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HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Citizen, 1992-02-12, Page 30PAGE 30. THE CITIZEN, WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 12,1992. Towns, townships split as urban rd. rebate reduced After years of debate about the subject, Huron County council finally agreed to cut the rebate to urban municipalities for road expenses at the Feb. 6 meeting of council. The issue of rebates to the urban municipalities which don't enjoy as large a share of the county-owned highways has been a hot topic for years with various proposals to cut the amount of the rebate being rejected. Urban municipalities have received a rebate of 45 per cent of the money raised within their municipalities for county road pur­ poses. But with the recent reassessment which switched more of the tax burden to urban municipalities, the road budget would have required $56,000 extra, an additional two per cent tax increase, just to main­ tain the rebate level at the 45 per cent level, County Engineer Denis Merrall explained. Urban munici­ palities would be getting more money from the rebate than in the past, but would have to increase their taxes in order to get the rebate. By dropping the rebate to 40 per cent, most municipalities would get about the same as last year and the additional tax hike wouldn't be needed. Locally, Blyth received a rebate of $11,766 last year under the old 45 per cent rebate and will receive $11,223 under the 40 per cent rebate this year. Had the 45 per cent rebate remained intact, it would have received $12,626. Brussels received $12,240 last year and will receive $12,706 under the new East Wawanosh students kept busy Editors: Ms. Thorpe-Hearn's Grade 5/6 Class Kindergarten: The Kindergartens are busy with two major projects. They are making both Valentine holders and “My Friend” books. Sounds like a lot of hard, but fun work! Grade 1: Mrs. Bridges' grade one class is getting ready for Valen­ tine's Day. They are learning how to make their own Valentines and working on Valentine songs and activities. They read a story called “Good Night Owl”, and after read­ ing the story, they made a “Huge Picture”. They did a fantastic job. Grade 2: Mrs. Dodds' grade two class is getting ready for their Valentine's Day auction with the money the students have been earn­ ing for being good. On Friday, Jan­ uary 31, they went skating and had a great time. On February 13, they are having a 100th day party. There is a new pattern on their February calendar which is interesting to watch each day. Mrs. Dodds is reading the book Trumpet of the Summer to the class. They really like it. Grade 2: Mrs. Hessels' grade two class has a bingo game every day. They made special bags to put Valentines in. They learned a new song called “Mr. Banjo” along with many other Valentine songs. Grade 3: Miss Mather's grade three class is presenting Bridget Cucksey as their “Special Me Person” of the week. They are starting Valentine centres which will surely be lots of fun. In Math, the grade threes are learning regrouping of tens and hundreds. A very Happy Birthday is sent to Julie Hopper on February 11 from her classmates. Grade 4: Mr. Fisher's grade four class is doing activities on the novel The Pheonix and the Flying Carpet. They have been working on the “Type Away” program on the computer. The class will also be acting and taping scenes in French based upon The Three Little Pigs. They had a super time at their tobogganing party. Grade 5: Mr. Kerr's grade five class had their best Treat Sale ever last week. They want to thank all the students and staff in the school who participated by buying their goodies. They are working very hard on their speeches. They par­ ticularly enjoy working in their comic strip reading groups where they get to make their own comic strips. What fun. Grade 5/6: Our class has been busy this past week. We have fin­ ished our Social Studies “Europe” unit with the last “Country of the Week” centre (a European country of our choice) and we have each had a chance to say our speech once in front of the class. Next week, each of us will say our speeches again in front of the class, and then, we will decide which five students will compete within our classroom to be the three class representatives at the school's com- petition February 18. We want to congratulate our teacher, Ms. Thorpe-Hearn who is expecting a baby in August. We hope she doesn't really name it George or Georgina. Grade 7: Mrs. Gross' grade seven class had an interesting visit from Sonia, the Lung Lady. She brought in a real lung to show the class. The grade sevens are working hard on their Native research projects in History class. Most of the sevens are writing a make-up test in Science as they did poorly on the first test. They really hope they do better this time. Grade 8: Mr. Bartlett's grade eights no longer have the ICON lab in their classroom, so they are back to a regular math program. Speech­ es are under way. In Geography the class has begun research into river systems. COUNTY COUNCIL 1991 REMUNERATION Remuneration Convention & Other Expenses Total Armstrong, Howard (Stanley)7,812.80 1,526.75 9,339.55 Armstrong, Leona (Grey)6,260 20 758.32 7,018.52 Baker, Garry G. (Stephen)5,804.00 1,656.79 7,460.79 Bennett, William (Seaforth)3,130.55 481.52 3,612.07 Cantelon, George (Tuckersmith)2,919.50 695.47 3,614.97 Carnochan, Bill (Tuckersmith)267.00 267.00 Carrier, Patricia (Bayfield)2,510.90 41.10 2,552.00 