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HomeMy WebLinkAboutClinton News-Record, 1983-10-12, Page 1• • THE BAY FIE UGLE cents —N 41- incOrp0ra11ng Wednes d T BLYTH STAND y, October 12,1983 Separate oard needs ►7 School BY STEPHANIE LEVESQUE The Huron -Perth Separate School Board hasn't given up on getting funding for its $1.5 -million project which would see small gymnasiums and library rooms added to some schools. The board's application for $700,000 in fun- ding under the Canada -Ontario Employ- ment Development ( COED) program was turned down in August. The remaining amount of $800,000 was to be debentured by the board over a 10 -year period. Director of education William Eckert said a Liberal MP had invited COED applicants in his rAueng to reapply for funding. 1 1 ,000 for expansion 118t year oars fi:h ts for funds Wei administration) will make enquiries to see if funding is available," said Mr. Eckert. The director also had a reply from Premier William Davis to his letter sent during the summer on the board's COED ap- plication. The premier's letter left the trustees with more questions. "Although your board's application was submitted on Apr. 22, 1983, the initial ap- plication and federal field assessment were not received by provincial staff until June 24, 1983. As the board admits, its proposal is arnbitious, and a thorough assessment of the Clinton landfill site may require major upgrading The Holmesville Landfill Site should be closed, is the recommendation from hydrogeologist Ian Wilson. Clinton Council at their Oct. 3 meeting learned that the Ministry of the Environ- inent is concerned about the landfill site. According to Mr. Wilson, of Ian Wilson Associates Ltd., the site should be closed to allow extensive studies and tests to be taken to the land to the west of the present location and that a leachate collection system should be t onsidered prior to filling the area. The matter has reached serious proportions, according to Mr. Wilson and the six municipalities served by the site will meet on Oct.,. 6 to deal with the serious problem. The municipalities of Clinton, Goderich, Bayfield, Goderich and Colborne Townships and Lucknow will be ;faced with the costly problem of either e; 'rryitrg out additional work and assessnl nt at the T„ . m». present site, or establishing a new landfill site in another location. Clinton's representative on the landfill site committee, Councillor Rosemary Armstrong simply stated, "Whatever happens, it's going to cost a lot of money." Mr. Wilson has explained that additional work could be done at the Holmesville site. That would necessitate the installation of an expensive collection system and the collected leachate would still have to be transported to the Goderich sewage treatment plant for further treatment. The Ministry of the Environment has suggested that the existing landfill site be capped to minimize leachate production and its impact on a nearby creek. D.R. Brown, groundwater evaluator for the ministry has also suggested that use of the existing site with a collection system would be costly. Children at the Tuckersmith Day Nursery enjoy the sunshine even though there is a nip in the air. On Nov. 5 parents who use the nursery services will have to pay $8.50 for their children to attend the day care centre and if government funding stops, the fee may rise again. ( Wendy Somerville photo) Price hikes may hit nursery By Wendy Somerville The future of Jay care and day nurseries was the topic of conversation at a September meeting of the Huron County Community Services Council. Valerie Bolton, chairwoman of the council explained, "Day care is funded by three levels of government, federal, provincial and municipal. so the whole issue is very complex. But essentially what it comes down to is that the provincial government is phasing out its support to day care and parents will be forced to pay the full cost for their children unless they qualify for social assistance." Getting social assistance will require hav- ing an interview with a social worker from Huron County Social Services and the fami- ly income has to be quite low to qualify. "It will close our centre," said Karen McEwing, Supervisor of Tuckersmith Day Nursery. "We have some children who are subsidized by Huron County Social Ser- vices but there will not be enough of them to keep the centre full " Most council members agreed that this is a hunuliating experience for people to have to apply for assistance and give an account of their family finances. Today parents must pay $7.85 each day to have their child enrolled in the Tuckersmtth Day Care Centre. On November 7, The Tuckersmith Day Nursery will be raising its full day rates to as follows: one child: $8.50 per half day or $42.50 weekly; two children: $7.25 each or $14.50 together or $72.50 weekly. The half day and half day with lunch is re- maining unchanged at: $4.50 per half day, one or more children ; $5.50 per half day with lunch, one child; $5.00 per half day with lun- ch, two children; lunch only $2.00; drop in $1.75 per hour, two hour minimum. if the cost was to be taken without any government funding it would be between $12.50 and $13. On January 1, 1986, the pro- vincial government plan to stop funding, forcing parents of children enrolled in day care centres to pay the full price. There have been no meetings with parents or teachers as of yet, but on Tuesday Oc- tober 25, a meeting is planned at the Wingham Day Care Centre inviting surroun- ding Day Care Centres, parents and teachers to attend. A representative from the Ministry of Community and Social Ser- vices will be on hand. Presently, 60 children are registered with