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HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Huron Expositor, 1987-08-26, Page 1INDEX Dublin --A5' Walton -'A6 Hensel) — A7 Farm - A8 Business Directory — A$ ' Obituaries — A9 Legion - A10 Sports — A11 Classified — Al2, A13, A14 Weddings -=- A16 Births — A16 People — A16 oc i ety, Couple restore house. See page A4 • lub' hosts largest tournament. See page Al 1. Serving the communities and areas. of Seaforth, Brussels, Dublin, Hensel! , and: Walton • lLdb � Osi,t. HURON EXPOSITOR, WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 26, 1987 50 cents a copy Poii•c ,t.Own await arbitratot's TdeCjsifl The wage dispute between the Town of leagues in., other communities. Police Constable Peter Ruch, Director of the On- . police forces have settled for an average* On a per capita basis the cost of police Seaforth and its Police Association should salaries, it said, because of the selective tario Police Association, on behalf of the . wage of $33,157.35., If •Seaforth were to protection for the Town:of Seaforth is $88.05, be resolved within a . couple of weeks. • service rendered by police constables, SPA. " .. ••, negotiate a settlement which is comparable which, said Constable Ruch is on average Representatives of -both the town • and the . should be compared with other police He pointed out in comparison with other the increase would be $2,532.35. Huron with the rest of Huron County association presented briefs on Thursday to salaries; and should not be tied to those paid . Huron County police.. forces Seaforth was County forces settled for an average 1987 • "The Town of Seaforth has ability to meet an arbitratorappointed to settle the 1987 to other employees of the municipality, the lowest paid in 1986- Seaforth constables wage of. $33,577:50. In comparison Seaforth its responsibilities and it is in its best in - collective agreement. ' .. "We suggest the requirements of policing earned $30,625, 6848 below the average wage should get a raise of $2,952.50, terests to do so," he concluded. • . SEAFORTH POLICE are sufficiently, rigorous and"are increasing for- other constables in the county. In corn-: Policing, said Constable Ruch, is_ mot a ` TOWN OF SEAFORTH In their brief the SPA said the present at a "sufficiently rapid rate to justify a parison with 23 comparable forces in On- glamorous job and in order to make the job ' In its presentation the Town of Seaforth wage scale was inadequate and did not pro- substantial increase, in an attempt to just tario Seaforth wages were still rower, ap- attractive and more desirable wages must asked that the wage increase to members of perly.reflect the status of its members in keep pace with the rates being established proximately$134 behind the average. "' be adequate enough to attract the best the Seaforth Police Association not exceed relation to the norms established by • col -1 in other comparable communities," said Constable Ruch added in 1987 17 of the 23 possible candidates. He pointed out for in- five per cent. The town added this increase, Stance, that - unlike other municipal which would bring the salary of the con- ' "‘ ti �'+$i employees, police have no right to strike, . stables to' $32,156, is on average with the • are under content scrutiny by the public (on survey of salaries analysis of 73 forces. The and off duty) and face a job hazard that is town noted the average;1987 salary increase qualitatively different from that of any for those -73 forces•is 5.33 per cent. other occupation, particularly with the rise The town also noted that of the 13 forces in crimes of violence, present da' drug with 1,000 or less households the average calture.and the increasing use of weapons 1987 increase was 5.32 per cent to $32,660. by the criminal element of society. They further pointed out that when the nor - Constable Ruch said no other occupation thern Ontario municipalities were removed so totally regulates an individual's life and from that comparison, because of being few occupations impose such rigorous and historically higher paid, the average 1987 stressful conditions on an individual's work- salary was reduced to $31;547. ing time. None, he said, contain' so many In comparing the 1987 budgets to the 1986 restrictions on a private life, actual expenditures for•Seaforth, the town Further Constable Ruch pointed out the showed that the average basic hourly rate Town of Seaforth budgeted $234,060 for in Seaforth is 15 per cent higher than the police expenditures in 1986 but only used average of 18 other police forces with a staff $228,295. $241,828 has been budgeted, for of 1-5 and.only one per .cent lower than the 1987, an increase of 5.78 per ceht. Turn to page 7A • Terry Fox Run needs 'participants • SMOLDERING HEAP-Seaforth firefighters battle a smoldering day afternoon. The men were called to the scene when two CN heap of used railway ties on the south side of St. Columban Man- Rail engineers discovered the blaze while on a routine check of the railroad. Blake photo, Fire discovered by CN Rail 'engineers Monday CN Rail engineers discovered a fire at Matches were also discovered near the pranksters or children started the fire but A Brussels area teenager received minor about 12:15 p.m. Monday that