HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Citizen, 1993-10-06, Page 1The North Huron
itizen
Vol. 9 No. 40 Wednesday, October 6, 1993
600 GST included
This may only be a fictional scenario, but if it were real it
would be one of the worst ones possible. Volunteers from
the Blyth Fire Department as well as from Flesherton and
Ripley took part in an Emergency Response Course at
Sparling's Propane on Saturday. This scene was the final
exercise of the day long event. The scenario was that a
truck took off with a hose connected to one of the propane
tanks and caught fire. The purpose was to see how long it
took to set up and what equipment was needed. The
biggest problem was getting to the water, Chief Paul
Josling said, as they would have had to drive through a
propane cloud, which would have proven deadly. It was
estimated that 1,000 gallons of water a minute would have
to be pumped for a fire of this magnitude.
Heated JK debate draws to a close
Community
Brussels gets
extra protection
for Hallowe'en
See page 2
Government
Blyth, Brussels
councils review
budgets
See page 7
Farm
Seaforth couple
receives Federation
honour
See page 18
Church
Pastors take part
in Huronlea
chapel dedication
See page 20
Blyth makes
PUC changes
Three years of heated and emo-
tional debate started to come to an
end at the HCBE meeting on Oct.
4.
The ad-hoc committee report on
the issue of junior kindergarten
(JK) for the county was brought
before the board with two recom-
mendations.
The first motion was for HCBE
to proceed with the implementation
of the JK program over a three year
period, commencing Jan. 1, with
the addition of eligible students
where space, staff and staff training
permit, on an age priority with a
After spending Saturday at an
Emergency Response Course Blyth
volunteers firefighters were put to
the test Sunday afternoon when
they were called to a chemical fire
at Hubbard's Rutabaga Plant.
Fire Chief Paul Josling said the
fire resulted from an electrical short
sircuit in a main switch which
ignited boxes fo chemicals in the
room. Though there was basically
little fire, Chief Josling said the
view to enhancing board revenues
and minimizing additional cost.
Each trustee had a very definite
opinion on the issue and raised
their concerns in turn.
Norman Pickell, trustee from
Goderich has strong objections to
the forced implementation of JK by
the government.
"How can a government mandate
such action? There are always hid-
den costs to such plans that must be
paid for by the taxpayers of this
county," he says.
"The government says they want
to boost employment but there will
firefighters had to be careful dLe to
the toxic fumes.
The MOEE was investigating
Monday at the plant, Chief Josling
said.
Lat that evening firefighters were
out once again when high tension
lines on Country Road 25 sparked a
tree.
Ontari Hydro crews were called
to cut two trees down and power
was out in some areas for part of
the evening.
be layoffs in the daycare field," Mr.
Pickell says.
He also had objections to putting
four-year-olds on buses and forcing
them to attend a full day of school.
Trustee Liliane Nolan of Wing-
ham was very concerned with the
cost of the program and where the
money was to come from.
In support of the implementation,
Trustee Roxanne Brown of Clinton
pointed out that by starting the pro-
gram by Jan. 1 the board would be
eligible for large equipment grants
that would be in the amount of
$2,400 to $3,000 for each school
with JK.
"The program is now law and to
delay implementation would only
cause the loss of the grant money,"
she says.
Director Paul Carroll says he felt
it was necessary to ensure all the
trustees were fully aware of the
implications of delaying or fighting
the start of JK. -
"The absence of the program
would be a disservice to the taxpay-
ers of the county."
"They are already contributing to
JK in other areas through their
provincial taxes and they should
Due to reduced transfer pay-
ments, the Social Contract and
increasing financial pressures, the
village of Blyth passed a bylaw at
the Sept. 28 meeting which enacted
several changes to the operation of
have an equal opportunity to
access. That is the basis behind
provincially governed education,
everyone had equal access," he
says.
"At this time, the introduction of
JK would be a financial benefit to
the taxpayers of this county
through the grant money based on
student enrollment."
Mr. Carroll also stated the Min-
istry of Education was very willing
to encourage local solutions to deal
with any problems that may arise in
transportation and facility accom-
modations.
"These solutions might include
the use of daycare centres instead
of expanding schools and possibly
hiring early childhood educators
(ECE's) as the teacher's assistants,"
he says.
This would help alleviate some
of the job losses in the daycare
industry by putting four-year-olds
into the school system.
Mr. Carroll also stressed the fact
that just because JK is made avail-
able, parents are not forced to
enroll their child.
After considerable discussion, a
Continued on page 7
the public utilities.
Effective Oct. 1, the Blyth PUC
will become the Blyth Hydro Elec-
tric Commission (BHEC), while
Blyth Water Works will be the full
responsibility of council.
BHEC will be responsible for the
hydro transmissions and sales.
As council and PUC have
reduced their yearly stipend in the
last two years a savings of $1,620
in 1993 will be seen.
Blyth Water Works, as council's
full responsibility, should save
$1,425 in stipend.
The village works foreman will
be responsible for the village as
well as Blyth hydro works with no
addition remuneration while the
position of PUC Foreman will be
Continued on page 3
Area woman
in accident
A Cranbrook woman was criti-
cally injured in a single vehicle
accident in Grey Twp., Friday
morning.
A spokesperson from the Wing-
ham OPP said Wendy Malcolm,
45, was injured when her car struck
a bridge abutment at Sideroad
15/16 in Grey. Volunteers from the
Grey Twp. Fire Department were
called upon to extricate Mrs. Mal-
colm from the wreck.
OPP are continuing their investi-
gation into the cause of the acci-
dent, the spokesperson said.
Mrs. Malcolm was later trans-
ferred from Wingham Hospital to
University Hospital, London,
where her condition, Monday was
listed as critical.
Earlier that morning another
accident occurred at Conc. 11/12 in
Grey, when a pickup driven by 18-
year-old Tracey Garside of London
fishtailed out of control, entered the
north ditch where it struck a fence
and rolled, police said.
Ms Garside and a passenger Car-
rie Bradley, also 18, of Grey Twp.
were taken to Seaforth by private
auto, where they were treated for
minor injuries.
CIBC finds
counterfeit bill
A counterfeit $20 bill was uncov-
ered last week at the Blyth branch
of the Canadian Imperial Bank of
Commerce.
Teller Deb Hopper noticed the
irregularity of the bill as she was
counting out money to a customer,
so set it aside until police were
notified.
A spokesperson from the Wing-
ham OPP said the bill, which had a
waxy surface on the back, made its
way to the bank through a weekend
deposit.
Watch out
for deer
After responding to three
car/deer accidents over the past
weekend, Wingham OPP are cau-
tioning drivers to be on the watch.
If an animal does jump into the
path of a car, however, OPP are
also stressing that while drivers
many not want to hit the animal,
they should not swerve to avoid the
deer, as this increases the risk of
injury to the driver.
Firefighters battle blaze