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HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Huron Expositor, 1995-12-27, Page 3News and Views (Council Briefs Replacement of slate shingles Slate "beyond repair" is to be replaced by asphalt shingles to the east on the library roof. Seaforth Council had u special session late last month dealing with the deterioration, uncovered during the current renovations expected to be done by March and had two estimates for the extra work from the contractor to consider: • $17,587.70 to remove the existing slate roof, install an ice and water shield along the eaves, install felt and slrappiI.g, and install new slate. • $3,575 to remove the exis- ting slate and replace the roof with asphalt shingles. Council took the latter option, although Coun. Mike Hak, its representative on Seaforth's Local Architectural Conser- vation Advisory Committee, advised they preferred a slate roof be retained. The roofing sub -contractor advised that since being repaired the other three elevations of the library roof are now in lair to good con- dition and, depending on the weather, should last 15 to 20 years. Administrator Jim Crocker noted the life expectancy of asphalt to the cast of the roof would be about the same, and the entire roof could be replaced by either slate or asphalt at that time. Rezoning; for car wash, real estate office Seaforth Council amended a zoning bylaw at its Dec. 12 regular meeting, stemming from an Ontario. Municipal Board decision last June al- lowing new uses for a Main Street property immediately south of the railway tracks, where applicants propose to establish a three -bay automotive washing establish- ment and real csute office. Town wants lagoon funds returned Seaforth doesn't want to commit itself to a long-term fixed-price agreement at the local sewage lagoon with the Ontario Clean Water Agency. It proceeded on the recom- mendations Administrator Jim Crocker on Dec. 14, to sign a letter of agreement, with the provision Seaforth inay cancel at the end of the second, third and fourth years. Seaforth is also asking for the return about S79,(X)) in cumulative surplus held by the agency, and an additional es- timated $40,000 held in a capital reserve fund. ''Nobody knows what our municipality will look like in two years," the administrator commented. Crocker informed council: • Total payments to OCWA by Seaforth 'for 1995 are ex- pected to be $184,567, consis- ting of $140,483 in service charges and $32,472 in connec- tion, frontage and mill rate collections, and an $11,612 contribution to the capital reserve fund. • 1995 lagoon expenditures are expected to be $187,170, consisting of $150,832 in operating expenses and $36,338 in debt charges, leaving a shortfall of about $14,215, usually funded through the cumulative operating surplus. • Seaforth has been contributing about $13,000 a year towards a capital reserve fund, the payments to be made annually until it reached $130,000. The cumulative surplus and projected capital reserve at the end of this year is expected to be sufficient for a new plant, in the OCWA's opinion. • With Seaforth not having to make more capital reserve contributions of $11,600, and using that amount to pay the ' shortfall of revenues for 1996, next year's revenue would be $192,290, Icss anticipated expenditures of $189,339, producing a surplus of 52,951 barring unforeseen capital ex penses. • With the exception of a 51,000 flow mctcr Ito capital expenditures are planned next yeur. Except in an emergency, future capital expenses would have to receive approval from Seaforth, with an added ad- vantage the town would control the reserve fund. Board looks to schools to reduce costs BY AMY NF.ILANDS SSP News Staff The Huron County Board of Education has reached out to its schools to start looking al ways they can reduce operating costs within their individual schools. "We must bring down the cost of operating this or- ganization, staled Director of Education Paul Carroll at a special meeting of the board held on Dec. 18. Individual schools arc required to es- tablish "cost management teams" to find ways their school can help reduce operating costs. "A similar cost management team will be set up at the Education Centre," added Carroll, and said the same will be established at the Learning Resource Centre in Clinton. "This is not a little project," he stated. 