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HomeMy WebLinkAboutZurich Citizens News, 1971-02-11, Page 1No. 6—ALWAYS FIRST WITH THE LOCAL NEWS ZURICH, ONTARIO, THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 11, 1971 NEW WATER SUPPLY - A new well is presently being dug in Hensall, to supplement the water supply in the village. The contractor on the job is the International Water Supply Com- pany. The new well is to be considerably deeper than the present one that is in operation. Zurich Council It was budget night at the regular meeting of the council of the village of Zurich last Thursday night, when fire dep- artment, arena and road budgets were approved for the coming year. The heaviest budget of the three is the arena and com- munity centre, where the com- mittee is planning to spent a total of $24, 173. in expenses against a proposed revenue of $13, 300. Deficit for the year is to be $10, 873. which includes debenture principal of $2500 and interest of $3488. During the year 1970 the arena and community operated at a deficit of $9300, which included the debenture and interest pay- ment, as well. This year, how- ever, the committee feels the revenue will drop slightly from the $14,134. in 1970. The fire department budget Hay Council Seeks Warble inspector At a very light session of Hay Township council last week, it was decided to call applications for the position of warble fly inspector, in the frownship. The applications will be called for in the next couple of weeks. In other business at the meet- ing, council appointed Harold Campbell as their representative to the Midwestern Ontario Dev- elopment Council, and to the Huron zone of the same group. Councillor John Timmy was appointed to represent Hay Township at a meeting in God- erich, regarding the future of the Bayfield Watershed in a Conservation Authority. Each municipality involved is to send one representative to the next meeting. One application for tile drain- age loan, in the amount of $1100. was approved by council at the meeting. Accounts were approved for payment as follows; general, $5547.33; roads, $4499.14; drains, $3915.55. dopts Several budgets shows a deficit of $4833 in op- eration for 1971. Expected exp- enses are set at $6083, against revenue of $1250. A debenture payment of $1100 and interest of $1122 is included in the expend- itures for the coming year. One of the biggest expendit- ures in connection with the operation of the fire department is the telephone hook-up to homes of the firemen, which costs the village about $420 yearly. About $1100 is budgeted for the members of the brigade for their services. The report from the fire dep- artment advised council of the retirement of James Parkins from the brigade, after about 27 years of service. Mr. Parkins has been serving as assistant chief for the past few years, and this position will now be filled by Leo Meidinger, a vet- eran member of the department. Two new members, Charles Erb and Bob Merrier, have been add- ed to the brigade. Howard Klapp is fire chief; Hubert Schilbe is chairman of the brigade; and Bill Wagner is the secretary. The department holds regularly monthly meetings and practice sessions. A road and street budget of $9000 for the year was approved by council and of this amount, one-half is recovered from the Department of Highways in the form of subsidy. No decision Bean Festival Helps Area Groups Four area organizations rec- eived grants from the Zurich Bean Festival, at the annual meeting of the group held last week. The Zurich Recreation League received the swan of $200; The Zurich Minor Athletic As- sociation, $100. The Zurich Centennial Band, $100; and the Figure Skating Club, $100. The Recreation League got the extra $100 for looking after the garb- ag e collection at the festival (continued on page 4) was reached on the proposal of the road committee to purch- ase a new tractor. Road superintendent Carl Thiel reported to council that the rec- ent storms had left an except- ionally large amount of snow around the village, but that most of it was being removed as quick ly as possible. In other business at the meet- ing, clerk -treasurer W .0. Arm- strong was appointed welfare officer for the village, following notification from the Depart - (continued on page 4) 0 Snow Prevents Serious Fire While many area people complained bitterly about the recent stormy weather, one area farmer can credit the heavy snowfall in helping to prevent a disastrous barn fire. Late Thursday afternoon, a fire of undetermined origin broke out in one corner of the barn at the farm of John Huber, on the Babylon Line, about two miles south- east of Zurich. A heavy snowfall which blew into the barn was partially credited in helping prevent a more -serious blaze from developing. Prompt action on the part of the Zurich Fire Brigade assisted in quickly dousing the flames, before they could cause too much serious damage. At the same time, the prop- rietor of the farm, Mr. Huber, suffered undetermined injuries when he fell in some way or another, knocking him unconsc- ious at the same time the fire broke out. Fortunately, he had just previously called a neigh- bour to come over and assist him in starting his tractor, which; was close to the