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HomeMy WebLinkAboutClinton News-Record, 1975-02-20, Page 1{ ra uth Lombardo!, Chairman of the'! lintan and District 'Centennial Winter Carnival id last 'week she was verypleased with the + arntval this year and all but ` a few Vents were well attended. She ,said that Pie 'Carnival Was, 'successful both Finan- i lzy and esthically.. A ;huge crowd numbering near 200 turned out for the free family'' skate night. and ' later 'it Was standing room only as nearly 218 ` persons attended, the hospitality night t featured a sing -a -long with local, en - 5 to ain ►ent.:,Earlier-in the day`, the, senior citizens`. card party was very well attended. The Clinton Old Timers shamed the good Oahe, of the town Thursday night when that were defeated 8-7 by the Goderich Signal -Star "Paper Leafs", while the trail. rides at, Vanastra had to be cancelled 'thecaase of lack of snow. There was a sellout crowd for the King smen's. Las Vegas night with over 200 turning out to bet play money. • ' The Blyth 8th k Liners won the "A" broomball championships, and the Kin- , smen beat the firemen 2-0 to win the "B" championship. The firemen however, have protested the win, claiming the Kinsmen Were using ringers, and a rematch has been set for sometime in March, The three danCes on the Saturday night were nearly. all sold out, with total at- tendance hittingthe 500 mark. On ,the last Sunday morning, Jack Spearin was up to his elbows in.°batter, as he, the arena girls and the , Carnival Committee served more than 200 persons at the Pancake Breakfast, Later ip the afternoon, Jack and Ruth served up 25 poands of - baked beans andfiners to several hundred persons, The mans were baked to Jack's own secret recipe handed down from his great-grandmother. Despite bone chilling temperatures, a cold wind and snowflurries, nearly 1,200 persons turned out for the Kinsmen snowmobile races and the Kinsmen reported a modest profit after losif nioney last year. • Bill Hogg of Niagara Falls was . the overall points 'champion, and took home the Clinton Centennial Trophy donated by Hully Gully 'Sports of Varna. • Mr. Hogg also won the open , modified stock race; in which. Greg Armstrong of Zurich finished third. Bill Empey of Auburn won the "A" modified race, while other local winners were Doug McGregor of R.R. 2 Kippen who won the "A" amateur stock, and the "W' amateur stock. There were 180 entrants. Board meetings must st o en to publie ministry rules The Education Act, 1974, intended by the ()Mario ministry of eduation to be a , comprehensive collection of all education iegislationl_ in the province, and a com- pilation of new laws and assorted.previoiis education acts was introduced by a ministry 'spokesman to members of the Huron -Perth Rbrhan Catholic separate school board at their meeting last week in .Seaforth. Art Dayman superintendent of super- visory services with the ministry in Waterloo outlined some of the Act's new provisions. The -Act says thatall-meetings of boards of education, including com- mittee and committee of the whole 'meetings are open to the public, unless the board determines otherwise by resolution. The Huron -Perth board's policy and bylaws committee will look into the open meeting provisions and draft a position report for the next board meeting. Mr. Dayman said the provision for open . meetings came about mainly because of Ontario wide objections by the press that too many items were discussed in camera by school boards and then perhaps 4refegr,444-4011304y agenda numbers ,,at; 1:ptiblic meetings. A board may declare a meeting 'in camera' at the beginning of a particular meeting or may declare all committee of the whole meetings lin camera "But that is not the intent of the law", the. spokesman Said. If meetings are not declared or defined 'in camera', they are open, Mr. Dayman said. Board chairman David Teahen com- mented that the Huron -Perth board usually holds an in camera session at the end of each meeting and reports any decisions from the closed portion to the press. The new Education Act_ alsg includes provisions for raising the pay of school board members according to a scale based on enrollment. The maximum monthly trustee allowance provided by the act is 1 9! J 141 1,0 FEBRUARY 11 26' 14 22 1$ 12 27 4 32 13 13 26 - 14 34 14 14 25 20 20 2 15 '29 22 19 8 16 30 23 29 ' 8 17 36 20 30 9 Snow 5" Snow 10" $100 for boards with enrollment of under 2,000; $200 with enrollment of between 2,000 and 10,000; $400 with enrollment