burned 20 to fire by a fireman, but tion Hugill, road that it was just a freak accident. injuries in a single vehicle accident that oc- 30 used railway ties on the south side of St. master, said he believed they weren't used, Not `wanting to speculate on whether the cured Sunday afternoon between Walton Columban, behind Ryan's Hardup Roost. to start the blaze. matches were the cause of the fire Mr. and Brussels. The fire was discovered when two Mr. Hugill said the usred ties were "no big Hugill said, "You never know." Police say Amy Workman, 16, of RR 2 engineers were making a routine check of loss" since they weren't going to be used or It took firefighters approximately 45 Brussels, was driving westbound on Conces- the railway, a practise that is done regular- sold for future uses. minutes to calm the smoldering ties using sions 11 and 12 at about 12:15 p.m. when she Y especiallyduring didn't .. then foam. braked hard to avoid hitting a dog and lost 1 and es ectal! railway 'strikes. He ,also added he didn'believe water first, control of her car in loose gravel. The 1981 Members of the Seaforth Recreation Committee are looking for ways to attract more participants to the seventh annual • Terry Fox Run, set for Sunday? September 13. The Terry Fox Run has increased in size each year since it began. The first time it was tried in 1981 paticipants at 760 sites across Canada raised $3.5 million. The 1986 run attracted 284,000 participants at more than 2,000 sites around the world raising $3.8. inillion. Seaforth's 18 participants helped raise $479 of that amount. Neighboring Ex- eter raised•$2,000. This year Recreation Director Marty Bedard said the committee hopes to im- prove on that number, and reminds those in- terested in helping raise money in aid of cancer research that the way one completes the course is optional. Participants may run, walk,, jog, bike, wheel or ride. Those in Seaforth's Terry Fox Run have the option of travelling either a one, two or six mile course, all of which begin and end at the Van Egmond.House. They can travel the course anytime between 8 a.m. and noon on September 13 and refreshments are provided. As an added incentive for people to enter the Run the Recreation Committee is issu- ing a challenge. Businesses are being asked to challenge one another to participate, with' those challenges and their results to be printed in the newspaper. People who don't have businesses in town and members of various local organizations, sporting or otherwise, are being asked to challenge their neighbors or each other. Even the schools are being asked to try and improve on their past participation, with the •school achieving the greatest percentage of its population participating to be recognized in some significant way. All new participants receive a Marathon of Hope certificate. Those who have par- ticipated in the past will receive a 1987 sticker which can be applied to the old certificate. Pledge sheets for the Terry Fax Run are available from Bob. and Betty's Variety Store, The Expositor, The Town Office, The Recreation Department and all' Seaforth banks. Anyone wishing further information. can call the Recreation office at527.0882. Brussels area teenager injured Development is topic of By Anne Narejko LONDESBORO- Foreign land ownership, economic development, upgrading of Highways 4 and 8 and the suitability of the existing Ontario Ministry of Agriculture and Food (OMAF) o'ffic`e were a few of the topics debated by Huron riding candidates at the 11 -candidate meeting held here on August 24. MPP Jack Riddell, representing the Liberals, Nice Peters representing the Pro- gressive Conservative f PC) party and Paul Klopp, representing the New Democratic Patty (NDP), were provided with the oppor- tunity of making an opening statement and then were faced with both verbal and wi`it- ten questions from the audience which con- listed of approximately 200 people. The majority of questions centered around Huron County's largest form of employment - agriculture. Farming is an, honorable profession and We don't need to apologize to anyone for the assistance which weneed," said Mr. Peters. He went on to tell the audience about the damage which the farming community has Suffered, using Bruce County as an exam= , plc. Mr. Peters said a person could drive down a concession and not pass a house or barn on that road. "The roads that do have farms on them, would have no one to see the smoke if it burned down, and that's sad; he said. "And what's to prevent that from happening in Huron County? Nothing: ` "The fun has gone out of farming," con- tinued the man who got into the agriculture business in 1980. Mr. Peters said the budget played an im- octant role in the reasons people moved to 'Why pay tax en a building when you uldn't have to pay any if the building blue Chevrolet, which she was driving, crossed to the other side of the road and roll- ed into the ditch. Damage is estimated at $2,000. Miss Workman was•taken to the Wingham and District Community Hospital, was treated for minor cuts and bruises and released. There were no passengers in the car. all -candidates meeting "I'd like to change the scenario to give Huron a future." wasn't there? Why should your children have to bike for miles with other children