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Clinton News-Record, 1983-05-11, Page 1incorporating t Mentally h y,May 11, 1983 118th year y Shelley McPhee Clinton council members have given their full support to initial plans to develop a group home in Clinton for the mentally handicapped. The request from the Goderich and District Association fox- the Mentally Retarded was studied in depth by council at their May 2 meeting. Council decided that due to the up- coming closing of the Bluewater Centre, the group home would help to provide care for the handicapped, as well as retain jobs for workers at the centre. The proposed facility in Clinton would be home for eight area residents, six who are now residing at the Bluewater Centre. These people, the Association reported, are moderately handicapped and don't suffer from behavior problems. The home tikould be funded by the ministry of community and social services and would employ six full time and several part time workers. Mayor Chester Archi :old backed the proposal and noted that because of Clin- ton's central position, the Association has considered developing an area workshop to run in conjunction with the group home. He .:l so noted that Exeter and Wingham have both given approval to establish similar homes. Council agreed to proceed with steps to encourage a group home in Clinton. They will be using their offici,::l plan as a guideline to its establishment. The town's official plan notes, "Group homes provide facilities for individu .'s recovering from soci I, mental or physical problems who ruire more care than me ndicapped will be re -located in Huron towns their families can provide but do not require the level of care found in in- stitutions. Group homes ensure that in- dividuals are not forced to leave their communities to find suitable care. "Group homes are seen as a better and more humane way of caring for people with non-acute social, mental and physical problems than confinement into the mainstream of society by providing proper facilities in a residential rather than in- stitutional environment." Clinton council agreed that the guidelines set in the official plan were well stated and offered adequate protection and control. The plan states that a group home may provide accommodation for three to 10 residents, living as a family under the supervision of qualified staff. A group home is not a place of detention, correction or probabtion for individuals with a criminal history. Permitted in residential areas, a group home must be licensed by the province and must comply with municipal bylaws. The operation of the home and the licenses will be reviewed on a regular basis. Group homes are permitted in low and me''' him density residential areas, they must be fully detached and completely occupied by the facility. The plan also s :. tes that prior to the establishment of a. col i, home, a public meet : must be held. Cr n».n wilt have a tourist information bcpih.."l is summer e Clinton Community Credit Union has given the towel permission to set-up a booth on a vacant lot at 56 Ontario Street. The booth will be run by the South- ECiZlCr1tl01E budget by 1:1.5 per cent .,y Stephanie Levesque The taxpayer's share of the 1983 Huron County Board of Education's budget will increase by 10.5 per cent resRing in a $37.05 increase on an average property assessment off $3,110. Taxpayers will pay $11,, 1,733 this year, up from $10,530,161 in 1 2, representing a 10.2 per cent mill rate increase. The total budget approved at the board's May 2 meeting is $35,264,154, up 9.5 per cent from last year's actual expenditures of $32,1'.,417. The Ministry of Education's share in- creased five per cent from $20,6„4,431 in 1982 to a budgeted figure off $21,722,609 this year. The remainder of the budget, $1,590,159 will be paid by tuitions from the province and other school boards, rentals, night school, supplementary taxes, etc. oard chairman Dorothy Wallace said the budget was thoroughly reviewed by trustees. "In view of decreased government sup- port and increases in the Canada Pension It- ian, unemployment insurance and the seven per cent sales tax (on school sup- plies), I personally can't see that this board could have done any better and kept its obligations to the students," said Mrs. Wallace. In her inaugural address in January, Mrs. Wallace forecasted a 17 per cent in- crease but t s was reduced to a 15 per cent increase after such items as an increased French core program, ad'tional co - or nators and capital projects were cut from the budget. A major cut from the budget was repairs to the roof at Clinton Public School, Exeter Public School, Zurich Public School, Goderich District Collegiate and Voca- tional Institute and Central Huron Secon- dary School in Clinton. Also, a new boiler for'::russels Public School was cut. In its 1983 capital project forecast, the board had initially estimated costs at $706,;:%;:, which included $150,000 for the purchase of five school buses. A letter Turn to page 3 western Ontario Travel Association and council hopes that the former race secretary's office for the Clinton Raceway can be used. The building is owned by the Clinton Kinsmen and is presently used as a food both at the track. Street program Town council is thinking ahead and have tentatively approved the 19t:: street reconstruction program. To be considered are: reconstruction and first coat of asphalt op Matilda Street, from Bond to Walker Street; finish coat on Rattenbury St. from Shipley to North St.; finish coat orf Princess St. West from Shipley to North