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HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Wingham Advance-Times, 1989-04-11, Page 174v IN-SERVICE DENTAL CARE—The Huron County Health Unit recently conducted an in-service dental care clinic for employees of Brookhaven Nursing Home. Cindy McDougall, seated, a regis- tered nursing assistant at the nursing home, was "guinea pig" last week for Betty Daugherty, left and Barb Doherty, right, as home employees Reanne Bok and Pam Irwin look on. Poljce look fo used in rnajor theft liere The Wingham Police Force is looking for a 1985V Buick Riveria or Oldsmobile'Toronado suspected as being used in a major robbery lastweek at Wingham's Canadian Tire stone. According to Wingham Police Chief Robert Wittig, thieves made off with approximately $20,000 in cash, receipts and coupons, as well as three rifles and one shotgun. The theft occurred the morning of Monday, April 3, between 3:30 and 4 o'clock. The thieves gained entry through a second -floor office window, obtaining two small safes contain- ing the cash and receipts, says Mr. Wittig. Although the store has an alarm system, that particular win- dow did not. More than one person was involved in the heist, he adds. Once the items were taken from the store, Mr. Wittig says he suspects they were placed in the above-men- tioned car, with stolen licence plates, as well as a van. The safes were found several days later near Blyth by a local farmer. They were open and their Cardiff appointment announced The appointment of Murray Cardiff ar.parliamentary assistant to Don Mazankowski, federal agri- culture minister, was announced last week. Mr. Cardiff, of the Brussels area, r is member of Parliament for Huron - Bruce. Brandt says governh'eiit treats partners unfairly The provincial government is using its "municipal partners" unfair ➢y, Ontario Progressive Con- servative Leader Andy Brandt told a gathering of Huron County municipal politicians Friday. While in the county to speak at a party fund-raiser in Seaforth that evening, Mr. Brandt met in the afternoon with a group of mayors, reeves and deputy reeves at the Red Maple Inn near Clinton, Although he included other areas of concern in his talk to the local politicians, the brunt of Mr. Brandt's attack focused on the dete- riorating relationship between the province and municipal govern- ments. The government, he said, has tied Huron PCs elect executive Ken Campbell of McKillop Town- ship has been elected president of the Huron Progressive Conserva- tive Association. He succeeds Donna Wood of Clinton. Also elected to the riding associa- tion executive at a dinner meeting s in Seaforth on Saturday we: first vice-president, Steven Spading of Blyth; secretary -treasurer, Lawrence g Beane of Brucefield; membership secretary, Gerda Peters of Tucker- d smith. Area vice presidents are John Schenk of Wingham, Nico Peters of t Tuckersmith, Ralph Smith of in Seaforth, Mel Hohner of Clinton, and John Chapman of : yfield. Provincial PC Leader Andy j Brandt was guest :speaker' at the t affair. the hands of municipal politicians by transferring more responsibili ties on to the municipalities while at the same time, refusing to pass on the money for them to carry them out. "There is no level of government that gives better value to the tax- payer than the municipal govern- ment," he said. "You know how to give far better value for the tax dol- lar that's been given to you." He told the group that of about $40 billion in the provincial budget, ogee -third goes for health and about 16 per cent for education. With half the budget going to these two areas, he said, some 28 other ministries are left scrambling to share the remaining 50 per cent. The government of Ontario has realized — through tax incentives and normal growth in the economy --- more than 18 per cent, and then turned around and told municipali- ties it was going to freeze the unconditional grants, he said. "I know how you people prepare your budget — line by painful line, dollar by dollar — with complete public scrutiny," Mr. Brandt said. "I know how sensitive you are to pending every municipal dollar." In telling the municipalities it was freezing the unconditional rants, the government chose the wrong grants, he charged. '°Uncon- itional grants allow local govern- ments to set their own priorities. 