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HomeMy WebLinkAboutClinton News Record, 1981-01-08, Page 1Wow Brenda Butler proudly looks at the newest addition to the Greg Butler family, sleeping soundly in her arms at Clinton Public Hospital. little Kristen, who was born at 12:49 am on January 4, � m is Clinton's first h by of 1981, and joins 2 -year-old Amanda at the Butler home at RR 2, Bayfield. (James Fitzgerald photo) In ® of Ed. No raise for fortrustees Tuckersmith-Clinton trustee Frank Falconer suggested the board increase the allowance by 10 per cent, . "It's poor policy to accept the same thing," he said. "If trusteeswere paid $300 BY DAVE SYKES\ Huron County Board of Education tstees wilt receive the same O mon- thly allowance this year following the adoption of a board member's allowance scale Monday. The motion to retain the same pay scale met with considerable opposition around the board table and passed by an 8-7 margin. While board Members voted to maintain their allowance at the previous rate the motion included an increase for chairman Donald MacDonald. He had been receiving one-third more Per month than other board members and that stipend was increased to one-half. McDonald's 'monthly allowance is now $450. Several board members indicated a willingness to raise the member's allowance claiming it hasn't changed in four years and has fallen victim to in- flation. Others argued that board mem- bers know what they're getting into when seeking office. for rubber stamping they're worth 10 per - cent more fora voice." Murray Mulvey echoed Falconer's sentiments adding that if a irustee"s, Turn to page 3 Committees to be paid By Jim FItzgerald In a tense recorded vote, Clinton Council reversed a decision last month, and will pay volunteers on some of the town's committees. Council voted 5-2 to pay Clinton's members of the fire area board $12 a meeting after a motion _introduced by Deputy Reeve Frank Van Altena, who said that the other members of the fire area board from the other townships are paid by their councils and Clinton should too. Deputy Reeve Van Altena supported the motion,, as did Mayor Chester Archioald, Reeve Ernie Brown, and Councillors Ross Deep your snow to yourself By Jim Fitzgerald - Although pushing the snow from your driveway out onto the road after the snowplow has filled in your drive may seem logical to some Clintonians, doing so in the future could cost you up to $300 in a court fine. That's the summary of a tough new bylaw passed Monday night by Clinton Council to control residents from throwing. snow onto the travelled portion of the road. The new law not only makes it illegal to throw, push or place any snow onto the road, but it also makes it an offence to even push the snow across the road. Although there have only been a few Huron towns will study county police force Clinton Council will seek a meeting with. the councils of the four other towns in Huron County o'er a proposal by the Goderich Pollee Commission to have a county -wide police commission. Clinton Deputy Reeve Frank Van Altena will initiate the meeting'after getting the go-ahead from council last Monday night. "It's possible under the Police Act to set up the board," said Clinton Mayor Chester_ Archibald, "and not necessarily set up a county police force. But there are some important considerations to look at first." During a recent meeting, members of the Goderich Police Commission agreed to take the first step toward forming an um- brella organization to look after town police forces in Huron County. The commission decided to send a letter to each of the five town councils, inviting input about the possible formation of a joint police commission, The proposed Moron 'County Board of Commissioners of Police would . replace the existing ,commission at Goderich and, the police committees of council in Wingham, Clinton, Seaforth and Exeter. It was explained that the joint board could be formed if each of the towns pass- ed a bylaw to do so. The board would amalgamate the municipal police govern- , ing authorities. but not the forces themselves. As proposed, it would consist of the head of each council, together with such other persons as the Lieutenant Governor in Council may appoint. The idea for forming the joint board sur- faced at the meeting of the Huron police communications committee in October. Discussion -at that time centred around the point that the communications systems at Wingham, Seaforth, Clinton and Exeter are in effect satellites of the Goderich host system. As this is being written, we're not scare when you .:will bereading it. A typical Huron County blizzard ,has descended on the district, closing alkthe schools, lowering visibility to nil in some spots, and plugging the side streets with snow. In