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HomeMy WebLinkAboutTimes Advocate, 1994-04-27, Page 3IN THEAIF WS Times -Advocate, April 27, 1994 Page 3 Community` Oriented Policing starts in Exeter EXETER - Community -Oriented Policing (COP) has come to Exeter. A committee met Monday evening for the first time to establish the group that will be aiming to take a "pro -active, rather than re -active" approach to policing. OPP sergeant Terry Wright told the group that the concept of Com- munity -Oriented Policing is to see the citizens set the priorities for po- licing. The police, he said, might perceive a different set of problems for the town, and miss the concerns that affect quality of life for the resi- dents. OPP constable George Robertson will be heading up the Exeter com- mittee, which will be similar to ones established in other communities in the detachment's coverage area. Members of the committee are Tammy Antaya, Rev. Mark Gaskin, high school student Jana Webster, Harry VanBergen, BIA manager Karen Brown, Adrian Harte, and Usborne Township councillor Ken Oke. Fall municipal election enumeration has begun OSHAWA - Although the munici- pal election isn't until this fall, enu- meration of voters started Monday across the province. The Property Assessment Divi- sion of the Ministry of Finance is mailing out enumeration forms to each household in Ontario, along with a brochure to explain what the information will be used for, and shows how the complete the form. Since the enumeration form con- tains information last updated with • Iss s r tion, or� assessme t reco c angel, s b� households will need to make changes about who lives at the resi- An adult representing the house- hold is asked to check the informa- tion, correct it it necessary, and re- turn the form by May 10 in a pre- paid envelope. Three drains get repairs in Stephen CREDITON - At its meeting last Tuesday, Stephen Council approved upgrades to three separate drainage systems in the township. A low bid of $10,587.65 was ap- proved from Doug Jennison Con- tracting to upgrade the Walker Mu- nicipal Drain to the specifications of a 1994 engineering report. The cost of the upgrades to the drain, which runs through the Oak- wood Inn Golf Course, will be as- sessed to the landowners benefitting from the work. Council also approved that minor work be done to repair the Gaiser and Brand Drains by the township drainage superintendent. The drains will be upgraded to specifications laid out in 1967 and 1966 engineer's reports. Again, the cost of the work will be assessed to nearby landown- ers. Catholic School proposal takes some heat Continued from front page. school in Stratford." But while the two boards work towards the joint venture, some people are cautioning against the plan. Two members of a parents committee from Essex County and a trustee with the Essex Board of Education came out to speak against the joint proposal. "You should be warned about this plan," said Dianne Pou- get, who was part of a parents committee that was involved in what they called a similar experience. "Our students were continually short changed and accused of being anti-Catholic," she said. "We feel strongly the separate board will do to you what they did to us - take your school," Pouget said. "Everything that was said tonight is exactly what we were told six years ago." she said. "Our trustees sold us down the river." "A very aggressive recruiting drive will occur and that will divide the community," said Gord Freeman an Essex trustee. "They will spend lavishly on sport teams to lure the kids." But Brown said there weren't enough Catholic students in Huron County to take over the Clinton school. "We couldn't take this school over even if we wanted to...we don't have the numbers," Brown said. As the meeting progressed some board members expressed frustration at comments that the Catholic school was not wel- comed. "The question is not whether we are going to open a sec- ondary school, we already have one. We're saying perhaps it's time to start a second school in the area," Brown said. "The issue at hand is where are we going to house the school. That's what we're negotiating. if we can work some- thing out here why not try," he said. Brown questioned why, if people didn't want segregation of students, they would want the Catholic board to build some- where else. "If we build our own school, that will be segrega- tion. "We belive the two entities can work together," Brown said. Carroll agreed. "We cannot change or deny the constitutional right of the separate school to exist," Carroll said. "Some people come to these meetings to ask us to this and we can't," he said. "We have to be tolerant of one another and act with a spirit of good will," Brown said. Huron taxpayers face 61 percent school tax increase, province blamed By Catherine O'Brien T -A staff CLINTON - Huron County tax- payers can expect an education tax increase of 6.1 percent for 1994 ac- cording to the latest figures given to the Huron County Board of Edu- cation by the Ontario government. The board held a special budget meet- ing Monday night to do additional number crunching to try and make sense out of } „'Sa how provincial gener- al legislative grants were tabulated this year. The tax increase is a direct result of changes in the new grant system. Although the figures haven't been finalized, the 1994 education as- sessment based on a home valued at $60,000 should be $582.30. Last year it was $549, meaning an in- crease of $33.30. According to Paul