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Home My WebLink AboutTimes Advocate, 1995-05-10, Page 3T N THF NEWS Times -Advocate, May 10, 1995 Page 3 our Views Letters to the editor Fire chief comments "My health problems have always been my business..." Dear Editor: After giving this considerable thought, I have de- cided to comment on your article in last week's paper pertaining to the health and retirement of this Fire Chief, Gary T. Middleton. I have received numerous phone calls and been approached by countless citizens and upset family members on the street and in the office concerned about my health and well-being. My health problems have always been my busi- ness but seeing as it is now public knowledge, 1 would like to set the record straight. I have had four operations in the last 10 years: two of them life-threatening; all of them work'relat- ed, and by the way none of which were reported to Workmen's Compensation in order to preserve the Town of Exeter's premium rate which I may regret later. If I intend to retire.in October, as you have stated in your article, it won't be because of health prob- lems, it will be to prevent future work related health problems and it will be because I have earned it for working for the Town of Exeter 30 years and being on the Fire Department 34 years (27 of those as chief). If I decide to exercise my early retirement option I guess that's my -decision. If there's any- thing that makes me sick it's reading comments in your paper such as those made. I will not stand by while people speculate about my plans due to a newsperson's neglectful and un- substantiated reporting. Does a competent reporter get their information from a third party or from the individual directly. Maybe a copy of the Fire De- partment's monthend report should be forwarded to your office so you can read first hand what exactly is involved in properly running a fire department of this calibre. If councillor Robert Drummond was quoted as saying "Middleton could retire due to health rea- sons" it was not based on the fire board report but was out of sincere concern for my well-being and to fulfill his role of tije dedicated councillor and fire board member that he is in the hiring process in or- der that the full-time position of fire chief be proper- ly and fairly conducted. Although Councillor Roy Triebner may have the right idea to "undertake an organizational review to calculate possible financial savings" my controllable sectors of the operatingbudget has only increased approximately $4,000.00 in the past seven years. And the fire chief's wage of $42,925.00 which was reported correctly in a previous issue but still remains at $39,931.00 the past three years due to the social contract. Of that only $24,400.00 is payable by the Exeter taxpayers on a per capita basis. This end of the department has definitely "done more with less". I will not comment on whether or not we need a full or part-time fire chief but the last requested sur- vey done was nine years ago by the Fire Marshal's office. The fire board complied with it's recommen- dation which placed me in the full-time fire chief's position performing administrative duties as per job description (pre -planning, inspections, fire preven- tion, communications, etc.) The on -hands training has always been the responsibility of the Deputy Fire Chief. I am, have always been and will always be availa- ble for the press and I am quitedisappointed to think the Times Advocate would print hearsay over verified reports. Maybe next time you will take the time to proper- ly investigate future fire department news. Yours for continued essential service, G.T. Middleton Fire Chief Exeter and Area Fire/Rescue Service Stephen tax rate held locally, but is up six percent overall CREDITON - Stephen township council has set the 1995 tax rate at just over.16.5 mills. The mill rate for taxes spent locally by the mu- nicipality is up by .05 mills amounting to an increase of $3.40 on an average .4 ah°soksment ' of $68,000. The elementary public and high school rate went up by 9.7 percent resulting in an overall rise of about six percent. The county of Huron rate remains the same as in 1994. The total increase in taxes for this year on the aforementioned average assessment would be $65.15. To Improve cemetery Council has agreed to proceed with the installation of five marker posts and one or two trees at the Bethesda Cemetery on Concession 8. The Huron Historical Society will be consulted to determine if they wish to provide a plaque or ahy'etherimprovemertts: The tender for construction of the Glazier municipal drain was award- ed to low bidder Stewart Webb and Sons Ltd. for $9,778.73, as recom- mended by engineer Bill Dietrich. A new compressor for the Ste- phen township arena will be pur- chased from the lowest bidder Dia- mond Refrigeration at a cost of $33,415.03. The township will be providing the Huron Country Playhouse with a 1995 capital grant of $1,500, an operating grant of $500 and park- ing lot grading at the discretion of the road superintendent. The