The Lucknow Sentinel, 1986-06-25, Page 1ESTABLISHED IN 1873
"THE SEPOY TOWN" ON THE
HURON -BRUCE BOUNDARY
PUBLISHED IN LUCKNOW, ONTARIO
WEDNESDAY, JUNE 25, 1986
16 PAGES 40c PER COPY
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Kevin Austin of the Kingsbridge slow -pitch
Hanover Flyers batter during a game .at
weekend. Thirty-two men's teams and 16
team stretches for the ball in time to put out a
the Sunimerfest Slow -pitch tournament last
ladies teams competed in the tournament.
[Sharon Dietz photo]
Council orders tax increase
By Alan Rivett
In an effort to raise money for capital
projects within the village, Lucknow
council has withheld the passing of the
1986 budget in order to consider an
across-the-board increase of the general
mill rate.
The proposed budget, presented by
council at the June meeting, would have
raised the general mill rate by three-quart-
ers of a mill, or 5.1 per cent over last year's
rate. However, council voted to delay the
passage of the budget to raise the general
mill rate up by one mill.
Prior to council's decision to increase the
mill rate, the 1985 general residential rate
would have been set at15.717 up from
14.952 and the commercial rate would have
been 18.491 up from 17.590 in 1985. Under
the additional mill rate hike, residential
increases on an average assessment of
$14,000 would be increased by $65.
The revised budget will be passed by
council at their July meeting.
Reeve Herb Clark said the increase was
necessary in order to go ahead with renova-
tions for the town hall basement and roof.
Council had budgeted $36,500 for the
project while the projected cost could be as
high as $42,000.
Councillor Ab Murray said an increase in
the mill rate was definitely due as the
generalmill rates in the town hadn't
experienced an increase in seven years.
"We've held and held, and if we held
the mill rate (increases) back anymore we
wouldn't have enough money for projects
like roofing for the town hall. We've gone
without around here for a long time and we
could have a lot more than we have.
We've kept the mill rates down for seven
years," said Mr. Murray.
Reeve Clark said the deadline for setting
the budget is July 25 and the assessments
will be in the mail 14 days before that date.
Teachers favor strike action
Over 88.3 per cent of Bruce County
elementary teachers have voted in favour
of strike action against the Board of Educa-
tion. The decisive result of the June 18
secret ballot follows a breakdown in
mediation earlier this month after the
Board refused to change an offer the
teachers had already rejected by 95 per
cent. The teachers have been without a
contract for 291 days.
The Provincial Assistance Team, headed
by the two Provincial Presidents Jeanne
Milovanovic and Mary Hill, remains con-
vinced that a negotiated settlement is
within reach, A strike date has not been
established. The teachers will contact
provincial mediator, Norman Bernstein, to
indicate their willingness to resume
negotiations at any time.
Diane Smith, president of the Bruce
County Women Teachers' Association and
Doug Goar, president of the Bruce District
of the Ontario Public School Teachers'
Federation, called the vote very strong
proof that the teachers are not prepared to
accept a decline in the quality of education
because the board will not allow them to do
the best job they can.
"A strike can still be averted if the Board
agrees to negotiate working conditions,"
Ms Smith said.
Board supports new arena
despite lack of funding
by Sharon Dietz
The Lucknow Arena Board plans to pro-
ceed with the construction of a new arena
despite its failure to obtain provincial
grants to fund the project.
At a June 18 meeting, the , Lucknow
Arena Board which includes represen-
tatives from the four municipalities which
operate the arena, instructed Art Clark of
Maitland Engineering Services Ltd. to
prepare the proposal documents for a pro-
posal call from contractors in September,
followed by interviews with three contrac-
tors who express interest in the project.
The contract is to be awarded in January,
1987 giving the contractors two months to
prepare the finished plans with approval of
the final drawings by March of 1987. Con-
struction is to start in May of next year.