the Tuckersmith Day Care Centre, approx- imately 25 children are in attendance per day. local labor market was required to ensure that sufficient numbers of skilled workers were available for the project. This was one of the factors which occasioned the delay in assessment," states the premier. The two-month delay of the application from the London regional office of the Ministry of Labor, which oversees the pro- gram to Toronto, bothered at least one trustee. "Where was it 'til then (June 24)?" asked Stratford trustee Ron Marcy. Superintendent of business and finance, Jack Lane, said the application was at the London regional office. He said the regional office had to find 48 available, skilled workers for 40 weeks. That, and a change in the criteria, from potential laborers who have exhausted unemployment insurance claims and are on some form of social assistance to workers on unemployment in- surance, delayed the application further. "I wonder, if the unemployed people m the two counties (Huron and Perth) heard that, if they'd be available?" asked Wingham area trustee Vincent McInnes, referring to a comment by Mr. Lane that the Ministry of Labor had to go to London and Kitchener to look for enough workers. The business superintendent said June 15 had been set as the original date to consider the board's application, but after several meetings were cancelled the application was finally rejected on Aug. 10. A ministry spokesman said the federally and provin- cially matched dollars for the COED pro- gram ran out in June. "I can speak highly of the people in Lon- don," said Mr. Lane who acknowledged the proposal is a complex project. There was however, a definite com- munication problem. As Mr. Eckert points out, the board had no indication that the search for potential employees or the change in criteria had delayed the board's application. - Trustees commented on "government ef- ficiency", particularily on the large dollar amounts spent in the province under the COED program. "Over $200 million was spent in three months. Even I couldn't do that efficiently. Damn it, are our schools and kids not that important? If they (provincial government) tad done that four years ago (when the Tories had a minority government) they'd have been hung from the nearest tree," said Mr. Eckert angrily. "And that's about as political as your director will ever- get," added Mr. Eckert, relieving the tension in the room. One trustee Commented; "keep it on the frodjt burner" and the board may yet see results on its proposal to add rooms to some ofits schools in place of portables. Car crash neap Brucefield kills Zurich area man A single vehicle accident near Brucefield on Oct. 7 claimed the life of a Zurich area man. Lorne George Prince,, 46, of RR 3 Zurich was travelling eastbound on County Road3, west of Highway 4 *hen the 1974 Ford he' was driving 'veered off the road and careened into the ditch. The Goderich OPP reported that the car then struck a culvert, flew into the air, and crashed on the railway tracks. Mr. Prince was pronounced dead at Clinton Public Hospital. Mr. Prince was born in Matchedash Township (Ontario) to Henry Prince and Ethel Coombs on May 24, 1937. He is survived by dear friend Sharon Redford of RR 3 Zurich and one daughter; Sharon Prince of Trenton. Surviving is one son, Michael of RR 5 Clinton. Also surviving are sisters Mrs. Marion Smith -Of Orillia, Mrs. Donna Cress of Ayr, '493. L ois Johnston; Mrs, .Nora ltopo t, M1s. Reita White and Miss Audrey Prince, all of Coldibater and brothers Donald of Cold- water, Albert of Foxmead and Murray of Orillia. He is survived by two grand- children. Mr. Prince had worked .in the paving business for the past 27 years. Funeral services were held on Oct. 3 at the Ball and Falconer Funeral Home in Clinton with Reverend Norman Pick presiding. Mr. Prince was buried at the Clinton Cemetery. Hullett Wildlife increases hunting area The portion of the 2,198 hectare Hullett Wildlife Management Area ( WMA designated exclusively for waterfowl and other migratory game bird hunting has been increased for the 1983 season, Natural Resources Minister Alan Pope said recently. The minister added that the whole habitat improvement project at Hullett is expected to be completed a year ahead of schedule. Once the $1.5 -million project is com- pleted at the end of 1984, the WMA will in- clude 779 hectares of prirne waterfowl habitat in an area which previously had no major staging areas for migratory water- fowl. The success of the Hullett WMA project, Pope said, is due to the combined efforts of Ducks Unlimited and his ministry. The project is already reporting positive results, Pope noted. "Several new species of ducks are taking advantage of the flood- ed areas and more ducks can be expected in the near future." The Hullett project is one of the largest of its kind in Ontario. To date, a total of 25 kilometres of dikes have been erected parallel to the South Maitland River. Ducks Unlimited has spent $1.2 million so far on dike construction and maintenance and to date has developed over 243 hec- tares of waterfowl habitat. The current regulations divide Hullett into two hunting zones. Zone A is for waterfowl and other migratory game bird hunting only, and hunters must shoot from designated loca- tions. One-third of this zone is a sanctuary area for the birds. This year, 166 hectares of additional waterfowl habitat was created including 121 hectares of hunting area, and 45 hectares of sanctuary. In Zone B a combination of upland game, including pheasant, grouse and rabbits, and waterfowl hunting is permitted. As the marsh area is increased, Pope said, Zone A will increase in size and Zone