HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Citizen, 2005-06-16, Page 24PAGE 24. THE CITIZEN, THURSDAY, JUNE 16, 2005.
Unique scene unfolds at Catholic School Board
By Stew Slater
Special to The Citizen
A unique scene unfolded at the
meeting of the Huron-Perth Catholic
District School Board on Tuesday,
June 7 — a scene which brings into
question the former amalgamation-
minded Conservative government's
decision to decrease the board’s size
from 14 trustees to five.
Only one trustee was eligible to
vote on an extremely important
motion — to ratify four-year
collective agreements with
elementary and secondary teachers
— after three others declared
conflicts of interest. Another trustee
is in the midst of an extended health-
related absence, prompting his
counterparts to pass a special motion
excusing him from a legislative
requirement that he resign alter
missing three consecutive meetings.
Under the Education Act,
discussions regarding all personnel-
related matters take place in closed
session, with only the vote coming
forward to the public meeting. North
Huron/North Perth trustee Vincent
Huron East awards tenders
for
the
the
the
By Jim Brown
Citizen staff
Huron East council received
tenders for a number of large-ticket
items at its regular meeting on June
7.
Prior to the meeting, it was
decided to give each item to a sub
committee of council and then report
back to the next meeting of council
with a recommendation.
A sub-committee was created
the purchase of a road grader,
purchase of a firetruck for
Brussels department and for
purchase of a rubber-tired tractor.
Mayor Joe' Seili felt it was
important that decisions on major
capital items be discussed in a
committee before any decision was
made.
Three companies submitted
renders for the road grader.
Members of council were so eager
to approve this tender, that the sub
committee of councillors Alvin
McLellan. Mark Beaven and Bill De
Jong, along with public works co
ordinator John Forrest, met during
the break and came back with its
recommendation. Seili cast the
deciding vote to have the sub
committee review the tender during
the council break and come back
with a recommendation. A couple of
other councillors believed councillor
Joe Steffler should have been on the
committee because of his experience
in the roads department.
Sieffler said he had been-asked to
come up with a couple of tenders of
his own to show the difference
between two brands of graders. He
did. but they were not considered,
although he gave them to De Jong to
present to the committee.
The committee recommended that
council purchase the Volvo G740-B
from Champion Road Machinery at
the cost of $251,900 plus the
applicable taxes. It was the lowest of
the tenders submitted.
The estimated cost of the grader
was $300,000.
FIRETRUCK
Seven companies supplied tenders
for a 2005 pumper tanker for the
Brussels station.
A sub'-committee comprised of
Seili, and councillors Fergus Kelly
and Frank Stretton was asked to
review the tenders and come back
with a recommendation at the next
regular meeting of council, June 28.
They were to work with Fire
Chief/Chief Emergency Measures
Co-ordinator (CEMC) Marty
Bedard.
Prices ranged from a low of just
over $214,980 to a high of slightly
under $248,620. The amount
budgeted for the firetruck is
$225,000.
RUBBER-TIRED TRACTOR
A sub-committee of councillors
Larry McGrath. Kelly and
was made to review the
received for the four-wheel drive
rubber-tired tractor.
Prices ranged from a low of
slightly more than\$5 1.540 to high
of $63,250.
The committee was asked to also
consider a trackless unit. Committee
members were urged to talk to the
roads employees to get their reaction
to the possible purchase.
A recommendation will be
brought back to the June 28 meeting
of council.
The price of this piece of
equipment will be transferred to the
2006 budget.
King Street
work
Stettler
tenders
Mclnnes, who is recovering at home
from an operation, participated in
the closed session by conference call
earlier on June 7. and was able to
second the collective agreement
motion put forward by Northwest
Huron representative Mary-
Catherine McKeon. But when it
came time to vote. Mclnnes was no
longer on the telephone, making
McKeon the only trustee available.
That's because three others —
Stratford’s Ron Marcy, South
Huron’s Mike Miller and chair
Bernard Murray of South Perth —
all have children who are teachers.
