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HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Lucknow Sentinel, 1994-05-04, Page 1PUBLISHED IN LUCKNOW, ONTARIO -Wednesday, May_ 4, 1994 550 G.S.T. Included A Positive input at Phase II meeting Bruce Board's level Around 80 people turned out at the public meeting On the proposed Phase II of the Lucknow and District Arena last Thursday. The committee in charge called the meeting to receive input from area residents and special interest groups, to assist them in making application for a grant under jobsOntario. The feeling of those attending was positive towards the project and many good suggestions were forthcoming as to how this Phase II could incorporate other ideas to make the facility one not only geared to winter sports. Henry Clark, a Kinloss township resident and road superintendent for that municipality, expressed con- cern with the aspect of job creation under the jobsOn- tario program. He questioned how one would cal- culate the number of jobs created, and wouldn't they only be short terra. positions. Jim Hanna, on behalf of the engineering company he is employed by, said he would be glad togive the committee estimates on job creation. During the meeting, considerable. discussion took place on which way the arena floor would run• : as is now; east and west, or change to a north -south direction. Comments were made about not wanting a match=box surface, and to be careful that good money wasn't spent on something that could be regretted. Dewayne Greig backed up this thinking when he disclosed a conversation he had with a Kurtzville resident. Apparently that community recently built a new arena and now find that it was built too small. The point being made was to' make sure we look down the road to 'the future. If the arena surface is changed to run north -south,. it may be necessary to purchase a little extra property. If so, the cost would increase. Questions were raised. as to any complications that might be forthcoming in. that event. Jeff Taylor, president . of the Lucknow Legion, suggested that if the building is built north -south, the present floor space could be used for advantageous parking.. One person questioned if it was pdssible to run the new surface west from the Phase I addition. Barry Johnston, chair of the committee, said there would be a culvert to contend with there. Gerald Murray, a member of the Minor" Hockey Association, stated that six years ago 168 registered for winter minor sports. This year 222 registered. Mr. •see' Many, page 6 Ashfield, W. Wawanosh lands potentials for landfill site . Huron County : planners have released a list of 11 potential sites for a massive, 60 -acre landfill site that would operate 'for the next 40 years. The candidate sites are located in Ashfield, West Wawanosh, Col- borne and McKillop townships, including , a parcel on Ashfield property owned by Huron County Warden Allan Gibson.' • Gibson quickly declared a conflict in any future county deliberations over selection of the site, but added wryly, "I might attend the odd public meeting for interest sake." The list of property owners has not been released by the county's waste management committee. "We want to make sure all the individual landowners know what's going, on, first," Project Co -or- - dinator Craig Metzger said after the county council meeting last •Thursday. ' Metzger said the 11 sittes were.. selected after an extensive, examination of topographical maps and analysis of known drainage and soil conditions.' • Metzger said that the county has statutory authority . to expropriate access to each site if the landowner resists. Police escort will be provided if necessary. - Ea.h site must. be , inspected directly in order to rank it.or pos- sibly eliminate it from the list.. Once a selection is Made, the land will be. purchased. Agaiii, if landowners resist, the county can expropriate the property. It is .easier to list what makes a site unsuitable than it is to define. then ideal .location. Areas of : life science interest; environmentally sensitive areas; wetlands; areas easily flooded; homelands of endangered species; hospital or school locations or near. airportsi or specialty crop lands are all on the "exclusionary" list. But Metzger said that every site must be directly assessed. No site can be excluded simply because - of objections from the landowner or anyone else. He said "there was a very • good possibility of finding a suitable site" among the 11 proposed venues, but "there are no guarantees." So far, the waste management planning process has cost about $695,000. This has allowed the county to conclude that it needs: • a landfill site; •See costs, page.3 An attentive Chris Massena, one of G.T. Montgomery's bus drivers, makes het way around the course that was part of the annual Montgomery "roadeo" last Saturday. Chris came In with the highest score - 96.5 per cent. Drivers were Invited to take part In the fun day that Included written tests, defects check and a 10 -point driver