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Home My WebLink AboutTimes Advocate, 1993-03-10, Page 1f; • KMb•Ktttrs District rally slin,Grand Bend age 2 i>owwp full Exeter seeks alternatives page 2 bn ' thtewoWill county Vautacillestructure? page 5 Carnival Exeter skaters on ice :.rage 10, To the -walI Series tied for Mohawks Second front Cigarettes -target of Exeter grocery -store break-ins EXETER --Town :police.are -in- vestigating two break-ins at Exeter grocery stores this past week, .both involving.the theft of cigarettes. Police report that thieves :broke the glass entry doors of EWA- -Foods on Main .SI..in .the .trebly hours Thursday. About 91 canons of cigarettes are believed to have been stolen in the theft. A brown Sour -door Chrysler product K -car is being sought by police in connec- tion with the incident. A second break-in occurred in.the early hours of Monday. Police re- sponded to the burglar alarm at Darlings Grocery store and found a quantity of cigarettes had been sto- len from there also. Police say their investigations . into these thefts are continuing. The town police also responded to complaints of noisy parties on Main St. and Sanders St. Friday evening, and a harassment com- plaint from a Victoria St resident continues to be investigated. Teens killed in car crash, sehQ.o 1 'mourns I1PRT+-FRANKS - Two teenag- ers,,to -a South Huron District High School student, were killed Friday cvenin when their car left the highway and struck the stone foundation of an old barn. Brent Johnson, 18, of Grand Bend, and William Jennison, 19,of RR 1 Grand Bend were travelling iputh to Forest on Highway 21 at about 10:30 p.m. when (heir Olds- mobile left the pavement near the Port Franks Road and struck the barn foundation which police de- scribed as being quite close to the road. The exact cause of the accident is unknown. Weather conditions .were good Friday evening, al- though police note the point the car left the road is at a large curve in the highway. Police arc still inves- tigating the accident and a report is not yet available. 71e news of the uagedy has greatly - affected the restihp stu- dents at South -Huron District High School. The teenagers were well known, and Monday's classes were opened with a prayer from princi- pal Joe Wooden followed by a mo- ment ament of silence. Johnson was a student at the school, Jennison was a former stu- dent. A memorial service atalie school is being planned for Wednesday. Wsas soffit to boost Iluron economy EXETER - About 35 people at- tended the Community Futures meeting at the South Huron Recrea- tion Centre last Wednesday eve- ning and brought with them their ideas. for a stronger county econo- my. Paul Nichol from the Community Futures Committee said his group is looking for ideas from within Huron County that can be support- ed by federal funding to make them reality. He said one of the best sources of growth is the support and expan- sion of existing businesses already in the area, rather than attempting to auract new industry to the area. d'ite.of those business has -to be the farming community, said Nich- ol, stating it is still the backbone of the county. But tourism he called a "bit of a sleeper" and definitely has potential for growth in Huron. "It's a resource that's untapped," said Nichol. However, Nichol advised that ec- onomic activity can't be measured by new business alone. He said simpler ideas, such as aiming to bring more retiring senior citizens to the arca can help boost the econ- omy through the services they will buy. "We .dont pretend we invented these ideas," said Nichol, maintain - *g that similar suggestions are of- , board. "The question is how we ann get rpt of the coffee Mops andfii ts." financial support is what will Commtmity Futures ideas said Nichol. The federal nt, through Employment t8td Immigration, is prepared to grant Huron County up to $100,000 a year to promote its local econo- my. of the program will be a development centre, an al- ve to large financial institu- geared to providing Loans up td'$75,000 to small businesses. 