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HomeMy WebLinkAboutTimes-Advocate, 1987-07-08, Page 30Page 16A Tunes -Advocate, July 8, 1987 Exeter logs in fourth spot 'Watching the value of construction in Huron County, most residents would probably guess that either Ex- eter or Goderich is leading the way in population growth. - Well, Statistics Canada recently released details of the 1986 population census and Goderich and Exeter are running one-two; but at the bottom of the heap among the five county towns. Wingham is listed as the fastest growing town in Huron with a percen- tage increase of 1.9 as the population increased by 55 persons from 2,897 in 1981 to 2,952 in 1986. Clinton and Seaforth boast the next highest percentage increase at 1.6 as Clinton grew from 3,076 to 3,124 while Seaforth's heead count went from 2,114 to 2,148. - ____ Exeter followed in fourth place with a 1.0 percent increase to 3,769 from 3,732, although in actual numbers it topped • Seaforth's 34 jump with a figure of 37. �. The county seat had an increase of l''\4,5 persons or 0.3 percent. moving fr6m 7,327 to 7,352. The,, entire population of Huron County decreased slightly between the two ,census periods. The. 1981 figure was 58;127 and declined by 1:11 people or 0.2 parent l0 55,996. The occupied dwelling totals for the five are: Goderich 2,868, Exeter 1.482, Wingham 1,157. Clinton 1.212 and Seaforth 842. Ironically, the county's villages ex- hibited some of the most sizeable in- creases, with Bayfield leading the - way. That community increased by _11.111ercenLmitItt15. People added-te"-- the 1981 figure of 649 to the 1986 cen- sus of 734. Hensall and Zurich were the only other villages in the county reporting population increases. Hensall went from 992 residents to 1,089, for an in- crease of 9.8 percent, with 399 oc- cupied dwellings. Zurich's population increased by 5.0 percent, from 785 to 824, with 297 dwellings. The population of the village of Blyth dropped by 3.7 percent, from 926 to 892. In Brussels, the population dropped 1.1 percent, from 957 to 946. Blyth had 343 occupied private dwell- ings and Brussels had 370. - The bulk of the population decrease in Iiuron County came in the rural areas, with 12 out of 16 townships in the county reporting a decline bet- ween 1981 and 1986. Goderich Township went from 2,500 to 2;356, for a decrease of 5.8 percent. Ashfield Township went from 1.824 to 1,736, down 4.8 percent. East Wawanosh went from 1,127 to 1,107. 1.8 percent. Grey dropped from 1,976 to 1,889 4.4 percent. Hay went from 1,977 to 1959, 0.9 percent. Howick dropped from 3.072 to 3,037, 1.-1 per- cent. liulletl from 1,936 to 1,862. 3.8 percent. McKillop 1,486 to 1,398. 5.9 percent. Stephen 4.177 to 4,164, 0.3 per- cent. Tuckersmith 3,003 to 2,971, 1.1 percent. Usborne, 1,628 to 1,621, 0.4 percent. West Wawanosh 1,371 to 1,365, 0.4 percent,, --The only -townships reporting i creases between the. two census periods were: Turnberry, 1,505 to 1,530, 1.7 percent; Stanley, 1,643 to 1.669, 1.6 percent; Morris, 1,652 to 1,664, 0.7 percent and Colborne, 1,795 to 1,838, 2.4 percent. Canada's popluation reached 25,354,064 in June 1986. This represents a growth rate of 4.2 per- cent or 1,010,883 over the 1981 to 1986 period. But, while Canada's population is increasing, its rate of growth is ac- tually slowing down. The growth rate of 4.2 percent is the lowest five-year growth rate record- ed by the census in the last 25 years, down from a high of 9.7 during the 1961 to 1966 period. This decline may he attributed to lower immigration levels and declining birth rate. Ontario had the second highest rate of growth among provinces, with a 5.7 percenttincrease. Alberta was first with -a 6.1 percent growth rate. New- foundland had the lowest growth rate at 0.1 percent. Toronto remains .the largest metropolitan area in Canada, with 3,427,168 people as of the 1986 census. Montreal was next with a population of 2,921,357 in 1986, up 2.1 percent from 2,862,286 in 1981. Stiff fine for no insurance The stiffest fine levied in Exeter court, Tuesday, was against Douglas Mason for driving without insurance - on his vehicle. The Dashwood man pleaded guilty to the charge before Justice of the Peace Douglas Wedlake, and was fin- ed $500. He was given three months in which to pay. " , Mason was charged on May 8 in Zurich after being stopped because there was no licence plate light operating on the vehicle. He later brought an insurance cer- tificate to the policebut it was effec- tive as of May 11, three days after he had been charged. Gerald R. Lampton, London, was: fined $53.75 after pleading guilty to a charge of using a licence plate not authorized for the vehicle he was driv- ing when stopped on June 21. It was indicated that Lampton was, driving a sports vehicle at the time and he never drove it during the winter and took plates from a vehicle