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Home My WebLink AboutThe Citizen, 1993-03-31, Page 1See page 16 See page 27 The North Huron itizen Vol. 9 No.13 Wednesday, March 31, 1993 600 GST included Interested bystanders There was a _massive turnout on hand for Sunday's Open House of Huronlea and Highland Apartments in Morris Township at the south edge of Brussels. Huronview Administrator Wayne Lester said that just over 800 people toured the facility, which was a much greater number than had been anticipated. "It demonstrated tremendous support from the community," he said. Many throng to Huronlea open house For the first time the interested and the curious were able to see what all the excitement is about at the open houses for Huronlea, the new senior care facility located in Morris Township at the edge of Brussels., this past week. On Thursday evening members of local municipal council and the media were invited to tour the facility, while an open house for the general public Sunday afternoon from 2-4 was hugely attended. Past chair of the Huronview committee and Wingham Reeve Bruce Machan said the patients will be moved into Huronlea on April 15. All of the 62 rooms of the 34,100 square foot building will be occupied. There is already a waiting list. In addition to the private and semi-private extended care rooms there are the Highland Apartments. This alternative housing part of the facility contains two, two bedroom apartments, 14 one bedroom apartments and four apartments for physically challenged individuals. The estimated cost of the Huronlea project was $7,159,650. "We are very proud of the fact we are still on budget," said Reeve Machan. Other features of the Huronlea building include the Alzheimers unit, with a secure dining area and garden. There is also a guest suite in the bnildhig for relatives to use overnight on an availability basis. The open house N. Huronview and Heartland Apartments in Tuckersmith Township outside Clinton will be this Sunday afternoon. Residents wilt be moving in there on April 20. Blyth/Hullett may take Turnberry's waste Business Area couple finds business sucess in the bag See page 7 Sports Blyth Bantams lead WOAA Ont. finals by 1 game See page 9 Farm Farmers sound off at annual Fed. of Ag. dinner Entertainment Popular children's entertainer comes to Blyth Blyth ends '92 with surplus of $60,000 The Blyth/Hullett Landfill site committee is currently in the pro- cess of determining whether or not it is possible to accept Turnberry Township garbage. Turnberry approached the committee with the request March 1. Blyth Clerk Administrator Helen Grubb said the committee is presently in the midst of investigat- ing the "loops and hoops that could be skipped through" until the coun- ty site is available for Turnberry's waste. County council approved a motion at a meeting on March 25 stating that the proposed expansion of the landfill site's service area to include Turnberry's household waste would not adversely impact the County's Waste Management Master Plan. Ms Grubb said the committee will be meeting with representa- tives from the Ministry of the Envi- ronment and Turnberry Township in the near future. April 5 has been By Lisa Boonstoppel-Pot Programs, staff and renovations are among the items school trustees are looking at cutting to reduce a proposed 6.6 per cent tax increase from the Huron County Board of Education. Trustees discussed possible cuts at a board estimates meeting March 24 after reviewing a $65,703,674 budget. Despite applying a $1,103,978 surplus from 1992, frozen govern- ment grants and almost zero growth in assessment means the taxpayer will have to pay more if trustees can't reduce costs. discussed though it has not been confirmed, she said. The purpose of the meeting is to determine whether One of the first areas to be cut may be the family studies and design technology program offered to Grade seven and eight students. These programs cost the board $425,730 per year. Other expenses trustees are look- ing at eliminating include: —a renovation project at Col- borne Public School —the position of vice-principal at the elementary level —special positions such as department heads and coordinators —adult education Trustees requested board admin- istration research the cost of each By Lisa Boonstoppel-Pot Due to leftover PRIDE grant money, Blyth council ended 1992 with a $66,602 surplus. The figure was announced at council's March 23 meeting when the proposal can be done without hassle and if it's economical for the Continued on page 8 of these items. They also requested information on the number of staff at the HCBE education centre com- pared to the staff compliment at other education boards. "The trustee's top priority seems to be to reduce the mill rate," said Paul Carroll, the board's superin- tendent of business and operations. He said to reduce the mill rate increase by one percentage point, trustees will have to reduce costs by $215,000. The cost analysis will be present- ed at a meeting April 5 when trustees will against review the pro- posed 1993 budget. Paul Seebach of Vodden, Bender and Seebach Chartered Accoun- tants presented the town's consoli- dated financial report for 1992. "The surplus is largely because PRIDE money wasn't spent," said Mr. Seebach. "Without the PRIDE money, the surplus would have been approximately $6,000." The unspent PRIDE money is for construction of Blyth's main street, explained Clerk Administrator Helen Grubb. "I think our village should be very proud with an auditor's report like this," said Steve Sparling. Mr. Seebach agreed. "The village is standing a little better this year than last," he said. In 1991, the vil- lage ended the year with a $3,460 deficit. Large savings were attributed to Memorial Hall Board operations which came in $14,000 under bud- get due to a substantial decrease in maintenance costs. Also contributing to the surplus were savings in: —garbage collection where $24,600 was spent of the $26,000 budgeted amount, —street construction (excluding Morris St.) where $2,758 was spent of the $23,000 budgeted amount —street lighting where $13,628 was spent; $14,000 was budgeted, —library, where $2,852 was spent of the $3,600 budgeted amount —building inspection which cost $5,671 compared to the $6,500 budgeted amount and, —administration salaries where $30,965 was spent of the $32,000 budgeted amount. Money was also saved with the elimination of a tourist booth, which cost the town $19,150 in 1991 and the deferral of office ren- ovation and equipment. However, some areas increased in expense, such as: —transportation street mainte- nance materials and services, $5,471 over the $45,000 budget, —administration materials, $3,032 over the $32,000 budget (due to software maintenance), —council, $395 over the $12,000 budget, —computer, $1,599 over the $7,500 budget —dog control, $365 over the $500 budget, —planning and zoning, $525 over the $1,500 budget and, —commercial development, $2,254 over the $2,000 budget. As well, a special reserve in the amount of $1,000 was set up for contaminated soil. Time has come to spring ahead Many thought it would never arrive, but now that spring is offi- cially here it's time to gain some extra daylight hours in the evening. This Sunday, April 4, we spring forward, turning the clocks ahead one hour, as we change to Daylight Savings Time. HCBE trustees look for cuts