Loading...
HomeMy WebLinkAboutClinton News-Record, 1986-10-22, Page 1INCORPORATING -THE BLYTH STAINDARD-THE BAYFIELD BUGLE NO. 43 121 YEARS WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 22, 1986 50 CENTS Community rallies to help "Thi biter" By Dora Shobbrook LONDESBORO - The Lions Club here is em- barking on a major funding raising project to help a fellow club member. At their October 2 meeting, Lions Club members agreed to proceed with plans to purchase a fully equipped van for Lion Ron Nesbitt. Mr. Nesbitt was seriously injured in a swimming accident this summer. He is still hospitalized and when he returns home he will require a special mode of transportation. Lion President Howard Cartwright said the club is looking at an overall expenditure of more than $25,000. He is conficient there is no doubt that the community will support this worthy endeavor. To kick off the fund raising campaign a special event called "Back The Biter Day" will be held on Saturday, November 29. Lion Dave Overboe, chairman of the fund raising committee, said that the slogan "Back The, Biter" was chosen because many of Ron' Nesbitt's friends know him as "The Biter". Activities are not yet finalized for the November 29 kick off, put planned events in- clude a variety concert, a box luncheon, a family dance and a euchre party. A highlight of the day will be a novelty auction when Londesboro Lions and other communi- ty members will be auctioning novelty prizes some special surprise items. All local service clubs and organizations will be contected to participate in "Back The Biter Day" and to support the fund rais- ing campaign. Anyone who is interested in helping with this project should contact Dave Overboe at 523-4416. lyth doesn't want PCB soil By Shelley McPhee Haist BLYTH - Some 135 gallons of con- taminated soil containing PCBs will not be dumped at the Blyth-Hullett Landfill Site without further study. At their October meeting, village council members would not give final approval to allow the dumping, as requested by Ontario Hydro. The soil in question was collected after an oil spill from a transformer in Hullett Township. The three barrels of soil have been tested for PCB levels and Ontario Hydro representative Hugh Lobb advised council that these levels were less than 50 parts per million, which is the contaminated level. Council has been advised by Larry Struthers of the Ministry of the Environ- ment that the barrels of soil may be placed in the local landfill site. Council, however, remains hesitant. Members are concerned that while the dumping may be permitted now, in future years it could cause difficulties. Councillor Bill Manning explained, "It may meet the criteria now, but in five or 10 years down the road that criteria could change. "I would prefer it if another site were found. If we have PCBs in our landfill site at all, they could show up at another time and under tighter rules it could mean closure of our dump." Council agreed that environmental regulations are often changed and upgrad- ed, and, the future of many landfill sites are in. precarious positions. Not wishing to jeopardize the situation further, council stalled on making a decision to allow the disposal of the contaminated soil. Council members said that they wanted more time to consider the request, more in- formation regarding the test results, and an opportunity to meet with members of Hullett Council to discuss the situation. Council turns down invitation to join Seaforth- uckersmith landfill site Dave Kendall (left) first vice president for the Ontario Public ding for elementary education. Mr. Kendall and Goderich teacher School Teachers' Federation (OPSTF) visited Huron County Doug Yeo (right) studied the OPSTF brief that is being presented recently to meet with local teachers and to discuss the underfun- to the provincial government. (Shelley McPhee Haist Photo) Equal funding sought for schools By Shelley McPhee Haist The poster shows the photograph of a young boy. A question above it read "The Underfunding of Elementary Education Y?" Below the picture another question asks, "Why am I worth $879 less?" Why is the elementary aged pupil worth less than the high school student? Why do , financial inadequacies exist in the govern- ment funding structure for Ontario schools? When is the provincial government going to take steps to rectify the situation? These are questions being posed by members of the Ontario Public School Teachers' Federation (OPSTF) and these are the main issues being discussed.by first vice president Dave Kendall as he makes his rounds throughout the province. Mr. Kendall was in Huron County last week to visit area schools, and to meet with local members of the teaching federation. His stop in Huron County was one of many visits he makes through Ontario each year, visiting more -than 74 various districts in the province. These tours offer Mr. Kendall the oppor- tunity to meet with teachers, to nee classrooms in operation and to discuss the main issue of concern for his organization - underfunding of elementary education. Underfunding is not a new issue. From 1970 to 1985 the gap between spending ceil- ngs for elementary and secondary pupils has increased from $500 to $879. An OPSTF brief suggests that if