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HomeMy WebLinkAboutHuron Expositor, 2004-10-06, Page 22 -THE HURON EXPOSITOR, Oct. 6, 2004 Copies Copies Copies Available at 11 Main St. Seaforth 527-0240 WHYTE BROS. FARMS LTD. is ready to receive your 2004 CORN and SOYBEAN CROP CUSTOM COMBINING and TRUCKING SERVICES AVAILABLE Mill 519-527-1143 RR #2 PHONE Residence 519-527-0349 Seaforth Want FRE, oil chang Join the TMP Oil Change Club! Buy 3 oil changes and you'll get the 4th oil change Free! With each service oil Change Club Members also receive... FREE 25 Point Inspection FREE Exterior Wash FREE Interior Vacuum OIL CHANGE CLUB MEMBERS OIL CHANGE $2495* Includes chassis lube, oil replacement with up to 5 litres of Quaker State 10W30 premium motor oil, oil filter replacement. 'For most domestic cars and Tight trucks (excludes diesel engines) LIMITED TIME OFFER News Grey residents share beefs about Huron East at ratepayers' meeting From Pogo 1 cost, he said, adding that a $500,000 provincial grant funded the costs to amalgamate. You ve been told there s no money to de -amalgamate. The province has said you re on your own (if you want to de -amalgamate), he said. Semple pushed the issue further and asked what councillors would do if the majority of Grey residents wanted to de -amalgamate. My job is to represent you and I m there with you even though I don t like it, said Grey Coun. Mark Beaven. McLellan agreed with Beaven. Beaven told the crowd that the ratepayers of Grey have legitimate concerns but that he felt Grey is better off staying with Huron East, especially since the province is heaping more and more costs on local municipalities. He urged ratepayers to come to him or to McLellan with their concerns and agreed with some of Grey residents concerns about the Tuckersmith Day Nursery in Vanastra. Basically, it s not fair and I m opposed to the municipality running a daycare but I need your help to convince the rest of council we need todo something about it, he said. Members of the audience asked council for more facts and figures that would allow them to judge if Grey could afford to run a municipality on its own. We re putting $1.2 million into the municipality, including the CRF Susan Hundertmark photo Calvin Semple, one of the organizers of a group of Grey ratepayers exploring de - amalgamation, gestures as he makes a point ata ratepayers' meeting last Tuesday in Ethel. (provincial community reinvestment funding) and I can t see where my tax dollars are coming out, said Dave Diehl. We want to see the numbers coming back into Grey - maybe that would appease us. Deputy -Mayor Bernie MacLellan responded that of Huron East s $10 million budget, Grey makes up 12 per cent of the budget. That s a valid concern but when you start adding it up - capital works, snowplowing, grass cutting, insurance, police, fire - I m confident you re getting $1.3 million back, added Beaven. MacLellan also said he s heard the same concerns in all five wards that ratepayers aren t sure they re getting their money s worth out of their taxes. It s easy to look at your neighbour and think they re getting the better end of the stick, he said. But, if everyone is unhappy, doesn t that tell you something, responded an audience member. Colleen Stewart, of Molesworth, complained that a pamphlet put out by the municipalitys economic development committee had a map on the back that didn t identify communities larger than Seaforth and Brussels. There are no roads leading to us because we re not on the map. It s a small issue but it reflects a larger feeling that we ve lost our identity, she said. MacLellan responded that as deputy -mayor, he hoped all five former municipalities would lose their identities. In 20 years, it will be a different story and you 11 all consider yourselves one big group. We need to understand we are one big community because when we start to agree we re one community, Huron East will have a council that s run' more efficiently, he said. Diehl 'said after the meeting that a further meeting with Grey residents would be planned to decide whether to go ahead with de - amalgamation. I m happy with the numbers that showed up tonight. If nothing else, council s going to have to be held more accountable for spending, he said. Four cost-cutting options presented at Huron -Perth Alliance open house From Pogo 1 palliative care, eight with heart monitors, eight obstetrics, 33 surgical, 18 mental health, five intensive care and six paediatrics. Scenario one would see an overall reduction of 42 beds Half Hour '85 Full Hour '55 1.5 Comboa asse '50& nn appointments Tae) AvailableEvenkg Mon. toThu . Coverage Available with Most Health Benefits Becky Campbell's Reg. Message ss7-�tftie 137 Market St. Seaforth part in Decorate for a Cure and crew` a an atmos of well-being, both at home, and in the community. During October, Breast Cancer Awareness Month, $2.00 for every gallon of Benjamin Moore Collection interior paint sold, will be donated by participating Retailers to the Canadian Cancer Society to support breast cancer research. Make a difhfmnol through decorating. Visit your nlWalt