'Community initiatives, such as Condoni vending not Vii, school tiiies ossughills EXETER - The first meeting of !the South Huron District High School Parents Association, while controversial, was dubbed a success by its organiz- ers. Bonnie Becker said she was pleased that about 60 peoplecameootlt to the meeting, .postponed from the week. before. "It seemed to go very well," said Becker, adding that a lot of information was presented at the ses- siontargeted.at addressing teenage sexuality issues. •The.hot topic for the evening, as anticipated, was the :decision on whether or not vending machines for condoms should be installed in the high school. "There wasn't a vote taken.at the end, so we didn't get a clear picture," said Becker. "But the board itrusteesl have taken the positionthat condom ma- chines aren'tnecessary." Becker said .the trustees are convinced that the availability-of:condoms through the school's clinic is.already:aneffective distribution. Becker said some parents, after hearing the vari- ous presentations from health officials and school staff members, appeared genuinely surprised at the tevel,of sexual activity among teenagers, and at the .:ages it now begins. "I think a lot of parents don't want$ ielie eitat tahis point," said Becker. - "There were a couple of heated outbreaks," she added, .saying some parents felt the school system was contributing to declining . moral standards of teenagers. Some parents also, wanted to know if there were any students infected with HIV or AIDS attending the school, or if they wei11d be notified if their teen was seeking birth control. Becker said such infor- mation is confidential and couldn't be released, which also seemed to upset some parents. But otherwise thevmeeting went very well, said Becker. "We were pleased with the response from the par- ents," she said, emphasizing that She tgmup is a Par - .e is Association, not a PTA, and will eventually be .t -run entirely by .the parents, relying on the school :=staff for support, not guidance. The association is open to discuss any issue of concern to parents and the steering committee will be meeting after the March Break to decide the next topic for discussion and the next meeting date. 1 ,when a group comes forward with +tan idea to boost their municipality, .-can receive 50 percent funding 'from the same sources. Nichol said overall, Community Futures is a six-year plan aimed at promoting economic creativity. The audience was then divided into three focus groups and given 45 minutes to come up with possi- ble solutions to the county's eco- nomic problems and ideas to pro- mote growth. The first group's conclusions were presented by Helga MacDon- ald, offering some ideas on boost- ing Huron County's tourism. MacDonald said her group came up with the idea of creating a cen- tralized "bulletin board" system to calendar tourism -oriented events in the county. Not only would it pro- vide information to visitors, but help organizations prevent conflicts and overlaps in their schedules. MacDonald also said the county -should be taking stock of all its tourist attractions and putting them together into a series of brochures. She said those brochures should be GODERICH - Responses from local Huron County municipaliucs towards .the county's Rural Service Study have been numerous. The sit* which was first :implemented in No- vember, 592, by the Agriculture,Plant gond De- vclopment'Committee, was establishetiM see if de- velopment freezes on subdivisions, particularly along the lakeshore, could.be lifted. White „spunty council reviewed : the report on Thursdaykboth the Town of Exeter and :Stephen Township iad.input. Exeter had one.major concern about:the wording of one of the recommendations in ;iiiestudy which states that non -serviced fringe development should not be permitted. But, it also suggested that pressure for fringe.development creates an opportunity for serving arrangements. Larry :Brown, Administrator .of Stephen wrote, "just as,tomawneed.ZONdhAvenntin.vital, rural ar- eas needgtowth as wellAbe:•duection this study ad- vocates, will mean the stagnation :of those .villages and hamlets that are without,iulleervices." County Planner Wayne Caldwell said .the county could either reject:the study, adopt the study, accept New Huron vier4 SWOM GODERICH - She may be the 13th clerk Huron County has had in over 100 years, but members of council are hoping Jocelyn Murray won't be unlucky. Thursday morning, she was sworn in by treasurer Bill Alcock and becomes the fourth person to hold the title of Clerk- Adminisuator. "Thank you for the trust you've put in me. I look forward to work- ing with you," said Murray. Funding up just .09% GODER1CH - Huron County en- gineer Dennis Merrell reported to council on Thursday that the Minis- try of Transportation funding level is 54,844,600 which is a 0.9 per- cent increase over 1992. This will permit the county to proceed with a good road program at a zero increase in .the county levy. Last year, the subsidy was $4,600,100 which was a reduction of 11.5 percent from the previous 1r• with minor variances; defer:actitod*od pursue addition al research or endorse the recommendations which are county based. "We should retain a degree of flexibility," said Cald- well about the study. In .the study's summary, Caldwell wrote:that.in re- viewing the comments from the municipalities, that the ,tarteAcere. based on the perception that the report a i anti y binder: further development in the ru- ralsof.the county. One reason for the study,,bat the. Ministry of the E.tly.