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HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Huron Expositor, 1995-03-08, Page 11Board one step closer to St. Columban addition Senior students should be at St. Columban School this September. The Huron -Perth Roman Catholic Separate School Board is reviewing draft specifications for the addition at St. Columban School. Gerald Thuss, superintendent of business and finance, said he expects to advertise for tenders by the end of March. Thuss said the board will outline what it wants in the addition and will hire a general contractor based on the company's plan to con- struct it, including architectural drawings. The 6,600 -square -ft. addition will include a demountable gymna- sium, three classrooms, changerooms and washrooms. The kinder- garten to Grade 3 students who currently study at the school will be at St. Patrick's School, Dublin next year. Meanwhile, the senior stu- dents at the Dublin school will be at St. Columban School next year. The full size demountable gym is more suitable for the older students. New waste technology continued from front page Under current government leg- islation, municipalities are oblig- ated by law to develop new land- fill sites in preparation for the clo- sure of old sites reaching capacity. But Bailey said both the Conservative and Liberal Party leaders have promised to change the legislation if elected in the upcoming provincial election. Bailey, who is a former execu- tive member with the Ontario Federation of Agriculture, said both parties recently told his orga- nization that they would reverse current legislation and allow incineration methods to become a widespread practice in Ontario. "There are already some very good incineration plants in British Columbia and in Brampton," said Bailey. "They have incineration plants where the emissions are cleaner than the air in our major cities. "Council hasn't looked at any other methods. They just keep saying `legislation.'" At present, members of the Planning and Development Committee are awaiting the results of further drilling on a potential landfill site in the north - em portion of Ashfield Twp. The drilling work is planned for the spring. County Council also leaned that the estimated cost for the new landfill site will likely reach $5 million. "As of the end of last year, we hayp spNpt„$950,000 is preparing the master plan," said Huron County planner Craig Metzger. "The County's portion is slightly more than half, about $500,000. /STRATFORD CYCLE CENTRE Where Service Counts! "It will take about $1.55 million to carry us through to completion of the master plan." Counc. Bill Mickle called the search for a landfill site "a consul- tant's dream. "What is this going to cost the taxpayer of Huron County? It's ongoing, ongoing, then you retreat, then you start up again." According to Gary Davidson, the Huron County director of planning and development, grants from the province will cover 60 per cent of the total cost for a new landfill site. Huron County will have to cover the remaining 40 per cent. As for alternative methods of waste management, Davidson said "there doesn't seem to be any tech- nology that doesn't involve a land- fill site at the very end of the waste stream," But Bailey still thinks the search for a new landfill site should be halted. "A landfill site is a landfill site, whether big or small," he said. "Poisons will get into the water, and that's not going to go away." Bailey said County Council should examine waste manage- ment practices inr areas where "the problem is real. "They should look at Asia, Europe or the United States. "They have incineration plants." Bailey suggested council should also consider looking at a waste management system currently being developed by Kincardine - based Canadian Agra. "But it's not popular with coun- cil to talk about anything other than a landfill site. THE HURON EXPOSITOR, March 8, 1995-11 .1 News and Views Tory says agriculture being ignored iBY DAVID SCOT"!' Agriculture has tended to be the forgotten cousin in the Government of Ontario for the last 10 years, said PC provincial agriculture critic, Noble Villeneuve. Villeneuve spoke to a roomful of south Huron farmers recently in Hensall at the W.G. Thompson board room about what a Mike Harris government would do for farming if elected. He spoke mainly about a report undertaken in 1993 entitled 'The Mike Harris Task Force - Rural Economic Development.' The report was the result of town hall forums conducted in rural Ontario about grassroots concerns farmers, small business people and educators had about the way they were being governed. The report isn't limited to agriculture. It takes stances on graduated licensing, gun control, junior kindergarten, waste management, minimum wage, policing and other things that aren't directly related to agriculture. He told the farmers assembled that the provincial government has cut funding to the Ministry of Agriculture 10 per cent in each of the last two years. "Agriculture and Food have been chopped. The rest of the ministries have continued spending money. The Ministry of Agriculture under a Harris government would not suffer any