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HomeMy WebLinkAboutTimes Advocate, 1993-02-10, Page 1'itilasett rata away NI at N COUNTRY rtoWCRSS Exeter Open `Wet. 8 - tl3 CIvsed Sunday r All Usborne staff -get en hour pay increase EXETER After reviewing sev- eral plans to increase wages for Us - borne Township staff, council final- ly decided on an across-the-board pay increase. Township council had considered both one and two percent wage in; creases for staff, but both failed.to meet overall council approval. Fi- nally, at their February 2 meeting, council agreed to give a 260 an hour pay increase to all staff mem- bers, both salaried and hourly em- ployees. Based'on a 40 -hour work week, employees would be receiving up to a $540.80 pay increase over the year. However, Mien— considering their own remuneration, council voted to increase all their own stipends by two percent. A bad week for noisy parties, report police EXETER - Town police say they investigated five complaints of noisy parties in Exeter in the past week. Three of the parties were on Sanders St. E., one on Main St. S. and one on Humn St. W. While police say warnings were issued to the party -goers in these incidences, the town's anti -noise bylaw does have provision for fines up to $2,000. Police were also called to two separate complaints of fighting on Main St. S. on Friday evening. However, the combatants had fled by the time pollee arrived in both instances. The police also say they have re- ceived several calls of complaint about dogs running at large in town, especially when they have been soiling neighbouring proper- ties. The police are reminding dog owners that the dog control bylaw requires dogs to be leashed and un- der control when on municipal property. Dogs are also required to have a valid dog license, obtainable at the Town Office. Cadillac modeL or just drivelhrough? Three opt.bns e EXETER - What kind of policirig does the town want, what does it really need, and -what can it afford? Although an oversimplification of the proceedure the OPP are fol- lowing to provide a cost estimate of serving Exeter, those are the issues being presented to town officials and members of the public. Two OPP officers visited Exeter last week, asking such questions in preparation for a presentation to the police services board and council maybe three months'from now. With the cost proposals on the ta- ble, the two will then be able to de- f • Danielle Ondrejlcka Just loves the new lambs in her grandfather Bill Duenk's barn near Lucan. She probably doesn't yet realize, however, that five lambs from one ewe is some- thing of a rarity. Duenk says the lambs were born January 18 and all are healthy, as is the mother. Council backs down. dog catcher resigns ;llmoalFscratches cat :cont,I HENSALL - It was standing room only at the Hensall village council meeting on Monday evening as close to 40 people showed up to persuade the councillors to rescind the cat bylaw that has been the issue of contention of late. After hearing 45 minutes worth of grievances about the bylaw, council- lor Jeff Reabum motioned that it be rescinded. "Considering{the tum -out, I will defer to the wishes of the people :snd motion to revoke the bylaw," he said. The motion was seconded and .carried by council. At last months council meeting, e eeve Cecil Pepper invited con- oomed residents to attend this meet- ing -So air their concerns and have the -;matter further discussed with eomttdl. The meeting commenced ilfatniteur.atulier than usualioac- commodate this topic. "We haven't had a crowd like this since our compost facility opened," observed reeve Pepper. Prior to the rescision, .several Hensel! residents took thefloor to voice their objections ,to the bylaw that it is barely a month old. Jack Lavender addressed council and stated that he is tired of Hen- sall—his hometown— being the butt of cat jokes in the area and that he is embarrassed about the situa- tion. He said that he opposes the bylaw and accused council of not thinking the situation through clear- ly. "If you as individuals are reason- ably level-headed, what has gotten into your couon-pickin' minds when you got together as a group? You are behaving like a bunch of id- iots!" ha expounded as the.crowd Grand Bend fire prevention bate whether to disband the town police force in favour of OPP cov- erage, or to stick with their own po- lice service. The soaring costs of operating a separate police force have prompted this request. Police services board chairman John Stephens said certain things became apparent from the ques- tions being asked of officials by of- ficer Ray Davis and of citizens "on the street" who were interviewed by Rick Sinnamon, a former Exeter OPP officer. Stephens said he expects the board and council will receive pro- posals for three levels of service, from which they can choose. The least costly proposal might be a kind of "drive through" policing, in which Exeter becomes another community added to the Exeter OPP's patrol area. "I don't think anyone would sup- port that," said Stephens, who said town citizens have come to expect a certain "presence" from their po- lice. The chairman said response time to emergency calls is another crite- rium the OPP are investigating. He said something like a 45 minute maximum response time would likely be rejected by council and the board, but a 30 -second re- sponse, by having several officers in town, could prove too expensive. applauded. Rachel