The Education Act stipulates this
means they must declare a conflict
of interest on teacher contract
matters.
“For a small board like ours, it’s a
major problem,” Murray admitted
after the meeting. But he added
there wasn’t any choice and the
contracts had to be ratified.
In the late 1990s, the Mike Harris
government forced many school
boards to amalgamate with their
neighbours (including the former
Huron and Perth public boards,
which were brought together to form
the Avon Maitland District School
Board).
Initial recommendations included
amalgamating the pre-existing
Huron-Perth Separate board with its
counterpart in Bruce and Grey
Counties, but public resistance
forced the government to backtrack.
It did, however, require that the
board be reduced in size from 14
trustees to just five.
Deadlines
Continued from page 1
meet the deadlines.
The deadlines were achieved in
negotiations with the three other
main teachers' groups in Huron and
Perth Counties: elementary and
secondary teachers in the Huron-
Perth Catholic District School
Board, and secondary teachers with
the Avon Maitland board.
"It was good to work together with
the teachers. They got down to
business but we had a good
relationship too.” said Huron-Perth
personnel chair Mary-Catherine
McKeon, following that board’s
ratification of its two contracts at its
meeting Tuesday. June 7.
Avon Maitland chair Meg Westley
praised negotiators from both sides,
saying, “my congratulations on
(reaching the agreements) because it
certainly was a long haul.” All
teacher groups had been operating
without a contract since Sept. 1,
2004.
All but the ETFO local have
already voted to ratify their
contracts, while the Avon Maitland
board was expected to provide its
approval at its meeting Tuesday,
approved
Huron East council approved the
tender for the reconstruction of King
Street in Brussels at its June 7
meeting.
Five tenders were submitted for
the project.
Moorefield Excavating was the
successful bidder, with a cost of
$249,949. It was the only tender
below the estimated cost of
$252,500.
The project has to be completed
by Aug. 31. 2005.
met with 3 groups
June 14. ETFO is expected to vote
later this week.
It seems only fitting that it’s the
last contract negotiated and ratified;
the sticky issue of “grid parity”
combined with the work-to-rule
campaign (which ran through March
and April then was resumed in June)
made it the most high-profile of the
four bargaining sessions.
Payment terms, the four-year
length of the deal, and preparation
time allowances were sei by the
province earlier this year.
The contract amounts to just over
10 per cent over four years for all
teacher groups, with a split of
two per cent this year, two per cent
next September, 2.5 per cent in
2006, three per
an extra 0.7
negotiated.
The hold-up
Maitland elementary teachers was
the “grid,” a term which refers to the
formula by which salaries are
determined for teachers with
different experience levels. ETFO
wanted their grid upgraded to equal
that of the secondary school
teachers.
The grid was also a challenge with
the Catholic board. According to
board chair Bernard Murray, the
new deals bring Huron-Perth
teachers up to par with their Avon
Maitland counterparts.
“It was not easy but 1 think it’s
good that they do have parity with
the coterminous board,” he said at
the June 7 meeting.
“And 1 think it’s also good that, for
the first time, we have a four-year
deal.”
On the Run
It was a steamy day for local OPP, Bluewater Youth Centre
members, Community Living employees and clients and
potential future Olympians as they came through Blyth on
the annual Torch Run for Special Olympics, June 14. (Bonnie
Gropp photo)
k
cent
per
in 2007 and
cent to be
for the Avon
Buffalo robe on loan
Continued from page 23
harnessing horses are illustrated in
detail with models made by Fred
Lewis of Wingham.
The early settlers and farmers
today lived off the animals as well as
(he land. John Jamieson has loaned
(he museum the use of a lovely
buffalo robe (used on cold days
when traveling by sleigh). It is made
of cow hide, not buffalo, and lined
with wool. Fake eggs for clucking
hens and an interesting knife with a
bone handle made to scrape horses’
hooves are just a few of the items
that Illi the downstairs gallery at the
North Huron Museum.
There are also mystery items that
the museum encourages visitors to
identify, if they can.
i
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