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HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Huron Expositor, 1980-09-11, Page 1s $14,00..a yeatbi advance • . $higle .Copy 35 cents. , SEPTEMBER 11, 1080 - 20 PAGES kg, vs I° FIRST SECTiON PAGES 1 - 20 SEAFORTH, ONTARIO, THURSDAY, 1`. 121st Year Whole. No. 5870 • of Ed criticized by Alice GO* Charles Smith, spokesman for Robert Bell Indust#es Ltd. of Seaforth, criticized a recommendation by the Huron County board ....education.".s._.conssilting_enginebr_ _to _ purchase gn American-made boiler at a time when county industries are laying off employees due to lack of -work. In a precedent -Setting move, Mf.' Smith went before the board to appeal their decision to purchase a U.S.-manufactured cast-iron boiler for J.A.D. McCurdy Public School in Huron Park, The Bell Industries s spokesman said boilers manufactured in the Seaforth plant would do the same job, and would oast from S10,000 to S20,000 less than the American product. A tender, issued by the boarcton August 28, originally asked contractors to bid on the purchase and • insiallinent cif an American boiler made by Weil McLain Ltd. and recomtnended by the board's consulting engineer, Ron Egan of London. After a 90 minute debate following Mr. Smith's appeal on Monday night, the board agreed to ask the lowest bidder if they would coosider installing a Bell boiler in the school. The name of the contractor submitting the lowest tender wasn't announced. 'In abrief-read-to council, andsubmittedto °aunty newspapers, radio stations and area politicians, Mr. Smith said two years ago, foreign -made boilers were purchased for the Goderich District High School, even though the old boilers at the school had been extensively repaired by Bell staffi Mr. Smith said in his brief that the board allowed only five working days - from July 13, 1978 to July 20, 1978 - to "obtain copies of the specifications, visit the job site, assimilate material costs on the numerous items to be installed, estimate labor costs, prepare a formal bid and submit it to the board." TRAP IN A TREE — Dan O'Rourke looked out his front door last Wednesday night to find a lobster trap hangffig from the tree In his front yard at 33 Ord Street. The trap was one of two brought back by Mr. O'Rourke, his wife and Mr. and 'Mrs. Earl Roney of Dublin from a recent trip to Nova Scotia. Apparently, Mr.' Roney managed to suspend the trap from a high branch sometime thatevening. (Photo by Ellis) Enrolment down BY ALICE GIBB Enrolment in Huron County schools on the first day of classes this year was down by'412 pupils, reflecting the trend 'to lower enrol- ments in many provincial schools. Don Kedwell, superintendent of education with the Huron County board of education, said total enrolment in county schools on September 2 was 11,004 pupils. The elementary school enrolment dropped from 6,900 students in 1979 to 6.785 students this year. down 115 pupils. In the secondary schools., enrolment dropped from 4,446 students last year, to 4,153 students on opening day, down 293 students. However, Mr. Kedwell said the decline in the secondary school enrolment will improve by the end of the month when some students return to class after harvest season. Enrolment in the school for the mentally retarded dropped from 70 pupils to 66 students. Mr. Kedwell said the enrolm ent.drop in county schools is just the normal declining enrolment found in the school system. Paul Carroll, principal of Seaforth Public School, said he believes enrolment at that school has reached a period of stability, and will remain between 325-350 students annually. In June, 1980. enrolment at the school was 332 students, and it now stands at 348 students. This year. there are 27 kinder- garten pupils attending the school. Sinnamon expects to run After the' tender was accepted, Mr. Smith said the boiler manufacturer had only 17 working days to build, test and deliver the two boilers., e—The-Bell-Industries-engineer-saidshis staff -- submitted quotations on new boilers as early as December, 1977 and "on numerous , occasions we followed up on the progress of the project, but did not receive additional information until the tender was published • on July 13, 1978." He said while the company's management spent "a great deal of effott" trying to persuade the administration and board members to consider boilers manufactured • locally, the company's efforts were to no avail. Charles Smith told the board for more than 80 years his firm has been doing business in Huron County and the com- pany's employees "have- contributed to the tax base which •supparts, the public school system..." He pointed out at a time when • the federal and provincial governments have launched massive and costly ',!Buy Cana- dian" campaigns the board had twice purchased foreign-manuafactured boilers for their schools. Mr. Smith said When the boilera eame_ up_ for tender at J.A.D. McCurdy School, the situation was virtually identical to that in 1978 at Goderich. He said', "We have taken the opportunity of obtaining the contractor's cost on the "base bid" boilers and can show to the board savings on the price of the two boilers in the neighbourhoed of $10,000 if we are allowed to supply our boilers." In an interview on Tuesday, Mr. Smith said he could increase that figure to between S10,000 to S20,000 after talking to one of the , oontractors who