Loading...
HomeMy WebLinkAboutTimes Advocate, 1991-02-06, Page 2Page 2 Times -Advocate, February 6, 1991 Board to survey need for jun/or kindergarten CLINTON - After their initial stand of being against the Liberal - government imposed legislation, the Huron County Board of Educa- tion has decided to take a 180 de- gree turn towards finding ways of implementing junior kindergarten in at least one Huron County public school. Before the September election which brought the New Democratic Party into power, the board of edu- cation voted against implementing junior kindergarten partly because they wanted to see if the NDP would reconfirm the legislation, and now it has. The time has come for the board of education to decide on whether or not to meet the provincially leg- islated September 1, 1994 deadline for providing junior kindergarten, Donnelly wake Continued from front page their Donnelly album, and soon it will be coming out on discs. "People will seek it out," said Ryder. For now, chances seem slim that the foundation will be granted the Grosvenor Lodge which upsets Ryder because it was donated to the university with the proviso it re- main a historical site. "We're not out of it (the running) yet," said Ryder, adding that the foundations' application to the city, was the only one which utilizes the lodge for historical purposes. Gibbs settles Continued from front page regular meeting resumed, he said the $1.7 million included income Gibbs might have pr^fited by sev- eral activities. The list included bed races, heli- copter races, the Burger Fest and rock concerts. It is undetermined just how much of the, $590.0Q0 IhNiiikige will be respotiaible.for........W :.- . - "Tt hasn't been determined. I've discussed this with the village previously," said Murphy. Grand Bend reeve Bruce Wood- ley however, said it could be as much as $150,000. "We have an idea of what we're going to pay. It's about $150,000. That money is sitting in a reserve fund, it doesn't have to be raised," said Woodley. Last summer Gibbs operated the g lot on. the beach and col- ected the revenue. Murphy said if the village wins the appeal, that in- come will have to be turned over to Grand Bend. "Should we be monitoring what Archie is taking in?, questioned councillor Bill Uniac. Grand Bend and Gibbs have been going to court for several years and n is still undetermined just what the actual court costs are. Vandals strike mailboxes LUCAN - The Lucan OPP as yet have no suspects for a rash of thefts of mailboxes along the RR1 Lucan route. Five mailboxes were stolen and another was pulled off its post and flattened in the early hours of Saturday morning. Police are still investigating. The Lucan OPP also investigated a farm accident later Saturday moming after a man was struck by a falling tree in West Nissouri Township. A 56 -year old man was cutting down a tree on his farm when it began to topple the wrong way. He was unable to get out of its way and was struck. Police re- port the man suffered fractures and was taken to St. Joseph's Hospital in London for treatment. Among the 10 motor vehicle ac- cidents investigated by the detach- ment in the last week, only one in- volved serious injuries. On Thursday at approximately 9:05 a.m. a Chrysler eastbound on High- way 7 lost control on ice and snow. Trie vehicle braked and slid into the south ditch and struck a tree in deep snowust west of Middlesex road 23. dowing snow had re- duced visibility at the time, say po- lice. A four-year old girl was hurt, but her mother was taken to Uni- versity Hospital for her injuries. The Lucan OPP also arrested two adult males and one young offender in West Nissouri Township after a brief car chase. The three were in a vehicle which contained stolen property and other property police also suspect of being stolen. All three were charged with possession of stolen property. and the key is in community re- sponse. At least one school in the county will provide it, but the class- es are optional. The HCBE previously voted againsrimplementing the program, and several board members includ- ing vice -chair Bea Dawson and trustee Jim Chapman spoke out against it openly, last summer. Since the legislation has been re- confirmed, several trustees have taken a new stand. Management committee repre- sentative Allan Carter's recommen- dation to the board suggested fur- ther investigation by the executive committee through letter surveys to determine where the need for junior kindergarten is, and how it would be most economically feasible to set up classes. Trustee John Jewitt said he is still adamantly opposed to junior kin- dergarten, stating it would bring an "undue" burden on taxpayers. "Junior kindergarten is here to stay so we can't bury our heads," said trustee Norman Pickell. Pickell commented that not all groups are