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The Wingham Advance-Times, 1984-04-18, Page 1• KUB KA.R RALLY—The Wingham Cubs held their an- nual Kub Kar Rally last Tuesday evening at the Wingham Public School. Approximately 30 boys raced the cars they had built on the group's new electronic track. Win- ners were Peter Poulin, Jason Moore and Matthew Hunter. They will advance to the zone finals May 12. Wages now a stumbling block balks break off as strike enters fifth week at Lloyd's A strike by some 140 workersat the Premium - Lloyd door factory in Wingham is now entering its fifth week, with no end in sight, following another. breakdown in negotiations last week. Another meeting between union and company negotia- tors with a mediator from the Ontario Labor. Relations Board has been tentatively set for next Tuesday, how- ever the two sides remain far apart on the issue of wages. The union is asking for 55 cents in each of two years of a contract, while the com- pany has offered no raise in the first year and only 20 cents in the second, amounting to about a two and one-half per cent in-. crease. There has been no public statement from thecompany since the breakoff of talks. last. Tuesday, but an in formation sheet released. by the union expresses disap• - pointment at the failure to . reach a settlement. "It was hoped that this meeting ( April 10) would end the dispute," it notes, "but after a promising start the talks ended when the Company declined to table a final offer...." It also notes that the company had earlier complained that the workers had one on strike without waiting to hear its final offer. Although the union had stated previously that wages were not the primary issue in the strike, `.`they.•have i . becoi'ne the stuiiibli'ng baock," the . h fbrin Kaon sheep says„' shape the colt J. pany's only offer has been a two-Year.packagge providing for a wage fr' eeze`in the first year and an increase of 20 cents an hour in the second. The 'union altered its position twice after receiv- ing. this offer, it says, and is now asking fora 55 -cent in- crease in both years of 'the contract, plus a minor im- provement in health and wel- Little prospect for more seniors' housing in town The federal government has announced grants of $259 million to build publicly - assisted housing in Ontario this year, blit it appears none of the money will find its way to Wingham. Andrew McBride, head of the Wingham Non -Profit Housing Corporation set up several years ago to build' and administer new senior citizen housing here, said the group has been told the earliest it could expect any funding is 1986, and there is no guarantee it would get anything then. Part of the problem is that, is has not been able to find very many people here who need such housing, An up- dated need survey taken late last summer turned up just 17 people; down from 22 in an earlier survey, andthe chances of getting approval for a project that small are limited, Mr. McBride ex- plained. He said the group was told it could submit a proposal for such a project, but it could not expect any money for at least two years. By that time it P would probably be necessary to take another sti'iwey to re -confirm the need, he added. At one time it appeared Wingham was on the verge of obtaining a new seniors' apartment complex, how- ever disagreement over where it should be built and subsequent changes to gov- ernment housing programs have made that less and less likely. Mr. McBride said he has been told by the Ontario Hosing Ministry that less and less federal funding is available for the program every year, and the money M for 1984 and '85 has already been allotted. He said the only recourse may be to wait and see if a greater need develops before pressing for additional housing. In a press release from Ottawa last week, the Canada . Mortgage and Housing Corporation an- nounced it will spend a total of $1.2 billion across Canada to produce 22,500 federally - assisted social housing units. About a quarter of these will be in Ontario. ' This includes ac- commodation for low to, moderate income families, the elderly and other special- purpose groups such as the handicapped or victims of family violence. Two-thirds of the units will be delivered by CMHC directly in response to "critical housing needs and local market conditions.” The remaining one-third will be delivered by the' province under federal -provincial agreements. The • province is respon- sib',e for deciding where these units will go, and the bulk have been allocated to the Toronto and Ottawa areas. fare benefits during the 'last six months of the agreement. "The, Company decihred.. that this proposal was 'astronomical' and refused -totlhgdifytheirpo9itione the:.p, sheet reports. At this. point the 4allia ,ended with- . no furthfir meefing ielieduled:"` Union negotiator Adam Salvona said.1V1'ondayhe had received a call from mediator Dennis Nelson proposing a new meeting for April 24, providing the company agreed. Mr. Salvona said that when he left the meeting last Tuesday he had made it very clear to Mr. Nelson that the union was prepared to meet again any time to try and resolve the dispute, but the company appears to be in no hurry. At the same time, the striking workers say they are prepared to stay out for as long as necessary to achieve what they feel is a fair settlement. in has 0 th fih stmt • In fact,. a study (1.940:1: Advance", etfects o 4 elimina' averag"e rete - payer ally the same pror„tc last year as in 1974r; Assuming;alive. per cent increase in i0401 l rate for • 1984, the tptal,tax bill for a hypothetical residential property will he up by 4.25 per cent