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HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Huron Expositor, 1998-09-02, Page 1Your Community Newspaper Since 1860 — Seaforth, Ontario September 2, 1998 $1.00 includes GST Front doors may be closed but school starting as usual Construction on board offices not expected to interfere BY SCOTT HILGENDORFF Expositor Editoi Construction disruptions will be -at a minimum to staff and students returning to. Seaforth District High School on Tuesday. "We're ready to go on Tuesday," . said Laurie Hazzard, vice principal on Monday. Construction and renovations are being done at the school in preparation for. moving the Avon Maitland District School. Board offices into the high school. While work is expected to continue well into November, Hazzard said there will be few changes for the students; a couple classes ,have to be held in a portable class room, no one can use the front door and, part way into the new school year, the library will have to be temporarily relocated. The bulk of the work is taking place at the front of rhe 'school and in the formerly abandoned downstairs and students will have iso use other doors, particularly the north-west door. The family studies room is being moved across the hall into a, newly painted classroom because its original room is being transformed into offices that will house about 35 board staff from offices in Stratford and Clinton. , The cooperative and health education classes will be held in a portable which Hazzard said won't be too bad because students don't spend much time in the class room in either of the programs. Late in the fall, the library will be relocated to another class room while work on a new. improved library begins. The north end of the library is becoming a high- tech computer lab with equipment coming into the library from other parts of the school Rooms are being built in While the front door may be closed due to construction for the new school board offices, Seaforth Distict High School will be open for business as usual on Tuesday. front of the school where the court yard is located. "It's going to'be a fabulous building." said Hazzard. The board office move has .helped secure a future for the high school. Last year, there had been discussions the school would have to close because of declining enrollment. For now. she said it's business as usual at the school with just a few other changes taking place. not "related to the construction. Students will be greeted to a new mural on the gymnasium wall. The original mural was lost to construction in the gym last year. The new mural features the school's colors and mascot, the Golden Bear and was designed during the last school year by staff and students. It was, being painted this week. There will be a few new faces at the school replacing teachers who retired atthe end of the last school year. They are: Conrad Kuiper, HILGENDORFF PHOTO teaching English; Heather Henke. teaching French; Sherry' Logan. teaching math and computers: and Paul Nerino, teaching shop. Also, work is expected to wrap up this fall on a Canadian history CD rom being prepared by students. Students were hired for the summer to continue work on the CD that was started in the last school year. "That's a huge project," Hazzard said. Agriculture Minister tours county Horrific tax increases not being seen in this area BY GREGOR CAMPBELL Expositor Staff Seaforth residents seem to have been spared the tax 70 per cent tax hikes some tax payers have seen in other municipalities through changes in assessments and taxation this year. In Seaforth and Huron County,' the situation appears to be normal and there has been no increase in the number of rate payers seeking to appeal their assessments. , Taxnotices went out in Seaforth two weeks ago and Deputy -Clerk Cathy Garrick says all is "regular" at Town Hall, "same as last` year." , The municipal taxation system was changed by the Ontario government this year. and' assessments, updated by the province have resulted in many irate ratepayers with hefty tax increases to, pay elsewhere, particularly i,1 cities such as Toronto and London. The deputy -clerk says the odd caller has complained attout their taxes going up. whith when checked, actually, proved to be going down. The taxes most manufacturers pay in town all went down because of the new assesments, Garrick says, and business taxes remain about the same. It's difficult to generalize the change's because of the varying degrees of both increases and decreases in taxes. , An assessment commissioner with Ontario's Ministry of Finance at Goderich, Gerald Morgan, says there "hasn't been much difference"' compared to other years in the number of calls from people appealing' their assessments in either Seaforth or Huron County. He says Toronto's assessments were 50 years out of date, compared to just three years behind in Hurons municipalities, which accounts for the relative calm here. The deadline for appealing property assessments here was officially Monday (Aug. 31). But Morgan says this may change when Queen's Park soon resumes sitting because with the multiplicity of municipal tax changes the window for informal discussion in the appeal process was too short this year, and alt parties have already verbally agreed to an extension. An appeal extension to the end of October may be in the works. Assessments will no longer be within the finance ministry's domain at the end of this year. The function will be assumed by the newly created Ontario Property Assessment Corporation. Teacher strike fate unknown BY VICTORIA JACKSON Clinton News -Record Staff Public high school' students in the Avon Maitland District School Board (AMDSB) artki their parents won't know until later this week whether or, not they will have some extra Sime for back -to-school shopping. Cliff Berry, chair of the Ontario Secondary School Teachers Federation (OSSTF) teacher's negotiating team, said Tuesday morning no decisions have been made yet on whether Huron -Perth teachers will be going on Vanclief keeping strategy a secret for handling World Trade Organization talks BY VICTORIA JACKSON Clinton News -Record Staff The federal Minister of Agriculture made a stop in Hullett Township during a rapid fire tour of Huron County last Thursday. Aug. 27. It was his first visit to the area since his June, 1997 appointment to the ministry. The minister, Lyle Vanclief made the day- long visit to Huron County as part'of his cross-country tour. He stopped at Alex Westerhout's poultry farm in the Clinton area for a tour and to answer the questions of some local farmers. Westerhout said most area farmers who are involved in supply management are concerned with the World Trade Organization (WTO) trade talks. "We're hoping that we will keep the tariffs that are there," Westerhout said. "(The tariffs) keep cheaper American and international product from undercutting Canadian commodities farmers." Vanclief said to the small group of people at the Westerhout home that to.date there hasn't been my indication from the other countries involved in the trade talks (more than 130) that the tariffs are about to change significantly. "It's not going to be easy to get a flat line that everyone agrees on," he said. "Everybody wants a piece of other markets." Westerhout said not all area farmers will want the tariffs to remain as they are now. "It depends on which commodities people are involved with. Some people want to export, but others in supply management are only interested in the trade within Canada." Westerhout said. "That's why the federal minister is kind of walking a fine line. He has to negotiate for people on both sides." He added that although it would be nice if the talks dragged on forever, in that the old tariffs will remain in place until new ones have been agreed upon. there is a down side to never-ending discussion. "At least once the deal is done you know what's happening," Westerhout said. "It's hard to make decisions when everything is up in the air." Vanclief said he would not expect the trade talks to be finished before 2001, but cannot reveal what Canada will be entering the negotiation with. "We certainly will be forming a strategy, but 1 cannot say what that is." Vanclief said. "You don't'tell the world your strategy or you tell the people you're bargaining with." He assured those at the meeting that there would be no surprises and expressed concern about decisions being made regarding supply management. "1 certainly don't want to see any province pull out of the supply management system," he said. "That is not CONTINUED on Page 3 R strike. "We've started a round of talks with a mediator," Berry said. He added that by late Friday afternoon, there may be some more . definite information, but as of yet, no strike date has been set. Public High School teachers in the AMDSB voted 88 per cent in favor of a strike mandate in June of this year. Teachers are negotiating a new contract as a (esult of Bill 160 which terminated the current collective agreement on Monday, August 31. Youngr.tc s ,packed the Bethel Bible Church to perform tsongs they sang at the last day of their trip to Sonlight Island, the theme for Vacation Bible School at the Bethel Bible Church.