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Home My WebLink AboutThe Times Advocate, 2004-06-02, Page 22 Exeter Times -Advocate Wednesday,June 2, 2004 Regional wrap up MADD journey GODERICH — Shawn Thomson is a man of his word. The Goderich Signal - Star reported the 27 - year -old Goderich resi- dent put the finishing touches on a remark- able 740 -kilometre bike tour when he and Mothers Against Drunk Driving (MADD) Huron - Bruce chapter president Laurie Dinning rolled to a stop in Courthouse Park May 20. Early estimates indi- cate $10-13,000 was raised throughout the tour. HE council SEAFORTH — While Huron East council waits for a response from its three recre- ation boards and the Tuckersmith Day Nursery about whether they can fund their operating costs, council heard how none cov- ered their costs from January to March. The Huron Expositor reported while the budget so far shows Brussels, Seaforth and Vanastra showing a surplus, Deputy -Clerk Brad Knight said when the municipal levy is subtracted, each returns to a deficit position. Tornadoes LISTOWEL — It will be a long time before resi- dents of southwestern Ontario, as well as many other parts of the province, forget the Victoria Day holiday of 2004. The Listowel Banner reported Environment Canada reports a twister which struck the Sebringville-Gads Hill area May 22, ripping a roof a house, was a severe F3 tornado with wind speeds of close to 300 km/h. Another twister which struck Mitchell and sur- rounding farmland the same evening was reported by Environment Canada as being an F2 tornado with wind speeds of approximately 240 km/h. Bluewater delays passing budget By Pat Bolen TIMES -ADVOCATE STAFF VARNA — The Municipality of Bluewater has delayed passing its budget to allow further deliberations. The bylaw to pass the budget was tabled at the council meeting Monday night, but was deferred to 3 p.m. June 7 when further discussions will be held. The decision to delay passing the budget was made after several finan- cial issues were raised in the meet- ing. A presentation was made to council from Patti Down and Mary Earle of the Friends of the Zurich Library group. Down read a letter to council reviewing debates that have been held since 1992 by previous councils on improving Library facilities in Zurich to meet provincial standards. Purchasing the former `Plantations' building in Zurich has been proposed as a site for a new library. Down said another possibility would be for the municipality to rent the building while selling the current building housing the library. Asked if renting had been an option before, Clerk -Administrator Janisse Zimmerman said it hadn't. Coun. Jim Fergusson said while no one disagreed with the need, the council had worked to keep spending at reasonable levels. "There is money being set aside and it will have to stay there for another year." Coun. Bill MacDougall asked if the old Bank of Montreal building could be available. Down replied the building was not accessible either so major recon- struction would be needed and it was not large enough inside as well. With $200,000 also needed to pur- chase a new pumper truck for the Brucefield fire department, Coun. Josh McClinchey asked fire chief Bob Wilson if replacing the pumper truck this year would be absolutely neces- sary to maintain services. Wilson replied, "definitely." After further discussion it was decided to schedule the meeting for Monday for further deliberations. Gerry Pritchard from the Fire Marshall's Office (FMO) was at the meeting to review services offered by the FMO. Pritchard said before the cuts were made to the office, it had enough people to go into a municipality for up to a week at a time to assess the fire service offered. Now the office assists the munici- pality in the review, which he said makes more sense. "You should be the ones to develop the process," said Pritchard. Mayor Bill Dowson asked if any reviews had been conducted in Western Ontario in the last year. Pritchard said there was one being conducted in Huron East at the pre- sent time. Coun. MacDougall said he had brought forward the idea of the review in order to maximize the fire services offered and discusses with the FMO might come up with differ- ent approaches. "It's a no lose situation." Asked about the length of time a review would take, Pritchard said it depended on the information gath- ered in the committee that would be formed, but it could take up to six months. 'The more you put into it, the short- eritwillbe. A motion was then passed to work with FMO to assist in reviewing fire service in Bluewater. Network established By Pat Bolen TIMES -ADVOCATE STAFF ROCKTON — A tide of yellow shirts and ribbons may soon begin to spread across the province if a new group is suc- cessful in its goal. The Provincial De-amlgama- tion Association held its first networking conference May 15 in Rockton with 400 people in attendance from across the province, including four local residence. At the meeting were Kay and Joe Wise of Hensall and Andy and Mariette Bilcke, to listen to guest speakers and gather information for the purpose of setting up a de -amalgamation chapter in Hensall. After listening to the speak- ers and talking to those in attendance, Kay Wise said, "It was perfect for me. It was like talking into a mirror with everything we've been going through. We've been more than patient and it is time to find out what the people of Hensall think." The meeting featured a vari- ety of guest speakers from dif- ferent areas, including politi- cians such as councillors Dave Braden of Flamborough and Faye McGee of the City of Kawartha Lakes. Other speakers included MPPs Toby Barrett of Haldimand-Norfolk-Brant and Michael Prue of Toronto East York. Also speaking was University of Western Ontario political Science Professor Andrew Sancton, who said, "You peo- ple are making history. I'll be teaching this in years to come." After a casket was carried into the meeting with a sign "Dalton's democracy," a reso- lution was passed approving several items, including the creation of the Ontario De -amalgamation Network. A proposed draft misson statement for the networks reads: The Ontario De-amlal- gamation Network shall co- operate in resonable and law- ful initiatives to pressure the Ontario government to permit the de-amlagamation of any community in which the demand for de-amlagamation has been or shall be demon- strated by traditional concepts of democracy. Tactics proposed for the net- work include: • using yellow ribbons on mailboxes and yellow T-shirts as symbols of the organization; • connecting with farm orga- nizations; • marching on Queen's Park; • marching on MPP's house; • seeking assistance of OMB; • requesting ombudsman to investigate; • preparing a list of activists ready to participate in "events" at short notice; • pushing for recall legisla- tion. Wise said she would like a town meeting and anyone interested in joining a Hensall chapter of the network should contact her. Supporters of the organiza- tion will be closely watching the results of the June 20 ref- erendums in Quebec, when 89 former municipalities will vote on whether to demerge. It was fun and games in Lucan May 26 when students from Biddulph Central School volunteered at activity centres for Lucan Public School students. Left, James Hill gets ready to be dunked. Above, Emily de Groot gets her face painted by Tia Connelly before going off to sell cotton candy. (photos/Mary Simmons) EXETER AUTO SERVICE JS R' GET READY FOR SUMMER EXHAUST EXTRAVAGANZA IS ON!! SAVE 15% OFF MOST EXHAUST PARTS* PLUS - FREE MUFFLER INSTALLATION WHEN YOU PURCHASE A MAREMONT MUFFLER.* EVERY VEHICLE IN OUR SHOP RECEIVES A FREE BATTERY TEST WITH PRINT-OUT FREE BRAKE INSPECTIONS (MOST VEHICLES) PURCHASE 4 TIRES AND GET YOUR ALIGNMENT FOR 1/2 PRICE!! HAVE YOUR WHEELS BALANCED FOR HALF PRICE WITH SEASONAL SERVICE* AMERICAN EXPRESS 100 Thames Rd. E. 235-0160 Glenn Edward Enterprises Inc. 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