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HomeMy WebLinkAboutTimes Advocate, 1998-06-03, Page 21'uyi' 1 7'itnes-Advocate, lune 3, 1998 IN THE NEWS Regional wrap up Churches unite to feed the hungry CLINTON - The Clinton Arca Growing Project (CAGP) is combining the resources of four local churches to help raise mon- 'ey to send grain overseas. re- ports the Clinton News -Record. CAGP publicity coordinator Dave Hemingway explained that the project will consist of grow- ing 45 acres of soy beans, sell- ing the crop in the fall and then donating the money to the Cana- dian Food.Grain Project. He added that since the gov- ernment has promised to match any donations four to one, their small group can really make a difference. Hamlet holds Ghost Town Hoedown WROXETER - The hamlet held their annual Ghost Town Hoedown on May 30, reports the Wingham Advance -Times. The event began after • the hamlet was included in a book entitled Ghost Towns of Ontario published in the 1980s. • The listing didn't•sit well with local residents who then decided to turn the tables and start a yearly celebration based on the "ghost town" theme. Veterinarian stripped of license for one year GODERiCH - Dr. William ' Schilhuis, a veterinarian with the Goderich Veterinary Clinic. has been found guilty of profession- al misconduct, reports the Gode- rich Signal -Star. Schilhuis has been stripped of his license for a year due to charges of improper supervision. improper dispensing of drugs and inappropriate neutering. The Discipline Committee of the College of Veterinarians of Ontario (CVO) ordered the sus- pension _commencing on July I: The 1 2-hivnth suspension will he reduced to seven if Schilthuis completes a number of require- ments by the CVO. BIA officially disbanded BAYFIELD - Village council narrowly passed a motion on May 19 agreeing to honor the re- sults of a BUsiness Improvement Association (BIA) .membership vote 'requesting the committee he resolved. reports the Clinton News -Record. Councillor Diane Denonune stated that the BIA hoard of management will he getting to- gether to go over the budget and projects the committee is com- mitted to. She noted that things like the Bayfield brochure will not proceed Hollowing 'the dis- bandment. Wescast hearing set WINGHAM 1'hc Town of Wingham has brought a motion before the Ontario Municipal Board to dismiss the Wescast expansion appeals of Morris Township resident Debby Him- melman, without holding a full hearing, reports the Wingham Advance -Times • The appeal hearing is slated for June 22 at I p.m. at the Mor- ris Township office. Himmelman has filed two ap- peals against the preferred ex- pansion site of Wescast. Cemetery may get Lake Huron pipeline water. EXETER - At Monday's meet- ing, Exeter Council approved con- necting the Exeter cemetery•to the I,ake Huron water supply if Ste- phen Township extends the pipe- line past the cemetery. . The Township is investigating.. running a pipeline to residents along County Road 83 and ap- proached the town to see if. if want- ed to join in. Under the current system, water is pumped from the Ausable River and distributed with underground lines and.a hose system to water the flowers. Town staff have a number of con- cerns with the current system. The system requires more than 40 man- hours in labor to set up each year and extra work is needed when flooding damages the equipment in the river. According to •Town 'staff, ap- proximately $1.000 was spend two years ago for repairs to the pump which are inadequate when the riv- er is low. Council hopes the' switch to Lake Huron pipeline water will save money in the long term. The con- nection will cost $5,100 and the water rates are estimated at $450 per year. There is a reserve fund for the ce- metery in place that could be used to fund the connection fee. The connection will only go ahead if Stephen Township re- ceives enough support from the. County Road 83 users to merit the extension. Relationship baffles members of Avon Maitland School Board STRATFORD - The Avon Maitland District School Board has had an on-againoff-again relation- ship with the new early learning opportunities grant. At first, the board believed it could offer either the new program for kindergarten to Grade 3 stu= dents or junior kindergarten. Then: it learned'fromthe Ministry of Education and Training that it. could offer junior kindergarten in some schools and the new program in others. Upper Thames Elementary School (UTES), in Mitchell, and North Easthope Public -School. near Shakespeare, both opted for the early learning opportunities pro- gram while the remaining schools- chose choolschose junior kindergarten_ But the board was told last week by ministry officials that it wasn't• eligible to receive the S195.000 funding, making UTES parents_ angry. "We're•here to demand some support and action on our part." David Murry. of•the UTES parent council, told trustees at their meet- ing in Stratford-las't Tuesday night. Perth MPP Bert Johnson's office told him the board will be eligible and there is no reason for the pro- gram not to begin in the two