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HomeMy WebLinkAboutTimes Advocate, 1993-11-17, Page 11 Naas: Addams City 1 Prov. ' Postal Cola s: Lida addressed to noneist sr carrieraddressee #Jut 32.10 G.S.T. Deektellnelles-(65km)orarty $ 1 - Wsr address $60.00 + 14.20 G.S.T. 3arldd- Comela+3 00 sI&1MIoImage► j41111E'YtOR'tIIREDIT CARD ,.❑❑❑❑❑Q❑❑ 1 D1:11:1❑Q❑Q❑ Card No. Expiry Date ❑ Visa ❑ Master Card 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 ' ❑ Cheque enclosed Return to, TINES ADVOCATE i424 Main St. Exeter Ont. NOM 1S6 sa■ — -i aIIIN Chtvop dist ke care of your feet page 5 Winterize Tips for home care pages ..131.6 Hockey -Broncos win Batten toumament Second front Legion banquet Bill Smith on • Remembrance Day page 29 SHDHS graduate appointed to Prime Minister's office KIPPEN - Leslie Swartman is proof that hard work pays off. Swartman was recently appointed Press Officer for the Prime Minis- ter's Office. Her parents, Bob and Anita Swartman, found out the day before her appoinunent was officially an- noneed in Ottawa recently. 'We're happy for her," said moth- er Anita Swartman. "It's something she has always wanted." She said Leslie dedicated a lot of energy to achieving this goal and it didn't come easy. "She's paid her dues." The younger Swartman has al- ways been interested in politics and after graduating from South Huron District High School eight years ago she went on to study political science and languages at McMaster University. She has worked with former pre- mier David Petersen and federal Liberal leader candidate Paul Mar - un before becoming press officer for Prime Minister Jean Chretien. T -A song book in this edition This week's Times - Advocate has an added bonus...our, annual Christmas Song Book brought to you courtesy of [many local advertisers The 1993 edition is ou largest ever. Anyone At quiring additional copies is .welcome to:piok them up at our Office at 424 Main St. South. Blue box tests gokkg up for 1994 GRAND BEND - The cost of re- cycling is going up next year. The :$luewater Recycling Association, which serves most of the homes in 'this area, is budgeting for an eight percent per household increase for 1994. Francis Veilleux at Bluewater agreed that the price increase is substantial, particularly when com- pared to the minimal tax increases most municipalities have applied in past years. However, he defended the increase by pointing out diet 1994 will be the first year blue box costs have not gone down. • Three percent of the imam is attributed directly to the cost of re- losating into a larger building in Huron Park next April. "The other five percent are new A United Way breakfast was held at Valu Mart in Exeter Saturday morning. Scores of people enjoyed the breakfast prepared by volunteers. From right are Andy Bilke from the Hensel! Fire Department, and volunteers Ben Fisher, John Simpson, Lee Webber, Mike ,andWilmer Fe • en. Province n• to 'tth-irmarkt hHre Town supports private health care companies EXETER - Town council Mon- day evening supported the bid for private health care givers to fight the province for their business share. Para -Med Health Services of Goderich is asking councils for their support against the provincial government's plans to reduce the market share of commercial compa- nies in the home care business to 10 percent of the total. Currently, commercial companies like Para - Med have 19 percent of Huron County's business. The rest goes to non-profit agencies, most of which use volunteer help. Among the province's aims are an expansion of in-home care services for the aging population. 'They want to make it a simpler and more unified industry. Another plan is to create Multi -service Agencies (MSAs) to coordinate the care. The Ontario Home Health Care Providers Association is launching a legal challenge against the gov- ernment's plan to trim their industry in favour of non-profit organiza- tions that they say do no more with the same amount of funds. "Huron's Para -Med would lose 50 percent of its business," said town administrator Rick Hundey, who had been asked to brief council on the issue. "The costs charged by the private side are the same as the public side," said Hundey, which he said suggested that if they arc making a small profit, they must be providing service more efficiently. Councillor Ben Hoogenboom said he was familiar with this Para-Med's services and called it a first- rate operation. "There's no way they could do a better job than what is being t'provided in the county already," he said. Council also reviewed a copy of a letter to the editor sent by MPP Paul Klapp, which appears in this issue of the Times Advocate. Mayor Bruce $haw took excep- tion to Klopp's suggestion that a survey indicated prefer non-profit agencies to depver home health care. "1 .th wh and w be in parties Op "I don't believe that for one sec- ond. I believe that's a falsification of the facts," said Shaw, who also argued that overall efficiency is a key issue here. "If the others can provide the sane .rvice and make a profit., then there's some- thing going awry. That proves the stere- otype that govern- ments cannot do things as 'efficiently as the private sector. "I think people are served very well by the services being of- fered," said Shaw. "I think this is a white- wash, and we should be informing the oth- er parties that we op - ink this isa: ile wash, e should: forming, the other. that i>we pose tsit pose it." He pointed out that if 1995-96 is the introduction date for the pro- gram, then the next provincial gov- ernment may drop it anyway. Council agreed to send notice of its suPport of Para -Med and the OHHCPA's legal challenge to both opposition leaders and other parties involved. Sewer engineering study will wait for grant funding EXETER - A 5113.840 engineering study to exam- ine theaoeds4lsd expectations of the Town of Exeter's sewage treatment system will go ahead, but only if provincial groats are available to help with the cost. . Reeve Hill-Mickle Monday eve ging objected to the cost of the sewer study. and pointed out the present la- goon system. m• was built to serve well into the next cen- tury and was designed to be expanded. It is most likely. however, that the next step in Exet- er's sewer servicing needs will be met with the con- struction -of a aechaaical (resent plant - -a plait which may be jointly shared with Henan and Stephen Township. Mackie complained that was no one advising She town on whether or not l d resent system could