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HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Huron Expositor, 1995-02-01, Page 1QiITo Hur E-0� x X sto 70 cents plus 5 cents G.S.T. (75 cents) Briefly Huron prepares for opening of new Catholic high school Both students and Catholic school board officials are preparing for this fall's opening of St. Anne's Roman Catholic Secondary School in Clinton. At last's Monday night's meeting, held at Holy Name school in St. Marys, trustees learned that about 400 15 -minute videotapes about the school were distributed to all potential Grade 9 and 10 students in Huron County. Board chairperson Mike Miller, of Zurich, also serves at the chairperson of the secondary school ad hoc committee. He said he is expecting about 120 Grade 9 and 10 students in Clinton this fall. The tape shows St. Michael Catholic Secondary School in Stratford and explains that the new school will be built incorporating many of the aspects of the Stratford school. It also addresses topics such as courses offered. This is the second tape the board has distributed to students. The first one was made last year and discussed the option of sharing Central Huron Secondary School in Clinton. When that plan was• overturned, the board began making plans to build its own school. At its Feb. 14 meeting at St. Joseph's School in Clinton, the ad hoc committee will begin reviewing the 80 submissions it received for a potential logo, colors, and team nickname. Some of the interior decor has already been donated. Trustee Miller said a Huron County priest has donated a four -foot statue of St. Anne. Dairy improvement group names rep for Huron and area Delegates elected three Direc- tors to the Board of the Ontario Dairy Herd Improvement Cor- poration at their 14th Annual Meeting held January 10 in Toronto. Belmont -arca producer Jim Jenkins was elected Director for Zone 1 and will represent the area encompassing Lambton, Middlesex, Elgin, Huron, Perth, Kent and Essex counties. Jim represented the Ontario Animal Breeders on the DHI Board in 1994 as an appointed Director and replaces St. Mary's area producer Bob Ross. Bob chose not to run after serving thirteen years on the Board, four of them as Chairman. Zone 3 will be represented for a fourth term by Bradford area Holstein breeder John McCallum. This Zone includes the counties of Bruce, Grey, Wellington, Dufferin, Simcoe and Haliburton, as well as York and Durham regions and the district munici 'alit of Muskoka. INDEX Entertainment... page 14. Sports...page 10. Years Agone...page five. "Your community newspaper since 1864.• Dubai' The Huron Expositor, Seaforth, Ontario, February 1, 1995 This space could be yours! Call 527-0240 HEALTH CARE Paul Klopp faced a less hostile crowd in Seaforth than Coderich. see page two. Your Full Line Dealer ✓.••J FORD MERCURY Sales - Service - Selection SPORTS Dumpers win men's consolation m broomball tourney and TPC takes it all. see page ten. Public responds quietly to OPP contract plan BY TIM CUMMING Expositor Editor Seaforth's municipal police force could be disbanded in favour of OPP police service...but don't expect a loud public outcry. When representatives of the prov- incial police force visited Seaforth last Tuesday night nary a peep was heard from the small crowd at Seaforth Council chambers. Mayor Irwin Johnston informed the 30-40 people in the audience that Seaforth had to investigate the OPP option because of increasing demands from the province. "We had better examine all alter- natives very closely to make sure we're getting value for the tax dollar," he said. Whatever Seaforth decides to do, police service will cost more, said Mayor Johnston. "Police costs in the town of Seaforth are going to increase dra- matically," he said. The OPP presented two models of policing for consideration. They were a stand-alone detachment ($476,837 per year) and an inte- grated detachment ($380,655 per year). Seaforth and the Police Ser- vices Board favour the second option if OPP is accepted. Two -person police patrols will be required during the overnight hours .as part of the OPP's contract with its police officers' association. "Violence doesn't just happen in big cities like Toronto and Hamilton," said Sgt. Peter McGuinness, of the OPP's contract policing section. When two OPP officers are on patrol they would not be in the town of Seaforth any less than 50 per cent of the time, according to the proposal. "You're not looking at a lot of calls in the surrounding area that would take time," he said. Under the OPP contract proposal Seaforth would pay 20 per cent of the cost of the three sergeants at the Goderich detachment, or the equiv- alent of .6 of a sergeant position. The town would also be required to pay a share of the OMPPAC com- puterized records management system. Seaforth would be required to GREGOR CAMPBELL PHOTO TUCKING IT HOME - Derek Nesbitt (3) of the Seaforth Peewees made no mistake when he snuck around the net and tucked the puck home for a big goal in Sunday night's 5-5 playoff tie with Durham. OPP more expensive Any thoughts that OPP police service would be cheaper than town police were dispelled at a meeting last Tuesday in Seaforth. A meeting of Seaforth residents was told that OPP service, in the short term, would be more expens- ive but would provide more hours of police coverage. If Seaforth accepts the OPP con- tract proposal there will be 20 hours police service every day seven days a week which is a slight increase from the current situation, said Sgt. Peter McGuinness. The cost of policing in Seaforth could increase by almost 19 per cern this year if the town retains its police force, according to estimates distributed last Tuesday. The cost of OPP service would mean an increase of almost 27 per cent. The cost of the OPP contract could mean tens of thousands of dollars in extra expenses. For the owner of a property assessed at $90,000 the cost of police service will increase by more than $45 under municipal police service and increase by