of between 10,00Q and 40,000 and $600 with enrollment of 40,000 pupils. Director of education, John Vintar said that the Huron -Perth board had not yet considered changing their present allowance, which is $100 per month. The new Act provides that any trustee 'Who is absent from three consecutive meetings without the authority of the board, vacates his seat. Mr. Dayman said that -this -provision- is designed mainly to deal with absentee board members in the northern part of the Province. The section of the Act that deals with separate schools has the same power as a separate act, as guaranteed in the BNA Act, Mr. Dayman said. The new Act, which is organized . by subject and easier to read that the old regulations, guarantees the right of the mentally handicapped to attend school and makes the boards of education the first appeal for a person denied admission to a secondary school. When a child is promoted, he must be accepted by the next school, the Act provides. • Parehts and board members are :given ,.access to the schools but the principal is given the authority, subject to appeal to the board, to refuse access to a person whose presence in the school could be detrimental. The Act says that the director of education and supervisory officers owe their allegiance to the board, rather than the minister of education, as was previously th%, case. It provides three causes for the dismissal of a director or supervisory officer --- inefficiency, misconduct or neglect ' of duty. Mr. Dayman described the dismissal procedure provided for under the Act as a "drawn out process", providing guaran- tees for both the board and its top level administrators. Thursday, . 'ebruar, j 110th Year -No. $ Trustees hike OWL sic aries Members of the Huron County Board of Education gave themselves a pay raise Monday but members were divided on the amount of the increase. After considerable discussion, by a vote of nine to six, the monthly trustee salary was set at $300. They previously received $150 per month; Under new Ontario legislation, the Huron Board with about 12,000 students under their jurisdiction could receive as much as $400 per month for each member. Goderich trustee Dorothy Wallace opened the discussion, and opposed any increase for board members. She said the proposed increase was of extreme concern to her. "It will create a bad image with our ratepayers. The increase will make little dint on our 14 million dollar budget but it's the image I'm concerned about," she added. Marian Zinn of Lucknow supported Mrs. Wallace saying; "we'll get a lot of flak if we raise our pay too much." Mrs. Wallace continued "I don't think trustees should be paid. But there's enough politician in me that I will accept a com- promise." She proposed an increase of $75 per month to $225. Trustee Clarence McDonald of Exeter commented "I have to support the ladies. I worked for nothing on the old board." To this Molly Kunder replied, "It's a paying job as set out by the government.'' Vice-chairman Herb Turkheim said he was in favour of the pay raise due to a heavy workload. He added, • Last year *I attended more than 70 meetings, if that amount of work isn't worth $300 per month we shouldn't be trustees." Mrs. Wallace proposed the $225 increase but this was followed by an amendment from Cayley Hill of the ,eventu arise of $300. Trustee Charles Thomas of Brusse originally suggested a per diem. iy arrangement saying, "I like the ideal of being paid for the work we do. I would like to see a flat $2,400 per year with ah ad- ditional $50 for each extra meeting. Failing this my next closest compromise is a flat $300 per month." Board chairman Wilfred Shortreed will receive an additional allowance of one- third of his basic allowance as a board member. The Separate School representative on the board Charles Rau will now receive the same salary as the other members. He was previously restricted by separate school regulations and received $100 per month. A whiff: ot sp rig It may be cOld and snowy In Clinton and area these days, but week, Cooke's were wellestocked with spring flowers. Here you wouldn't know It as spring has' arrived at Cooke's Priscilla MacDonald, left, and Bee Cooke admire some of the Greenhouses in town: With Valentines Day close at hand last beautiful arrangements. (News -Record photo) Home badly damaged Clinton firemen carry a burning chesterfield from a house at 357 James Street last Thursday afternoon after fire caused extensive damage_ to the small home owned by Mr. and Mrs. John