Schwalm said that rodents in the village seem to be given prior- ity over the felines. "Rats, squirrels and mice are free to run all over, but not cats. Cats are our friends, they control our en- emies—rats and mice who do dam- age to our surroundings," Schwalm read from a letter she had written to council. Cam Henry asked why the ratio- nale of the bylaw is not clearly stat- ed and questioned the amounts of the fines in place for violating the bylaw. Councillor Reabum ex- plaihed that the bylaw falls under, and is consistent with, the Provin- cial Offences Act. The violation of bylaws under this act bring a maxi- mum fine of $2,000—set by the . province, not by Hensall council. ContinuedAA;psge 3 "We can get a costing that is less than what we're paying now, but the question is, how far do you want to cut?" said Stephens, noting that at the other end of the scale, the town may not need the "Cadil- lac pac(fage". While the OPP may present three proposals, Stephens said the infor- mation being collected by the offi- cers is likely to lead to a recom- mendation that one particularpackage be accepted. "He'll make a recommendation," predicted Stephens. "He'll recom- mend one of the three." The town may also want to see the successful police bicycle patrols continued under an OPP system, and that may have an added cost. Although the police board made a statement in December assuring town residents that the quality of police service would be preserved under an OPP contract, it is already apparent that little is not open to negotiation depending on the ulti- mate cost of that service. Areas that are bound to be prime areas of concern are parking and bylaw enforcement. Exeter cur- rently enforces those bylaws through the town police force, whereas other communities have to hire separate bylaw officers. Many note that such offences are easier to enforce with a police presence. New bylaw would prohibit Reeve Weide s ANIO barbeques on balconito40 expense. ,; be shared Police board sued Hearing takes priority over $.5 EXETER - A half -million dol- lar lawsuit filed against the Exet- er police services board is not getting top priority, say board members. They say their atten- tion is presently focused on an upcoming hearing to settle the issue of the chiefs position with the town police. The lawyei for police chief Jack Harkness, who was re- lieved of duty on September 7 ;.and reinstated November 16, has filed a suit that directly names the three members of the police services board: chairman John Stephens, mayor Bruce Shaw, and Sharon Wurm. The suit is claiming for Hark- ness $400,000 for loss of future income, and $100,000 for pain and suffering. There has been no action tak- en in the days since the suit was first presented, other than the in- surance company which repre- sents the board has referred it to a law firm for a reply. Board members say they -are reluctant to discuss details of the lawsuit. . "If there's going to be a law- suit, then it's best not to say any- thing," said chairman Stephens, adding that the board's main at- tention is on the upcoming hear- ing with the Ontario Civilian Commission en Police Services. That hearing, currently sched- uled for March 15 even though the board are hoping it can be delayed, will decide whether or not the board acted correctly in removing Harkness from duty in September. • When asked why the suit claims for loss of future income, even though the chief is still em- ployed by the board, Shaw said he wasn't sure. "That is an excellent ques- tion," said Shaw. Harkness' lawyer was not available for comment about the suit. By Fred Groves T -A staff GRAND BEND -Issues involving the Grand Bend and Arca Fire Department arebecoming hot. While the joint department which includes the mu- nicipalities of Grand Bend along' with Stephen, Bosan- quet and Hay Townships, are towing the line and keep- ing their budget at a zero percent increase, Monday night Grand Bend Council poured over a couple of by- laws. Passed was a bylaw making smoke detectors manda- tory while the other bylaw involving the use of bar- beques on balconies. will be looked at :urtiter. Council sent the bylaw back to their lawyer and to have further examination from their Fire Chief Jack Hebden because the definition of a balcony is not clear. "What's the definition of a balcony,?" asked deputy - mayor Cam Ivey who was filling in for absent mayor Tom Lawson. "What makes it different from a raised deck?" Councillor Phil Maguire pointed out sornc one - storey dwellings in the village have what can be termed a balcony at the rear of their house. Councillor Ed Fluter also had some coficenwady rid it should be examined fully. ' "When we re -write our official plan, we should take things like this into consideration," said Fluter. Councillor Bill Uniac noted there arc some decks be- ' ing constructed with built-in barbeques. The capital budget for Ate deptoment is 512,000 which allows for the purchipkof..pinentjnalutlang two used portable radios as well as modernizing the rescue van. In 1993, Grand Bend, Bosanquct and Stephen will contribute $17,500 towards the entire budget while Hay will contribute 55.000. In a report issued to council Monday night, it was noted that in 1992, the department responded to eight calls in Grand Bend, four in Stephen, 10 in Bosanquct, none in Hay and thrce others. They have already re- sponded to one in Hay in 1993. There was also some discussion at Monday's meet- ing about