tendered to install the boilers. Mr. Smith told the board, "I don't say we should ieceive the business automatically, NEW STAFF Stu nts, met three new staff members during kheir first day back at class. The s hool's new vice-principal is David Kemp. vho was promoted from Huron Centennial School. Brucefield, where he was a classroom teacher last fall. Pat Soldan, the former vice-principal of Seaforth Public School, has transferred to Huron Centennial where he holds the same position. Another new staff member is Kathleen Pletsch of Seaforth,. who transferred from Walton Public School. Mrs. Pietsch will be teaching Grades 5 and 6. The third new staff member is Michael. park, who transferred from Howick Central School. where he taught in the primary division. Mr. Park. a Seaforth resident. will Council members consider election • BY HERB SHOVELLER Aithough the municipal election is still two months away, several members of the Seaforth council have announced their intention to run again. "As fir as I know now, I'll run again," Said Seaforth mayor John Sinnamon after Mondaynight's council meeting. "There's a -few things I'd like to see carried through, like the road construction. We've really just sunk Our teeth into it. "also, theresa lot of sidewalks in town I'd like to see work on. I'd like to see the official plan put through. There's a lot of things that need attention, and need attention soon." Neither deputy reeve William Dale nor reeve John Flannery, a veteran of municipal politics, has made a firm cornmittment yet to run. "I will decide that in October," said Mr. Dale. "The main reason is I'm not a kid any more, I want to make sure I can do my share of the work. If I feel like I do now though, I'll probably run again, . Reeve Flannery isn't in a hurry to make his decision. "I haven't really made any plans yet, I think it's too early. I'll decide about five to five on October 20 (the day nominations dose)," he said. There are five councillors remaining in Seaforth, following the resignation of Bruce Hoelscher during the summer, and their cornmittments range from firm to tentative. "Oh, I'm going to run, again," said CoUntillOt Henry Mero, who is completing his first term, "I just haven't decided what I'm going to run for." Councillor Gerald Groothois, who is serving his second term, is not certain yet of his plans. "I haven't 'decided yet," he said. "Probably the day before nominations close. If I don't run again, it will be for personal reasons. If I do, it will be if I can see my way clear to spend more time." Councillor Irwin Johnston, also serving his ,—Inside this week Tough Tournament The Seaforth Golf and Country ,Club held its invi- tational tournament last weekend with 120 golfers taking part. It was a rough day, though, as only two of the patticipants broke par. Pictures and story, page 8. Reeve to retire There was a surpris of sorts at Hensell council on - day night when reeve arold Knight announced that he would not seek re- lection in November. See s ty on page 11 sfcond term, is uncertain as well. "I'll be making a firm committment in the middle of October," he said. "I'm going to wait." William Banett, who was appointed to council after the last election, intends to run again. "I'll run. VII run for something. I'll know by next month what I'll run for," he said. The appearance of councillor Bob Dinsmore's name on the ballot in November is almost certain. "It's more than likely," he said. "There's two or three things still up in the air, and I don't wantto leave them up in the air. "The road program is one and I'd like to See all the police problems cleared up.- Mr. Dinsmore chairs the police committee. He has served on council for several years. beginning when he was first elected in 1965 at age 21. After serving then for six years he retired, but returned to municipal politics last election. New correspondent This week the Expositor wel- comes a new correspondent for the Vanastra Voice. Her name is Jan Ferguson, and you can read her first column on page 17. Centre opens The addition to the Vanastra Recreation Centre was offi- cially opened Friday night. A . feature of the new section is that it allows easier access to handicapped visitors. Pictures and story on page 20. be teaching Grade 1. Enrolment at Walton Public School declined from 100 students in June -50 to 91 students this year. However. corolment in the Kindergarten class increased by two pupils to 24. Three new teachers have joined the staff of Walton Public School. Mrs. Barb Livermore. formerly. of Grey Central School in Ethel, will ,be teaching kindergarten. Barb Farrish of Lucknow, o ho recently graduated from teachers' college at the University of Western Ontario. is teaching Grade 1. Mrs. Joan Vandenpool of Clinton isill he teaching Grade 2. She previously taught for three years at the Children's Psychiatnc Research Institute in London. BRUCti. tELD At Huron Cen?ennial School. Brucefield. . enrolment has increased from 480 students •in September. 1979. to 517 students This year kindergarten enrolment has dropped to 15 pupils to 53. New staff members, at the school include vice-principal Pat Soldan, who transferred from Seaforth Public School, and Grade 8 teacher Rob Snell, who transferred from Colbourne Central School. Two other new staff members, who will be filling in for two teachers on maternity leave 'until Christrrias,are' Mrs. Pat Hamilton, who oill be teaching French. and Donna Shaddick. a Grade 3 teacher. At Hensel! Public School. enrolment is down slightly, from 127 students in September. 