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HomeMy WebLinkAboutTimes Advocate, 1994-06-29, Page 1SEIP'S valu-mart 4 & 83 Exeter 235-0262 Cassia Cay Cdebrade= 7.10 a.m. Breakfast 5.7:30 p.m. Supper �Entertahuneat Giant B00 TI SEIP'S valu-mart 4 4c 83 Exeter 235-0262 Fresh Baked Kaisers 1.296 �Veclria �c1<iy. lune 29. 1;394 rsm• ism SUBSCRIBE! - it you aren't TiAdvo`Use the ate,couyou 're -- s`'below 1 Name: I Address Cit 1 Prov. 1 Postal Code 1 SUBSCRpT10H RATES: Canada Within 40 nWes • (65 km) addressed to , non leder carrier addresses 1 *30.00 pus *2.10 G.S.T. 1 Outside 40 miles - (65 km) or any fetter carrier address *60.00 . *420 G.S.T. Outside Canada •*99.001 ragioP:m.a0 1 �USSE YOUR CREDIT CARD 1 LIOUUUDOU� 1 00 Card No. 1 1 Expiry Date la visa 0 Master Card 1 0 Cheque enclosed Return to; T1MES ADVOCATE 2e� am am -lam NOM 1S6 b The - out.1 1 1 1 1 cele Prepar f Heritage in Grand See page 2 Buil boomin Several fla' in Exeter See page 5 ue Award win Lucan boy honoured CBC See page Happ Birth Can Art competiti winne Second astba ournarno Imperials win two games See page Picnic area will close in the fall MTO will put 14 -acres up for sale GRAND BEND - For Sale - 14 acres of highway property just a few miles south of Grand Bend. This fall. the Ministry of Transportation (MTO) will be looking for a buyer for a I 4 -acre picnic area which they say is too expensive for them to maintain. "With the cost, cutbacks and not having the man -power, that's the rea- son," said Gerry Koolen who is the MTO Patrol Supervisor in the area. Located on Highway 21 just a few hundred yards away from the Pineridge Zoo, the picnic area has washroom facilities, running water, picnic tables and several kinds of trees. "We've been coming here for 15 years. My wife and myself come to the flea markets and stop for a picnic lunch," said Bill Dickey of Elim- ville who wants to see the picnic area stay open. There is a sign posted which states where other picnic areas are; Pin- ery Park, five kilometres, Thedford, 10 kilometres; Ipperwash, 17 ki- lometers, Port Mike, seven kilometres. Dickey recently went on a tour of these other spots and said they were just not as nice as theone near Grand Bend. While the sign posted said the area is going to close in the fall, there are already barricades up limiting the usage of the picnic area and many of the tables have been removed. "They're supposed to be closink it in the fall but they've got 9tper cent of it closed riow," said lkey. Koolen explained that the Ministry is still catering to those who want to stop along the highway and enjoy a picnic or just have a rest. "In the area of Grand Bend you have a lot of people but you have lots of services," said Koolen. Although the area is only 14 -acres, Koolen says it does take main- tenance and with the limited staff he ,now has available, it means the park witl have to close. "Even with a park like that, tables rot quickly. There are costs, we have to spray, we have litter pickup." While Koolen does not know when the picnic area originally opened, he says the MTO took it over from the Ministry of Natural Resources in 1982. He said when the ministry can't maintain a picnic area it is fust of- fered to local government, in this case Bosanquet Township and Lamb - ton County. Neither want to take the area over. "It will be disposed of through the Ministry of Government Services. Nobody has shown an interest. Bosanquet showed some and they saw how much it would cost." So now, the MTO will put it up for sale in the fall. Dickey used to bring his children and grandchildi!en to, the zoo -and :then to -ffre`-4 picnic area for a family lunch, those days however appear to be memories. THIS pARK� fHse19941 . 4:0 IHSHWA PICNIC PARKs 1121 SOuTH PINERY PARK -5 KM. THEDFORO-10 KM IPPERWASH-11 KM NORTH PORT BLAKE -7 KM Bill Dickey checks out the sign that states the picnic area will I clod_ Turtle races may come to an end Ministry of Natural Resources gives temporary go ahead for race AILSA CRAiG - The annual tur- tle races featured at Ailsa Craig's Gala Days have been given the go ahead by officials despite recent complaints. "Ailsa Craig's turtle races are alive and well," said Middlesex MPP Irene Mathyssen. "The race organizers and i were concerned the Ministry of Natural Resources would prevent the turtle races from taking place," Mathys- sen said. "However, when 1 met with Ho- ward Hampton, the Minister of Nat- ural Resources, this week he assured me the ministry would provide au- thorization for the race to be held," she told the press on Friday. The fate of the event was being questioned last week when officials with the ministry of natural re- sources told Gala organizers that they had received six complaints about the race. Ministry officials said they must enforce the Fish and Game Act which prohibits the taking of paint- ed turtles from the wild. At that time Gala organizers were looking at alternatives such as us- ing turtles from pet stores or getting permission to use the wild turtles for educational purposes. "As well as being an educational event, the turtle races are playing an increasingly important role in at- tracting visitors to Ailsa Craig," Mathyssen said. But authorization for the race is for this year only. "Hopefully, after the races, or- ganizers will have the opportunity to sit down down with staff from the Ministry of Natural Resources and work out a permanent arrange- ment for the running of the turtle races," Mathyssen said. Gala Days for this year will take place July 15-17. Hospital has deficit Negotiations continue with doctors over emergency room staffing By Fred Groves T -A staff EXETER - Negotiations between the board of gov- ernors and doctors at South Huron Hospital in Exeter continue. Monday night the board held its annual general meet- ing and following adjournment went immediately into its first session of the 1994-1995 year. Facing them is a S50,408 deficit of which, as pointed out in Finance and Property Chairman Gino Gian- nandrea's report, was partially due to payments paid to the doctors for coverage of the emergency room. "We're going to have to look at the cost of ER cover- age. That's are biggest concern," said Giannandrea. At one point, it was estimated that it would cost the