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HomeMy WebLinkAboutTimes Advocate, 1997-03-12, Page 2Page 2 Times -Advocate, March 12, 1997 IN TU&NJiWS Regiort&I�. wrap up;; Goderich seeks compromise GODERiCH - With the an- nouncement of the preferred re- structuring option by the Huron - Perth District Health Council Task Force, Goderich's Alexan- dra Marine and General Hospital may be one step closer to re- gaining some of the beds it lost, reports the Goderich Signal - Star. The tentative compromise be- tween task force members and the hospital adds two intensive care keds, three medical beds and two Tong -term care beds to the number proposed in the last option. The bed number alteration be- comes part of the preferred op- tion only if it, is accepted by the rest of the task force which met March 4. Huron County doctors and medical staff at Alexandra have asked the task force to return the number of beds to what was outlined in the eight -hospital proposal. Lack of interest for merchants' association MITCHELL - Dueto a lack of, interest in a special meeting held recently to discuss forming a merchants' association, chances are, one won't he created, re- ports the Mitchell Advocate. Councillor Michael Van Pelt, who spearheaded discussion on developing a Business Improve- ment Association. will be leav- ing his council scat due to a move to Sarnia in May. This leaves the merchants as- sociation idea without a leader. Lack of turnout at the Economic Development Committee spe- cial meeting may mean the idea won't go any further. Although those who did attend the meeting discussed reviewing an urban design consultant's re- port from the fall of 1995, a commitment to pursue further study was not made. Board delays decision on increase SEAFORTH - The Mid -Huron Landfill Site (MHLS) board will delay deciding whether or not to. give landfill employees a wage increase, until next month, re- ports the Huron Expositor. The last increase was given to landfill employees in December 1995 when the board agreed to match private retirement savings contributions by staff. up to five per cent of their gross pay. , The wage issue will be dis- cussed at next month's meeting when municipalities have made decisions regarding their own employee's wage increases. St. Marys better off on its own ST. MARYS - A consultant's report that studied amalgamation with St Marys and the rest of Perth County indicated the town saved an estimated $260,0(X) in 1996 by remaining outside the county system when compared with Listowel, a community of similar size. Although the county has ques- tions with the figures in St. Mar- ys' study, town council passed a motion adopting its reports and objecting to thieferth County plan. Opinion `Full of sound and fury' By Bruce Shaw I'm certain Shakespeare had a politician in mind when he said, "(Life) is a tale, Told by an idiot, full of sound and fury, Signifying nothing." Immediately, no doubt, you will think of the federal poli- ticians, like Sheila Copps, who, in great fury, promised she would re- sign her seat if the hated GST were not scrapped, and she then had the audacity to run again, for the same party, believing, I sup- pose, that the promise for the first election would be erased through the purging of a second election (are "we" the idiots who bought that garbage?) Or, you will think of the Toronto school board trus- tees who voted themselves "sever- ance packages" when it was an- nounced that they would be out of jobs. No, I'm talking about our local men and women who saw an is- sue, fumed about it publicly at a council meeting, decided to act and then, without saying anything to the public did nothing. I sup- pose it doesn't matter what the is- sue is, but it was one raised a couple of weeks, ago that saw a $45,000 "incentive", "retirement gratuity" or whatever, it was paid to a senior administrator of the Huron County Board of Educa- tion and a hefty $37,000 pay rise , given to another senior adminis- trator. You remember, don't you? They're the same folks who don't have any money for pay increases to the much lower paid secretaries and Educational Assistants. But, I digress. After Exeter's politicians fumed and stomped at the injus- tice, they • agreed to notify the school board, in no uncertain terms, of their displeasure with those "irresponsible actions". Af- ter Administrator Rick Hundey contacted the board office (and a lawyer), it was decided that the is- sue was not as clear as it might have been, and, perhaps, it was a Board matter and none of Coun- cil's business. Rick's advice was probably the best advice an administrator could give a politician, but we've got to ask ourselves two que- tions, right away: 1. If the politi- cians decided to backtrack after gaining all the "popular ink" pos- sible, why didn't they have the backbone or at least the honesty to tell us of the change in think- ing? and 2. If this is Board busi- ness, and not a matter for Coun- cil, is not the Board's budget the Board's business and,npt a matter for Council, is nqt the closing of Exeter's hospital an issue for the Task Force and not a matter for Council, and are not the planning levies charged by Huron County an issue for that body and not a matter for Council? - You can't have it both ways, folks! If you're, going to 'sound' issues in your 'fury', be prepared , to take action; if it's not your pusiness, save your breath to cool your porridge and deal with those issues that matter to you. Paul Steckle seeks re-election By John Greig Advance -Times staff HURON COUNTY - One of the federal Liberal party's most contro- versial members is seeking re- election. • Huron -Bruce MP Paul Steckle told a press conference on Friday in Goderich that he is eager to serve the riding for a second term. • "My slogan during the last cam- paign was that.I would give the pri- ority to the people of the riding. I'm• proud of my accomplishments," he said. Steckle voted against the govern- ment on its firearms legislation and on a bill which would have given increased sentencing to those con- victed of hate crimes based on sex- ual orientation. "I