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HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Citizen, 2002-02-06, Page 18Thanks to Teeswater Kinsmen CAMPAIGN 2001 Our Thanks to the Following Donors: CORPORATE / BUSINESS SPONSORS Teeswatert Kinettes H.N.D. Gaunt Farms Inc., RR#2 Lucknow IMPROVING OUR TECHNOLOGY -- HELP US HELP YOU -- Contribute today by sending your donation to: THE WINGHAM AND DISTRICT HOSPITAL FOUNDATION 270 Carling Terrace, Wingham, Ontario NOG 2W0 PAGE 18. THE CITIZEN, WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 6, 2002. Information meeting offers chance for dialogue By Stew Slater Special to The Citizen Using a format which stepped away from the formalized nature of its regular board meetings, the Avon Maitland District School Board . recently held a series of what it called information sessions, aimed at those affected by potential school closure and the other changes which could be approved Feb. 26. "There's a lot of opportunity for dialogue, whether you want to come to an information meeting, whether you want to call someone on the phone, or whether you want to make a delegation to the board," said Director of Education Lorne Rachlis at the outset of a meeting Monday, Feb. 4 tackling the potential closure of Seaforth District High School (SDHS). The meeting was attended by all nine trustees, though only three — chair Colleen Schenk, vice-chaq Rod Brown and East Huron area rep- resentative Charles Smith — were seated at the front table. The remain- ing trustees sat in the audience seat- ing and did not speak. Still, for peo- ple who wanted to use a public forum to pose 'tough questions of board members or present their own opinions about how board members should address the issue, the infor- mation sessions provided the best option among the three avenues mentioned by Rachlis. Unlike the 10-minute public dele- gations at regular board meetings, those who chose to address the board were not limited by time. A few peo- Continued form page 14 for the annual operation. "I feel the meeting was a waste of time; that council's mind had already been made up before I went into that meeting," said MacGowan. Councillor Jeff Howson expressed a feeling that the municipality could not continue to provide housing for an organization, adding that similar groups in the other two wards meet in places such as the public school or Legion Halls. His sentiment was echoed by Councillor Murray Nesbitt who said that getting rid of the house "might seem harsh", but the council had to ple made long-winded pleas for such things as considering the effects of relocation on special needs students, waiting until the effects are known about upcoming provincial political changes, and acting as a local gov- ernment in contrast to the Toronto- centric provincial and federal gov- ernments. SDHS school council chair Maureen Agar, a tireless fighter for the school to remain open, addressed the board once with what appeared to be a prepared series of comments and questions about the possibility that Grades 7 and 8s from Seaforth and. area will eventually also be moved to the Central Huron Secondary School building in Clinton. Then, near the conclusion of the meeting, she returned to the podium with what seemed to be a more spontaneous, impassioned plea. Audience members also found Gerth and Rachlis — and occasion- ally Schenk — willing to provide answers for both questions and accu- sations. At regular board meetings, trustees are directed to only ask "questions of clarification:" are usu- ally ruled out of order if they attempt to engage in any other type of dia- logue with, the presenter, and the pre- senters are never provided with the -opportunity to carry out dialogue with staff members. Huron East Councillor Larry McGrath, after admitting that "I wish the mayor and the deputy mayor were here because they were the ones who were speaking with (MPP) Helen Johns," tried — with- start taking a stand with some of these buildings. "I don't think they will feel that is harsh," said MacGowan. "I think it will seem harsh that we had a meet- ing where we thought we came up with a solution, then council decides against it. I'm just confused." Howson noted that council needs to work towards a uniformity in such matters. "We need to stand our ground and make decisions that are good for the whole municipality." MacGowan noted that his sense of the meeting was that the group did not expect to be subsidized by the municipality. "I felt they realized out the benefit of any figures to back his argument — to challenge Rachlis about an increase in administrative costs in last year's AVon Maitland budget. Rachlis responded that the increase was a one-time adjustment forced upon the board by changes in provincial pay-equity legislation, and by changes in employee benefit plans. Former Seaforth veterinarian Dr. Marina Brash had more success, pressing Education Superintendent Bill Gerth to concede a couple points of what she called "clarification." Among these, she countered Gerth's explanation of the class sizes which could be expected for relocated SDHS students; Gerth said the aver- age board-wide class size is 22, but Brash succeeded in making him agree that given secondary school classes could have as many as 30 students. As a result, much of the two-hour meeting consisted of members of the audience speaking at the micro- phone, and the actual "information" portion of the evening was quite short — about five minutes for a presentation from Rachlis and about 10 minutes for Gerth's expansion on the specific reasons why SDHS is being considered for closure. "The decrease in enrolment in this building continues to be a problem and we anticipate very serious prob- lems with being able to adequately deliver the new-curriculum pro- gramming," Gerth said, referring to the increased requirements in Ontario's new four-year high school program. He also noted that the council needs to get out of the subsi- dization business and they would do what they could at all costs to find an answer." When it came to a vote, MacGowan was the only councillor who opposed the recommendation. accommodation review process, which he is spearheading for the board, is driven mainly by two fac- tors: programming and financial sav- ings. As the meeting began, only about 20 members of the public had braved the chilly wind to attend, hut that number approximately doubled over the next hour and a half. Decision frustrates MacGowan NOTICE OF ANNUAL MEETING The 126th Annual Meeting of the Members will be held in the OFFICE BUILDING of McKillop Mutual Insurance Company 91 Main Street South, SEAFORTH, Ontario on Wed., February 27, 2002 at 1:30 p.m. • To receive and dispose of the 2001 financial statement and auditor's report: • To appoint auditors; • To consider and enact proposed amendments to By-Law No. 33 (remuneration) • To transact any other business that may properly come before the meeting; • To elect a qualified Director to fill the vacancy of the position held by Alex Townsend; • To elect three qualified Directors; • The retiring Directors are Eric Anderson, Stuart Wilson and Jeff Campbell. Eric Anderson and Jeff Campbell are eligible for re-election. Stuart Wilson has chosen not to seek re-election. • Any person wishing to seek election or re- election .as a Director must file his intention to stand for election in writing with the Secretary of the Company at least seven days in advance of the Annual Meeting (By-Law No. 21 (d) ). Ken Jones Secretary-Treasurer-Manager Festiva/WA:kat Electrical Rates Increase to Pay Off Ontario Hydro Debt Starting March 1, 2002, Festival Hydro Inc. residential customers in Brussels can expect to pay, on average, an extra $5.33 per month when costs associated with a new Provincial Corporate Income Tax are passed on to customers. This tax, which represents 61 per cent of the rate increase, will be used to pay off the $20.9 billion "stranded debt" of the for- mer Ontario Hydro. Bill Zehr, President of Festival Hydro, noted the higher rates result from the province's decision to start treating utilities as corporations, forcing them to pay an equivalent amount of corporate income taxes, from which utili- ties were previously exempt. Festival Hydro has made an application to the Ontario Energy Board, which, if approved, raises the average residential monthly bill $5.33 from $71.87 to $77.20, for customers using 750 kilowatt hours per month. The Festival Hydro rate rider charge of $4.46 on the average residential monthly bill for the months of December, January and February will no longer apply after March 1, 2002. On May 1, 2002 when the market anticipates opening, customers have the option of purchasing power from a licenced energy broker. At the same time the electricity bills from Festival Hydro will be broken down to show distribution costs, transmission costs, rural rate assistance, regulated costs, as well as the cost of electricity itself.