1979 to 121 students this fall. Mary Ellen Walsh. who formerly (aught at ' %velum Public School, was transferred to teach Grades 2 and 3..at Hensel' Public School. Donna St. John will be teaching music until Christmas. for Mts. Jane Hnatok. who's on maternity leave. Hulled School in Londesboro gained five pupils over the summer and has 290 enrolled. Enrolment at Seaforth District High School this fall. is very close to last fall's enrolment. SDHS principal Bruce Shaw said but tilneerth).mantle- ter should any foreign fact Ron Egan, the board's consulting en- gineer, said the American firm was chosen --since-it-makes-the-onl)r'east-iron boilers of the size needed for the school. He told board members the cast-iron was preferable because it can be taken apart and assembled inside the boiler room. In speaking to Mr. Smith's brief, he said, "We have not stopped anyone from bidding." He said tender specifications said contractors could offer an alternative to the boiler mentioned and added, "I've never had a salesman (from Bell Industries) in my office to do a sell job on me. I cannot run to . all th&manufacturers when I'm dealing with one boiler." Mr. Smith, who said he feels he made a "small amount of progress" in presenting his brief to the board, said Mr. Egan had visited Bell Industries between the time the Goderich boilers were installed and the Hueon Park tender was'called. "!would swear he picked up information on our boilers." Mr. Smith said. • Although Mr. Egan did not want to comment on the boiler issue while the matter was stilt under 'consideration by the board, he said, "I've no argument at all with Bell Industries." He said he had visited the industry in the past to talk with Mr. Snaith, Sr., about a boiler in Seaforth District High School so "I know they're there." Mr. Smith, who sent out 41 copies of his btief by courier service to the board and the media, said many of the school board members did speak up in favour of Canadian industry. John Cochrane, board superintendent, was ill Tuesday, and unavailable for commCnt. R. McVean, superintendent of plant at the' board. said the low tender contractor has now been approached about the alternatives of using a Bell boiler. • He said the board will eventually have to make a decision on which boiler the contractor will use.. Mr. Smith said he would like to have addressed the board again to answer some of Mr. Egan's statements, but "it was booming a protracted meeting." Treasures donated Interesting artifacts which will be on display at the upcoming Ciderfest ate a a.inow cane and pair of men's football shorts. both autographed by members of the Van Egmond family. The cane, shorts and an eight day dock were recently donated to the Van Egritand Foundation by Gertrude fEilliott) Lambert of Edmonton. granddaughter of a former Seaferth town clerk. In a letter accomoanvmst the treastuea. Mrs. Larnhert v. -rites that her grandfather was town clerk of Seaforth from about 1875 Please turn to page 3 (Continued on Page 3 ) hed destroyed in fire Fire destroyed a storage shed on the farm of John Boven. Con. 6.. McKillop Township. eariy Tuesday morning. resulting in 510,000 damage to the boilding. Seaforth fire department answered the alarm about 4 a.m. and the- building o as completely engulfed in flames when they reached the scene. Mr. Boven said he and his stepson. Harry Otten, had been welding a 1968 Firebird in the shed earlier Monday evening. The car was to be safety -checked on Tuesday The Firebird and a snowmobile owned by Harry Otten were also destro.yed in the fire Mr. Boven said his wife was roused by the ear's horn. and looked out to see the storage shed on fire. In addition to the car. which was completely destroyed, the shed also Melady wins Ted Melady of R.R.1. Dublin was the lucky winner of a new Ch o t in the annual Seaford) Lions Club car dra held in the arena Saturday night. The two final ticket holders in th draw were Mre. Melady and 1.R. Cluff of 1oronto When Mr. Melady couldn't be t-eactied to see if he wanted to split the price of t e car with Mr. Chiff, organizers drew the final ticket.' Mr. Melody was presentedwith the keys to his new car by Bill -McLaughlin, Seaforth Lions club president, on Monday afternoon. The other 550 winners in the draw were Stan Alkemade of Seaforth; Durl Hopper of Harpurhey, J.R. McLachlan of Kippen, Eileen Adamson and Doug Phillips, both of Seaforth, Ross Smale of Staffa and Allen McLean of Seaforth. Mr. Smale and Toni Haley of Seaforth wee the final two ticket Holders in the car draw last year. contained 10 barrels of oil. Mr. Boven's oeiding and repair equipment and a liquid manure pump. The fire may have been caused by a smouldering fire from the welding or may have been an electrical fire. Mr. Raven said Seaforthgfiremen pumped .water out of a well on a neighbouring farm to fight the blaze The walls of the shed collapsed in the fire. Mr. Boven said he had lumber and steel for a new shed stored inside the gutted building. EARLY MORNING INFERNO—The John Boven family of RA2, Seaforth, awoke Kist before 4 a.m. Tuesday to find a farm shed on fire. The building, containing welding equipment, oll barrels, a snowmobile and a restored sports car, was valued at approximately $10,000. ;!.