B will be reduced. The overall effect will be to provide more breeding and staging areas for waterfowl, and more hunting op- portunities for sportsmen. This project is the result of an agree- ment signed in 1979 between Ducks Unlimited and the Ministry of Natural Resources which called for Ducks Unlimited to fund construction and maintenance for the development of marsh habitat on the ministry's wildlife managment area at Hullett. "The work of Ducks Unlimited and my ministry in places like Hullett is felt, not just locally, but all along the natural migratory route of our wild waterfowl — throughout Canada, the United States and Mexico," Pope said. Ducks Unlimited, a private agency fund- ed by Canadian and U.S. sportsmen, funds waterfowl management projects across Canada. Between 1974 and 1982, it spent $7 - million in Ontario on 119 wetland con- servation projects involving 8,560 hectares of land, more than half of that Crown - owned. Group home gets okay By Shelley McPhee A proposed group home for the mentally handicapped has received taken another step forward closer to reality. This month the proposal received ap- proval from the Clinton Planning Advisory Committee. Approval from this board means that the group home complies with regulations of the zoning bylaw. Councillor Charlie Burgess, a planning committee member, opposed the recom- mendation and said he was unhappy with the way the proposal has been handled. Councillor Burgess said he felt that a loca person should have been given the op- portunity to buy and set-up the group home. Group homes are purchased by private individuals and operated in col junction with local associations and the municipality. in Clinton's case a Kitchener firm will pur- chase the home and provide the residence for the mentally handicapped. Mayor Chester Archibald explained that the Goderich And District Association for the Mentally Handicapped approached the Kitchener people, as well as people in Goderich and area, who might have been interested in making this type of in- vestment. Councillor Burgess suggested that the town could have made the investment and built a ranch style home and could have benefited from the rental revenues. Mayor Archibald noted that the Municipal Act clearly states that a municipality is not allowed \to become invol 'ed in this kind of business venture. Major improvements at the Clinton Public Hospital laboratory have allowed technicians like Delores Bergin to do much of the lab work at the hospital that was previously shipped out to larger hospitals. The laboratory is also one section of the hospital that is in need of new equipment however the capital funds reserve was used up by equipment purchases for the new addition. Clinton council has granted the hospital $5,000 to help rebuild the fund. (Shelley McPhee photo) Town helps hospital with $5, 000 equipment grant By Shelley McPhee In an effort to help rebuild the Clinton Public Hospital's reserve fund, Clinton council has approved a $5,000 grant. to the local medical institution. Clinton hospital administrator Doug Coventry said that the extra funding would help to replenish the hospital's capital ex- pense account that was greatly depleted by equipment purchases for the new addition. 'In the 'past year more than $150,000 has been spent on equipment for the new emergency and physiotheraphy addition at the .hospital. Mr.. Coventry. noted: that . the equipment has been well used and out- patient servicing at the new addition has dramatically increased. To this point the ministry of health has not made allowances or given additional funding to help offset this increased use, but Mr. Coventry hopes that this may change by the end of the year. In the meantime, the need to replace and upgrade equipment at the hospital has, as Mr. Coventry noted, "put on hold until we can afford to pay for it." The hospital could easily spend at least $80,000 on new equipment. On the pur- chasing waiting list is a new autoclave, a • $31,0000 sterilization machine. Presently the hospital is serviced by a 20 -year-old machine that is used to sterilize all in- struments, bandages and gauze pads. Essential to the operation of the hospital, the present autoclave is expensive to run since it operates off steam used by the boilers. These costs are high luring the summer months and cost the hospital at least $5,000. The hospital laboratory has undergone major upgrading in the past few years and also needs new equipment. A •new microscope, water . bath and coagulating machine i this, department. will cost more than $i>l,dDtl: - . Mr. Coventry says the hospital should also be looking towards the future, and the purchase of diagnostic ultrasound equip- ment and a walk-in freezer in the kitchen. Mr. Coventry noted that recently some ultrasound equipment was purchased through donations and he said, "That's the only way we'll be able to finance pur- chases." Council's hospital representative, Councillor Rosemary Armstrong has asked council to' consider a $5,000 grant annually for the capital fund account at the hospital. .• A weatherman somewhere in the United States may still be looking for his weather statistics. A "Radiosonde" weather station blew into the Terry Taylor farm, such east of Clinton last week. The radio information box, huge balloon and parachute landed on the front lawn of the Taylor home and Marty Presseau of Goderich and Terry found the strange' apparatus. Information attached to the Radiosonde explained that it is owned by the National Weather Service in the USA. The station, which is normally positioned 17 miles in the air, measures temperature, air pressures, humidity and K i iris ( Shelley McPhee photo)