fact, since just before Christmas, it's been snowing nearly continually, and already we have more snow than fell all last winter. And what a contrast! According to last year's diary, (we just get the old paper out) people were partically sunbathing this time, far- mers were plowing fields, and a crazy editor we know even tried to cut his Lawn. But this winter is fast shaping up to be one of the coldest ones in some time. Christmas morning the temperature fell to -22 C (-7.6 F), while on the morning of January 4, it had sunk to -29 C (-20.2 F) and both are believed to be new records for those particular dates. And, according to the weather office, the coldest part of the winter is yet to come! What happened to that mild winter the almanac was predicting? According to our calculations based on the Baird's observations at Brucefield (we can't get them from Goderich anymore) December of this year was much colder and dryer than normal. The " mean temperature struggled up to only -5.4 C (22.3°F) far below the average of -3.0 (26.6 F ). Which translated into a home heating bill means you have used about 15 per cent more fuel up ,until the end of December than in a normal year, or 25 per cent more than last year's mild December. And that doesn't take into account the price increases' in the last year. + + + Finally things are getting back to normal here at the News -Record after a somewhat hectic Christmas season. If you noticed, last week's paper was our 53rd of the year, so we worked a little harder last year for our 52 weeks pay, and you got an extra paper free, that is if you bought it by yearly subscription. Now, don't ask me how we managed to get 53 weeks in the year, as we didn't steal one from 1981 or 1979, as both had 52. + + + Reminds the Main Street Wit, "A sense of humor is what makes you laugh at something which would make you mad, if it happened to you." + + + Well, the holidays are over, and all that good food is now carefully stored away in my spare tire around the waist, waiting to be wasted away at old boys hockey over the next couple of months. And what a drag it will be. Have you noticed the calendar? We don't get another day off (except the kids and teachers) until Good Friday, which this year falls on April 17. Three and"a half months more of this stuff! It's almost enough to wish ' one was retired and living in Florida with those 82 cent dollars. + + + To which the Wit adds: "Inflation is when your pockets are full and your stomach isn't." All those attending expressed approval of the nature and quality of the system, in- cluding the cost-sharing arrangement, and declared they have no interest in withdrawing or making any changes. However Mayor Derry Boyle of Exeter expressed concern that neither the police committees nor the .municipal councils of theother four towns have any input into or control over the salaries the Goderich police commission negotiates with the civilian dispatchers hired to run the system. While there was no objection to the salaries currently being paid, there was concern that in the future the Goderich commission might agree to a salary scale which the other contributors considered unrealistic. It was suggested that forming a joint police commission could prevent suchpruiae..-guaranteeing input from . each town. Goderich police commission members expressed the reservation that such a board would be a plus for -the communica- tions system, but would not be good for looking after local poiice matters. Wingham Mayor Bill Harris, who as a former chairman of the Wingham police committee was instrumental in pushing for the country -wide communications system, said he is unfamiliar with the latest proposal and wants to look into it more thoroughly. He said a similar plan was proposed a number of years ago but never carried through, and added he would "have to take along look at the economics of the thing" before making a decision. It Might be a good idea, but he wants to be convinced that it would save money. Six for council By Jim Fitzgerald That vacant seat on Clinton council, empty since last November, will be filled by appointment at the next meeting on January 19, and council will have to choose from among six people wholhave put their names in. Those who have thrown their hat in the ring include former councillors Ray Garon and Jim Hunter, former Public Utilities member Gord Phillips, florist Bea Cooke, retired small , engine repairman Fred "Doc" Jackson, and piano tuner George Cox. "Too bad their names weren't `in ( last November), we would have had a rip- roaring election," Councillor Ron McKay said. Two nomination periods in November brought in only five names to fill the six council seats. while all the other positions were also filled by acclamation. Town hall repairs Clinton