the proposed Fire Prevention Office hich would be located in the chiefs office. The chief is to submit a proposal to the fire board on the cost per site visit. This would be done in business- es only and residences would be inspected upon re- quest only. "The Fire Prevention Office is really the chiefs of- fice," said Grand Bend Administrator Paul Turnbull. "All that he's dope is build some shelves for fire pre- vention material to make it more accessible." - Turnbull added the department has a volunteer train- ing officer who would be handling the new program if it goes ahead. The initial budget for the program was $3,000 which has not yet been approved. In regards to fire protection, the Grand Bend and Area Department ate prepared to maintain protection for the Pinery Provincial Park providing the park es- tablishes standards that are agreed to by the fire board. A meeting on Tuesday is ib take place with Pinery Park Superintendent Les Kobayashi. GODERICH - After a very lengthy discussion Thursday afternooe Goderich, Huron County Council decided, in a very close vote, to pi some of Exeter reeve Dill Mickle's expenses for the Association of M . ipal ities of Ontario. Mickle is a vice-president of the organization which just recently, assist- ed ssisted in.the disentanglestophipposigtions. While the Town of Exeter will pay $1,500 of the cbsts,;tiy,has decided to pick up the remaining $1.200 which will cover the mit of the 1992 eltpenses. "Exeter is certainly willing to bear the costs but over the year the in- volvement has bocdrute more and more," said Exeter deputy -reeve Lossy Fuller. While Micklc declared a conflict of interest on the issue and decided on his own to leave the council chambers during the discussion, several of his fellow county councillors favoured the notion of the county picking up part of his expenses. "If you people ever realizeshe workload, you'd undets end," said Buller,. "Reeve Micklc brings to us mote things that happen at that level," she said of the valuable information .Mickle passes to the county from the provin- cial government. In January aloin; Mkklc was in TOrottto seven times for AMO related business. "We're gaining from it, we're the winner, l'd hate to see it cut off," sail, Tom Cunningham of the flow of information. He said when he was member of the Rural Ontario Municipal Association, his costs were cop,' ered by the county. - "We feel he is a member of this council and he would be representing uur interests," noted Cwmingtuun. There was also some 'concern that Mickic was rcpiaenting two, groups, the Town of Exeier and Huron County and some county councillors s;:id he had to answer to two groups. Inside Carnival K -W ready for winter wtkend page 3 Administrator County hires top official page 3 Teen sex First subject for e parents' group page 3 , Decorating Lucan woman opens store page 5 < Grand Bend First weekend of carnival page 11 Hawks Defense line stars of weekend Second front Atoms Broncos pass Forest page 16 All Usborne staff -get en hour pay increase EXETER After reviewing sev- eral plans to increase wages for Us - borne Township staff, council final- ly decided on an across-the-board pay increase. Township council had considered both one and two percent wage in; creases for staff, but both failed.to meet overall council approval. Fi- nally, at their February 2 meeting, council agreed to give a 260 an hour pay increase to all staff mem- bers, both salaried and hourly em- ployees. Based'on a 40 -hour work week, employees would be receiving up to a $540.80 pay increase over the year. However, Mien— considering their own remuneration, council voted to increase all their own stipends by two percent. A bad week for noisy parties, report police EXETER - Town police say they investigated five complaints of noisy parties in Exeter in the past week. Three of the parties were on Sanders St. E., one on Main St. S. and one on Humn St. W. While police say warnings were issued to the party -goers in these incidences, the town's anti -noise bylaw does have provision for fines up to $2,000. Police were also called to two separate complaints of fighting on Main St. S. on Friday evening. However, the combatants had fled by the time pollee arrived in both instances. The police also say they have re- ceived several calls of complaint about dogs running at large in town, especially when they have been soiling neighbouring proper- ties. The police are reminding dog owners that the dog control bylaw requires dogs to be leashed and un- der control when on municipal property. Dogs are also required to have a valid dog license, obtainable at the Town Office. Cadillac modeL or just drivelhrough? Three opt.bns e EXETER - What kind of policirig does the town want, what does it really need, and -what can it afford? Although an oversimplification of the proceedure the OPP are fol- lowing to provide a cost estimate of serving Exeter, those are the issues being presented to town officials and members of the public. Two OPP officers visited Exeter last week, asking such questions in preparation for a presentation to the police services board and council maybe three months'from now. With the cost proposals on the ta- ble, the two will then be able to de- f • Danielle Ondrejlcka Just loves the new lambs in her grandfather Bill Duenk's barn near Lucan. She probably doesn't yet realize, however, that five lambs from one ewe is some- thing of a rarity. Duenk says the lambs were born January 