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HomeMy WebLinkAboutTimes Advocate, 1993-06-23, Page 2Page Times -Advocate, June 23,1993 Regional wrap up Haslam resigns to protest NDP bill STRATFORD - Perth MPP Karen Haslam resigned from her cabinet position last Monday as minister without portfolio in the health ministry. "'Phis is a personal thing with me. "It is a matter of principle, a principle that I have held for a very long time," she told the Journal Argus at her constituen- cy office. Her decision to resign is based on the Rae government's bill which would freeze wages and benefits of 950,000 public sector workers for three years unless they agree tocontract conces- . *ms by Aug. 1. :stye storage in mine rJi9es ronoerns " TO013RTC14 8mu+onmenta6• ists and salt miners raised con- -cans about a business plan to More industrial .waste in-dines- 3hausted3parts . of .she .Sitio Balt' Mine. v lbilipE ;inc. and 8ifto thmeda=:3ac. have joined forces to form Maitland Re- orurxs. The company is currently evaluating the economic and en- vironmental feasibility of storing materials' in the Goderich salt mine. A steering committee has also been formed comprised of Sifto And Philip ..management, mine ermploSreai numb ty . ap- Miners.�are concerned :alma the underground air.quality and contents of waste being stored. One miner noted that cancer- ous materials were not listed among those which would be unsuitable for the site. The materials to be stored in the mine are said to be such that they may be recyclable in the fu- ture and therefore should be stored in a place where they can later be retrieved, it was report- ed in the Goderich Signal -Star. Co-op housing shelved AILSA CRAIG - The Ausable Lookout Cooperative Homes program has been put on hold indefinitely because provincial purse strings have tightened. A representative for Commu- nity Homes of Southwestern On- .lerio told' the Parkhill Gazette .the project has been shelved. Ausable Lookout directors had set aside their plans until they could get a clearer picture of how much financial support would be available from Onta- rio's housing ministry. Transit service proposed CLINTON - Council has agreed in principle to a service that would offer transportation to the disabled it was announced at the June 7 meeting. The transportation committee is working on a proposal to op- erate a specialized transit service for the residents of Clinton and Seaford' as well as the town- ships of Hullett,. McKillop and Tuckersmith, it was reported in the Clinton News -Record. Bev Brown, the co-ordinator of Information and Services De- velopment for Seniors and Phys- ically Disabled Adults said ser- vice groups would be approached to help with fund- ing. One percent tax increase Exlor !s Row Amt: wk's nis fir '!t EXETER - Town--aeurasil -ap- proved Exeter's 1993 budget Mon- day evening, which included the expected one percent tax increase. When property tax bills arrive however, only separate school sup- porters will see a tax hike of about One percent. The separate school board did not increase taxes this year, but the public board -has boosted mill rates by 2.98 percent for elementary schools and 4.71 percent for secondary schools. County taxes also account for an- other 4.32 percent increase - aver- aging out to a 2.87 percent increase for public school supporters, and 0.99 percent for separate school supporters. Separate school supporters still pay a slightly higher overall.mill rate, however. The town budget includes expen- ditures of S3.03 million, S136 mil- lion of which will be raised through municipal taxes, the rest coming from revenues, fees, and grants. Perhaps more important than what is in the budget is what is not in it. There are few large capital projects in the works. Aside from a costly Landfill engineering study, the purchase of a new sander for the works department, and some minor repairs to the town library, there are few big ticket items. The Riverside Drive sanitary sewer project has been deferred, and the town's subsidy on ice time at the Recreation Centre has been phased out one year early. While the switch from a munici- pal police force to an OPP contract later this year is expected to realize some savings in that department, the budget document notes that le - Is Exeter recovering from buildingslump? EXETER - Is -the town;of Exeter co wing-out:of a twollear:bnilding shnup? Building --offtacia1 Dave Moyer told -council Monday eve- ning. that:things:are looking up, if Mays tainting totals are anything w go by. Moyer.said.he issued 30 building permitsiasrmonth -for a total value of 5507;684, -bringing .the total building -activity : in. Exeter for the first 'five .months :of -.the year to :S1A8:uiillicm • still a•:liule behind :!List year's pace. • "Actually it seems as though -:ahings_are::mrning around," Moyer told council. "There seems to be be a little •more .activity . and a little -moreialk, which is.always a posi- - :rive sign." "Obviously. the McDonald's per- mit hasn't --been issued yet?" asked count illorBob.Spears. Moyer confirmed the permit for the new restaurant