The Citizen, 2001-11-28, Page 1wEicoprE 'TO ,
ESTAIMSRLD 1877 i 1
Getting things ready
With the Santa Claus parade coming to town this weekend it was time to deck the halls in
downtown Brussels this past week. Road employees enjoyed an unseasonably warm day to
get things looking festive for St. Nick's arrival. (Bonnie Gropp photo)
Seniors Health Centre
a long-term undertaking
NS.IPs1-1 HI IRON PUNISHING CI7WPANY
Inside this week
Dn .7 Parents scramble
I 84 / to respond
8
Reporter puts
Pg. herself to the test
Introducing The
Pg, 11 Intrepid
Snowmobiler
4 pages of carol E
Pg. sheets
n New business
Fs, 17 opens in Brussels
The Citizen
Volume 17 No. 45
Wednesday, Nov. 28, 2001 75 Cents (70c + 5c GST)
By David Blaney
Citizen staff •
At its Nov. 20 meeting Huron East
council decided to challenge the
Avon Maitland District School
Board over the possible closure of
three of the municipality's four
schools.
The potential loss of some or all of
Brussels and Grey public schools,
and Seaforth high school' galvanized
the council into a potentially
controversial direct confrontation
with the board.
After a lengthy discussion council
agreed to provide $5,000 to a
communications committee to
ensure that the issues are properly
explained to the ratepayers.
Councillors made it very clear
during the discussion that their
distrust of the board's intentions and
lack of openness made the move
necessary.
Councillor Richard Burgess
admitted, "Communications may not
work directly with the school board.
I hope it will get our ratepayers and
media aware of the significance of
the issue to Huron East."
Councillor Larry McGrath wanted
a wider approach involving the
whole of Huron County. He said, " I
would like to see us involve other
communities.-We are fighting among
ourselves and the board is just loving
it."
In response Deputy-Mayor Bernie
MacLellan suggested that county
council would see it as a "public"
issue and not a "political" one. He
said, " There would be little good in
taking it to connty council."
MacLellan went on to say, "They
(the board) have made up their
minds and we have no recourse but a
legal recourse."
Councillor Greg Wilson expressed
the view of several councillors about
possible delays in getting other
municipalities on-side.- He said, "I
think we should get on with this. We
only have a few weeks."
In a more controversial decision,
council moved to allocate a budget
Santa in
Brussels
St. Nick comes to town this
Saturday, as the special guest of
honour for the annual Brussels Santa
Claus parade.
This year's event begins at 1 p.m.
at the Agromart, on Turnberry Street
at- the north end of the village. It
wends its way down south to
Catherine Street at the Anglican
church corner, then circles back to
the Legion where children will have
the opportunity to enjoy a brief visit
with Santa.
The theme for this year's parade is
Peace on Earth.
Entries and floats are asked to be
at the Agromart by shortly after 12 to
get lined up for judging.
of up to $20,000 towards the legal
expense of retaining the public
schools within the municipality. The
council had earlier moved to appoint
Fred Leitch as the municipal
solicitor for the purpose of
examining the Accommodation
Review Process of the board.
Some councillors felt that this
motion implied payment of legal
costs and that the second motion
mentioning a specific amount was
unnecessary. Others were
uncomfortable with the amount.
McGrath suggested that a lesser
sum be considered with the
understanding that more would be
considered.
Burgess was quick to point out
that the intention was never to have
Huron East fund a court challenge
alone. He went on to imply that
other organizations would be ready
to support the initiative _ with
funding.
The idea of using tax money for
this purpose came in for some
criticism. Councillors Sharon
McClure and Bill DeJong each said
three constituents had expressed
disapproval. Councillor Fergus
Kelly received two complaints
although he said they were possibly
the same persons as had phoned
McClure.
The deputy-mayor who had
originally been a strong supporter of
legal action appeared to backtrack
when. he heard that between five and
eight ratepayers expressed
disapproval of using taxes to
defend the schools. He said, " I am
concerned that we have received
complaints so soon from people not
wanting to spend tax dollars."
Mayor Lin Steffler was obviously
not willing to risk side-tracking the
motion and stated her position quite
bluntly. " The cost to the ratepayers
(of the schools closing) will well
exceed the $20,000 that we are
talking about now."
In a recorded vote the funding
proposal passed 8-3. Only DeJong,
Kelly and McGrath voted against
it.
By Bonnie Gropp
Citizen editor
It's a huge, long-term project, but
the first step has been taken.
Selena Anderson, coordinator of
Centre of Excellence for Seaforth
Community Hospital has been
gathering public input regarding a
Comprehensive Seniors Health
Centre.
The project would combine senior
living with focussed health care. Its
mission is to enhance older people's
quality of life through accessible
health care services, flexible living
space and innovative research.
The plan started this past summer,
as a follow-up to the hospital's
spring fundraising campaign
Running for Excellence, intended to
raise awareness of the Centre of
Excellence.
Anderson explained that the Huron
Perth hospital partnership developed
a mandate that each hospital
specialize in an area of health care,
without deleting any existing
services, in order to meet the
counties' needs better.
Seaforth, she said, looked at its
population and identified that it was
the third largest area in Canada per
capita for seniors. "Seniors are also
kind of the existing interest with
medical staff."
The comprehensive centre of
excellence for seniors will, if it
achieves fruition, offer on the
hospital's 80-acre site, a recreational
facility with a therapeutic pool,
rooms for meetings and socializing,
a central dining area, some retail to
support senior lifestyles as well as
outdoor walking trails. Surrounding
this would be flexible housing for
independent living.
"The goal is for a continuum of
care from retirement to long-term
and with. , that is the hospital's
existing services enhanced by
specialized programs for seniors
health," said Anderson.
What issues exactly would benefit
seniors in such a centre were
addressed - at the recent public
meetings. Anderson said though
attendance was less than anticipated
at the Brussels meeting, due in part
she believes to other functions that
evening, those in Seaforth Are
encouraging. "I felt it was a good
turnout for an issue that is not one of
crisis," she said.
At the meetings, interested people
first heard a presentation about the
proposed centre, then broke out into
groups to discuss experiences. "We
got out of that the things we could
develop as a program."
Feeling safe in the community is a
big issue for seniors, she said.
Transportation, however, is an
immediate issue that needs to be
addressed. "Even in town there are
patients who can't get to the doctor
because there are not taxis. The
transportation problem for seniors
has been noted before but it has
fallen through and needs to be
looked at again." It's an issue she
would like to see addressed in a year.
Another short-term focus will be
on health-care eduction regarding
such things as nutrition and
prescription drugs.
Saying that the task before her a
slow process, Anderson adds that
they will take things one step at a
time, beginning with small projects,
then seeing how it goes. "We are all
on a learning curve and there won't
Continued onvoge 6
Huron E. to fight
school board
on school closure