HomeMy WebLinkAboutTimes-Advocate, 1987-05-20, Page 1COOLING
Sunday's
i • de:
OFF — Licking an ice cream cone was a good way to beat
warm weather for Michael Schwindt and Ryan So!don.
There's
Tots
more
on the
inside.:: -
* Kidney patient at
Auxiliary annual 7
* Ronnie Hawkins
here Saturday 8 -
* Resort area busy
for holiday 11
* total athlete is
top performer 1A
* Zurich drain talk
is heisted- - SA
* OFA president at
CCAT graduation 6A
* Twelve students
vie for titles 18A
Imes
Serving South Huron, North Middlese
11111111111111111111r—
Ons Hundred and Sixteenth Year
voc�
& North Lambton Since 1873
EXETER, ONTARIO, May 20, 1987
Price Per Copy 60 Cents
leo board members scolded
Members of the South Huron rec
board and staff came under some
scathing criticism at their meeting,
Thursday, over the setting of new
rates for members of the Exeter Shuf-
fleboard Club and the manner in
which it was handled.
"We are appalled by the blatantly
arrogant display of insensitivity when
we read the schedule of new fees, as
set by the board, in the local press in
February," past president Marshall
Dearing read from a letter signed by
he and vice-president Eldon Heywood
and secretary -treasurer Jean Hern.
All three attended the meeting along
with Lorne Marshall.
The group had paid $200 as a flat fee
previously and the board had set a
new fee of $1 per player per day.
"Here the board unilaterally
decrees an annual fee between $3,000
and $4,000, an increase of 2000 per-
cent, and said fees to be non-
negotiable," the statement continued.
"No dialogue, no consultation, -no
communication whatsoever, with the
club, despite previous assurances
that we woa1d be consulted."
It was stated that a subsequent
meeting between a member of the
club'and the rec director "confirmed
that the fee was non-negotiable and a
suggestion was rejected that the club
could be placated if the facility
Management agreed to maintain the
Eourts.
The delegation advised that club
members felt they were faced with
the choice to accepting the fees as dic-
tated or reject them and look for
another facility. Members voted to re-
-jectthefees and have located other
suitable facilities in the Legion Hall
and the transition is expected to be
completed this fall.
"In closing we regret that this
course of action has been necessary",
the statement said. "However, when
public servants and committees
become so dogmatic that negotiations
are rendered passe, then it is time to
move on."
When asked by member Ken Oke if
the manner in which the situation was
handled upset the club more than the
new rate structure, Dearing respond-
ed in the affirmative.
He said the club decided in a
democratic manner their course of
action and said that type of approach
may surprise board members. He
also suggested the matter could pro-
bably have been resolved with some
dialogue.
When asked by Dorothy Chapman
where members got the idea that the
fee structure was non-negotiable,
Dearing said it was "in black and
white" in the paper, but added that
board members shouldn't blame the
press "because if it wasn't for the
press we wouldn't know anything".
"There's no way this board won't
negotiate," Mrs. Chapman
responded.
Chairman Jim Workman told the
delegation the "board made a
blunder" but said they would like to
rectify it if the club would aIo.
"I think it's a little late," Heywoed
commented, in response to that com-
ment and a similar one echoed by
Usborne 'representative Pat Down.
Marshall said the club had made a
commitment to go elsewhere and
can't go back out on it.
"Why bother coming at all?"
facilities manager Cam Stewardson
asked of the delegation and Dearing
quickly replied they had come at the
board's invitation and they ap-
preciated the invite as it was the first
time they had been asked.
"What can we do?" asked Phyllis
Johnson.
"Say goodbye," Marshall
responded.
When Mrs. Down asked if the mat-
ter could be negotiated at a further
time, Dearing said they would have
to talk to the new executive and he
urged them to keep comnSunications
open.
The matter was broached later in
the meeting when Stephen Reeve
Tom Tomes arrived late and was met
with the comment from Workman
that Tomes may as well go home. The
reference was to the fact Tomes had
spearheaded the move to invite the
shuffleboard club to the meeting after
hearing complaints about the fees.
Tomes said he had the choice of
coming late to the meeting or atten-
.dins a barbecue for the county.
' got barbecued," Mrs. Down
said in reference to the delegation.
At the en of the meeting during
members' co ents, Peter Snell
said he was frustra ed4by the situation
which stemmed froth --a lack or
breakdown in communicattib►t`
He said the board should move
ensure it doesn't happen in the future
by creating a sub -committee to deal
with public relations or expand the
board to include a wider range of age
and 'interest groups.
