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Home My WebLink AboutThe Huron Expositor, 1996-04-10, Page 1:karma- ikto • Hospital Seaforth hospital receives accreditation • award. • See page 2 • Internet Report on Seaforth's Internet access and phone connections. See pages 6 & Ju Jutsu Seaforth residents have a chance to learn ancient self defence. See page 8 ,St $ Your Community -Newspaper Since 1860 .—.Seaforth, Ontario r Briefly Police asking public to look for Mistie's SDHS jacket Police have -asked. people opening up their cottages and residents along Lake -Huron to pay particular avention to. thc. shoreline this spring. as •they continue their investitga, . lion into last Mby's disap- pearance .of a. Goderich • teenager. . ,t, • ' • MjstieMUrray.i 15.- was last seen) at about 7 p.in. in the Snug Harbour area -of -Goderich on May 31. 1995. - Her adoptive father.. Steve 'Murray. has been charged with second-degree murder... • The Murrays used to live. in St. Columhan. - • i . • mistie was -wearing a for -1 .est -green nylon jacket with "SDHS Girls .Band" and her .name. "Mistic". on the right sleeve when she went miss- ing. She.also had Olack Gear ankle -high running shoes and -red short -s. Her fishing pole,- also missing, is blue with a -black handle and bias a black ard blue open- faced reel. • Anyone with. information . is asked to call the Godcrich police hotline .at (519) 524- 1545. or the .Ontari 1 Provincial Police at 1-800- 265-2525. .NeW sewer in ''97 Scalorth is looking at installing its sanitarysewer Zinc on County ROad 12 through the town in. 1997. The long range plan has the county resurfacing the rpad in 1997. . • Thc county public works committee recommended that resurfacing he delayed until 1998.10 allow for settling if Seaforth plans to proceed with sewer work next year. The Village of Brussels is planning to replace the water - main under County Road 16 in 1997. It will be recon- structed the same year. No tax increase The ovFrall.tax. rate in Huron County will not increase this year. Despite provincial cuts to conditional and unconditional grants to municipal govern- ments. County Council approved Huron County's $27 -million budget recently. including a zero per cent increase in thc tax rate and a surplus of $528,770. Chief in cour.t Mitchell Police Chief Chuck Zchr has been told to reappear in a Stratford court May I to answer criminal code charges of threatening: • He was previously sus- pended wiih .pay by •Mitchell's Police Services Board because of similar charges. by a•constable of the Mitchell police force. 'Some Mitchell merchants have taken to showing sup- port for the suspended chief by posting paper signs in their store windows. • Internet access • Tuckersmith can do what Bell won't for Seaforth BY GREGOR CAMPBELL Expositor Stall The information highway. is coining from the country. Saaforth is son going to be able to get Internet access right next door, from the tiny communicaiions co-operative in Tfickersmith Township. There is no exact date but it hopes to become an • Internet service provider by thc end of this month, says Sharon Chuter,i general manager of. Tu'ckerspiith• Communications Co-opera- tive Ltd. - How'can this hc whcn big oI 1301 Canada can't pro- vide anything comparable for Seaforth? Chuter say (i• Toclqersmith upgrnded to a digital switch 'about dee* ago, over a six- month period in I987-88. She says it cost a lot of money but the township's customer base is rural, "not city and not even town" with Bayfield its biggest munici- pality. • CONTINUED on page16 April 10, 1996 75 Cents Plus GST PHOTO BY DAVID SCOTT EASTER BUNNY VISITS SEAFORTN - Hundreds of parents and kids filled Victoria Park and St. James School yard • Saturday morning in -search of Easter eggs4 They weren't disappointed as the Easter Bunny and other animal characters made appearances with baskets of chocolate eggs for youngsters who bundled up in the sunny but.cold weather. Taxpayers looking at 6.8 per cent increase from public board prdsented a preliminary BY AMY NEILANDS "shoppinf list" of about $2 WI News Staff million in spending reduc- tions throughpermanent-say- Taxpayers-supporting the ings of about $1.7 million in 'public system might Ix look- operating expenditures and ing at a 6.8 p6 --cent mkt -ease through special reserves to in their mill rate this year, offset retirement gratuities according to preliminary esti- and !certain school renovation mates from the Huron costs, Cadoll reported. County Board of Education. r With these reductions, a At its April 1 meeting the "very preliminary" estimate hoard had not yet received of the property tax mill rate word fr9m the province on increase is about 6.8 per cent. the exact reduction in transfer "An estimated 6.8 per ccnt payments. although earlier increase is a far cry from 11.4 information indicated it per cent as was intended to would have to cope with a $3 be passed along," said million cut. Carroll. "This