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Home My WebLink AboutThe Times-Advocate, 2002-10-30, Page 2small number of key changes were made in the list of to-be-closed facili- ties, due in some cases to a belief the level of finan- cial savings would not be as great as initially pre- dicted. "I need to see the money . . . because we went through this whole process last year only to discover come December that (some closure options) weren’t even financially viable," stated Stratford trustee Meg Westley. South/West Perth repre- sentative Carol Bennewies agreed, and took particular issue with the report’s propos- al to close Mitchell Public School and move all of the town’s Grades 7 and 8 students into Mitchell District High School (MDHS). She want- ed more proof the neces- sary additional construc- tion at MDHS would be worth it. Westley unsuccessfully sought a deferral of the vote to allow time for Avon Maitland staff to col- lect more specific finan- cial information. Her suggestion failed to gain support partly because some trustees felt it would be OK to seek financial information about certain options, but other options should be eliminated immediately. Other trustees felt this would be unfair to the schools remaining on the list. And it was clear some trustees felt Westley’s suggestion essentially equated to an approval of the intent of the report, by keeping the closure option open for a number of schools. Instead, trustees like Charlie Smith (Central/East Huron) and Butch Desjardine (Northwest Huron) want- ed nothing to do with clos- ing any schools this year. "I am as passionate about ending this process tonight as Mr. Brillinger is about seeing it carry on," said Smith, referring to the arguments in favour of the report from Listowel-area trustee Don Brillinger. Both chairperson Colleen Schenk and past- chair Wendy Anderson — each of whom has served as chief spokesperson for the board during past clo- sure campaigns — expressed reluctance to pursue closure so soon after last February’s events. "I just don’t feel this is the right time to do this," Schenk said. "This is a troubling report, certainly, coming on the heels of the last (round of closures) as it does," Anderson agreed. She expressed displeasure with some of the anti- administration feedback she had received in the days after the new report was made public, adding that board staff was merely doing the job it is required to do. But she argued Huron and Perth communities needed a break from the potentially divisive and stressful process of closing schools. Trustees were united, however, on one point: there was unanimous support for examining the possibility of relocating all students from Seaforth Public School into the building formerly occu- pied by Seaforth District High School. The high school closed its doors in June 2002. About 50 members of the public attended the Oct. 22 meeting, including several wearing buttons promoting Holmesville Public School. Colin Pritchard, a parent rep- resentative from Holmesville, delivered a public delegation before the meeting, as did Darlene Hewitt, a parent from Colborne Central Public School. It’s unlikely the board will carry out a full accommodation review in 2003-04, since the sched- uled election of new trustees in November 2003 would disrupt the process. 2 Exeter Times–Advocate2 - Wednesday, October 30, 2002 Exeter Times–Advocate Don’t Forget to ask aboutDon’t Forget to ask about Science Diet’s frequentScience Diet’s frequent buyers programbuyers program $5.00 off 50 lb Niger seed. 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Exeter, Ontario N0M 1S3 (519) 235-2808 1-800-294-9725 Fax: (519) 235-1074 EXETER General Delivery Woodham, Ontario N0K 2A0 (519) 229-8000 WOODHAM cares for your horses Complete line of horse feeds “Performa” trainers of performance horses requiring a high fat/low carbohydrate diet No closures from Avon Maitland this year Continued from front page also dropped from 23.6 per cent to 21 per cent. Coun. Harvey Ratz said the ABCA used to have about 50 employees before government cut- backs pared staff down to about 11 or 12. “Now you have about 20 (employees) and we keep giving you more money,” he said. Prout responded that the ABCA delivers more programs than it used to and increased staff tend to get paid for the ABCA’s special projects. One such project that affects South Huron is the proposed dam safety assessment for Morrison Dam. Done in partnership with the Upper Thames River Conservation Authority, the proposed project would review: • the dam’s discharge capacity; • the structure’s stabili- ty; • the condition of the structure; • the condition and suitability of equipment such as gates, valves, hoists and emergency power; • operation, mainte- nance and surveillance plans; • emergency prepared- ness plans; • the area affected if the dam were to break; • public and worker safety. The total estimated cost of the two-year $70,000 project would be $11,970 to South Huron for the Morrison Dam and $803 for a similar project at the Parkhill Dam. Prout said if South Huron (the benefitting municipality) doesn’t agree with the dam assessment for the Morrison Dam, the pro- ject won’t go ahead. Mayor Rob Morley thanked Prout and Strang for their presenta- tion and said council will re-visit the issue. He said it will be a tough year as there are many cost increases for the municipality. South Huron’s costs increase for 2003 Continued from front page "This is a troubling report,certainly, coming on the heels of the last (round of closures) as it does," WENDY ANDERSON PAST-CHAIR