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HomeMy WebLinkAboutClinton News-Record, 1979-01-18, Page 1• • • •,• qt ; • . .4,1', •"" i• '4, "•••,•••`• • 411, •••••••'"'" ••• •''''•••"" " ' • '` • •• ••••• " • "' ' • • • • 4 .1• .4 1 Lions roar The Lions Club let out a big roar following the presentation of a $5,000 cheque last week to the c Linton ,a,rena floor fund. 'The donation was the largest single donation so far, and brought the total to nearly $56,000, just $34,000 -short of the k.,;;;;S. • total needed. Here centre, takes the Theedom, while the photo) fund raising chairman Ron McKay, cheque from Lions president Len rest of the club cheers. (News -Record 114th year -No. 3 Thursday, January 18, 1979 Hospital may face bed cuts The Clinton Public Hospital, like many others have been notified that their active beds could be cut back in the future; however, Clinton hospital administrator Doug Coventry isn't worried about it. In a report from the ministry of health a new formula has reduced the ratio of active beds from four beds per 1,000 patients to 3.5 beds. • Taken literally, this would mean that Clinton could lose up to 28 of its 54 beds presently in use. Six of those beds are used for chronic patients. However, Health Minister Dennis Timbrell refused to say when or whether the formula would be im- plemented. said that the reduction would be used as the basis of the health budget he would reveal to Ontario hospitals at a meeting in Toronto on, Friday. Tuckersmith agrees to pay inspector salary, by 'Wilma Oke Tuckersmith Township council agreed Tuesday to go along with a request from the building inspector Henry Van Wieren of Kippen that he be it) paid on a salary basis rather than by the agreement he has now. He said that this agreement limits him to four inspections which he said were inadequate for certain buildings. His new salary will amount to $3,360 per year plus mileage of 12 cents per kilometre. He will be responsible for his own insurance fees such as work- men's compensation. My. Van Wieren is the building in- spector of Usborne and Stanley Townships, Seaforth, Hensall and Bayfield as well. They're being asked to accept the following proposal on a cost sharing basis. If all the municipalities accept his proposal, his total salary would amount to $12,000 yearly. Ron Fleming of the Ontario Ministry of Agriculture and Food in Clinton attended the council session to discuss several problems including the code of • practice for site planning for livestock buildings, the type of manure systems and the spreading of manure. He an- swered questions regarding the cer- tificates of compliance his office provides, giving approval for the township to issue building permits. Council approved applications for two building permits: Paul Dixon, lot 16, plan 22, Vanastra, a chimney; Joost Veenstra, lot 33 - 34, concession 2, a granary. Council approved a tile drainage loan for $8,700. Clerk Jack McLachan was instructed to place an ad in the local paper for a person to sell dog tags in the township. Residents must have their dog tags no later than February 28 and must control their dogs from running at large. Councillor Frank Falconer suggested that residents be informed that anyone feeding or harboring stray dogs is responsible for the actions of the dogs and must buy a licence for it. Council approved a proposed- rental agreement for the use of the Vanastra Rec committee in blac Despite a disastrous fall when the arena was closed for three months and not bringing in any revenue, the rec committee learned last Thursday at their January meeting that the budget will have about an $10,000 surplus. Earlier this fall, it was thought that the budget would run in the red with the arena closed because of the renovations, but secretary Marie Jefferson said that the unaudited, first look at last year's budget shows the rec committee will only need about $75,000 from the town, not the $86,049 —requested. The rec committee also received its second resignation in the past two months, when chairman Ross Liver- more decided to step down. Mr. Livermore, who has been on the rec committee since the mid 1960's, said in his letter of resignation that he felt he'd spent long enough on the board and wanted to make room for younger blood. Ron McKay was appointed tem- porary chairman, and , the board decided to reduce their membership to eight from ten, and the committee will now be composed of two represen- tatives from council, and six from the community. In other business, the committee decided to buy a new adding machine and a davenport for the arena office, and will get Don Colquhoun