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Home My WebLink AboutThe Times Advocate, 2008-08-06, Page 44 Times—Advocate Wednesday, August 6„ 2008 OC Editorial Opinion TIMES ADVOCATE PUBLICATIONS MAIL REGISTRATION NUMBER 07511 We acknowledge the financial support of the Government of Canada, through the Publications Assistance Program (PAP), toward our mailing costs. Canada Deb Lord — Manager Scott Nixon — Editor it The Times -Advocate is owned by Metroland Media Group Ltd. Metroland 424 Main Street South, P.O. Box 850 Media Group Ltd. Exeter, Ontario NOM 1S6 • 519-235-1331 Doug Rowe -General Manager, Southwestern Ontario Division EDITORIAL Where's the cash? It's time for the upper levels of government to step up and offer more help to local commu- nities struggling with paying for massive infrastructure projects. Specifically, of course, we're referring to the significantly increased water/wastewater bills Exeter residents are looking at to pay off the $13.5 million Lake Huron water pipeline. (Council was to discuss the proposed new rates at a meeting Tuesday night after the T -A went to press). The municipality has already received a $4.3 million grant for the project, but as Mayor Ken Oke and other members of council have said, that figure is less than what other municipali- ties have received for similar projects. And as many residents who have to foot the bill for the new pipeline will argue, the $4.3 million isn't enough. The grant money South Huron received was based on the cost (about $7 million) of upgrading the wells, an option council decided against. The pipeline project, we know, cost considerably more than that and the grant money should have reflected that. Of that Canada -Ontario Infrastructure Program grant, $2.4 million came from the province, with the remaining $1.9 million com- ing from the federal level. More grant money for water projects has been announced since, and South Huron needs to get a piece of that. For example, Canada and Ontario recently signed a $6.2 billion "Building Canada" infra- structure agreement. It remains to be seen how much, if any, South Huron will receive of the $50 million earmarked for the Huron Elgin London Project, of which the pipeline project is a part. South Huron plans to take its case to Ottawa this month to lobby for more money. Here's hoping they are met with receptive ears. With provincial and federal regulations forcing municipalities to go ahead with major projects and with communities with small tax bases (like ours) straining to meet the costs, the federal and provincial levels need to lend more of a helping hand than they have been. Ultimately, grant money is money the government collected from taxpayers to begin with, but as long as they're giving some of it back, it might as well be us receiving it. Distributed by Canadian Artists Syndicate Adventures on the sand For kids, a day at the beach usually starts around the mythical zero -dark -thirty hour but for adults the day starts when you top the hill overlooking the beach. Far off in the distance from the parking lot, the cool blue waters of the lake beckon with gentle rippling waves. Unfortunately, not quite as far off and in between you and the lake lies the average papal mass sized crowd, rippling with waves of something sweaty and best not examined too closely. Like everything else in the world, life at the beach is divided into suits and dungarees. Dungarees take footballs to the beach. Suits take books. I used to be a dungaree, or at least I used to be the guy who hung around the dungarees. Now I take a book. (Actually I took a book then too). But unlike dinosaurs that hunt by movement, kids hunt non-moving targets such as drunken uncles passed out in the hammock or on the beach trying to read a book. There are two options for dealing with kids at the beach. In the water and out of the water. In the water requires some form of half-assed adult supervision but it also means clean, excit- ed, happily splashing children. One thing that has changed since circa the mid-1970s is that kids no longer float face- down past parents trying to get their attention. Then the response was "if you pretend to be drowned one more time, we're going home." Now it means search and rescue helicopters are called out. Out of the water means bored, spontaneously com- busting, sand covered kids, who either stare at the couple on the next towel over discovering each other or else decide that the uncle with his nose buried in a book is the candidate to be buried. Letting a kid bury you is a lot like a wedding day. (Really, everything is like a wedding day). You know there is going to be some unpleasant stuff and the only question is whether to keep your eyes open or to close them and take it like a man. In both cases, the eyes closed method is superior. With the hat pulled firmly over the eyes, the imagina- tion soars with the possibilities of what the pack is capable of finding. After the obligatory pokes with a stick, the whisper- ing starts, "no, the bigger one," and "you put it on him." Finally, the decision is made and it can be safely guaranteed to fall into the categories of large and slimy, small and slimy, small and moving or the (hopefully) rare large and moving. Basic kid psychology hasn't changed much since 1976 or in the couple of thousand years before that. The decision of the little dears amounts to whether to let the moving critter roam freely across the quivering pasty white flesh or else trap it against said flesh under an avalanche of sand, leaving the horned devil to thrash its way out, either up through the sand or down through flesh, either of which provide the required amuse- ment for the immediate next couple of minutes. All too soon though, at least as far as the kids go, the setting sun means the pack is hauled back to their trailer and carted to the barn, where they will be hosed off, troughed and given a couple of hours rest before they are ready to go again. For them, the mem- ories will last at least a couple of days, but for adults, the scars will last a lifetime. PAT BACK VIEW BOLEN 40 About the Times -Advocate Address & Office Hours Times -Advocate, 424 Main Street South, P.O. Box 850, Exeter, Ontario NOM 1S6. Our office is open Monday to Friday, 8:30 am to 4:30 pm. CLOSED ON HOLIDAYS. Contact Us By Phone or Fax Classified ad & subscription sales 519-235-1331 24-hour automated attendant 519-235-1336 Fax number 519-235-0766 Fax number for accounting dept. 519-235-2449 Subscription Rates One year rate for addresses in Canada: $42+GST Two year rate for addresses in Canada: $75+GST One year rate for addresses outside Canada:$160+GST Call 519-235-1331 to order a subscription. Classified Rates Word ads: $13 for 20 words, 20¢ for each additional word+ GST. Notices (births, announcements, coming events, memoriams, cards of thanks): $16 + GST for up to 50 words, All ads must be pre -paid. The classified ad deadline is Monday at 10 a.m. Display Advertising To place a display ad, 519-235-1331 weekdays 8:30 to 4:30 p.m. or evenings 519-235-1336 (leave message) or toll-free at 1-888-270-1602. Deadline: Fri. 2 p.m. Web site: www.southhuron.com E-mail Us TA e-mail addresses consist of the person's first initial and last name followed by @southhuron.com. For example, Deb Lord's e-mail address is dlord@southhuron.com Our general e-mail address is ads@southhuron.com. The Times -Advocate Team MANAGER Deb Lord ext. 103 ADVERTISING Deborah Schillemore ext. 112 COMPOSITION Nikki Cyr ext. 101 Kelly Gackstetter ext. 101 EDITOR Scott Nixon ext. 105 REPORTERS Pat Bolen ext. 113 Nina Van Lieshout ext. 107 CUSTOMER SERVICE Sue Rollings ext. 101 Jennifer Skonieczny ext. 102 ACCOUNTING STAFF Anita McDonald ext. 104 Ruth Slaght ext. 106 Marg Pertschy ext. 108 Heather Clarke ext. 111