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HomeMy WebLinkAboutTimes Advocate, 1994-06-22, Page 2Page 2 Times -Advocate, June 22, 1994 AN TH. Regional wrap.. up MP sees progress in VIA fight ST. MARYS - A five percent increase in ridership could save the threatened VIA route from Sarnia to Toronto. That was the message from VIA officials at a meeting in Kitchener two weeks ago. "It only requires a five percent increase - not double - just a five percent increase, to make that train break even," Perth - Wellington -Waterloo MP John Richardson said in an interview after the meeting. Support for the VIA route has been growing since an internal VIA and Transport Canada doc- ument turned up a few months ago proposing to cut a number of trains, including the Toronto - Kitchener -Sarnia run, it was re- ported in the Journal Argus. Township reconsiders stand on mobility bus MCKILLOP - After first re- jecting a mobility bus service for the physically -challenged, McKillop Township Councillors have agreed to study the issue further. A delegation to the June 7 meeting said that without a mo- bility bus some elderly McKil- lop residents would have no choice but to move into town, it was reported in the Seaforth Ex- positor. "If you can't get into a nursing home what are you going to do?," asked Marlen Vincent. "I believe McKillop Township should stand up and approve this with the support . of 'service clubs." Council members questioned the number of McKillop resi- dents who would use the service and whether the township would be left funding a deficit. Some councillors also questioned whether the province would con- tinue to financially support the service. Council will fund fire call system MITCHELL - Municipalities surrounding Mitchell gave the Mitchell and Arca Fire Board the go-ahead to get a new fire answering system for the Mitch- ell and District Fire Department. Logan, Hibbert, and Fullarton Townships and the Town of Mitchell have all agreed to con- tribute their respective shares to cover the costs of a new 517,500 answering system. Blanshard Township agreed to help pay for used dispatch equipment at a cost of 5,420. If the fire board decides to re- place the current system, all five councils must first discuss and agree to the plan, it was reported in the Mitchell Advocate. More than 4,000 at litercy feival CLINTON - Over 4,000 visi- tors took in the activities at the Family Literacy Festival, held for five days last week at the Clinton Community Park. Pat Senn, co-chair for the fes- tival which was held to celebrate literacy along with the Interna- tional Year of thc Family, noted that 3,400 children were regis- tered and they were accompa- nied by some 600 adults. On top of those registered, Senn told the Clinton News Record that many members of the pub- lic, including many homeschool children, took in the events in the tent city and in the Clinton arena. NEWS Site for Catholic school picked Catholic boards paid $370,000 for property two blocks from Central Huron Secondary School in Clinton. Contruction expected in fall By Catherine O'Brien T -A staff CLINTON - Plans for a new Catholic school in Clinton arc well underway as the property has been purchased, sketch plans arc in place and a principal has been ap- pointed. "We looked at a number of sites both in and out of Clin- ton," said Dr. James Brown, director of the Huron -Perth County Roman Catholic Separate School Board, on Friday. The Catholic board agreed on May 30 to purchase prop- erty in Clinton for S370,000. The property is behind the elementary school in Clinton approximately two blocks east of Central Huron Secondary School. "One of the criteria that we had established at the board level was that thej)roperty would be as close as reasonably possible to one of the Huron County secondary schools," Brown said. This will enable thorn to share services with the Huron County Board of Education as had been previously dis- cussed. "We are continuing to operate on the basis that we don't really want to be looking at needless duplication of ser- vices," Brown said. He said a much talked about joint venture for a shared school between the Catholic board and the Huron County board was abandoned due to cost. Brown said the cost of the joint school would be greater than building a separate school since a lot of construction would have been involved. "Plus . there were problems with fire routes," he said. "That meant additional land had to be acquired. It got to the point that, for us to have 600 pupil places at Central Hu- ron, it was going to cost up to a million more than building another school." Brown said construction of a new school will also benefit the Clinton community in terms of job creation. The Catholic board was given a S2.9 million grant by the province last week for construction, although Brown said it will cost an estimated S5 million to build the core school which will be added to in phases. "The school is being designed in such a way that addi- tional classes can be built on to it as needed," he said. The core building will contain communications tech- nology labs, a theatre arts room, a music room, science rooms, a gym, cafeteria, office space, chapel and other classes. If everything goes according to plan, Brown said the Catholic board hopes to begin construction by the fall with September 1995 as the opening year for Grades 9 and 10. At this time he estimates more than 125 students would be enrolled at the school. When the school is in full op- eration there will be some 600 students attending. "But it will take us a few years before we get more than 300 stu- dents," Brown said. Right now Brown said more than 125 students are being bussed to the Catholic School in Stratford. "We are bussing students to St. Michael's in Stratford from Grand Bend and as far north as Kingsbridge," he said. "We have a need for another high school," Brown said. Ray Contois, of Mitchell, will be the principal of the yet -to be -named Catholic high school in Clinton. His task for the coming year will be to select staff, meet with the community and take part in program plans as well as building plans for the school. Exchange program adds real-life to class Monitor makes french class fun for SHDHS students By Erin Lobb T -A staff EXETER - Marie-Josee Caron left more with her students than just a better sense of the french culture, she left good friendships and many memories. "She was wonderful. Because we were so close in age we could talk about anything. She was so easy to get along with," said Marcia Regi- er a grade 12 student at SHDHS. Twenty-one. year old Caron, who assistcd1tlff)t�[I Students in the french. {rcog�ap al South Huron District High School, was sad to leave Friday after spending the past five months exchanging her french experience with the students and learning more about the english way of life. "Everything was great. I really liked the kids because they were so nice to me. One student even brought me flowers," said Caron who hails from