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HomeMy WebLinkAboutWingham Advance-Times, 1981-02-11, Page 1f A a N Rat Winghamzc40 expeet. to tUx • declared: "We're t'nt • , yilug epayLers, tn. the WWII ' . got top much debt," lie stgmficantly hNgtjer.. ,t xe9.: - our w;,: as we .go,: We're this year, as town Connell . aski, -, 'eseendants t struggles, to ba nce the'`. " pay f we have now.' budget in the face ;of rising' That's all right if the town costs for maintenance and.`,. 'is building a long-term asset, equipment replacement as he said, "bu't I don't think well as education and county" • those are the things levies. , we're looking et here." He Although 1981 Mill rates: , also noted the town would be cannot be set until provi eiai grants are finalized.. and council receives the final figures from the board of education,arld Huron County, the budget adopted Monday night forecasts a fax in- crease of 14.4..per cent. The budget, hammered out by council's finance and management committee earlier this month, was accepted by councillors with few questions, though some expressed concern over the size of the proposed tax bite. "You've been through this with a fine-toothed comb and everything is necessary?" inquired Councillor Jerry Chomyn, noting that an increase of nearly 141 per cent is "pretty hard to swallow". Dick LeVan, finance committee chairman, assured him the spending has been pared to what is considered essential. "A lot of . hours . and discussion went into those - figures," ' Councillor Tom Miller, also a member of the committee, added. Mr. LeVan also argued strongly against a proposal that the town might debenture some-of=its'larger expenses -this • year as a means of spreading the load. "Basically what's wrong with the eeenomy- is we've -. looking at paying 20 percent interest on a debenture sold • today. Councillor Jim Currie had suggested the town might consider ..going to a deben- ture ' to consolidate and spread out. capital , costs,, such as the proposed $50,000 purchase of a truck and snow plow. He said the town's current debenture ' debt lis quite reasonable, and several will be paid off with- in the' next several years, ts 1.91111 In reviewing the budget, Mr, LeVan pointed , out a - number of areas facing significant cost increases: The property committee budget is up . by elos`e' to $11,000, largely because of badly -needed renovations to the old post office building, expected to cost in -the neigh- borhood of $15,000. The police budget is up by More than 518,000 to 3199,500, but council has little control over that because tlge,police are in the second year of a two-year contract. However council intends to look at ways to trim the police budget in future years, Mr, LeVan noted. • A "very substantial in- crease" in the roads budget, which jumped to $334,200 from 5288,132, is primarily because of the need for a new truck and plow and a, pickup'. truckfor, tine works foreman, hee'°. said. Ie..re mmfor ended ' the town-' set up a reserve account for equipment replacement so in fut;>!e}'e it CO1 won't face absorbing the entire cost of., a major put. e0 chase in one year. to' He also pointedoutthat the the fl : cost of snow removal in way . , much up this year Compared to last pro year's mild winter. get calci The day care budget is up more than 54,0%0 to $17;000, but a large part of this is doe to an estimated 53;500 in t.h ^ r renovations required at the' t b , nursery school because of pian, damage from a leaky roof donat on The recreation board sub.', ` at 1, sidy also shows a sharp increase to $62,800 from $51,253 last year, however the major reason is un- certainty whether the figure ill rent • the year. The pa rt men t' really up, ,,,Bailey told said his at other many„ of twice as recreation ham didn't yi,"and build a costing a oted. he budget $5,000 for irtrial and nd a $5,000 lding fund ,District eVan ex - is looking own:s in - bare and Page 2 Fire destroys h • •� causes serious 1 A fire in East Wawanosh Township early' Thursday morning caused„ serious injuries and thedestruction. of a home. The blaze, on County Road 20, Lot 37, Con. 9, destroyed the home ;and belongings of Lottie Scott and resulted in btdrns and lacerations to Mrs. Scott and four of her children. Dave Crothers, chief of the Wingham Fire Depalrtment, reppried that frman were on the scene 10 minutes after receiving the call at about ,1.:30 a.m. By the time fire trucks arrived the living room was engulfed in flames, blocking the stair- way to the upper floor. He