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HomeMy WebLinkAboutTimes-Advocate, 1999-01-20, Page 2Wednesday, January 20, 1999 In the News Parents opposed to West Perth school boundary changes MITCHELL -- Children shouldn't be exported from West Perth to solve undercapacity problems in other schools, members of a new education committee said on Jan. 7, reports the Mitchell Ad- vocate. "Are we being asked to go through the whole process because Usborne's a little short?" Rob Lusk said in the Mitchell Advocate. One proposal for boundary changes would send all Hibbert - students south of Cromarty to Usborne Public School or South Huron District High School. Ten high school students and 38 elementary school students would be affected under that sug- gested boundary change. This change is only one suggestion, according to Avon Maitland staff. Many of the 50 people at the meeting held in Mitchell said they didn't want to see any boundary changes which would take students from West Perth to boost enrolment in undercapacity schools in Huron. One parent said although his family lives geo- graphically closer to Exeter than to Mitchell, their family activities are centred around Mitchell. Record breaking shipping seasonends in Goderich GODERICH — With the departure of the motor vessel Algoway on Jan. 1, the close was put on a record breaking season for the Goderich Harbour, reports the Goderich Signal -Star. In all, 215 ships .visited the harbour during the shipping season which began March 23, 1998 with the arrival of the Canadian Olympic. One hundred and seventy-six, ships arrived to take on salt at the mine, 28 ships arrived to deliv- er or pick up grain at the Goderich Elevators and five shipments of liquid calcium chloride arrived by barge. Inaddition to this industrial use of the ;harbour; t3oderich was also visited twice by the passenger vessel Nantucket Clipper and four tall ships visited ' for the Marine _ Heritage Festival in late August. Although more ships arrived in years past, two of the ships left harbour with record payloads. In May, the Canadian Enterprise took on 29,363 met- ric tonnes of salt, breaking the previous record by 68 tonnes. In August, the motor vessel Paterson left har- hour with a record 28,580 metric tonnes of grain. Provincial recruitment of doctors must change The District Health Council responsible for Hu- ron and Perth County says the province's program to bring doctors to remote and rural areas must change to meet the needs of southern communities with too few doctors, reports the Mitchell Advo- cate. The executive director of the Grey -Bruce -Huron - Perth DHC believes recruitment'and retention ef- forts have been concentrated on northern Ontario even though large rural parts of southern Ontario are facing the same problems. The DHC has been working for six months with community groups who want their areas designat- ed as medically underserviced. The DHC has made recommendations calling for additional financial incentives for doctors, immedi- ate incentive grants, separate criteria for isolated and rural communities and a proactive approach `to underserviced designation rather than making communities apply on a first-come, first-served :b'asis. In Perth County there are roughly 1,265 patients served by each family physician. One general prac- tioner for every 1,380 persons has been tradional- ly recommended. A physician resources committee recommends that for Southwestern Ontario the physician per. population ratio should range from 1,016 to 1,242 patients per doctor. Provincial averages don't take into account the special demands on rural doctors such as longer hours and more on-call and emergency service. A recent report says that while Ontario's rural and small town population continues to increase, the number of doctors continues to decline. Council and HEC to seek advice EXETER — Should the Exeter Hydro Electric Commission (HEC) amalgamate with the other Huron County util- ities or should it stay on its own? On Monday night, Ex- eter council and HEC agreed they aren't sure which path to chose but want to get some basic advice and guidance from a consultant. On Jan. 1, 2000, mu- nicipalities become the owners of hydro assets but the Ontario Energy Board (OEB) hasn't de- cided on regulations. Until it does, HEC is dealing with many grey areas in its role of pro- viding en- ergy and the related in- frastructure to its cus- tomers. In the meantime, Exeter NEC continues amalgamati on : dis- cussions with the other utilities in Huron County. Exeter council would like HEC to simultane- ously determine the cost of the Exeter HEC stay- ing on its owl'. • The report on amal- gamation released last year said there would only be cost savings of less than $20 per cus- tomer if the Huron util- ities amalgamated. At the time, council said that amount wasn't enough to _ merit giving up control of providing energy to Exeter res- idents. Council was told there could be greater savings that haven't been identified. On Monday night, HEC chairman Chan Liv- ingstone said the Exeter HEC had supported amalgamation because it felt the restructuring would "go ahead whether we're in it or not." He agreed the $20 in savings weren't enou vh to merit amalgamatini, But without regul^r; decisions from the u no one knows what it will cost to operate the utility on its own. "We have to find out if staying on our own will cost $100 (more per customer)," Reeve Roy Triebner said. "We have._ to have a decision -maker some way," Liv- ingstone re- plied. "Right now every- thing is so grey. Hope- fully a con- sultant can lead us in the right way." The Town of Goderich has re- tained a consultant to test the county -wide op- tion, according to Exet- er administrator