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The Huron Expositor, 1994-07-20, Page 1Huron() • Sllt0 70 cents plus 5 cents G.S.T. (75 cents) Briefly PUC to review water tower proposals The Seaforth PUC recently received a letter from Seaforth Community Hospital administra- tor Bill Thibert stating the condi- tional agreement with the pro- posed location of the new Seaforth water tower on hospital property. According to the letter, the Seaforth Community Hospital agrees to the water tower being situated behind the health centre provided a second access road be built as compensation to the hospital and also that consider- ation be given to the Seaforth PUC absorbing the cost associ- ated with relocating the hydro lines to accommodate the new hospital heliport. The Seaforth PUC now has approval for their three proposed sites. Both the arena and hospital have compensation requirements associated with the construction of a water tower on their prop- erty. The third location is on Brantford St. property owned by the PUC. "The commissioners and engineers will review all three proposals immediately," said Tom Phillips, PUC Manager. PUC receives safety certificate The Seaforth PUC recently received their annual safety merit certificates from the EUSA (Electric Utility Safety Associ- ation) for completing a year without an accident in their hydro and water departments. The Seaforth PUC has received a certificate of merit for water for the five consecutive years since EUSA began the program. They've received hydro safety certificates two years in a row. Projects proposed in waterworks The Seaforth PUC reviewed the proposed 1994 Waterworks Budget at their July 13 meeting. Proposed capital expenditures include: new water meters, replacing old hydrants, upgrad- ing hydrants, test kit for well, hydraulic hydrant wrench and trench boxes. Proposed projects include: extending a watermain on Brantford St., extending service to vacant lots, service tie-in between Ord and Louisa Streets, possible upgrade of back alley east of Main St. The budget is still under review. Ontario Hydro power savings Ontario Hydro will be having two Power Smart retail initiative programs this fall. In September there will be Power Smart Light- ing Days. October is Power Smart Month. "We'll be seeing what criteria is involved with these programs and decide whether to put in a billing insert (on the programs for customers)," said Tom Phillips, PUC Manager. INDEX Sports...pages 8, 9. Weddings...pages 14,15. Entertainment...page 13 "Your community newspaper since 1860.. serving Seaforth, Dublin, Hensall, Walton, Brussels and surrounding communities." i• MILTON J. DIETZ LIMITED SEAFORTH 522-0608 • Pesticides & Custom Spraying • Spraying Equipment & Parts • Nutrite Premium Fertilizer • Ventilation & Livestock Equipment ® ■ ■ PURINA FEEDS �] & PET FOODS HURON EXPOSITOR, WEDNESDAY, JULY 20, 1994. SPORTS Ontario's top Junior golfers were in Seaforth last week to compete in tourney. see page nine. Your Full Line Dealer Sales Service Selection ADT ^�Tr HART FORD MERCURY USED CARS StWalerWYMi T: s+c arhei<aa ;saio1 'The Frlendty Dealer With The Big Heart' THEATRE The Festival has an up-and-down voyage in The Pirates of Penzance, which hits and misses. see page 13. Fun in Ttyt GUMMING PHOTO MAKING A SPLASH - Melissa Oosterbosch (above), 12, does a backwards dve into the Seaforth Lions Pool to enjoy the warm, sunny weather while Kris Meidinger, 11, does his own brand of jumping into the pool on Sunday. *tins*irtining was 000 of many activities Seaforth residents'erWed during the warm spell. Huron board, teachers reach agreement BY AMY NEILANDS The Huron County Board of Education and secondary school teachers have reached a two year agreement for the 1994-95 and 1995-96 school years. The approximately 271 teachers represented by Inc Ontario Secon- dary School Teachers' Federation - District 45 have accepted the agree- ment which provides for no salary increases for the next two school years. However, the dental plan benefits will increase. Effective April 1995, the current 1992 Ontario Dental Association (ODA) fee guide will increase to the 1993 ODA fee guide and in April 1996 the 1994 ODA fee guide will be augmented. Through the agreement, a com- mittee will be established which will address concerns in positions of responsibility, benefit plans, gratuity plans, on-call provi- sions/snow days, retirement of teachers, and federation leave lan- guage. The committee of up to six members will represent all parties equally, said Jeanne Dionne, human resources administrator for the Huron County Board of Education. Also addressed in the agreement were the needs of teachers in a time of illness, accident, or disability should an extended amount of time be needed off work. Due to the Social Contract, man- datory reductions in staff were to take effect in September 1994. With a reduction of 4.75 per cent in staff, said Dionne, some amendments were needed in teachers' workload to accommodate for the reductions. After a "complex round of negoti- ations", the