said the family was asleep upstairs when the fire started in the living room. Mrs. Scott's sons, John, 23; Jim, 20; 'Bill, 19, and Allan, 15, escaped through 'a Ten seek Huron -Bruce PC Liberal nominations An interesting race is shaping up in the riding of Huron -Bruce as several area residents have come forward stating intentions to seek the Progressive Conservative and Liberal nominations for. the March 19 provincial election. Four men have entered the .race for the Progressive Conservative nomination. Gary Harron of RR 2, Allenford, is a former Bruce.. County warden. He ran in the Bruce -Grey riding in 1975, losing to Eddie Sargent of Owen Sound. Mr. Harron is a beef farmer. Robert Emerson of Ripley, a 36 -year-old beef and cash - crop farmer, has been active for many years in the Progressive Conservative organization and has seven years' experience in municipal politics, both at the local and county levels. Also from Ripley is Mike Snobelin who has experience in local politics, having served as. reeve of Huron Township. The fourth man seeking the nomination is Roland Anstett of Cargill. The PC nomination meeting. is being held tomorrow evening (Thurs- day) in Kincardine. 0-0-0 With longtime Liberal member Murray Gaunt announcing his retirement, the Liberal nomination is up for grabs and , six have thrown their hats into the ring. Bruce McDonald of Wingham is' a 27 -year-old insurance salesman and president of the Huron -Bruce Federal Liberal Association. He served as . campaign manager for Graeme Craig in the last federal election. Renus Bailey of Wingham has been a longtime associate of the Liberal party and has campaigned actively for Mr. Gaunt in past elections. Bailey, 49, is owner of the Sunrise Dairy in Wingham. Dave Zyluk, Kincardine, was a candidate for the New Democratic Party in the last provincial election but quit the party and joined the Liberals in the fall of 1979, expressing his dissatisfac- tion with NDP policies. Mr. Zyluk is 33 and theprincipal of St. Joseph's Community School, Kinsbridge. Also seeking the Liberal nomination is Murray Elston, 31, a Wingham lawyer and treasurer of the Huron -Bruce Federal Liberal Associatioh; Hullett Township farmer John Jewitt and Tony Johnstone, general manager of the Lucknow Sentinel. Mr. Jewitt is 41, has 13 years' experience in township politics and is a <menlber of the Huron County Board of Education. Mr. Johnstone is a director of the Huron - Bruce Federal Liberal Association, is active in community , organizations and has worked in several provincial and federal election campaigns for Murray- Gaunt and Graeme Craig. The Liberal nomination meeting will be held Tiiesday, February 17, in Lucknow. Guest speaker will be Liberal Leader 'Stuart Smith. The New. Democratic Party in Huron -Bruce will be represented by West Wawanosh farmer Tony McQuail who was acclaimed by his party on the weekend. second -storey window:'; All but Jim received first degree burns and lacerations. Mrs. Scott and her22-year- old daughter,. Karen, ran, through the blaze to -the main floor and escaped through a back window. Mrs. Scott suffered first degree burn and lacerations, while he> daughter received third degree burns to 40 per cent of her body. ' Chief Crothers said all.!he victinis were oueof theal onie by the time the fire. trucks ' arrived. Those suffering burns were taken- byambulance to the Wingham and District Hospital where they were treated and released. Karen was rushed later. -to Victoria Hospital' in London, where she is listed in serious condition. • Kevin Scott, another son, age 17, was spending- the night with a friend and was not home that evening. The Blyth Fire Depart- ment was called to the scene for assistance shortly after the, local firemen arrived. Firefighters spent three hours battling the blaze, which caused approximately $60,000 in damage. The home and its contents were par- tially covered by insurance. Chief Crothers said an investigation into the cause has been completed, and although the cause ' is ' still unknown, "It didn't happen from appliances." To help the family regain some of its loss the Belgrave PLAY TIME—This week's heavy snowfall has given youngsters like these a lot of opportunities for play. Barton Cameron, 5, and Todd Edgar, 3, couldn't help taking advantage of the snowbanks on Josephine Street Friday afternoon. ' f Kifta gena. a fund,=do, at T.hyi Belgrav whasarranged- HOME DESTROYED—An early morning blaze tions can be left Thursday destroyed the home and belongings of Lottle ; - groceteria, Scott and resulted in burns and lacerations to Mrs. Scott and four of her children. The fire, which was battled by the Wingham and Blyth fire Departments, caused approximately $60,000 in damage. ; town negotiating intfe The • town of Wingham and its Public Utilities Com- mission are trying to settle on a way The town can. pay the'PUC about $10,000 it owes in maintenance fees for the street lights. The , matter was raised during a PUC meeting last Thursday, when Mayor Bill Harris, who also sits on the commission, inquired. about bills the town has been receiving' • He,a said the ' bills were discussed at a finance com- mittee meeting and coun- cillors felt the tt vn couldn't afford to pay the $10,000 this. year. '"We haven't budgeted for it." He asked that a letter of explanation be sent to council so it could be discussed at Monday night's meeting. PU(' Manager Ken Saxton explained the hills are for maintenance on • the street lights`, which are owned by the town but looked after by the utilities commission. The method of accounting was changed a couple of years ago, he explained, and as a consequence the town faced paying twoayears' bills in one to bring it up to date. In the past''the PLIC would do all the maintenance for a year and collect the following with the amount divided into. equal monthly payments. Now the auditors want the PUC. to collect the charge at the end of each month. At the time. the change was made, the town felt it wasn't able to pay the amount in arrears; so.the 'PVC agreed to carry it for another year. ' However the town keeps falling further behind, and as a result the PUC is getting complaints from the Ontario Hydro auditor's over the arrears. ' "Hytirocan tell usnot todo maintenance because we're' not getting paid," Mr. Saxton noted: He suggested the town should attempt to pay at least something toward the arrears, " to,show you're trying". The town was supposed to pay it off last year but didn't because of the same problem — no money, he said, adding that the situation won't get •"any better because costs are. going up. , Mr. Harris also asked that Mr. Saxton check into the possible saving in ,power from using high-pressure sodium instead of mercury vapor lamps in street lfght changeovers. However Commissioners' Roy Bennett and Rod Wraith told him the saving wouldn't pay for the cost of the lamps. since sodium lamps at about $70' are four ' times the price of mercury vapor lamps. Sodium lamps are more 'efficient and use about 20 per cent less power to. produce the same amount of light, Mr. Saxton said. But the savings over the life of the lamp wouldn't make up for the higher -initial cost. In other business at, the meeting commissioners reviewed the 1980 operating reports for hydro and water- works. - Hydro operations showed a revenue, of about $1.284, million during the° year. Expenditures amounted to $1.279 million, for a net in- come of $4,741.74. However. Mr. Saxton noted this isn't' the final financial statement for the year since the. PUC hasn't yet received its '13th bill' --• the final, year-end adjustment — from Ontario Hydro. ' Waterworks' showed revenue of $145,051.67 and expenditures of $131,914.11 for a net income of $13,137.56. However outstanding debentures of more' than $389,IK$) leave it in a defieit as its current position. ''Someday 1'd like to see that minus off . there," Mr. Bennett commented. The commissioners also approved a proposal to add a In per cent administration Pool filling charge revised by commission Owners of swimming pools no longer ill have to pay an annual fee„tor water to fill their pools From now on they will be. charged a one- time filling fee• which will remain in of fec,t for the life of the pool Members of the Wingham Public Utilities Commission decided Thursday to amend the controversial fee in response to complaints from a number of pool owners. instead of the $20 annual fee, which has heen in effect for a number of years. owners will , be charged for an initial filling at the rateof $50 for an in -ground' or 875 for an above -ground pool. The fee will apply only to newly -installed pools; those who previously have paid a filling fee 'will' not be charged.. • At a previous meeting of the commission. PU(' Manager Ken Saxton had been asked to check the policies. of other utilities commissions on swimming pools. He reported hack that most PUCs have customer meters: as a result people are charged according to how much water they use. Others charge only for first filling, with