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HomeMy WebLinkAboutTimes Advocate, 1993-11-24, Page 1Cruise Sale Dec. 2 'Thursday ONLY litaram. - "sus. Mew Travel I i m lot mt >!r/a/ ssaaa� If you M6n't I 7i I Name; very 4 I Address City Prov. Postal.Cone :-Canada 44111hi144 9445 ken) addressed to •n01Asuasioarrier addresses i a$2.10GS.T. I7OutekkreSeMbe *m) a any letter .,rrri.aestiw .$4.2o.G.S.T. �tWi�i1M srwnwt■rrw 1 UDDDDDDD Card No. I Expiry Date 0 Visa 0Master Card 1 ❑ Cheque€nctosed • I Return to TIMES ADVOCATE L24 Main St. Exeter, Ont. NOM 186 =AM .--a, inside Sewers Crediton, Dashwood next on list? page 2 Glass craft Judy'Dougall's gifted hands page 5 Movie star Local teen completes filming - page 10 Ringette Belles win division Second front . i titibtb babysit for shoppers An Emergency exercise in Ailsa Craig Thursday evening may have had passersby con- vinced the disaster was real. However, a coordinated effort with emergency services and one wing of the Craigholme rest home allowed the village to test its readiness for a se- rious crisis by simulating a large fire at the home. ;.EXETER - This Saturday mom - g, the Usbome III 4-H Club is of- oiering a babysitting service to ';Christmas shopping parents. Billed as a free service, the club will be setting up shop in the Pre- cious Blood School gymnasium (on Sanders St. West) from 9 am. to imesithis Saturday. 'The "Baby Sit-a-thon". as it is be- ing destTebsd, will include activi- ties for the children organized by the club members. The children will be kept amused with colouring books, games, and other distrac- tions while mom and dad are out shopping in town. Anyone wanting more informa- tion can contact Marianne VanEs- broek at 229-6783. Pickup truck driver lurking around school EXETER - PQ1ice are oxo the lookout for the driver of a silver pickup truck suspected of following children around after school. The Exeter OPP say a student of Precious Blood School reported be- ing followed by the pickup and re- ported the incident to a teacher/ A description of a blonde man ikith a beard has been provided to pokes. At this time, the QPP say this in- cident should not be cause for alarm, but are asking parents.to see their children are extra cautious when going to and from school. Saturday evening, around 10:30 p.m., the OPP were called to Main St. in Zurich to investigate a com- plaint about an drunken male caus- ing .i disturbance. He was arrested and held overnight, and charged for being intoxicated in a public place. The OPP have another report of a counterfeit $50 bill turning.up in lo- cal sarrertcy. This phony bill end ed in a local bank's shipment of rti.ry,from Toronto, and wasn't passed at local business. Howev- er, police arc cautioning people to check carefully before accepting bills of this denomination. 4 rgYm Firefighters (above) duplicated a major fire with theatrical smoke, and had to use respira- tors to search the smoke filled icor ;tend tims". xeter Tittking'ttte palace of -the Crai- gh me ,esidents in Thursday evening's disaster exercise � were several students (left) fal seII-out ;from North Middlesex District if -High School. The students at rest Mii Earter!s bu4't come short? EXETER - Will the Town of Ex- eter, for the first time in many years, fail to make its budget in 1993? Reeve Bill Micklc, in making his executive committee report last week, admitted town finances were "tight" this year. Some expendi- tures came in over budget, revenues have sagged, and there have been unexpected expenses, he told coun- cil. In June, when council approved its 1993 budget document of $3.03 million, it came with a warning that "antici- pated revenues are particularly fragile this year". That was in reference to uncer- tain -provincial grants, and anticipated cut- backs. However, town clerk -treasurer Liz Bell said Monday that revenues may hold the line until the end of the year, particularly since some unconditional grants from the province were actually more than expected - but the town's expenses Jere up. Ill's :going to be tight alight," �ttid tBe11, adding that Exeter has lroesta7I surpluses year after year. "We've never had a deficit since I came here....there's always been a surplus." The main problem is the legal bill the town received from' the police board/police chief hearing. Cur- "We'v hada since here... always su rently running at $61,000, the fees also include the legal work done on the transition to OPP contract polic- ing. But if the legal work done for the police services board for the Ontario Civilian Commission on Police Services hearing can be re- applied to a lawsuit entered against the town by former police chief Jack Harkness, they may be cov- ered under an insurance policy.' One option for town council is to pay for those outstanding fees from the working capital reserve, in the hope they can be re- paid next year, to avoid a deficit situa- tion. Although the town has taken on a new sewer line project for Pryde Boulevard un- der n der the jobsOntario program, there were funds in reserve for that project. As for waste management, Bell said the 52 garbage bag tags are not selling as well as expected because residents quickly learned to reduce their garbage. Tag sales are in- creasing as the free ones run out in Exeter homes, but they won't reach the $100,000 anticipated in the pro- gram budget. "Were not going , to . make the $100,000 - on the other hand the [commercial landfill] upping fees are more than expected," said Bell. Nevertheless, the recent decision +s sae see Budget page 3. e never deficit I .came .there's been a rplus. rr • ed the part ofd' ygh .