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HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Citizen, 1999-07-14, Page 7Perfect pose With photographers on hand to snap that perfect shot of prize-winning dogs, this shepherd strikes a pose for the camera during the Bluewater Kennel Club’s annual dog show and obedience trials in Blyth last week. The show draws hundreds of entrants from across Canada and the United States as the dogs try to earn points towards championship status. Warden responds to Day Care debate THE CITIZEN, WEDNESDAY, JULY 14, 1999. PAGE 7. Ambulance service needs upgrade A massive increase in the rent charged by Huron County to the Huron Adult Day Centre (HADC) is designed to pry more money out of the Ministry of Health, not crip­ ple the work of the centre, Warden Carol Mitchell told Huron County Council July 8. Mitchell was replying to Seaforth Reeve Lin Steffier who raised con­ cerns brought to her from HADC supporters worried about a rental increase from $16,000 to $80,000 and the effect it will have on the future of the centre. Mitchell said she is seeking a meeting with the Ministry of Health to discuss the issue. Laurie Cox, Goderich Twp. reeve, said he had been a member of the committee that made the decision to increase the rent. “The Case for single tier government was strongly argued, says Bailey Continued from page 1 tier government. Mason Bailey, reeve of Blyth said the notion that single tier govern­ ment hadn’t been given a true hear­ ing was false. There were three meet­ ings at which all councils in the county were invited to attend. The case for single-tier government had been argued more strongly at each meeting but at the final meeting last September it was soundly defeated. Single tier, he said, was basically a corporate takeover by the county level. The longer a two-tier amalga­ mation was delayed, the more likely the county was to be backed into a position of accepting this “corporate takeover” he argued. Other councillors worried about the work that has already been done. Harvey Ratz, reeve of Stephen Twp., said he had delivered to the county the amalgamation plan for southern Huron that day and wasn’t happy with the idea of throwing out all the work that had been done. Ministry of Health subsidizes other centres across the province and in some cases pays commercial rates,” he said. Bruce Machan, reeve of Wing­ ham agreed, stating the Wingham and Area Adult Day Centre pays rent of $7.35 per square foot to a commercial landlord, as well as paying utilities costs. As well the Ministry put more than $55,000 into renovations in the building. “If we can run one in the north that can afford to pay rent I don’t know why we can’t afford to pay one in the centre.” Reeve Brian McBurney ques­ tioned the need for HADC to have 17,000 square feet in the county- owned Jacob Memorial Building at Huronview. The Wingham centre operates in 3,500 square feet, he noted. Robin Dunbar, reeve of Grey Twp., said he was gratified with the renewed interest by the public when there had been so little interest in the past but councils were fighting a deadline. “We would be dismayed if our efforts were put aside.” The county’s strategic planning committee has the Brant County study and is expecting a copy of the Prince Edward County single-tier proposal and will be looking at them. “I’d like to wait until Sept. I and see if every municipality comes forward with an amalgamation proposal,” Dunbar said. If they don’t submit plans by the Sept. I deadline, he said, then the county can look at other alternatives. Indeed county council later accept­ ed a proposal from the strategic plan­ ning committee that terms of refer­ ence be developed to hire an inde­ pendent facilitator if a restructuring proposal involving the whole county isn’t received by Sept. 1. When Huron County takes over administration of ambulance ser­ vice it should look to upgrade equipment and training for paramedics, a consultant told coun­ ty council July 8. Marvin Rubinstein from IB1 Group, a consulting firm hired by 10 western Ontario counties and municipalities to assist in their adjustment to the downloading of ambulance service from the province, suggested an extra ambu­ lance and crew should be provided in Goderich, the only one of five ambulance stations that is over-uti­ lized. On the other hand, Rubinstein suggested the county might like to look at the operation of the Dash­ wood and Zurich stations, just 10 km apart and neither close to.the Exeter hospital. Rubinstein also recommended that two-thirds of the 74 paramedics who operate the ambu­ lances should have their training upgraded to the Advance Life Sup­ port from Basic Life Support level. In such a large county with long distances to travel to get to a patient and then get them to hospi­ County can take over landfills, contract back In a ruling that can bring greater flexibility to maximize use of Huron County’s landfills the Min­ istry of Environment has agreed to a process that would allow the county to take over municipal land­ fills and then contract operation back with the local municipality. The immediate beneficiary of the. plan will be the Town of Wingham which will be able to send its County council briefs County’s Y2K problems will cost $250,000 to fix It’s going to cost Huron County