloud which was much lighter in colour than she expected for a tornado. John Hoekstra of the London weather office said that it was one of “ the thinest of thinest funnel clouds” but said that although the small tornado might not do much damage itcould still be dangerous. Brussels hold municipal tax increase to 4% Brussels Village council adopted a budget last week that will see the local portion of taxes increase only four per cent but some homeown­ ers in the village will be hit with a heavy tax increase anyway. Clerk-treasurer Hugh Hanly explained last week that under the tax reform system that will see county and school board taxes calculated for the first time on marketvalue of property, some tax payers will see substantial in­ creases in their property taxes. Particularly effected will be those with vacant property which will be Continued on page 6 Serving Brussels, Blyth, Auburn, Belgrave, Ethel, Londesborough, Walton and surrounding townships VOL. 4 NO. 20 WEDNESDAY. MAY 18, 1988.45 CENTS Truckers warned to shape up or else More than 80 representatives of the local trucking industry met in Blyth last Wednesday to hear MTC Area Enforcement Officer Adam Alderson, centre, explain to them just exactly what is in store for them when tough new federal and provincial trucking regulations come into force, probably later this year. Part of the meeting was spent with Mr. Alderson demonstrating how an MTC officer will check trucks for infractions of the new safety code once the legislation is In place. The meeting was set up by Blyth’s Radford Group, the area’s largest trucking, parts and service outlet. BY TOBY RAINEY Some of Huron County’s truck­ ers are going to have to shape up if th eywanttokeepon trucking, a Ministry of Transportation and Communications spokesman said in Blyth last week. More than 80 representatives of the industry sat for close to three hours last Wednesday, mostly in silence, to hear Adam Alderson of the Clinton MTC office tell them what could happen to them if they don’t. For some, it was a sobering evening. The meeting, at the Blyth Inn Hotel, was likely the largest assembly of truckers ever held locally. Itwas called by Blyth’s Radford Group, the area’s largest trucking, service and supply cor­ poration, to make sure that everyone involved knows exactly what is in store for them once the province’s Bill 88 kicks in, likely before the end of the year. “If we don’t all pull together on this, some of us in this room tonight won’t be in business by this time next year,” warned Radford’s Doug Scrimgeour. The controversial bill, one of three related bills now awaiting Blyth shows $24,100 surplus Blyth councillors will have a surplus from 1987 operations of $24,100 to help them hold the line on 1988 tax increases, village auditor Bill Vodden told council at its May 10 meeting. Mr. Vodden, of Vodden, Bender and Seebach presented the 1987 financial statement to council that showed revenues higher than budgeted last year by about $6,000 and expenses nearly $19,000 less than budgeted. The effect of the surplus on the 1988 tax bill will be known when the budget is pre sen ted at the Ju ne second reading at Queen’s Park, is the enforcing mechanism which will uphold Ottawa’s overhaul and deregulation of Canada’s trucking industry, which became effective last January. meeting of council. Council held a lengthy budget session on Thurs­ day night to discuss the municipal portion of the budget. Total tax bills will be calculated when the requisitions from the county and school board levels are known. All levels of taxation, residen­ tial, commercial andbusinesswere slightly higher than budgeted in 1987. On the expense side, general government was more than $3,000 under budget; street construction was $3,000 under and street maintenance salaries and materi­ als were nearly $6,000 under Becauseofthe tangle of rules and regulations contained in more than 60 pages of federal and provincial documents outlining the specifics of the tough new code, Continued on page 27 budget; and planningand develop­ ment was more than $3,000 under budget. The operations of the Blyth and District Community Centre actu- allyshowedasurplus of $3,907 this year a large amount of that due to arena rentals that were nearly $5,000 more than budgeted. The larger than expected rent, Clerk­ treasurer Helen Grubb explained to council, was because of the use ofthefacilitybythe “Blue City Slammers” movie filming.