would appear on June's totals, and will be valued at about3194,000. In other business Monday eve- ning, council approved the McDo- nald's application for a 10.92 metre high sign for the restaurant, over- riding the sign bylaw's limit of three metres. Councillor Robert Drummond asked if granting a variance in this situation would lead to "a blanket change" for commercial signs to be allowed that high in Exeter. Administrator Rick Hundey not- ed the sign bylaw was drafted with the downtown bnciness -arra in mind, and acknowledged a differ- ent policy :might .better he applied to :the .town's - highway commercial areas. "We've been looiting>arothermu- nicipalities and teen looking_at.the big picture and itcould-bothis type of -{tall] sign might be .appropriate for this [highway] use," agreed Moyer. . OPP divers emerged from the Lake Huron waters in Grand Bend near the pier as they searched for clues to the human remains found Saturday night. Loud muffler leads to fine EXh"FER - Two cases were heard in Justice of the Peace court last Tuesday. One involved a loud muffler and the oth- er a seat belt infraction. Lien Hoogenboom pleaded not guilty to a charge of having a defec- tive muffler the car he was driving. On April 18, Hoogen- boom was stopped by Ex- eter Town Police because of a loud muffler. Hoogenboom told Justice of. the Peace Karen Sturdy that he should have been issued a warning. The car, he said, was used peri - odically in the past few months and hadn't made any noise. He was found guilty aid find $90 with twee months to pay. Seatbelt infraction On March 16 Michael Diaardo, of -Downsview, was stopped at the uuereecuon:of Main and Sanders streets for failing to stop at a red light. When approaching the car the officer saw that Dinardo was not wearing a seal belt. It was requested by the prosecution that tic charge for failing to stop at the light be withdrawn and replaced with a failure to wear a seat belt charge. Justice of the Peace Karen Sturdy agreed and Dinardo was found guilty and charged $90 with 60 days to pay the fine. gal fees for the Ontario Civiliarn Commission hearings and possible legal action from the police chiet may more than make up the differ- ence in 1993. "It is imperative that each depart- ment spends carefully during the year," cautions the budget docu- ment. "The anticipated revenues are particularly fragile this year and any overspending could lead to a deficit at year end." Cutbacks on unconditional grants from the province under the NDP government's Expenditure Control Program and the Social Contract Act are expected to total about $142,000. However, those cut- backs have been figured into the to- tal budget already. Budget revenues: total $3.03 cannon Property taxes cd sated In Exeter: total $3.8 Million Here's how Exeter's 1993 -`-I-- budget `budget breaks I down: the top chart is the total property tax "ple" collected In from town ratepayers. At far left is the split between budget revenues and taxes. The right hand chart shows where the money Is all going. Town expenditures: total budget $3.03 million From revenues, grants, fees, capital 55 Hay .approves 'bare -bones' budget ZURICH - : Hay 'rownship coun- cil approved the 1993 -budget of $1,106,119 on Jame 7. 'With $468,544 to;besaised ninop- erty taxes, ghevesalt .is -a uttneer- Cent municipal mill rate increase for :townshipiatepay s. Clerk 3anisse "Zimmerman de- scribed She -budget as a "bare bones" effort -by council:andwwn- ship'ataffSOkeep expenditures to a miaitmrn. -The only major .capital expendi- moes-.sJa ed for this year are the re- paving of -part of Concession 2-3 and the paving of the St. Joseph beach -wad. "It's a basic bare -bones budget," said Zimmerman. At the same meeting, township council also approved the auditor's report, the annual report on Hays finances. In all, tax arrears are down, unlike in other local munici- palities, and reserves are in good shape, even though they haven't been enlarged much in recent years. "Our financial status is really good," said Zimmerman. Letters to Editor Health cuts will hurt Huron -Deaf Editor: Recently, the provincial govern- znenttabled an expenditure control plan proposing to slash its health- care budget by $1.6 billion. The ostensible reason was to reduce health-care costs in order :to re- duce the provincial .debt: While this is a reasonable goal, unfortu- - stately the specific proposals relat- ing to physician services will only cause a reduction in the availabili- ty of medical services, reduce quality of care and access to treat- ment for citizens of Huron County. Discounting fees paid to new general practitioners, pediatricians and psychiatrists will only allow a small number of Ontario graduates to practice in a few areas selected by government. Taxpayers' money spent t0 educate young physicians to provide high quality medical care will be wasted. Rural areas will be particularly, hard hit. Cuting medical coverage by capping individual physician services, limiting locum availabili-n ty and prohibiting resident doctors from working in the emergency deparunent, will restrict access to