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The Huron Expositor, 1998-09-09, Page 1Your Community Newspaper Since x860 - Seaforth, Ontario September 9, 1998 — $1.00 includes GST School starts on schedule but teacher talks break down BY VICTORIA JACKSON Clinton News -Record Staff Public high school students in Huron and Perth Counties are back at school, but for how long is anyone's guess. Talks between the Avon Maitland District School Board (AMDSB) and the teachers' union broke off last Friday without any agreement being reached. Cliff Berry, chair of the negotiating team for the Ontario Secondary School Teachers' Federation (OSSTF), said he hopes both sides in the dispute will be back at the table in the near future. "I think the board needs some time to think about their approach to these negotiations," Berry said. "I think we all need to think about our approach." Abby Armstrong, chair of the AMDSB, said the board is waiting to hear from the teachers to set the next date for negotiations. "We are one of the lucky. boards," Armstrong said. "We've always had a very good relationship with the unions." She added that as far as the board knows, teachers are not doing anything different from any other day. "It's an extremely positive situation," she said. Berry said that for now no action is being taken by the teachers. "There will be no interruption toclasses and we promised the board 24 hours notice before any action is taken," Berry said. "However, teachers are not taking part in volunteer activities." He said a strike action is not out of the question. "We are in a legal strike position," he said. However, he added, "Hopefully we can settle this before escalation." Armstrong said she hopes no strike action would be necessary and that the board wants the best solution for the students. Berry said there are many issues that still need to be addressed. "The issues in Avon Maitland are not unlike the issues in other areas," he said. "What makes up the 1,250 minutes of instruction as specified by the ministry needs to be settled. We haven't reached agreement on many of the substantive monetary issues." Berry added that teachers are "showing great restraint in these early days to ensure students receive the best education." It's business as usual at Seaforth Public School where classes started yesterday (Sept. 8) with teachers working without a contract with the Avon- Maitland District School Board. (Above) Students in Heather Million's Grade 1 class settle in and find. their desks while (right) crossing guard Mary VanLoon helps Aaron Richards, Brianne and Susan Hundertmark across Goderich Street., Not only was this Aaron's first day in Grade 1 but it was his first day at Seaforth Public School after Just moving to town. (HILGENDORFF PHOTOS) Skateboarder giving BY GREGOR CAMPBELL Expositor Staff While the community centres board is working on a solution for skateboarders who began using arena property this summer, the make -shift equipment made by the six young skateboarders has been smashed. So for the second time this summer the equipment has become wood at the dump. The first was when arena staff took the ramps there after skateboarders violated some loosely made rules in July. Skateboarders were asked to come up with some formal rules to be presented at an Aug. 27 meeting of the board which was planning to consider the matter further. The skateboard issue is "up in the air," says Seaforth and District Community Centres manager Graham Nesbitt. "The board is dealing with an insurance report on liability, next meeting." It did approve an outdoor a'sphalt pad for the northeast corner of the arena but whether this outdoor area ends up being used by skateboarders remains to be seen. "i quit on that a long time ago," says Curtis Wilson, one of the six young local skateboarders who got upset and raised the issue in July. That's when community centres' staff carted their ramps to the dump for the first time, after the equipment was found blocking parking spots for bingo. The equipment had been damaged slightly when the kids went to retrieve it then, but it was much more seriously smashed when arena staff found it when up on park at arena reporting for work last week. Later that day, after they phoned and Wilson said he didn't care what they did with the ramps anymore, staff took a truck to the dump with it again. BITTER BOARDER Skateboarder Wilson says he's given up. "It's no use," he says. "Without a fence (around the equipment) to protect it at night it just gets smashed up. A fence with locked gate to secure it in winter and after dark, would be a requirement for a community centres' skateboard facility, that wouldn't increase liability maivarammaraaamaamoissuuram 'It's no use. Without a fence (around the equipment) to protect it at night it just gets smashed,' --Curtis Wilson, local skateboarder Fences a must Enforcement of pool fencing bylaws must take place, say health unit and police BY SCOTT HILGENDORFF Expositor Editor - Pool fencing bylaws need to be enforced. That's a message to municipalities