Loading...
The Citizen, 2012-04-05, Page 24PAGE 24. THE CITIZEN, THURSDAY, APRIL 5, 2012. New Wingham school set to be completed in fall 2013 Continued from page 1 opening date be tied to the weather and that if, like the 2011-12 winter, the 2012-13 winter is very mild, the project will be done on time if not ahead of schedule. In the meantime Blyth, Brussels, East Wawanosh, Wingham and Turnberry Central Public Schools will be closed and the latter two will become the Maitland River Turnberry and the Maitland River Wingham campuses. The design for the school is boomerang-shaped and makes the best use of the land according to Howe. The school will feature several green, or environmental, aspects to it by the time the project is complete, however the final product is still yet to be seen beyond a floor plan. Howe said rumours that had surfaced stating the school wasn’t going to go ahead simply weren’t true. “The Ministry [of Education] was involved in every step of the process, there was never a time when they said no,” Howe said. “They approved going to tender and the funds have been designated and waiting since 2009 when the project was approved.” He said that everything is going ahead now and that, while it may not be what some community members want, is what’s best for the students. “We empathize with community feelings, no one wants to lose a school in their community,” he said. “However enhanced education is the result. These rumours being spread was not a good practice.” At North Huron Council’s April 2 meeting council approved by bylaw a development agreement with the Avon Maitland District School Board to build the new school with one provision; in one part of the document it references a “developer” which had previously been undefined in the document. Councillor Brock Vodden was concerned that the lack of definement could result in problems for the township later on. “This is going back to original negotiations the past council had with the school board,” he said. “They squirmed and tried to divest themselves of the cost of developing John Street.” The section in question, according to Vodden, directly dealt with issues like that. Despite concerns from Councillor James Campbell that this was a “stall tactic” several other councillors and staff members spoke up requesting the issue be dealt with. Public Works Director Ralph Campbell echoed Vodden’s concern. “I am worried about this, things seem to be going in and out of [the school board’s] plans and documents all the time,” he said. “I have to watch every set of plans. For example, one week they have street lights in, the next week they have them out and now they are back in. It makes me wonder what they will take out next.” Council approved adding a definition to the document to make developer synonymous with owner before passing the agreement by bylaw. Councillors Vodden and Ray Hallahan dissented with Vodden stating he could not support it due to the stress it could put on areas surrounding the closing schools. Continued from page 22 end up costing them a lot more. “Let’s say the fine is $75 and we lay 10 charges, that’s $750,” he said. “That’s not bad, however if someone pleads not guilty, we have to hire a lawyer since the crown prosecutor doesn’t prosecute bylaws.” Poole said that the hired lawyer would have to do research and charge for the time they spend in court. He stated that the officer who enforced the bylaw would also have to go to court requiring either that officer, or one to cover him, to work anywhere from four to eight hours of overtime. Poole stated he didn’t have a problem with the bylaw, just the scope and stated that a 10-metre no smoking area would suffice. Poole says cost of bylaw could be high A school that will come back The new Maitland River Elementary School will look a little like a boomerang as shown in the above diagram prepared by Marklevitz Architects Inc. The school is shown here beside a floor plan of F.E. Madill Secondary School, on the left, and is set to be completed by the fall of 2013. (Photo submitted) Hospital officials learned March 27 that the redevelopment of the Wingham and District Hospital is being cancelled as part of the proposed provincial budget tabled in the Ontario Legislature. The redevelopment would have resulted in the modernization of a significant portion of the hospital including emergency, ambulatory care, diagnostic imaging, surgical and sterilization services. Andy McBride, Board Chair of the Wingham and District H reacted to the news by stating that, “The people served by the hospital will be extremely disappointed that this promised redevelopment will not be going forward. After waiting over a decade for the project approvals, the community deserves better. We appreciate the fiscal