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HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Wingham Advance-Times, 1989-01-24, Page 171 t •••••$:*$ SAEETY-SPOT CHECK — Trucking safety was the ainrota-spordliebirtVfirntWelifferbrettOiroallifi:-. ways 4 and 86 last Tuesday. The exercise was a joint operation conducted by MTO enforcement of- ficers and members of the Ontario Provincial Police District 6 RIDE unit. MTO-OPP checksfnmi Hon truck operating safety Vehicle safety was the focus last Tuesday of a joint spot check operation at the intersection of Highways 4 and 86 just outside Wingham. Ministry of Transportation of On- tario enforcement officers and members of the Ontario Provincial Police District 6 'RIDE unit pulled over transports and other heavy trucks, checking to make sure loads were, within maximum allowable limits, running equipment _was ovrating,safely, and all necessary documents met the legislated stand- ards. -Jim Mansell, MTO's area en- forcement supervisor told The Ad- vance -Times that last weekl exercise at Wingham marked two 'important things: "That MTO is now operating 24 - hours a day, seven days a week and that's very new. The other thing is that we (MTO) have a mandate to work hand-in-hand with other government and law enforcement agencies." He said that among the MTO crew at. the Wingham checkpoint were a vehicle inspector — who is a licenced Class A mechanic — and several highway carrier officers Who check such things as licencing, vehicle weight and dimensions and compliance with such legislation as the Dangerous Goods Transporta- tion Act. The highway carrier officer also will carry out minor vehicle safety checks, Mr. Mansell said, "but he is not a licenced mechanic." Leading the OPP District 6 RIDE crew, Sgt. Chuck Potts said the joint exercise provided an opportunity for the team to pick up additional train- ing, particularly on vehicle safety enforcement. Trucking safety, he said, has re- ceived a great deal of attention in the past few years, and rightly so. "If one of those'big rigs happen to lose its brakes, it's not like a station wagon." The RIDE team, however, would also be on the watch for drinking and driving and suspected drivers would be asked -to take the test on the unit's roadside equipent, ALERT (Alcohol Level Evaluation Roadside Tester). "Normally on a 'RIDE operation, we would stop all vehicles, but because of the nature of this one, we are concentrating primarily on trucking units," he said. Vehicle safety, he said, is the aim of the -joint operation. "Safety is what , we're concerned about . . that's our primary concern." The District 6 RIDE team consists of six officers and working out of the Mount Forest OPP district head- quarters, it has caught literally thousands of drinking drivers. "We're a volume dealership," Sgt. Potts said. "But, I would like to see impaired driving become a part of history." PORRIE - 01! Council held • a .special me�ting to. sdiscusswages: 0 , in /0.7, ifiered. Oir. ' :-' . , Tfe C. undays of e ft/1MA m heo aPtctownshiPeteplOyees,,' . le. r - agreefnent;Pengigg einikteirt TA • Altif,,WreS are uppffiCiaf verbal. ficationon Feb. 14. Coact' aged ,:tit pay. f deemp� pra nrt:e4,71141011. trIrdth vr'°0$ estimated 'at $950 006 person, Pert - time employees are excluded. Part-time wages were raised from $9.55 t* -$10.56 per hour. The basic Salary of employeeof the road department was raised 4.7,0 per cent from $11.55 to $12.10 per hour plus dental allowance in the highest pay category. In the lower three cate- gories of pay the increases are respectively from $10.05 to $A0.60 per hour, from $10.55 to $11.10 Per hour, and from $11.05 to $11.60 per hour plus dental allowance ($480). The deputy clerk will now •receive $14 per hour which includes 50 cents per hour instead of benefits, and the same is true for the secretary whose new rate is set at $10.50 per hour. 4,0640.430 . „ • s figurealso inCintleelbg 'aforeinen- :ttotied.,:paymente .ingtead of the ;,Variousbenefit packages.