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HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Huron Expositor, 1996-10-16, Page 1Sports The Cents pick up a pair of wins on the weekend. See page 9 Education TOMORROW :. Controversial author of "Class Warfare" talks in Seaforth. See page 8 Opinion Letters on LACAC, lack of participation at high school and Bell's service. See pages 4 -& 5 Your Community Newspaper Since 1860 Seaforth, Ontario Briefly Huron boards inpilot project - The Huron public and Catholic school hoardsarc two of 95 boards in Ontario participating in. a Ministry of Education pilot provincial report card project this school year. • These. pilot tests. in Grades 1 through 9. involve-achieve- mentreports in the last weeks of January and June; and arc expected to lead to a standard report card in these grades the next school year. Education Minister John Sngbelen announced last Wednesday the new report cards are being seleceivcly field-tested in about 900 schools. OPP charge ,18 for not, wearing seatbelts recently • Ontario Provincial Police checked 655 vehicles in a crackdown in Huron' County on Oct. 5, resulting in 18 seatbelt charges and six other, charges under the Highway Traffic Act. Detachments in Scaforth, Clinton, Exeter, Godcrich and Wingham took part in the one -day enforcement and education exercise that tar- geted drivers considered to, be high-risk for collisions. The intention of this "Operation Impact"- is "to make Canadian Roads the safest in the world by the year 2001." Ryan named to BIA executive The co-owner of Total Image Ii on Main Street, Gerry Ryan, has been appointed to thc executive committee of Scaforth's Business improvement Association. Residents charged following riot Six residents have hccn charged with 16 offences by the OPP in the aftermath of the most recent disturbance at the Blucwatcr Youth Correctional Centre. south of Goderich. Five young offenders are to appear in court Dec. 12. An adult charged in connection with the riot appears Dec. 16. It happened Oct. 6 and• another dormitory was dam- aged. A bigger disturbance earlier this year damaged two dormitories. The 16 offences the half- dozen arc charged with are: five counts of break and enter, four counts of rioting, three counts of mischief over $5,000, one count of mischief under $5,000, and three counts of breach of proba- tion. Mock disaster happening this month Deputy -clerk Cathy Garrick reported to last week's meet- ing of town council there will be a mock disaster enact- ed in Seaforth later this month to test thc town's emergency response plan. 1 October 16, 1996 -- 1.00 includes GST PHOTO BY CARLY PRICE IT'S PUMPKIN SEASON - It's the time of year when leaves are changing colour and pumpkins are plentiful as this photo of the elementary school entries for pumpkins and Jack o'lanterns at Seaforth's recent fall fair show's. Many enjoyed a Thanksgiving feast this past weekend complete with pumpkin pie. Some results from the fall fair appear on page 7. • DHC Task Force gathering information Hospital closures a possibility BY'ANDY BADIy,R SSP News Staff - * with notes from David Scott Hospital closures are a pos- sible option in ,reducing 15 to 10 million dollars from the health services, budget in Huron and Perth. , With the majority of their preparation complete, the Huron -Perth District Health Council's Hospital and Related Health Services Study Task Force is getting, set to turn to the public for input. • The study, which takes a close look at the eight hospi- tals in Huron -Perth and other health sectors,- began in March. and must be complete by the Ministry of Health's deadline of Jan. 31, 1997. Task Force Chair Janet Hook said the -study has moved along on schedule, but notes • that the key aspects of it.will ,soon be in the hands of the public of both counties. the study is moving forward very quickly, it will be important'that Huron Perth residents participate in the opportunities for input that are made available to them," Hook said. Such opportunities will include random telephone• surveys (which arc under- way), approximately 30 focus groups during the last two weeks of October, 10 public forums in December (five in each county) and open houses in early January. Seaforth's Dates October 29- is the date for three focus group sessions in Seaforth at 10 a.m., 2 p.m. and 7 p.m. "We're looking for 10, to 12 people from each group," said task force mem- ber Bill Thibert. On November 21, a selection of three' options for health cuts in Huron and Perth will be made by the task force. At the public forum stage in December, the three options will be forwarded with the public asked to select their preferred option. Seaforth's public forum will be held December 10 at ,the Seaforth Community Centre from 4 to 9 p.m. Thibert urges the people of Scaforth to give their input at both the focus groups and public forums. "Hospital services (in Huron and Perth( are going to change," he said. -);t is important to stress that the public's input is 'a key, ele- ment in shaping the study, DHC Executive Director Fraser Bell say§. Hospital Closures an Option "All possible options, such as hospital role changes, mergers and closures will be considered by the task force as it seeks ways to streamline the hospital system," he said. "We keep hearing that deci- sions have already been made, but that isn't the case," he continued. "There is no CONTINUED on page 3 Huron County approves workfare plan BY PATRICK RAFT'S SSP News Staff Computer data input and clerical work for the Central Huron Secondary School Alumni Association will be the first task for "Workfare" participants in Huron County under a business plan approved by Council Council, October 3. The business plan must now receive provincial approval, before Ontario Works pro- jects fan start moving people from welfare to workfare in