agreement was prompt- ly accepted. Dionne said that the agreement was completed quickly unlike others in the past. Good relations were kept with the teachers, she said. "It's a pleasure to get it over and done with before the fall," Dionne noted. "The parties are very pleased with the agreement reached," it was stated in a press release. Board has Social Contract accord BY AMY NEILANDS Huron Women Teachers' Associ- The Huron County Board of anon and the Ontario Public School Education and the county's 371 Teachers' Federation, have agreed elementary school teachers have to the contract which covers the reached an agreement regarding the three years, June 1993 to March 31, implementation of the Social Con- 1996, of the Social Contract. A tract Act and related provincial 4.75 per cent reduction in staff for agreements. both 1994-95 and 1995-95 school After 11 months of negotiations, years will see an increase in class the act will be implemented locally sizes. in the schools, said Jeanne Dionne, Negotiations will result if human resources administrator for changes are needed for teachers the Huron County Board of Educa- preparation time if staff reductions tion. make it difficult for the teachers to achieve the required level, it was The teachers, represented by the stated in a press release. Elementary school teachers will also see reductions in pay. Teachers moving up the salary grid will be two years behind where they would have been on the grid as a cause of the Social Contract. The equivalent of this is an average salary loss of $5,000 annually until the maximum step on the salary grid is reached. During the first year of the Social Contract (June 1993 to March 31, 1994) teachers were required to take four days of unpaid leave. For the duration of the Social Contract, no more days of unpaid leave will be required due to staff reductions. TIM CUMMING PI1OTO JUNIOR CHAMPION - Andrea Lavelle, Ontario's Junior Women's golf cham- pion, was in Seaforth on Fri- day where she won her divi- sion in the Midwestern Ontario Optimist Junior Golf competition. New bean processing plant stresses quality control BY PAUL CIUFO for the Huron Expositor Investing $2 million in a new, state-of-the-art white hcan process- ing facility was absolutely neces- sary to remain competitive, said Henry Vander Burgt, a director for the Hensall District Co-operative (HDC). Leading a tour during the grand opening of the new plant last week, he said the 100 -year-old former facility could not deliver the same quality of product as the new plant. "We had to do something. Demands are higher for quality control. [Canners) don't want splits and skins that float to the top of the can; it's undesirable. And the old facility couldn't get rid of all the foreign materials, the stones," Vander Burgt said. The new facility has slow-mov- ing, self-cleaning elevators that cause less damage to the product. Vander Burgt said from $200- 300,000 will he saved each year. The new plant also has high-vol- ume stoners and metal detectors to ensure no foreign material slips through in the beans. Other quality control devices include a 75,000 cubic foot per minute dust collec- tion system, 20 twin electric eyes, automatic samplers, and three stages of gravity separators. NEW WHITE BEAN PROCESSING FACILITY - Quality control is emphasized at the new $2 million state -of -the -are white bean processing plant which had its grand opening last week. The Hensall District Co-operative facility (shown here) Is at the leading edge of processing technology. The facility impressed Walt Research Station. Vcrmunt, a white bean researcher "I've seen facilities before but from Ridgetown College's Huron never anything like this, It is up to what the industry wants in terms of quality control. This should keep the co-op in the running for provid- 1 ing beans. The laws arc getting stricter that the processors arc deal- ing with, and if they can't get sup- pliers to give a good product. they'll bump suppliers out of the market. This is good timing by the co-op, a good time to get with it," Vennunt said after a tour of the plant. Vander Burgt said, "Ninety per cent of our heans go to Britain. There arc severe fines if the canners cannot guarantee thc quality of thc suppliers. So thc canners are deal- ing with Icss and Tess suppliers -- they want fewer sources --and we want to he one of those sources." All of the machines in thc plant arc constantly monitored by a cen- tral computer that maintains a steady flow of beans. "The level indicators tell the com- puter where the product is and let thc computer know whether to start or stop the equipment, " said Steve Knight, of Knight Electronics. which installed thc plant's electrical system and computer. Vander Burgt said the new plant can process beans much more quickly than thc old one. 22,500 pounds per hour instead of 7,500 pounds per hour. "Before the plant was running around thc clock. There were two shifts with two people working on each shift. Now we'll lx able to cut back to one shift and we'll only need one guy on."