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HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Citizen, 1993-01-27, Page 4Chilled fruit Photo by Lisa Boonstoppel-Pot Looking Back Through the Years From the files of the Blyth Standard, Brussels Post and The Citizen FOUR YEARS AGO January 25, 1989 East Wawanosh farmer Jim Hunter was appointed president of the Brussels Agricultural Society annual banquet. Kent van Vliet, formerly of Blyth accepted a position as flight control co-ordinator for Worldways Air- lines at Pearson International Air- port, Toronto. He had been senior pilot instruc- tor for the RCAF reserves at Tren- ton. The Huron County Waste Man- agement Master Plan held its first public meeting in Blyth. Approxi- mately 70 people attended the meeting. Blyth village council held its first meeting to redesign its PRIDE grant proposal to improve the vil- lage. Grants totalling more than $21,000 were awarded to three Huron municipalities including Blyth and Hullett for the improve- ment of existing recreational facili- ties. East Wawanosh staffers were granted a pay increase. Clerk Winona Thompson an increase to $30,000 from $28,500, plus a year- ly car allowance of $1,500 in lieu of pension and full OHIP coverage. Road Superintendent Ralph Campbell's hourly rate rose from $12 to $12.60, while the rate for full-time grader operator John McClinchey went from $11.50 to $12.10. Fred Meier, RR4, Brussels was elected chairman of the Board of Continued on page 5 C itizen The North Huron P.O. Box 429, P.O. Box 152, BLYTH, Ont. BRUSSELS, Ont. NOM 1H0 NOG 1H0 Phone 523-4792 Phone 887-9114 FAX 523-9140 FAX 887-9021 The Citizen is published weekly in Brussels, Ontario by North Huron Publishing Company Inc. Subscriptions are payable in advance at a rate of $20.50/year ($19.16 plus $1.34 G.S.T.) for local; $31.03/year ($29.00 plus $2.03 G.S.T.) for local letter carrier in Goderich, Hanover, Listowel, etc. and out-of-area (40 miles from Brussels); $60.00/year for U.S.A. and Foreign. Advertising is accepted on the condition that in the event of a typographical error, only that portion of the advertisement will be credited. Advertising Deadlines: Monday, 2 p.m. - Brussels; Monday, 4 p.m. - We are not responsible for unsolicited newscripts or photographs. Contents of The Citizen are © Copywright. Publications Mail Registration No. 6968 Publisher, Keith Roulston Editor, Bonnie Gropp Sales Representatives, Jeannette McNeil and Merle Gunby CCNA VE RI FIFO CIRCULATION PAID •WM.* Serving Blyth, Brussels, Auburn, Belgrave, Ethel, Londesborough, Walton and the sun/40114p m,'AsIk>, ••.••,„••:- • PAGE 4. THE CITIZEN, WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 27, 1993. Li ditorial Reality returns The salary settlement agreed upon between the Huron County Board of Education and its elementary school teachers last week shows that reality has returned to the education after a long absense. Nobody had much choice but to accept this sort of settlement. There just isn't enough money to keep up the kind of escalation of recent years that saw salaries always increase by more than the cost of living. With freezes in funding from the province, it may be hard to the board to even find the money for the relatively miniscule one per cent raise this year and up to two per cent next year (depending on the cost of living increase). There is little room for an increase in the local tax rate either, as taxpayers struggle to keep up in a time when their income has been frozen and their businesses may be falling behind. Huron County's huge farm sector in particular after a decade of poor prices topped off by this past fall's crop failure, is in a precarious situation. Given the situation, it's reassuring to see that people on both sides in the negotiations have shown common sense and recognized the hard realities of the time.—KR Volunteerism cuts costs Until the moment they need to call the fire department, most people don't spend much time thinking about their local volunteer fire department and how much service we get for so little thanks to these loyal volunteers. Look around and compare, however, and you'll realize how fortunate we are to still have enough volunteers to make our fire departments function at low cost. It was startling to read in the newspaper of a neighbouring town last week that the salary for the full-time fire chief was $41,700 (and the chief was insulted when he was offered only a 1.7 per cent pay increase). That's $41,700 before any of the other firemen get paid a penny; $41,700 before there is gas in the fire truck or the electricity is turned on at the fire hall. For a little perspective, compare the costs of the three volunteer departments in our area. The audited statement of the village of Brussels for the year ending Dec. 31, 1991 shows the entire cost of fire protection for the village for the year was $22,069. In Grey township, the entire cost of running the fire department is $48,000. The Blyth and District Fire Department, the largest in the area and covering a huge hunk of the northern part of the county from parts of McKillop township in the east to parts of West Wawanosh in the west, has a salary budget for all its firemen of $28,500, and a total budget of something more than $50,000. Is the protection offered by local fire departments substandard because they are totally manned by volunteers? Watching these firemen in action its evident that the local departments can match their response times and skills with anyone else. While taxpayers are blessed with the savings a volunteer department can bring them, they should also be on guard to keep their local departments. Increasing pressure from provincial officials may number the days of the volunteer fire chief. Already departments must find the added money to buy expensive new bunker suits at $1000 a piece in the next couple of years. In addition, firemen are being expected to do so much more than fighting fires any more. As the expertise needed to do the job increases, the pressure may be too much for volunteers. There are already other fire departments in the county which are pushing for full-time chiefs. So raise a cheer to those volunteers who are protecting your home and property while not sending your taxes through the roof. Be ready to fight, however, to keep them.—KR Pulling the plug? Ontario Hydro's talk of pulling the plug on one of the Bruce Nuclear Power Development's generating stations has people in Bruce County (and northern Huron for that matter) quaking in their boots. Take Ontario Hydro out of Bruce, and what do you have left to provide jobs? It wasn't always that way. Towns like Kincardine once have a viable industrial base of their own. When Ontario Hydro came along, with its huge wages local businesses lost their best workers. Now that Ontario Hydro has destroyed the native economy, to pull out of Bruce county would be an act of economic terrorism. Hydro's in a mess. Anyone who has watched the waste at BNPD over the years could have forecast problems were coming. The nuclear program, that was supposed to be our answer to energy self-sufficiency for years to come, now looks like an economic disaster. Still, closing down the plant now is unthinkable.—KR