Clifford, Bill (Goderich)235.25 235.25 Coleman, Jack (Stanley)2,961.85 298.92 3,260.77 Cooke, Bee (Clinton)6,883.40 887.72 7,771.12 Cranston, Cedi (W. Wawanosh)3,712.30 3,712.30 Cunningham, Thomas J. (Hullett)8,657.45 1,525.86 10,183.31 Doherty, John P. (Goderich)3,952.45 663.47 4,615.92 Down, Patrida (Usborne)320.75 320.75 Fairies, Norman (Howick)3,075.95 271.12 3,347.07 Fisher, Robert W. (Zurich)5,515.05 361.26 5,876.31 Fraser, Douglas C. (Morris)5,789.60 724.59 6,514.19 Fuller, Lossy (Exeter)6,134.30 1,106.50 7,240.80 Gibson, Allan J. (Ashfield)2,868.20 252.50 3,120.70 Gower, Dave (Goderich Twp.)136.00 136.00 Hallam, Bob (W. Wawanosh)273.05 273.05 Hicknell, Marie (McKillop)5,551.30 1,027.25 6,578.55 Keys, Murray (Hay)2,287.00 2,287.00 Lee, Dave (Blyth)261.60 261.60 Machan, Bruce M. (Wingham)5,101.80 319.05 5,420.85 McBumey, Brian W. (Tumberry)3,159.55 3,159.55 Mickle, William L. (Exeter)6,909.15 224.23 7,133.38 Pepper, Cecil J. (Hensail)276.00 276.00 Prout, Gerald (Usborne)3,105.95 387.73 3,493.68 Robinson, James B. (Hensail)43,312.70 11,479.89 54,792.59 Rodges, John (Goderich Twp.)6,189.75 6,189.75 Snell, Ernest R. (E. Wawanosh)4,544.95 837.55 5,382.50 Stirling, Grant H. (Goderich Twp.)5,339.75 402.74 5,742.49 Tomes, Thomas J. (Stephen)6,463 50 566.85 7,030.35 Vanstone, William S. (Colbome)2,259.25 554.94 2,814.19 Wasson, Albert A. (Blyth)4,702.65 645.61 5,348.26 Weber, William D. (Stephen)321.65 321.65 Wilder, Lionel E. (Hay)3,611.95 869.15 4,481.10 Worsell, Harry E. (Goderich)3,736.10 651.32 4,387.42 Workman, J. Gordon (Brussels)3,926.50 956.94 4,883.44 APPOINTED OFFICIALS: Steckle, Paul D.2,469.51 2,469.51 Baird, James 1,134.00 340.45 1,474.45 Day, Margaret 803.40 471.59 1,274.99 Elston, Isabel 1,611.45 459.13 2,070.58 Mac Ewan, Sally 68.00 68.00 Total 196,368.01 31,446.31 227,814.32 rebate level, but would have received $14,294 this year under the 45 per cent rebate. The cutback in rebates was one of several measures Mr. Merrall recommended to keep highway costs in line with the attempt to have a zero per cent increase in the road budget. Proposed reconstruc­ tion of County Rd. 20 in Ashficld township will be reduced and paving of County Rd. 12 in Tum- berry and Howick will be reduced. Cuts in the budget for roadside maintenance will also be made. But it was the urban rebates that caused the most debate as urban reeves reacted negatively. Bill Clif­ ford, deputy-reeve of Goderich, protested the cut, pointing out that at the January meeting of council urban taxpayers "took it on the chin" with the reassessment from 1984 property value levels to 1988 levels, a move that reduced farm­ land values and increased residen­ tial property values. "Here it looks like we're getting hit again," he said. "We just can’t keep doing this." Exeter's Bill Mickle agreed, and proposed an amendment to the motion from the roads committee which would have retained other cuts, but restored the rebate to 45 per cent. Road Committee members defended the cuts. Brian McBumey of Turnberry argued it wasn't a very big drop in the money urban municipalities would be getting and Bill Vanstone of Colbome said the committee had spent a lot of time discussing ways to cut costs. "We're not throwing stones at urban people," he argued. "This is not urban versus country folk." But Councillor Mickle argued that the move would still hurt urban municipalities which must pay a larger share of the county burden - because of the reassessment, then will get a smaller proportion back. . The move would cost $10,000 to his town, he said, money it would­ n't have to spend on its own roads. "I don't believe this is fair." He also worried the move would prove a precedent and that in future the rebate might be cut even more. That, he said, would destroy the urban support system. In the long run the issue was put to two recorded votes. Councillor Mickle's amendment was defeated 22-8 and the original motion to cut the rebates was supported by the same margin of 22-8. The voting split pretty much along rural-urban lines except for Blyth Reeve Dave Lee and Brussels Reeve Gordon Workman who supported the reduction in the rebates to their municipalities. BLYTH FESTIVAL WINNERS OF PAY WHAT YOU PULL DRAW $100 Prizes Keith Bregman, Peter Cook $50 Prizes FLA. Bregman Kay Hesselwood, Bob McCullogh. Jack Pinder $25 Prizes O. Arbour, Luanne Phair, Karen Richards $10 Prizes Kevin Abley, Joan Lyndon, Jim McDougall, M. Urlin, Tabitha Montgomery Special thanks to Blyth Legion Ladles Auxiliary, Branch 420 and Generous Volunteers for helping to raise $3000 for Blyth Festival Capital Campaign ANNOUNCEMENT Bill Siemon The Board of Directors of West Wawanosh Mutual Insurance of Dungannon, Ontario are pleased to announce the appointment of Bill Siemon of McMaster Slemon Insurance Brokers Inc. as a Broker. West Wawanosh Mutual Is a farm mutual company which has served Huron & Bruce County for over 100 years and offers a full range of coverages for Farm, Homeowners, Automobile and Commercial. McMaster Siemon Insurance Brokers 68 Ontario Rd. P.O. Box 488 Mitchell, Ontario N0K 1N0 348-9150 1-800-561-0183 J 'M'H To My Special Valentine! Angle Love, Kyle Be Mine . . Valentine To Grandma & Grandpa Caldwell & klemke Love Eric & Benjamin Valentines Day Jason You're in our hearts Mom, Dad, N, A& J Be Mine . . . Valentine To Erin To Paul, Our love is afire, which cannot be put out. Love, Tiny Be Mine . . . Valentine To Gator, Buck & Miss Love ya! mt To: Murray Innisville Won't you be my Valentine? P.H.S.A.C.