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HomeMy WebLinkAboutTimes-Advocate, 1986-11-19, Page 2Page 2 Times -Advocate, November 19, 19e6 The tale of two Town delegates tell board deficit closer to x27,000 than s10,000 Wednesday's meeting of the South Huron rec centre board was delayed for almost an hour until adequate numbers arrived to make a quorum. By the end of the session, those in attendance may have been question- ing the wisdom of showing up as they debated what a delegation described as a "very, very serious" situation. That terminology was used by Mayor Bruce Shaw, who accom- panied the town's finance committee chairman, Reeve Bill Mickle, to ques- Hit and run investigated A hit and run was one of the two col- lisions investigated this week by the Exeter OPP. It occurred on Monday when a parked 1986 model car owned by William J. Huxtable, RR 1 Centralia, was hit by an unknown vehicle in front of 239 Algonquin Drive in Huron Park. Damage to the Huxtable vehicle was listed at $800. The other collision was in Hensall on Wednesday, when vehicles operated by Laurabelle Reichart, RR 2 Hensall, and Vinzenz Krainz, 98 Mill St., Hensall, collided at Queen and Nelson St. Total damage to the two vehicles was estimated at $1,500. One theft was also investigated. It occurred overnight on November 8 at Fleck Manufacturing in Huron Park. Four 33 -pound propane tanks were stolen. They were valued at $600. During the week, the local detach- ment officers investigated 25 occur- rences. There were 64 charges under the Highway Traffic Act, three under the Liquor Licence Act and three under the Criminal,Code. Topic sparks bit of ho! ho! A request for town participation in the December 6 Santa Claus parade sparked a humorous debate at coun- cil this week. When the letter from the Exeter Lions club was read, Councillor Ben Hoogenboom asked if the new town truck would be delivered in time to allow members of council to ride on it in the event. - Works superintendent Glen Kells replied that the vehicle should be here by that time, but quickly added that council should keep in mind it is a dump truck. As the ideas regarding participa- tion lagged, Reeve Bill Mickle sug- gested it was due primarily to the fact everyone' knew that if he/she said anything, that person would quickly be put in charge of arranging a float. Mention was then made about spon- soring one of the bands and Councillor Peter Snell advised his group was already involved and he was "doing my part at the end of the float". That solicited a "ho! ho! ho!" from Councillor Gaylan Josephson while Mickle's response was to ask whether Snell was involved in the shovel and scoop clean-up brigade. Council finally agreed to sponsor band in the event with the SHDHS $100 donation. a tion the board's financial situation. Councillors Gaylen Josephson and Ben Hoogenboom arrived later to join the discussion. Shaw said that Mickle and town staff had reviewed the board's cur- rent and projected financial picture and had estimated that the deficit would be in the area of $27,000 and not the $10,000 being estimated by the board. The Mayor explained they wanted to know whose figures were correct. "Some are out of whack", com-. mented rec director Lynne Farquhar as she reviewed the figures presented by the delegation, but she Was unable to satisfy the town officials to any rreasureable extent. Mickle explained that the board had never used up their town draw at such an early date as this year and he noted that it wouldresult in a five mill increase for town ratepayers next year to cover a $27,000 deficit. Board finance committee chair- man, and acting chairman for the meeting Tom Tomes, noted that a $10,000 deficit had been anticipated due to capital repairs at the centre and that information had already been relayed to council with the sug- gestion that the repair funding be taken from the reserve fund. Mickle and Shaw both expressed concurrence with that suggestion, but continued to note the deficit figures were still very much in question. In answer to a question from Shaw about cutting expenditures, Tomes said the staff had already been in- structed to undertake only vital work and facilities manager Cam Steward - son said expenditures had been cut down "because we knew we were get- ting out of line". Stewardson reiterated a point made at a recent council meeting that pay increases granted to staff by council after the board budget had been set had created part of the deficit, along with. an unanticipated insurance increase. - • Mickle responded that thestaff salary increases represented a small portion in comparison to the overall problem his figures revealed and he told Stewardson that the salaries could be reduced if that was what he was suggesting. "It all hurts," the facilities manager responded in reference to some of the unexpected expenditures. Shaw suggested that Stewardson would be well advised not to repeat his point about staff salaries in fur- ther discussions on the deficit situation. After the "distinguished guests" departed, Tomes suggested the board ' should write a letter to council asking them to cover the board's current cash flow problem outstanding ac- counts are received and this was approved. The board and staff then reviewed their figures with those presented by the delegation and Stewardson predicted the final deficit would be closer to the board's estimate than that presented by the town officials. It was agreed that the staff would meet with Mickle prior to Monday's council session in an attempt to resolve the discrepancies in the two sets of figures. A report of the outcome of those deliberations and the debate at coun- cil's session this week on the topic ap- pear elsewhere in this issue. 