emergency services, obstetrical care and office visits. Waiting lists are sure to get longer and the strain will increase on remaining doctors, many who already look after a full practice of patients. Ru- ral and small town doctors' patient case -loads will increase dramati- cally. They will not be able to of- fer the same level of care as be- fore. For the patient in Huron County, this will mean a reduction in the availability of aervices,,the hours during •which those 'services can be obtained, swift ability to choose a doctor of choice. It isnot surprising that many physicians are considering practising in the United States. We must address the cost of health- care but let's look at the facts. Are there alternatives to the current proposals to m, - effectively sav' 'ey? Most defi..,tely, yes. OHi. .,yments, .; hich represent direct patient service, accounts for approximately 20 percent of the overall health-care budget. There are many ways to improve the health-care system without reduc- ing patient servicer and compromis- ing care. In the last two years, the Ontario Medical Association and the province, have together saved taxpayers close to $1 billion by ne- gotiating fees, forms of payment and more efficiently delivering medical services. Health-care costs now are increasing by less than 1 percent per annum, down tram 11 percent several years ago. All of this was achieved by careful negoti alien without compromr ing die quality or access to health. There still exists further alterna- tives to save money such.as getting rid of health-care fraud1/4 bureau- cratic mismanagemet (costing us millions of dollars per year). If VISA and Mastercard can keep track of credit cards, why can't health 'cards be efficiently moni- tored? Although Canadians arc a gam. ice, .Ley we mist ,stop Americans . cnoss erg the border figlely to avail;:of.qur "free" health- care system? We need to establish alternate payment plans for medi- cal services with rational measures to control the supply and distribu- tion of medical services in Ontario in order to cut costs without de- stroying the health-care delivery system. Reducing the deficit is un - portant but panic-stricken and knee-jerk responses bereft of any foresight or planning, will only ex- acerbate problems in the future. Unfortunately, the latest move by the NDP government, was to in- troduce into the legislature last week the ExpendiwreControl Plan Statute 1,aw Amendment Act. If enacted, this law wouldgive politi- cians the power to dictate when, why, where and how .patients get treated. Although the government has the right to deny or limit pay- ment for services, previously it was done only after consultation. Now the government wants to force through a law to empower bureaucrats with the unilateral right to make health-care decisions for individuals. WilllI Ministry of Health Officials be r�quired to go to meth *l school? ti It is important to telt government that the cooperative planning that led to sensible solutions only a short time ago, must be restarted rather than continuing the current management by chaos. It is the least the citizens of Huron County deserve. Yours sincerely, Patrick -Conlon, MD President, Huron County Medical Society. Nurses school in doubt Dear Editor: We are writing to express our concerns about the• future of the Toddler's Inn Nursery School. It is our understanding that not only ourselves t ut many other parents feel the same frustration. Just lately a letter was issued from the Nursery School telling us that due all the increases in cent (40 t) to the Pcntecoalal •aChurch since 1991, their only Bourse of action is to close Tod- dler's Inn or increase the fees to the parents. The Church refused to put a rent freeze on the rent, sup- posedly due to the increases in custodial fees and utility costs. The parents already pay quite a bit of money for this service as it is. The teachers have tried as hard as they can to keep the enrollment fee down but it isn't feasible anymore as they need to be able to draw a wage. They are very professional at what they do and deserve to keep their business. They have looked into operating Tod- dler's Inn at a different loca- tion, but pre hav- ing a hard time finding an appro- priate location. They have looked into another church, but their request was de- nied and also looked into some commercial space but the size did not meet their requirements. We do not mind paying a little eu.Ua,ftlViley .ler 14 0001 l). eve a quality learning program for our children, but there are many par- ents out there, I'm sure, that find it difficult in these hard times. It would be terrible for something this good to be discontinued. It is unfortunate that the church feels they need such dramatic in- creases each year in order to sup- ply spice for the Nursery School. •Everything could very well back- \Jire and no one will rent the space at all and then the church will be out their rent money, and the chil- dren will be without their school. Surely there is some sort of com- promise that can be trade. Sincerely frustrated, Lisa Dietrich and Mary Lou Bilckc