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HomeMy WebLinkAboutTimes Advocate, 1995-04-05, Page 2Page 2 Times -Advocate, April 5, 1995 Regiona wrap up Wingham Zehrs store to close in Wingham WINGHAM - Zehrs has con- firmed it will close its Wingham grocery store in August. The de- cision will affect eight full-time and 22 part-time staff who will be offered jobs at either of two new superstores slated to open in the area. Wal-Mart is scheduled to open a 75,000 square foot store in Goderich and Listowel will open a 80,000 sq.ft. Zellers store. Grant Heimpel, president of Zehrs Markets told the Wing - ham Advance -Times the compa- ny hopes to arrange for a sister store to fill the vacancy in Wing - ham. "We felt with the opening of two larger stores, the Wingham store would decline. We felt we wouldn't be able to service the Wingham area properly," Heim- pel told the Advance -Times. No tax increase . from St. Marys council ST.MARYS - The Town of St. Marys will see no increase to property taxes from council for the fourth consecutive year for 1995. Last Tuesday at a regular meeting, Town Council an- nounced it will maintain its record of a zero increase . School taxes make up 48 per cent of the overall tax bill and the board of education does not usually announce its budget un- til May. The St. Marys Journal -Argus reported the zero increase is due to a dedicated town staff and good Tong -term planning. "Department heads and coun- cil crunched numbers to get to this zero per cent increase," said Mayor Jamie Hahn during last week's meeting. Goderich police budget frozen GODERICH - The Godcrich Town Council voted over- whelmingly to freeze Goderich Police Services Board budget. By rejecting the board's pro- posed budget, all capital pur- chases and hiring will be sus- pended until the Ontario Civilian Commission can hold a hearing to determine what level of staff, equipment and facilities are adequate. The council also passed mo- tion to overturn the board's deci- sion to maintain a municipal po- lice force, reported the Goderich Signal -Star. "I'm on record as saying that, if we'd gone with the OPP, we'd have been looking at an increase of close to $100,000 for policing this town," said Councillor Rick Magic during the meeting. Ciderfest may be cancelled SEAFORTH - The annual Ci- derfest may be cancelled if vol- unteers do not come forward to help plan the event. The festival requires approxi- mately 15 volunteers, reported the Huron Expositor. A public meeting for April 19 will be held to disuss the possi- bility of cancelling the event which has been taking place for 22 years. 1 1 Klopp announces support TORONTO - Paul Klopp, MPP for Huron, announced Friday that $1,933,000 in jobsOntario Capital support will be provided to school boards in the Huron and Perth counties for repairs and improve- ments to school buildings. The funding will be provided over a three-year period, starting in 1996. A contribution of $482,000 from the school boards will bring the total to $2,415,000. The funds will be used to im- prove the safety, accessibility, and energy efficiency of schools. School boards will determine local priorities based on program guide- lines. "It's important that we don't short-change the kids who will be using our schools in the years to come," said Klopp. "By making repairs and improvements to our • education infrastructure now, we are investing in an important pub- lic service that prepares our chil- dren for the future. We're also pro- viding jobs in our community. "The provincial and local contribu- tion together means 41 person- years of work." The 1996 the boards will receive $644,434. Allocations for 1997 and 1998 will be updated to reflect changes in enrolment and facili- ties. Mt. Carmel science fair Men Clue IRACIAMMI Mt. Carmel Separate School students have been working very hard at their science fair pro- jects. Fourteen students were the finalists for their school. Shown above, back, I to r, Dr. Brown, Director of Education Huron -Perth County Roman Catholic Separate School Board. Kyle McCann, Kim Palsa, Marcia Coulter and Chris Roelands. Middle I to r, Jo -Dee Regier, Heather Hogarth and Kelly -Jo Rutten. Front, Niki Vermeulen, Katie Pickering, Chris Gielen, Chantal Rus- sell, Melanie Steeper, Lacretia Pfaff and Teresa Zwambag. The final winners were: Marcia Coulter, 1st; Heather Hogarth, 2nd and Lacretia Pfaff, 3rd. Administrator pleased with report The Ministry of Health is taking steps to helping small hospitals By Fred Groves T -A staff EXETER - For over a year, doctors in rural Ontario have been threatening to close emergency rooms of local hos- pitals. Exeter's South Huron Hospital has been close to shutting its doors but each time, hospital administration and the doc- tors of the South Huron Medical Association have been able to reach an agreement. In the past, South Huron administrator Don inte said the Ministry of Health had to ut involi ed.We(l.