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Times Advocate, 1993-07-07, Page 1Nor 011uilleni •ssort- 1ief ttt1111IlRs m taserg) (".ah & eany COMM f LOMS Exeter 'New IP Susan Stewart to be =sworn in page 2 'On stage Grand Bend woman at Stratford page 3 'mil -Industries gamily business targets leisurely living page 5 Canada Day Local communities celebrate page 8 "-Fastbaill tmperials1 .2th ennoal lourriiknent Second front . L diststjn'Right '=Radio:oontrol "championships 'in -Huron -Park page -s6 Few obstacles remain. all aoprovals received Seplember EXETER - Stptember 1 -is the target date for when Exeter Town Police officers will have traded in their uniforms for those of the OPP. tset f OPP takeover Town council Monday evening passed a resolution allowing for the disbandment of the town police force, in the hope that a contract 'agreement can be reached with the Ministry of the Solicitor General to police the town with the OPP. The decision came after the town tberton man injured in crash ILDERTON - An llderton man . was injured in a Friday evening car mash in London Township, and was admitted at University Hospital in critical condition after being -re- moved from his car by Arva fire- fighters. London OPP say Sean Verdcl 25, was driving alone down Conces- sion 7 of London Township when his vehicle lett the road and struck a tree at about 7:30 pont Works com- mittee to meet with businesses over garbage plan EXETER - The public works comnnuec arc holding a special meeting this everting with members of the town's commercial sector in an effort to work through concerts about the waste management pro- gram. The meeting will be held 7 p.ni. in the town council chambers to both explain the program and ad- dress some of the concerns mem- bers of the bukuness sector have about how the user -pay garbage system will affect there_ Some members of the business community have already suggested they will seek legal action against the awn to block the prggran t . The residential garbage program went into effect Monday, and works superintendent Glenn Kelps -told council die "amount of garbage :uppllected today was down consider- 's/0)1Y iMoxday was the first day all Ex- -ler garbage bags were required to have an official town tag in order to be picked up. Kelps also said the amount of re- cyclables set out in blue boxes a those homes appeared to be up „well - Only a handful of bags were act out without tags, said Kelps, noting those were left behind by Waller - bap track. "Some people did torgOt." said Kelps, but Said he expected accep- tance ,of lite -gym Naiad im- e It might havelmonlbe wann'weather that persuaded Ryan Cousineau to bob tor apples Thursday, during the Canada Day celebrations held at the South Huron Rec. -Centre. The Child Fair was sponsored by Huron County's Child Find organization. More Canada Day photos on page-eitgtit. (ii89 crash unresolved wti. • contacted with verbal confir- mation that the Ontario Civilian Commission on Police Services gave its approval of replacing the -town force with contract policing. "We don't have written confirma- `'tion and we won't` get that for a couple of months," administrator Rick Hundey told council; but said the verbal confirmation was enough oto begin the process of disband - The date of September 1 was giv- en as a possible goal to have the OPP contract set up and ready to So. The town will be retaining law- yers to make sure the contract for nearly half a million dollars will meet the town's needs as set out in Abe proposal from the OPP's con -- -"tract branch. The Commission's decision ar- Tived after a public meeting was held last Tuesday morning at the South Huron Recreation Centre - ,3he time at -which the inquiry into lhe activities of the police services 'board and the chief was to resume. That inquiry has been put on hold while the OPP cataract issue is be- --ing settled. Co-chairman of the Commission, Douglas Drinkwalter acknowl- :edged that should the town force disband, there would be no further need for the inquiry. "If that is to happen, the previous difficulties between the board and the chief will, of course, vanish," said Drinkwalter last Tuesday. .Legal counsel for the town's po- lice services board John Judson told the Commission the board had reviewed the contract proposal "with Care" and that it has met with the acceptance of the police offi- cers association, the OPP, and town council. "I think it is fair to say Option B will provide adequate policing for the town," said Judson, referring to the less expensive of two proposals forwarded by the OPP contract di- vision. All town police officers, includ- ing chief Jack Harkness, will be taken on by the OPP, and have the option of staying at least three years with the local detachment. "The chief in this situation would be able to apply for the altemate promotional program," explained inspector Mitchell. Judson said the only unresolved issue was the future employment of the police secretary Marlene Tay- lor, for whom the OPP have no po- sition. He said negotiations with the OPP haven't been encouraging, and that the board is considering of- fering ter a six -months compensa- tion package. "1 know Ms. Taylor is not in agreement with that," said Judson. Later in the meeting, Drinkwalter asked Taylor if she would be inter- ested in seeking part-time employ- ment with the OPP, to which she agreed; but he acknowledged if that was not possible then the commis- sion would have