co!npared to 1974, with the portion for town purposes up slightly more at 7.6 per cent. Although the. total taxes collected will le up by about 20 per cent this year over 1974 (in • constant dollars) and the town's share of taxes will be up ;by.30 per cent, additions to the town's assessment- rolls as the. result of dole jopeaent over the past deeae,have helped to spread the burden. is a1 Wend* Wingham Wily over the burden years has con'. ording to a week by The esa,_ once the ltrhaver been FIs town's tax ra taht over past decide na' The study was done using copies of the town bud& for -1,974 and 19,84 and converting the figures to 1 e 1 dollars with a conversion "factor - obtained from Statistics Canada. On the basis of changes in the cone _•mer price index (CPI), StatsCan calculates the 1974 dollar was worth $1.89 in terms of 1981 dollars, while the 1984 dollar, based On figures for March of thiS year, is valued' at 82,.5 cents• This calculation serves to eliminate the effects of in- flation over the past decade and permit a comparison in "real dollars". At the 1974 mill rate, a residential property assess- ed at $3,000 would have paid $179.40 in taxes to the town, with the total tax bill, includ- ing school and county levies, coming in at $398.43. By 1984, assuming the mill rate will rise by five per cent across-the-board (in fact, the town portion will probably be higher, with school boards taking a proportionately smaller bite), the same property would pay $364.89 in taxes to the town out of a total tax bill of $951.62. Converting both sets of figures to 1981 dollars, the tax bill, for town purposes wouldave been $339.06 in 1974 and $364.89 in 1984, with total taxes of $753.03 in 1974 and $785.09 this year. A similar comparison of town spending over the past decade also produces some interesting results, showing substantial increases in some areas and actual declines in others. Although many might expect the police budget to show the highest rate of growth over the past 10 years, in fact that distinction is reserved for the areas of administration and public works, both of which show a spending increase (in con- stant dollars) of 43 per cent since 1974. The property budget is second, with a real -dollar growth of 27 per "cent, followed by the police budget at 21 per cent. Council pay had actually declined over the years until a substantial increase this year bumped it up for a real growth of 14 per cent since 1974. The day care subsidy has increased by 11 per cent over the same period, with the town's debenture payments creeping up by two per cent. The most startling decrease comes in the budget for fire protection which, using constant dollars, has shrunk by 16 per cent over the past 10 years. Also down in real terms is the budget for sanitation (garbage collection and dump rental and main- tenance), showing a decline of 10 per cent over the past 10 years, while the budget for recreation has slipped by five per cent over the same period. In strictly dollar terms, of course, without allowing for the effects of inflation, spending in all areas has grown fantastically. The public works budget has grown from $142,777 in 1974 to $468,400 today; the police ' budget has gone from $91,969 to $254,000; the ad- ministration budget is up to $113,700 from $34,640 and the property budget has grown to $86,100 from $29,566. In the same period, the total town budget has grown to over $1.4 million from just over $500,000 in 1974, and the tax dollars to be raised for town purposes have climbed to $671,900 this year from $225,008 a decade ago. Converting these numbers into 1981 dollars, however, brings the 1974 town budget to an equivalent of $976,000, with the 1984 budget only 19 per cent higher at $1.16 million. The equivalent figures for tax dollars are $425,265 for 1974 and $554,317 for 1984, an increase of 30 per cent. Changes to provincial grant structures over the same period of time mean local ratepayers are now carrying a slightly. larger proportion of the total budget, 48 per cent this year compared to 44 per cent a decade ago. Interestingly, the ratio between town taxes and school and county taxes m the total mill rate has remained virtually constant over time. Town taxes ac- counted for 55 per cent of the total mill rate in 1974 and this year, given the anticipated increases, should be almost exactly the same. ,FIRST SECTION be anct4imt bain Wingham, Ontario, Wednesday, April 18, 1984 Single Copy 50c Our mistake The Advance -Times was incorrect in its report April 4 that Mayor William Harris receives "about $1,000" as a m;emlrer ,of the Public Utilities. Commission. In fact, commissioners receive $771.75 this year, an increase of five per cent over last year, while the . com- mission chairman receives $992.25, also.up five per cent. aA Witflft+btdier with a Listowel"''ettart•.and bis 12 -year-old son are in hospital this week with in- juries they received in'a two - car collision just west of Bluevale , Saturday after- noon. Paul Kenyon, 17, of Wingham and Neil Hunter, 12, are.both in the Stratford General Hospital where they are reported in fair condition with severe fractures of the leg. They were transferred to Stratford from the Wing - Local firemen fight three grass fires The Wingham Fire Department was called' out- --three- times last week to battle grass fires, according to Fire Chief Dave Crothers. No damage resulted from any of the fires. The department was called out to two fires only minutes apart last Wed- nesday afternoon, both the result of refuse burning. The first call came from Howick Township in the 'V'nage of Belmore where a grass fire caused very minor d..mage to a house