Clark said in an interview Friday phase
1 of the project calls for the construction of
the front end service area and dressing
rooms and phase 2 is the construction of
the arena shell over the existing arena
floor as the money becomes available. The
third phase of the project is to complete
the expansion of the arena floor when
money is available.
Clark said he hopes that the board will
be in a position to proceed with phases 1
and 2 of the project at the same time next
spring. He said it will be more costly for
the contractor to work around the existing
arena while constructing the new service
area and dressing rooms and then work
around the new service area while con-
structing the new arena shell at a later
date.
The arena board and its fund raising
committee have been unable to raise the
local share of the funds for the project to
qualify for provincial funding through a
capital grant for new recreation facilities.
The fund raising campaign launched last
July has raised $140,000 to date including
the money pledged by local service clubs
and community organizations, money
donated through a door to door canvass
last November, conducted by the Lucknow
Lions Club which is spearheading the fund
raising and the proceeds from the Jam-
boree 83 celebration which were earmark-
ed for the project.
According to C. M. Bud Bitton, recrea-
tional consultant with the Hanover recrea-
tion office of the Ministry of Recreation
and Tourism, a capital grant for new
recreational facilities was available in
May, but Lucknow was unable to raise its
share of the' funding and could not apply
for the grant. The grant would have funded
331/3 per cent of the project which left
Lucknow's share at $600,000 since the pro-
ject is estimated to cost $900,000.
Bitton said he was willing to allocate
$300,000 to provide the ministry's share of
the funding because he had made the
Lucknow project a priority this year, but
Lucknow's "$600,000 share was giving
them a problem."
Bitton said the Lucknow Arena Board
was unable to apply for the grant because
of the likelihood that the Village of
Lucknow would not obtain Ontario
Municipal Board approval for a debenture
because it is presently funding a sewage
project. There was also a lack of commit-
ment from one municipality which had
made a commitment to the project last
year, but was unable to put in their share
now.
According to arena board member Rhea
Hamilton, West Wawanosh Township
Council could no commit the total amount
requested for t project because they do
not have the tax base to draw from that the
other municipalities do. West Wawanosh
agreed to commit $20,000 to the new arena
if a majority of the board members voted
to proceed with the project, said Hamilton
who represents West Wawanosh on the
arena board. The township at.. the same
time committed $20,000 to the repair of the
existing arena roof if that is the route the
board decides to take.
Bitton pointed out that under the capital
grant for new recreational facilities, the
project must be entirely new and it must
be built at one time. If Lucknow decides to
proceed in phases with the project, it
would not be eligible for this grant, but
could apply for the capital conservation
grant which upgrades and repairs an ex-
isting facility. The maximum grant on this
type of project is $100,000 and the ministry
will fund 331/3 per cent of the project.
Bitton said neither grant will be
available until next year because the total
allotment for capital funds for this year is
spent.
Bitton said there is little chance the
Lucknow project will receive provincial
grants before they begin construction next
spring. His ministry will not receive any
new funding for capital programs until the
beginning of the next fiscal year which is
April 1, 1987. All of the money available for
grants this year was allocated before the
end of May and the programs were closed
for this year.
If the program is funded again next
year, money will not be available until
after the beginning of the fiscal year April
1. If Lucknow submits its application and
has its share of the funding in place, the
paper work could not be completed and the
grant would not be approved in time to
have the funds committed by May.
Bitton said the capital grant program for
new recreational facilities has been dor-
•Turn to
page 3
Arena news
The chairman of the arena fund
raising committee has written a reply to
the editorial which appeared in last
week's Sentinel. SEE PAGE 3.
Extra -billing
A Wingham area doctor, represent-
ing other area physicians, attempts to
shed more light on the controversy still
brewing over the government's ban on
extra -billing in a letter to the editor.
SEE PAGE 5.
Lottery
This week's Complex lottery winners
are announced. Did you win? SEE
PAGE 11.