HomeMy WebLinkAboutTimes Advocate, 1994-05-25, Page 3L
IN THE_1\JEWS
Times -Advocate, May 25, 1994
Page -8
Lucan holds
line on
village
budget
LUCAN - In regular session on I
May 17, Lucan council set the rate
for municipal taxes in the village
for 1994.
The end result is a combination
of good and had news. The good
news is that the rate of 27.145 mills
for residential village purposes will
remain the same for the second
consecutive year. The mill rate to
be collected for the county of Mid-
dlesex also will continue virtually
the same as last year.
The had news is that the overall
rate of 103.933 is an increase of
4.783 mills from the1993 levy.
That's a rise of 4.82 percent due
mainly to increases in the elemen-
tary and secondary school requisi-
tions. The elementary school board
request is up by 3.22 percent and
the secondary school levy will rise
by 13.31 percent.
According to clerk Ron Reymer
the end result will be an increase of
about $62 in actual taxes for an av-
erage residential property assessed
at $13,000.
Reeve Tom McLaughlin said he
was pleased the village was able to
stick to a zero increase for local tax
purposes for the second consecu-
tive year. He thanked clerk Reymer
and treasurer Ruth Mezaros for
their efforts in coming up with a
very satisfactory budget.
McLaughlin said additional as-
sessment from new housing was
one of the reasons the village was
able to hold taxes down and the
other was a surplus of $40,741
from 1993 operations. Reymer
agreed saying, "We were well with-
in our budget last year. We lost
considerable commercial assess-
ment, but this was compensated by
a number of new housing develop-
ments."
Lucan residents will also find
some relief in the improvement
charges they now pay for garbage
and recycling collections. Due to a
dccrease in tipping fees, the 1994
garbage costs should be lowered
from $86,894 to $78,000 and the
charges in recycling with the Blue -
water Association will he about
$1,000 Tess than a year ago.
Councillor Bryan Smith said the
reduction in garbage costs should
continue as more people take ad-
vantage of the Bluewater Recycling
services. He added, " A lot of card-
board went into the garbage bags
last year. Now it's going into blue
boxes."
The total amount to be collected
by the village in real estate taxes
for 1994 will be $i,040,344 . Of
that amount 26.1 percent or
$271,716 remains to be used for
village business.
Family
Literacy
Festival
starts June 6
CLINTON - Author Welwyn
Wilton Katz will be one of the au-
thors to read at the Family Literacy
Festival which will take place from
June 6 to 10 at thc Fair Grounds in
Clinton.
Katz has written novels for young
adults as well as magazine and
newspaper articles. She is in the
Canadian Who's Who, World of
Who's Who of Women 1993-1994,
and thc Who's Who in Canadian
Literature- 1994-1995. In 1988 she
won the Governor General's
Award. Some of the books she has
written are: Whalesinger, False
Face. Come Like Shadows, and
The Third Magic.
The Festival will be a celebration
of Family and Literacy in recognia-
lion of 1994, International Year of
the Family with activities for peo-
ple of all ages. There is no charge
to the general public.
The Festival is a unique venture
organized by many community and
educational groups including the
Huron Board of Education, the Hu-
ron -Perth Roman Catholic Separate
School Board, Conestoga College,
Clinton and District Christian
Schools, the Huron County Library
System, Superior Propane (Strat-
ford), Employment and Immigra-
tion Canada, and the Huron -Perth
Literacy Committee.
For more information, contact Pat
Senn or Darlene Williams at the
Huron Board of Education, 519-
482-3496 or 1-800-265-5598.
Home-based babysitters complain
about ministry crackdown
By Catherine O'Brien
T -A staff
EXETER - Two women who have been running child
care services from their home spoke out against the recent
crackdown on such operations. They are among the 11, so
far, in the Exeter area that have been contacted by the Min-
istry of Community and Social Services because they were
caring for more than five children that were not their own.
The women said last Wednesday night that the effects of
the crackdown have been felt mainly by the children who
are being shuffled around to different babysitters until suit-
able and stable alternatives can be found by parents.
As well, they said, the children are having a difficult time
understanding why they can no longer go to the same sitter.
The crackdown came in late April after the ministry office
in London started receiving complaints about the number of
children being cared for at various homes.
Under the Day Nurseries Act the maximum number of
children a person can care for in their home at any given
time without a licence is five. This excludes the child care
workers' own children.
Although the 11 people investigated were not charged,
they could have been hit with fines of up to $2,000 a day.
Rather than being charged. the individuals were given two
weeks to make alternative arrangements for any children
they were caring for above the ministry limit.
The problem faced by many parents in the community is
that no other childcare services exist in the Exeter area.
The two women said they are concerned about the wel-
fare of the children they can no longer care for.
As well, the women said they are devasted by the minis-
try investigation and feel they have been treated like crimi-
nals.
The two asked not to be identified because they are con -
"My children ask me why the others
don't come anymore. They ask me if
I don't like those children anymore."
cerned speaking out might result in further ministry investi-
gations.
The first woman said she has been providing child care in
her home for the past six years and in all that time she has
never had acomplaint from a parent or a child injured in
her home.
"I was so surpnsed when the woman from the ministry
came to my door," she said.
The visit occurred four weeks ago after someone contact-
ed the ministry saying this woman was caring for 15 chil-
dren. The allegation proved untrue.
Rather, she had six regular children and four children
who came before and after school.
"It was very emotional," she said. "I treated the children
like they were my own and the kids see you as a second
mom.
"My children ask me why the others don't come anymore.
They ask me if I don't like those children anymore," she
said. "It's tough on the kids... they have grown attached to
each other."
She has received cards from the families.
And the experience has been tough on her as well.
"It made me feel like I committed a murder. When I
walk down the street people stare and whisper. I was made
to feel [by the ministry] like I had done something terribly
wrong."
She said when she was investigated, t P ministry didn't
want to know about how the children were treated. "They
were just interested in the number of kids, nothing else."
The second woman agreed.
"A lot of parents want a home setting for their children,
not an institution." She also said many parents work odd
hours that would make it difficult for the children to be ac-
cepted into traditional licensed child care facilities.
"It's heartbreaking," she said. "It's tough to tell the krni-
lies 'you can't come anymore.' Parents are calling me in
tears because they can't find a suitable sitter."'
The second woman said she has been running child care
out of her home for the past 13 years. She was approached
by the ministry just over two weeks ago because she was
caring for more than five children.
She is concerned some people will take advantage of the
sudden need for child care and start taking children in just
because there is money to be made.
"As a community we can't afford to see kids go to homes
without proper care," she said.
She said the ministry is not taking into account the needs
of the children. "We should have been given at least six
months to try and set something more permanent up, rather
than just two weeks," she said.
"Parents are being forced to look at options they would
never have considered before.
Both women said they can't understand why someone
would call the ministry about such an issue. They insist it's
obvious the children are being cared for quite well.
"The people turning in the names are very uncaring. I
hope they aren't looking after children," the second woman
said. "Something has to be done about the child care di-
lemma by the time school lets out or we will have children
looking after other children this summer."
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