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HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Goderich Signal-Star, 1982-06-16, Page 1.the oder1Ch SIGN L au" 6° ST 134 YEAR -24 GODERICH, ONTAR , D]ESDJY, JUNE 16,1982 50 OEMS PER co1[ Y r1 Finances put snag in expansion plans The taxpayers of Goderich may have to finance the expansion of the water distribution system to the tune of $1 million but members of town council and the PUC couldn't agree on how to approach the people for that money. The groups did agree that . the present water distribution facilities were inadequate but the con- struction of a new water reservoir and the upgrading and automation of the water filtration plant will cost $1.8 million. The provincial government is willing to pump over $700,000 into the project, leaving the town with a bill over $1 million. The task of improving the water distribution system m town nas been with council and the PUC for several years. The Ministry of the Environment, owner of the water filtration plant, has urged the town to improve the facility and also assume responsibility for its operation. The PUC is quite infavor of ,taking over the plant from the ministry and financing the improvements through a debenture. Members of council had some reservations on the. benefits to the town for assuming control of the plant and the methods of financing the $1 million worth off construction needed to update the system.' There was general agreement that the town needs to improve the water distribution system. The system, according to PUC manager Al Lawson, is designed to produce 1.5 million gallons: per -day but has the capacity to produce three million gallons per day. During peak usage periods in the summer, residents are using three million gallons, leaving little, if any, water for fire fighting. A report prepared for and commissioned by the PUC, by engineer E. Allen Ladbrooke, suggests the town should immediately proceed with the takeover and upgrading of the water distribution system. Despite the fact the capacity of the plant would be doubled, Ladbrooke insisted the town would realize Candy floss and a ride on the elephant were two of the attractions for children who visited the Martin and Downs Circus in Goderich on Saturday_ The circus' visit to town was sponsored by the Goderich Rotary Club. There were two shows under the big top featuring animal acts, juggling and acrobatics. f Photos by Joanne Buchanan) Board .will study fesibi1ity of moving Grades 7 and. 8 to Victoria School The Huron County Board of Education received a proposal from a group of Goderich residents who presented a petition with 188 signatures on it, asking the board to look into' the possibility of setting up classroom space at Victoria School for grade seven and eight students now presently attending Rober- tson Public School. According to Roy Straughan, a spokesman for the group, the parents feel that their children should not have to walk the additional distance to Robertson if students now attending Victoria could continue at the school at a grade seven and eight level_ At the present time students who will be going into grade seven have to go to Robertson after completing grade sit. The group also expressed concern that their children might have difficulty integrating into the Robertson school system and that Robertson students discriminated against students from Victoria. "I would.really question .any. discrimination and 1 have never seen any indication of discrimination at the school, said Robertson principal, Ralph Smith, in a telephone interview with the Signal -Star. Sinith saki that the group should contact him with any problems they feel their children "Might en- counter at his school. He also expressed'support for the proposal if it will cut down- the distance the students have to travel. r The group told the board that some of the parents had noticed a drop in the student's marks after they started attending Robertson Smith said that if that is the fact then it is because the students are not doing their work. Some parents have expressed that they will send their children to Holmesville i(f.sl,ace is not provided at Victoria. School superintendent, John Cochrane, told the group that students could not be transferred to any school in Huron County unless special permission was, granted by the School Board under provisions in the Edircation Alct. The group told the board that there are several possibilities to free space already in use at Victoria for grade Seven and eigtnt classes_ The one proposal was to move the home economics and technical classes now being used by several area schools at Victoria to make room for the new classes. Several board members told the group of the dif- ficulties' involved. in such a move because these classrooms are generally larger to accommodate ap- pliances and machines and that the equipment would not fit into a normal size classroom_ Another proposal offered by the group was the possibility of moving students of Queen Elizabeth School to Robertson, although the group acknowledged that such a move was not favorable. The group told the board that if grade seven and eight students were moved to Victoria they would have to make extensive use of the Public Library before a new library could be set up at the school. An agreement was reached between the group and the board to set up a committee to look into the feasibility of such a move for the beginning of Sep-" tember 1983. The committee in matting its recom- mendations to the board for final approval will have to look at a number of issues involved. 