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The Citizen, 1991-03-27, Page 1Easter Colouring contest See page 3 Champs Brussels Sprouts win WOAA >1 Unveiled Festival poster features Goderich man's painting See page 27 Serving Brussels, Blyth, Auburn, Belgrave, Ethel, Londesborough, Walton and surrounding townships. HCBE budget up 4.3% A series of special meetings paid off for the Huron County Board of Education (HCBE) trustees on Monday night, when they managed to bring in a budget, with mill rate increase of just 4.3 per cent, including a priority list of special projects. > When presenting the budget estimates to the board. Director of Education Robert Allen stated that this was the first time in the VOL. 7 NO. 12_________________________WEDNESDAY, MARCH 27, 1991,____________________________60 CENTS Reading room Sisters Amanda, left, and Candy Bearss enjoy the bright, cheery atmosphere of the new Blyth Library, located in the north corner of Memorial Hall. Minor renovations and installations were compeitpd early last week and librarian Pat Brigham was back in business on March 19. There’s plenty of space in the new facility and even a special little corner for children. All quiet as Ethel post office will switch from being a government-operated post office to being a franchised Retail Postal Outlet in June and from the reaction at a meeting in Ethel Thursday night, the community seems to have accepted the idea. Jim Craig, Community Relations Officer with Canada Post and Dave Bourne, Wingham Postmaster and future Area Retail Rep. found little of the heated opposition other postal officials faced at a meeting in 1987 when the community noisily opposed any change in the status of their post office with the retirement of the former postmaster. Since then current Ethel General Store owner Doreen Suter has been postmaster on a temporary con­ tract. Mr. Craig told the 30 people present there would be little change in the operation of their post office. While details weren't Ethel post office changes status final he expected that after the June 4 switchover the post office would still be located in the General Store except that there would be lock boxes for each person’s mail rather than general delivery as at present. Outside lock boxes such as those used in Walton would only be used if the commun­ ity requested it. he said. In some communities where there are com­ muters who can't get to the post office during its hours of business, people prefer outside boxes. Rural route customers will receive their mail the same as always except that the mail will be sorted in Brussels. One questioner wondered why lock boxes are needed and why the current general delivery system couldn't continue. Mr. Craig said the boxes speed up delivery since people don’t have to wait to get their mail if there are other people ahead of them, and also frees the store owner to do other things once the mail is sorted and in the boxes. One questioner suggested the postmaster would still have to do as much work under the franchise system as before but would get less money for it. Mr. Craig said there Dr. Street, outstanding citizen Dr. Richard Street has been chosen as Blyth and area’s 1991 Citizen of the year. Dr. Street was chosen by a committee of Blyth area residents from among nominations submitt­ ed by readers of The Citizen. The Citizen of the Year aw ard has been given out yearly in both Blyth and Brussels since 1986. Dr. Street's nominator pointed out he has served the community as a dedicated physician for 39 years and is still serving at age 70 as the would be a lot less work since there’d be a lot less bureaucracy and paper work. There is also a basic minimum the RPO operator gets, he said. RPO’s help keep the community Continued on Page 13 village's only resident doctor. Over the years he has still found time to contribute to the commun­ ity in other ways. He served on village council, the school board and the recreation committee. He was a member of the Blyih Lions Club and earned his 25 year pin from the Lions. He was one of the founding board members of the Blyth Festi­ val in 1975. Prior to coming to Bl vth he served in World War II as an Air Force navigator. board’s history, when there had been so much trustee participation in the budget. The board has met three times over the last month, trying to come up with a budget for this year that would not tax the ratepayers too heavily. The short list of priority projects was based on board dialogue and on an “impulse” rating by the trustees at a meeting on March 18. Paul Carroll, Superintendent of Operation' for HCBE noted that some figures had been reduced as the trustees had shown they would be willing to support certain pro­ jects at a lower amount. The priority list includes: a set of dedicated word processors at F.E. Madill Secondary School in Wing­ ham to replace a classroom of manual typewriters, exterior reno­ vations at McCurdy and Vanastra Public Schools, the replacement of a 12-year-old high mileage van, facility renovations to provide for equipment purchases in technolo­ gical studies at some schools, purchase of computer furniture, a matching grant money amount for heritage restoration to the facade of Central Huron Secondary School in Clinton, and assessment manage­ ment. The board does not monitor property assessment shifts other than at the time of a pupil’s initial registration. The recent legislative changes which allow the Separate School boards to share the com­ mercial tax base create a need to monitor and sometimes intervene to protect the Public school board base. While some boards have hired assessment officers, HCBE felt that the purchase of specialized computer and software equipment would allow them to accomplish the task within the existing staff. To keep the mill rate at under a 5 per cent increase, trustees voted to remove money set aside for the reserves for working funds. This money, said Mr. Allen, is for “unexpected circumstances,” like budget error or a dramatic short­ fall. There is presently $1,000,000 in working funds reserve. Trustee John Jewitt made the motion that the board approve the budget, and include the priority list of special projects, on the condition that they take out the $100,000 from the reserve for working funds. “1 don’t see a reason to set aside money like this at this time. It will give us funds to complete these projects,” he said. Trustee Don McDonald seconded the motion saying it was something he could live with. After some discussion the board concurred and the motion was carried unanimous­ ly. Chair Joan Van Den Broeck commended the trustees and the administration on the job they had done in bringing in such a low mill rate increase. “You should be congratulated. You did a credible job."