against junior kinder- garten, and some civil groups have pushed to have junior kindergarten implemented sooner. "We made the decision (not to have junior kindergarten)," refuted Jewitt. "We made the decision that we're not going to bring in junior kindergarten and now we're saying we will go along with it." "We've got to do something now," argued Pickell, saying he was concerned the board could lose students to the separate school board if junior kindergarten was not offered. Jewitt said he was "amazed" by how many boards were opposed to the program including Grey, Perth and Durham Region. Vice -chair Bea Dawson encour- aged passing the motion, stating it was not an outright acceptance of the legislation. "We have to do some homework on it now that the NDP has passed it," said Dawson. In a recorded vote, five trustees voted against the motion and seven were for it; three trustees were ab- sent. "It's the most important decision weremaking today with three trus- tees absent, remarked Jewitt. ' Some Exeter residents including Single Parents' Support Group past - president Kim Bilke, and Toddlers' Inn supervisor Marilyn Hern, have stated in the past that junior kinder- garten will be costly to the taxpay- er, and stressful for young children. "It is the government's way of providing day-care," said Bilke. CQMM 1 JNTTY The walls come tumbling down Demolition - It may not have been the walls of Jericho, but the work crews were taking their time demolishing the old Exeter Fire Hall early this week. Although there has been no official announcement, some say the Main Street property is slated for a new commercial develop- ment. Higher limits for Huron GODERICH - Local motorists who find themselves travelling at 10 kilometres over the posted limit may find themselves within the law if a draft bylaw passes at County Council in the next few weeks. The County Road Committee are circulating a bylaw and map to all Huron municipalities to sound out any objections to raising the speed limit on certain county roads to 90 kilometres an hour. Reasoning behind the bylaw suggests that the present 80 km/h limits on those roads are in a state of "general lack of compliance", acknowl- edging most motorists regularly exceed the limit and the higher limits Wdtild not actually affect the Amal speeds travelled. A Ministry of transportation study confirms While the county has noted an increased use of its roads in recent years, the road committee assumes this is due to the deteriorating con- dition of provincial highways in the area. Roads affected in the Exeter area include Cty Rd 2 (Mt. Carmel - Goshen), Cty Rd. 4 (Crediton-Shipka), Cty Road 3 (Brucefield- Bayfield), Cty Rd. 6 (Exeter-Kirkton), Cty Rd. 11 (Thames Road - Whalen Corners), and Cty Rd. 31 (Hensall-Varna). The most opposition to the new speed limits has so far been voiced by Grey Township. ABCA promises lower levy increase for 1991 budget EXETER - There is some good news and some bad news for local municipalities. The Ausable Conservation Au- thority has increased its levy by only six percent, last year it was 21 percent. The bad news is there are certain projects that just won't get done. Several municipalities com- plained last year of the hefty in- crease which was 21' percent on average; some paid as much as 43 percent. "Councils told us 'we can't af- ford it anymore, don't take on any more projects'," said ABCA general manager Tom Prout. Now in its 45th year, the ABCA, which has 32 municipalities in its jurisdiction, will 4p its 1991 bud- get set at about S2 million. Prout explained, the Ministry of Natural Resources and the Ministry of the Environment contribute up to 85 percent of that budget. The rest has to come from the local munici- palities, which this year will be about $325,000. He added that the grants from the provincial government don't keep pace with the costs of the many ABCA projects. "Costs go up tremendously but the grant dollars don't go up to match," said Prout. "Each year it costs more locally in the general levy to do the same job. The prov- ince isn't increasing the grants." One example is shoreline man- agement. The ABCA has taken this on but while costs increase, grants don't and the public have to pick up that increase. So, instead of the public paying more, the ABCA has decided to cut back on a few of their projects over the next year. Early bird draw April 5 EXETER - Plans are well under- way for the second annual conser- vation dinner to be held on Thurs- day, April 25 at the South Huron Rec Centre in Exeter. The first dinner of its kind in this area was held in April of last year and proved to be very popular in providing a fun evening for a crowd of about 450 and at the same time gaining funds for a number of conservation and wildlife projects. The Ausable Bayfield Conserva- tion