further cuts," said the Tory agriculture critic. Villeneuve said the provincial PC government would pare down educational administration. "In education you have to remember that 40 per cent of the salaried people never see the inside of a classroom. Does that tell you that maybe they're a little heavy on administration as opposed to education? That's where the cuts would occur," said Villeneuve. He sated his objections to Allan Rock's new stricter gun legislation. "Eighty-five million dollars is being spent by the Government of Canada to force law-abiding legal gun owners to register and re- register and to acquire FAC's (Firearm Acquisition Certificates) to own a rifle. We think $85 million would be a lot better spent if they spent it on protection of the public and policing," said Villeneuve. He admits the province overspends and is in financial trouble. "We have a major spending problem. In the last 10 years we've increased spending from $26 billion to $55 billion and we're still closing hospitals, shutting down hospital beds. We're not even cutting the grass on provincial highways. We have a spending problem," he said. The provincial Conservative party has taken a "reduction" platform for the upcoming election. "A reducuon in government, a reduction in bureaucracy, a reduction in spending and a reduction in income tax to provide a climate that's conducive to Ontario becoming again the engine of the economy of Canada," said Villeneuve. He said a Harris provincial government would slash the number of civil servants in Ontario. "We've promised to cut 15,000 (civil servants) out of the bureaucracy, go back to where we were in 1985 - at 82,000. We have about 100,000 now," said the agriculture critic. Villeneuve also said a provincial Tory government would create 725,000 new jobs. How many of those would be agriculture -related? "I would say you're looking at 125,000-150,000 of those jobs involving the manufacturing of products used on the farm, equipment used on the farm, sales, all along that chain - the transportation, the processing. Twenty per cent of the jobs in Ontario are agriculture -related," he said. The new ethanol -processing plant in Chatham will create about 300 jobs but many more for the construction of the facility, said Villeneuve. He was asked in a press conference how the federal budget will impact on farmers, especially with diary subsidies being cut and the Crow Rate being removed for grain producers. "It's of major concern. Fifteen per cent of the milk being cut in the upcoming year and another 15 per cent in year immediately following. Quite obviously it's going to be creating some problems within an industry that has been very stable," said Villieneuve. "What's going to help is the removal of the Crow Rate which will provide some support or strength to the grain market here in Ontario because at least the transportation costs will not subsidized for western grain coming into our area. The long team effect is that we may well see more hog production in Alberta and Saskatchewan which would then compete with our hog industry here. So it's a double-edged sword," he said. - - TEXAS BOUND - Track and field athletes `Lori Perrie (left) and Carly Price of Seaforth District High School are off to train Texas in a couple of weeks, thanks to the support of Seaforth Branch 156 of the Royal Canadian Legion. Lori will train in her specialty field events, and Carly hopes to improve her hurdling. OFF TO CHAMPIONSHIPS - Members of the Seaforth Stingers Junior A Ringette Team were selling hot dogs and pop on the Main Street Saturday to help raise money for their trip to the Provincial Championships next week. The Stingers will represent the Western Region. Lab costs hit ,local hospital,rA Increased laboratory costs could cost Seaforth Community Hospital an additional $13,000 this year, the Seaforth Commun- ity Hospital Board of Governors was told on Feb. 28. ARCTIC CAT' Ask about our exclusive. »<, semana rarwarranty' EVERYBODY'S DO1N' IT cleileaB BRCaCHAGEN 345- 2248 ON COUNTY ROAD 811 - SNOWMOBILE COUNTRY 20 Dover St., Stratford 271-8911 Open 6 Days A Week Aft ?Uc jlla fee Sunt ee %goea We* 9t S c uc i Complete Line Of Accessories & Clothing ;:. Performance Modifications Qualified Technicians New & Used Sleds Small Engine Repair R.R. 1 Stratford (East on Vivian St.) 271-5888 BY: CRAIG NICHOI.SON OLARIS Believe It. POLARIS SALES, SERVICE, PARTS 527-0104 234 Main St. N. Seaforth .. Y f �� "h { � i;;: �•`.7�#:���i2i:hY`":k.:�X'# 19.•:k?nq..4::`:Sks.;..c.'.:R:t'....'