hospital $200,000 per year to pay local doctors to staff the emergency room. As indicated by outgoing board chairman Larry Wein, if there is no emergency room then the hospital may be forced to close. Bev Skinner was elected the new board chairman for the next two years and he said negotiations between the board and the doctors continue. "We're still in negotiations. We are trying to get an agreement as soon as we can. It's been a long process and we're trying to get an agreement that will satisfy both parties," said Skinner. The board went into an in -camera session .ate Mon- day night concerning the negotiations but as of press time no announcement had been made. Recently, the doctors had threatened to shut down the emergency room but that action was prevented. Hospital administrator Don Currell said that if the Ministry of Health does not come up with the required funding, South Huron has about four options. One of them being downsizing and laying people off. "None of the options are very nice. One of them is not to pay (the doctors)," said Currell. "There's a lot of things you can do before you throw in the towel." South Huron must feel confident they will reach a permanent agreement with the doctors as the hospital will be spending up to $300,000 to renovate the emer- gency room area and to provide additional space for out patient clinics. The Ministry of Health is trying to get the hospitals and doctors in rural communities together and Monday 'ABM; Carteltannouneed that theeetwill be meetings,in regards to alternate payment schemes. 'The government has agreed to sponsor a facilitator to educate us. It's so we can learn of the advantages and disadvantages." Two members of the South Huron board along with I .vo local doctors as well as representatives from the other Huron and Perth county hospials will meet with the facilitator on July 21. Some good news: While there was plenty of un- happy announcements made Monday night during the meetings, there were a couple of happy ones. The biggest being was that nurse Jane Harvey was presented with a new watch by director of nursing Au- drey Pooley. for 35 years of service to the hospital. "She has seen many changes and I'm sure if she keeps working in health care there will be many more changes," said Pooley. Also Monday night, Currell announced that South Huron had received a Three -Year Accreditation Award which makes it one of the best hospitals in Canada. Three years ago, when South Huron received one of these there were over 40 recommendations, this time there were only 12. "There is nothing in these recommendations that are earth- shattering. It just takes some work," said Currell. Skinner became the new board chairman with Verla Russell as the first vice -chair and Giannandrea as the second vice -chair. The board welcomed new member Joyce McBeth and said goodbye to Glen Thiel and Jim Morlock each who have given more than a dozen years of service. "We've had some tough decisions to make in the past year. We're not out of the woods yet. I'm sure we'll get through this together," said Skinner of the the chal- lenges that the board faces in the near future. Jane Harvey, right; received a new watch from hospital director of nursing Audrey Poo- ley for 35 years of service. Town Centre plan expected in three weeks, but cost of project not yet known Architect recommendsF id Town Hall or former police station be used for town library needs By Catherine O'Brien T -A staff EXETER - The Town of Exeter is one step closer to having a con- crete Town Centre Plan and if the newly appointed architect's rec- ommendations are played out there could be a bit of shuffling when it comes down to how town centre buildings are used. Last Tuesday night councillors listened to a lengthy presentation by architect Carlos Vcntin re- garding the Town Centre Plan, al- though the cost couldn't be pinned down. Ventin suggested the town con- centrate its money on specific pro- jects rather than trying to stretch the more than $560,000 in infra- structure money over a number of renovations. He told councillors that putting an addition onto the existing library would be a waste of money. "11 would be too expensive to add to the library," he said and suggested that council should "only spend enough money to keep thc integrity of the building." Council had voted in early April to consider moving the town of- fices to the Old Town Hall and to upgrade the town library. Ventin said perhaps the library would be better suited for council chambers while the police station or Old Town Hall could be used for library facilities. And while councillors have con- sidered using the Old Town Hall as community centre, Vcntin said this could be a bit tricky since the second floor doesn't have good acoustics. "People using it for community events would be disappointed in the quality of sound," he said. As well, Ventin told council he didn't think it was a good idea to consider selling any property - that included the police station. "1 think you should bc buying property, not getting rid of it," he said. While Vcntin was only making recommendations to councillors, the framework for plans needs to be in place within the next three weeks because of grant deadlines. Although mayor Bruce Shaw wanted to pin down the cost of thc project, Vcntin said it would be dif- ficult to come up with the figures. "It depends on how many studies need to be done," he said, as well as how much grant money the town gets and how much council wants to spend. But for S10,000, Ventin said the first part of this project can get un- derway. For that money his firm will set up the information plan needed for the grant application. But exactly what gets renovated depends on how council wants to spend its money. During the meeting Shaw said Ventin's architect firm was chosen for thc project because of "ex- cellence in work and assisting in getting grants. Happy Canada Day The Exeter Legion has a full schedule of activities Friday as hundreds of residents are expected to take part in the annual Canada Day celebrations. If you want to take part in everything be ready for a full day beginning at 7 a.m. with breakfast and4gncluding with the popular fireworks at dusk. See the full page advertisement on page 21 rk