18 and all are healthy, as is the mother. Council backs down. dog catcher resigns ;llmoalFscratches cat :cont,I HENSALL - It was standing room only at the Hensall village council meeting on Monday evening as close to 40 people showed up to persuade the councillors to rescind the cat bylaw that has been the issue of contention of late. After hearing 45 minutes worth of grievances about the bylaw, council- lor Jeff Reabum motioned that it be rescinded. "Considering{the tum -out, I will defer to the wishes of the people :snd motion to revoke the bylaw," he said. The motion was seconded and .carried by council. At last months council meeting, e eeve Cecil Pepper invited con- oomed residents to attend this meet- ing -So air their concerns and have the -;matter further discussed with eomttdl. The meeting commenced ilfatniteur.atulier than usualioac- commodate this topic. "We haven't had a crowd like this since our compost facility opened," observed reeve Pepper. Prior to the rescision, .several Hensel! residents took thefloor to voice their objections ,to the bylaw that it is barely a month old. Jack Lavender addressed council and stated that he is tired of Hen- sall—his hometown— being the butt of cat jokes in the area and that he is embarrassed about the situa- tion. He said that he opposes the bylaw and accused council of not thinking the situation through clear- ly. "If you as individuals are reason- ably level-headed, what has gotten into your couon-pickin' minds when you got together as a group? You are behaving like a bunch of id- iots!" ha expounded as the.crowd Grand Bend fire prevention bate whether to disband the town police force in favour of OPP cov- erage, or to stick with their own po- lice service. The soaring costs of operating a separate police force have prompted this request. Police services board chairman John Stephens said certain things became apparent from the ques- tions being asked of officials by of- ficer Ray Davis and of citizens "on the street" who were interviewed by Rick Sinnamon, a former Exeter OPP officer. Stephens said he expects the board and council will receive pro- posals for three levels of service, from which they can choose. The least costly proposal might be a kind of "drive through" policing, in which Exeter becomes another community added to the Exeter OPP's patrol area. "I don't think anyone would sup- port that," said Stephens, who said town citizens have come to expect a certain "presence" from their po- lice. The chairman said response time to emergency calls is another crite- rium the OPP are investigating. He said something like a 45 minute maximum response time would likely be rejected by council and the board, but a 30 -second re- sponse, by having several officers in town, could prove too expensive. applauded. Rachel Schwalm said that rodents in the village seem to be given prior- ity over the felines. "Rats, squirrels and mice are free to run all over, but not cats. Cats are our friends, they control our en- emies—rats and mice who do dam- age to our surroundings," Schwalm read from a letter she had written to council. Cam Henry asked why the ratio- nale of the bylaw is not clearly stat- ed and questioned the amounts of the fines in place for violating the bylaw. Councillor Reabum ex- plaihed that the bylaw falls under, and is consistent with, the Provin- cial Offences Act. The violation of bylaws under this act bring a maxi- mum fine of $2,000—set by the . province, not by Hensall council. ContinuedAA;psge 3 "We can get a costing that is less than what we're paying now, but the question is, how far do you want to cut?" said Stephens, noting that at the other end of the scale, the town may not need the "Cadil- lac pac(fage". While the OPP may present three proposals, Stephens said the infor- mation being collected by the offi- cers is likely to lead to a recom- mendation that one particularpackage be accepted. "He'll make a recommendation," predicted Stephens. "He'll recom- mend one of the three." The town may also want to see the successful police bicycle patrols continued under an OPP system, and that may have an added cost. Although the police board made a statement in December assuring town residents that the quality of police service would be preserved under an OPP contract, it is already apparent that little is not open to negotiation depending on the ulti- mate cost of that service. Areas that are bound to be prime areas of concern are parking and bylaw enforcement. Exeter cur- rently enforces those bylaws through the town police force, whereas other communities have to hire separate bylaw officers. Many note that such offences are easier to enforce with a police presence. New bylaw would prohibit Reeve Weide s ANIO barbeques on balconito40 expense. ,; be shared Police board sued Hearing takes priority over $.5 EXETER - A half -million dol- lar lawsuit filed against the Exet- er police services board is not getting top priority, say board members. They say their atten- tion is presently focused on an upcoming hearing to settle the issue of the chiefs position with the town police. The lawyei for police chief Jack Harkness, who was re- lieved of duty on September 7 ;.and reinstated November 16, has filed a suit that directly names the three members of the police services board: chairman John Stephens, mayor Bruce Shaw, and Sharon Wurm. The suit is claiming for Hark- ness $400,000 for loss of future income, and $100,000 for pain and