more than $250,000 to prepare for possible problems caused by com­ puters not handling the switch from the year 1999 to the year 2000. Updating computers and software in all county departments will cost $220,000. The costs range from $3,700 for the social services office and $7,400 for the museum to $89,000 for the library and $55,500 for the homes for the aged. In addition, the county will spend $54,000 for a 200K.W portable gen­ erator as a standby to guarantee res­ idents at Huronview and Huronlea aren’t left in the cold come Jan. 1. The generator will travel between the two homes in case of emergen­ cy, heating one home for four hours, then going to the other. Seaforth Reeve Lin Steffier ques­ tioned the expenditures at a time when county money is tight. Claus Breede, who supervised the study of possible problems said the computers in question will sim­ ply not function in the new year. As for the generator, Breede said buying the generator was no more expensive than other alternatives studied and it will leave the county Letter Continued from page 6 lunch ... bring your whole family. On behalf of the Blyth and Londesboro Foodgrains Committee Ralph deVries. tal. the additional training could save lives where fact response is needed, he said but currently none of the paramedics has that qualifi­ cation. The training would cost $250,000 to $500,000 with ongoing costs of $173,000 a year for equip­ ment and additional salaries. The county can choose to take over ambulance service as a depart­ ment of the county operation or to contract with operators, Rubinstein said. Even if the county contracts with outside operators it should keep control of capital equipment and some management, he said. “In any decisions you make try to maintain flexibility,” he urged. Since ambulance management is new to local municipalities they should go slow and learn about the business before committing too far in any one direction. The Ministry of Health now wants to continue to operate the Central Ambulance Communica­ tions Centre in London but local municipalities must insist on some input in the management of the dis­ patch system if they are to have any control over management of the ambulances, Rubinstein said. The garbage to Exeter without having to go through the complicated and expensive Environmental Approval Process, said Steve Janes, the coun­ ty’s waste management consultant. Janes and Gary Davidson, county planning director, will meet with the chief administrative officer and consulting engineer of Exeter this week to discuss the issue, then meet with Wingham officials. The cost to Wingham will be consider­ with a large generator in case of future emergencies. Such a large generator would have been of great use in Goderich in a tornado a cou­ ple of years ago, he said. *** Chief health inspector Klaus Seeger, an Auburn-area resident, was given the Alex Cross Award for displaying the “highest stan­ dards of professional practice” at the annual meeting of the Canadian Institute of Public Health Inspec­ tors (CIPHI) in Saskatoon, in May. Seeger received the award because of his significant contribu­ tions to public health inspection. Don’t be left out in the cold! Call now to have < “Seasoned Firewood” for the Millenium Choose from Hard Maple or Ash Slab Wood, Bodywood or a load of 1/2 Slab & 1/2 Bodywood C& CRAIG HARDWOODS LTD. Auburn Ont. / 519-526-7220 { U FAMILY BUSINESS S'NCE'l866 dispatch system controls all deci­ sions on operations and therefore costs and level of service. While Rubinstein said the county should adopt a performance-based stan­ dard for ambulance crews, this will be difficult if the province retains full control of dispatching func­ tions. A major expense for the county will be replacement of current equipment. Five of the 11 ambu­ lances in the current fleet are over six years old, the life-expectancy for such equipment. Rubinstein estimated the cost of running the ambulance service would be $2.82 million in 1999, escalating to more than $3 million as the Ministry of Health turns over more of its workload to municipali­ ties. The county will undertake a pub­ lic consultation process throughout the summer and early fall. While it will try to include the general pub­ lic, Craig Metzger, who is co-ordi­ nating the process for the county, said it’s likely those most interested in participating will be hospitals, doctors, paramedics and ambulance operators. ably lower than the rate it is cur­ rently paying to an out-of-county landfill site, Janes said. Information about the new approach will also be sent to Morris Twp. which has excess landfill capacity and was originally planned as a zone site for garbage from the northern part of the county. Morris has been reluctant to get involved in such an arrangement. He was the first editor of the CIPHI provincial newsletter, Ontario Branch News. He became a mem­ ber of the executive of the Ontario branch in 1984 and served as presi­ dent from 1989 to 1993 and is cur­ rent past president. He is also the chair of the Environmental Health Foundation, an organization which is one of the founding members of the Canadian Partnership for Con­ sumer Safety Education. As chair of the education com­ mittee of that partnership, he played an important role in launch­ ing the consumer food safety cam­ paign Fight BAC.