to allow for an ar- bitration of a settlement. "1 would like to sec if a position would be made for me to work with the OPP," said Taylor. When asked how OPP contract policing differed from those small- er municipalities which receive po- Continued on page two. looks' Meek dor Board CLINTON-, In a bid to lessen the pain of:anwsti- mated S4.5 million in revue tilts .to 'the ;Huron County Board of Education;.mrstees spent Monday discussing the provincial government's social con- tract. The board agreed to takerlhefust step towards es- tablishing local agreements with employee groups. Offering to establish a local agreement should al- low the board to control where revenue reductions occur provided these cuts can be made by the tenta- uve August 1 deadline. But nothing .can officially be done until the pro- vincial government first -wraps . up sectoral talks with unions. That could happen anytime in the next few weeks. 'We can only take it one day at a time," said Paul Carroll. dirxtor-designate. The million dollar cuts are due to a tough provin- cial budget that decreased expected grants to the board on top of the social contract. "in some fashion, then, we must recover immedi- ately almost $1 million in spending to amo mmodatc these reductions." Carroll said this amount is only the fort stage of financial restructuring that must be done by the board. Should such measures not lead to savings as out- lined by the provincial government, a system of un- paid leave and salary freeze torah salaried employ- ees with incomes in .excess of 530,000 annually could be devised .through a fail sate initiative de- viseddntaihe socialaamosffict. A wage freeze won't twee us a -dime said trustee Norman Pickett. Another alternative that Carroll has suggested last week is a five per cent wage reduction. across the board. And in an effort to demonstrate leadership.and act direction, be voluntarily forfeited personal salary entitlements of five per cern beginning September 1. "The tact is we have a real serious problem and painful cost cutting measures will be necessary," he said. The board also agreed to establish a Financial Ad- visoryiBoard to make recommendations of areas to cut. The advisory board will consist of, among others, an employee and employer representative front the education sector as well as community advisors. Carroll said the advisory board will be set up al- most immediately'. - *aft MI restitution from driver in accident EXETER - The town will be tak- ing another shot at the Ministry of the Solicitor General after being short changed same $877.12 on res- titution. The issue dates back to. Novem- ber 18, 1989 when an unlicensed and uninsured driver knocked down a concrete street light pole in Exet- er and was later arrested. Geoffrey Bates, now 27, was lat- er placed on probation and ordered to make restitution to the Exeter PUC for 52.612.03, the cost of re- pairing the street light. However, after paying $ 1734.91, the Crown Attorney withdrew the charge against Bates on the grounds he had paid a sufficient amount of the res- titution. Town council sent a letter last month to the Crown Attorney in Windsor handling the case, calling the situation "outrageous". A re- sponse from the Crown this week was not well received by c cit Monday evening. The Cruwn Attorney Denis i - son gave three main reason l'br withdrawing the charges against Bates and waiving the remainder of the restitution. Harrison said Bates,' had been employed only spora)1i- atlly during his probation *nod MO -that -his nonpayment of the res- titution was "not wilful". Harrison also said charges of breaching the restitution order would only result in further jail terms for Bates and not payment. Councillor Bob Spears said he was still upset that • a court order could be overturned by the minis- uY• Mayor Bruce Shaw said hc disa- greed with the idea that because Exeter was .a town, it could afford to write off the remainder. He compared the situation to shoplift- ing front a large store, on the grounds they could afford the loss. Unhappy with the response from the Crown, council decided ter) send another letter to the Solicitor Gen- eral Marion Boyd herself. "This sort of thing should be an embarrassment to the minisuy," said Spears. if you can embarrass a minis- ter," said reeve Bill Mackie. !council to contMrM engineer on drainage problem on Gill Road QRANU BEND - Although it has admitted to having no money to solve a drainage problem, Grand Bend Council said Monday night it would con- sult an engineer. Following a recent summer swan in which the. Gill Road property of Earl Scholoendorf suffered considerable darnagc, council said it will con- sult the engineering fuer of M.M. Dillon. (and Bend Administrator Paul Turnbull explained that the water which has run onto Scholuerdurfs property riot only carne from a nearby farm- er's field, but from the Grand Bend Public School's playground as well. "1f the farmland was rectified would the water 'from the playground cause a problem,?" asked couutcillor lid Fluter. • Turnbull said the entire situation has to be looked at and informed coun- cil that Dick Manure of Manure Marine alsospdhyyntyffun age to his property along the Ausable River, Several options were presented to council by Turnbull including diging a ditch in thc farmer's field and have the water go into the tosjardiae drain. Another option, which wasested; y Scholuendurf, was to have a storm drain and catch basin ins. • Ir