No preview available
HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Lucknow Sentinel, 1994-09-07, Page 1PUBLISHED IN LUCKNOW, ONTARIO Wednesday, September 7, 1994 550 G.S.T. Included Back to school! Cory and Catlin Hamilton were among the many students around the area who headed back to school on Tuesday. Welcoming Cory and Caitlin back to Lucknow Public School are teachers Shelia Green (left) and Ruth Bell. Cory is going Into grade two this year while Caitlin will be tackling grade one. (John Peevers photo) - • 1 I I ' Towns told to pay up ,. by David Greenberg I Residents of .Winghani, Exeter and Clinton may have to start dealing with Huron County planners instead of their Iocal planning departments unless the towns start paying their bills. The county planning, committee says. the towns have refused to pay almost $5,000. since 1993 in a dispute over consulting fees. The county allowed the three towns to approve certain planning applications. The county has authority to delegate that respon- sibility. The towns handle .most of the detailed work to • make sure a proposal meets requirements set out in the official plan. In exchange the towns were to pay certain ; consulting l fees to the county. Now the towns say . the county doesn't earn 'the money. Exeter, especially, objects and has withheld about $2,000 in fees. County council last week rejected its own planning committee's recommendations to take. back the 'approval rights unless the fees were paid. ' Instead, the county has given everyone a month to come up with a solution. County planning committee chair- man . Lionel Wilder says the problem is relatively simple. "'They have to pay the fees." But Exeter administrator Rick Hanley says it's not as simple as it sounds, and the county will be hurting Exeter residents, not Exeter politicians if it decides to become the heavy in the dispute. "We will be turned into a com- menting agency and the applicant would have to deal with Goderich. "The roles would be reversed. The way it works now, we do the planning report and the county sends a fairly general report to us. Our, report is more detailed' than theirs. "They won't know the local cir- • cumstances the way we do," Hanley contends: Residents applying for minor severences and other similar plan- ning matters would find themselves having to drive to Goderich and get approval .or consent .from county planners. I "We don't think that's necessary," Hanley said. Welfare pays 3.4 % more by David Greenberg The numbers don't tell the whole story: fewer people are receiving wclfarc payments com- pared with last year; but Huron County is paying 3.4 percent more, anyway and is already $69,000 over budget. • "The number of cases has dropped, but the. cost per case has increased," GWA supervisor Dave Overboe said in an interview, last week. . Overboe said many of those receiving general welfare assistance are single men; when. they find work,it doesn't have. the _effect on the budget that a family of four might by going off assistance. And when the single male gives up welfare and is replaced by a family . of four, the imbalance 'becomes acute, he said. County council last week noted that $2.69 million has.becn paid out to June 30, 1994, about $386,000 over budget -• a 3.4 per cent increase over 1993's $2.59'million. The county'sshare of the over - budget was $69,000. This despite' the fact that the number of applicants has decreased 6.8 per cent and, the number of individuals receiving wclfarc declined by 1.78 per cent. Huron County had the third lowest percentage of population receiving welfare of a list of 57 municipalities reporting, with 2.28 per cent of the population receiving assistance. A single man on wclfarc in Huron County .receives anywhere from $314 (this would apply to a 22 - year -old man living at home, for example) to $663 per month (for.an individual who required an apartment.); a childless couple receives from $700 to $1,200 a month; and a couple with two young children receives a maximum of about $1,500 a month. No taxes arc paid on welfare income. As well, individuals and families receive 100 per cent drug benefit plan; some eye glasses protection; fall and winter clothing 'allowances for children; and extraordinary medical supplies, such as needles for diabetics. A working individual would have to gross about $27,400 a year, and pay out about $9,000 in deductions, including about .$5,000 in income tax to net $18,000 a year. leachers, .board still not talking by Pat Halpin. Bruce County secondary school teacher's have rejected the two dates .)offered by the board negotiating . team for a return to the table but have suggested talks could resume on Sept. 16. "Basically we had all summer," said District President Mark Ciavaglia about teachers availability to meet with the board. Ciavaglia said the Sept. 2 and 9 dates sug- gested by the board were not accep- table because members of • the teachers' negotiating team whd have to travel from Toronto could not make those dates. . Ciavaglia expected to hear from. mediator Doug Lawless early this week whether the Sept. 16 meeting would be confirmed. Meanwhile trustees' negotiating chairperson David Inglis said it is, "very disappointing" that the meeting can't happen earlier. "We're very upset that they've put it off," Inglis said. "They ac- cused us of holding (negotiations) up. Earlier, Ciavaglia said there was no point in holding another meeting with the board negotiating team •turn to page 40 Dirt was flying and the whine of finely -tuned engines could be heard outside Donnybrook on Saturday and Sunday as a fully sanctioned Motocross was held their. Hundreds of people were on hand to participate and watch the races, some coming as far away as the United States. (John Peevers) .