Foundation and the Exeter Li- ons club are joining forces in spon- soring this year's dinner. The 1990 dinner was sponsored jointly by the local Authonty Foun- dation and the Ontario Federation of Anglers and Hunters. The Foundation's share of last years dinner is being used in t- ing the parking lot and providing accessibility for fishing for the physically handicapped at Morrison Dam. This year's dinner committee chairperson Carolyn Bradford says she hopes funds from the upcoming dinner would be enough to com- plete the Morrison Dam rwoject :nd further the Wheels Nature pro- gram at Rock Glen at Arkona. Another project which Founda- tion monies will be used is exten- sion of the student outdoor educa- tion programs at White Pine Woods at Parkhill. The Exeter Lions have agreed to use at least 75 percent of their share of the net proceeds for the Exeter - Morrison corridor which is now in the planning stage. Tickets for the 1991 dinner will remain at $30. MI tickets pur- chased before April 5 will be eligi- ble for an early bird draw. The prize is a painting of Old Dan by Tammy Laye. As was the case last year, a num- ber of limited edition prints and works of art will be auctioned off after the dinner and a large number of other items, many of which will be donated by merchants through- out the Authority water shed will be sold by auction and silent auc- tion. Tammy Laye has been commis- sioned to prepare the feature art piece highhghung a kingfisher. In addition to chairperson Caro- lyn Bradford the dinner committee includes: Finance - Sharon Romphf, Lloyd Robison, Ken Ag- new; Ananement4 - Mac McDou- gall, Cliff Marsden, Jon Gaiser, John Schwindt, Fred Dobbs, Una Amos, Lyn Goddard; Tickets - Ron Godkin, John Stephens, Don Thompson Publicity - Peter Darbi- shire, Ross Haugh, Kathy Monk, Larry Eveland, Tom Hartai. Raffle - Cathy Pfaff, Peter Ray- mond, Andy Deboer, Joe Gibson, Jack Harkness, Ted Jones, Bob Austin; Auction - Jamie Granit, Ted Jones, Jan Dinney, Charles Cor- bett; Other members - Keith West- lake, Lois Elliott, Tom Prout, Don Lithgow, Harold Gibbings, Bruce Schoenals. Joe Gibson of Huller townshipis chairman of the Ausable Bayfeld Conservation Foundation for 1991 and Peter Darbishire of Exeter is vice-chairman. Most of the donations for the var- ious draws will be eligible to re- ceive income tax deductions. Bruce Murray of St. Marys will be the master of ceremonies and will assist auctioneers Bob Hey- wood, Norm Whiting and Richard Lobb in handling the various auc- tions. More information on ticket avail- ability can be obtained by calling the ABCA office at 235-2610. Hay Township goes after overdue taxes ZURICH - The Township of Hay passed a motion on January 22 which could get rid of a few small headaches. At their regular meeting, it was ecided to sat a policy that any iness to esitiarrears six weeks after the due datL shall be placed in small claims court for collec- tion. "There's always a few, it's not a major problem," said clerk - treasurer Janisse Zimmerman. She said right now there are a couple of businesses who owe tax- es which only. amount to about $300. "We have to do something rath- er than let it sit there," said Zim- merman. In other business arising from the meeting, councillor Gerald Shantz attended a Dashwood Fire Board meeting and one of the things he reported on was that by 1995, all firemen will have to have , bunker suits costing approximately $900 each. Reeve Lionel Wilder attended Hensall Fair Board meeting and re- ported that insurance ibr mi is becoming very expensive and e Fair Board did not know yet if they would have a midway this year. During the new business discus- sion, Wilder raised a concern about the amount of funds alloted to the township for Tile Drain loans. He noted, the allotment had been de- creasing each year and felt that steps should be taken to have it in- creased. Zimmerman was instructed by council to write to the Ministry of Agriculture and request that the al- lotment be increased this year. Give Her a Kiss For Valentine's Day 4oso 4\t,r2 #40. 4140, •X514, 1 ' 'rQ ,1 r1 ceo,v Ur,a •,J .0Ferrara Co.lot This beautifully crafted sterling silver kiss by J & C Ferrara Is a perfect gift for any occasion when you want to show affection. And, how about wrapping it with a package of real Hershey's Milk Chocolate Kisses to satisfy her sweet tooth. Then, the rest Is up to you - a kiss or two of your own wouldn't be bad. Available in Sterling Silver 24kt Gold Plated and 14kt Cold. Starting from 3995 Exdu_shey Licensed hadernerh of Hershey Foods Corp. J er C Ferrara Co , Inc. licensee. "AN ANSTETT EXCLUSIVE" AIJSTETT JEWELLERS LIMITED CLINTON; 8 Abort St , 482-3901 EXETER; 284 Main St., 235-2468 GODERiCH; 2 The Square. 524-4195 SEAFORTH; 26 Main St. S , 527-1720 ST. MARYS; 135 Queen St. E., 284-1036. _- 4 M