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The Citizen, 1998-10-07, Page 1 Vol. 15 No. 39 Wednesday, Oct. 7, 1998 (700 + GST) 750 Needling the doe The time of year has arrived for people to get their annual flu shots. Dr. John Yee takes his medicine from RN Rita Moylan at the Brussels Medical Centre. Yee recommends that in addition to seniors, anyone with a serious underlying illness, immuno-compromised people, or those suffering from chronic problems such as asthma should receive the vaccine. New doctor at Brussels County to look at 2-tier The North Huron itizen Feature Meals on Wheels delivers to Brussels seniors See page 7 Sports See page 10 Special Saluting the volunteers of Blyth, Brussels and Grey Fire Departments See page 13 It's official, whatever form of restructuring Huron County mimic- ipalities decide on, it will involve both a local and a county govern- ment. County council confirmed this decision for a two-tier government structure at the Oct. 1 meeting of council, approving a motion to only consider two-level restructuring proposals in the future. Councillors were reacting to a meeting held in Clinton on Sept. 29 with all repre- sentatives from all municipalities invited to take part. A motion at that meeting favoured a two-tier approach. But not everyone was pleased with the decision.. Doug Grant, reeve of Bayfield said the only rea- son to consider restructuring and the greatest saving would be through one government for the whole county. Some councillors said they were worried about gov- ernment being too distanced from the people, he said, but "for the voters, the major factor is financial. They want to know what their taxes are." A thick study handed out to councillors attending Tuesday's all- council meeting estimated a saving of about 11.66 per cent if the was only one government for the county compared to 7.53 percent if there were two levels of government with the county divided into six local municipalities. The study sug- gested there might be greater sav- ings in a one-tier structure because of the complete duplication of ser- vices. But John Doherty, reeve of Goderich said there seemed to be more information on one-tier cost- ing compared to two-tier and the assumptions might be misplaced. Grant protested a motion to cut off consideration of a single-tier option. "If we don't consider both options we are not fulfilling our responsibilities," he said. But Blyth Reeve Mason Bailey, a strong opponent of a single govern- ment for the county, said that while it appeared one government for the whole county would save more money "it has been proven many times in many places that we need to have enough (elected) people in place to control the people who want to spend our money". The Continued on page 9 Holiday hours The Citizen's Brussels office will be closed Thanksgiving Monday. However editorial and advertising copy can be slipped through the door slot for pick-up at noon of that day. The Blyth office will be open. However, advertising and editorial copy for inclusion in that week's edition must be into the office by noon, Monday, Oct. 12. By Bonnie Gropp Citizen staff Patients at the Brussels Medical Centre are seeing a new doctor. Filling the vacancy left following Dr. Janet Zettle's departure last August is Dr. John Yee. Having completed his family practice resi- dency at the University of Western Ontario in June, Yee is currently seeing patients at the Brussels office on Monday mornings. By Bonnie Gropp Citizen staff A watchdog group may in the future become a reality for Brus- sels. Council heard a presentation from Community Policing Officer Const. Dell Mercey at its regular meeting Monday night. Concern had been expressed by several busi- nesspeople about the number of break-ins in recent months. Mercey was present to discuss the Mobile Watch Units operating "We are trying differen, hours than Janet to see how it works," said Yee. As the mornings have been fairly busy, the doctor said that he will stretch it out as demand warrants. As a result in the future it may mean that he would be present in the Brussels office for a full day. A resident of London, where he lives with his wife and their three- year-old child, Yee said he was attracted to the Seaforth/Brussels Clinics for a number of reasons. "I liked the office set-up with currently in Bayfield and Exeter. The premise is foi volunteers to organize and patrol in the village through the late evening and early morning hours. Mercey explained that the volunteers use their own cars, provide their own gas and receive no compensation for their time. They usually travel two per car and run-upwards of four-hour shifts from 11 p.m. to 3 a.m. Any suspi- cious activity is recorded in a log in addition to license number and descriptions of vehicles and people. administration dealing with the paperwork so I can look after my patients and not worry about the other details." Also, Yee said, the number of doctors at the clinic means that it allows him to have some time with family. Yee is one of seven physicians at the Seaforth clinic and one of two in Brussels. Dr. Shawn Edwards sees patients on Tuesday and Fri- day mornings. The watchdogs would be cau- tioned, Mercey said, to not approach anyone or follow them. "They are there to observe. Obvi- ously we don't want them tied up in a situation with any undesirables," Mercey said. "We don't want any- one getting over zealous." A cellular phone, the link to the OPP communications centre, would be the only cost to the vil- lage. Prior to going on patrol the people would contact the communi- cations centre to let the police Continued on page 25 County still facing school closures By Victoria Jackson Clinton News-Record Staff Although the numbers have changed, the result is still the same - school closures. The Ministry of Education released the loading numbers for schools on Sep. 29 to the Avon Maitland District School Board (AMDSB), according to Abby Armstrong, board chair. Armstrong said the numbers would not change the options presented to the board Sept. 22. The board originally made up the three lists of schools to be reviewed for closure based on the excess square footage within the board, provided by the ministry. Now the board has to look at student capacity figures, also provided by the ministry. "The board had the choice that they could wait for the lading numbers, which would have meant that parents would only be finding out about possible closures next week, or we could go with the information we had," Armstrong said. In a press release, Armstrong stated, "As we have said the square footage calculations were preliminary. However, due to the magnitude we imagined the piroblem to be, we needed to get busy right away searching for solutions. As a starting point, the board used two square footage benchmarks identified in the ministry's new funding formula." She added that she feels it would have been irresponsible for the board to sit on the information they had been given about the excess square footage. "If I had to do it again, I'd do it the same way," she said. "The parents had a right to know." One of the main differences between the figures for student capacity and those for square footage is that the square footage estimates showed secondary excess space to be a major problem, while the new estimates will probably show that student space in elementary schools will be a bigger problem, Armstrong said. "We_haVe two problems in the board. One is the ministry's regulation 497, which is basically if you have excess space we won't give you new pupil spaces. So if Exeter continues to grow, or there is a new factory opened somewhere, we won't be able to build a school there. Not lust this year or next year, but the year after that and the year after that," she said. "The other problem is the funding." However, Huron MPP Helen Johns said that there would be no repercussions on the board if they did not close any schools. "What the government has said is Continued on page 9 Brussels may seek 'watchdogs'