schools. Paul Carroll. director of educa- tion. said the misinformationputs. the board in the an "embarrassing and despicable position." , "I have done my best as a trustee to work with this government. Enough is enough," • said. Chairperson Abby Armstrong. By Friday, the issue was resolved. Johnson said he finally got astraight answer from the min-. istry. The board will get funding for the new program in the two schools. . • "[t was•an unfortunate misunder- standing on the part of a..Ministry of Education Official that resulted in the Avon Maitland District School Board receiving the wrong information," said Johnson. Nevertheless. the issue added to the frustration -of the board. Carroll called the fiasco "non- sense" that has to stop. Armstrong said she was drawing the line on this issue. Trustees supported her motion to implement the early learning opportunities. even if'the province reneged on its committment. • Carroll reminded trustees that they are facing a shortfall of at least $500.000. ;'You'do not have the money," he said. . Trustee Wendy Anderson voted against the motion to fund the pro- gram if there was no money com- ing from the province. • "I think its going to be an exec- •rise in futility. We will have parent groups that will be • frustrated." she said. Without ministry funding, she didn't believe. the board could afford the program. Director of Education retires on June 26 by Michele Greene STRATFORD - The director of education for the Avon Maitland District School Board is saying mum on reasons for his retirement. Last Tuesday night. Chairperson Abby Armstrong told trustees that Paul Carroll, director of education. will retire on June 26: ?Although people haven't always agreed with Paul. they. always respected him. He put the kids first." she said. After the regular hoard meeting, Carroll refused to comment on his reasons for retirement and future plans. • Carroll led administration and advised trustees through the new Brain injuries and insurance presentation WINGHAM - Huron -Bruce Brain Injury. Support group members and the -public are in- vited to attend a presentation about brain injuries and insu- rance companies. Nigel Gilhy, a partner with the London law firm, Lerner and Associates, will present infor- mation of interest to brain injury survivors, their caregivers and members of the public, 7:30 p.m. Friday. June 5 at the Wing - ham Area Seniors Day Centre, 250 Josephine St. in Winghan► Ciilby will outline the rights 01 Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI) survivors, covering current leg- islation affecting brain injury survivors and how they can get their full entitled benefits. He will also address the issue of protecting rights. A question period will follow the presentation. • hoard's first few turbulent months as the amalgamated board of the former Huron County Board of Education and the former Perth County•Board of Education. He came to the board as a teacher at Victoria Public School in Goderich in' 1967. In 1984. 'Carroll became a superintendent for the Huron Board and in 1993, he was appointed director of edu- cation. Something for everyone Looking for a bargain. Thousands of people descended on Hensall Saturday when the community wide yard sale was held._ Above, Joshua Schottlander, 3, is caught playing on a typewriter. At right, Juanita Westman, Marion Crick - en, Hazel Anderson; and Rilla Bakker made the trek from Granton to enjoy a day of shopping in Hensall. Biddulph still waiting on province for '98 budget But preliminary numbers show taxes could increase By Craig Bradford T -:-t Reporter BIDDULPH TWA. - Biddulph Township's council and its stair have 'done all • they 'can when it comes to preparing its '98 bud- get...now it's up to the province to deliver its long overdue numbers. Biddulph administrator Larry Hutson said he has been waiting for months for . the province's final numbers "including its final say on what exactly will be downloaded to municipalities and how the lower tier will deal , with the new re- sporrsibilities. Compounding matters for mu- nicipalities is that they must wait for board' of education taxation numbers that are dependent on the same provincial government to tell them its requirements. Biddulph was due to send out tax hills on June 30 but Hotson said he has sent out notices to taxpayers that both the pilling date and due 'date will be postponed. Items of note from Biddulph's '98 budget estimates: •Biddulph will receive $445.O00 in transitional grants from the prov- ince to help the downloading pain. up from 53.0(0) the province orig- inallyearmarked for the township. Though the Community Re- investment Fund grant c$396.000i and the Special Transition As- sistance grant (S49,000) will 'go. a long . way towards balancing the books after downloading, Hotson said it .will be difficult to come up • with a zero per cent budget increase as things stand. • •Council salaries are budgeted to go up to S27.500 from the '97 ac- tual figure of S18.902 ($25.00) was budgeted). Hutson . said he's forecasting more meetings for councillors with the ongoing nutrient management bylaw talks and the possible amal= gamation with Luean. Councillors receive $73 per meeting on top of .an annual stipend. . •$30.000 is budgeted to pay for Biddulph's l•SOth anniversary his- tory book. Hutson said that number may seem high in light of today's climate of .fiscal restraint. but Bid- dulph plans to recoup the book's- publication costs through revenues from book sales. About 2.001) books will be produced which will cost, $$0-$60 depending on how many pages it runs. • •The OPP have given Biddulph a S182.000 quote for police service in '98. The province's downloading transitional grants will cover much of that new cost to the township . •'98 roads crew salaries are down -to 565.