Rcbcrval Qucbcc, a town close to Lac -St. -Jean. Ray Wild, SHDHS french teach- er, also enjoyed the opportunity to practise her own french skills once again. "This is an excellent chance for us to bring in real-life french. This subject has become more for the students than just a subject from a text book." Wild explains that Caron's perseverance of the cnglish language was encouragement for thc students to work harder. The federally sponsored mon- itoring program is a nation-wide year long exchange that allows col- lege and university students to teach their native language, and share their culture. Caron is a CGEP student at Jonquiere, where she takes special education. CGEP is thc equivalent of Ontario's col- leges. Having fun is a big part of learning, just ask the grade 11/12 class at SHDHS who were taught by Marie Josee Caron. Here Caron plays a french game with the class on her last day there. Before arriving in Exeter Caron spent one semester at Goderich high school, where she lived for the duration of the exchange. She re- cently visited Canada's Wonderland with the SHDHS and was also able to visit Quebec with Goderich's Victoria Public School. Caron has another claim to fame, her cousin Josee Chouinard. Caron was able to meet with her at Christ- mas and says she will see her again before the end of the summer. The students had only positive things to say about Caron, who brought plenty of games and stories to the class. Said Wes Brown, "Shc was always happy, and she taught us really well." Water study set for Hensall, water tower needs repair Bottom line is water costs will eventually go up for residents HENSALL - Village councillors agreed last Monday night to go ahead with a proposal to try and get grant money to study water sup- ply and water storage needs for Hensall. "There have been on-going water problems in the village," said PUC commissioner Harold Knight. He said a water study is necessary because the village may not be able to use the General Homes water tower anymore. At present, Knight said the tower is in need of repairs that could prove costly. He said the tower was built in 1935 and has been refurbished once. "It might not be worth using," he said. 'But we won't know until we do a study and look at other options as well." Knight said the village needs to look at other options just in case the tower can't be refurbished again. Regardless of the outcome of the study, Knight said village res- idents should prepare for water expenses in the future. Hensall tax rate increases slightly Increase result of school board mill rate going up HENSALL - village taxpayers will be facing a slight increase on their property taxes in Hensall when tax bills are mailed out in mid-July. Village council passed the 1994 budget last Monday night during their regular council session. Although there were no changes in the municipal mill rate or the county mill rate, taxes in the village of Hensall will be increased slight- ly to cover changes in the education mill rate. For residents supporting public schools the increase was $30.52 - with $1.70 going to elementary .schools and $28.82 to secondary. For separate school supporters the increase will be. $26.17• - with dlementary< schools getting $14.02 while secondary schools get 512.15 for secondary. That works out to about a 3 per- cent increase on average for public school supporters and a 2.6 percent increase on average for separate board supporters. Last year public school support- ers, with a house assessment of S55,000, paid S966.64 in taxes. This year it will be S997.I6. For Catholic school supporters, with a house assessment of S55,000, they paid S987.82 in taxes for 1993. This year it will be S1,013.99. The village expects to raise S325, 086 through taxation. As well, 5173,409 will be raised for county purposes and S589,069 will be raised for school board purposes. Blanshard phone probe underway KIRKTON - Investigators with the Ontario Telephone Service Commission were scheduled to begin their probe of the Blanshard Municipal Telephone System last Tuesday. The call for vestilatlgtl was made on Apri 7 by ati Onfano government order -in -council, signed by the Lieutenant - Governor and the minister of eco- nomic development and trade. Areas to be investigated include capita! acquisitions, availability of a subscriber list, and toll-free call- ing within the system. Blanshard Municipal Telephone is an independent system which serves the Kirkton, Granton. Se- bringvillc and Uniondale exchang- es. Special Events fee is waived for two groups Heritage Day and the Poker Run won't have to pay the $1,000 fee GRAND BEND - Usually the Village of Grand Bend charges a $1,000 fcc for a Special Events Application. However, Monday night that fee was waved for two upcoming events. Both the July 3 Heritage Day activities and the July 9-11 speed boat Poker Run will not have to pay the fee which includes a 5500 refundable deposit. "When we drew up special events applications it was for events on the beach," said Grand Bend mayor Tom Lawson. Usually, as far as beach events go, it costs well over 5500 for cleanup. Councillor Ed Fluter said he wanted to keep things equal and councillor Bill Uniac suggested a different fee for profit and non-profit groups. Deputy -mayor Cam Ivey who is working with the Poker Run committee. hinted it would be tough to get the 51,000 fee from that group this late. "I'm prepared to ask the committee but I don't know what they'll say. It's a small budget thing and it's in three weeks," he said of thc Run which is expected to bring in hundreds of boating spectators. Although he voted against having the Poker Run pay the fee, Maguire said. "we can't change these forms every time we have a new applicant." The Poker Run will touch on several communities along the Lake Huron shoreline including Bayfield, Goderich and Kincardine who arc all putting some fi- nancial commitment into the event. Grand Bend is donating the cost of 60 dock spaces which is worth about 52,500. "We (Grand Bend) arc the community that will glean the most from it. It's here for two days," said Ivey. Headed for grander stages "The variety stirred many moods and shook many from their se- cure complacency..." Dear Editor: There is no doubt in my mind that some of the participants in South Huron's Variety '94 are head- ed for grander stages and brighter lights in the years ahead. I enjoyed the show so much opening night that a return on closing night was a must and it was simply fabulous. The variety stirred many moods and shook many from their secure complacency and so it should, as it effectively voiced concerns of today's young mov- ers and shakers. Like a true company of actors it in- volved many talents, cooperating both on and off the stage to bring the audience the very best. The nights were hot, very hot, hut•I'm convinced that the weather was not solely to blame - it had to he the hot talent in the show itself! What a great night! Thanks a lot South Huron. Drew Robertson, Crediton 4