clearly stated where I stood on the firearms issue. On the orienta- tion issue, it generated a lot of in- terest in this riding. I heard from church groups and I have my own personal view on that. "1 think I've served this riding with honest and integrity and have represented the majority view." Steckle said his voting against his party has led to greater freedom for Members of Parliament to vote the way they want to. Twenty-three members of the government have voted against their own party. Agriculture will be on the fore- front of the next election, Steckle said, as Huron County would he seventh in agricultural production is it were a province. As well, Steckle said jobs will he another big issue. . "Government itself cannot create jobs, but it can take measures to en- courage growth, such as keeping low interest rates. We've dealt with the debt to deficit ratio." . Steckle predicted Canada would he heading into the next millenni- um with a balanced budget. "We've put more money into the hands of the people through keep- ing low interest rates, than can be achieved with tax cuts." Steckle said he's not concerned with the Reform party and Progres- sive Conservative promises of tax cuts. "I'm quite please they want to share the far right," he said. . "You can't cut iaxes, maintain programs and cut the deficit." he said. Steckle said he's enjoyed his first terrn as a Member of Parliament. "There's lots of pressure and its a tough system to learn." Steckle was recently appointed to the fisheries committee, which he said led from another unofficial committee, of which Steckle was a Member, which •did a report of the lamprey eel and its affect on the fresh -water fishery. The minister. accepted the com- mittee's recommendations. Steckle is the only Ontario mem- her of the fisheries committee. It's likely a federal election will be called for late this spring. al- -though Steckle said -he's prefer a fall election. • The Huron -Bruce Federal Liberal Association will hold its nomina- tion meeting March 19 at 8 p.m. at • the Lucknow Community Centre. Dave Johnston. president of, the riding association said no one else has declared an interest in challeng- ing Steckle for the nomination. • Zero -based budgeting Huron rnunicipalities tabled for one year choose consultant HURON COUNTY - County council ,voted to table an earlier proposal to set its 1998 budget on a zero -based budget process after learning it could cost $80,000. A zero -based budget involved starting from no programs and no money and rebuilding all funding within each department. It wad initially proposed and sup- port by county council at its No- vember meeting. At the March council meeting the Administration Finance and Per- sonnel committee presented council with a report which 'said there were three options for working through the process: hiring a consultant, striking a special committee of council, or holding strategic plan-' ning meetings with the entire coun- cil It was estimated it could take 11 days for the entire council to do the work. "As one of the earlier proponents of this process, I wonder why it's been made into such a complicated issue?" asked Coun. Brian McBur- ney of Turnberry Township. "I thought that the committees would deal with it as they've dealt with the budget in the past. If we have 11 meetings, it would cost about $50,000. We might not save that." A zero -based budget was pro- posed for 1998 as the county will have to deal with tremendous change as it takes over more re- sponsibility for social, programs from the province. But that complexity was one rea- son some councillors didn't want to use the process for 1998. "This will only be a recommen- dation to a new council anyway," said Coun. Bill Weber of Stephen Township. Municipal elections will be held next fall. Weber then made the motion 10 table to process for a year. Coun. Biil Mickle of Exeter, who was the first to suggest the process, said "This needed to be,done as we move into unchartered waters. Ta- bling is wrong and it's not repre- senting the people in the way in which they would expect." Weber said tabling the process doesn't keep committees from care- fully examining the budget. , "When I started farming I didn't know much about it," said Coun. Ron Murray of McKillop Town- ship. "So I went to my dad and asked what to do. He said do noth- ing if don't know what to do." The motion to table the process passed. Support and opposition for the province HURON COUNTY - County council passed two motions at its last meeting, one supporting the province and the other opposing it. Council endorsed an Agriculture • and Public Works committee reso- lution that as Huron County is the largest agriculture producer in the province, no more cuts be made to the Ontario Ministry of Agricul- ture, Food and Rural Affairs bud- get. County council also supported a resolution by the Township of Kep- pel congratulating John Snobelen, education minister on changes to the education system and request- ing that teachers lose the right to strike. The Municipal Reform Committee hires a consultant 'to assess its amalgamation report By Brenda Burke T -A Reporter HENSALL - A consultant has been hired to assess an amalgama- tion report of the Bayfield -Hay - Hen sail-Stanley-Tuckersmith- Zurich Municipal Reform Com- mittee. During a meeting Thursday night at the Hensall Municipal Office, the committee decided to hire McNee- ly-Tunnock Ltd., which tendered the amount of $11,800. The new consultant is expected to present a report next 'month. Four area public meetings will follow. McNeely won out over KPMG Consultants at $26,600. C:N. Wat- son & Associates at $22,900, and The Randolph Group at $19,500. Due to other municipal re- structuring initiatives as well as the time frame of the committee's goals, Richard Chowen declined to tender. The proposed time frame was also questioned in a letter from Hay Township. ' "Council feels that this might be' , proceeding too quickly," it states. "(It feels) that there should be more answers, from the province on de- tails of the downloaded services and access to the contingency funds