Grand Bend, Bosanquet, Ste- phen and Hay fire department will be advised that council agrees to accept any left over items from their spring yard sale at the Stephen landfill site, and suggest they re- t'quest Bosanquet or Grand Bend ac- cept the tipping charges this year as the township of Stephen absorbed the charges last year and is willing to do so in tum with the other mu- nicipalities. Fire hall sale date is set LUCAN - Biddulph township council has accepted the quote of auctioneer Hugh Filson to sell the old fire hall in the police village of Granton. The sale will be held on the fire hall site at 7.30 p.m. on Thursday, May 18. The fire hall had previous- ly been declared surplus property. Council has accepted with regret the resignation of Adrain Debrouw- er who has been the dog tag sales person for the past six years. Coun- cillors noted he had done an excel- lent job in this capacity and will be missed. A replacement will not be named until later as Debt(0uwer has al- ready completed sales for this year. A bylaw has been passed approv- ing a zoning change application from Fred and Aileen Knip at part of lot 11, Concession 5 from Al ag- ricultural general zone to A2 spe- cial agriculture zone The severance of the parcel of land in question was granted on May 18, 1994 subject to the appli- cant rezoning the property to reflect the intended use and size of the property. The parcel is irregular in size with a frontage of 240 feet and depth of 980 feet amounting to ap- proximately 6.82 acres. Council supports Motorplex GRAND BEND - It seems as If Grand Bend council was in a good mood Monday night. Grand Bend councilors unanimously agreed to rent the vacant public works building to the Grand Bend Area Policing Community for one dollar a year. The committee wants to create a youth centre in the building and asked council to enter into a cost sharing agreement. Bob Sharen, spokesperson for the commit- tee said the youth centre will be designed to provide teenagers between 14-19 years old with "clean posi- tive" activities such as first aid and discussion groups. "There is a substantial cost to this group in order to get the building in shape to make the place livable and workable and there's no loss to the municipality be- cause its a municipal owned building because we don't have to pay taxes on it; so I think the rent of a dollar a year seem to be reasonable considering the commit- ment that is being made by the group," said Councilor Bob Mann. Don Brooks, spokesperson for the new Grand Bend Motorplex approached council asking for permission to operate a transportation service within the munici- pality. Motorplex requested designated spots in the village's two municipal parking lots to use as pick-up points for the shuttle bus service. Motorplex wants to offer free bus rides to and from the racetrack on weekends this summer. A similar ser- vice existed when the Grand Bend Speedway was op- erating in the sixties. Brooks said the village would benefit from this since the constant promotion in their advertising would pro- mote the municipal parking lots available for tourists this summer. Brooks informed council the Harbour Front Commit- tee has also been approached for a shuttle bus pick-up point. The bus route is designed to avoid the main drag and Motorplex has already obtained two 9 person vans to use for the service. "If it works for us it will work for you," said Mayor Cam Ivey who liked the mutual benifits both parties will enjoy. Grand Bend Council agreed to the proposal at no cost to Motorplex. 30% Discount on DIAMOND ENGAGEMENT RINGS and ANNIVERSARY DIAMOND RINGS Over $2000.00 with Cash or Cheque 25% Discount on DIAMOND ENGAGEMENT RINGS, ANNIVERSARY DIAMONDS and WEDDING RINGS with Credit Card or Layaway Plan from May 1 to May 31 BAKELAAR JEWELLERS LTD: Main Street Exeter (519) 235-2720 ENSALL (STRICT 0 -OPERATIVE Gladiolus Bulbs Many colours 12'° ea. Lots of other flower bulbs 40% off Hensall Co-op Garden Centre Top Soil 178 30 L. Potting Soil 278 36 L Triple Mix 288 30L Peat Moss 628 3.8 cu. ft. Pine Bark 2 cu. ft. all sires 4Y8 Cocoa Mulch 588 21/2 cu. R. Mother's Day Special' Sat. May 13 Only Hanging Baskets 9.99 Window Boxes 17.99 Geranium 1.29 Boxed Plants Flat special 8.99 Hanging Bags 12.49 8" Mixed Pots 7.49 Webber Charcoal Barbeques 20% off Lunch 10:30 -1:30 Hotdogs, hamburgers and bake sale provided by Hensall Kinette's Dutch and spdnlah 8 ENSALL STRICT 0w 0pERoyE Hensall 262-3002 We service what we sell Ston Noun: - Frl. 7:30 - S:30, Sat. 8.3 p.m. Closed Sunday I Ma 10.-17 Spring Spm 12 hp rider $1249.97 14.5 hp rider $1599.99 5 hp tiller $499.99 3.5 hp mower $149.99 A full line of accessories Evergreen Shrubs $499 1 gal. 3 varieties $9 99 2 gal. 5 vedettes ci�stle i 5/10 �- �=) $ wpm; A AMU II GiteName i001 Val Gas powered Weedeater Farm Size Fertilizers sN dew �/ 099 FERTILIZER IN •yw iV FARM SIZE BAGS Kevin Wm- Vow @ ih. Wen be Mine ua t4 KO WAS 5" Free Draw 411 080 Address Phone # L &lap 21.2gSIP2 laic/JEW gP'SP. wars (As Pomo) 1442.1 Modes) . s () 111•44 (Mow nM....) sM..wtl M. t.... M O - I