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HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Citizen, 1999-11-24, Page 1News________ I_______Milestone_______I _____Recognition Blyth’s Citizen on Patrol co-ordinator to seek federal funding See page 3 Grey Twp. resident celebrates 90th birthday Belgrave WI honours long-time member See page 11 » See page 22 The North Huron itizen Quite a haul OPP officers pulled in a large quantity of drugs and paraphernalia Sunday when they execut­ ed a warrant at a house in West Wawanosh. Sr. Const. Don Shropshall displayed the take, just a small portion of the drugs discovered in the county this year. It is expected the total worth will exceed $1 million. Seaforth schools targeted for closure Seaforth and area families could be in for another battle to keep their schools open. When the Avon Maitland District School Board announced the list of facilities to be studied for closure in the latest round of cutbacks. Seaforth District High School, Seaforth Public School and Walton Public School were all up for con­ sideration. The board will be looking at closing one or two of the schools in the Seaforth cluster. SDHS has had declining enrol­ ment for several years, dropping 17.4 per cent since 1995-96. There are now 281.75 full-time students in 405 spaces. It is the smallest high school in the district. Although Seaforth Public School has an occupancy rate of 92 per cent, there are impending high upgrade costs of $575,000 for masonry, heating and re-roofing. Walton school has a capacity of 100 students for the kindergarten to Grade 4 programs and an enrolment of 67.5. It lacks amenities available in other schools such as a gymnasi­ um. A report from the board suggest the high school students could easily be accommodated at Mitchell District, Central Huron, F.E. Madill or South Huron Secondary Schools. With that scenario, students from Seaforth Public and Walton could be transferred to the high school build­ ing with some renovations. The board will also be considering split­ ting the Walton student body between Grey Central, Brussels and Seaforth schools. Other schools on the list include Vanastra, McCurdy, Downie Central and Falstaff Public Schools. With a drop in enrolment at the elementary level ot 76.06 full-time students and 89 at the secondary school level, the board now has 3,901.64 empty student places. According to provincial averages, there should be one principal for every 363 elementary students and every 909 secondary student. The AMDSB operates below those num­ bers and is therefore paying for a duplication of resources such as offices and libraries. Accommodation changes are also being made to prepare for the double graduation year in 2003 when the last OAC class in completed. These cuts have been recommend­ ed so the board can “provide quality education for all students”, said a press release issued Monday. It is hoped the reduction in excess stu­ dent spaces and the reduction in overhead costs will help the board offer programs and services more equally.” This round of closures is just the second in a five-year plan to adjust the accommodation levels in the school district. Portia and Atwood annexes were closed in June 1999. The closure of the two facilities reduced student spaces by 125, saved $55,000 in operating costs and $244,500 in upgrade expenses. The sale of the buildings will further assist the board’s financial outlook. Even with several closures in June, 2000, the board is looking at closing as many as two more as yet unnamed, in 2001 in north and cen­ tral Huron as well as another in 2002. Recommendations from commu­ nity study committees will go to the board in February with the final clo­ sure recommendations to be present­ ed Feb. 22. Police board says county should pay Huron County council is forcing the disbanding of the Wingham Police Service and therefore should pay the costs of winding up the serv­ ice, Wingham officials argue. Joan Pletch, chair of the Wingham Police Services board, says Wingham’s case is not like the other towns in the county which made their own decision to disband their police forces. When county council, at its March 4 meeting, approved Bylaw 9, taking over control of policing as a county function it, in effect, meant the end of the Wingham force, Pletch says. That bylaw allowed the county to sign a county-wide policing contract with the OPP at a saving of $700,000 for the municipalities involved. The county approved the bylaw against advice that it would mean the end of an independent Wingham force. Pletch says. A copy of a Feb. 16, 1999 letter to the county from Bob Hunter, special assistant, policing in the office Ministry of the Solicitor General, supplied by the Wingham force, shows the county was warned the only way for the 25 other municipal­ ities to achieve savings through a county-wide policing contract with the OPP while Wingham still main­ tained its force, would be for the other municipalities to “enter into a joint contract with the OPP”. That would mean leaving policing as a responsibility of the lower-tier municipalities, in which case Wingham’s status wouldn’t change. At the heart of the matter are two conflicting pieces of provincial leg­ islation. The municipal act allows an upper tier to take over policing. The county argued it could take over policing but delegate back to Wingham the job of policing that town. But the Police Act says a municipality cannot have two differ­ ent police forces. By taking over policing, the county becomes the municipality of record and thus the Wingham force would be a second force beside the OPP This is termed a “hybrid” force. A Feb. 10 letter to the county from Maurice Hodgson, police services advisor with the solicitor general Drug bust in W. Wawanosh It was a very sifecessful house call for OPP officers ot the Huron detachment when they executed a search warrant at a home on Cone. 2, West Wawanosh Twp. early Sunday morning. Seven officers, including a canine unit, acting on a Crimestoppers tip, entered the Dungannon area house and found 12.5 pounds of marijuana and four pounds of hashish oil in the process of being manufactured, said Sr. Const. Don Shropshall. The substances were found in the attic, bedroom, closets and other locations along with numerous pots. warns the municipal act is in conflict with the police act. The doubts of Hodgson and Detective Superintendent Brennan of the OPP were acknowledged in the Feb. 18 report of the county’s administration, finance and person­ nel committee which was approved by county council at the March 4 meeting. But that report also quoted an Oct. 14, 1998 speech from Bob Runciman, then solicitor general that while he stood by the principle of one-source policing for municipali­ ties, “it is my belief that the munici­ palities are in the best position to decide when they should move to a single source policing model. They should not be pushed toward prema­ ture compliance with the Police Services Act uhtil they are in the position to financially and opera­ tionally manage police service deliv­ ery in their jurisdiction.” The administration, finance and personnel committee pointed out there were several instances of hybrid forces, notably in Peel Region where Caledon provided ijts own local policing. But by March 8, four days after the passing of Bylaw 9, Hodgson wrote the county saying this was “an important first step in a county- wide policing contract process”. “There is some anticipation that fairly strict timelines will be estab­ lished with respect to the transition process of the Wingham Police Service. A Police Services Act, sec­ tion 40 hearing will have to be held at the appropriate time. And on March 25, Michael Mitchell, director of the police sup­ ports program branch of the ministry wrote the county to say two police forces could not exist within one municipality. As soon as Bylaw 9 had been approved by the majority of local municipalities through the “triple majority” process, the Municipal Act “would require that the Wingham Police Services board be disbanded and a police services board would then be established for Huron County.” Pletch said the county’s decision Continued on page 6 lights, fertilizer, scales and parapher­ nalia. One room in the house had tin foil on the walls to help maintain the heat. The marijuana has an estimated value of $25,000 and the oil, $4,000. Ronald Marshall, 42, and Alanna Barlow, 39, have been arrested and charged with cultivation of a con­ trolled substance for the purpose of trafficking and possession of a con­ trolled substance for the purpose of trafficking. They will appear in Goderich court on Jan. 10. They have been released on a promise to appear.