their.age?" Before ending his comments, Mr. Peters told the attentive crowd what he hoped to do' about the 'situation he had describe'd, stating, "I'd like to change this scenario to give, Huron a Entire." Next up 'was Mr. Riddell who used the Liberal party's traek record as an example for the people of Huron County a d be done, ofwhat has been done, and could rid Ontario. "Ontario has • achieved progress. We (Liberals) have set an agenda of reform and backed it with action," he said. In the education area, Mr. Riddell said a new program has been instated which will call for smaller classes in Grades 1 and 2 and more Computer training will be offered as we are in the ';age of teehnology." He also touched on the environmental clean-up policy, assistance for senior citizens and said the Liberals were not "puppets of any partieular interest group." "We have brought openness, honesty and integrity to government," said Mr. Riddell. Time allocated for Mt. Ridden speech ran out when he reached assistance which the Liberals have given the province in agriculture over the last few years, but he did have time to say they have increased ;spending by 72 per cent in two years and have ,introduced more than -50' hew pro- grams and initiatives.' Mr. Klopp's main focus was on assisting the working people. He said the NDP have fought for the ordinary working people before the election and will continue to do so during and after the election. "I'm running for the farmers, thesmall ` g business people and their famines,{ said Mr..Kiepp" finlike the previous candidates, Mr. Klopp said he wasn't going to judge government by how much more one has done than the other, but he uses a marker of improvement. "Have we seen a marked improvement? 1 dont think so," he said. "Farmers need bet- ter income stability and a decent rate of return..." Foreign Land Ownership Paul Greb; of the Dashwood area, asked the first question of the night, directing it to Mr. Riddell. • "Five farms that changed hands in Stephen Township in the last year were bought by foreigners," he said, before tell- ing Mr. Riddell that he took exception to a story which appeared in the London Free Press which quoted Mr. Riddell as saying. foreign land ownership' was no longer a probleiti. Mr. Riddell said this type of land owner- ship has dropped to Tess than one per cent. "The real flurry has dropped off because we closed the loop hole in the taxes which , foreign owners would pay. "We're Monitor- ing the situation and will stop it if it gets out of hand," said Mr. Riddell. However, he says those selling the land are reeelving a good dollar for it. Mr. Klopps spoke to the question as well, stating, It has unproved but the bottom line is we have to set up a policy that says we want people to farm the land. He used policy which is implernented in Saskatchewan as an example. "In Saskatchewan, if you don't want to, come here and farm it, you can't buy more than 10 acres and that goes for corporations as well." The next question asked each candidate if they would support greater industrialization of Huron County. Mr. Riddell was the first to speak to this saying we need something to keep the young people here, but we should choose industries which are compatible with agriculture se we do not damage our pr'es'ent crops, Mr. Peters said 80 per cent of farmers hold off farm jobs and was also in favor of more economic development. But to achieve this. Mr. Peters believes the present Tier standing needs to be changed. The tier one standing does not provide grants for businesses wanting to locate in Huron County and is based on unemp1oy- fn mentures. g "A company was going to set up in Wingham and would have employed 100 peo- ple, but they were advised to move to the. Toronto area because of the unetrippoyzrient figures there," said Mr. Peters. -We need a loud voice at Queen's Park to say, don't look at my riding because of statistics, look at its people!" Mr. Klapp said he looked at economic development differently than Mr. Riddell and Mr. Peters. "If people have to work outside their farms, they are taking jobs away from so- meone else. That's why I said we must make agriculture healthy." He also said he felt it was inconsistent to have a rural area with industry. It just doesn't work. It's time we treated agriculture as a business." OMAF Office The Clinton OMAF office was the focus of the next topic of conversation, with the esker wondering if the candidate's party would get the "ball rolling on a new and big- ger" office. Mr. Klopp said there was a 1.4 per cent in- crease for the new OMAF office about three years ago but the money never got through. "That doesn't sit well with me," he said. Mr. Peters said he can't see a need for a larger office. "I don't think the OMAF office is as small as we think it is. When there are meetings' there, it is full, but that's because there's a good six size crowd'... I can't see a need for it." . Mr. Riddell told the Crowd there is going• to be a new OMAF office in Clinton, and believes tenders have gone out on property already. "There will be a new OMAF office in Clin- ton and it will be Here in the near future," he Said. • Low income Housing On the topic of low income housing, or seb- sidized housing, Mr. Riddell and Mr. Kiopp Turn to page 14A