Clerk Cam Proctor and Mayor Archibald will look into a claim by Councillor Hon McKay that a $l5,000 grant is available from the Ontario Heritage Foundation to continue with restoration of the 100 -year-old Clinton town hall. Councillor McKay said he was talking to . Betty Cardno of_Seaforths a local member of the Foundation who told him the money was available. The town hasn't received any written confirmation of the grant, however. Council also agreed to pay $8,881 still owing to the contractor, Cobrell Con- struction of London for the cost overrun on putting the new footings under the town hall last summer. There was about an $15,000 cost overrun on the $45,000 contract, and council claims the engineering fi,rrn of Hill and Borgal of Goderich didn't check with council before it authorized the extra repairs over and above the tender. The town is suing Hill and Borgal for the difference, and so last Monday night decided not to pay the $975 architect fee still owing the firm. Seniors need better care The Peat, Marwick study on long term - care " plan-if/1g tromtriissioned by the - hospitals in Huron and Perth shows that about 20 percent of all the senior citizens being cared for in some sort of an in- stitution, are improperly placed. The study was made public at the December meeting of the board of Alexandra Marine and General Hospital in Goderich. Of the 397 patients inappropriately placed, 76 • were assessed.. as needing psychiatric care, nine as requiring home care, and 31 requiring no care (25 of these in rest hors). A further nine residents in rest homes were assessed as requiring extended care. Two more in nursing homes were assessed as requiring chronic care. Statistics in the report also showed that 29 percent of all nursing home occupants were not residents of either Huron or Perth Counties. All counties adjacent to Huron and Perth, with the exception of one, have identified the need for additional nursing home beds. The fifth county is currently undertaking an examination of long term health care needs. '1 problems with people putting snow onto the road, council didn't have any sure way of prosecuting them. Another bylaw passed will allow the -fawn..to .borrow . up to ,$100.,000 to .PaY.. for- expenses•until taxes come in. Although the bylaw is passed every year, it has seldom been used since taxes have been collected four times a year. Council also learned from town engineer B.M. Ross that a letter of credit should guarantee completion of the north section of Mohawk Crescent by Huron Pines Construction before the end of June. Most of the work was done in the fall, but a few spots have settled out and will be filled in the spring. . Mayor Chester Archibald, -said fie wrill meet with Clinton " Hotel owner Des Cassidy oyer a proposed tavern -restaurant on the -site of the hotel which burned down last October. Mayor Archibald Said he would also ask -Mr. -Cassidy when the hotel ruins would be torn down, after several inquiries from council members..' Council had received a letter from the Liquor Licence Board of Ontario asking then.it they had any objections to.a tavern . with no rooms. Jewitt, and George Rumball, while Councillors Wayne Lester and Ron McKay voted against it. Councillor Rosemary Armstrong was absent, and there is still a council vacancy. Councillor McKay asked for the recored. vote after pointing out that as soon as the news got out council was paying one committee, then the rest, such as recreation and cemetery board would also want paid. Councillor Lester called for a clear-cut policy on the paying of committee members. "I don't object to paying or not paying members, I just object to this hassle and rehash of the problem. Councillor McKay also learned from Clerk Cam Proctor that the town has no procedural bylaw, and so a motion can either be defeated or approved at one meeting, and then re -introduced, time after time, at future meetings. Mayor Archibald agreed both matters 'would be dealt with in the near futrire. In other business, council agreed to continue with a .policy established last year and set up a wage .negotiating committee to bargain with town em- ployees. Members willninclude Mayor Archibald, Reeve Brown, Deputy Reeve Van Altena and Councillor McKay. Weather . 1981 1980 iH l' JANUARY 1 -5 -10 " 0 -1 2 -4 -15 -1 -5 3 -12 -17 -4 -9 4 8 -29 -5 -13 5\. -6 -12 -2 -12 Snow 26 cm Snow 2.5 cm Battling the elements has become a full time chore for many area residents. as heavy snow, combined with high winds have drifted In most sidewalks and driveways. Wind chill factors have been near -45 degrees C, making the job of shovelling even more un- pleasant. Here Clayton [lodging, caretaker of Pinewood Court on Albert Street in Clinton, creeps one of the walks cleared. (James Fitxgentld photo)