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Times-Advocate, 1988-12-07, Page 2Page 2 Times -Advocate, December 7, 1988 ouble Take by Bruce Shaw Every year presents its own - unique problems, and those • faced by Council in 1989 will be no exception, although on one occasion in the past 1 suggested that all Council had to look forward' towas minding the store for twelve months, I doubt very much if that really was the case, but the pros- pect was refreshing, if only for.a Short while: - We have. sold the fireall and must -now provide new = quarters for • the force and the equipment. We will be in a position to begin the transition by the first of the year, if all `goes well As•usual, we will keep our costs reasonable while at the same time providing a quality building. I alluded -to the difficulty all of us on Council face as we attempt to perform our role as a board of directors. Part of the task deals with the supervision of staff. In the good old days, councillors and the • mayors would get calls concerning the quality of work or, indeed, the work habits of Town employees. 7hpsefttays disappeared and, folks, they are gone; when labour laws changed and when. count:illors realised they didn't have the time or inclination to supervise and evaluate staff, a fundamental philosoph- ic change occurred. Councillors no longer act on their own to solve problems, mediate disputes and, in short, perform the duties of our paid employees. • • - . The change, however, has Ibrced us to rely on our department heads to ensure that ta.s is are completed ►;fficicntly and accurately. But who can evaluate the deparunent heads? We try, but we arc, in ef- fect, outside volunteers. with little or no skill in this arca (although some of us may have responsibilities in Our own jol)s similar to those I describe here). We,.therefore, nee,d someone who can supervise staff. We are also looking to that individual to ensure that policy is carried out, that effort is co-ordinated, that all town bodies are working toward a common goal and,fhat maximum government funding available to us does, indeed, r lcaa ch us. As well we expect this individual to have some'strength in economic development, planning and/or civil engi- neering. Exeter -is growing too quickly acid becoming too complex for us to carry on as we have_ been: We -arc the best ones to judge the need, but -we have pledged to oursel'cs; however, that we are not going to hire anyone unless we arc confident that the individual can address our agenda. If there has to be a re -structuring internally as a result, sobeit. The last item to be dealt with in 1989 is our own municipal build- ing. We have out -grown our offices. Our meeting room has become another administrative office. We do not have sufficient work -space, mceting.rooms Or even adequate storage. Many options are open to us. I trust tharCouncil will be able to decide on what is to be done before spring- . - . These three changes will involve money, but if past practices are any indication of how we operate, we should be able to implement these projects without raising taxes significantly. Our assessment has increased so dramatically over the last five years that much of our increased expenditures have been absorbed by increases in reve- nue, apart from tax hikes. - — - No doubt before •the dust settles, we'll be arguing as to how much • we want to spend in '89, and which projects will be started - it looks like an eventful year. Council members sworn in to office EXETER - At the inaugural meet- ing of Exctcr council, Rev,' Donald Rogers of the Exeter Pentecostal Church gave the ordination and passed on a few comments to coun- cil members. Rev. Rogers said "The whole con- cept of authority and government such as yourselves in giving leader- ship is ordained in God. The Mini- stry of God is to do us good : Your decisions affect the wholccommu- nity. . After council members and PUC commissioners Murray Greene and • Harry DcVries were sworn in, the standing committees of council Were named. Executive Committee - Bruce Shaw, Bill Micklc, Lossy Fuller, Dorothy Chaprnan