�i *as,t,, and a fact-finding report issued rec htry wilt �iopefii1Y9 re ceive a lot of attention. "I think it's a good report. It expresses very well the prob- lems that exist in rural Ontario," said Currell. Basically, rural Ontario doctors and hospitals have two major problems. One being how to pay the doctors for be- ing on call for the emergency room and the other, better training for doctors as far as obstetrics, emergency care, psychiatry and anesthesia is concerned. There is also a threat of rural Ontario not having enough doctors as smaller communities, like Exeter continue to have difficulties in attracting new doctors to town. The report, prepared by Graham Scott will be examined fully by representatives from the Ministry of Health, the Ontario Medical Association and the Ontario Hospital As- sociation. In turn, the hos- pitals have sched- uled a meeting for Wednesday in To- ronto to discuss the report. "I don't think the hospitals in the OHA will let it be - "I think they (phy- "I think it's a good report. It expresses very well the rwe1lCObl iris that exis in rural Ontario." 7 1 come a dust collector," said Currell. sicians) want it to be an action paper." Generally, Currell seems pleased that and it is a good start to find solutions to "All of a sudden we're getting some and OHA) are saying good things about Health Minister Ruth Grier who has by hospitals to find an emergency roo the report was done ongoing concerns. action. Both (OMA it." been under the gun m funding solution • said, "the fact finder has now completed a valuable task. The next step is a practical plan. It must be one that works for both doctors and communities. Doctors have to be paid fairly." - Scott has recommended that doctors covering emergency rooms be paid a flat hourly rate of $70 per hour. South Hu- ron has a formula which Currell says will continue to be used. "We gurantee them $70 per hour less their OHIP billing. The formula is more complicated than that," said Currell. He explained how South Huron doctors who staff the emergency room are paid is that, for example, if they work a l0 -hour shift that's $700. However, if they receive $600 threw patient -billing, the hospital pays the doctors $100. If the doctors bill $800, the hospital doesn't have to pay them. "There's many formulas. He's (Scott) just throwing num- bers out now. It's ($70) a figure that's been banteyed around." In 1994, the OHA reported that 46 hospitals pay doctors ex- tra to be on call, 46 had the threat of having emergency ser- vices withdrawn and 16 had reduced emergency services. Huron residents receive zero per cent budget increase By Cameron J. Wood GODERICH - Just as prom- ised, Warden Bruce Machan and fellow Huron County councillors brought in a zero percent in- crease based budget. Earlier this year, Machan had sent a message to county depart- ment heads saying thc residents of Huron would not tolerate an- other tax increase. He asked for their co-operation in bringing in a budget with no new taxes and on March 30, he got it. Although it was previously re- ported the county would be able to bring in their second consecu- tive zero percent increase bud- get, the whole matter was final- ized during the last council session with little debate. Clerk -Administrator Jocelyne Murray told council the $250,000 loss in 1994 will still have an effect in 1995 due to thc reduction in unconditional grants. In total, the county has budgeted $28,395,999 for gov- erning in 1993. Of the biBBest concern for 1995, Murray said pay equity in- crements for non-union staff have been outstanding since 1990. She said the county was very close to finalizing the situa- tion as only two appellants were left. Money has been established in reserves for the pay equity process. Under the Pay Equity Act em- ployers are required to pay out one percent of payroll per year. This means the county will have to pay out a total amount of $500,000 once the pay equity plan is approved. Following a Wingham Town Council meeting Monday, Reeve and Huron County Warden Bruce Machan spoke on the county's zero percent increase budget and the importance of bringing it in. "We're all into restraints," he said of his request to department heads that they produce a zero percent budget. "It's not fair, be- cause we are a levy, that we keep passing expenses down the line. It ended up that with our surplus- es (from 1994) that we were able to do it. I think it gives the local municipalities to work on their own budgets without having to worry about (the county's)." Machan did say the county was concerned for next year. in April 1996, the NDP's social contract will end, leaving the public sec- tor employees looking for the ad- justments they have sacrificed for the past three years. "That's the unknown," Machan said. The Warden was critical of the school board, who prior to Mon- day night had planned a 10 to 12 percent increase budget. Machan said while this year that increase equals the cost of a case of pop per household per month on the tax hill, those kind of groceries add up. "Whether it's federal, provin- cial, municipal, county, school board, there is only one taxpayer in the end." l YOUR DOLLARS MAKE A DIFFERENCE! SNE 4 The Canadian Cancer Society is a national, community- based organization of volunteers whose mission is the eradication of cancer and the enhancement of the qual- ity of life of people living with cancer. Every time you contribute to the Canadian Cancer Society, we put that money to work. In 1995, your investment in helping the fight to beat cancer supports: ONTARIO 1994 5 YEAR AVERAGE — ADMINISTRATION • RESEARCH COUNTS! Through our research associate, the National Cancer Institute of Canada (NC1C), the Canadian Cancer Society is the single greatest source of funds for cancer research in sada. 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