is within the rangc we If the board was to reduce were anticipating." said spending further it would Director of Education Paul would have to cancel "100 Carroll. adding that the "win- per cent board -funded" pro- dow' the hoard was looking grams such as Tech 21, at was three to five million Carroll said. He also noted dollars. cancellation of ministry - Further impacts on the mill funded programs such as rate include the basic change junior kindergarten would to thc ministry -determined increase the local tax require - standard mill rate. which will mem. raise the local property tax "The board has come a long share of education revenues way," says trustee Don by 4.7 per cent. The province McDonald. "I think we also expects local property should look at a fcw more taxpayers to pick up a portion reductions before the budget of the reductions to the per is finalized to help thc tax - pupil amount which has been payers out." calculated to he an additional Imposed spending reduc- , 4.5 per cent increase on local tions of 10 per cent on central mill rates.administration and trans - An additional 2.2 per cent portation costs have been increase will. come from the incorporated in these prclimi- second ycar phase-in of nary calculations. Carroll adjusted assessment equaliza- reported that more informa- tion is needed to determine what action is needed to meet the required reduction for "custodial and maintenance services." "We arc already at thc hot - tom of the barrel in terms of spending," Said Carroll. "We do not have any more elbow room." iion factors introduced by the previous NDP govern- ment. These "provincially • imposed" property tax changes total an 11.4 per cern impact on the mill rate, but this figure will he decreased • through hoard spending reductions. The hoard has • h orgamzes cation tax revolt BY AMY NEILANDS SP News Staff Blyih has begun a cam- gn to seek support from her Ontarto municipalities <.; • stop toiectingthe educa-, #n portion of property taxes ing next January I'lVe are not happy with the • ay education is funded," ys Blyth Reeve Mason Riley, Prompted by provin- al cutbacks arld suggestions amalgamation, Blyth uncil passed the motion arch 18 meeting and has t more than 140 letters to unicipalitles seeking sup - The government's sugges- n of amalgamation "seems realistic to us and will not of advantage to our tcpayers and will only ult in the loss of control of r affairs," Bailey says in letter to municipalities. ree years ago, a recom- endation that education es be, jemoveil from pro erties was presented to the government by the fair tax commission, he explains, adding that if removed it would be replaced with a funding system to which all people contribute in a fair manner. "In some cases, education taxes make up more than half of the tax bill," he continued. And if removed, municipali- ties "could then better afford to continue to provide tradi- tional services to our ratepay- ers and retain our autonomy and control within our com- munities." "Education is a service to the people not to property," sayS Bailey. "People who own a home as well as a busi- ness are struggling for sur- vival. They aro being double taxed for service that has nothing to do with property." He adds the present govern- ment knows the system needs to be changed but don't say when it will. "Our concern is that they to do something we will regret (amalgamation)," he says. Whether or not the present system is changed by Jan. 1, Blyth doesn't intend to col- lect education tax, even though by law,. Ontario municipalities are required to do so. Bailey says the gov- ernment could cut then cut all transfer payments to the vil- lage, but "our transfer pay- ments are being cut more and more each year so that is no longer a big factor." However, if the village gets 'significant support for its motion, Bailey says he can't see the government penaliz- ing 100 municipalities. Paul Carroll, Director of Education for the Huron County Board of Education says this poses no immediate concern for the board. He adds the board is not autho- rized to collect taxes. "tf this action helps change education finance, I'm quite •" says. No lottery terminals for Seaforth BY GREGOR CAMPBELL Expositor Staff Council doesn't want Ontario to allow video lottery terminals (VLT) in Seaforth. It passed a motion last Tuesday opposing them, thereby supporting the posi- tion in correspondence received from a Kitchener business. Mister Nevada, which claims VLTs will "dec- imate" current fundraising by charitable and non-profit organizations in Ontario "by more than 50 per cent as it did in in Western and Eastern Canada." The arca Nevada ticket supplier included a form let- ter it urged all organizations now selling break -open tick- ets at third party locations to forward to the provincial governnicnt, observing "there is some urgency to the mat- ter" as Ontario "is contem- plating the VLTs for this year." CONTINUED on.page 3