that he did. Ile as given 30 days to • pay. A reduced fine of $2 vas levied against Todd A. Goudie, til Rich- mond St., Hensall, after he wascon- victed on a charge of speeding al -a., rate of 100 in an 80 km. zone on April 7. At the time, Goudie denied speeding and shortly after the incident took the vehicle, which belonged -to his brother, to a service centre where it was determined the speedometer was 20 percent inaccurate and he had the gear and a paper from the service centre in court stating this. However, Mr. Wedlake,said that speeding was an absolute liability, and while he could not reduce the points involved in the offence, could reduce the fine. Goudie was given 15 days to pay. Tried in absentia was Ronald H. Joyal, Windsor, on a charge of disobeying a stop. sign on May 6 at County Road 21 and concession 2-3 of Stephen. He was found guilty and was fined ' $53.75 and given 15 days to pay. In the only other case, Guntram Kress, 23 Gardenvale, London, plead- ed not guilty to a charge of driving an overwidth vehicle on May 11 on --Highway 4 in Stephen Township. `He was charged after the in- vestigating officer saw"a southbound vehicle kicking up considerable dust from the west shoulder. It was found he was towing a t ailer behind a pickup and the former measured 3.6 meters from wheel to wheel in width and was 12 meters long. Kress told the court the trailer was only used to haul machinery to and from fields. Mr. Wedlake explained that the law says such a trailer can't be over 2.6 meters wide andhe convicted the ac- cused and registered a fine of $103.75. The accused asked for half a year to pay as he has no money and no job. He was given three months to pay and can ask for an extension if required. County nutritionist resigns The Huron County Health Unit is currently looking for a nutritionist to replace Cathy Thomson who has resigned effective August 26. During presentation of the Huron County Board of Health report at the July session of county council, it was learned the hoard has decided to ad- just the nutritionist's salary schedule to the same as that of the health educator. This results in •the minimum increased for 1987 from $999 bi-weekly ($25.974 annually► to $1,040 hi -weekly ($27,[40) and the maximum increased from $1,208 ($31,403) l o $1,248 hi -weekly ($32,448). Reason for the upgrading, council was told is fhat each of the two posi- tions requires similar qualifications and should fall within the same salary grid. In addition, neighboring counties are also advertising for nutritionists at a minimum salary of $29,500 and $29,600. Bayfield Reeve Dave Johnston ex- pressed some concern at the board's decision to upgrade the salary i v ,t . Asa. a 41444 SPEED IN SACK RACE Melanie Steeper was second and Brian Har- rigan was third in a sack race at Our Lady of Mount Carmel Centen- niol celebrations Sunday. The winner Christopher Roland was too for ahead for the photographer. lr\C MER PASTOR VISITS A former pastor at Our Lady of Mount Carmel Church Father Paul Mooney was back for the weekend Centennial. Above, •he chats with Don Glavin and Margaret Medd. schedule now instead of during the county's regular salary negotiations. • Goderich Township Reeve Grant Stirling, the board chairman, agreed with Johnston's comments, but also pointed out that with other counties seeking nutritionists, Huron would likely be unable to recruit anyone if the salary offered were not competitive. - Mrs.Thomson's column "Nutrition Matters" has appeared regularly in this and other newspapers in Huron County. SH Hospital nixes HIRO South Iluron Hospital will not be joining the Hospital insurance Reciprocal of Ontario, a new com- pany which began operating last week when 49 Ontario hospitals band- ed together to create their own liabili- ty insurance plan. South Huron Hospital ad- ministrator Don Currell said that the move has been under discussion for over a year, as insurance premiums for some of the larger hospitals, have soaredastronomically. One hospital saw its costs jump from $29,000 to $400,000 in three years. Representatives from the local hospital have attended some of the meetings which led to formation of the reciprocal insurance company, but South Huron will stay with the Frank Cowan agency. Currell said Frank Cowan has always specialized in small hospitals, presently insuring about 160 in Ontario. South Huron is satisfied with the current rates for liability protection, which are lower than those offered by HiRO. Currell added that the risk potential of large and small hospitals are not comparable, and South Huron Hospital has effective protection with is present insurance company. Request denied The Ontario Ministry of Health has - officially turned down a Huron Coun- ty Health Unit request to be included in a vision upgrading program through the University of Guelph. At its July session, Huron County Council was informed of the provin- cial government's decision by Dr.. James McGregor of Wingham, the county's acting medical officer of health. "in my opinion, this is unfor- tunate," Dr. McGregor told council. "because i feel there could have been a great deal of benefit for the county if this program had been approved." Although the health unit could still re -submit the proposal in the future, "at this present time, I feel it is a dead issue," Dr. McGregor added. 