almost $75 under OPP service. "Police costs...are going to increase..." provide a street -front community policing office for the OPP in Seaforth. The current site of the Seaforth Euchre Club was sug- gested as one possibility. Seaforth would be responsible for the cost of janitorial service at the police office. Seaforth businessman Jim Sills asked at the meeting if there would be extra costs for emergency ser- vices. Sergeant Peter McGuinness said those services are provided at no extra cost now and would also be funded by the province under an OPP contract scenario. The estimated cost of OPP polic- ing could fluctuate between now and the signing of any future agree- ment. Seaforth Council and Police Ser- vices Board will be holding a joint meeting on the OPP issue on Thurs- day, Feb. 2 where a preliminary decision may be made. The Town of Seaforth is accept- ing written submissions from Seaforth residents until Feb. 8 on the proposed policing changes. The Police Services Board will be given the authority to temporarily halt any move towards OPP if there is pub- lic disagreement. Police Services Board will be meeting on Feb. 8 and Seaforth Council will meet on Feb. 14. DHC hires first executive director BY ANDY BADER from Mitchell Advocate The Huron Perth District Health Council was intro- duced to their first executive director last Thursday night at their monthly meeting, taking another step to full impleme- nation of their duties. Fraser Bell, 32, will leave his post as a Hospital Consultant/Inspector with the Ministry of Health and com- mence his work with the council on Feb. 13th. A Binbrook native, Bell •said he was keen to re -visit smalltown Ontario with this DHC a perfect opportunity to do so. "I'm very excited for a number of reasons," he told the DHC members, "but specifically, I've heard a lot of. good things about you." Bell holds a Master of Business Administration (Health Services Management) degree from McMaster University; a Bachelor of Sciences (Biology) degree from McMaster; and a Bachelor of Arts (Economics) degree from Wilfrid Laurier University. In addition to his work with the Ministry of Health, he has held a Senior Consultant position with Fraser Bell Price Waterhouse Health Management Consultants. He has worked in hospitals in both London and Hamilton. DHC Chair Jeff Wilbee said the council received approxi- mately 130 applications for the ' job from across the country. They conducted 10 extensive interviews over two -days before choosing Bell. Fraser and his wife will live in Stratford at the present time, before they seek out permanent accommodations. A temporary office has been located at 11 Victoria St., Mitchell (Bas Haefling Chartered Accountants office), until a permanent office site can be found. Bell's first priority is finaliz- ing a permanent site, with the Town of Mitchell the DHC's Site Selection Committee's first choice. Minor injuries Dump and roues acvc�a� times. Goderich OPP report Amy Fotheringham of RR, 4 Seaforth was taken to hospital with minor injuries Sunday night, after the snowmobile she was riding on a trail south of County Rd. 3 hit a bump and rolled several times. Klopp backs act governing power of BY GREGOR CAMPBELL Expositor Staff The Ontario Government has no "hidden agenda" to nose its way into people's lives by expanding powers of attorney options within its new Substitute Decisions Act. "It's a misconception," Huron MPP Paul Klopp told last Thursday's Meeting of the East Huron Long- Tcrm Care Committee at Seaforth Community Hospital. "The last thing the government wants to do is run these people's business." The Act, administered by the newly created Office of the Public "I will do what is necessary..." Guardian and Trustee (formerly just called the Office of the Public Trustee) provides clearer guidelines Klopp said. You can do it or not, change it or not, at any time, according to the MPP. The new law allows you to choose "someone in advance to make decisions for you when you are no longer mentally capable", according to information packages distributed by the MPP at the meeting. This was not allowed under existing legislation. The Act also confirms a person's wishes will be respected if they can't express them, gives family members more choices to get legal authority to make decisions for the mentally incapable, and protects their rights, according to the handouts. A diabetic at Thursday morning's meeting was concerned the legalities for these new powers of attorney might cost her life in an emergency, or instance if she were in diabetic shock and required glucose immediately. Huron County Medical Officer of Health, Dr. Maarten Bokhout, said her fears, though understandable, were groundless. "As a physician in an emergency I will do what is necessary to make the person better," he said. `Treat and ask questions later." He welcomed the new act's "very useful parameters", particularly in non -emergency situations, and said lawyers put it together "designed to fill gaps where there aren't already solutions." The Medical Officer of Health said a "recluse" would be a good example, with community values often overriding that individual's wishes before the passage of the new act, with the lack of morc specific guidelines. in accident Paul Cooke of RR 3, Auburn also received major injuries in another snowmobile accident Sunday when the snowmobile he was driving went over an embankment and into a stream. attorney "Hopefully the act will help people like ourselves out," Dr. Bokhout added. Klopp stressed the importance of knowing the person well you give powers of attorney to, then taking time to make sure they know what your wishes are, should you be unable to make decisions for yourself. He said some people, no matter how close to you, might have moral qualms about carrying out your wishes in certain situations, such as when to turn a life support system off. These people would be a poor choice to hold your powers of attorney then, the Huron MPP said, though your friendship would not be affected.