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Clinton News-Record, 1987-03-25, Page 1I'1:1)1(14 )H \'1'I''4(,:riih: RI.) Tli w 1' 1\U 1H1)-`1'1IF: 13 01 F'IEL1) tit (Al. Noe 12 121 YEARS WJDNESDAY, MARCH 25, 1987 50 CENTS There was time to empty some of the lower floor furniture out of the Van Den Berg home at RR2 Goderich before it was unsafe to enter. With the help of friends. Elly Van Derr Berg, centre, was able to save a few possessions. Here the group stands by the furniture while firemen from Clinton and Goderich battle the blaze in the century home behind them on March 19. (Anne Narejko photo) Mother and children escape dire that causes $50,000 damage The Clinton Hire Department was called in to assist Goderich firemen battle a blaze during the late afternoon hours on March 19. After approximately three and a half hours, the flames were extinguished. but not before $50.000 - $60,000 damage was done to the century home located on Highway 8 near Taylor's Corner. Elly Van Den Berg was at home with her four children when the fire began. She said she had just put the youngest child, 11 -month-old 1.eorne, in a crib upstairs and was cleaning nearby when the other children shouted that the house was on fire. Michell, 8, Colin. f,, and Chris, 3, ran from the house with their mother and younger sibling. They were not injured. Mrs. Van Den Berg returned to the house, after making sure the children were safe, to call the Goderich' Fire Depart- ment. The call was made shortly after 4 p.m. Passing motorists stopped to help Mar- tin and Elly Van Den Berg remove main floor furnishings from the burning house Neigbors later helped loa items onto pick-up trucks and move to a storage area. Contents of the second floor were destroyed. The family is presently staying with friends. John Hodges, secretary of the (;ocderich Fire Department. said damage was estimated at between $50,000 - $60,000. The second floor of the house was completely destroyed while the first floor was damag- ed both by fire and water as the firemen had to fight the fire from inside the house. "It r the firer pretty well destroyed everything. In certain spots it burned right through to the main floor," Mr. Hodges said. The fire is believed to have started on the roof of the house. ..It appears that the fire started from the wood stove or chimney with a spark star- ting the roof on fire," Mr. Hodges said. The farm is also the site of Martin's roadside Market garden centre. however, damage was confined to the house. One fireman was treated by ambulance attendants for a glass cut to the hand sus- tained while fighting the fire. No one else was injured. Cliff ton fireman Dean Reid (left) suits up to go into the Van Den Berg home, while.• firemen battle the blaze from the outside.. The entire second floor of the home was lost and estimated damage is between $50,000 and $60,000 damage. (Anne Narejko photos) Budget considered "nicked and dime" By Alan Rivett Huron County Council approved its 1987 budget totalling $21,125,184, with the county's apportionment being $4,897,547 which represents a six per cent increase over 1986 at the council's budget meeting on March 19. To taxpayers, the average assessment rate in the county will rise 1.6 per cent resulting in a net increase to the county levy of 6 per cent. Bayfield will bear the biggest increase in the county levie with a 16 per cent increase while West Wawanosh Township was assessed the lowest amount with a 1.2 per cent increase. - To get to the six per cent figure, the ex- ecutivecommittee of the county were forc- ed to make numerous budget cuts in the preliminary budget which represented an 11.75 increase over 1986. County Clerk -Treasurer Bill Hanley referred to the budget as a "nickel and dime" budget with a number of small ex- penses being cut to arrive at the six per cent increase over 1986. However, the budget included the cutting of a $23,000 grant for the new runway at the Goderich Municipal Airport and a reduction of $250,000 in the Huronview reserve, set aside for the proposed renovations at the County -run home for the aged. The budget did include a $75,000 to be in- cluded in the hospital reserve fund for the Seaforth Public Hospital. The grant will be set aside for each of the next four years with the last two years provisional on the approval of the new council. Council itself was subject to a budget cut with the overall committee pay for coun- cillors reduced by $4,880. According to Warden Brian McBurney, the reduction in committee pay was possible by making a clearer distinction between committee pay for a half day or a whole day. A full day pay is now defined as three hours or more of meeting time. Stapley Township Reeve Clarence Rau said a number of the committees start anywhere between 10 a.m. to 11:30 a.m. and, after lunch, meet for another hour and consider it a full day meeting. He recommended that, with a bit of effort on the part of the committee members, he said the meeting could start earlier and be classified as half day meetings. "There's no reason why meetings can't start at 9 a.m., end at 12 or 12:30 p.m., and be considered a half day meeting," he said. Goderich Reeve Harry Worsell sar he, because he lives in town, could beat the committee meetings by 9.am., but he said other council members in the country would have a difficult time arriving at the early morning meetings on time. "I don't know how you can cut ( the meetings) down," he said. Mr. Rau said a number of farmers