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HomeMy WebLinkAboutTimes-Advocate, 1986-03-12, Page 3i • r",77.174, "el .- .es, sem; • rti Wi V WUKmND TRIP - Judy and Don Squire, RR1, Centralia were the winners of the annual Lucan Irish Great Escape Weekend in Toronto. From the left ore Bob Taylor, Judy and Don Squire, Andy -A Hpardy and Clare Stanley. COUNTY BUDGETS SET Over $6 million for ' roads A $6.1 million road budget has been tentatively approved by Huron Coun- ty Council. On March 6, county council ac- cepted the budget which sees the county paying 82.24 million for its roads. This represents a 3.8 per cent increase from the $2.1 million taken last year from county coffers. However, the tentatively approved budget is far from what county engineer Bob Dempsey originally proposed to the road committee. On February 14, he presented a budget which brought the county levy alone up 41 per cent. This original proposal would see that one -twentieth or 22.5 kilometres of the county road system would get a hot mix resurfacing. It was here that the road committee made the biggest cut. A project to pave 10.7 kilometres of road on County Road 8 north of Clinton was scrapped. This project alone was estimated at $648,500. Also cut from the budget proposal was the purchase of a $130,000 grader, the asphalt resurfacing of the Auburn patrol yard estimated at $46,000 and the 815,000 purchase of a sign making machine. The largest project this year is the reconstruction of 9.6 kilometres of road on County Road '15, from Highway 4 to County Road 17. This is estimated to cost $790,000. The second largest project to be undertaken by the county road department this year is the hot mix resurfacing of 7.3 kilometres of Coun- ty Road 31, from County Road 13 to Highway 8. This project is estimated at $770,000. Another fairly extensive project estimated at $725,000 is the hot mix paving of 18.4 kilometres of road on County Road 22 from County Road 25 to Highway 86. Other road construction and paving projects include $400,000 worth of hot mix paving of 9.3 kilometres on Coun- ty Road 3 from Highway 4 to the coun- ty road. Also, $294,000 is earmarked for hot mix resurfacing of County Road 1 from Highway 8 to County Road 31, a distance of 4.4 kilometres. Road construction and paving will cost a total of $3.1 million this year. The rest of the budget is for regular road maintenance, winter control and equipment maintenance, which is at •82.9 million for this year. The budget also includes the $72,000 deficit carried over from 1985. This deficit was caused by overspending in the area of snow removal. The provincial ministry of transportation and communication will pay $3.9 million towards the road budget. All budgets for the county are sub- ject to final review by county council on March 27. Put $540,000 into reserve fund Over half a million could be placed in Huron County's reserve fund this year for the pioneer museum and renovations to Huronvtew. A total of $540,000 could be set aside for the two projects if they are ap- Million for social services Just over $1 million is expected to be spent this year in social services in Huron, The social services 1986 budget received tentative approval at the March 6 session of county council. The largest portion of this budget, $819,600, is handed out in the form of general welfare assistance, down from last year's beet amount of :$839,900. Administering the program will cost about $5,000 more this year. A total of $190,216 has been set aside for employee salaries and other office ex- penses. This is up from $185,936 budgeted for last year. Other items in the budget include $20,000 for supplementary aid, $13,500 for homemakers and nurses services and $16,000 for special assistance. The province,picks up the largest portion of the social services tab. It will pay $777,805, while the county will pay $281,611, an actual decrease of .9 per cent from last year's budget. The social services department ac- tually hada_ij¢Q 9%Mirt ,s, last year, mostly because the number of welfare recipients is down. All budgets are subject to final ap- proval by Huron County Council at its March 27 session. Health budget $1.4 million A $1.4 million budget for the Huron County health unit has been tentative- ly approved by Huron County Council. The budget approved at -the March 6 session of county council, includes the costs of operating the health unit, family planning and plumbing and environment. The health unit itself has a budget of $1.2 million, most of which is spent in salaries ($863,493), The county's shard of this portion of the budget is 007,434 up 5.4 per cent from the $291,563 budget for last year. The ministry of health pays $922,301 and the rest comes from other revenue sources. The family planning department's budget of 856,610 is wholly funded by the province and other revenue sources. No county dollars are used. The plumbing and environment department has a budget of $119;076. The county will pay $46,081 of this 'which represents a four per cent in- crease. Provincial dqllars and inspec- tion and other fees provide the rest of the revenue. The County's share of the budget is subject to the approval of the entire county budget on March 27. proved at the March 27 session of Huron County council. The council is expected to give approval to its 1986 budget at that time. The proposal is to put $300,000 in the Huron County Pioneer Museum building reserve fund for renovations to that structure. There is already $238,865 in a reserve fund for the museum. The remaining amount of $240,000 is to go to a reserve fund for Huron - view. Council still has to give the go- ahead for the renovations to the Home for the Aged south of Clinton. Last fall, the former county coun- cil voted 15 to 14 in favor of recom- mending the project to the current council. The proposal calls for the county to pay $716,000 over three years as its share of the $1.4 million project. The province is expected to pay the rest of the bill. At the end of 1985, the county had a balance of $2.1 million in reserves. Broken down, there is a $1 million reserve for working funds, almost $100,000 in reserves for planning, a $241,807 hospital reserve fund, a $287,083 employee benefit reserve fund, a $38,298 highway reserve fund, a $205,315 capital works reserve fund and the amount already stated for the museum. • r. -arywar e lefrN1,-greinfte,.