• These same benefits are also in, e .cluded in the clerk -treasurers new -salary which increase. $5,700, from $35,000 to $40,730. All figures given are gross incomes. Council members also will get an increase. The reeve's honorariuM will go from $2,200 to $2.806, the deputy reeve from $2,000 to $2 400, and regular council members from $1,800 to $2,200. Additionally each council member will receive $60 forspecial council meetings, $40 for -Ward meetings they are asked to attend, $90 for all - day meetings and $120 for con- ferences that require overnight stays. Upon ratification of the salary The livestock evaluator will re - hikes the road superintendent's ceive $40 instead of the previous $15 salary will increase from $31,400 to for each inspection. $33,700. .This is • a combination of a Ratification of these increases will $32,152 base salary plus $720 for take place during the Feb. 14 Howick OHIP, $348 instead of benefits, and Township Council meeting. All $480 instead of a dental plan. regular meetings are open to the - Any overtime will be credited in public. Advisory committee helps boards develop -policies An advisory committee to help school boards develop drug education policies has been announced by _Ontario Education Minister ChilS,Ward. = The ministry advisory committee will be chaired by Karl Kinzinger, director of education for the North York Board of Education, and will will help school boards establish drug education policies, as recommended in the report on the use of illegal drugs in Ontario by Muskoka -Georgian Bay MPP Ken Black. In making the announcement, Mr. Ward said teachers, principals and school board officials must work in partnership with parents, communi- ties, police and many others in the province to attack substance abuse. He said the establishment of the committee is an important initiative designed to help educators do their part in the endeavor. The committee will create a framework to give direction to boards as to what should be included in a drugeducation policy. The advisory committee is to rea fire board reviews its proposed 1989 budget Members of the Wingham Area Fire Board are considering a proposed operating budget for 1989 which if passed as it now stands, represents a 68 per cent increase over the fire department's actual total expenditure for last year. The large increase can be at- tributed to a single entry in the budget, the proposal to purchase the chassis for a new pumper this year at an estimated $100,000. The remainder of the pumper's . estimated $180,000 total purchase price would be paid in the 1990 budget should the board decide to proceed with ordering the vehicle this year. If the board were to not order the pumper in 1989, a fnarked change in the budgetary figures would then be evident. Without the new pumper, the $10,315 increase over last year's actual figures represents a con- siderably lower 6.4 per cent. The 1989 proposed budget — in- troduced at the board's regular January meeting — has a bottom line of $272,456 with the pumper included. - The 19 projected actual figure for fire board expenditures is $162,141, resulting in differences of 110,315 or $10,315, depending on whether or not the board goes ahead with the vehicle purchase. Largest sinOle item — other than the pumper — is the $44,000 projected cost of pay for fire calls. Closely behind that Hollis the fire chief's salary and benefit package, a total of $46,256. The board hired a full-time chief in August of last year. Other salary costs in 1989 are $8,700 for fire officers — down from last year's actual of $101996 — and $1,500 for clerical, an increase of $250 over 1988. present its report to the government by the end of 1989, and the policy framework is to be available to school boards by the spring of 1990. "It is my expectation that every Ontario school board will have a comprehensive drug educaticin policy in place by September, 1991," Mr. Ward said. In addition to the chairman,. 10 education organizations, the Addiction Research Fotmci4tion and the Ontario Provincial Police will be invited to have representation on the committee along with ministry of education representatives. Turnberry not interested in lake project Turnberry Township Council, like Morris, is not interested m a joint meeting about the Lake Wingham proposal, at least at the present time. Council was responding to a letter received late last month from Jack Kopas, president of the Wingham Business Association. Mr. Kopas suggested that a joint meeting be held to discuss the proposal. Deputy Reeve Nelson Underwood said he felt council had heard of the proposal last year when business association representatives at- tended a meeting, adding that he did not think much had changed in the meantime. Housing project is abandoned The Belgrave Non -Profit Housing Committee recently held its final meeting, at least for the present - time. A survey taken late last year indicates that the number of people interested in non-profit housing in the hamlet currently does not warrant proceeding with the proposed project. The committee will remain in place to possibly study the matter again at some future time. 0