The Exeter councillor said it
"reflects poorly on the community".
Please turn to page 2
Councilrnembersget it to.
Exeter resident Marshall Dearing, tivities .in accordance with New members have expended in excess of
who led in criticism of the South Horizon policies and "we contend that $3,500 of their own money to effect im-
Huron rec centre board on Thursday, basic repairs do not fall within these provements over the past 10 years.
followed that example in a letter to guidelines". "We would be interested in knowing
Exeter council read at Tuesday's He also said he hoped council how much the municipality has ex -
session. members "would be more diligent" pended for repairs to the clubhouse
As president of the Exeter lawn in the future to prevent publication of over the same period." he wrote.
bowling club, Dearing said the use of comments that are not based on fact. The club president also explained
a senior citizens' recreation reserve That comment was in reference to a that rec centre employees were
fund "could be construed as misap- councillor's comment that the annual aware of the need for repairs and "we
propriation of funds" by council. rental fee for the lawn bowling facili- cannot understand why the cost of the
-At a recent meeting, council decid- ty was $290, when in fact the rec board item was not included in the recrea-
ed to dip into the reserve to a max- had set it at $350 for 1987. tional centre's budget for 1987,and
imum of $500 to make repairs at the The article referred to indicated at why it was deemed necessary to
lawn bowling clubhouse. least one member of council thought make a special appeal to council for
The letter from Dearing said the the annual rental fee should be in- funds".
fund is defigitely earmarked to fur- creased because it did not meet the His letter concluded by saying it
ther senior citizens' involvement and amount required for repairswas hoped council would give some
participation in recreational ac- However, Dearing said the club thought to the concerns expressed.
Statistics reveal users
pay above Reeve's plan
During a debate on recreational
funding at budget deliberations in
April, Exeter Reeve Bill Mickle
estimated that users pay only about
43 percent of the actual costs and he
opined that they should be paying at
least half.
Statistics released by rec director
Lynne Farquhar in response to
Mickle's comments show that users
actually pay well above what the
Reeve suggested as their fees make
up approximately 65 percent of the
ElitiMINNIMINIMIXOPMEMMOMPA
local recreation budget. '
From a total budget of $350,910 in
1986, revenue generated through
users was $226,500 or 64.55 percent. It
is estimated that the percentage will
increase slightly to 64.89 in 1987.
"The recreation centre has manag-
ed consistency in total cost recovery
ranging from 60 percent recovery in
1982 to 64.89 percent projected for
1987," she explained to the board on
Thursday.
Information compiled by the
* * * HENSALL YOUTH DROWNS * * *
Funeral service was held yesterday John's Ambulance diver Gary
for Rodney James Foley, 16, of RR 1 Renaud recovered the body about an
Hensall, who drowned near Goderich hour and a half later.
on Sunday afternoon. The youth is survived by his
parents, Robert J. Foley and the
former Charleen D. Tomlinson, and
a brother, Donald, of Grand Bend,
and Lenore and Gordon, both at
home. Ile was a grandson of Mrs.
Dorothy Tomlinson of Grand Bend.
The funeral was held Wednesday
morning from the llensall chapel of
Michael P. O'Connor funeral home
with Fr. Paul Mooney officiating. in -
Efforts by friends and nearby terment followed in St. Boniface
anglers to reach him failed and St. cemetery, Zurich.
The grade 11 student at Mitchell
High School was swimming with two
friends in the Maitland River in the
Benmiller area. They were in an area
of the river known as the "Black
Hole" about three kilometres east of
Goderich.
Foley got into trouble swimming
through some rapids.
* * * FISHERMEN STILL MISSING * * *
Despite increased activity along the ing' to the pair was found eight
shores of Lake Huron over the first kilometres south of Bayfield, some
holiday weekend, two fishermen 180 metres from the shore.
missing since April 25 have still not A child's lifejacket that was also
been located. identified as part of the contents of the
boat was discovered floating 15
kilometres offshore and a hat owned
by one of the men was recovered
about the same time.
Goderich OPP have continued sear-
ches for the two men, as have friends
and relatives of the pair.
Police had been hoping that with
throngs of people flocking to the
Lakeshore on the holiday weekend, the
two would be found.
BiII Datars, 28. of 310 Carling St.,
Exeter, and Doug McKay. 32, of RH
2 Kippen, were last seen heading out
of Goderich harbor around 6:30 a.m.
and were reported missing the follow-
ing day.
it is presumed the two men
drowned.