to draw up plans 'to renovate the old tractor room into a first aid room and a referees dressing room, using volunteer labor. The committee also decided to send a letter of thanks to Steve Campbell of town for the outstanding job he did supervising the pool last summer. first column Well finally, the decrepit And arthritic are taking to the ice again, as the old boys team in town started the season Wednesday night. Just like every other hockey -team .in town, we've "been on ice," so to speak, while the arena was being fixed, but now we're ready to do battle again. Actually, when I say decrepit and arthritic, I'm speaking mostly for myself, as even an old Colt from the '50s,. like Bill Counter, can ,out, skate and outhustle me any day of the year. • + Getting in shape for such activity . is tough at the best of times, and so the first couple of weeks are a little painful for these old ankles. + ++ Still with hockey, and I noticed on several , visits to the arena last weekend, that it is obvious that most people in the areadOn't know what fine hockey the young boys are playing at the- bantam hockey tournament. The tourney which concludes this weekend, is worth a second look especially on Sunday when the championship games are held. Remember, all the profits from this venture, put on by hard-working people like Len Fawcett, goes back by jim fitzgerald into the town ,,to nelp pay for the arena. And, while I'm plugging things and people, I'd like to come to the defense of all those good snowplow drivers who have kept all our streets, highways and country roads in such fine shape this year. During my travels around town, I've heard the plow boys cursed time . and tim`e again for filling up peoples' driveways and laneways with snow, with some idiots claiming the snow removal crews do it on purpose. Well, nothing could be further frOm the truth. Think about it: what good would it do to have your driveway,all cleaned out, if the road was impassable? - When the crelys plow the roads, the snow'has to go somewhere. They aren't niagicians who can make the stuff evaporate. Yob may or may, not have noticed that the arena floor fund ther- mometer is missing this week from the front page. Well, the little red snake in the thermometer seemed to have stalled, so we've removed it arid we'll keep our readers informed if it moves again. • Smile of the week:. "Being good for ncithingis what most kids wnn't." •• Recreation Centre. This now must be approved. by the Ontario Liquor Licence•Board. Effective March 1 the rental fees for the use of the Vanastra Centre will be $125 which is up from last year's fee of $100. In addition, $25 will. be charged again this year for the use of the kit- chen' and the same for the additional room which is part of the day care centre. A zoning bylaw covering a triangle bordered by Clinton, Egmondville and, Brucefield which the township passed in 1972 has finally been approved by the Ontario Municipal Board. That portion of .the township was chosen for zoning because it was needed for Vanastra as it went through its growing teens. Because the bylaw was approved by the township, it has been in effect for the past years. The rest of the township will be covered soon as the workload of the Huron County Planning Board permits. Council paid the fee of $100 to the Rural Ontario Municipal Association and Deputy Reeve' Robert Bell will attend the annual convion to be held in Toronto February 4-5. All the members of council seemed to indicate they would be attending the Turn to page 3 • White-out causes crash Heavy snow Nfid treacherous roads caused a three -car accident south of Clinton on Sunday afternoon. The Seaforth - OPP reported that accident caused total damages of $4,600 but only one passenger received minor injuries in the 2 p.m. crash. Constable Jim McLeod explained that a car driven by Bruce Johnston of London was parked at the side on High- way 4, south of Vanastra after he became stuck in the deep snow. A second vehicle driven by William Sawruk, London, came up behind and seeing the first vehicle also stopped. Then, a third vehicle driven by Leonard Payne of St. Thomas, came up behind the two parked cars, and not seeing them because of a white-out; hit ithe rear of the Sawktk car. In Sawruk vehicle ran into the re first car. A passenger in the third Payne was taken to Clin where she was treated f juries. Damage to the Payne at $3,000; $1,000 to th and $600 to the Johns The Seaforth OPP reported several o throughout the poor weather. Constable don't know w snowstorms summer's their bac anywhe turti the ar of the car, Gilda ton hospital or minor in - vehicle was