4 " ores bec,mes thre. Roc board delegates tell council READY FOR SALE — Hensall Kinette president Pam Mallette (left) and Carol Steckle pose with some of the thousands of poinsettia plants blooming in the Huron Ridge Acres greenhouses. The Kinet- tes will be selling the plants at $6 for singles and $15 for triples in the former video store on Main St. December 5 and 6. All proceeds will go to the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation. • Want review for conflict of interest A call for a complete review of On- tario's conflict of interest legislation has been endorsed by Exeter council. A resolution being circulated by the City of St. Catharines notes that the legislation designed to prevent a municipal politician from mis-using his or her elected office for personal or financial gain lacks proper defini- tions and may lead to improper in- terpretation being made in its ap- plication and enforcement. The resolution asks the minister Of municipal affairs to undertake a com- plete review to investigate the poten- tial for mis-use and repercussions which might flow from such mis-use as well asincluding key definition for terms such as "remote or insignifi- cant" and "proximity" which are in- cluded in the present act. It was noted that due to the lack of proper definitions, many politicans are now declaring conflicts of in- terest, where in fact no conflict exists, thus detrimentally affecting l'epresenation. Council add veto to pay equity plan Exeter council this week added their support to a resolution from the Association of Municipalities of On- tario (AMO) which seeks to prevent provincial legislation on pay equity from covering municipalities. The AMO corespondence explained that Bill 105, which was designed specifically for the provincial public service, has been amended to cover the broader public sector including municipalities, school boards, hospitals and universities. While the bill could be proclaimed with or without the amendment, AMO noted that "given the minority situa- tion of the government, it is more like- ly that the bill will be proclaimed as amended." While AMO supports the principle of pay equity for municipalities, it does not support the expansion of Bill 105 for the following reasons: - Bill 105 was tailored to fit the needs and structure of the provincial public° service and not other groups. - Bill 105 does not take into account the different pieces of collective bargain- ing legislation in municipalities that HONOUR FIRST WAR VET — The only First World War veteran able to attend Tuesday's annual Remem- brance Day banquet at the Exeter leglor'i was Reg Knight. He is shown in the centre with branch 167 president Jack Brintnell and Reg McDonald who reported on the other remaining veterans. TiA photo Only one WWI vet at banquet • Legion head speaker Only one First World War veteran was in attendance at Tuesday's an- nual Remembrance Day banquet at the R.E. Pooley Exeter Branch 167 of the Royal Canadian Legion. Reg McDonald who introduced Reg Knight as the only veteran from the 1914-18 conflict said it was the first time since 1956 That he was not able to bring a WW one vet with him. McDonald said the only charter member of the local -Legion still all* was Joe White at Iluronview in Clin- ton at the age of .93. He named the other -First World War survivors, as Vic Hoggarth, Earl ,Guenther and Norman Norry. Ile said it was the first banquet Norry has missed in 66 years. • Another familiar face missing was that of J.K. Cornish. Although a member of the Clinton branch, he has attended many local dinners. Cornish is now at the Bluewater Rest Home in Zurich. The 1986 banquet was the first time in local Legion history that a presi- dent was the guest speaker and John Brintnell responded with an inspiring message. Brintnell entitled his address, "Legionism in a world gone mad." He said "Legionism Is a way of touching the lives of untold millions. It's time for - all of us to think Legionism, encompass the ideals of our founders and live Legion prin- ciples, not just profess them." • Brintfiell• continued, "We must think positively and declare ourselves for right and decency. We must daily r renew our obligations and the in- fluence of Legionism will spread. The Legion can be the instrument to return our world to sanity." In conclusion the president said, "We as a Legion must not treat November 11 as a day of mourning, but as a day for remembering and a chance to give thanks to all who served. It's little enough for urs to use our in- fluence to take two minutes to reflect on the condition o1 our country and be thankful. Let's hold these two minutes sacred in the future." Poppy chairman Greg Pfaff reported a successful poppy blitz with 34 memkiers of the Huron -Middlesex Cadet Corps participating. Pfaff said only one per cent of the Legion membership took part in the sale of poppies and called on more co- operation in the future. may cause- pay disparities totally unrelated to sex discrimination. - Bill 105 used formulas for gender pre -dominance suitable only for the provincial public service and not municipalities. - Bill 105 would not grant municipalities a period of voluntary compliance to identify and adjust pay inequities. - Bill 105 establishes an enforcement agency that initially would lack the expertiseand knowledge to resolve in,. equities for more complex groups. - Bill 105 wrongly assumes that the provincial government will pay for all pay equity costs when it is the municipal tax base that will have to pay for pay equity in municipalities. "In short," AMO votes Bill 105 will not work in municipalities." Stats may be. interesting The Exeter police department will have some interesting