this current rate of in- crease is allowed to continue, the gap bet- ween the ceilings X911 reach more than $1,000 by 1989. Mr. Kendall explained that the cost dif- ferences between elementary and secon- dary schools were established some years ago. At that time larger salaries were paid to high school teachers because they re- quired higher teaching qualifications. As well, operational and program costs for secondary schools were set at a higher rate than that of elementary schools. Since then the scenario has significantly changed. Today not only secondary school teaching qualifications demand university education, but elementary teachers must also have bachelor of arts degrees. Along with the changes in qualifications for elementary teachers, school buildings have developed from small one room facilities to large, modern, more complex institutions: Thus, the funding differences that were established in the 1970s are invalid in the 1980s. A comprehensive brief put together by the OPSTF explains, "The nature and average size of elementary schools have also dramatically changed over the last 10 to 15 years. The consolidation and growth of elementary schools, which began during the 1970's, included the building of libraries, gymnasiums, music rooms, French as a Se- cond Language rooms, kindergarten rooms and special education facilities. It is recognized that the b,, 'Ming o •Pie physical facilities came out o ,a •pitaglopation, but the maintenance Su .6 dTtt adnunistra- tion costs must be borne through the per pupil grant. These larger school units also required increased services, such as secretarial assistance, custodial. support and supplied to carry out their programs. As well, with the implementation of the reorganization of 'schools into county and designated city boards, school board bureaucracies and centralized services ex- panded, requiring much greater expen- diture at the elementary level." A survey of per pupil expenditures has shown that in 73 per cent of the cases, the elementary board spent a larger amount of money on instructional costs, than did secondary boards. In Huron County, for example, a 1984 survey shows that elementary per pupil costs took up 90.8 per cent of the cost of operation, while at the secondary level the figure 'amounted to 86.5 per cent. Opera- tional and maintenance costs amounted to 8.7 per cent at the elementary level and 11.5 per cent at the high school level for a dif- ference of 2.8 per cent. "Clearly," the OPSTF brief noted, "elementary boards have, in relative terms, Turn to page 2 • By Anne Narejko CLINTON - Council here unanimously declined an earlier invitation from the municipalities of Seaforth and Tuckersmith to join them in a new landfill site. Instead, they will ,stay with the town's present site located in Hohnesville. "I'll tell council now that I don't like it," said Clinton Mayor John Balfour. "It's too close for a municipal dump, it's too expen- sive and there are too many unknowns." At council's September 15 meeting, Burns Ross of B.M. Ross and Associates presented Clinton Council members with some facts about the Seaforth-Tuckersmith proposed landfill site located less than one mile from own. His purpose was also to invite Clinton to join, making it a three municipality site. At that time, council decided to wait until ore information could be obtained regar- ding the future of the Holmesville site. owever, Mr. Ross emphasized that eaforth and Tuckersmith would like an nswer in the near future so they could pro- ceed with their plans. To comply with this request, council ask- ed their Public Utilities Commission (PUC) o look into a major concern - could the pro- osed site contaminate Clinton's well water upply? In turn, the PUC instructed the .ground water engineering firm of International Water Consultants Ltd. to conduct a preliminary assessment of the contamina- tion possibility. There findings were based on a general hydrogeologic setting according to informa- tion and reports on file, and in the letter from the consultants to the PUC, they noted, "The proposed landfill design, supporting investigations and accompanying reports II Former employees • optimistic BRUCEFIELD - _ On _September 26, _16 _ employees of Ross Scott Fuels, owned by Sun Oil Co., were told their final day of work would be September 30. The reason - the company was being sold to the Hensall Co- • operative, therefore closing the Brucefield operation. Twenty-two days have since passed so the News -Record contacted a few former employees to see if they had found new jobs. Lori Regier of Kippen was employeed with the company for six years as a clerical bookkeeper. She was not one of the three employees offered a job within the Sun Oil organization but did receive a severance package which she was pleased with. As for the closure of the company, Mrs. Regier said, "It wasn't a big shock." Mrs. Regier does want to work in the future, but right now, "I'm on maturnity leave but I plan to start looking in April." Mary Warner of Bayfield was employeed with the company for five and a half years as a bookkeeper. She was also not offered a job within the company but was happy with her severance package. The closure came as more of a surprise to her then it did to Mrs. Regier. "It