set Sawruk vehicle on car. and Goderich OPP ther minor accidents area, caused by the cLeod commented, "1 hy people want to drive in . If it were a sunny, day they'd all be sitting in k yards and wouldn't drive re." li's doubtful that little Carol Christina Rose will remember hafting her first photograph taken. Although Glen and Shirley Haskett are proud of the rim: - addition to their family, Carol doesn't seem impressed with the fact that she was the first b'aby . born in 1979 At Ego Clinton hospital. Carol was born on Jonunry 10 and will live with heghtte sisters apd parents at their Vanastra home. (News -Record photo) • Mr. Coventry, who will alorig with other board members be attending the meeting said, "The 3.5 number is just an arbitrary figure.. You have as many beds as you can afford to run." "The budget will control the number of beds we have," he pointed out. Mr. Coventry doubts that the new formula will be put into effect and he doubts that the Clinton hospital budget will be reduced by any significant amount. 4.1,04.0r4.0 He, along mintstrato about th budgets Acco Free have try 35 cents with other hospital ad- s in Ontario will learn more e bed cutback and their when they meet on Friday. ding to an article in the London ress, many other administrators the same opinion as Mr. Coven- , regarding the cutback. Many feel that it is an impractical formula, putting the number of beds too low for hospitals to run suc- cessfully. They too want more in- formation on the proposal. 1) <0..• • . oro.race •i•w*P` 1 .4 •••.. A . • • Big dig There's plenty of snow to shovel off the roofs of area homes this week as old man winter finally visited the area, dumping up to 45 cm (18 inches) of snow in seven days. Up until last week, the immediate Clinton area had beetrspared the snow, but is catching up to last year's total very fast. Ruth Roy of Isaac Street removed some of the snow from her porch roof on Tuesday. (News - Record photo) Bayfield awaits word on government grants by Shelley McPhee The phrase that is frequently used by John Siertsema is, "Any day now," as he waits for some word from Wintazio. - The word he hopes to hear froft*the organization is that the Bayfield arena and community centre has been granted an adequate amount of money to help offset the cost of the new structure. "We haven't received the final news, but things look pretty good," the fund raising committee chairman ex- plained. • "I'd like to see it in writing though," he admitted. The community is hoping for a Wintario grant that will pay for one- third of the cost of the community' centre and two -third's of the arena, a project costing a total of $390,000. As well, They hope to receive a Community Centres' grant which will pay one-quarter of the total cost. ---1Q1eanWhile-,: fund raising attempts continue in 'the village and the surrounding area including Stanley and Goderich Townships. Already, $56,000 has been raised but the total donations needed sit at the $95,000 mark. "There are still a lot of people who say they will donate some money, but they want to see the structure finished first," Mr. Siertsema expla1neci. The new arena and centre, whiCh was condemned in. 1977, is scheduled for completion in the spring. , * Frost in the ground has preverited the contractor, Refflinghaus ConStruction of • Goderich, from putting in the weeping bed and arena floor until spring, but work on the centre is cant Along with relviaions to the centre which was partially condemned, the ' • new arena has been enlarged by one- quarter of its original size. The new structure will feature a handicap lift, costing $20,000 which is completely fundable. "It's not really an elevator," he explained. Mr. Siertsema is confident that the necessary grants will come through and the construction will be completed ,as soon as possible. "I'm not as skeptic anymore now that I've been talking with the Wintario people," he explained. • , The fund raising endeavors have also seen recent, boosts, with a $5,000 grant from Conklin Lumber; $1,800 from the Bayfield Lioness Club and $600 from the village children's penny collection. Mr. Siertsema is pleased with the support the local people have given the fund raising attempts. "We lack any large businesses that can donate," he noted. Fund raising events are continuing throughout the area, including the Lions' river break up draw which will sell 1,000 tickets, Lioness club activities and bingos, to name just a few, Weather 1979 1978 141' 1.0 JAN C C 10 —9 —16.5 11 9 13 12 —8 —.18 13 ...11 .24 14 2 —11 , 15 0 —12 . 8 18 Snow 18.0 cm 141 la F F 25 3 20 7 22 15 24 16 23 14 15 6 14 9 Snow 4". 4 r.