The Huron Expositor, 1997-01-15, Page 1Sea Saga
A Seaforth
sea saga for
Scuttlebutt.
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VON
CANADA
Health Care
VON Canada
celebrates 100 years
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News & Views
Looking for options
as Women's Resource
Centre set to close.
Your Community Newspaper Since 1860 — Seaforth, Ontario
Briefly
Canadian Tire to
open new stores
Canadian Tire Corporation
outlined plans to open anoth-
er 34 new and renovated
stores last week, despite the
fact Seaforth's associate store
closed after 46 years in this
town at the end of December.
President and chief execu-
tive officer Stephen Bachand
announced plans for the cor-
poration's 75th anniversary
last week, and noted thc face
lifts are part of a $1 -billion
plan announced in 1994 for
250 stores. Most are being
revamped but a few are being
built from scratch.
A major expansion of the
Canadian Tire Store in
Goderich is scheduled to be
completed this spring.
Out of memory
The computer Seaforth uses
for its taxes almost ran out of
memory, until council last
Tuesday approved an upgrad-
ing of its hard drive at an
estimated cost of between
$800 and $900.
Clerk/administrator Jim
Crocker told council he was
startled to discover only
about one per cent memory
remained on the older unit
which contains eight years of
financial statements, not
enough for 1997 tax calcula-
tions.
Council okayed the new
hard drive for $569 plus
installation, which will pro-
vide five times the memory
now available.
Charest to speak in
Goderich Thursday
The leader of the federal
Progressive Conservative
Party is holding a "townhall
meeting" in Godcrich tomor-
row (Thursday) morning.
A press release for the Hon.
Jean Charest says he is
"interested in hearing the
ideas and attitudes of thc peo-
ple from the riding of Huron -
Bruce regarding all matters
of national and regional sig-
nificance."
The "townhall meeting" is
at the Knights of Columbus
Hall on Parsons Court. It
starts at 11:30 a.m. and is
scheduled to conclude at
12:45 p.m.
Parking prohibited
Seaforth's first bylaw of
1997 is an amendment pro-
hibiting parking on Railway
Street, for 90 metres west of
Main Street South.
Administrator Jim Crocker
explained big trucks were
having difficulty hacking into
the loading docks at the
Seaforth Creamery.
Clerk on leave
Sherrie Oliver began filling
in for Seaforth's deputy clerk
Cathy Garrick, now on
maternity leave, earlier this
month.
Oliver has had two previous
stints at Town Hall, her first
as a co-op student from
Seaforth high school. Her
most recent employment was
at Brussels, where she was
also filling in for staff on
maternity leave.
Garrick is expected to be
off for at least six months.
January 15, 1997 --- $1.00 includes GST
PHOTO BY DAVID SCOTT
WiNTER ON THE ROAD - This is what it looked like from a driver's perspective recently on Goderich St., Seaforth.
Snowplows have been extra busy with the recent heavy snowfall. Our early lack of snow has been compensated for.
Huron, Perth boards to merge in '98
"Rural Ontario does not
exist," stated Trustee Abby
Armstrong, after learning that
rural communities will not be
considered under special cir-
cumstances.
"We've just been nailed tq
the wall," said Rowland.
"The government wants to
disband what other countries
use as a model," said Trustee
Joan Van den Broeck, dis-
cussing Ontario's education
system some regard as one of
the best in the world. "They
are trashing our future today."
In preparing for next
January's changeover, the
government will establish a
commission to oversee the
implementation of the new
governance model, to ensure
school board fiscal responsi-
bility during transition and to
ensure a smooth transition.
The election of trustees for
the new district boards will
take place on Nov. 10, 1997,
with the new boards in place
by Jan. 1, 1998.
BY AMY NEILANDS
SSP News Staff
The face of public educa-
tion in Huron County will
change next year as the Huron
and Perth County Boards of
Education become one.
"History was made today,"
said Chuck Rowland, acting
director of the Huron board,
regarding Ontario Minister of
Education John Snobelen's
announcements on Monday
of changes to the provincial
education system.
"We will be Huron -Perth,"
announced board Chair Allan
Carter at Monday's regular
board meeting. Both Rowland
and Carter made the
announcement a few short
hours after hearing the
changes from Snobelen
through teleconferencing in
London.
"There are more unan-
swered questions than
answers," said Rowland, of
the new policy that will see
the number of school boards
halved, the number of trustees
cut by two-thirds and the
elimination of education taxes
from property taxes.
The 129 major school
boards will he reduced by
almost half to 66 and will be
known as District Boards.
Taking affect in January of
1998, there will be 55
English-language district
boards, 29 public and 26 sep-
arate, and 11 French -language
boards. The government said
"changes will respect all con-
stitutional rights."
The number of trustees is
being cut from about 1,900 to
about 700 and representation
for the new district boards
will range from five to 12
trustees; 16 trustees now rep-
resent Huron municipalities.
Trustees will no longer take
home the equivalent of a full-
time salary, stated a report
from the government. Boards
can provide an honorarium of
up to $5,000. The changes
will also see that board
employees and their spouses
will not be able to serve as
trustees on any board.
While the province is taking
education off the residential
tax base, businesses will con-
tinue to support education.
Revenue contributed by busi-
ness taxpayers will be kept in
the community where it is
collected. The government
will replace the education
property tax funding with
provincial grants under a
"new, fair funding model,"
states a press release from the
government. The new model
will recognize the cost of edu-
cating students and of meet-
ing their special circum-
stances, which include stu-
dents learning English for the
first time in the classroom,
students with special needs,
and students in remote corn-
munities.
