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HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Citizen, 2001-01-24, Page 1C Yeariol C wnership .41 Inside this week Pg. 6 Cruising for a day with OPP pg n Beef producers -I" meet in Brussels Pg 11 Ag. producers hold joint meeting Blyth Festival Pg. 17 announces 2001 season Brussels couple Pg. 20 earns provincial ag. contest Having snow much fun This winter has provided plenty of the fluffy white stuff for snowmobile enthusiasts. This past weekend there were perfect conditions as participants turned out in droves to enjoy the scenery and the sport during the annual St. Helens Poker Rally, Saturday. Acre T trial begins e Citizen Serving the communities of Blyth and Brussels and northern Huron County Volume 17 No. 4 Wednesday, Jan. 24, 2001 75 Cents (70c + 5c GST) Huron E. looks at pay for road staff Huron E. looks at policing By Janice Becker Citizen staff The amalgamation •of one larger urban centre with a village and three rural wards has resulted in a tough policing decision for members of the Huron East council. Preliminary discussions were held at the Jan. 16 meeting to decide whether Huron East should select enhanced police coverage as Seaforth had had or go with the lower level of coverage used by the other former municipalities. One level of service would see 5.1 officers covering all of Huron East during a given shift with no regularly-staffed office in Seaforth. An office could still be made available, but would be used more as is the Brussels room -at the library, just as a stopover office. The enhanced service would put 8.5 officers in the municipality with an office in Seaforth. There- is currently an officer in Seaforth 18- hours a day. There would also be the option of joining Central Huron for the purchasing of an enhanced service. This would provide the same coverage at a cost savings of approximately $45,000 for each municipality as one less officer would be needed. Questions were raised about the 25 per cent increase for coverage for the entire municipality. Clerk- Administrator Jack McLachlan said the cost is higher because there are more officers in the municipality. When asked about the need for enhanced service in the rural areas, McLachlan said the province has dictated that there cannot be different service in different areas of the same municipality. If Seaforth has enhanced, everyone has to have enhanced. When amalgamation began, it was thought lower coverage in the rural areas could be continued with enhanced service in the urban centres, said McLachlan. "That Continued on page 12 By Janice Becker Citizen staff A lengthy and sometimes heated discussion ensued when a suggestion to alter the pay policies for Huron East road employees was brought before council Jan. 16. In spite of the recent hirings and contract signing, some employees had approached Public Works Co- ordinator John Forrest regarding overtime pay and weekend tasks by working foremen. The major stumbling block arose when administration recommended that the foremen, - who had been salaried employees for the former municipalities, be compensated for working weekends or beyond their 40-hours. Overtime for foremen would have to be approved by the public works foreman. While it was suggested the preferred option would be for these employees to take time off in lieu of extra pay, Forrest said the men had been unable to do that because of the heavy snowfall. Clerk-Administrator Jack McLachlan pointed out that the foremen are working long hours with no remuneration. Councillors noted this was an unusual year and that accumulated time off could be taken when things slow down. The grader operators are paid on an hourly basis. It was suggested they earn time and a half for overtime beyond their 88-hour pay period and for Saturday and Sunday hours. It was unclear whether the foremen had been hired strictly on a salary basis 'or if that salary was based on a 40-hour work week. Several councillors voiced opposition not only to the recommended increase in pay for the foremen, but the fact that they had accepted the jobs on the salaries stated and now, just three weeks into the new administration, there had already been two requests from employees for increases. Tuckersmith Councillor Larry McGrath said all this was happening too fast. Neither the council nor the road crews have had time to settle in and determine what would work and how things would gel. McLachlan said the administration was trying to set up a policy so that all employees were treated fairly. Grey Councillor and former transition board member Alvin :McLellan recommended council look back at the basis on which the foremen were hired. McLachlan asked council for another week to work through concerns and return with another recommendation. There was far less opposition to the suggestion that 4 a.m. weekend winter road patrols to determine if plows or sanders were needed, be handed to the road crew from the foremen, thereby freeing up a few foremen hours and adding responsibilities to the employees. The men would rotate on a five- week schedule with one patrol in the north and one in the south of the municipality. The pay would be $60 for the two-day job rather than included as overtime. It would be up to the supervising foremen to determine if it was late enough in the season or conditions were such to call off the early morning patrols. Responsibility for two northern Huron County manure spills may soon be determined as the trial of Joe Terpstra, president of Acre T Farms Ltd. began in Goderich, Jan. 15. Though Terpstra has pled not guilty, the Ontario Ministry of the Environment alleges pig manure was discharged into the Logtenburg Drain, Lot 4, Conc. 7, West Division, Ashfield Twp., by Acre T, between May I and May 4, 1999. A second charge refers to an When a question of overtime hours for recreation employees was broached by Recreation and Facilities Manager Graham Nesbitt, council had no difficulty agreeing with the recommendation as all incident May 12 and 13 at the Pentland Drain, Lot 5, Conc. 3, East Division, which flows into Nine Mile River andiake Huron. The first witness for the Crown, Elizabeth Durnin, described her walk to the lake on May 1 and the murky, odorous water flowing from a gully. Durnin did not report the incident immediately because she was unaware of the Ministry's 24-hour spills line. A call was finally made around 4 p.m., May 3, by Dumin's recreation employees were hired on an hourly basis. Final approval of all recommendations will go before the council at the next regular meeting. mother-in-law. A second witness, former landowner Ray Brown, testified with regards to the tiling on the land in question. He had .sold the property to Acre Tin 1997. The crown expects to call 14 witnesses and complete testimony by the end of last week With a con vicion comes a potential fine of $1 million to the corporation and $100,000 to the individual plus two years in jail.