'This is a major project." The board was presented with a video of the City of Ajax which took a similar approach. The Stars Program provided the city's employees with the opportunity to give ideas on how to save money without reducing services and ul- timately resulting inppo layoffs. Some ideas that were implemented included putting parking police on bicycles rather than cruisers, keeping the ice rink four degrees warmer, which saved S6,000, and cross'training workers between departments, which saved S30,000. Two million dollars were saved without a layoff or reduction in the city's services. "We save money to save jobs," the clerk ad- ministrator of the city stated in the video. And with the money saved, that money goes back to the employees. For every $100 saved, each employee receives $12.50; with $2 inil(ion saved, each employee receives $1,000. Within the Huron board, once the cost management teams are established within the schools, they are to review the school's expenditures, identify cost savings, and implement these cost savings. "Remember that cost management is not a project or a program," stated Superinten- dent Gino Giannandrea in a memo to all principals, "it is a way of life and an attitude which we are trying to develop." Education centre will be for sale BY AMY NEILANDS SSP News Staff The Huron County Board of Education (HCBE) building in Clintort•will be sold as the board takes further steps to reduce operating costs. A 'For Sale' sign will be placed on the properly, which has housed the HCBE admin- istration for 25 years. It was announced recently that sell- ing the Education Centre Snowmobile Safety would save the board an annual operating cost of 548,389. If and when the building is sold, a new location for the centre and its employees has not been chosen as of yet. Possible locations, cited by board Chair Roxanne Brown include Central Huron Sec- ondary School in Clinton or Vanastra Community School. She added that moving to such locations owned by the board already would be at "no net cost to the board". Brown also made note of the possibility of amalgama- tion with the Perth County Board of Education. "We don't know whether or not we will be amalgamated," she said. "If that docs take place, we will be ahead of the game. We won't be scrambling to sell a building." Impaired riding lead cause of death In 1994, the Ontario Snowmobile Safety Committee and the Ontario Federation of Snowmobile Clubs contracted Tandem International Inc. to prepare a detailed profile of fautl and non-fatal snowinobiling injuries, as well as a best estimate of the current participation in snowmobiling. The five year span 1988/89 to 1992/93, the most recent years for which data arc available, was chosen for examination. Data sources used for .this examination include the Ministry of Transportation, the Office of the Chief Coroner and the Ontario Trauma Registry. The results of the recent study reinforce the previous findings that factors contributing to snowmobile injuries and fatalities include: • Impaired Riding •Excessive Speed •RIding on Highways •Riding on Ice • Riding after Dark, at Night Some highlights of the findings arc presented below. • The rate of snowmobiling fatalities remained essentially unchanged over the five-year period, varying from 24 to 28 fatalities ,per 1(X),000 active snowmobiles. •Teens and young adults have the highest rates of snowmobile injuries, relative to their population and snowmobiling participation. Rates of 21.7 injuries and 19.5 injuries per year per 100,000 population of teenagers (16-18 years) and young adults (19-24 years), respectively, are about two and a half times higher than the average of 7.9 injuries per 100,000 population for all ages combined. •Snowmobilers over 35 years of age are involved in fewer incidents relative to their participation level in snowmobiling, but are involved in relatively more fatal incidents, particularly drownings. They were involved in 31% of all fatal crashes, compared to 22% of non-fatal incidents. •On -highway i:acidents account for a high proportion of all early season injuries - 55% of injuries in December or earlier occurred on Ontario roads. •Snowrnobiling injury rates on trails arc lower titan the rates at other riding locations in Ontario. Fatality rates (per 100,000 active snowmobiles) sen trails are about one-quarter that for all riding locations combined; injury rates are about two-thirds as high. . More snowmobiling vict as live in Metropolitan Toroi,to and in Sudbury Regional Municipality/District than any other locales in Ontario - one' in every five injury victims and one in every three fatalities reside in one of these two areas. • One-third of snowmobiling injuries occurred in the Southern Ontario snowmobile region. One-quarter of the injuries occurred in each of the Central and Northern regions, and the remainder occurred in the Northwest rerzion. WINTER BOOT SALE Great selections for the entire family Godcrich 524-5145 Clinton 482-9692 Seaforth 527-0124 Exeter 235-0611 .