Cromarty family doses everything in fire
BY ANDY BADER
SSP News Staff •
A Cromarty family Icft
with the clothes on their back
after a devastating fire
destroyed their home last
Tuesday (Jan. 7) spent the
remainder of last week pick-
ing up the gieces.
As Bruce Dow said a day Leanne Jackson, ant when husband Bud and three -
after the blaze totally they returned an hour later, month-old daughter Danielle
destroyed their 100 -year-old everything was gone. in Cromarty, was at her par -
home on Lot 15, Concession "It's a helluva feeling when ent's home doing ionic laun-
12 of Hibbert, "I wouldn't you get back home and dry when she said she heard
wish that on your worst you've got nothing," Dow "the wall crackling."
enemy." reflected, his face still black "I looked around the corner
Dow and his wife Joan had with soot 24 -hours after the and saw the flames start lo
left their home just 20-30 fire began. come through," she said.
minutes before the blaze was "It's hard to believe." She picked up Danielle,
reported by their daughter Leanne, who lives with her CONTINUED on page 2
New option reached by eight hospitals
BY DAVID SCOTT
Expositor Editor
Representatives from the
eight hospitals in Huron and
Perth hammered out a new
restructuring option Tuesday
morning (yesterday) in
Listowel to submit to the
DHC Task Force in time for
its noon deadline.
Board members, physicians
and senior hospital managers
from Huron and Perth have
met in a series of meetings
held over the last two weeks,
according to a press release.
The new proposal calls for:
• Hospital care and emer-
gency services in all of ht
tai
will have in-patient beds,
out-patient programs and
diagnostic services.
• Services at Clinton,
Exeter, Seaforth and St.
Marys sized according to the
needs of the communities
they serve.
• Obstetrics and surgery, to
complement essential ser-
vices in Goderich, Listowel
and Wingham (Goderich will
continue to provide mental
health programs), and
• Stratford to serve as a dis-
trict referral centre offering
essential services and pro-
grams that require specialist
support such as paediatrics,
rehabilitation and specialized
surgery.
• A staged, two-year imple-
mentation (by April 1, 1999)
"The plan, which meets the
District Health Council's
Hospital and Related Health
Services Study Task Force
decision criteria, results in
savings of 13.4 per cent in
Ministry funding including a
reduction of 17 per cent in
administration and support
expenditures," according to
the recent press release.
"Our board had a meeting
last night. It approved a
motion endorsing this
option," said Seaforth
Community Hospital CEO
Bill Thibert in a telephone
interview Tuesday morning
from Listowel.
"From our standpoint we're
very pleased to sec this coop-
eration and collaboration
among the eight hospitals,
We're looking forward to
cooperating with the DHC
Task Force," said Thibert.
"It's quite a positive devel-
opment."
In this new proposal,
Seaforth hospital would
maintain 24.hour emergency
service, in-patient beds, out-
patient service, maintain
obstetrics service and may be
given additional chronic care
beds as an opportunity 10
develop a chronic care pro-
gram, said Thibert.
The eight hospitals will
meet with the Task Force to
discuss the proposal on
January 21.
Jersey Co-operative
interested in location
New plan in
works for old
lumber yard
BY GREGOR CAMPBELL
Expositor Staff
A new business may be in
the works for Seaforth, at the
old Hoffmeyer's lumber yard
on High Street.
Seaforth's committee of
adjustment has scheduled a
public meeting next Thursday
(Jan. 23) for the council
chambers at Town Hall.
A Jersey milk co-operative,
at present with 14 members
who all live close to Seaforth,
has been proposed for the
now -empty property.
The purpose of public
meeting is to see if this pro-
posed use is appropriate for
the zoning, C2 defined as
fringe core arca commercial.
Or as the committee of
adjustment phrases it: "to
permit a proposed use which
is more compatible with the
uses permitted by the bylaw
than the purposes for which it
was used (lumber yard and
retail sales) on the day the
bylaw was passed."
THREE EMPLOYEES
"The Jersey co-operative is
a group of Jersey producers
who have formed a small
producer co-operative with
the intention of processing,
promoting and marketing All
Jersey milk products,"
according to the committee
of adjustment's outline.
"Their goals now are to
obtain the Seaforth property
and achieve their goals of
processing Jersey milk into
cheese. Some cheese that will
be made are Jersey Gouda,
Jersey Edam, etc. The retail
section will be selling these
niche market cheeses."
The, business would employ
three people.
The co-operative says only
cosmetic alterations would be
made to the building at 112
High Street, and a milk truck
would make its delivery dur-
ing normal business hours.
The committee of adjust-
ment meeting starts at 7 p.m.
Provincial
grants down
for town
BY GREGOR CAMPBELL
Expositor Staff
Seaforth's grant from the
province is $281,571 this
year, down $78,000 or 21.76
per cent from last year's fig-
ure, which was itself down
by approximately $75,000
from the year before.
Clerk Jim Crocker told last
Tuesday night's council
meeting if this year's reduc-
tion were to he offset by
municipal tax revenue it
would translate into about a
9.4 per cent tax hike. He said
Seaforth's mill rate is now
lower than it was in 1991,
and commented last year's
zero petr cent increase for
municipal ratepayers may be
"very difficult to maintain."
"i can't tell you what is
realistic this year," Crocker
commented.
CONTINUED on page 2