before the municipalities make any final decision on restructuring." "The county has not yet started discussions," the letter continued, "on hbw county council will be comprised with restructured mu- nicipalities or dealing with re- structuring proposals." The committee decided to keep moving with its plans in hopes that submitting a report to county coun- Youth involved in high-speed chase HURON PARK - A young of- fender has been arrested as a result of a high-speed chase that occurred on March 7 at 8:30 p.m. Police pursued the vehicle that failed to stop for 16 kilometers be- fore ending the chase due to im- pending danger to the public and high speeds of more than )60 km/ hour. The youth has been charged with possession of a stolen vehicle, dan- gerous driving and failing to stop for police. cil will spur discussion on re- structuring proposals. Hay Township also enquired about the six -municipality freeze on capital expenditures. "The township's five-year plan calls for the purchase of a new pickup truck for the roads de- partment this year and the truck is in a condition such that several re- pairs will have to be made to it if it is not triided in," reads the letter. Committee members indicated the freeze will remain in effect until after its report is dealt with. Zurich Council also wrote a letter to inform the committee it passed a resolution at its February meeting stating "only water. sewage and street lights should be special rated in the proposed amalgamated arca."' - The committee ,passed a motion in agreement. adding the fact that "special charges on any area would' be a result of local improvements and that initially reserves. long- term debts and liabilities and urban service charges, would he con- sidered in setting rates. Resignations threatened air Continued from front page "If you go jumping in'too fast. all the way down the main you're going to have a problem," street...You jeopardized the life of said Pepper. my family." A motion was passed to work in "I was gathering information on conjunction with the Huron my own...1 was still gathering oth- County Health Unit to notify res- er things on how to approach it," idents of the potential problem. explained Phair, classifying the "I'm sitting at home 'and I'm letter as merely a recommenda- waiting for it to happen again," tion. "As a municipal employee, I said one King Street resident. have to lodk out for the liability of "This isn't solved." the village." "We have to notify "Next time, let's take appropri- people that this potential (danger) ate action," adtjed a man. "if there exists," said Reaburn. adding had've been an ignition. there homeowners are responsible for would be lawyers sitting here." getting the problem fixed. "Ac- For council's next meeting, Re- cidents will happen." aburn requested a review of emer- "1 think we need , to consult gency responses. some engineers to get an answer," "1 think the lesson here is we've he added. had some inadequate information Council agreed to check into on all sides," he said. this matter. Neither Pepper nor Reaburn fol - Both Pepper and former Works lowed through with their threats Superintendent .John Baker' ad- of resignation. mitred the gas fume problem has Tuesday morning, Phair said the occurred in the village from time meeting was an important positve to time over the years. step in solving the problem. South Huron Hospital allocated 19 beds in final report dr Continued from front page the Ministry of Health is currently developing a Rural Health Policy which may have some impact on service and bed distribution." According to the report, most of the savings will be achieved in the areas of administration and support as well as direct patient services. Because communities successfully rallied to preserve their local hos- pitals, savings in facility costs will not likely be generated under the restructuring. Admipistration and support is hoped to generate $3.4 million in savings but "will require sub- stantial administrative restructuring which can best be made at a sys- tem level (i.e., the district's eight hospitals working together as a sin- gle system)." A further $7.8 million in clinical efficiencies has also been iden- tified. To achieve such savings, a significant change is needed in the way rural hospitals beds are used. This will mean shorter hospital stays and fewer admissions. As initially stated, an interim governance committee is to be es- tablished by June. This part of the report has SHH Administrator Don Currell concerned. He feels the time -line may be difficult to follow and believes further study may re- veal a single administration will not meet the district's needs. "When the Rural Policy comes out, we want to integrate that into our working plans too," said Cur- rell. "You want to make sure you've looked at all the options. To try to do it too fast, it sometimes just doesn't work as well." Russell said she thought the task force's wording regarding the strict time -line had loosened in the final report and as a . result, imple- mentation may not be as pre= scriptive as anticipated. She added local representation will remain important as the restructuring pro- cess unfolds. Russell believes the report is generally favorable, with the DHC and hospitals col- laborating well despite several hur- dles yet to come. Other steps in the planned re- structuring include creating a single administrative structure led by one chief executive officer, a single Huron -Perth medical staff and where possible, collaboration be- tween existing local auxiliaries and foundations. i Although an initial target of 18 to 20 per cent savings was con- sidered. the final report achieves a reduction of 13 per cent. it has been argued, however, that rural hospitals arc already underfunded and shouldn't be forced to take the same reductions larger centres have. "We have Tess funding in rural Ontario than we have, so why would we, even have to get to that?" said Currell of -the 13 per cent target. "To me it's a fair question." He added hospitals in Toronto have only been cut 15.2 per cent while London was cut 12,5 per cent.