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HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Citizen, 2002-05-08, Page 1A walk in the park The Blyth Public School held a spring walk-a-thon on the Blyth Greenway Trail last week to raise funds for several school projects. Logan Chalmers gets a helping hand up the hill from her mom Lynn and Stacey Degans near the end of their walk. (David Blaney photo) Volume 18 No. 18 • n 2 Home & Garden rg• 1-J. section begins Pg. 30 Pg. 35 MVCA may close Wawanosh park Madill Drama Guild Showcase this week The Citizen Wednesday, May 8, 2002 Inside this week Pg' Poor turnout to 8' " school bd. meeting Pg. 11 cystic fibrosis Child copes with OPP say campaign a success Huron OPP say drivers this year were a lot better during the seatbelt campaign which took place April 13 - 27. Last year the OPP laid a total of 321 seatbelt tickets after stopping 12,082 vehicles and issued another 208 warnings for a compliance rating of 95.6 per cent. This year 188 seatbelt tickets were issued - a drop of 133. Also only 53 warnings were handed out for a drop of 155. OPP stopped 9,890 vehicles which is 2,192 less than last year but the compliance rate rose to 97.6 per cent which means that two per cent more people were wearing their seatbelts this year. The number of traffic tickets also dropped this year. Last year 196 speeding tickets were issued and another 79 traffic tickets were issued for other offences. This year 80 speeding tickets were issued — down from 116. The speeding levels were also down when 46 tickets were issued to drivers in the 20 km/h range, 27 in the 30-km range and only seven in the 40-km range. The number of other traffic tickets is also down from 79 tickets last year to 37 this year again a drop of 42 tickets. By David Blaney Citizen staff Road Watch Huron combined an official ribbon cutting and a volunteer recognition barbecue on Monday at the Memorial Hall in Blyth. Besides paying tribute to the volunteers who have brought the program into being in Huron the 50 attendees witnessed the unveiling of the program's new radar-equipped speed sign. The' Road Watch program is designed to allow individual citizens to report instances of unsafe driving. These reports are then examined and followed-up by the police. OPP Insp. Wayne Burke noted, "Road Watch puts many more eyes out there than the police can:' Huron County Warden Ben Van Diepenbeek described the program as, "an example of a community working together." Penny Nelligan, head of the county health unit echo the sentiment and went on to say, "the program puts a focus on increasing community health by decreasing injuries." Many in the crowd were specifically interested in the radar- equipped speed limit sign. The $5,000 sign was contributed by four area mutual insurance companies. According to OPP Sr. Const. Don Shropshall the sign is intended to make drivers more aware of their speed and hopefully change driving habits. As one councillor noted it seemed to be doing its job as drivers were visibly slowing as they travelled south on Blyth's main street. Shropshall said there had been about 30 incidents reported to the police in the five weeks the program had been in operation. He says only a few have been dismissed because of conflicting information on the report forms. Complaints have ranged from erratic driving and improper passing to excessive speed and driving through -stop signs. He commented that the most .frequent complaint appeared to be speeding. Shropshall also said that most people who complain don't want other drivers to end up in court. He said they are "just happy that people are being made aware" of their driving habits. The program has attracted considerable notice across Huron County. Shropshall has been asked for reporting forms by several local groups as well as for the emergency ward of an area hospital. Apparently some individuals have not been waiting for the drop box pickups but have delivered report forms by mail or fax. Shropshall believes the program may already be having some effect. He says that he has noticed a reduction in speed when he is driving in an unmarked cruiser. As he says, "If you know people are watching you will start to watch what you are doing." 75 Cents (70c + 5c GST) Murray off job since April 5 By Keith Roulston • Citizen publisher Lynn Murray's resignation as clerk administrator of Huron County was accepted by county council Thursday but she had not been at work for nearly a month previously. Speaking to reporters following the meeting, at which the resignation was accepted without comment, Warden Ben Van Diepenbeek said he could not discuss whether a settlement had been offered before Murray tendered her resignation on April 3. The warden said he had not spoken personally with Murray in "nearly a month" and that there had also been no communications between Murray and David Carey, the county treasurer who is now acting clerk-administrator. All discussions had taken place through the county's legal representatives, Van Diepenbeek said. He said he was unaware of what future ,plans Murray might have. County councillors had discussed the issue at in-camera sessions as part of the strategic planning days held April 8 and 22. "We've done our discussions", the warden said, and there would be no further contact with the former chief administrative officer. Murray had come under fire in consultant Hugh Thomas's report on the county's administration. Although the report contained other suggestions on how council could function more smoothly, it seemed to zero in most strongly on problems in communication centering on the office of the chief administrative officer. In a synopsis of comments by unnamed staff members, several people called for her removal. This report was tabled at an open committee of the whole meeting and further discussed at council's February meeting with Murray present. The report led to a series of strategic planning sessions. Van Diepenbeek said the process of choosing a successor will commence at the May 14 committee of the whole meet- ing. Probably a committee of councillors and staff will be set up to write a new job description and begin the hiring'''. Vrocess, he said. Road Watch thanks volunteers