Carroll, direc- tor of the board, the bottom line is the provincial government has made it so the property taxpayer now has to pay a greater cost of ed- ning around in the dark. It's a con- spiracy to shaft the taxpayer of On- tario," he said of the grant changes. "These changes haven't been to the benefit of anyone but the Onta- rio government," Carroll said, and added other boards have been hit worse. He said if the board hadn't been trimming wr�Thn ° its budget the blow to the taxpayer would have been into double digits. And the numbers aren't final. Carroll said people should be prepared for more changes when the provincial budget is announced May 5. The board will be setting its final budget at the next meeting this coming Monday. The dilemma for the board is whether to absorb the cost. "I don't see anywhere else we can cut from the budget this year with- out causing disruptions," said trus- tee Doug Garniss. "We are going to have to go along with this provin- cially -imposed tax increase," he ucation. said. "The province is saying to the "I'm appalled we got the budget property taxpayer that the property down to almost zero and at the is worth more so they must assume eleventh hour, the government tells more cost of education. This has us there will be an increase after we caught everybody absolutely off have chopped $4 million out," said r,card i " Carroll said. tr"ustee Norm Pickell. "tfesearme he'said If thi ;' burden isn't ures," he said. passed on to the ratepayer it will "This is incredible," said trustee mean the students will be penal - Bob Burton. "It seems all the ized. school boards in Ontario are run- Carroll agreed. Benefit for Mental Health Vasik concert getting no free ride from town council EXETER - Juno -award win- ning country music star Cassan- dra Vasik may be coming to Ex- eter next month, but the organization bringing her here won't be getting a free ride. The Canadian Mental Health Association is spon- soring concerts in both Goderich and Exeter on May 27 and 28 featur- ing Vasik and Jim Witter. The CMHA's Clinton office says this is the first time these artists have come to this part of Ontario. The event is part of a fundrais- er to support CMHA projects in Huron County. The organiza- tion asked town council last week if Exeter would be willing to pick up the tab on the $975 rental cost of the South Huron Recreation Centre for the con- cert. Councillor Robert Drummond said that since the town is phas- ing out its support of charitable and non-profit organi- zation, he asked the re- quest be denied. When council agreed, councillor Ben Hoogenboom won- dered if partial support for the concert might be in order, and made a motion to make a $400 "dona- tion" to the rental costs. When that motion failed to gain council's support, that left the CMHA with the full rental costs of the recreation centre. O'Brien speaks out against `serial killer' trading cards OTTAWA - London -Middlesex MP Pat O'Brien spoke out in the House of Commons last week, urg- ing the ban of "Serial Killer Cards" in Canada. The cards are a twist on baseball or hockey cards, which feature the details of crimes committed by notorious serial Ulan. The fronts of the cards in- clude photos of the convicted murderers. • O'Brien spoke in Parliament last Tuesday calling for an amendment to the Customs and Tariff legisla- tion to prevent the importation of the Serial Killer Cards. He told Parliament "the lives of the victims of violent crimes should be remembered, not the killers and their actions". O'Brien had been circulating a petition in the Lon- don -Middlesex riding, calling for the ban on the cards. On Wednesday, Justice Minister Allan Rock ta- bled a draft of legislation that would deal with both the Serial Killer Cards and similar board games. Rock is asking the Standing Committee on Justice and Legal Affairs to examine the draft legislation, which is aimed at prohibiting the sale and dis- tribution of materials such as trading cards featuring serial killers, or board games about serial killers to children under age 18. "As a society we must protect children and youth from exposure to material which exploits violence, cruelty and horror while balancing this goal against important guarantees of freedom of expression," said Rock. "I don't think any significant re- duction can be made without harm- ing the schools," he said. "This is worse than I anticipated. "The reality is it's ludicrous that the largest budget of the county is set so late," he said. Other boards have also been com- plaining about this for years, Car- roll said. Trustees unanimously agreed Carroll should try to set up a meet- ing with the minister of education to discuss budget matters. On the bright side, the grants meant some additional revenue to some programs and funding of cap- ital projects for Junior Kindergarten as well transportation costs weren't cut. Exeter LIONS TV BINGO Game 1: $50.Pat MacAllister Game 2: $50.1une Lather Game 3; $50.Doris Wragg Game 4: $75 Trina Coscain Game 5 $100. Bill Smith Next week: $600. Pot 55 balls QUESTION: What is the oldest piece of furniture in your home that receives the least attention? ANSWER: Your Piano! Call between April 27 and May 4 for a 10% discount on your next piano tuning, with free minor repairs and adjustments. 235-3666 STRATFORD MEMORIALS NOW IS THE TIME TO ORDER MONUMENT NEEDS TO ENSURE SPRING INSTALLATION Quality Guaranteed To arrange for an appointment to view our display PLEASE CALL MICHAEL P. 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