-nme residents and made them- selves a handful for emergency workers trying to evacuate the smoke-filled building. ,cornrnunications breakdown blamed Recycling employees ' unionize GRAND B 'ND - About 20 employees of the Bluewater Re- cycling Association will be un- ionized in a few days, once the Ontario Labour Board rubber stamps an application to orga- nize. Francis Veilleux, administrator of the municipally -owned recy- cling program, said he accepted the blame for causing a "commu- nications barrier" between the employees and management at the plant over the past few months. Veilleux said the Bluewater quickly grew from a small opera- tion with only himself .and four others in 1989 to.the large opera- tion it is today. The company structure did not adapt itself to the growth and the employees felt left out. "Things happened and people weren't talking," admitted Veil - teals, who said he took the union application personally at first, but laser Caine to understand the em- ployees' dissatisfaction. "I would nave to be honest with you, 1 would have done the same thing they did." The union that will be repre- senting the Bluewater employees will .,be local .141 of the Team- sters. Although the name Tcatn- siteo conjures up a checkered past in the United States, Veilleux said that union was chosen be- cause a few employees had been members in previous jobs. One of Bluewater's drivers who asked apt to be named agreed, but said the Teamslerd also re{xesent BFI, the waste, management company .that hall, dies , the City .of .London's blue box , seeycling Win. They also represent construction work- ers and local uuck drivers. "That's what most truck drivers are," he said. He agreed a communications breakdown was responsible for .the employees seeking unioniza- tion, but added job security was a main issue for the em$tloydes. "Job security is se main con- cern," he said. "r veryhody .was worried they'd be let go." He said things have unproved greatly at the plant in recent weeks, and unionization might not have been necessary if those problems had been resolved in early summer. He said he doesn't blame Veilleux personally, but said the • problems were all through Bluewater's structure. Did the threat of a ,union help clean up those problems? "It helped anyway," he said. Another Bluewater driver, who also asked not to be identified, said he would have preferred to have not sen unionization. The management and employ- ees of Bluewater, once the ration is approved by .the Labour Board, :will be sitting down to negotiate ;isheir first collective agreement. Assurances of job security are ex- pected to be, at the top of the em- ployee's list, but wage parity with other recycling employees in the region ntay also be a goal. "We're not sure. .We haven't sat down to talk about it yet," com- mented one driver, and added a strike wasn't too likely at this point. "We're ging for a new begin- ning al`<td things should be settling down now, predicted Veileux. aBfI S hQMB�A d B union in -of security' end working;tt ►tions. Me union is Local _1 1 pf the Teamsters. 4 EXETER - The Exeter Business Improvement Area's Christmas pro- motion has proved an overnight success. Karen Spring said the sale of "Exeter Bucks" went over extreme- ly well as soon as they went on sale Thursday at all seven financial in- stitutions in town. "This has been an overwhelming success," said Spring, adding that five of the seven banks, trust com- .pnies, and credit unions had sold out by Saturday. "There were a few minor prob- lems we can solve for next time round," said Spring, but predicted the "buck" program would likely be back for next Chrisunas, if not sooner. The BIA subsidized the sale of $50.000 "Bucks" to the tuae of $5.000. Custwners were allowed to buy $50 or 5100 of the certifi- t ales at . a ten percent discount. They .arc redeemable as cash at all Exeter businesses until the end of December, with the idea that they are aimed at Chrisunas shoppers. "The committee is going to look very seriously at our budget for next year," said Spring, who pro- poserthat the BIA might be able to fund mare "Exeter Bucks" next time round. "The feedback is excellent. Eve- ryone is benefiting," she said, not- ing that criticism of past BIA pro- motions centred on the small number of people who ended up winning prizes. Even shoppers from Seaforth and Clinton were asking about purchas- ing the "Bucks" for use in Exeter, said Spring. The BIA's next project is the "Santa Store". After the December 4 Santa Claus Parole, the jolly old elf will be keeping regular hours in a Main Street store front, listening to the Christmas wishes of local children. A 55 fee for a photograph with Santa will be donated w the Christ- mas Bureau, and the kids will be able to take home gifts and coupons from -town businesses and restau- rants. Vet lab gets no deal Cows research continiMag despite wage down, HURON PARK - These was good news for local fanners on Fri- day as MPP P.aul Klopp announced that crops research will continue at Huron Park after die scheduled clo- sure of Centralia College in May lAt a press Conference, Paid Klapp, MPP for . luron and parlia- mentary assistant to Eimer Bucha- nan, minister of agricultw and food, announced plans for fu/Sue field and horticultural crops re- search at Huron research facili- ty located in Stephen Township. "We arc going to have reeeorch in Huron County," Klupp said. "Re- search activity at tie Huron re- search station will be build upon the programs developed by Central- is College," he said. This means studies of area field crops such as white beans, corn, soybeans and rutabagas will contin- ue. "We are pleased to hear this an- itouacenient," said' Tom Tomes, Stephen Township reeve and couilty.ww en. "1 just hope hat you can get other business into the facility its Apick," he told Klopp. Currently Centralia is responsible for the crop research, but it will be transferred to Ridgetown College following the expected closure pf Ccntiatlia in the spring. Klopp said the station will have a $400,00 budget and will employ /'Please eee,keseercb, page two.