• • 527-0682 NEED A BREAK! • Seaforth's Children's Co-operative Centre : has the : "School Age Program" Grade 1 to 7 : Jan 2^1- 5th *1/2 day Sr FuII Day $15°° . — activities include: swimming, bowling, skating creative playing & more Lunch provided - Almost three-quarters (71%) of snowmobiling injuries occurred on the weekend (Friday to Sunday), when recreational participation is highest. • A much higher proportion of Ontario snowmobile drivers in fatal incidents had been drinking (74%) compared to drivers in all types of motor vehicles (21%), to drivers in fatal motorcycle incidents (43%), and to involvement in fatal powerboating incidents (51%). •Underage drinking is a significant factor in snowmobile fatalities involving .16• to 18 year old drivers: half (53%) of 16 to 18 year old drivers had been drinking prior to the crash in which they were killed. •About 37% of snowmobile injuries involved excessive speed, compared to 9% for all types of motor vehicles combined. • Almost 50% of young (less than 12 years of age) snowmobile injury victims were not wearing helmets when they were injured Mitchell goes OPP On the recommendation of Mitchell's police board, council approved a switch from municipal to OPP policing early last week. The move is expected to save taxpayers thousands of dollars a year. The policing option Mitchell Council chose costs $481,000, compared to the town's municipal police budget of $524,000 this year. THE HURON EXPOSITOR, Daoember 27, 12115-3 ,-;.‘11'41r),. fa • 4 ..,t' • ALL THE BEST iii TO YOU IN '96 from Ruth, Brenda, Diane, Carrie, Anita, •• Betty, Sandy, Bob & Family td i� ;m Let us do the cooking! Call ahead at 527-0180 Shhien' s Men's & Ladies' Wear STOREWIDE BOXING DAY SALE ��E 20'50off SALE STARTS .DEC. 27111 527-0278 30 Main St. Seaforth BOXING WEEK SALE Wed. Dec. 27 through Sat. Jan. 6 50% OFF Christmas Fabrics, 45" & 60", Pillow Squares, Quilted Stocking Panels, Wall Hangings OPEN Wed. to Fri. 9 to 6, Sat. 9 to 5, . CLOSED Sun. & Mon (New Year's Day) OPEN Tues. Jan 2. Regular Hours Main St. Seaforth 527-1900 Nursery School and • Day Care Centre will • be operating regular ▪ hours Jan 2. • Merry Christmas from : the Staff & Board of • Seeforth Children's Co-op Centre . • • . . . . .. . •••• v. ••••...••• Seaforth Recreation Department's WINTER LEISURE ACTIVITIES FURNITURE REFINISHING MONDAYS BEGINNING JANUARY 8, 1996 7:00 to 9:00 pm EACH NIGHT AT THE SEAFORTH HIGH SCHOOL FOR 10 WEEKS. FEE: $40.00 DESCRIPTION: Techniques of how to strip your old furniture and refinish it to look like new. FITNESS IS FUN MONDAY & THURSDAY MORNINGS 9:00 to 10:00 am BEGINNING JANUARY 8, 1996 AT THE SEAFORTH AND DISTRICT COM- MUNITY CENTRES FOR 10 WEEKS. FEE: Once per week -$35.00, Twice per week -$50.00 & Three times per week -$65.00. DESCRIPTION: The morning classes will be gentle aerobia, while the Wednesday evening will be faster SIGN LANGUAGE MONDAYS BEGINNING FEBRUARY 5, 1996 7:Q0 to 9:30 pm EACH NIGHT AT THE SEAFORTH HIGH SCHOOL FOR 10 WEEKS. REGISTRATION FEE: $65.00 DESCRIPTION: Learn all the basics that will enable you to sign. You will receive handouts. Call early as the class is limited in number of participants we can take. STEP TRAINING WEDNESDAY EVENINGS FROM 7:00 to 8:00 pm BEGINNING JANUARY 10, 1996 AT THE SEAFORTH AND DISTRICT COM- MUNITY CENTRES FOR 10 WEEKS. FEE: $35.00 DESCRIPTION: This more demanding type of fitness program gives you an excellent workout. Steps are pro- vided. paced. RECREATION VOLLEYBALL WEDNESDAY EVENINGS BEGINNING JANUARY 10, 1996 FROM 8:00 to 10:00 pm AT THE SEAFORTH AND DISTRICT HIGH SCHOOL FOR 10 WEEKS. FEE: $30.00 DESCRIPTION: This is a non competitive recreational program for those who enjoy Volleyball and would like a night out. PLEASE PRE -REGISTER FOR ALL THE ABOVE PROGRAMS BY CALLING THE RECREATION OFFICE AT 527-0882. MINIMUM AND MAXIMUM NUMBERS ARE IN EFFECT FOR ALL PROGRAMS. IF YOU OR SOMEONE YOU KNOW CAN TEACH GYMNASTICS TO CHILDREN, PLEASE CONTACT THE RECREATION OFFICE AT 527-0882. IF THERE IS A PROGRAM THAT YOU WOULD LIKE TO SEE OFFERED AND AN INTEREST IS SHOWN, PLEASE CALL AND LET THE RECREATION DEPARTMENT ORGANIZE IT FOR YOU.