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HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Huron Expositor, 1982-12-01, Page 2Incorporating tU 4 Bru.Sses Post 5Oc per copy tfxp isitor SEAFDRTH, u+NTARIO, WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 1, 1982 — 24 SIGNING IT SIGN LANGUAGE—St. Patricks Parish Priest Father J. Carrigan left, taught the 1st Dublin Brownie Pack sign language at a meeting. Thursday. Each girl will earn a Signaller Badge if they can sign the alphabet and give and receive a short message. The girls practise what they've learned at right. (Photo by Svela) Sc oI costs Both museum sites are unsuitable BY STEPHANIE LEVESQUE The Huron County Pioneer Museum is dosed for safety reasons and while a building reserve fund has been established, the future of the museum is now in the hands of the 1983 Huron County council. County council made the decision to close the museum at its Nov. 25 session after two reports had been presented to the joint property and development committee. The reports. one from B.M. Ross and Associates of Goderich recommeRided the museum be closed immediately and the second report. from Museum Programs Collaborative (MPC)., stated the former telecommunications school in Vanastra is ,,funsuitable to house a museum. The B.M. Ross report said while the former Godcrich Central School is a well -constructed building there arc areas that don't meet the building code. Leaking roofs which have led to the deterioration of part of the roof support structural framing and part of the roof support system is below building code requirements. There are also Closed because it's unsafe areas of deteriorating wood in the basement. All three of the metal -clad additions fail to meet load requirements of the building code. MPC's report indicated it would cost about S5 million to bring the Vanastra building up to museum requirements. In a break down of figures presented to county council by deputy clerk•treasurer William Akock, renovations to an area to be used for the museum would be about S2 million and the renovations to the remainder of the building would cost about S3.3 million, Goderich Depot Reeve Robert Allen said he had a copy of the MPC report several days before the county council meeting and had verified the cost estimates, "The figures are very accurate, about S35 per square foot. The information is exec+ lent." commented Deputy Reeve Allen. Tuckersmith Township Reeve Robert Bell asked county council what its plans for the school in Vanastra are. "One thing I'd like to comment on since council is reluctant to give a definite no. There is another alternative. The building is gang on the auction block... council can go to the auction and bid on it." suggested Reeve Bell. PATIENCE Warden Harold Robinson commended the Township of Tuckersmith for its patience with county council's deliberations on the Vanastra building. Them was some confusion as to whether the county would adopt or aceepHfie reports and in the end the reports were accepted. The MPC report made numerous recom- mendations dealing with planning for thc future of the museum. Goderich Reeve Don Wheeler said the present council could not commit the inco- ming council to additional expenditures and it would be up to them to determine the future of the museum. 11 was also noted the 1' of the 30 county councillors will not be returning this year (they either lost in re-election bids or retired from politics) and several of them were on the joint committee. Reeve Wheeler indicated he would be available to state his views as he was a member of the joint committee. RESERVE FUND The Goderich reeve also helped launch thc fund raising for the Huron County Pioneer Museum building reserve fund. His donation. in an undisclosed amount, is the second so far. A S50 donation from Dorothy Leonard of London was recommended as the start of the fund. In other museum business. museum curator Raymond Scotchmer presented his annual report. From information in the museum's 1981 register book a synopisis of where visitors come from was obtained. Although only 3.39' visitors out of a total of (5.000 for 1981 signed the register. Mr. Scotchmer said it docs give some indication where the people come from. The local visitors (within a 40 mile radius. of the museum) made up 18 per cent of the visitors. The largest group comes from the rest of Ontario making up 58 per cent of the visitors. Other breakdowns include, three per cent from Canada excluding Ontario. 13 per cent from the United States and eight per cent from other countries. No PUC 'settlement yet The Seaforth Public Utilities Commis- sion's (PUC) four outside employees have not reached a contract settlement with the local commission. according to union representa- tive Doug Smale, who feels that an agreement may be reached early in the new year. Mr. Smalc explained that the' four employees have had little difficulty in previous years reaching an agreement on clothing allowance and other nems. How- ever. he admits that the employees have not been satisfied with previous settlements. Although he would not release any figures. Mr. Smale told the Expositor that the Seaforth PUC employees are paid "quite a bit (ower" than their counterparts in Mitchell and Clinton. The group is represented by the Interna- tional Brotherhood of Electrical Workers (JEW) Branch 636. "We couldn't seem to get them to budget on the issue of wages so we got the union in to see what they could do." Mr. Smale explained. saving that was the main reason for the union certification. Santa Claus is coming to town Christmas carols and Santa's ilo ho ho will fill the air this Saturday during the annual Seaforth Santa Claus Parade. Irwin Johnston. parade chairman. said the 1982 parade is shaping up to be as successful as the 1981 parade. At present. he said over 30 entries have registered. "which is comparable to last year." 