-.r.r*Orr r-wiy�"s • • Times -Advocate, Morch 12, 1986 Poge 3 Norma s•rloiis eoae•rn over .nwilgainiitlon plan Education Director Stewart Toll of the Middlesex County Board of Education said today that school trustees, teachers, other staff members - and parents, along with other ratepayers have serious con- cerns about the recommendation that would create one board of education to serve London and Middlesex. The recommendation is contained in the Report of the Commission on Finan- cing of Elementary and Secondary Education in Ontario. "The report, issued last week, is a discussion paper," says Toll. "It con- tains a great deal of important infor- mation and it will require careful study by all who are concerned. It will be received by the Middlesex Board at its regular meeting on March 17 and I expect the trustees, as well as the Board's employees and advisory groups, will want to study it, discuss it, and respond to the Commission's invitation to submit reactions by August 1 6f this year." "The recommendation to amalgamate the city and county boards is one of 54 recommendations in the report. As the title says, it is a report about financing. The recom- mendations call for a great many changes- in assessment and taxation practises, in providing support ser- vices such as purchasing and transportation, in reporting to the public and the education ministry, and in the administration of teachers' collective agreement." "The changes that the report recommends reflect changes that are taking place in society throughout On- tario. Some of the recommendations CN Railway wins, loses Forest andThedfordwill lose their rail freight connection April' 1, but Parkhill and Ailsa Craig have surviv- ed an attempt by Canadian national Railways to shut down its entire line from Lucan to Forest. The Canadian Transport Commis- sion in Hull, Que., has ordered that the line be closed between Forest and Parkhill, but has accepted numerous submissions from a Nov. 2f hearing in Forest that a portion of the line re- main open. "We're quite happy," Parkhill town clerk Bill Norris said Monday. "I just read it this morning (Monday)" in a ruling mailed by the CTC Feb. 25. CN wanted to c1oaothe line because of deteriorating fr'&ght volume . The railway had been successful in clos- ing the line between Forest and Sar- nia in a similar hearing more than four years ago. But the CTC accepted arguments from Parkhill Mayor Ron Shirran. Ailsa Craig Reeve Don Shipway and others that 84 percent of the traffic on the line in 1984 was produced in Parkhill, and that business would in- crease steadily so that CN could break even by maintaining service on a portion of the line. Forest Mayor Ronn Dodge told the November hearing that his council had no objection to losing its freight service. appear to fulfill the wishes express- ed by individuals and groups in many parts of Ontario and therefore repre- sent a positive response of govern- ment to its citizens. At the same time, the recommendations, if carred out, will raise other problems." Toll says, "I feel sure that the Board will want to think about the im- plications of these recommendations and then discuss matters with the Ministry of Education and the members of the legislature who will be responsible for any action taken." "This will take time and energy; it will be time aun energy well spent if it results in helping to bring about changes that improve the financing of the school system, that treat students, parents, teachers and other employees fairly, and help to share responsibilities of taxation more equitably." "Finally," Toll says, "the recom- mendation regarding the unification of the London and Middlesex systems may well be the most significant issue ever faced by the Middlesex Board on behalf of the students, ratepayers and staff that the Board represents." Architect named for museum job The architect who assisted with the feasibility study on the Huron Coun- ty Pioneer Museum will get to design the new building. Christopher Borgal of Blyth was chosen at the March 6 session as the architect to prepare sketches for the county museum in Goderich. The local firm was chosen over five other architectural companies. It was in 1984 when Borgal and the now project director of the museum, Claus Breede did a feasibility study on the museum. Last year county council agreed to set up a reserve fund for the project. - At the end of 1985, the museum building reserve fund had a balance of $238,865. The county is tentatively planning to put 8300,000 in the museum reserve fund this year. However, that amount is subject to final review when county council considers its final budget at the end of this month. Borgal estimates it will cost $190,000 for his company to design the building at an estimated cost of 82.8 million. Borgaldesigned the addition to the Blyth Summer Festival. Bart DeVries PHOTOGRAPHY on location or studio 137 Thames Rd. East, Exeter Phone: Bus. 235-1298 9:00 - 5:00 Res. 235-0949 after business hours 1' PUPILS MEET PUPPETS - Heather Buchanan from the South Huron Association for the Mentally Handicapped and teacher Beth Querengesser introduce Jeff Kirk to one of The Kids on the Block puppets after o performance at Zurich Public School. Goes into time capsule The Huron County 1984 historical atlas will be around for a long time - at least another 100 years. it seems a time capsule is being constructed at Ontario Place in Toronto and the provincial ministry of tourism and recreation wants souvenirs from municipalities that participated in Ontario's bicentennial in 1984. So, Huron county has agreed to ...ionic a copy of the atlas which was the county's bicentennial project. It actually came off the press and was officially released last October. The atlas will be in the capsule along with other documents and ar- tifacts from over 800 communities in the province. 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