the charge varying from $10 to $100. *It would be impractical to install water meters in Wingham because of the cost involved, he added. He noted that the fee doesn't really raise much money for the PtJC: it's, mostly for the principle of the thing and to stop people who don't have pool§ from complaining that they are subsidizzrng the pool owners. "We get a thousand complaints if we don't have it:ha nd only 20 or 10 if we do.' He added that only about four pool owners actually have complained. Commissioner Rod Wraith proposed a one-shot filling fee. and Mayor Bill Harris suggested $550 for in -ground and $75 for above -ground pools. which was accepted. Above -ground pools usea lot more water since they must be drained completely each fall, while an in -ground pool is only drained down a foot or so and then topped up in the spring, Mr. Wraith noted. fools holding less than 2,500 gallons, such as children's wading pools, will he exempted from the charge • charge to billings for work done for other towns. This is to cover the time the PUC manager spends on the jobs. If collected last year, it would have raised an ad- ditional $6,500 for the commission. Previously other towns were billed for men, equipment .and materials, -but not ,for the manager's time, and the commissioners decided it wasn't fair to expect Wingham' to pay for the time he spends looking after outside jobs. In his manager"`s report, Mr. Saxton reported the men have been carrying out transforri►er and voltage checks, as well as repairing a broken water main at Victrri;' and •('•itherine streets — thethird one this Fros year — and thawing two frozen hydrants. to addition they have renewed a number of overhead services, clear- ed- ice from around meters and installed a new cutout on Minnie Street, which should correct the blackout • problems in that area. They also have been called out to thaw water services in a number of other towns. On the topic of polerental fees for cable television, Mr. ,Saxton read a letter from the Association of Municipal Electrical Utilities. The • "letter noted that nothing has been done yet about ` establishing a committee to review and set rental rates. As a consequence it. recommended utilities commissions should con' tinue to follow the rate schedule as currently'set. est Safari Frostyfest Safari, a 100 - km. snowmobile ride, will be one of the many events held during , Wingham's winter carnival weekend. The ride, sponsored by. the Wingham and District Snowmobile Association, is scheduled for Feb. 22 and pledges will go to area multiple sclerosis units and. ” the Local . snowmobile Club. Bill Crump, past president of the club, explained that the safari will begin at the Wingham Legion and con- tinue in a circle past Ford- wich, Wroxeter and - Blue - vale, and then back to Wingham. Registration will be bet- ween 10:30 a.m. and 12 noon, and all participants will be asked to collect their own pledges. The rider with the highest amount in pledges will receive a Kero-Sun kerosene heater, valued at $195. The prize has been donated by Lynn Hoy Enterprises Ltd. The first 50 riders to register will be given Snow Com- motion crests and par- ticipants risiag•,-fl ore than $25 in pled es will receive a free ticket o a smorgasbord dinner, sponsored by the Wingham Optimist Club. The dinner will be served after the ride at the Legion Hall. Pledge , sheets are available from any snowmobile club member, and at Lynn Hoy Enter- prises, Fred McGee Auto Electric , Turn berry Tavern , Hayes Clothing, Stones TV and Appliances in Gorrie and Bain's Groceteria, Lucknow. Mr. Crump explained that the club is also planning a torch -light parade, to be held in conjunction with the Kinsmen Club's Christmas tree burning Feb. 22. He said the -parade is tentatively planned to begin shortly after dusk at the Wingham Legion and rum through Riverside Park to the ball diamond, where the Christmas trees will be piled. For more.information on these events call Doug Filsinger, 335-3672 or Bill Crump, 357-2335. Burning pipes A fire in Howick Township Thursday morning caused about $250 damage to the home of Don Watson, Con. C, Lot 16. Dave Crothers, chief of the Wingham Fire Department, reported that burning stove pipes ignited the ceiling of Mr. Watson's home. The department answered °the call at 10:20 a.m. Shortly after 8 p.m. Saturday the trucks travelled to Whitechurch for a chimney fire at the home of Alex Craig. However the Lucknow Fire Department was at the scene before Wingham and took care of the blaze.