The Citizen, 1997-04-30, Page 1News ■ News ■ Music ■ Entertainment
NDP candidate
gears up for
campaign trail
See page 6
Child Find begins
Green Ribbon of
Hope campaign
See page 26
Festival Singers
invite you to come
to the cabaret
See page 27
A wedding comes
to Blyth
Memorial Hall
See page 28
CitizenTheNorthHuron Cycling accident
claims child’s life
Tragedy struck a Londesboro
area family Sunday, when Luke
Jordan Anderson, nine-year-old son
of Ken and Diane Anderson, was
hit by a passing motorist.
Anderson was riding his bike
westward on County Road 17, Hul-
lett Twp. at 12:50 p.m. April 27,
when he went through the stop sign
at the intersection of County Road
15, said a Goderich OPP
spokesperson.
He collided with a 1997 Chev
pickup driven by Doug Hugill, 54,
of Hullett Twp. Hugill took evasive
action, but was unable to avoid the
cyclist, the spokesperson said.
Anderson, who was wearing a
safety helmet, was pronounced
dead at the scene.
No charges will be laid.
A private service was held Tues
day, April 29, at 11 a.m., at Whit-
ney-Ribey Funeral Home, Seaforth.
He will be sadly missed by sib
lings Kyle, Adam and Cody and
grandparents Thelma and Ken
Johnston of Blyth and Marjorie and
Eric Anderson of RR1, Londes
boro.
Blyth man faces charge
of attempted murder
A 23-year-old Blyth man has
been charged with attempted mur
der and aggravated assault as the
result of a stabbing incident in the
village in the early morning hours
of April 26.
Jason Lee was taken into custody
without incident, by Goderich OPP,
and remanded in Stratford Jail until
his bail hearing Monday, said an
OPP release. Lee was released on
his own recognizance to appear in
court again June 2, at 9 a.m.
The victim, William Tugwell, 32,
of Clinton, was taken to Clinton
Public Hospital before being trans
ferred to Victoria Hospital in Lon
don. He is listed in stable
condition.
Public input needed
on study, says reeve
County plans day of strategy
Once information is available
from the province, Huron County
will hold a strategic planning day to
consider issues such as policing
and ambulance service.
Both services will fall to munici
palities under provincial announce
ments during the "mega-week"
announcements earlier this year.
All municipalities will have to pick
up the cost of ambulance service
while municipalities without their
own police force will be forced to
pay for OPP service.
The request for the meeting came
from Stephen Twp. Stephen's
Reeve, Bill Weber, said his council
wanted to discuss with other
municipalities, the best way to pro
vide such services.
Warden Murray Keyes pointed
out finding a joint solution to the
policing question will be difficult.
One municipality already had a
long term contract with the OPP at
a favourable rate, he said, and
wouldn't want to increase expenses
by getting involved in other
arrangements.
There were comments that such a
meeting should be set up immedi
ately because the changes come
into effect Jan. 1, but Bill Clifford,
reeve of Goderich, felt the recom
mendation of the Administration,
Finance and Personnel committee
to wait for information from the
province was wise. "I don't see how
we can rush the process," he said.
Huron County should consult
local municipalities before pro
ceeding with a study into whether
county or local levels of govern
ment could most efficiently run the
road system, Exeter Reeve Bill
Mickle told county council Thurs
day.
Speaking following a presenta
tion by a consulting firm on the
possible savings by merger of the
jocal and county road systems,
Mickle said local municipalities
should be involved in setting the
terms of reference for the study
since their roads are involved as
well as the county's. "I think it is
important that we recognize there
are jurisdictions at both levels," he
said. If the towns, villages and
townships are not involved, he said,
there is one step in the process that
is being missed.
Mickle moved that local munici
palities be asked for their input
before the terms of reference were
decided. He was ruled out of order
but was allowed to change the
motion that the Agriculture and
Public Works Committee consider
getting input from the municipali
ties.
Mickle was reacting to a presen
tation by Bob Blay of McCormick
Rankin who outlined results of
studies in Hastings and Simcoe
Counties that indicated savings
could be achieved by either desig
nating all roads to the local level or
all roads to the county level. With
smaller provincial grants for road
building and maintenance, Blay
said, these alternative road manage
ment systems could help stretch
dollars.
In the two studies completed, the
company looked at the expendi
tures for capital and maintenance
by each municipality and the size
of staff, then looked at the cost per
kilometre and the number of
employees per 100 km or road. In
Simcoe, these ranged from 16
workers per 100 km in the town of
Collingwood to 2.5 in the Town
ship of Tiny.
In both cases, the study recom
mended no cuts to outside person
nel in order to maintain the same
level of service. Inside staff could
be reduced by up to 3.75 inside
workers in Hastings, depending on
which level of government took
over the roads.
The big savings, Blay said, are in
equipment and the number of work
yards needed. In Hastings there are
currently 33 work yards and the
study recommended closing 10.
Fewer trucks and graders would
also be needed because each could
be used more effectively.
If all roads in Hastings were
maintained by local municipalities,
it was estimated that average sav
ings of $623,000 per year for 10
years could be attained. If the coun-
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