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HomeMy WebLinkAboutTimes Advocate, 1992-03-11, Page 1Daisy & Pom Bunches $695 Cash & Carty Si {COUNTRY r l OWRS 'COUNTRY r s:c Inside Canadian expertise Brazilians studying our dairy know-how page 5 Elmer Buchanan Offers optimism to farmers page 10 Wage cutback - necessary claims Hensall plant manager HENSALL - The manager of General Coach in Hensall is asking unionized employees at the plant to recognize "reality" and accept a roll back in wages. Workers at the motor home plant were asked at a February 10 meet- ing to accept a S2.50 an hour pay cut off their current wages of $11.98 to $12.73 an hour. The re- quest came only months after a No- vember agreement to freeze wages at the financially troubled plant. The union membership, however, rejected the wage cut offer, insist- ing enough concession had been made by employees already. Andy 'manse, general manger of the plant, issued a press release last week defending the call for a wage cut. 'manse said the S2.50 an hour roll back could have been recap- tured by employees through a pre_ _ duction incentive plan and a profit sharing .plan. 'manse said the need for lower selling prices of the company's product "to compete with our American 'friends 150 kilometres away" dictated the request for a wage cut. "The market is sending a clear message these days and that is to re- duce retail selling prices to consu- mers. The only weapon for survi- val is to reduce manufacturing costs," reads 'manse's release. "Jobs continue to disappear in Onta- rio and our community. General Coach employees are not immune to this very difficult problem." General Coach laid off about 100 workers in November, but has been gradually recalling some as demand warrants. Fire aid donations continue to come in CREDITON - Members of the Stephen Township Firefighters As- sociation and other friends and neighbours are still receiving dona- tions to aid Dan and Marie Connor family who had to vacate their home on Concession 4 of Stephen Township after a blaze damaged it last Thursday evening. Anyone wishing to donate can contact Robert Perischy. PCs seek public input DASHWOOD - A group of resi- dents from the townships of Hay, Usbome and Stephen met at the Dashwood Community Centre re- cently to attend the first in a series of meetings sponsored by the Hu- ron Progressive Conservative Asso- ciation. The meeting was open to the pub- lic and was aimed at seeking local input into provincial matters, the re- sults of which will be forwarded to party reader Mike Harris, say orga- nizers. Anyone interested m attending future sessions f« -e being invited to call 523.9746 or 233-9260 for the location and date of the next meet- ing. 4eration Teddy Bear makes wish come true for HensI boy EXETER - Ten yew told Adam Simmons had his with come true Saturday morning when he was given his first tide in an 18 -wheel truck. Simmgns, son of Judy and Fred Simmons of Hewett, suffers from a severe developmental delay and ep- ilepsy. He was born with congeni- - valreartdiseussancritas already had two open-heart surgeries and has a pacemaker. Asa fan of the big rigs, his dearest wish was to ride in an 18 -wheeler, and the Exet- er Masonic Lodge made that come tree. Dubbed "Operation Teddy Bear" the Masons enlisted the support of Lauramart Transport Inc. and driv- er Mike Dykstra of Exeter to pro- vide a ride from the Masonic Hall to Russeldale and down Highway 23 to Elginfield to stop for break- fast before heading home. The ride began at 10 a.m. and, by request. CJBX FM played Red Sovine's Teddy Bear an appropriate accom- paniment for the ride. A dream come true for Adam Simmons, as Masonic Lodge master Ross Ferguson helps him up into the cab of Mike Dykstra's truck for his first ride in an 18 -wheeler. The smile says It all, as the truck pulls out of the Masonic Hall parking lot with a blast on the horn. Crediton library to close as county trims budget GODERICH - In an attempt to keep their mill rate at a 5.5 increase, the Huron County Counil had to make a couple of major decisions Thursday afternoon. One will see the closing of several deposit library branches, including Crediton, and the other could have an impact on tourism. Although several commiuees came up with zero per- cent increases in their budgets; Social Services, Homes for the Aged, and Waste Management are three areas where the county has no control. It won't be until the next court., _uunt.a session, March 30, when the final budget will be announced. "We play not be able to get below inflation num- bers," said warden Bob Fisher. In an attempt to keep the budget to a minimal in- crease, Fisher said the executive committee had sug- gested debenturing on capital projects and reducing certain services. He said more and more people in the county are tak- ing up affordable pastimes like using the libraries and museums. However, despite that information, the county decid- ed to close seven deposit library branches: Crediton, Belgravc, Ethel, Walton, Belmore, Bluevalc and Brucefield. Of those, chief librarian Beth Ross said Delmore had the highest increase in use at 44 percent. "The library service is a free service. It costs Huron County residents (through taxes) $21.10 to run the li• - braries," said Ross. While Crediton, Ethel and Belmore will be closed by May 31, the other branches require approval from 7 the municipalities before their doors are shut. In her budget report to council, Ross made the fol- lowing recommendations: equipment purchases to be reduced $10,100, there were bill- $10,200 cut from the materials acquisition budget, Ross will not attend the Canadian Library Association Conference, and that the needs assessment proposed by the library board in 1991 for future planning purposes be cut. The closing of the seven branches is expected to save about $11,000. Ross said the closings would have the smallest impact on the least number of people. On the closings, Grey Township's Leona Armstrong said, "my council would have appreciated some consul- tation." She added that with so many people out of work and few TV programs worth watching, the branches should remain open. In the recorded vote taken, both Stephen Township's reeve Tom Tames and deputy -reeve Bill Weber voted against closing the Crediton branch. Ross said her staff is doing a great job at all the branches and noted that while the provincial standard is 13 circulations per hour, some of the branches arc as high as 35. She also said that of the 23 branches m Ontario with less than 2.000 _books. -seven of those were the ones Huron County decided to close. Library board chairman John Doheny said that regu- lations by the