Sutherland. Fire chief (Larence Neilans said damage could run as high as $15,000 in the Maze. The young couple had just bought the house last September and had been renovating it. Their small black poodle died in the blaze. (News -Record photo) Board to purchase own computer Computer data processing. equipment is being purchased by the Huron Board of Education and will be installed at South Huron District High School in Exeter. Cost of the equipment is estimated at $35,000 with grants of 95 percent available. Trustee Molly Kunder, chairman of the education committee presented a report recommending the purchase. The equipment will be used for data processing courses and for use by all Huron secondary schools for report cards and time tables. Up to the present time, computer work is being done in London and the arrangements are being handled by Willard Long, a teacher at South Huron. In answer to a question from Dorothy Wallace, Mrs. Kunder said South Huron was chosen because Mr. Long seems to be the most knowledgeable -on the subject. Huron Director of Education D. J. Cochrane replied on the same question "this equipment is not being purchased primarily for administrative work but for a computer science course. Typing is a requisite for this subject". Marian Zinn 'said she had some misgivings on the subject. "How many students will go on to use their talents. Are we here just to give a taste in a subject or should we concentrate on more subjects needed in everyday life?" she asked. Cochrane answered with, "We have to either get in or out and quit playing around". Cayley Hill gave a brief outline on the use of computers in industry today. He said computers provide means for rapid analysis. As a business grows data can't be sorted manually. Industry is really forced into faster means of compiling in- formation. As the result of recent changes in the Schools Administration Act Huron Board meetings will be held the first Monday of each month instead of the third Monday as has been the practice in the past. The Act now states "the meetings of a school board except meetings of a com- niittee"af `the board's board including a committee of the whole board shall be open to the public. On the motion of Cayley Hill the board decided to hold the March meeting on Monday, March 3 at 2 p.m. Hill continued, "This will be the reverse procedure on everything with all matters coming to the' and first and then passed on to the proper committee. Charles Thomas said, "I would like to think our meetings should be public. I think feedback from the public is good before we make our f}nal"decisions. In the same vein feedback from our own board members would be helpful". Mrs. Wallace suggested going back to the two meetings .per month system. To this another member commented, "anything is better than two meetings a month". Exeter trustee Clarence McDonald suggested the chairman have the right to put closure on any discussion. "I went through the old times with long sessions" added McDonald . Mrs. Kunder was re -appointed to the Huron -Perth Tuberculosis and Respiratory Disease Association. She commented, "It's about time somebody else, had the job preferably non-smokers". Approval was given to change . professional development day from May 30 to April 25 for schools for the Trainable. Mentally Retarded. The board approved an expenditure of about $1,500 to send a physical education teacher to Russia in May to take part in an in-depth study of the Soviet system of physical education. The . course is three weeks in length and will ex eigihine'nfirl5fiNcal education curricula in primary secondary and post- secondary institutions for male and female students. - The application to make the trip came from Bill Weber a staff member at Central LpoLice The Ontario Provincial Police could take over policing in Huron County towns within three or four months, members of town police c6nii ittees 'were told in Clinton Tuesday night. Police committee members from Wingham, Clinton, Seaforth and Exeter were told by --representatives of the OPP and the Ontario Police Commission (OP() that the OPP is willing to sign police contracts following requests" from-16wn" councils. The focal point of a discussion between the policing and elected officials _was a recently released study of policing alternatives in Huron. Although the report considered four alternatives -- maintaining present maltlt- al forces, retaining present-foree's--w but improving communications, establishing a county -wide force, or an OPP