>Sronment has hadconettritabout the increasing urn• <nding of the affects of septic tanks on ground wa- ter. Huron Director of Planning Dr. Gary DAyililf n, said ! Huron County .is in a unique situation itirthit it is the:: - only. county ,in .which they have :delegated subdivision. authority. "We can: do exactly:-what-e,we,Atant. The MOE feeler the county operates the :Ie jilts responsible," said; Davidson. • All :information presented.:;to .etxutcil, ►tt ursday, .. will be reviewed and further 4acusSion.iiiid.data er,this month. aimed at those people already trav- elling to the area. "If it's a rainy dttywin the Pinery, what do those peorle do? Maybe they can pick up a brochure and travel to one of the towns," said MacDonald. She said Huron should also be encouraging the development of farmers markets, bed and break- fasts, and other things that draw people to a rural area. "Try to promote what's already here in the county," said MacDon- ald. As for addressing the question of training for skilled jobs, MacDon- ald offered some similar answers. Again, she said her group decided a few brochures could let county resi- dents become more aware of what training opportunities exist in Hu- ron, rather than travelling else- where to find skills and never re- turning. Another suggestion was to find industries willing to open their doors in the evenings so people can learn skills on machines and equip - Continued on page three County budget increased L85% RICH - As usualthe first draft budget proposed by Huron County Council was a litt1e.Lard to swallow, but after further stung here and there they got .it where they wanted. In a very long session on'Thurs- day, council passed the budget which will see the mill rate increase 4.33 percent. It was originally .drafted as an increase of 10.21 per- cent. While half a dozen councillors voted against the new budget, the 1Q93 ,aiditipri .bas only an : veaoall 'I.fi5 ottani. increase from expeadi-- ture to expenditure. County treasurer Bill Alcock said a t the waste management reserve fund has been reduced and this year un- conditional grants from the provin- cial government are up two percent. Alcock said last year's budget was a little different in that, "when we set the 1992 budget, we load a surplus carried through 1991." But this year there was no surplus to carry over but rather, a deficit. "The fact that we went from a surplus to a deficit is 2.33 percent," he said. The budget accepted by council requites armnete•ef:4:33ypercent of w'fiiclt two jement• from lower= rovinua and 2.33 percent from expenditure increases. Grants County of 19?2 jiyy Huron Budget 19931au 573.250 1993 AritL1 SO Qimirr 0.00% 0.73% $73.250 Members of Council 3294.500 3294500 40 0.00% '.2.94% Administration (Buildings) $374,310 3337.249 ($37,061; -9.90% 3.36% Clerk & Treasurer's Dept. 3553.251 3563.265 ,310,014 1.81% 5+62% Plumbing & Environment 570,957 570.957 SO 0.00% 0.71% 1ighwrys 32,647.000 32,647.000 SO 0.00% 26.39% WasteManagement $88.646 - 388,646 $0 0.00% 0.8840 Health ' 3488.022 $488.02,2 SO 0.00% 4.87% Social Services 5669,433 S1.000,783 S131.350 15.11% 9.9896 Huronview $632,578 $887,520 3254,942 40.30% 8.85% iiuronview - Reserve 51,500,000 31250,000 (S250(000) 46.67% 12A6% Tinily & Children's Services 5438.000 5462,823 324,823 5.67% 4.61% Libraries 3946,437 3999,186 $52,749 5.57% 9.96% Museum &Goal $312,707 $315.042 S2.35 0.75% 3,14% Planning & Development $499.631 1*.631 SO 0.00% 4.98% Agriculture & Reforestation . $59,00 $52,380 $10,030,251 ($6,8290) -11.52% S182,33211.85% 0.52% TOTAL S9,84'7,92 Hoc,lu-huuputg.or hocke 1 srnz--a.amI,ne •ulll/%n • Laura vt+ sp... wa &scoter Minor Woolsey hold a fundr.Ajfl dance •$atureJ3y evening at the South Huron Recreation Centre. Eddie and the EdselsppvtOd,the-m,t+ for -the 50'sVefavB„,glitch was p r,ked,Np with a hppl@d?popcontest. The winners are pictured above. 4