Times Advocate, 1996-12-04, Page 3amp
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E.'SVi
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Johns cannot
walk on water
,but she has
1
enough
evidence to
fight for South
Huron
By Jim Beckett
E
]► ■ A
:1
T -A editor
Lashing out at Huron MPP
Helen Johns might make some
frustrated taxpayers feel better
,.but it will do absolutely nothing
to save South Huron Hospital.
The only hope this community
has of keeping South Huron
Hospital in its present form is to
focus heavy doses of logic at the
Huron Perth District Health
Council. By overlooking about
8,000 residents of Lambton and
Middlesex counties who rely on
South Huron Hospital, the Health
Council task force has
undervalued the vital service
SHH provides in this area.
While it's unfair to demand
the rookie member of parliament
line up on the side of Exeter vs.
other Huron County towns, one
would expect she would want to
jump into a battle where logic
and commonsense deserve to be
heard. Johns was elected to
represent all taxpayers in Huron.
She also has been handed one
of the toughest assignments in
the provincial government,
parliamentary assistant to the
Minister of Health. It's a dirty
job. Selling the Harris program
of cutbacks becomes more and
more difficult the closer it gets to
home, which, in this case is
almost all the homes in her riding
excluding the Goderich and
Seaforth communities who are
unscathed in the latest wave of
hospital reductions.
Voters in the southern part of
Johns' riding are mature enough
to know that she does not have
the'Clout with the Conservative
'Mass to inttrfere'with a system .
that has been quite busy all
across Ontario. After all, Ontario
Treasurer Ernie Eves has seen the
hospital in his own riding
become a target for closure and
he hasn't intervened in the
process.
If the residents of south
Huron, as well as those from
Lambton and north Middlesex,
really would have equal access to
better health care by being
absorbed into the Seaforth
Hospital system they might be
expected to "bite the bullet" for
the common good. They are fully
aware cuts are coming in health
care as they have and will
continue to come in a wide range
of areas where provincial funding
will be reduced.
Where Johns should be
expected to go to bat for South
Huron Hospital is exactly the
situation we have now. Surely
she can see the flawed reasoning
for transferring much of the
health care services away from
Exeter to Seaforth. Exeter is and
will continue to be one of the
fastest growing communities in
the county.
She should not necessarily
speak out as the MPP from
Huron....but she should use her
position Within the Ministry of
Health to ensure all data
regarding the Targe area served
by SHH is taken into
consideration.
An indication in the real world
of the growth potential in Exeter
as opposed to Seaforth is the fact
The Canadian Tire store in
Seaforth is closing, with their
shoppers forced to go to
Goderich or Exeter. Do the T sk
Force members know something
the experts at Canadian The
don't?
Because of her position within
the Ministry of Health, Johns is
also the representative for all
citizens of Ontario, including the
nearby residents of Lambton and
Middlesex who stand to suffer
the most.
She is in a tough position.
It's a job she wanted.
it's a job she won.
Fighting for what is right is an
opportunity. Ws the reason for
being in politics in the first place.
Gingerbread display
Tony Van Dongen and Joan Love pose beside gingerbread mailboxes and greeting cards
displayed at Pizza Delight in Grand Bend. Joan created the tiny replicas with the help of
students from Grand Bend Public School. Fifty-six local businesses supported the project
by sponsoring a card for $20, or a mailbox for $50 with the money going towards
purchasing new playground equipment for the school. This is the second time Grand
Bend Public school students and Love have teamed up to create a gingerbread display,
however, this is the first time the project has served as a fundraiser. Each item has a tag
attached to it crediting the children who helped work on it. The display is set up for
viewing at Van Dongen's Pizza Delight in Grand Bend for the month of December.
County Warden completes term
A new county warden was elected Tuesday after-
noon prior to press time
GODERICH - 1996 Huron
County Warden Bill Clifford, called
his year "challenging and re-
warding."
"I've no personal accomplish-
ments. What we've done has been
done a.Yia team,?' said'.Ctifford while
presiding. civet his 'final county
council meeting Nov. 28- in God -'
rich.