St.; top coat on Mary St. from Issac to Orange St.; top coat on Whitehead St. from Albert to Beech St.; top coat on Maria St. from Victoria to King St. For 1983 council will be considering : reconstruction on North St. South from Mary to Dunlop St.; second coat on Matilda St. from the CNR tracks to Walker St. By Stephanie Levesque "Caring and Sharing" a film shown to Grade 12 students at South Huron Secon- dary School in Exeter has several parents and at least one Board of Education trustee upset. Huron Board of Education trustee Den- nis Rau of RR 2 Zurich asked the board to investigate the showing of the filar to the Grade 12 family studies course students. At the board's May 2 meeting, Mr. Rau said a group of about 50 people viewed the filar at St. Boniface School after it had been shown at the high school. The trustee was one of the those who viewed the fila, and described it as being "in bad taste". Stating he would be frank with the board, Mr. Rau said the film mainly discusses masturbation and pre -marital sex. What he takes offense with, is that the film describes masturbation as being healthy and suggests that pre -marital sex is good and will help people find the right partner. "There was nothing about love," said Mr. Rau. Although he is a Catholic, Mr. Rau said parents of other religious denominations also viewed the film and were in some cases more upset than the Catholic parents. It was acknowledged that the film undermines the morals taught by the Catholic Church. Mr. and Mrs. Clare Regier of Zurich and Joe Miller of Dashwood were present at the board meeting and wanted to know who is responsible for allowing the film to be shown in the school. "Is there not a committee here that .Layne S dell, sitting, was crowned school fnrnial an Frid y night. Sautheria �rdl, rummer -up Ca er e e CHSS queen at e tbtg; er coates :, n is mcelud :, ,;!] Vicki ttye, Jayne, last year's queen Chris Corrie, Anne photo) and bank discu vis and :;arb Forbes. ( Steve 1� Diver s bill C.653 iv, lists at meetin with farm su y Sharon Dietz Area farmers had a chance to hear both sides of the argument regarding ;s. ill C-653 at a joint meeting of the i:,ruce and Huron Federations of Agriculture and the Huron - Bruce Farm Survival Association in Wingham, May 4. Brigid Pyke, an executive director of the Ontario Federation of Agriculture (OFA) and Larry Thompson, south-western On- tario manager of banking services with the Toronto Dominion Bank, were members of a panel which discussed the Bill and -p GELDERLAND tie Klompen Feest time is drawing near. This Friday, May 13 a kick-off dance will he held at the Clinton arena and the Klompen Feest queen will he chosen for the May Vi and 21 celebration. Ralph Postma and Frank Van Aliens have Made special tITHE NOORD-HOLLAND y answered questions from the meeting floor. Pyke commented farmers need long- term credit and questions whether the Canadian banking industry can support agriculture in this country. When you're looking at turning over several million dollars in 30 years, or in a generation, farmers don't need to have to review their long term credit every five years, she says. "We don't need someone saying at the first sign of trouble, they're going to get out of this business off lending money to agriculture." It isn't fair to criticize the banks for tak- ing a second look at extending credit to farmers, she adds, many farmers are tak- ing a second look at banks. Bankers saying they'll pull their money out of agriculture if Bill C-653 is passed is an over -statement, especially considering the provisions for rewriting debt included in Bill C-12, the Bankruptcy Act 1980. If banks were saying they were going to pull their money out of Canadian business should Bill C-12 be passed, the statement regarding the Farmers' Creditors Ar- rangement Act would be seen for what it is. "Bill C-653 is not a wholesale assault on the rights of the creditor," she says. A farmer cannot just walk into court and have his debt rewritten according to the provisions of the Act. The thrust of the Bill is similar to the bankruptcy laws in effect in Canada which relate to the general populace. These laws are not in place to grind a debtor into the to ground so he will never step out of line • again. Similarly the Act is to rehabilitate the debtor. To make him a fixture in the community able to function, where he can service his debt at some level, rather than turning him out into the street and nobody, secured creditor or unsecured creditor. gets anything. These are sound positive solutions in the free enterprise spirit says Pyke. If there is a legitimate effort to help farmers you cannot write him off the books. The Act also attempts to bring the status of the secured and unsecured creditor to the same level. The Bill attempts to pre- vent the secured creditor from trouncing the debtor into the ground The idea of reducing the principal on the debt has happened in special cir- cumstances. By reducing debt that cannot decorations for the event, posters of Holland's 11 provinces and a crest of Clinton. Frank did the artwork and Ralph made the fri n,ee. (Shelley McPhee photo) be serviced, there are losses which won't be recouped, but reducing debt to a level where the debtor can meet his payments, you come out ahead in the long run. Pyke explained the history of the original Farmers' Creditors' Arrange- ment Act saying that of the 142,000 farmers in Saskatchewan with a debt of more than $482 million, only 5,094 proposals in a five year span were accepted under the Act. Current statistics show farmers paid $641 million in interest rates during 1981-82 and 34 percent of the bank loans under $1 million go to farmers. Pyke believes Bill C- 653 will provide assistance for some farmers who have acted in good faith without favouring the debtor to the distrac- tion of the creditor. Toronto -Dominion bank representative Larry Thompson is not in favour of the re- enactment of the Bill, because it permits debt to be written down. The reduction of debt and the time period to liquidate assets are two main points of the Bill which appeal to farmers. However, when the Bill was in effect dur- ing the 1930s, it made long term debt dif- ficult to obtain and suppliers immediately went C.O.D. Thompson is critical of two aspects of the Bill. It basically removes the right of a farmer to put up security for credit and the time lapse to go through the process of ap- praisal of the assets, is a disadvantage. Thompson noted the Bill will not help farmers with zero equity and the farmer must have acted in good faith with his creditors to use the Bill. Allan Wilford, president of the Huron - Bruce Farm Survival Association, speak- ing from the floor of the meeting, said the impetus of the Bill is to make everybody. debtors and creditors, deal in good faith "The threat of the Bill is enough to make creditors deal in good faith." If banks are going to liquidate, they should do it responsibly. Wilford says he knows of farmers who have,been sitting in limbo for more than two years They should get their act together and negotiate says Wilford Under the provisions of the Act. the receiver appointed to d'o the appraisal of the assets will be local and paid h} the. federal government Usually, the receiver is paid by the hanker in a receivership and says Wilford, whoever pays the piper ! ally the t une 00! t to reviews filnis'h asked Mr Miller 11 not there is something wrong wtth the board of education " Mr. Regier said he is sick of fighting' against books and films being distributed in the school system. You're corrupting my kids You sit un your fat ass and y uu guys are not doing your job. That filen isn't fit to look at." said Mr. Regier The scene turned uuu a shouting rnate h as board chairman DoruthWallace assured the parents that adnwustration would look into the matter Mr Regier replied, "It's too late." Superintendent of program Robert Mc- Call said teachers are responsible fur the films shown in the classroom and that ad- nurustration doesn't attempt to monitor films shown in the classroom. It was noted that the film was not available from the board's media centre. Mr. Rau indicated the teacher from South Huron Secondary School had obtained the film from the Huron County Health Unit. Mrs. Regier said she has five students attending the Exeter high school with two in Grade 12. The Zurich woman said she was responsible for obtaining the film and having it shown to the group of parents. The board has referred the matter to its education committee and Mrs. Regier said she will "just have to wait and see what the board does". At Huron County Council on the following Thursday, the film was com- mented upon by Stanley Township Reeve Paul Steckle. He had been approached by a number of parents about Sharing and Caring and asked Medical Officer of Health Dr. Harry Cieslar for his com- ments. "It's meant for older students," acknowledged the MOH noting the film provided straightforward information and is not ju. emental. "It's been around for 10 years. I can't understand the sudden furor," commented Dr. Cieslar. The MOH added that if people think the film is unappropriate, it could be dropped. He noted that it is only a small group of people who are opposed to the film. Bob Allan will head Huron's Ed Board The new director of education for Huron County brings with him a wealth of ex- perience, having started as a school supply salesman then entering the teaching pro- fession and working his way up. Robert ( Bob) Allan, 47, currently superintendent of operations with the board, was recently named as director. On July 1 he takes over the position from retir- ing director John Cochrane. Mr. Allan started his teaching at S.S. No. 7 Eramosa in Wellington County and then went on to Mount Albion School in Hamilton. The new director then advanced to the position of principal where he served in this capacity in the counties of Haldi- mand, Oxford, Middlesex and Kent. Starting with the Huron Board of Educa- tion 11 years ago, Mr. Allan was an assis- tant superintendent. He has served as superintendent of schools, superintendent of personnel and in his current position. Mr. Allan received his Bachelor of Arts degree from McMaster University in Hamilton and his Master of Education from the University of Toronto. In the past, he has served on various provincial educational committees. He and his wife Margaret, who reside in Clinton, have three children, Janice, 22, David, 19 and Laura, 11. The Huron County Board of Education has promoted personnel relations ad- ministrator Peter Gryseels to the position of superintendent of personnel. The promotion was approved at the board's May 2 meeting and becomes effec- tive June 1, 1983. Personnel committee chairman John Elliott said Mr. Gryseels has been handicapped in his position because of his lack of supervisory status. As superintendent of personnel, Mr. Gryseels will have the authority to make Turn to page :1* Weather 1983 1982 MAY HI LO 3 13 2 4 15 2 5 9 1 6 16 -I 7 21 10 8 14 0 9 5 -4 Rain 38mm HI 1,0 19 -1 20 -1 23 7 29 14 22 11 15 4 18 -1 Rain 8mm COMING May2O,21 in the Clinton roni nunitPark KLOMPEN FEES 4