building. When the neighbour arrived minutes later, he found Huber lying on the ground and quickly pulled him away to safety. Mr. Huber was later rushed to South Huron Hospital, in West- lake Ambulance. Huron Board Co-operation The big storm of 1971 will long be remembered by the administrative staff of the Huron County Board of Educat- ion as well as the 14 trustees who represent the ratepayers. At the suggestion of chair- man Robert Elliott, the board will send scrolls to each school where staff were involved dur- ing the storm with stranded students, commending each principal and teacher for his or her actions, Mr. Elliott claimed he was completely satisfied with the way the situation was handled throughout the blizzard. He said he was confident that the safety of the county's children was uppermost in the minds of county school staff and that the very fact that all principals and teachers could contact the board office 24 hours a day for advice and comfort was a trem- endous advantage. John Cochrane, director of education for Huron County, said he was never prouder to be a teacher than he was during the storm. He told the board he was thoroughly proud of each and every teacher in the county and has begun to compile a book recounting some of the exper- iences of teachers who were responsible for students stranded in schools. Cochrane was especially complimentary of the persons who assisted the teachers at the schools by bringing food and blankets to make their unexp- "holiday" as comfortable as possible. He also noted that the stone had fostered some suggestions which would be useful in event of another such emergency. Among the ideas said Cochrane, was the need for a two-way radio system in the event that telephone service was interupted for a long period. Dr. A.B. Deathe, Goderich, thought it would be wise if stu- dents with particular health problems requiring regular spec- ial medication would be regist- ered in the school office so that principals and teachers would know a problem could exist if the student was stranded over- night. Wilfred Shortreed felt this would just add unnecessary pap- erwork for the teachers. He said that concerned parents would see to it that their child- ren received medical attention Chamber Plans Rural -Urban Night The annual Rural -Urban Night of the Zurich Chamber of Commerce will be held to- night, Thursday, at the Domin- ion Hotel. About 80 persons are expected to attend. Guest speaker for the occasion will be Nelson Kahle, of the Huron -Perth Assessment Commis- sion. He plans to outline some of the details of the new assess- ment system to the gathering. Each member of the organiz- ation is expected to bring a friend along to the meeting. 10 c PER COPY Pleased With During Storm if it was required. "What if you couldn't reach the school?" asked Dr. Deathe. Shortreed replied that if the parents couldn't contact the school or go there it would lik- ely be just as impossible for the school to get the ailing child out or medical attention in. The board also discussed the fact that some parents were extremely critical of the schools when children did not get home during the storm. John Coch- rane told the board that princ- ipals after consultation with the school bus operators had the privilege to close the schools if the weather was bad. He also said that closing the schools did not affect the grants. He said grants were paid on enrol- ment, not on per diem attend- ance. He noted as well that teachers are paid whether school is open or closed during a storm. The director also said there was no truth to the rumor in some parts of the county that the Easter vacation would be curtailed because of time lost during the storm. He said the break would be during the last full week in March and that school would let out Nlarch 19 and begin again March 29. 0 Huron Board Discuss insurance Members of the Huron County Board of Education agreed Feb- ruary 8 in Clinton to discontinue its participation in the student accident insurance plan effect- ive September 1 and to invest- igate a policy for students which would cover dental costs and provide life insurance in the event of accidental death. The action came following some complaints from parents in the county concerning the coverage in the present accid- ent insurance plan and a claim by one student who lost part of his hand in an accident at school. In the latter case, set- tlement was made with the in- surance company after long debate when the insurers claim- ed the student had not lost enough of his hand to collect the insurance. Some board members said the present student accident insurance policy covers only those things not covered by OI-ISIP - and that even then, coverage is not too good. "It's just a joke, really, " said Don McDonald. Director of Education John Cochrane said he was most conc- erned with the fact that parents do not have an opportunity to review the terms and conditions of the master policy before pay- ing the insurance premium and in some cases do not know ex- actly to what extent students are covered. He added that parents do riot receive a receipt for the premium payment and therefore have no real know- ledge of whether the premium has has been received by the company or not.