test. (Pat Livingston photo) cut by 4.8% from 1993 by Pat Halpin Being skeptical of promises helped the Bruce County Board of Edycation prepare for the news regarding its 1994 provincial grant. Finance chair Alan Mackay said he didn't believe the province's promises to maintain education funding levels. "This is the third year out of three that (expected grants) haven't hap- pened," Mackay said after learning that the Bruce Board will see its grant level fall by 4.8 per cent from last year. "We've been planning a grant .cut of 3 • per 'cent to 5 per cent, so the fact that they're cut about 4.8 per cent doesn't surprise us," he added. Director of Education Paul Mar- tindale was more blunt in his reac- tion to the grant' announcement. "Zero per cent is a lie," he said of - the province's announced funding intentions. Martindale said the 4.8 per cent cut will cost the board $1.7 million in lost revenue. Combined with $1•.2 million in social contract cuts, the Bruce Board will see its 1994 budget shrink 8.2 per cent to $68.8 million. '• A draft budget released April 26. shows taxes could increase 2.7 per cent as the board struggles to make up fol the lost funding. • "Two point seven percent is a preliminary figure," said Business Superintendent Ken Mann. "I wouldn't want to say it's final with the assumptions we' have.". Among the assumptions are $346,000 worth .of cuts to school equipment, administration and cur- riculum budgets, a 1 per cent growth in assessment and no provision for juniorkindergarten in 1994. The board has applied to be exempt from having to provide JrK, but has not yet been given' that permission. If the province denies the request, the Bruce Board could be faced with the unbudgeted cost •see Net, page 6 Medical students will be taught at hospital by Jim Brown • Wingham and District Hospital has been approached.by the Univer- sity. of Western Ontario, (UWO) in London to sign an affiliation agreement with their board of governors. The affiliation agreement will enable specific UWO medical students to- be taught at the Win- gham hospital, under the clinical supervision of Wingham hospital staff. Hospital chief executive officer Lloyd Koch told the board at its regular monthly meeting • on Thursday that he would be in Lim - don . on -don. on May '3 to sign. the agreement with the university. "I've had the agreement reviewed by our insurers and am recomrrien- ding it for your approval," Koch told the board. The board approved the agreement. He said the program currently identified to come under :the agreement is communicative disor- ders, with supervision to be provided by Pat Pietrek and the hospital's speech therapist Jane Tolton. • Students• would- be in the first, second, or third year of the program and would be at the hospital for ,tip to 13 weeks, during the course of the school year. -Students would be• at the. hospital on an individual' basis: "This is a significant affiliation for us to be recognized as an ap- proved teaching site by the Univer- sity of Western Ontario; and is indicative of the respect they have for our hospital's rehabilitation program and in particular, our staff," said Koch. Members of the board agreed with the CEO that the affiliation agreement was a significant step for the hospital. County cuts expenses Bruce County's finance committee has shortened the leash for council- lors and department heads. They will no longer be allowed to go out of the province on conven- tions. Finance chair Paul Eagleson said the old policy only allowed trips to conventions outside Ontario if council approved the request. "The point being they had to ask, and nobody ever voted against it," Eagleson said. "It always seemed to be to the east coast or the west coast, and nothing in the middle." He said the Highways and Plan- ning departments' were the most regular customers of the long-dis tance convention, sending from three to five members a year to national conferences. He urged the change in convention policy when he learned department heads didn't need the natio ial association to keep up their professional duds. Councilors and department heads can attend one convention each, and a second one with council approval, as long as they don't cross the Ontario border. In another cost-cutting move, Bruce County has decided not to host a hospitality suite at the Good Roads ,convention. Executive com- i ittee chair Carman Fullerton said the practice was feasible while the county , was promoting the 'Inter- national Plowing Match it hosted in 1993, but should be discontinued "in light of current financial restraint". • And to save more money, council will no longer pay the way for members to attend Council Day at. the University of Western Ontario in London. • In the past the county paid for councillors who attended the day dedicated to the municipal councils that support UWOs scholarship programs. This year there is a $25 registration fee that county council doesn't want to pay. "They (councillors) can still go, if they pay their own way," Eagleson