owned b5, Edith Stokes of the village. Only a few minutes later, the department responded to a call at the Ted English property on Highway 86, east of Wingham. Mr. Crothers repel ted the grass fire. was caused by refuse burning which got out of control. Last Thursday afternoon the firefighters. were called out to a third grass fire, this time on the B line of Howick Township at the Bruce Chambers property at Wroxeter. The cause, once again, was refuse burning. Mr. Crothers reported 60 area firemen attended a meeting Mondaynight at the Wingham Fire all at which two officials of Ontario Hydro spoke on the trans- portation of nuclear waste. Several ambulance drivers also attended the in- formation session. SAUSAGE CHEFS—Fluffy pancakes and some great -tasting little sausages satisfied a lot of appetites Saturday at the Belmore Maple Syrup Festival. Marlene Darling got a serving of sausages- from Earl Fitch and Ian Inglis. lthm and . District Hospital immediately following 'the crash. George Hunter, 52, was transferred to the Listowel Memorial Hospital from Wingham on Tuesday morn- ing in satisfactory condition. The collision which sent the three to hospital, together with ••three other passengers who escaped with minimal injuries, oc- curred just after 4:30 p.m. Saturday. Provincial police at Wingham who investigated the accident reported the. Kenyon vehicle was west- bound on Highway 86 be- tween Wingham and Blue - vale when it apparently swerved and collided with the eastbound Hunter car near the centre of the road- way. Both cars were demolished in the crash and it took Wingham firefighters, work- ing,with extrication equip- ment, nearly 45 'minutes to free ,Mr Kenyon from the wreckage of his car. Both drivers, as well as four, passengers from the Hunter vehicle, were taken by ambulance to the Wing - ham and District Hospital. Three of the passengers, Mr. Hunter's wife, Elizabeth and James Reid and his son Si- mon from Northampton, England, were treated and released. Damage to the Kenyon vehicle, a 1983 Mercury, was estimated at $10,000 and to the Hunter car, a 1979 Olds- mobile, at $4,000. Police said a charge of `-failing to share the roadway has been laid against Mr. Kenyon. Post office hours for Easter holiday The Wingham Post Office will be closed Good Friday, April 20, and Easter Mon- day, April 23. There will he regular service Saturday, April21. Mail will be collected from the street letter boxes beginning at 11:05 a.m. Monday and from the red box in front of the postoffice at 12:10 p.m. SCIENCE FAIR WINNERS—The Huron County science fair finals were held at the .Turnberry _Central School last Friday. The following captured first place in their respective categories: Lowell Winger, Grey Central; Tammy Storm, Turnberry Cen- tral; Shawn Currie, Robertson Public School, Goderich, and Heather Morton, East Wawanosh. Tammy and Shawn will advance to the Canada -wide science fair finals next month at Halifax. Locai student to compete at national science fair For the second year in a row Turnberry Central School will be represented at the Canada -wide science fair finals by Tammy Storm. Shawn - Currie, a Grade 7 student at Roberston Public School, Goderich, also has been selected to go to Halifax next month. Tammy, a Grade 8 student, and Shawn were chosen last Thursday at the Huron County science fair finals held at the Turnberry school. Aside from the judging, Tammy and Shawn will get a chance to tour Halifax May 13-20, meet students from all over Canada and attend dinners in their honor, 7 Last year Tammy's prize- winning project on earth worms earned her a berth in the national competition. She did not place in the finals then, but is hoping this project on factors affecting the growth of white beans will go further. Since more and more local farmers have been planting white beans in recent years, Tammy said she decided to examine the factors af- fecting their growth: brands of bean seeds, soil, amounts of rainfall and sunlight. She started her experiments last May. Tammy said she started the seeds in gardening cells and then transplanted them to 500g water containers. They were grown in the house and she recorded their progress with a measuring tape. Black loam proved the best soil for growing white beans, while sand was the' worst. Black loam also produced the best yield. When experimenting with fertilizers Tammy said she found fertilizers must be in the soil before they affect the growth of the beans and organic fertilizers (chicken, cow, pig and sheep manure) are best. Artificial fertilizers also produce favorable results, but organic types are the best for the soil in the long run, she reported. Temperatures below five degrees Celsius will kill the beans or severely stunt growth. Also the plants that faced south, east and western light rays were normal, but those that faced north were "tall, stringy and unhealthy". Drawing on her experience from last year's project, Tammy noted as well that earthworms have an effect on white beans by adding wastes and air to the soil to make for healthier and taller plants. Shawn used his pe,t hamsters to chart the effects of operant conditioning. To prove that animals learn through a system of rewards or reinforcenient, be devised a series of ex- periments whereby he trained his hamsters to do a number of tricks by rewarding them with a grain kernel every time they completed a task correctly. He said he was amazed how quickly the hamsters learned to do simple tasks like pressing a bar for a reward. In addition to the graphs and charts, Shawn used to mark the animals' progress, he also had a videotape display of his clever hamster Loni at work.