've'said to those in the government hat you've tied the hands of the unicipal politicians." If the trend continues, he said, municipalities will be faced with ust two alternatives — increased axes or reduced' services. r''These are the only two alterna- tives you have if unconditional grants are held to no increase." He described as disturbing the fact that the Association of Munici- palities of Ontario found it neces- sary to call an emergency confer- ence to discuss concerns about the transfer of payments from the province to the municipalities. "I think you're getting a raw deal in terms of what's fair and equitable for municipal governments." Some municipalities, he said, are now faced with 10 times the cost to dispose of their garbage as a result of new environmental laws. "It doesn't take a genius to figure out how to tighten up the laws, but it does take a genius to figure out where the money comes from." It's not good enough, he added, that only four landfill sites have been approved in the four years the Liberals have been in office while "applications are coming right out of the roof." Treasurer Robert Neon is dealing far more severely with municipal councils than he is being +reated by the federal Ternment, Mr. Brandt said. Mr. Nixon's proposal to intro- duce lot levies on new develop- ment was labelled as ''the worst tax of all, the most regressive ... and the one that hurts the people the most." He suggested instead that the province share the 14 per cent increase in its sales tax with the municipalities. On the subject of conservation authorities, Mr. Brandt accused the government of looking to munici- pal governments to pick up the costs of administrating the authori- ties. "And when the municipal gov- ernments are reluctant to do so, perhaps encourage the service clubs in that community to do it." To pass the responsibility of pay- ing on to the municipalities would be whistling in the dark, Mr. Brandt said. "It would destroy the conser- vation authority concept in this province." East Wawanosh council revises building bylaw East Wawanosh council has revised the township building bylaw to reflect current construc- tion costs. The bylaw was revised at the April regular meeting of council. Township building permits have been increased to $30 for the first $1,000 in value and $4 for every subsequent $1,000. Mobile homepermits are. a mini - 'mum of 000, silos and manure tanks, $50 and steel granaries, $30. Still with building permits, sever- al were approved by council at the meeting. Four new -home permits for the Humphrey subdivsion at Belgrave were approved, including: Doug Fortune, Lot 2; Paul Moffatt, Lot 17; Victor Buchanan, Lot 29 and Ken Warwick, Lot 27. A manure tank also was approved for Fred Meier Jr., Lot 26, Con_ 4. • contents missing, Mr. Wittig says the safes are being held for expert identification, including finger printing. The investigation is continuing and all leads being considered. Anyone with any information is asked to contact the Wingham Police Force. The robbery will be the subject of a Crime Stoppers' television segment within the next week. East Wawanosh approves cost sharing proposal The Township of East Wawanosh has approved a cost sharing pro- posal to pay Wingham an annual grant in lieu of tankage fees. At its regular April meeting, Wingham Town Council was informed of the East Wawanosh decision to participate in the grant proposal. The proposal is somewhat a trade-off for Wingham's request to have the Wingham Area Fire Board include the town's hydrants in its budget as fire equipment and there- by assume their $20,000 annual cost. At the fire board's February ses- sion, Turnberry Township represen- tatives suggested the grant in lieu of tankage fees as a way of a com- promise in this issue. Turnberry, East Wawanosh and Morris would share proportionate- ly in the cost. Because of distance, Howick receives no benefit from the town hydrants and, therefore, is not required to share in the cost. Based on a figure of $2,000, the suggested breakdown of the grant as suggested by the Turnberry rep- resentatives would be: Turnberry, $1,040; Morris, $510; East Wawanosh $450. "That's confirmation that at least one township agrees with the fees," Councillor Ron Beecroft, fire board chairman, said of the East Wawanosh approval. Clerk -Treasurer Byron Adams, who is also fire board secretary, indicated to council, however, that he had also received information that Morris had given its approval as well. Morris tax due dates Morris council has chosen June 23 and Nov 24 as 1989 due dates for township property taxes. A total of 60 per cent of the taxes are due at the June billing with the,, remainder due in November. Tournament gets approval for early start Wingham Town Council has given its approval to a request to begin games earlier than 1 p.m. on Sunday, Aug. 27. At its regular April meeting, council agreed to the request from the executive of the Wingham Junior Men's Fastball Club. The club is hosting ,the 1989 provincial junior championship tournament and the earlier start will mean that all games will be played in Wingham rather than moving Sunday morning games to another municipality According to the town's bylaw regulating times for using recre- ational facilities, activities may not start before 12:30 p.m. on Sundays, except in the case of special•events and tournaments,