and Ben Hoo genboom. General Government - Fuller, Harry Ktungel, -Chapman, Morley Hall Public Works - Hoogenboom, Hall, Ervin Sillcry, Micklc. • Police - Chapman, Davc Urlin. Planning - Hoogcnboom, Klun- gel, Bruce Eccles, Art Hunking, Gaylan Josephson, Davc Newton, Gerald Meurer, Robert Spears, Don Winter. Economic Development - Si1lery, Klungcl,Ron Chanyi, Peter Darhi- shirc, Cord Nichol, Niall Straw. • Cemetery Board - Hall, Sillcry, Olga Davis, Reg McDonald, Bob Simpson. Business improvement Associa- tion - Urlin. Fire Arca Board - Shaw, Micklc, Fuller, Chapman Recreation Klungel, Pilin, James Chapman, Tom Humphreys, Mike Soldan Want say in pensions TORONTO- Ontario public em- ployees arc demanding a say in the management of the giant provincial government pension funds, as con- tract negotiations for 65,000 Public Service workers opened today. James Clancy, president of the Ontario Public Service Employees Union, said that past Conservative - - governments have mismanaged the pension funds and ignored union - warnings of an impending pension funding crisis. "We're paying for our pensions. .,it's time for the government to share responsibility for future se- curity, " Clancy said. "Goad man-. agement of the pension funds will nefit both taxpayers and public Service workers." One government estimate says the S10 -Killion funds arc running a S3 billion 'deficit, but Clancy be- lieves they should be generating a surplus. Past Conservative govern - molts deliberately underfunded their ~hare of pension contribu- tions, and used the fund forlow- interest loans to government, Clancy said. • In 1985, the outgoing Tory gov- ernment doubled pension hcncfits for Deputy Ministers, a flagrant double -standard in the way the gov- ernment treats its employees. , Since all benefits come out of thc same pension fonds, lower -paid employees are actually. suhsidizing pensions for high -paid manage- ment staff. OPSEU wants the con- tributions of union members put into a separate fund. Ontario Public Service workers form the largest collective bargain- ing unit in Canada. The contract for public service working condi- tions and benefits expires Decem- ber 31, 1988. Wage agreements for tight public service categories arc bargained separately, owv E sow ber's Mad (S'91 2332E20 St 9' 23644M // monad ,S'0 '11293, ISI 91762.2'1 Gasser Kneale Insurance GIC RATES 1 0 314% 1 0 5/8)/o ` 1 YR. 5 YRS. CALL TODAY FOR THE HIGHEST RATE AVAILABLE Rates subject to verification • G.I.C.'s may be registered as R.R.S.P.'s' • New Exeter Council' - Members of the new Exeter' town council were sworn in Monday night.. (lack; lett,"counNl- lors Dave Urlin, Dorothy Chapman; Harry. Klungel, Ben Hoogenboom and Ervin Sillery. Front, councillor Morley Hall, Deputy Reeve Lossy Fuller, Mayor Bruce $haw and Reeve Bill- Mickle. Thursday bad day for accidents EXETER - Thursday was a bad day for motorists in thc arca pa- trolled by the Exeter Ontario Pro- vincial Police detachriient were concerned. Eight of the dozen mis- haps during the week occurred on Thursday. At 1.25 a.m, a vehicle driven. by Michael Lessard, Parkhill went out of control on Concession 2-3 of Stephen township, near Huron road 21 and stnick a fence. A vehicle driven by John Spros- ton, RR 2, Zurich went out of control on Concession 2-3.of Ste phen township near Huron road 21 and struck a fence at 7.30 a.m., Thursday. At 9:55 a.m. the same day a ve- hicle operated by Russell Mellin, • Dashwood and a terragator operated by Clayton Kirk, Granton collided on Concession 16-17 Of Stephen township, near Huron road 4. - An hour later, a vehicle driven by Thomas Rate, Tuckersmith .township struck a sign post on Highway 4 at Huron road 4 in Ste- phen township _ - Damage was light when a vein.