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The Lucknow Sentinel, 1994-05-11, Page 6Page 6 Lucknow Sentinel, Wednesday, May 11, 1994 Help Make Luckno Greener! Plan to attend a. Tree Planting Day for the Lucknow Community Greenway Project Date- • Saturday, May 14, 1994 Place- Lucknow Public School ! iime- 10:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m. All you need to bring is a shovel! Call the Maitland Valley Conservation Authority at 335-3557 for more information. JOHN CUL 16' CHEV OLDS ansa of argains! 88 OLD-‘K:,, LEASE $399 411 P'j WI's/ for 36 mos. ' Lt I�'UP Buy for'' Q�St $23,999 %co1.36,"7„ - .e 9 �` 3 811 6 snoh fis �a� y fOr oga .::.. $IS 999 ovc.‘`ttv 589' ioy 36. 015 'Yn Olds Achieva LEASE $269 for 36 mos. Buy for $16,999 /ASTRO VAIN, LEASE $27.9 for 48 months Buy for $17,999 "See our leasing specialist for details Come in and make a deal for a new or used vehicle. You may then have your choice of either: • Paint Protection • Portable Car Phone • $1OO.°° of Maintenance Service Offer Ends May 31, 1994 $8.00 Off. Lube, Oil & Filter Change We check all fluid levels, belts, hoses and shocks. Available for most North American cars & trucks. Regular. $29.95 value Offer ends May 31, 1994 THE PRODUCTS THE PEOPLE THE PRICE CHEVROLET JOHN GEO CULLEN 115 Josephine St., Wingham OLDSMOBILE SALE HOURS: Mon., Tues., Thurs., n., '. Pt a.m. - 8. r'i p.m.; Wed., 9:00 a.m. - 6:00 p.m.; Saturday, 9.00 a.m. - 4.•00 p.m. • 357-2323 1 Huron County Council is set to shrink By the start of next term, Huron County council will shrink from 35 to 26 councillors. The province has said county municipalities must have represen- tation by population." This means the Towns of Goderich and Exeter, and Townships of Goderich and Stephen are entitled to four votes each, while some smaller townships will be left with only qne. Under Section 28 of the Municipal. Act, reeves carry vote. strength proportionate to the populations they represent, but there is a four -vote maximum. The Township of Ashfield will carry three votes, while West Wawanosh Township carries two. This is a one -vote increase for what both municipalities have under the current Section 27 structure. Section 28 shows the following breakdown: 1 to 1,000 electors - one vote; 1,001 - 2,000 electors - two votes; 2,001 - 3,000 electors - three votes; and over 3,000 electors four votes. At a recent county council meeting, West Wawanosh Reeve Bob Hallam was incensed by the decision. "I don't think we should be dic- tated to by • some foreign country south of, the 401," he told council- lors in what can only be described as an impassioned plea to defeat the proposal. "We should stand up and vote to run our own affairs, and not give in to the dictatorship of Toronto. "The people in South Africa are lining up to vote in fear of their lives, and here we are lying down and not even a shot fired," he said. Goderich Reeve John Doherty, who voted against the bill, com- mented later: "You wait and see what happens when you have to go and round up only one or two people instead of a dozen to find out your support." And Hays Township represen- tative Lionel Wilder argued against inviting the dictatorship of the few over the many. "Six of the 26 municipalities will run the county," he predicted. Education taxes up 6% in Huron County by Don Jackson The Htiron County Board of Education passed a motion to set the residential mill rate for education in Huron County at 9.705 mills, which represents a 6.06 per cent increase in local farm and residential property taxes. The business and commercial mill rate also increased by 6.06 Per cent, with a change f from 10.765 mills to 11.417 mills. These changes represent taxes of $582.30 on a $60,000 residential property and $685.02 on a $60,000 commercial ro rt• p The board has undergone deep expenditure cuts over the past year ,to achieve this increase, which would have been much higher if previous actions had not been taken. Roughly a year ago, the board was looking at increases of up to over 20 per cent on the tax bill and began taking action. Several positions were eliminated, including Learning Resource Centre personnel and area resource teachers, to save money. Also, the. executive was reduced by one position by not replacing Paul Carroll when he left his position as Superintendent of Business and Operation Affairs to become .Director of Education. Instead, the executive was restruc- tured. Over the past two years, the board has had to deal with the Social Contract Act, the Expenditure Control Plan, further cutbacks in the provincial budget released on May 20, 1993, and this year's general legislative grants (GLGs). The most recent of these, the GLGs were accompanied by a phopping 20.8 per cent increase in roperty assessment for education aax purposes. Becauseof the (chan- ges in' education funding this .year. "there.are about $17 million fewer, provincial dollars than you've had in the past," Carroll told the board at the May 2 meeting. The board took measures in a special budget meeting on Mar. 9 where they made $2.5 million in cuts. in anticipation of provincial downloading, on top of their Social Contract • Act . 'and Expenditure Control Plan requirements. Carroll explained that if the board had opted not to take. the actions it has and kept spending at last year's level, "you would be looking at a 22 to 24 per cent increase." A recorded vote was called to adopt the .proposed budget with the 6.06 per cent increase. All in atten- dance voted in favor of the motion. Trustee Rick Rompf was absent. Bruce County won't be spared from. JK programs The Ministry of Education and Training is not bowing' to Bruce County's refusal to provide a junior kindergarten program by 1994. • The Bruce board made it clear in a recent letter to the province that it wants rio part of the provinciall,y- ordered program "until. 1997 or later", but the province ruled April 25, that it wdn't exempt the county from Junior kindergarten programs unless Bruce shows plans for at least sol ne pilot projects. ' "Specifically, the implementation plan must provide for the enrolment of some JK pupils beginning in the 1994-95 school year, and in each subsequent year of the phase-in period," said the letter from 'the assistant deputy minister. There is no money in the draft budget for junior kindergarten, but education issues chair Jennifer Yenssen isn't worried. At the board's May 3 meeting she said the board believes' it could have until January 1995 to put programs in place, as long as it can show plans for those programs this year. Yenssen said if the board does pilot projects, she would like to see three different models, including combined junior and senior kinder- garten classes where current kinder- garten numbers are low, and a joint program with private day-care operators. "Obviously it isn't.enough to say • 'no thank -you'" she said. "The committee will have to spend a day putting together a proposal."