�i.Jn�'.,'r .. THE SAFETY DILEMMA (c t994 by Craig Nicholson. All rights reserved.) I speculate on the economy of the snowmobiling LIlike to think of myself as a safe snowmobiler. I'm an community trying to significantly reduce snowmobiling- aware, cautious and responsible rider. I knoW the related fatalities. Remember, we're talking big bucks and rules of the road and have experience on my side. a handful of erstwhile snowmobilers who aren't listening I've snowmobiled 100,000 kilometers Over the past anyway. twenty years or so without serious mishaps. Except for a barrel roll in the Bruce Region and an annual windshield Lives that for the most part are deliberately put at risk by replacement, my sleds have survived intact. their owners. Not innocent victims, but people who know better, play the odds and lose. How choked up should I There are thousands of riders just like me. Folks who live get? How much money should we spend trying to for winter and snowmobiling, pray for early freeze-up and change human stupidity? Besides, most of our safety snow. Snowmobilers who practice safe riding. People . messages are misdirected at our own members who are who have put their dealers' kids through school. already on side. Preaching to the converted. Each of us has had our moments at the edge. Those infrequent times when inattention, impatience, over- confidence or even anger have brought us face to face with our own heart -in -the -throat mortality. And we've settled back again into the comfort of our responsible riding, secure in the certainty we've learned our lesson this time. And if not, that there'll be as many more ,this time's, as we need. Knock on wood. February 5 to 12 was Provincial Snowmobile Safety Week. A week most of us will have ignored because we already consider ourselves to be among the ,good guys and gals., Besides, we've heard it all before. On average, snowmobiling-related incidents account for 30 to 40 fatalities each winter. I chose this phrasing very deliberately because it seems that most of the victims are locals using a sled to accomplish another primary purpose such as ice fishing, going to or from a party or joyriding to the store. They're not snowmobilers, much less OFSC members, who use their sleds for the primary purpose of trail riding. And I emphasize trail riding because that's what Ontario snowmobiling is. Make no mistake about is. With less than three per cent of snowmobiling-related deaths occurring 'on OFSC trails, it doesn't take a genius to conclude that most victims have not really been snowmobiling, or ,snowmobilers, at tragedy time. Their demises are snowmobiling-related,, not snowmobiling fatalities. A fine distinction perhaps, but a definable line nonetheless. One most frequently misunderstood and ignored by law enforcement agencies, the media and the public. Each new snowmobiling-related death erroneously paints our sport black again. Perception is reality. Through the Ontario Snowmobile Safety Committee and the Ontario Federation of Snowmobile Clubs, almost a million dollars is being thrown at snowmobiling safety each winter. In targe part to combat this negative perception. How many true snowmobiling deaths are there? How does that compare to the rate of airplane or auto or pedestrian or killer bee deaths? Very favorably, I submit. 6:40 KOLIMAN' S SALES & SERVICE 625-8228 36 HURON, SHAKESPEARE 1 Engineered For The Way You Ride. • SALES • SERVICE • ACCESSORIES 11/4 Miles North of seatonn 527-0120 3 It's the yahoos we're after, and I suspect they're mostly unreachable anyway. Certainly they rarely respond to the logical, reasoned approach espoused by safety practitioners. Prolific safety information has no impact on these risk takers. I sometimes wonder if they can even read. But it makes the rest of us feel better for trying. This dialogue is not intended to belittle Ontario's snowmobiling safety initiatives, admittedly the world's best. Or the folks who make there happen. Instead, it's to explore a perhaps more realistic context end set of expectations for what is and is not possible snow safety - wise. Let's face it. Every winter, idiots are going to kill themselves foolishly. Some will do it on snowmobiles. However they choose to die, alcohol, speed, darkness, unfamiliar terrain or drowning may be contributing factors. Mostly they'll be young males challenging their mortality. Unfortunately, they may take some innocents with them. And leave more grieving behind. So maybe our safety energies should be redirected to saving these poor souls from unnecessary agony. Maybe Ontario Snowmobile Safety Week should target the passengers and loved ones of high risk takers - all of whom suffer by chance, not choice. The slogan could be: ,Don't gamble with your happiness - hide his keys., Let's address the real problems and targeted solutions, to admit our limitations, to put the blame for snowmobiling-related fatalities squarely where it belongs - on those high risk takers who die defying the odds. Certainly the fault cannot be laid on snowmobiling, already a safe sport when participation rates, riding frequency and distances travelled are properly factored in. Nor should we snowmobilers feel guilty or ashamed or even sympathetic when another yahoo bites the snow dust. That's one more who won't raise the tally of innocents lost. Until next time, happy trails and remember: Sled Smart - Ride Safe, Ride Sober. For more information on local snowmobiling, Snowaramas and clubs contact the Ontario Federation of Snowmobile Clubs (OFSC) at 1- 705-739-7689. To plan your Ontario tour, call 1 -800 -283 - SLED. One of the area's Best Selections of Snowmobile Clothing and Accessories KIMPEX PRICED RIGHT! FARM EQUIPMENT Hwy. N23 North of Machell PH 348-8702 THIS SPECIAL FEATURE WILL APPEAR THIS SEASON THANKS TO THESE PARTICIPATING RETAILERS ALWAYS REMEMBER: \SAFETY FIRST!