'The site of the old arena is where floats will line-up at 12:30 p.m. The parade. featuring the Seaforth District High School Girls Trumpet Band and the Dashwood -Sea forth Community Band. will travel south on Main street to the Topnotch Feed Mill Turning left, the parade will travel to Victoria Street and end at Victoria Park. Mr. Johnston said coffee, hot chocolate and donuts will be available for participants in the parade at Mclaughlin's Chev•Olds. Residents from Kilbarchan and Town Manor nursing homes Will be viewing the parade from the showroom window at McLaughlin Chew -Olds . Santa Claus. the main attraction. will r BY STEPHANIiE LEVESQUE An early warning that the Huron County Board of Education is going to have a tough time keeping its 1983 budget' down was noted at a special meeting on November 23. There is concern that the Ministry of Education will limit general legislative grants for education purposes to an increase of five per cent despite increased costs to the board. The Huron board supported, two motions from other school boards relating to this concern. A motion from the Leeds and Grenville County Board of Education states it will petition the Ontario governmentto ensure the level of increase for the grants is adjusted for those boards that settled collective agreements prior to Sept. 21 and those boards that have not settled. The intent of the motion is to eliminate financial hardships to those boards that settled prior to Sept. 21 and before the five per cent restraint limit was imposed. The Huron Board settled its collective agreements prior to Sept. 21. A second motion. from the Renfrew County Separate School Board, calls for petitions to Ontario Premier William Davis, the Trea- surer of Ontario and the Ministry of Education to order Ontario Hydro to roll back its eight per cent increase to five per cent or to increase school board grants during the 1983 fiscal year for electrical consumption to eight per cent. Trustee Murray Mulvey pointed out the board's costs are affected by fuel and so far this year fuel costs to the Huron board have risen 43 per cent. "We can't keep our costs at five per cent unless we hold the cost of fuel," said Mr. Mulvey. He said he wasn't aware the cost of fuel had risen so high until he consulted o r administrative staff. Mr, Mulvey added there are also indirect cost increases'related to the increased cost of fuel. Trustee Jean Adams commented this subject is an item that should appear in newspapers. The Goderich trustee said information such as had been presented makes the taxpayer aware of costs facing the board and why board of education•costs can't always be held down, Townships ok firehall The possible purchase of the McNichol building in Seaforth's industrial park as a locaton for a new fire hall, came one step closer to being a reality after all four townships, McKillop, Tuckersmith, Hullett and Hibbert, adopted resolutions supporting the purchase of the building providing It meets area building code requirements. Any repairs are to be paid for entirely by owner Louis McNichol. The new Seaforth council will be looking at the matter before a decision is made on a possibleurchase. According to Bill Brown, Tuckersmith deputy reeve and Fire Area chairman, the board received an extension on its deadline for a commitment to buy the building from Mr. McNichol. the new deadline is Decem- ber 9. "Speaking as the chairman of the board I will continue to pursue the matter," Mr. Brown said in a telephone interview with the Expositor. Caseload up 53 per cent greet his young friends at the former Plumsteel furniture store. located beside the Seaforth Sewing Centre. The Santa Centre will be open at 2:00 p.m. with Santa presenting goodies to his admirers until 3:30. He will then s isit both nursing homes to greet the residents. A baby-sitting service will be provided at the Santa Centre to leave parents free to do their Christmas shopping following the parade. Winners of the poster contest will also he on display at the centre. The parade is sponsored by the Seaforth Lions Club. Seaforth BIA and the Seaforth Recreation Department. Any interested group or individuals wishing to participate in this Saturday's parade can contact Mr. Johnston by phoning 521.0743 after 6:00 p. m. In addition to being open on parade day. the Santa Centre will open Saturday. December 1 I from 9 in 10:30 am. and 1 to 4 p.m.: Saturday. December 18 from 1:30 to 3.30 p.m. and Tuesday to Thursday. December 21 to 23 from " to 8:30 p.m. BY STEPHANIE LEVESQUE In one year. the caseload of the Huron County social services has increased 53.5 per cent. Statistics presented at the November 25 session of Huron County shows the caseload at thc cnd of October 1982 was 234 while only 104 at the end of October 1981. At the same time assistance was issued to 241 cases by the end of October 1982 and only 157 cases received assistance at the end of October 1981. Social services administra• tor John MacKinnon com- mented there may be more general welfare assistance cases as he is expecting more people in Huron County to come off unemployment in- surance benefits in December or January. Social services committee chairman Warren Zinn said it is surprising the expendi- tures aren't higher with the increased caseload. The bud- get is 23.36 per cent over 1982 S163.586 of the county's estimated share of 5163,840 has been spent to date. Social services total budget of 5665.594 has been overspent by 59.984. County council was also informed that the Ministry of Community and Social Ser- vices has increased the gen- eral welfare assistance rate by about five per cent. effective November 1. The maximum monthly allowance payable is now 5656 for a estimates with the province family of four and the mini - being responsible for all of.mum is 5163 for a single the overexpenditure. Only employable person. Bell defends new phone book BY RON WASSINK Subscribers to Bell Canada in the London• Si Thomas area, realized several changes w hen the new telephone directory was delivered. The book has less pages due to a smaller type sire with five columns per page instead of the usual four columns. A telephone interview was conducted with Peter Croome. section manager for Bell Canada in Huron and Perth Counties. He explained the change in the