1 HURON COUNTY HUNGER - This group of Junior Farmers got right down to business when they ar- rived at Exhibition Stadium Wednesday afternoon. From left to right are, Janice Murray, Kevin Dutot, Jim Cochrane from Newfoundland who is visiting friends in Seaforth, Rob Essery and Dave VanBeers. Six -hundred people from Huron County attended the Blue Jays -Yankee game. Good news re insurance There was finally some good news about insurance costs for Exeter council this week, but it still wasn't good enough for at least one member. Councillor Ben Hoogenboom aimed some direction at why the premiums were still so high when they were told that no large judgements have been made against municipalities with the exception of the infamous Brampton case of $7 million which had been us- ed as a basis for increased premium - last year. - " Last year, the premium shot up - over 30 percent to hit $50,097, while the same coverage this year will in- crease only fractionally to $51,289. However, local agent Mel Gaiser of Gaiser-Kneale and David Reed, senior account representative from Frank Cowan Company, did offer some areas where protection could be extended with premium increases; one alone being $3,336 to take the limit of liability from $5 million to. $10 million. Statistics in the report showed that last year for the 'premium collected from the town of just over $50,000, the insurance company paid out $5,188 on town claims. Over the past five years, the total was less than last year's singular premium and almost half of that was for one $24,663 claim paidin1985-86 arising from a collision that involved a stop sign that had been shifted out of place. Hoogenboom said he thought the good record of the town should pay off in the premium charge, but only received hope from Reed that -there would be little increase against next year. The review of some of the propos- ed changes will be made at the second meeting this month by council. • One of the major discussions while insurance was on the agenda was over special occasion liquor permits and Reed said somemunicipalities are looking at not having liquor serv- ed in public facilities. "I would never sign after listening to the horror stories," Reed said in reference to attending a seminar when police, insurance and govern- ment officials talked about some of the dangers that could be faced by those whose names end up on liquor permits. Noting that it may be a three-day ball event that features a beer tent that could result in claims of $1 million or more for incidents, Reed asked what he would expect someone to charge for providing that asset of $1 million (through insurance) for protection Mayor Shaw terminated discussion when he said it was "stupid" that there was legislation that would per- mit ' meone to sue a third party is~.. s rec board or town council) when they were not involvedin the event other than to administer the facilities. - He said later that only the person responsiblefor any injury or death should be subject to legal suit and not a host of others who were basically in- nocent of leading to the problem arising. .^tip.. •.;-ry ; �#iF,.t::i:xzA ,taSWAMMOMMININMARENDATMEMMMirrMOStatSMS181 Agedpopulation increasing By 1990. nearly 15 percent of the county will be over 65. In Huron County by 1990, 14.75 per- cent of the total population will be over 65, county council learned at its regular July session at the Courf House in Goderich. The projection was included in an age analysis of the county's popula- tion - based on the 1985 enumeration - presented to council in a report from its committee of management for Huronview. Stanley Township Reeve Clarence Rau, committee chairman, called council's attention to the analysis. "I think it's interesting to see where they (people over 65) come from, he said. At present, the total population of the county 66 years of age or over is 8,060, council was told. or 14.5 pxrcenl. IffAMENOM; In a breakdown by municipality. Bayfield has the highest percentage of its population over 65 - 24.8 percent or 173 people. The municipality with the lowest percentage is Usborne Township with 6.8 percent or 108 peo- ple. Goderich has the highest total of individuals 65 or over, 1,229, represen- ting 16.9 percent o[ its total population. Of the county's five towns, Seaforth has the highest percentage of those over 65, 21.3 percent or 458, according to the analysis. For the other towns. Clinton has 17.6 percent or 549, Exeter is slightly higher at 17.9 percent or 663 and Wingham is higher still with 18.5 percent or 543. The statistics for the villages are: Bayfield, 173 or 24.8 percent; Blyth. 