was a shock in that it was closed and not just changes made," she said. In a report in the Huron Expositor two weeks ago, Robert Webster of Varna was very optimistic about his future, and his op- timism has paid off. After 18 years with the Ross Scott organization, which was purchased by Sun Oil in 1969, Mr. Webster predicted he would "end up back on the petroleum line." Since that interview, Mr. Webster has accepted a job with Edward Fuels, Clinton. , Chas=lesTaylor (left) lnj the Ilurin-Peru :. hitt �ehllldren l watt titt erl Oetti �k firms vin and Nicky T'eYn�:ii�►8 l� � � � . Roman Caitholte Schub d!ard's ann nrttclpated, in the, ► ativere held, er 17. (ltiav ld;i riislie : otdit have not been reviewed and therefore we cannot comment specifically on the propos- ed site." However, they did go on to say, "Assum- ing proper landfill design, operation and monitoring, the possibility of contamination of the Clinton Municipal Wells from the pro- posed landfill appears unlikely..." After reading the letter, which was presented at the October 20 council meeting, Mayor Balfour reiterated his feelings about too many unknowns. "We simply don't have enough pertinent facts," he said. . Councillor Bonnie Jewitt, who is a member of the Holmesville Landfill Site Committee, . told council it would be more expensive if the town were to join the pro- posed site instead of staying with the Hohnesville site. "As the largest municipality using it, we would have to pay our share df the costs so it would be more expensive in that way. Plus, the life expectancy of that site is only 20 years with two municipalities and would be shortened with three. It appears the Holmesville site has another 10 years," she explained. In their motion, council declined the in- vitation, adding, "...the Seaforth- Tuckersmith Landfill Site Committee and the Ministry of the Environment be re- quested to provide the Town of Clinton with any pertinent information resulting from any tests performed on the proposed site in the future, due to the close proximity of the proposed Seaforth-Tuckersmith Landfill Site to the boarders of the Town of Clinton and concern's regarding the future con- tamination of the municipality's water supply." No further drilling at site TUCKERSMITH TWT. - Ministry of En- vironment officials told members of the Seaforth-Tuckersmith Landfill Site Com- mittee they are satisfied with the extent of drilling tests on the proposed Kootstra area landfill site, at a meeting held October 16. ,Seaforth Town Councillor Carolanne Doig,a member if the committee, said ministry" representatives did not request any further drilling be done at the sight. The committee and the ministry are now awaiting reports on the proposals for development and operation for the site from the engineering firms involved,. said Coun- cillor Doig. Nothing further can be done toward making a final decision on the suitability of the site, until those reports, which are now expected to be completed by December, are in, she added. ..Waiting for the reports has set ,the schedule back, and the proposal will pro- bably-how ro- bably-how not reachThe-stage where -public meetings can be held until next spring. "We can't have public meetings until we have found out about the costs of the site and its feasibility," said Councillor Doig. "Right now, we're trying to answer the questions the ministry has put to us." Ball's Bridge gets go ahead Huron County Council gave approval to proceed with a new $1.9 million bridge con- structed over the next two years downstream from Ball's Bridge at their October meeting. The decision was made by council after a feasibility study regarding the replace- ment of the 101 -year-old Ball's Bridge located on the Maitland River south of Auburn was released to county council, In the feasibility study completed by B.M. Ross and Associates engineering firm of Goderich, it recommended the four span bridge be built 1.5 km downstream from Balt's Bridge on an east -west align- ment which' would match up with the Mullett Township Road which heads easterly to Lbndesboro lite bridge construction Would be eligi- ble for an 80 per cent subsidy from the Ministry of Transportation and Corm rounication (MTC) witht county picking u die remaining 20 peg' c• tit. County coup- tfor t. Lose M s dor ,. r p, p ' :ei`i . -; w':Ileiin sey c:. awe JiWii � � p 'Meet. ,C bits: Co M t al►! : t .0 ub• iiid e � � . e d.... 't��''sly3stttdt�+�`�ouser� siili,`� pp In recoiending: tire` lie:W bridge,.the feasibility stated the recommended bridge would allow the perserving the "heritage value of the existing bridge" and would also provide "an excellent interconnecting east -west road pattern". In March of this year, county council decided to keep Ball's Bridge open to traf- fic for a period of 10 years. It was also agreed that the bridge would not be replac- ed in case of any damage or removal by natural causes. The bridge will also be in- spected again at the end of the 10 -year period to determine whether it will be fur- thur maintained or closed or removed. The maintenance costs for the bridge, k M[ i r. Turn your clods back It's that time of year, again. The days twill e shorter , as we will have at hour less a � Before you go to bed on Saturday night, 1.. I1 :I