participating Benjamin Moore Retailer today) Consen.n Snciltt Cancer can.dienne Sed.ty du cancer The C.olour Experts' www.benjaminmoore.ca HILDEBRAND PAINT & PAPER 19 Main St., Seaforth 527-1880 including Clinton Public Hospital with 15 medical/surgical/obstetrics beds, St. Marys with 15 rehabilitation and 10 medical beds, Stratford with 28 surgical, 20 medical, eight beds with heart monitors and six palliative care beds. Scenario two would see an overall reduction of 65 beds including 13 medical/surgical/obstetrics beds and two continuing care beds in Clinton, 15 continuing car and 10 medical beds in St. Marys, 28 surgical, 20 medical, eight heart monitor beds , seven rehabilitation and six palliative care beds in Stratford and six medical beds in Seaforth. Scenario three would see an overall reduction of 47 beds, with 15 in Clinton, five continuing care and 10 medical beds in St. Marys, 28 surgical, 20 medical, 16 continuing care, 10 rehabiliation, eight heart monitor beds and six palliative care beds in Stratford and nine continuing care and six medical beds in Seaforth. Scenario four would see an overall reduction of 56 beds with 15 beds in Clinton, 15 continuing care and 10 medical beds in St. Marys, 28 surgical, 20 medical, eight heart monitor beds, seven rehabilitation beds and six palliative care beds in Stratford and nine continuing care and six medical beds in Seaforth. Scenarios one and three would save S2 million, scenario four would save $3 million and scenario two would save $3.4 million. Andrews would not share which scenario the Alliance board favours since the public input process was not completed. But, Seaforth Community Hospital chief of staff Dr. Shawn Edwards said while he preferred scenario one in a ideal world since it concentrates chronic care beds in Seaforth where the service can be offered more efficiently in one location. However, he added that since Seaforth averages a 40 per cent occupancy of its current 34 beds, he would be willing to see scenario three or four happen, where Seaforth would have 15 beds, nine continuing care and six medical. That s the most realistic option because it s pretty much the way it operates now. It s not a huge change, he said. Edwards said that he s worried about how little he s heard about community concerns about local health care. We ve been very fortunate for a long time and our luck may have run out. I m hoping the community will start writing letters to the MPPs because the way hospitals are funded is skewed to supporting urban centres, he said. Edwards added that local fears about the sustainability of Seaforth Community Hospital are warranted. But, that s nothing to do with the Alliance and everything to do with the province. The sustainability of a lot of small town hospitals will be coming into question when the province s vision for hospitals is all about surgery and acute care since we don t do a lot of that at small rural hospitals, said Edwards. Local residents win Ontario volunteer service awards Nine Seaforth-area residents received an Ontario Volunteer Service award from the provincial government at a ceremony in Owen Sound on Monday. The volunteer service awards, which have been given out since 1985, honour individual volunteers for continuous years of service to a single organization. Community groups can nominate up to six recipients each year. Adults are honoured for five to 50 or more consecutive years of volunteer work, and youth volunteers for two or more years. Mary DeJong will receive the award for five years of volunteer work with the Alzheimer Society of Huron County. Cora de Vries, of Seaforth, will receive the award for 15 years volunteering with the Blyth Centre for the Arts and its Festival Art Gallery. De Vries has also been the gallery s treasurer for the past 10 years. David and Thomas Drake, of Seaforth, will both receive the award for playing for five years with the Blyth Festival Orchestra. David, who plays double string bass, and his brother Thomas, who plays violin, joined the Blyth Festival Orchestra when it began and enjoy the three or four concerts they perform each year, along with the weekly practices at St. Thomas Anglican Church in Seaforth. It keeps you busy and gets you out and about, says David. Casey Van Bakel, of Egmondville, will receive the award for singing for 15 years with the Blyth Festival Singers. Joan Perrie, of Walton, will also be recognized for singing with the Blyth Festival Singers for 25 years. I love to sing, I ve been in choirs all my life and when I moved here I was glad to find the Blyth choir was being formed, says Perrie. She says the Blyth Festival Singers have perfomed in most of the small towns in Huron County and a highlight for her is the numemus times the choir has performed the Messiah. We ve had four conductors and each one has brought something different to the choir, she says, adding that she s also served on the choir s executive for a number of years, both as librarian and secretary. Harry Nesbitt, of Seaforth and Brucc Whitmore, of Walton arc being recognized for five years volunteering with the Blyth festival Community Performers.