Three weeks ago, a 12 -foot
aluminum boat identified as belong-
* * * FINANCES IN GOOD SHAPE
The town's financial picture was
described as a "very good one" when
reviewed by Gerry Mills and Bruce
Davis of the Kime and Co. auditing
firm. Tuesday.
"The balance sheet is in extreme-
ly good position at the end of '86."
Mills said in explaining there was a
surplus of $108,192. Ile said that was
a very substantial amount to be used
to offset taxes in the current year.
He also noted in highlighting some
of the detail§, that Exeter's reserve
for working capital was at 8231.461,
while taxes receivable was 876,641.
Mills explained that most
municipalities like to see at bast a
* * *
one-to-one ratio in those figures, while
Exeter's is almost three -to -one.
in asking if there were questions,
the auditors noted that it may be dif-
ficult for council members to pace any
on their first look at the report.
"We'll digest it," Mayor Shaw said
at the conclusion of a brief question
and answer period. "Any problems
and we'll get back to you."
Councillor Ben Hoogenboom had
asked Mills if his comments would be
as positive and optimistic next year
in view of council's budget for 1987.
Mills responded by saying he didn't
know what council had planned for
this year. "You tell me how i11 res-
pond," ho joked to Hoogenboom.
ministry of tourism and recreation in-
dicates the average cost recovery
ratio for recreation services in On-
tario communities to be just over 38
percent.
The rec director also noted that Ex-
eter's cost for recreation on a per -
capita and per -household basis is well
below the average in Ontario.
The per -capita cost in Exeter is
830.12 based on this year's allotment
from council, while the average in On-
tario is $46.00.
Exeter's average household cost is
approximately $73.56 based on this
year's allotment, compared to the
provincial average of 8108.00 ,per
household.
On a report of the meeting held
recentlyin Varna by recreation group
representatives from South Huron,
municipalities it was indicated most
arenas have moved their ice rates for
1987-88 to between $50 and $55 per
hour.
"The town/township share issue
still seems to be a major bone of con-
tention with members who were pre-
sent," she concluded in that report.
She was successful in having the
board adopt her suggestion that four
leaders be hired for the summer
playground and sports program
although provincial grants will cover
only three staffers.
"The program will be very difficult,
if notimpossible to operate, on three.
full time staff and i would recom-
mend that four be employed with the
recreation centre picking up the
fourth salary."
Total costs, including wages, are
expected to be $6,414 and the revenue
generated from registration, an Op-
timist grant of 8400 and provincial
assistance of 83,654 is expected to be
only .85,254 for the seven -week
program. •
Registration was $10 per week last
year, and while Pat Down discussed
the possibility of increasing that, the
rec director said she wouldn't want to
see it increased too much because
there were complaints last year about
the $10.
Youngsters also face additional
costs for (rips outside town to
Storybook Gardens, etc.
The pool staff has been set for the
summer with Susan Boyle as head
supervisor at a salary of $214 per
week. Karla Josephson will be assis-
tant at $194. Instructor/guard
Heather Hern is slated to receive 8184
and another two in that category,
Marilyn Hamilton and Teresa
McCarter, will he paid $174 and Bren-
da Vanderlaan will receive 8160.
Susan Coates will see part-time work
at an hourly rate of $.3.65.
One change in staffing may still
occur.
it
ww
In Tuesday's discussion of the let-
ter at council, Deputy -Reeve Lossy
Fuller said the comment made by
Dearing about misappropriation of
funds -was true. She had opposed the
use of the fund for the repairs when
it was approved by council.
However. Councillor Gaylan
Josephson noted that an earlier re-
quest for part of the reserve had come
from seniors to use on a housing study
and it had nothing to do with recrea-
tion, but had been approved at their
request.
Mrs. Fuller replied that the study
at least had been a benefit to seniors.
It was finally decided to turn the
communication over to the executive
committee for study and response.
Get off your -
and get in shape!
MAYOR CHALLENGED —
As part of pre -publicity for
Wednesday's Participac-
tion Fitness challenge,
Mayor Bruce Show was ar-
rested for being unfit
Monday morning. Above,
he is being apprehended
by Constable Brad Sadler
and rec director Lynne
Farquhar and, at the left
peers through the jail bars
at the Exeter police sta-
tion. He was released on
his own promise to par-
ticipate in today's ac-
tivities. Residents of the
town of Exeter are being
challenged by their
counterparts in Walkerton
and Hanover. Everyone is
asked to take 15 minutes
out for walking, jogging or
any activity that gets the
heart going. All the finan-
cial institutions in Exeter
are expected to have ex-
ercise bikes available for
staff and customers to try
for the most recorded
kilometres.