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HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Citizen, 2000-05-10, Page 1The Citizen I______________________Serving the communities of Blyth and Brussels and northern Huron County Volume 16 No. 18 Wednesday, May 10, 2000 75 Cents (70c + 5c gst) Inside this week Family celebrates 50 years in Canada Former Brussels Bull Owen Sound’s head scout Special insert for home and garden Goderich woman copes with Huntington Madill bands win gold, silver Special care patients may move to Huronlea In order to meet provincial standards that require 97 per cent occupancy of homes for the aged to receive full funding, Huron County may close “special care” beds at Huronview in Clinton and shift patients to Huronlea at Brussels. In a report from the health and seniors committee, county council was told there are currently 20 special care beds in secured housing for patients with dementia in both Huronview and Huronlea. The size of these facilities was set by the province when the homes were designed in the 1980s but since then the direction of provincial policy has been to encourage people to stay in their homes longer. That has led to these secured areas not being full. Families get trees The ceremony was light-hearted and fun on a warm May afternoon, but there was a tingle of sadness in the air. Each family of Walton Public School, teachers and a few notable others were recipients of an evergreen tree, May 4, as the school held just one of the many events planned to commemorate the school and its impending closure. The gift was made possible through a donation from the Earth Friendly Garden program and acquired from Maitland Manor Nursery with the assistance of parent and nursery employee Carol Reinink. Local people honoured Several local families received recognition for their years of contribution to a worthy cause recently when the Familyhome Program held an appreciation night. Sponsored by the Ministry of Community and Social Services, the Familyhome Program provides a home setting for those with a development disability. By offering their homes, the award recipients make it possible for the disabled to County landfill woes may soon be solved A solution to the long-running issue of waste management in Huron- County may be at hand, a consultant told county council Thursday. Steve Janes of S. Janes Associates said a major change in the Ministry of Environment's regulations would simplify the process of one municipality using another municipality’s landfill site. The most urgent situation is for Wingham, whose licence for its landfill has been extended to the end of June while it tries to work out an agreement with Exeter to take its garbage. The change would allow the entire county to be designated a waste service area. This means instead of a municipality requiring an environ­ mental assessment before it can take However, because the province requires 97 per cent capacity utilization in the homes, Huron has not been receiving full funding. At the same time there is a waiting list to get into the regular beds in the homes. The solution may be to convert the special care beds at Huronview, where the waiting list is longest, to regular beds, leaving only the 20 special care beds at Huronlea. This would require a considerable amount of time to accomplish, the report said. Before any change is made, the committee asked the Ministry of Health and Long Term Care to provide statistics to show the secured beds would not be needed in future. Grade 4 student Jamie Reinink read a poem about trees prior to the ceremony. C. Reinink presented the first tree to the school before Principal Alice McDowell completed the task, calling each child by name to receive the gift. As the school closes, the children of Walton Public School could disperse to as many as six other facilities. A school trip, commemorative pictures, a memory box, video and numerous other activities are just some of the things planned for before the official closing ceremony June 25. leam to live more independently and become active members of the community. Receiving recognition for 15 years of service were Francine and Michael Bechard and Lorraine and Jim Main of Ethel. Elizabeth and Beat Leuenberger of Bluevale were recognized for their contribution and Nancy Lusk-Boed of Blyth was given special consideration. another municipality’s garbage, all that will be required is a revision of the design and operating plan for the site. This, he said, will both speed the process and cut costs. While the whole county would be treated as a service area, ownership of the landfill sites would remain with the municipalities, said Gary Davidson, director of planning and development. There is capacity for about 60 years of the county’s garbage in the various landfills, Davidson said. The new method would allow optimization of that Getting and giving a little guidance OPP Senior Constable Don Shropshall teaches some Walton area youngsters how to cross the road safely as part of the Avon Maitland District School Board’s pre-school bus safety program. Kurtis McNichol, in front, Brandon Holtuysen and Edward Glanville concentrate on the instructions while Shropshall tells them to look both ways before proceeding beyond the bumper of the bus. Walton Public School hosted the course May 2. It will be held at Hullett Central Public School, May 9, and East Wawanosh Public School, May 16. Blyth’s was held May 3. capacity. But Wingham Reeve Bruce Machan complained that if optimizing landfill sites was the goal, Wingham could still use its landfill for two more years, but the MOE won’t give it permission. Janes said the ministry’s certificate of approval for Wingham’s landfill has a different timeline than the capacity of the site. Wingham, he said, has been greatly reducing the amount of waste going into the site thus extending its potential life. However, the ministry has also agreed to work with the county to “mothball” sites so that they can be brought back into use later, he said. Brian McBurney, reeve of Turnberry Twp. expressed skepticism that the end of the road for the landfill site could be at hand. Noting the issue had been on the table since 1988 McBurney said “Some of us have grown old waiting for a solution.” In answer to McBumey’s question about how long it could be before the solution was in place, Janes said it could be six months but “it’s a moving target.”