suffering. There has been no action tak- en in the days since the suit was first presented, other than the in- surance company which repre- sents the board has referred it to a law firm for a reply. Board members say they -are reluctant to discuss details of the lawsuit. . "If there's going to be a law- suit, then it's best not to say any- thing," said chairman Stephens, adding that the board's main at- tention is on the upcoming hear- ing with the Ontario Civilian Commission en Police Services. That hearing, currently sched- uled for March 15 even though the board are hoping it can be delayed, will decide whether or not the board acted correctly in removing Harkness from duty in September. • When asked why the suit claims for loss of future income, even though the chief is still em- ployed by the board, Shaw said he wasn't sure. "That is an excellent ques- tion," said Shaw. Harkness' lawyer was not available for comment about the suit. By Fred Groves T -A staff GRAND BEND -Issues involving the Grand Bend and Arca Fire Department arebecoming hot. While the joint department which includes the mu- nicipalities of Grand Bend along' with Stephen, Bosan- quet and Hay Townships, are towing the line and keep- ing their budget at a zero percent increase, Monday night Grand Bend Council poured over a couple of by- laws. Passed was a bylaw making smoke detectors manda- tory while the other bylaw involving the use of bar- beques on balconies. will be looked at :urtiter. Council sent the bylaw back to their lawyer and to have further examination from their Fire Chief Jack Hebden because the definition of a balcony is not clear. "What's the definition of a balcony,?" asked deputy - mayor Cam Ivey who was filling in for absent mayor Tom Lawson. "What makes it different from a raised deck?" Councillor Phil Maguire pointed out sornc one - storey dwellings in the village have what can be termed a balcony at the rear of their house. Councillor Ed Fluter also had some coficenwady rid it should be examined fully. ' "When we re -write our official plan, we should take things like this into consideration," said Fluter. Councillor Bill Uniac noted there arc some decks be- ' ing constructed with built-in barbeques. The capital budget for Ate deptoment is 512,000 which allows for the purchipkof..pinentjnalutlang two used portable radios as well as modernizing the rescue van. In 1993, Grand Bend, Bosanquct and Stephen will contribute $17,500 towards the entire budget while Hay will contribute 55.000. In a report issued to council Monday night, it was noted that in 1992, the department responded to eight calls in Grand Bend, four in Stephen, 10 in Bosanquct, none in Hay and thrce others. They have already re- sponded to one in Hay in 1993. There was also some discussion at Monday's meet- ing about the proposed Fire Prevention Office hich would be located in the chiefs office. The chief is to submit a proposal to the fire board on the cost per site visit. This would be done in business- es only and residences would be inspected upon re- quest only. "The Fire Prevention Office is really the chiefs of- fice," said Grand Bend Administrator Paul Turnbull. "All that he's dope is build some shelves for fire pre- vention material to make it more accessible." - Turnbull added the department has a volunteer train- ing officer who would be handling the new program if it goes ahead. The initial budget for the program was $3,000 which has not yet been approved. In regards to fire protection, the Grand Bend and Area Department ate prepared to maintain protection for the Pinery Provincial Park providing the park es- tablishes standards that are agreed to by the fire board. A meeting on Tuesday is ib take place with Pinery Park Superintendent Les Kobayashi. GODERICH - After a very lengthy discussion Thursday afternooe Goderich, Huron County Council decided, in a very close vote, to pi some of Exeter reeve Dill Mickle's expenses for the Association of M . ipal ities of Ontario. Mickle is a vice-president of the organization which just recently, assist- ed ssisted in.the disentanglestophipposigtions. While the Town of Exeter will pay $1,500 of the cbsts,;tiy,has decided to pick up the remaining $1.200 which will cover the mit of the 1992 eltpenses. "Exeter is certainly willing to bear the costs but over the year the in- volvement has bocdrute more and more," said Exeter deputy -reeve Lossy Fuller. While Micklc declared a conflict of interest on the issue and decided on his own to leave the council chambers during the discussion, several of his fellow county councillors favoured the notion of the county picking up part of his expenses. "If you people ever realizeshe workload, you'd undets end," said Buller,. "Reeve Micklc brings to us mote things that happen at that level," she said of the valuable information .Mickle passes to the county from the provin- cial government. In January aloin; Mkklc was in TOrottto seven times for AMO related business. "We're gaining from it, we're the winner, l'd hate to see it cut off," sail, Tom Cunningham of the flow of information. He said when he was member of the Rural Ontario Municipal Association, his costs were cop,' ered by the county. - "We feel he is a member of this council and he would be representing uur interests," noted Cwmingtuun. There was also some 'concern that Mickic was rcpiaenting two, groups, the Town of Exeier and Huron County and some county councillors s;:id he had to answer to two groups.