164 or 18.4 percent; Brussels. 210 or 21.3 percent : Hensall, 189 or 17.6 per cent; and Zurich," 138 or 17.2 percent: In the rural municipalities, the analysis reports! AshfieldTownsinp, x:154 or 8.9 - percent; Colborne Twnship, 241 or 13.3 percent. Goderich-Township. 215 -or 9.7 per- cent; Grey Township,_167 or 8.8 per- -cent ; er•-cent; Hay Township. 292 -or -15.3 per- cent; 92or-t5.3.per- cent; Howick Township, 369 or 12 per,_ cent : llullelt Township, 183 or 9.9 per- cent; McKillop township. 106 'or 7.7 percent. Morris Township. 180 or 10.8 per- cent:- Stanley Township. 175 or -11).9 percent; Stephen Township, 644 or • 15.4 percent; Tuckersmith Township; 503 or • 16.9 percent Turnberry- Township, 192 or 1.2.6 percent; Ushorne Township, 108 or 6.8 percent; East Wawanosh Township, 80 or 7.2 percent; West Wawanosh Township. 135 or 9.7 -percent. Premiums cause for concern In response to an article in the Lon-' don Free Press Friday regarding the high cost of liability insurance to con- servation authorities, Ausable- Bayfield Conservation Authority general manager Tom Prout agreed the situation was serious. Prout told the T -A Monday morn- ing, "We are certainly not going to shut down our parks tomorrow." He continued, "If the problem of high liability premiums is not resolv- ed we will be forced to add to our user fees and increase entrance charges to our park facilities." The A -B manager added, "This matter will have to be dealt with by our directors early next year. Our premiums have been paid until April 1, 1988. This year's premium was about $16,000. When we were first in the authority group the charge was near 85,000." In the Free Press story, Russ Powell executive director of the Association of Conservation Authorities said he was worried that the province's 38 authorities may have to limit access to their proper- ties to reduce their liability risks. Conservation authorities as were municipalities were hit with large in- creases in liability insurance premiums in 1986. Unlike municipalities, the authorities faced an equally large boost in 1987. In 1985, 29 authorities paid a premium of $96,700 under a collective liability insurance plan. It increased to 8264,700 last year and almost tripl- ed to 8789,000 this year. The Upper Thames River Authori- ty pays $52,000 for its share of the col- lective plan compared to $3,000 in 1985 according to general manager Don Pearson. The first big jump was due to a landmark case in 1985 when Bramp- ton had to pay 86.3 million to a man paralyzed in a 1977 dirt bike accident which happened on a gravel road in an area the city had bought to turn in - ENJOY MOUNT CARMEL DAYS Visiting during the weekend Centennial celebrations at Our Lady of Mount Carmel Church were Mary Dietrich and Dorothy Mitchell. to a park. "We thought that was the end of it after Brampton and figured our 1987 costs would he 10. maybe 15 percent higher, no more", Powell said. - During the time when the authorities' broker was negotiating with the insurance agency," we were served with three more writs about insurance compensation. The in- surers took one look at them -and jumped the premiums." The three accused of water related accidents were the Grand River. Long Point and Lower Thames con- servation authorities. -74§PlitterM: 'OMB Six -language pamphlet The Easter Seal Society and the Multicultural Health Coalition have jointly published the pamphlet "Our Children" directed to parents of disabled children. Each year some parents are faced with what May be the greatest test in their lives - the birth of a disable child: The quality of life and future of your child depends on you, your family and the support services available. The booklet "(Jur Children" suggests ways to help make adjustment easier and to realize the 'ability' not 'disability' of this special child. "Together We Can Do it" is the slogan of� The Easter Seal Society's and the Multicultural Health Coali- tion's new awareness program. Canada is composed of people of many -linguistic and cultural backgrounds. This diversity has sometimes resulted in harriers bet- ween Some of its citizens and the con- ventional health care systems. Par- ticular attention has been given in the publication, "Our Children" which is translated in six languages - Englit, French, Spanish, Portuguese, Italian and Chinese = to modify one of these barriers: available printed materials. Parents or professionals working alone may not achieve the great strides necessary to ensure the quali- ty of life that is a disabled child's right. But when parents and profes- sionals work together.with the child, then we can be sure we are doing the best possible for "Our Children". .