Rick Hundey. He presumes the consultant's work incIU!des testing- ower options. Hundey said he has talked to the con- sultant who would be willing to talk with Ex- eter. "This is serious be- cause this is going to ef- fect residents of Exeter forever," Coun. George Robertson said. Robertson made the motion that council and the HEC meet with the consultant Goderich is using to get some ad- vice. "This is serious because this is going to effect residents of Exeter forever." COUN. GEORGE ROBERTSON Fire destroys Elimville home Continued from front page the Stephen Township fire department was called for assistance. A Dashwood tanker was also called in. Morgan said the fire wasn't under control until about 11 p.m. He described the fire as stubborn and said fire- fighters thought they had the blaze under control several times only to see it fight back. Morgan blamed the sev- eral false walls and ceil- ings in the house for mak- ing the fire difficult to extinguish. He added the situation was too dangerous to send any men inside the house. At one point during the fire flames shot several metres above the house an4 the central portion of the roof collapsed. Morgan said it was easier to control the fire once an excavator was called in to remove the collapsed roof. Exeter fire trucks returned to the station at about 12:30 a.m. Sunday, but a fire watch remained on the scene until the Fire Marshall arrived at 11 a.m. Morgan credited fire- fighters for doing a good job, explaining that it was the first big fire for many of them. Those firefight- ers, he said, quickly learned how hard it is to put out a fire. Morgan also thanked the residents of Elimville who brought out coffee and sandwiches to the yrs. Committee moves ahead Cendnued from front pap controversial is the boundary issue for the new munici- paWhhile the amalgamation only involves Exeter, Stephen and Usborne, Exeter has proposed taking parts of Hay Township because Exeter's cemetery and landflhl site are situated in Hay and Urlin said Exeter still wants those two sites. "That's Exeter's main concern," he said. Another issue involves Dashwogd which, split by Highway 83, is situated in both Hay and Stephen. The Exeter-Stephen-Usborne group would like Dashwood to be included in the new municipality. For the Dashwood and Exeter cemetery and landfill issues, Hay Township council and members of the pub- lic will be approached for their opinions. The committee agreed at last Tuesday's meeting to present their ideas at Hay Township's next council. The council for the Town of South Huron will consist of seven members of council, including a mayor and deputy mayor elected at large and two councillors each from the former municipalities of Stephen and Exeter. The former Usborne municipality will have one mem- ber of council. Stephen Township administrator Larry Brown, who is also acting as co-ordinator and recording secretary for the organization committee, said the numbers of councillors per ward is based on . representat-ion by population, resulting in Usborne having fewer council- lors. In reality, Brown told the T -A, both Exeter and Stephen have approximately three times -the popula- tion of Usborne. The organization committee also decided to have the new municipality's deputy mayor attend county council because, according to Urlin, the new mayor r will be too busy to attend county council. "We really feel the mayor's going to be bogged down and he won't be able to give 100 per cent,". to county council, Urlin said. The committee is seeking three votes on county coun- cil. The organization committee's next meeting is sched- uled for Jan. 26 at 7:30 p.m. in the Exeter council chambers. Sled patrols coming to Exeter Continued from front page a snowmobile on any part of county and township roads. Snowmobile drivers must bring the vehicle to a full stop when entering or crossing a roadway from an adjacent proper- ty. Snowmobiles must also stop when approach- ing a railway and not pro- ceed till it's safe. Unless there is a bylaw or other regulations pre- scribing a different speed limit, speed limits are: 50 km/h on any road where the speed limit is greater than 50 km/h or on a pub- lic trail, 20 km/h where the speed limit is 50 km/h or less or in any public park or exhibition grounds. There is no speed limit on private property, but the law states snowmo- biles must be ridden no faster than is reasonable and prudent under the conditions. Snowmobilers are guilty of careless driving when they don't drive with due care and attention or without reasonable con- sideration for other per- sons. Whenever a move- ment or turn is made that will affect other vehicles, snowmobilers are required to give a signal, (left or right turn or stop hand signals), the same required while driving a car. While the Highway Traffic Act doesn't apply to snowmobiles, regula- tions under the Motorized Snow Vehicle Act require snowmobilers to operate their vehicles safely. Snowmobilers must not follow another snow vehi- cle more closely than is reasonable and they must turn and make move- ments properly or are breaking the law. Driving offences like failing to yield/stop carry a $90 fine plus a $15 sur- charge. Speeding fines work similarly to car/truck speeding fines. Impaired driving carries the same penalties as car/truck impaired dri- ving (a fine and a 12 month licence suspension for first offence). For more information, call your nearest OPP detachment. Lucan Library break-in LUCAN BIDDULPH -- It wasn't book smarts that netted thieves some cash from the Lucan Library Jan. 11. The Lucan Library was broken into over the weekend of Jan. 9-10, London OPP Const. Doug Graham said. Thieves gained entry through a window and stole a small amount oicash.