- de ehiole driven by Sharon Rau, RR 2, Zurich went out of control on Main street of Zurich and struck a fence at 4.55 p.m., Thursday. Only five minutes later Gwen Solway, Forest suffered minor in- juries when the vehicle she was driving went out of control on Highway 84 near Concession 8- 9 of Hay township. • At 5.12 p.m., vehicles operated by Kevin Easterbro ok, Waterloo and Nancy Hodgcrt, RR 1, -Kirk ton collided on Highway 83, near - Concession 4-5 of Usbornc town-. ship. Minor injuries were sustained by both drivers and passengers Anne Marie Hoidgeri, Amy Hod- ; gcrt, Tammy Eastcrhrook and Ni- cholas Eastcrbrook. Alt were treat- ed at South Huron Hospital. _ .Thursday at 5.30 a.m.,_a vehicle driven by Rita: Gebel, RR 2, Lu - can _went out -of control and en- tered the ditch on . Highway 4, south of Exeter. Vehicle damage was moderate and the driver was - treated 'at South Huron Hospital' • for minor injuries. Wednesday at 12.10 p.m., a ve- hicle driven -by Jamie Prest, Exet. er went out of control on High- way 83 at Concession 4-5 of –Stephen township and struck a stop sign.. . At 7.47 p.m. the same day, a vehicle -driven by Christine Post. 1-7 years of age of RR - 1, Hay left Highway 83, near Concession 6-7 and struck a culvert. The driver • was seriously injured and is cur. _ rentdy under observation and treat- nent at -University Hospital in London. At -5.4-5 p.m., Wednesday, a ve- hick driven by Brian Dawe. Dash- wood went off Highway 21 caus- ing the driver to injure his hack. Friday at 11 pin., a velli.—le op- erated by Michael Holden.-1.bcan became stuck on Stephen Coni c.;- •sion 2-3 and' when a-pa\.cnL'cr Douglas Smith, al.o••01 Lucan cot out o push hi Slid under the front wheel as it went forward. injuries were minor. Area .motorists are reminded the OPP RiDE program will he in ef- fect on arca roads throughout the upcoming season.. • An error was made in reporting an accident in last • week's report from the Exeter OPP. : The report said vehicles driven by Paul Kl(pp. Zurich and Sharon Bruls, Huron Park collided. 'Thai was not true. Klopp -lost control on an icy patch -of road while -pass- ing a vehicle driven by Bruls-and slid into the ditch. The T -a regrets any inconvenience this may have caused. . Good news, bad news for PUC EXETER - Manager Hugh Davis had good news and bad news for . commissioners at the regular No- vember.meeting of the Exeter PUC. The good news was that the ex- tremely hot summer meant more use of air conditioners, and that • boosted revenues in the electricity department. The bad news was the water de- - part vent. Capital expenditures were S24,000 over budget, and.oper- ating expenses exceeded estimates by S17,196. "It was a disastrous year. Cash clow. was sometimes nip and tuck", Davis said: Davis gave a number of reasons for the debit. The engineer's report on the Hicks well -did not foresee drainage problems which added S8,474 to the cost of that project. .A hydrant on Main St. in -the vi- •'tinity of the new office building was located further north than first anticipated. A Irak occurred while pavement was being cut, necessitat- ing a further extension of the eight- - inch main to rectify that situation. • The total cost of that job -was S16,440. • -Davis said there were an unusual- ly high number of main- breaks in 1988:and most were in asphalt - covered areas, adding •repaving to . the cost of repairs. - Putnphousc maintenance• was higher than-. budgeted due to prob- lems with chlorination equipment- . at the -Morgan Well. The canning factory, one. -of the utility's best customers, -used much Tess water•this year, • One More negative factor attribut- able to the weather was "the tremen- dous pumping cost.~ for lawn water- ing, which doesn't make us five cents". Money taken from reserve to pay for some of the unexpected expenses also meant less revenue fromk hank interest. - • - At Davis' request, Mayor Bruce - Shaw .promised to recommend to council. that the PUC he ilfowcd to remove -the. balance of the reserve funds to restore the financial bal- ance. CE NO -CHARGE OR NO -CHARGE. AUTOMATIC* AIR CONDITIONING* CORSICA & TEMPEST Your best chore for o sporty, yet oHordobt.lomdy car with S•possenger comfort now offers • you •ren more cho,c• Choose the package 'hoes n h►for yOu - OI your Onfar,O GM Dealer --�' AND CHICKOUTTHISE CHOICE FEATURES: • f roc rex"(', V Inlec'ed en , . • Po.,* sfew.n9roow• broiel . 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