be updated to aaoet the town's needs for leas coat•than a new plant. Town admaaismosor Rick flaispdey said die engineer - 1 ing shady will be looking at all options, such as those raised by Mickle. "I'm sure they're already familiar with these things," ssid=Nuwdey, but agreed the engineering costs were ex- pensive. He noted much of the cost is "process things", lowed upon the tnsuaicipality by ministry requirements. "This cost, although it's high, will get us the answers I we're looking for," said Hundey. Mayor Bruce Shaw .said be had a sneaking feeling Canadians spend far too tial h on studies. In the end council agreed 10 proceed with the engi- aeeting study, se long as a provincial grant of up 10 59 percent wows available. Council .also agreed with Mickie's suggsatiwDn to invite a ministry representative 10 council to oullineAetne of the options and new tech- nologies avai a 'the town for sanitary sewer up- s costs," he said, and when asked to elaborate said those costs included the higher rental and utilities for that building. "That's primarily where the new costs are," said Veilleux. "We an- ticipate as early as next year we'll be in a position to bring the costs down." The move to the larger building, he said, will be justified in allowing Bluewater to not only handle more recyclables, but handle them better. Veilleux pointed out when the plant opened its doors in Grand Bend .in 1989, the cost per house- hold, or "share", before grants was $46.83. He figures if it had in- creased with the cost of living, each would now pay about $68 to pro- vide blue box service to each household, not the $31.81 currently charged. Next year, each share will cost $34.48. Most municipalities receive a 33 percent grant from the provincial government, but next year many will see their grants expire. The NDP government is expected to an- riounce a new gram structure to as- sist recycling programs. "We're preuy confident there's going to be a new program in place through 1994," predicted Veilleux, but said he wanted to see a fairer system based on tonnage of recy- clables, or percentage of waste di- verted from landfills. Such a grant structure would fa- vour programs like Bluewater's, which succeeds in recovering a larger amount of recyclable items from the waste stream. Other blue box programs which provide a bare minimum of service shouldn't be rewarded with the same grants, said Veilleux. In fact, Veilleux said Bluewater is among the best, if not the best in the province at the blue box game. Exeter's recovery rate is "hanging around 65 percent," he said. "I don't care where you go, you won't get higher than that." A new grant program will likely rely on substantial contributions from the private sector, the compa- nies that produce the items that : , eventually end up in the.blue box. Market prices for collected recy- clables are still fluctuating. The top item a few years ago, -aluminum cans, dropped from $1,500 a tonne to only $500 when the USSR col- lapsed. The price has since recov- ered to between $650-$900 a tonne. "The market is adjusting to the world economy," said Veilleux, but said the good news is newsprint is Continued on page two ,Jack Taylor proposal New subdivision could sem Pryde Boulevard extended EXETER - A new subdivision proposal may see the connection of Pryde Boulevard to Huron Street in the near future. A plan -of subdivision was for- warded to council Monday evening rby developer Jack Taylor, outlining 'a proposal to create 14 new single- family home lots on an extension of Pryde Boulevard between the Exet- er Villa and Huron Street. The plan also calls for the creation of a cul de sac off Edward Street would fill in the block with 28 townhouses in four -unit blocks. Council raised some concerns about the width of Pryde Boule- vard, which south of Sanders St. is not as wide as the original portion. However, it was revealed that origi- nal plans to have Pryde connect to a bride across the river have long been shelved. When .deputy -reeve Lossy -Fuller asked if the town actually had .ca- pacity for water and sewer for Tay- lor's proposal, administrator Rick Hundey agreed "we are stretching things a bit", and said the proposal will have to be examined by the Ministry of Environment and Ener- gy- In fact, Hundey said the demon- stration that Exeter has proposals such as Taylor's on the books may help expedite funding to expand the 'sewer treatment system. Councillor Robert Drummond pointed out if Pryde Boulevard is extended, it .would relieve traffic from Sanders St., which mayor Bruce Shaw noted get more traffic than ever expected. Taylor' proposal was approved by council to forward to the county planning office. High school gprentassociation Youth violence forum to seek answers to problem EXETER - Next on the list of controversial topics for the South Huron District High School Par- ents Association to Hackle is "youth aggressive behavior". Hill Bengough, organizer of the November 30 meeting at the school, said that even though public awareness of violence at the high school has leaped in the past few weeks, be has been working on patting a meeting to- gether on the subject since Sep- tember. "Everybody seems to be really tuned into it right now," said Bengough, predicting that timing probably couldn't be better to as- sure a good response from par- ents and other members of the public. An impressive .line-up of panel members toms su :he issue has been part Sogithlr• At least nine panelists, rttpreoonting school and board of education officials, the police, the crown attorney, probation officer, Children's Aid, and the Huron Perth Centre are expected to attend. Bengough said it is already ev- ident that those ,people are at "Everybody seems to be really turned into il right now." tending not to explain away or justify the violence that is erupt- ing in schools, but to set out a clew' plan on how to prevent it, and quickly deal with it when it does occur. Bengough said invitations have also been sent out to mu- nicipal representatives of the town and neighbouring village to recognize that this is not an "Exeter" problem, but one that coicoems the entire region. "Were going to have every- body who is involved with these youth to .be ate," said Ben Bough - The meeting *Ritts at 7:30 p.m. Tuesday November 30 in one of the school's gymnasiums. Bengough said if attendance at a recent impromptu meeting at die school dealing with a recent violence problem is anything to go by, this forum should be :satire well.. 4 eussi