'Riese will include boundaries, number of children, projected school. enrollment, east and other factors. However. it was evident at the meeting that the petition has wide support from the board, parents and school principals. • Extra taxes to cost board of education 75;000 a year BY STEPHANIE LEVESQUE • CLINTON - The recent provincial budget will cost the Huron County Board of Education at Least $75.000 more than it had budgeted for 1982. Director of education John Cochrane explained the implications of the new budget to the board .at its June 1 meeting. OHIP, sales tax on school suipplies. building material sales tax, capital equipment and labor costs are all costs the board has to pay. A resolution from the Ffatdimand-Norfolk Separate School Board protesting the seven per cent sales tax on school supplies was endorsed by the Huron board. A list of'the financial impacts 'lathe board will be sent along with the resolution to the Ontario Public School Trustees' Association. Trustee John Elliott said the OPSTA had received a similar resolution from the London Board of Educa- tion, supported it and forwarded it to the Ontario Trustees" Council. There are two choices open to the board. one is to go over budget and the other is to cut tine quantity of sup- plies and services. Superintendent Robert Allen said the•.bnard would probably end up doing both, cutting down on the purchase of capital equipment and go over budget in the area of school supplies. The increase in OHIP premiums will mean an op, proximate extra cost of $30.000 during the balance of 1982. 's • The provincial sales tax on school supplies such as paper and pencils is estimated to cost about $14.500 during the rest of the year. The building material, sales tat is expected to cost the board in excess of $20,000 for such! things as roof- ing projects. The new tax on capital equipment is ex- pected to reduce the board's purchasing power by over $7,000. Labor costs, which are now taxable in certain cases, will increase costs to the board, but no dollar valise has yet been put on this cost. The board awaits clarification:on this matter.. savings through automation, which would eliminate the need for two employees. While the ministry has encouraged municipalities to assume control of filtration plants, Ladbrooke admitted the savings were meagre, if possible. His report stated that the general public believes it has more control over its affairs when servicing is under the control of elected representatives. The snag is financing the $1 million project but the PUC is willing to produce the payments from water rates. PUC member Herb Murphy said the costs must be redeemed from revenues or the sale of water to customers. He added that the utility is putting $38,000 into a reserve account annually and at the end of 1982 the account will have approximately $180,000. The town has to apply for a debenture on behalf of the PUC and a report submitted by administrator Larry McCabe indicated annual payments on the $1 million debenture would range from at least $150,000 to over $200,000 annually, depending on the terms and interest rates. The PUC believes the payments can be met by the $38,000 reserve fund coupled with an average $27 increase per year to residential users. Water bills for Goderich residents are already among the highest in the province. While the Ministry has not made notification of grant approval for the project, PUC members in- dicated such approval has been received verbally. Written approval, they said, would be forthcoming at any time. Murphy told council that financing was obviously the major concern but pointed out that in the last 12 years the town has built a pollution control plant and subsequently expanded that same plant. Councillor Stan Profit said the expansion should not be recovered solely from water rates and insisted the two groups must derive the best method to gather funds. "The reserve fund is a good idea," he said. Commission chairman, Albert Shore, intimated the financing of the project should be left to the PUC. "The question is, does the town want to give us a debenture?" he asked. "We've proved we can pay for it" He said later that the coli,mission was not asking the town for money and that the PUC would pay for the project. Deputy -reeve Bob Allen said no-one was questioning .the need for improved water distribution capabilities but cautioned members on the Cost. "We must be careful and look at what we can af- ford," he said. "Once we're into something it's for keeps and I'm concerned about the payments." Elsa Haydon substantiated Allen's statements saying the question of need was evident adding that financing should be scrutinized closely. "I am against a debenture because we can't place further heavy burdens on the taxpayer," she said. "The town hasn't grown, there are no new industries, why are we pushed for expansion now. Why can't we wait and look at the financing." Murphy conceded there was no great emergency adding that six to eight years of planning and work would culminate in the next 18 months with the ex- pansion xpansion process. "We've gone through the exercises and answered all the questions except financing, he said. "If we are not in a position to accept grants this year we could move down the list. If there is one major fire or a breakdown, we're in a bind." Commissioner Jim , Peters told council that if grants from the ministry are not accepted this year, the town would wait 10 years for another grant ap- proval_ Reeve Don Wheeler took exception to the comments and said the ministry would certainly understand if the municipality needed more time before making a committment to the $1 million ex- pansion. The town has survived with the limited capabilities of the system by imposing water restrictions and councillor Jim Searis suggested restrictive measures could be imposed until the financial details were worker out. "We definitely need water storage but, perhaps, we could restrict the use of water more and we'd have a chance to look at all the angles," he said. "We have to know where the money is coming. from. People are , taxed to the ears now." Both council and the PUC will review methods of financing the project before holding another joint meeting on the project. • Education program will be costly