Clifford was replaced Tuesday af-
ternoon by one of either Pat Down,
of Usborne Twp., Murray Keys of
Hay Twp. and Bill Weber, of Ste-
phen Twp..
Results of the secret ballot vote
weren't known as of press time.
Weed problems
Several county councillors have
concerns about the notice given to -
residents who have their weeds cut
by decree of the county weed in-
spector.
County residents who have a plot
of weeds which will be cut less than
10 acres don't have to be notified of
the cutting before its done, ac-
cording to the weed act.
'there have been several problems
in the county in the past year since
it started contracting out the cutting
jobs. A large plot of young trees
was accidently cut near Goderich.
Other residents have disputed the
number of hours it took to cut the
weeds. Offenders are sent a bill
from the county for the amount it
took to cut the weeds. The county
acts on about 500 weed control
cases per year. About 90 per cent of,
cases are repeat offenders.
County Administrator Lynn Mur
ray told council that the chief in-
spector of the Ontario Ministry of
Agriculture Food and Rural Affairs,
Craig Hunter, spoke to county's ag-
riculture and public works com-
mittee at its last meeting. He said
some urban municipalities send out
more notices, but they also have
more legal responsibility for the ac-
tions of those who spraythe
weeds.
She ,said putting notices in tax
bills will not allow the notices to
get to the property owners in time
for the weeds to be sprayed before
spreading and doing more damage.
Computer System
Huron County council has agreed
to investigate a new computer sys-
tem for the county, despite the ob-
jections of some councillors.
Coun. Bill Mickle of Exeter, said
the county should wait until the
county knows what its future boun-
daries will be before making any
decisions. Theproject is expected to
cost between $200,000 and
$300,000.
Coun. Bill Vanstone of Colborne
Twp. suggested the county closely
examine the project as computers
are often out of date in a couple of
years.
Other councillors said that is
even more reason for the county to
look at a new system.
"This is just a proposal," said
Coun. Norm Fairies of Howick
Twp. "The system we're now using
is 10 years old. If two years is out
of date, what is this one?"
"This is an innocent request,"
said Coun. Bruce Machan of Wing -
ham. "It should be dealt with now."
Mickle's motion to delay dis-
cussion of the new system until the
1998 budget was defeated,
County Treasurer Ken Nix will
further investigate the cost of a
new computer system.
County rejects new board
name
Hay Township
building permits
on the rise
HAY TOWNSHIP r According to Chief Building Official Milt
Dietrich, the value of building permits has at least doubled com-
.pared to last year.
At Hay Township Council's Nov. 18 meeting, Dietrich reported
10 permits had been issued in October with a total construction val-
ue of $263,111. He noted this year to date he had issued 70 permits
with A construction value of $3,267,418.
Also, council accepted petitions for repair of both the Munn and
Schwalm Municipal Drains. The drainage superintendent was in-
structed.to carry out the work. Also, a bylaw was passed to provide
for the new assessment schedule of the Koehler Municipal Drain.
In other matters, Road Superintendent Ross Fisher advised council
that provincial regulations came into effect on Nov. 1, requiring
people changing tires on lkrger commercial trucks to take a course
that classifies them as certified. Roads department employees will be
eXpected to take the course the county may hold at a cost of $70 per
person.
Times -Advocate, December 4,1996 Page 3
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•
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4
4
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County council rejected the use
of the name Huron by the Huron .
County board of education for its
Huron Public Education Corpora-
tion.
As the name would be used by an
incorporated business, the county,
'1 has to. give. permission. The board;
of education is setting up the cor- I
poration to raise money for the
school system.
Zero -based budget
Huron County's staff will be
starting their budgets from zero
this year.
County council passed a motion
by Mickle at its Nov. 28 meeting to
instruct staff to start at zero and
have a close look at all expenses
while creating the 1997 budget.
"We need to justify our need for
expenditures," said Mickle.
Coun. Brian McBurney, of Turn -
berry Twp. seconded the motion
and said,' "Zero per cent (tax in-
crease) is not good enough any-
more. We need to look at what we
do." The county earlier this year set
a goal of no tax increases in 1997.
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