have now turned to cash cropping which has cut back on the amount of time required to work in the mornings. A number of councillors brought up the '-''`suggestion of having evening meetings. Zurich Reeve Robert Fisher suggested that evening meetings said a number of people in his municipality would be more willing to run for reeve if the meeting were Charitable tax number refused LONDESBORO - After two applications and approximately 20 telephone calls, the Londesboro Lions Club has been told they are not eligible for a charitable tax number for their Back The Biter Campaign. The Lions Club spearheaded a fund rais- ing campaign late last fall in hopes of rais- ing enough money to purchase a fully equiped van for fellow member Ron Nesbitt who was injured in a swimming ac- cident and is now a quadriplegic. Thanks to the generous support of the community, the Lions Club not only met their goal, but surpassed it, raising $45,000. While the fund raiser was held. receipts for income tax purposes were given to all who donated. However, the Lions Club has Turn to page 8 CommiUee wants to hear what public thinks of services in the evenings. "I believe a lot of thought should be given to night meetings," he said. Tuckersmith Reeve Bob Bell said the decision on whether to move to night meetings should be left up to the executive committee. However, he didn't support night meetings as he felt it would not only be a long day for councillors, but for coun- ty staff. A sore spot in the budget was the inclu- sion of the 30,000 county share for a $60,000 Waste Management Study in the county with the provincial picking up $30,000 of the total. The' study was passed last year by council to investigate the life of current landfill sites in the county and to find where future landfill sites could be located in the county. Reeve Bill Mickle said the study would be redundant in some areas of the county „ as studies have been done with concern to the landfill sites. "The municipalities could supply this`in- formation to the county and it could save us a lot of money," he said. He also stressed that the county coun- cillors should have a clear .understanding of the situation, as the Municipal Act cur- rently states that regional and govern- ments do not have the authority to initiate waste management studies. x -� "Our particular position, undue the Act has been changed in the last month or two, we don't have the authority," he said, ad- ding that the county should be on solid ground before budgetting the money. Bayfield Reeve Dave Johnston, who is a member of the Waste management Corn- mittee, said in a.meeting with the Minister of the Environment last year, the minister granted a waiver allowing the county to go ahead with the waste management study. Hullett Township Reeve Tom Cunn- ingham said that although he is not in favor of the study, the decision was made last fall to go ahead with the study last fall. He said it was time to end the discussion on the project and "get on with it". The road budget, which allowed $300,000 for re- surfacing roads in the county, was under scrutiny by Exeter Deputy Reeve Lossy Fuller who questions why budget cuts could not be made in this area. Colborne Reeve Russell Kernighan said the Road Department has fallen behind in its road re -surfacing and it has come to a point were if some roads. aren't re- surfaced this year, they will have to be completely re-cdnstructed. "To deviate from the road re -surfacing program would put us at risk," he said. Hullett Reeve concurred with Mr. Ker- nighan saying that the county would be hurt financially in the long run by not re- surfacing some roads this year. In other budget cuts, the computer capital fund for an update of a computer terminal was cut by $5,000; the paving of the library building parking lots was reduced by $4,000; Educational grants were reduced by $6,000; the Children's Aid Society was reduced by $6,604; Patriotic grants were reduced by $1,500; Agricultural grants were reduced by $1,000 and the Emergency Planning grant was reduced by $5,000. CLINTON PUBLIC HOSPITAL BUILDING FUND C1.INTON - Since early July. a committee consisting of doctors. operating supervisors, a medical officer, firemen. a police officer and a hospital administrator have been working on a comprehensive review of the emergency health services within Huron and Perth Counties. And now, in the final stages of their study. they would like input from the public sector. According to co-ordinator Barbara Wor- thington, the study was put in place when the Ministry of Health listed emergency health services as a top priority. "They strongly encouraged the district health councils to study the services," said Ms. Worthington. Huron and Perth do not have health coun- cils, but the administrators working group felt this study was too important to not be in- cluded in, so the Huron -Perth Emergency Health Services Study Committee was set up in February of 1985 Those sitting on the committee include Clinton Public Hospital Administrator Dan Steyn as chairman; operating room supervisors Ferne Schwart- zentruber and Joan Chesney; Constable Roger Dumas of Sebringville: doctors M. Leser and James O'Rourke; ambulance supervisor Reg O'Hagan; Ministry of Health representatives Deanne Zerbecki and James l3jip; Stratford Fire Chief Keith Orchard and Deputy Fire Chief Sid Creek: Medical Officer in Stratford, Susan Tamblyn; and Bev ''Skinner, a public 'representative. Turn to page 8 $ 00,0 400, 000 375, 0