Departments of Health and Safety prob- ably would have closed the small branches anyway. "If you want to keep these branches open, council has to allocate some money back to the library board." i GE (wiser -Kneel Insu'lance 801111011 Excellence Value 235-2420 Agrees six percent too much Stephen Council rolls back pay increase CREDITON - In response to public pressure, Stephen Township council has rethought its own recent salary increase and voted for a more conser- vative boost in pay. In a motion at their meeting last Tuesday, councillor Gary Eagleson asked that council rescind its earlier decision to raise council remuneration to rates between 5.7 and 6.6 percent above 1991 levels. Eagleson pro- posed all increases be limited to two percent. "In these times you have to show some leadership," said Eagleson on Monday, adding he was the only council member to oppose the original salary bylaw in January. Eagleson said he still feels that the raises given township employees are too high, but concedes with the introduction of the grid system, some con- cessions will have to be made. The council wages, however, were a differ- ent matter. He expected to hear some complaints frons ratepayers who would not be receiving personal pay increases anywhere near six percent. "We certainly have t eard...it just angered a- lot of people," said Eagle- son. One factor, said the councillor, was that Stephen was one of the first lo- cal municipalities to pass a new remuneration bylaw. Other councils have since flatlined remuneration or held it to small increases. Hindsight, he said, is always perfect, which led to councils acceptance of a rollback to a two -percent increase. Still, said Eagleson, remuneration can't he so low as to discourage peo- ple from running for public office. "The pay you get and the abuse you take, there aren't a lot of people wanting to do it," he said. Stephen Township also released figures for council's remuneration and expenditures in 1991. Council members received a total of S33,414.70 for attending meetings and convenuons, and spent 57,777.71 in convention expenses and mileage. The reeve also received 5222.6(1 for his cheque -signing duties through- out the year. However, unlike other local municipalities, Stephen Township has de- clined to release a breakdown of the totals, stating that making public a statement of exactly how much money each council member received for meetings and how much each one spent for attending conventions wotfld be an invasion of their privacy under the Freedom of Information and Pri- vacy Act. New tax assessment causing headaches for local townships EXETER - The new market value assessment for Huron County proper - lies is causing its share of headaches 'in the area as municipalities try to match the new assessment to present mill rates. Because the assessment, based on 1988 values, for most properties is higher than the previous 1984 rates, the old mill rate no longer applies. In Usborne Township, some property owners were shocked to find their taxes had gone up considerably with their March interim tax installment. Usborne clerk Sandra Strang explained that the township had applied around 50 percent of last year's mill rate to the new assessment for the bill- ing, but "we've identified that as being in error". While taxpayers -will still be required to pay the bill they received, Strang said the June installment has been cancelled and will be replaced with one that is "considerably smaller" once final calculations have been done. "It's all going to balance out by the final installment," said Strang, who added that a letter explaining the situation has been sent out to all town- ship ratepayers. Usborne has witnessed about a 19 percent increase in overall township assessment since the update in market values. Farmland has increased about $10(1 an acre between 1984 and 1988, according to assessors, but homes went up proportionately more. Homeowners in the township will consequently find themselves with higher increases in county, education, and township taxes than farmers, who arc expected to sec a decreases in some property taxes. The problem is even more pronounced in townships with more equal di- visions of agricultural and residential land uses. Hay Township clerk Ja ntssc Zimmerman said that lake shore cottage owners will certainly feel the pinch on their lax bills under the new assessment. "We're going to sec some cottage owners paying $200 more on the inter - un." said Zimmerman. An open house about the new assessment held in Zurich in early Febru- ary appears to have cleared up many complaints or questions about the new tax rates, but Zimmerman said there is little the property owner can do about the increases. "It really is a horrible situation. There really isn't going to be any way to soften it," said Zimmerman, adding that the 1988 assessment reflects a boom in the cottage real estate market that docs not exist now. In the meantime, until the township calculates a 1992 mill rate based on the new assessment, Zimmerman said she has applied 40 percent of the old rate to the new values for the March interim tax bill. "We're preuy well right on," she said, but admitted "there's nothing ex- act about it." OPP lay 219 charges to end break and enter spree EXETER - The Exeter OPP have wrapped up an investigation that has seen a total of 219 charges laid against 25 people. The charges stem from a series of break, enter and thefts which oc- curred between last May and No- vember, mostly at local gas sta- tions, variety stores, factories, a hardware store and a grocery store in the Huron Park, Centralia Credi- ton, and Dashwood areas. Charged arc 21 young offenders and four adults. Most oI the stolen property was recovered in -the in- vestigation. OPP staff sergeant Don McInnis said that of about _ $2,600 worth of baseball cards, cis - Made Fyda ,ciwk shelves books at the .Crediton Library. The branch, along with 1 !x others In Pcaeca and 2 sundryother yco�sdtalc- yb Hexon Counnty, will be closed on May 32. Fyndenchuk has been the librarian M ,Cred pn for 24 years. pa+� While McInnis would not go as far as to describe the band of youths as a crime ring. he said that after getting away with some early thefts the group became more bold in ,its efforts. Some stores were robbed more than once. "It just got out of hand," said McInnis. "They were building a lit- tle empire." Because of the number of crimes and the number of culprits in- volved, the ,investigation dragged on for four months as more and more youths were implicated, "It took tremendously loog inves- tigating it," said McInnis. Most of the charges will be heard in Young, Offendoes Court in Goderich. )