from a Huron County public health inspector and an OPP officer after two recent incidents involving private swimming pools and young children. Tuckersmith and McKillip Townships have fencing bylaws but both municipalities have been the site of swimming pool accidents involving small children this summer and unfenced swimming pools. A two-year-old from Tuckersmith Township is recovering in hospital from a July incident. In McKillop, a 22 -month-old drowned last month. "If there are bylaws in place, they should be enforced," said Public Health Inspector Claus Seeger of the Huron County Health Unit. The issue of drownings and injuries in private pools is currently outside the health unit's mandate. "We're certainly concemed about it," he said. There may have been three incidents in the county this summer involving private pools. The health unit has an injury prevention committee that's current mandate includes water safety, but in public waters, and focusses on other issues such as the prevention of car and farm accidents. Right now, Seeger said, "Private pools, we just don't have the resources to deal with that." But after the inicidents this summer, Seeger said it's an issue he intends to raise with the health unit to find a role they can take to prevent further losses in its communities. "If the township's have bylaws in place to make sure there is a -fence, they should make sure the fences are in place," said Community Services Officer Don Shropshall of the Huron OPP. He said people have a responsibility to make sure it's inspected the same way electrical or plumbing work has to be inspected in their homes. But in most cases, bylaw enforcement has to come from the municipalities unless it is written into specific contracts that some communities have with the OPP. Tuckersmith Township Clerk Jack McLaughlin said enforcement is difficult if a homeowner does not go through the proper building permit process. Both townships have a -bylaw that requires a fence and a building permit is needed before an in -ground or an above- ground pool can rightfully be installed at someone's home. When the permit is issued, the building inspector will visit and ensure there is a fence. If a pool is put up without a permit, McLaughlin said, "We don't go around looking." He said the bylaws probably haven't been enforced the way they should. However, if a resident reported a fenceless pool to them, he said the township would respond. The process is the same in McKillop Township where Clerk Marion McClure said residents must apply for a building permit to have a pool and the building inspector would make sure the appropriate fence is in place. "You have to visit each property," she said, adding they weren't aware of the pool where the young child drowned. "it's up to the owner. The owner has some responsibility," she said. "It's up to us to enforce it but if we're not aware of something...," she said. Seeger stresses the need to keep a close eye on small children. "As soon as you make the assumption they're safe, that's when something happens," he said. With proper bylaws and parents addressing them responsibly, Seeger said incidents can be minimized. "If this coninues, it's certainly going to be a public [health] issue," he said. as ramps are wrecked premiums for the board, according to the Jardine insurance Services report faxed to the arena manager Aug. 28. This report will be considered at t h e management board's next meeting, Sept. 24. "The list is as long as your arm," Nesbitt says. The report confirms it is possible to provide a municipal skateboard facility without incurring increased liability, but not without costs and strict rules and regulations. For instance, protective helmets, knee and wrist pads for skateboarders, with signs posted to that effect would be required. A best -case scenario means a supervised location, and if impossible. perhaps volunteer supervision and limit to peak hours only. Users should be required to have their parents sign a release for liability from injuries, the report suggests. LESS LIABILITY Ideas the board might bat around about equipment, according to its insurers. include: • ramps and chutes kept to an "absolute minimum size," with screws and nails countersunk, and padding where appropriate; • inspection "at least every two or three days" with written records kept; • closed before dark; • a minimum age without supervision ("suggest 13 or so"); • maximum number of users at any one time, based on size; • padded fences; • posted signs. The arena management board carried a motion two weeks ago, moved by Ferg Kelly of McKillop Township and seconded by Doug Vock of Egmondville, approving the placement of asphalt by Seaforth, "approximately 55 - feet by 75 -feet at the northeast corner of the arena, and further that Graham (Nesbitt and Jack (McLachlan, clerk of Seaforth and Tuckersmith and the new arena board secretary) report back at the next meeting on recommended steps to be taken to establish rules governing use of the area." 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