statistics by the time their year-end tabulation is completed. Police committee chairman Dorothy Chapman advised council this week that the police had, by the end of October, surpassed last year's figures for thenumber of occurrences investigated. Mayor Bruce Shaw interjected that recent figures show that Exeter has a higher number of occurrences per population than Montreal. Mrs. Chapman went on to note that break and enters in town had declin- ed by almost 50 percent over last year's figures and there had also been a noticeable decrease in the number of frauds. She said the latter indicates the value of training programs of- fered to merchants as well as stepped up police work in that regard. On the other hand, damage to pro- perty, both private and public, is away up and the committee head said that is being looked into to determine what the reasons may be. Garage mechanic to ,customer: "There's nothing mechanically wrong with your car, sir - it's just an under- achiever." Boss to employee: "No, Baxter, you're not being replaced by a com- puter - only a silicon chip." 31111 11111- 1 50% $IOOAoo or mere. ><ar,n �o s9 erre ON YOUR MONEY Al non 1 to ssoo-tnin t Vow cAMgerrllhean Terve30•SSdays. 1►rvaWS, !wok IVSTANDARD TRUST 386 MAIN ST. S., EXETER 235-1060 M. iter -Canada Deposh Insurance CofporMan deficit closer to s3, 700 than $10,000 Faced with a suggestion that their Clerk Lit Bell defended her part in projected deficit could be close to the situation by explaining it is hard three times higher than they had an to keep an accurate tab on what's go- ticipated, the South Huron req centre ing on when the finances are not board conducted a thorough, review of hand lid in the town office. their budget this week. She added that she felt it had been At Wedneada}t's board sedition, of heriieSponsibility to te-council's ficials hostel a delegation of Mayor attention that the bard d nO money Bruce Shaw and Reeve Bill Mickib . in th bank and had , penses and and were advised that town figures . _ payroll.to met* and y had also showed the deficit could be almost gone substantially ave their draw $27,000. The board had been predic- with the town: ; ting a $10,000 loss, based primarily on The Clerk�pDmneluded by notini that capital repair expenditures on the no one will &ally know the trt*A pic- facility: They had asked that the ture until the tend of the year. . I repair costs be taken from a reserve After Josephson again lamented the fund. situation of thedivergent figures}.the Monday night, board finance com- Clerk said the only way to so it is mittee chairman Tom Tomes and rec to have the board's finances , ed director Lynne Farquhar appeared at at one central administration. council and indicated their original In comments after Monday'. figures had indeed been inaccurate. cil session, Shaw said he ret However, they showed that neither that the entire situation had' -b the $1Q,000 or $26,786 figures were cor- handled in public and not inter,* y. rect and the anticipated deficit was "Our concern was legitimate,'but now only $3,295. as it turned out, unfounded," he std, That prompted Shaw to ask that explaining that the estimate of . had the capital expenditures been $26,786 deficit had come from: taken from a reserve fund as the sources; one being the anticipabed board has requested they would have revenues and expenses from th' actually been in a surplus position of staff and the second source was between $6,00 to $7,000. cash flow and expenditures presed "Yes," Tomes responded quickly. by the town staff.' Mickle admitted that he had Shaw said the positive aspect°' the reviewed the figures with the rec cen- situation was that the rec boartook tre staff on Friday and had "question- time to go over their financial.. itja= ed every figure as thoroughly as I tion more carefully, and "westko��uld could" and had found no reason to learn that we're all it 4this-together doubt them. and both parties are vaprkingfor the He said that the figures used to ar- common good". • 0 rive at the anticipated revenues to One thing both grofps were in bring the deficit down to the $3,295 agreement over •was the problem figure had been based on actual book- created in the Ward's cash flow by an ings at the centre. inordinate delay in receiving gra He said after the meeting he was owed by the two senior levels of accepting the board's figures and government. hoped they would end the year as they Mickle noted that last year the have projected. grants were in place by the end.of Councillor Gaylen Josephson, who September, but still have not been had been a late arrival with Ben received for this year. Almost $12,000 Hoogenboom at the rec board is outstanding in grants. - meeting attended by Shaw and "It's not right or fair," Councillor Mickle, said he was concerned over Ben Hoogenboom added. the fact council had been put in a Mickle noted that cash flow was tion where they had two sets of still a problem for the rec board and figures. added that council should not be plac- ed in the position of being a•.bank for "There's something wrong when two the rec board and interest shouldbe sets of figures are so vastly, dif- charged, on funds fprwarded by ferent," he commented and went on council to commend the board for coming in Shaw thanked Tortes and the so close to budget in view of the director'for clarifying the finaneihl capital projects undertaken on the picture "and bringing us th facility. news". • DONATION TO HOSPITAL AUXIL RY — Howard Holtzmann of A & H EMA Food Market presents . e .que for $211.40 to Verla Russell, first vice-president of the Sout Huron Hospital Auxiliary as proceeds from cash register tapes. 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