(11) in this . year's budget compared with an 58.1.7.59.55 cost in '97. H Awn said the decrease is be- cause Biddulph didn't replace re- tired roads - superintendent Hugh Davis whose -duties were absorbed by the remaining staff. Hotson said the township may have to hire some part-time help on the roads side to make up for the one Tess body. Exeter has enough water supply for 10 years or Continued from front page people. The system has a firm ea= parity' of 7.439 cubic meters per day. . (n terms of population, the un- committed reserve will allow for an additional 315 households•ih Exeter beyond the 690 people already committed to through undeveloped lots. Over the past l0 years, Exeter has grown by an average of 30 households per year and Burns has assumed that rate of growth will continue, although the rate could increase or decrease. . • The total reserve would serve a total population of approximately 6,150 people. Increasing the reserve capacity Options for increasing the reserve • come with hefty price tags. Reinstating the industrial. (Aus- able River) water supply for Na- bisco, could cost $560,000. If it is necessary to replace the filters, this costs would increase by $105,000 for a total of $665,000. A large part of the $560,000 cost is due to the fact the system has been out of service and the Min- t i' 'Ty of the Environment would re- c, 're additional treatment measures . to ensure the backwash wastewater is up to snuff. It is'. not guaranteed the Ausable River water would be of a high enyugh standard for Nabisco to use. Nabisco had concerns with the vari ations of the chlorine content. tur- bidity and odors which prompted the .PUC to discontinue the use of the Ausable River water. As well. export customets'asked Nabisco to use potable water and not river wa- ter even though the water does not come in contact with the veg- ' etables. Burns said testing could be done throughout the summer to see if the standards could be achieved before the entire chunk of money was in- vested. • Reinstating the river water supply would add 1,215 cubic meters in capacity which can serve about 640 households. The alternative of water con- servation comes with the highest price tag on a household basis at $3,000 compared to approximately $1,000 per household for other al- ternatives. ' The addition of a new pipeline from Port Blake to Exeter along County Road 83 would cost more than $3.4 'million and ' i,s un- necessary at this time according to B.M. Ross. . Twinning the pipeline from Ste- phen Township and increasing the pumping station network would cost $1 million (without standby power) and allow an additional 1.150 households. Increasing the length of twinned line even further and increasing the pumping system would cost an ad- ditional $900,000 and allow for an additional 860 households (beyond the 1.150 households). According to the B.M. Ross re- port, reinstating the industrial sup- ply (if proven feasible) and ex- panding the Stephen pipeline are the obvious choices if Exeter. wants to significantly increase capacity. Conservation ts a relatively ex- pensive short-term alternative with additional benefits of. energy and sewage savings and a fairer dis- tribution of costs. Expanding the Stephen pipeline provides a more assured supply in terms of quality and quantity but it makes the Town more vulnerable to the decisions of the water suppli- er, according to B.M. Ross. Burns' recommendations came. in the form of questions for council and the PUC to consider regarding future needs and risks. • How much reserve capacity is required for future development? • How much reserve capacity is desired to take advantage of future demand ,{tpportunities (i.e. Sun- tastic )? • How much risk is acceptable with respect to:• - simultaneous maximum days for the Nabisco and non -Nabisco demands - loss of two sources •- loss of the Stephen pipeline source. "The decision at this time is whether or not to proceed with treatability testing for the industrial supply," the report states. Council. the PUC and staff only received the report at the meeting and had several questions for clar- ification. Council will discuss the report in more depth on Monday night at a committee of the whole meeting which is open to the pub= lic. Mayor Ben Hoogenboom told Burns he was "pleasantly sur- prised" with the numbers and promised the Town and the PUC would look at the study in greater depth. 4