Huron, one of 20 test sites in the province. The business plan notes contact has been made with 12 potential community par- ticipation sites, and five or six community agencies have submitted plans for utilizing Ontario Works participants which are under review the the county social services department. Among the 12 potential sites listed are Dashwood -based Community Living South Huron, the Ausub1e-Bayfield Conservation,Authority and the Huron County Board of Education. Huron County generally has about 550 General Welfare Assistance (GWA) recipients in a given month, said Dave Overboe, of the Huron County Social Services Department. Of those, said Overboe, about 375 would be considered "employable," thus eligible to participate in -Ontario Works, but only an estimated 10 per cent of those will ini- tially qualify for mandatory Ontario Works participation (minimum of four months on welfare, if not disabled or sole support parents). • The business plan notes that sole support parents may face mandatory work for welfare requirements by 1998. - More eligible participants will be able to be placedifa plan to puitd partnerships with an existing non-profit agency to overcome the "ongoing transportation prob- lem in Huron County," is developed, the plan states. Howeveryprovision for day- care are being built into Ontario Works, Overboe pointed out. Employers in the communi- ty placement component of the program must be non- profit agencies and the place- ments must not displace any work, done by paid employ- ees in the past two years. So, an agency which laid off employees within the past two years could not utilize Ontario Works participants on those same jobs, explained Overboe. Any work normally done by con- tract workers would also be ineligible, he said. A unique feature of Huron's Ontario Works plan is a pro- vision to pay private job placement agencies for suc- cessful placements. The "fee for placement," provides compensation to a service provider "only if the service is successful," the plan states. Payments to the placement agencies would be based on savings to the general welfare program, with the placing company getting about one- third of those savings. This component would involve placing recipients in actual employment situations, where they would be paid by employers, rather than receiving benefits. That fits in with the theme of the Ontario Works pro- gram's results oriented com- pensation system, under which the county will be paid for successful implementa- tion of the program, as opposed to receiving start-up grants to cover costs. The county must hit certain tar- gets for placements, in order to receive specified funding levels from the province, Overboe explained. While there will always be some clients "who will be resistant," Overboe said the majority of clients he's talked to are viewing the program in a positive manner. "We're trying to make it positive for everyone," he said. Overboe predicted the com- ,,unity placement and fee for placement components of the program will ultimately involve only a small portion of' tWA clients, perhaps 15 per month. For most, the focus will be on job training and earlier employment inter- vention, he said. "Instead of having people collecting benefits and us monitoring to sere if people are eligible to collect bene- fits, we're saying, let's be proactive," sllid Overboe. Town Council Seaforth involved in restructuring study for area BY GREGOR CAMPBELL Expositor Staff Scaforth Council inched into restructuring waters at Iasi Tuesday night's regular meeting. Councillors unanimously agreed to -take part in a study, -with an estimated overall cost of $40,000, with other area local governments, in the central portion of Huron County and mostly along the Highway 8 corridor, "who wish to proceed." Council's move came after an Oct. 3 restructuring initia- tive in Clinton that 11 munic- ipalities attended. Restructuring is high on many municipal agendas and a hot topic across the province of late, on the prod- ding of the Ontario govern- ment which has indicated sig- nificant changes are in the works in the structure of local government, with greater efficiency and cost savings the object. "We have to do it," Coun. Brian Ferguson said, "we don't have a choice. We all have to have a plan in place to meet expected shortfalls." Clerk/Administrator Jim Crocker's special report to last week's council meeting on the recent meeting at Clinton, also attended by Mayor Irwii. Johnston and Coun. Ferguson, states: "The purpose of the meet- ing was to establish terms of reference for a restructuring study to he carried out by a private consultant. "While the main objective to define terms of reference was not realized some issues such as defining some of the requirements to be included in the study were achieved." FIVE WiLLiNG - "Only the Town of Clinton and the Townships of Godcrich, Colborne and McKillop wcrc willing to be included in thc study," Crocker's report continues. "Other municipalities indicat- ed some willingness to par- ticipate in the drafting of -the terms of reference. "It has been estimated that the cost of thc restructuring study• will he $40,000. i am not sure how this figure was arrived at as the scope of the study has not yet been • defined." Scaforth councillors expressed ' concern that Tuckcrsmith Township, which might be impacted by any logical restructuring in the immediate arca (perhaps Egmondville and Harpurhey) wasn't one of the already willing five participants. Clerk Jack McLachlan says that Tuckersmith has been involved in ongoing restruc- turing talks with neighbours to its west - Stanley and Hay Townships and Hensall, Zurich and Bayfield - for the past two months. Tuckcrsmith's "number one preference" is to retain a rural focus but other options or restructuring partners have not been ruled out by thc CONTINUED on page 3