new directories w as first made in the Toronto and Montreal hooks because the hook had reached binding apacih "There was considerable thought put into 1 finding a practical change." He said 11 was impractical to reinforce the binding or split the Toronto book into two directories, Reduced type face "stems from the fact of necessih . " A survey was conducted concerning s arious type faces says Mr. Croome. The new type featured in the London -St. Thomas director). known as Bell Centennial, has letters and numbers closer together. but fuller and better formed to improve readabil- ity. The addresses are lighter to make the names standout. He said there was no adverse reaction from the public when the Please turn to page 3 Huron board chairman wants better communication BY STEPHANIE LEVESQUE Trust and understanding between the press and board staff will be the Huron County Board of Education's top priority in 198,1 At a special hoard meeting on November 23 chairman Dorothy Wallace presented a "position paper" outlining how the hoard is perceived by both the press and staff members. Mrs. Wallace also gave suggest ions as to how communication lines could he opened. The position paper was referred to the hoard's executive committees first meeting in January. The chairman suggested the press he invited to s0 in on committee -of -the -whole meetings. that the board revert to hen meetings a month • one in the evening and one in thc daytime. - that agendas be made asailahle to the public prior to the meeting. that individual trustees be allowed to speak to the press on particular concerns. that a w second line 01 communication to staff be established and that some kind of variation of employee groups getting together to discuss ,ass to improve the quality of the work area. • On staff communication Mrs. Wallace said the regular channel is for teachers to talk to the principal who refers it to a superintendent w ho refers it to the director of education who in turn refers matters to the board. The chairman said staff should feel free to talk to hoard members and while it has not been forbidden. but neither has it been encour- aged She added that various themes of "quality circles" should he explored. The chairman said editorial comment in the press suggests the board is thought to be a "secretive hunch." Mrs. Wallace also pointed out that resolutions are passed by the hoard with almost no discussion. "To the visitor. we look like a bunch of rnmhies." admitted Mrs. Wallace. Most of the discussion takes place in the s annus committee meetings for education ." management. personnel and executive. the chairman explained. She noted the press has been invited to these in the past. hut th, hoard has to face the fact that the press iso • going to come. One reason for this she said the committee only makes recommendations to the board and the press isn't going to spend time at the meeting when the material being discussed may or may not become actual fact. Mrs. Wallace said criticism leveled at thi board suggesting it "rubber stamps" ad ministrative decision is an idea she disagrees with and knows that director of educanor John Cochrane wouldn't agree with. Tt• chairman also said she couldn't see why ar individual trustee couldn't speak to the press "1t would do a good deal to remove the impression we all vote the same way,' she noted. Refusing to bring this exact topic to the table at the hoard s November meeting was. said Mrs Wallace "another nail in our coffin". "We Kase nothing to hide." thc chairman added. Inviting the press to in•camcra meetings did not go os er w ell w oh the hoard members. Trustee .lean Adams said she doesn't agree with allowing the press to sr) In on in i amera meetings She mdicatcdwith a hand gesture that she doesn't trust the press an inch and expressed corn ern of possible leaks Mrs Wallace countered that if a subject in camera is "that hot the press would not he allowed in. "I'm ming to break down that feeling of mistrust, explained Mrs Wallace.- Trustee allaceTrustee Dasc Mi Donald agreed wnh Mrs Adams noting that quos a lin of the to camera discussion relates to emplovec negotiations The chairman suggested the various teach• ers' federations he asked for concent to allow the press in To hasc a better understanding of w'hs a de, noon came about. said Trustee Joan Van den Rrocck, all mformatton should be green to rhe press tion an give the press piecemeal information " said Trustee Van den Broeck She added that if the press is more aware of . hat is happening at the board. they'll he more sympathetic The public has the nght and a crying need to he aw are of w hat is happening." added Mrs S an den Broeck Mr (oehranc noted that a previous reporter had been united •to sit rn nn in camera meetings but was told by her newspaper the was obliged to report if she attended meetings } ou an't say to the press. you can't print this ' added Mrs Adams. Retiring Trustee Marion Zinn spoke in (ascii- of holding two meetings a month She said when the board first became a county hoard. meetings were held tw ice a month and all the mformatton came out Trustee Frank Falconer expressed his concern for doing away with the board's committee because it is his feat the board w ill he meeting once a week Mrs Wallace acknowledged 110 changes ,ould he made now as n is the 1981.82 school hoard's last meeting Nr Falconer accepted the re -port with thanks .nd suggested it be turned over to the 1081 executry a committee for discussion at ns first meeting in January Mrs. Wallace had said she didn't warn the matter postponed until sometime next year". The chairman's paper came as a result of a seminar for trustees and principals held on vns 18 10 and 20 in Kincardine She said that at that seminar "ever, had, got the signal" that communication is a rnor•ts Skip to the beat Pg. 12 Top Huron 4-11 members Pg. 15817 Births A9 Brussels news A'" '8 '9 X Christmas Crafts 4'e Christmas Recipes A•: Classdted A22 23 Dublin news 44 5 Enterlamment Ae Farm /A6 Herman i .4 " Legion news 4'1' Roulslon A2 Smiley '42 Something IO Sal, 43 Sports A'2 '3 •e Townshend A?