CLINTON - Special education iii Huron County will 'Cost $1.84'7,000 in 1982 Figures on the cost of special education and . revenue from the Ministry of Education were presented to the Huron County Board of Education at its June 7 meeting. A.treviots denting, trustees asked to receive a written clarification of special education funding. The Iocal share of the costs is $499,531, with the Ministry picking up the remaining $1,347,469_ There are several different grant structures for special education funding. The board receives $125 per elementary student and $90per secondary student. Trustee Marion Zinn asked how much ,theLocal share would be if Bill 82 ( the special education artiendinent to the Education Act) hadn't been in- troduced. Superintendent of program Robert McCall pointed to figures showing the Ministry would have paid $659,144 while the tocal share would have been $1,847,000. Expenditures in: the school program include: salaries and benefits for teachers, $1,196,931: salaries and benefits for teacher aides, $97,941:- bill 82 irin- pletnentation, $18,985; staff improver rent, $3,423: formula allocation, $12,830; for a total of @1,330,110. Expenditures for support services `(student ser- vices department) include: salaries and benefits, $484,190; general supplies, $13,600; itinerant travel $17,7(10; staff improvement, $'1,400. Tire total is 8516,890. Accident victim dies in hospital Mrs. Ann Obrovac, 30, of Hamilton, one of five worm pickers injured by a car near Auburn early last Tuesday morning, died the following day in University Hospital, London. Driver of the car, Doreen Jefferson, 19, of R.R. 1 Belgrave, has been. charged with careless driving. Miriana Nikolic, 31, of Stoney Creek is in fair condition In a Hamilton hospital with two broken legs and Milena Kresina, 30, of Hamilton is in fair con- dition in Wingham hospital. Slobodan Nikolic, 37, of Stoney Creek, Dragon Nikolic, 31, of Hamilton and Jefferson were treated for minor injuries and released. -- The Goderich Detachment of the OPP, which is still investigating, say the accident occurred on Huron County Road 22 about 11 kilometres north of Auburn at 3:25 a.m. Tuesday. The injured persons were part of a group loading dew worms into two parked vans on the west side of the road when a southbound car driven by Jefferson slid sideways into the rear of one van,, sending it crashing into the other. Obrovac was caught between the Jefferson vehicle and the back of one of the vans. Ministry requests landfill testing The Ministry of the Environment has asked that further testing be done at the Holmesville land fill site to determine if there is contamination at the site. The land fill site committee reluctantly agreed to the request by the Ministry despite the fact that similar testing was completed in 1981". However, the Ministry hydrogeologist is not satisfied that there is sufficient data to determine what the future con- tamination of the site may be. While the committee was hesitantlo undertake new studies of the area, they felt there was little recourse but to comply with the Ministry's demand. Sul> sequently, the committee passed a motion authorizing the firm of Ian D. Wilson Associates Limited to proceed with testing. Testing of the land fill site will cost $6,000 for drilling, engineering, sampling and supervision. The work will include the drilling of four new test wells, sampling of seven shallow wells in the community of Holmesville, resampling of the creek to the east of the land fill site and survey levelling. The committee has also asked that the consultant make a recommendation on the utilization of the eastern side of the site.. The committee also recommended the acceptance of an agreement with George Laois for the land fill site, in the amount of $170,000. The town of Goderich will bill participating municipalities on a quarterly' basis and payments will be made by the town every three months. Film depicts farming in county ETHE,L - Broken Dreams is two Humber College graduates' attempt at explaining farmers to city folks. Broken Dreams - is a 15 -minute movie featuring • farmers from Bruce and Huron counties talking about the economic difficulties they face. It was shown ;at the monthly meeting of the Huron County Federation of Agriculture on June 3. • Dave Ransley,Ahe movie's director, was on hand for the showing, and gave credit to his absent part- . ner, cameraman Mark Matthews. Both live in Toron- to now, but Mr. Ransley said his parents live in Bruce County, explaining the reason for the location of the film. Wanting to produce something meaningful for a project for their college film -making program, the two' students chose the topic of farming. They started at an OFA task force hearing held last fall in Hanover by making contacts with farmers and the first print of the movie was completed in April. Film makers, not distributors, the two men. have attempted to have the film shown on national televi- sion. It has been shown to the National Film Board, CBC, W5, Global, the Optario Pork ' Producers Marketing. Board and the Ontario Federation of Agriculture. Global said it is not interested, but W5 bought a two -minute clip from the Movie on Bruce County pork producer Brian Ireland. Other area people in the movie are Gisele Ireland, Clarence Ackert, Bev Brown, Jean Moorley and Lloyd Hutton. As a result of the film, the two men produced a 10 - minute segment on farm consultants for CBC's Coun- try Canada. The two will show Broken Dreams to any interested group. 1NOIDET SIGNAL -STAR B ll. tournament The Goderich Women's Fastball League held their second annual fastball tournament over the weekend. For a wrap-up of the events turn to the Recreation section of the paper. Sports history Linda Reid made sports history for the town of Goderich over the weekend when she took two gold medals in,the Special Olympics Swimming Cham- pionship. Her story is on the front page of the Recreation section.