challenges faced by the Province of Ontario, however, it’s unfortunate that the government chose to make significant promises that it is now unable to keep.” “The hospital has not undergone significant redevelopment in the last 25 years”, said Hospital CEO Karl Ellis. “Our staff, physicians and community were looking forward to revitalizing this site so that we could continue to provide high quality healthcare at the Wingham and District Hospital. We will need to determine what we can do with local resources to address our most urgent facility needs.” The hospital has not received any additional details beyond the news that the project is being cancelled. The Listowel and Wingham Hospitals Alliance is a partnership between the Listowel Memorial Hospital and Wingham and District Hospital. Both facilities provide a wide range of acute care services including 24-hour emergency departments, inpatient, outpatient, ambulatory programs and supportive diagnostic services. The facilities rely on a strong foundation of dedicated staff, family physicians, consulting specialists and local Family Health Teams to provide care. Reginald George Badley, originally from Blyth, was killed on March 28 when he was struck while trying to cross a multi-lane highway in Texas. Badley, a 63-year-old ‘Winter Texan’ as he was described by local news outlet The Rockport Pilot, was attempting to cross Market Street in Rockport, Texas when he was struck and killed by a vehicle travelling east on Market Street on the street’s outside lane. Badley was hit just after 8 p.m. that night and was pronounced dead at the scene. According to a report filed by the local Department of Public Safety, Anita Bradford Kiser of Portland, Texas was travelling eastbound on Market Street when Badley walked across the eastbound lanes and Kiser did not see him. Badley leaves behind his wife Lyn, his son Rob and his wife Clare Badley of Stratford, his son Jeff and his wife Angela Badley of Mitchell and his daughter Tanya and her husband Dion Guerin of Toronto. He was the brother of Larry Badley and Pat Bernard. Reginald’s obituary and details on a celebration of life to be held in Seaforth can be found in next week’s issue of The Citizen. Badley killed in Texas collision Promised Wingham hospital redevelopment cancelled Local family collects scrap to fund Grade 8 tripGrade 8 students at Blyth PublicSchool are looking at fundraisingfor their year-end trip a littledifferently this year thanks tostudent Phaedra Scott and her father Mike. The Westfield-area family decided to start raising money through collecting scrap steel and selling it to Secondary Resources, a company that specializes in recycling materials. “We did a trial run in November and raised more than $400,” Mike said. “That gave us the impetus to pursue this as an idea.” The fundraiser is being very well received according to Mike who said that people are really enjoying being able to donate without opening their wallets at all. “People have to clean up anyway so they’re happy to donate it and help out that way,” he said. “They’re cleaning their back forties and garages and sheds and we’re getting a lot of metal. “People from our neighbourhood are dropping off old implements, conveyer belt chains, fuel tanks and everything like that,” he said. Pretty much anything metal is accepted according to Mike, provided that, with items like tirerims, everything that isn’t metallicis removed. The idea came from Phaedra’sgrandfather, Mike’s father-in-law, who cleaned out his own Chatsworth-area shed and made $600 from the metal within. “He couldn’t believe it and neither could we,” Mike said. “That’s when we decided to try that approach.” The first round of collecting was done at the Scott farm on Marnoch Line, however, for this second bout, they’ve decided to move it around the corner to a neighbour’s thanks to a huge donation. Thanks to North Huron Councillor James Campbell providing a large amount of scrap metal from taking down his old dairy farm, the Scotts thought it best to collect the metal on his property at 38812 Westfield Road. “We’ve had people donating lots of things like that,” Mike said. “There was a campground in Kintail that donated a whack of old barbecues from people tossing them when the season was done. We had a trailer filled with scrap barbecues and bicycles from there.” One person’s trash Phaedra Scott is gathering scrap metal to raise money for Blyth Public School’s Grade 8 grad trip. The metal can be dropped off at Campbell’s property at 38812 Westfield Road. Phaedra and her father estimate they have already collected nearly $1,000 worth of scrap. Scott is carrying out the project with the help of her father Mike Scott and North Huron Councillor James Campbell. (Denny Scott photo)