takeover — the local officials dealt mainly with the OPP takeover proposition Although invited, Goderich officials did not attend the Clinton meeting. r At present. the OPP policies all the county except towns. OPC chairman Elmer Bell, Gordon Osmond' of the OPC and OPP Staff Superintendent D.E. Wellesley' answered questions about how the OPP could im- prove county policing. Exeter Mayor Bruce Shaw said the OPP's main advantages would be highly - trained personnel, improved equipment and lower police costs. But, he added, the towns would lose their autonomy in such a takeover. Staff Superintendent Wellesley said the OPP has contracts -with several municipalities in Ontario "and where they've given up their local forces there has"Cie�ii'lttCle Back - cam I know of." The provincial police would incorporate staff from existing forces "as long as they meet our flexible minimum requirements", he said. ,Mayor Shaw said' he hoped all officers would be able to meet those requirements "or they shouldn't be on,our forces in the first place." Mr. Bell said the county has "relatively good policing but any decision about the OPP taking over rests with local councils. Wingham Coun. William Harris said that a county system is "premature'.' . until policing costs are spread over. all county taxpayers. Coun. Harris added he was "impressed" with an estimated $70,000 annual cost for the OPP to police Wingham, which is about $15,000 less than that with the present force. Huron in Clinton and he will probably represent Huron. In discussion Cayley Hill said "I support the idea but I'm a little concerned about who should go. No casting any aspersions on Mr..Weber I would leave the decision up to the board. I congratulate him for the idea". During the discussion Marian Zinn said, "Isn't this the sort of thing we want our teachers to do!" In his presentation Weber said the Russian Seminar provides a rare op- portunity to look at an"entirely different system. A thepresent we are over -exposed to a flood of American ideas". Attending the meeting as observers were Ron McKay principal of Hensel' public schook, Sharon Soldan, vice-principal of Stephen Central school and John Gum - mow, Director of Education in Middlesex and three others from his board. Bayfield . approves several tenders BY MILVENA ERICKSON At the regular Village council meeting Mon. evening, tenders were opened and awarded for gravel and paving of, the Village streets. The lowest of both tenders was accepted. T^ Sandy Construction, Goderich for gravel at $1.92 cubic yard over Levis Contracting, Clinton at $2.14 cu'. yd. and for paving to Levis Contracting, Clinton at $15.95 per ton over Stebbins of Thamesford at $19.80 per ton and Towland, London at $22.80 per ton. Several letters received included an invitation to attend the Annual Conference of the Ontario Housing Association in Thunder Bay, Sept. 21 to 23; a copy of the recommendations of the changes in the Expropriations Act; Ministry of Treasury relating to amend- ments in respect to the Telephone and Telegraph Services Act; Land transfer tax Act regarding the selling of property to other than Canadians. On January 10, 1876, the Village of —rfa- rpv lett by -special Act-- of ct:of Parti ITient and council' discussed several ideas to commemorate its 100th Anniversary. Those included rehabilitation of the Old Town Hall; redesigning metal street signs to , replace those taken as souvenirs; Chain of Office for the Reeve; street dance and barbecue or fish -fry; and possibly a contest to design a Crest for the Village with prizes to be awarded for the best design. chosen as the official. crest. These were only a few ideas and it is ex- pected more will come forward before anything is decided the celebrations. In other business council approved payment of tie equalized levy of $1666.57 to the Ausa e -Bayfield Conservation Authority and approved a donation of $10.00 to the Huron County Plowmen's Assoc.; discussed and approved the hiring of•Mr. G. Clark to lay the drainage tile at $2.00 per fotit and $150.00 per catch basin and decided to contact a tree surgeon to trim the trees in Clan Gregor Square; heard a report on the condition of the Library , budding from Councillors McFadden and Warner ;^ and gave per- mission to the Scouts and Cubs for the use of the Old Town Hall as they have outgrown the space in the Municipal Building; and learned that Mr. C. McMurray will attend the next council meeting on March `3 to present Information on the Ontario H.O.M.E. Renewal program.