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Inside
Province takes
over education
spending
See page 2
VON Week
See Crossroads
.r.
Grand Bend
carnival gets
council funds
Wednesday. January 15, 1)7
Forced marriage for Huron -Perth boards
By Heather Mir
T -A Reporter
CLINTON - Monday's an-
nouncement that outlined the amal-
gamation of Huron and Perth Eng-
lish-language public school boards
left members of the Huron Board
with "more unanswered questions
than there are answers," explained
Acting Director Chuck Rowland.
The sweeping education reform,
which will be implemented in Jan-
uary )99g, also merged Kent and
Lambton boards as well as London,
Middlesex, Eglin and Oxford.
Curriculum was not discussed
during a tele -conference call mem-
bers of the board attended in Lon-
don but the change is intended to
achieve equity between school
boards based on a set dollar cost
per student.
"We have rejected the idea of
pooling," said Snobelen in a press
release. '
Business will continue to contrib-
ute to the cost of education, and
revenues raised locally will be
spent in the community for which
they were generated.
Those given special consideration
include 'students learning English
for the first time in the classroom
as well as those with special needs
and those who live in remote com-
munities. Trustees are concerned
rural Ontario is not given special
status.
"Rural Ontario does not exist,"
said Rowland. This has been
brought forward to achieve an
end...they paint a picture puhlically
that isn't necessarily universal."
Storm lashes area
A modest wont»»r storm dumped approximately nine inches of snow on Exet-
er and its surrounding areas bringing with it high winds and frigid subzero
temperatures that left many motorists stranded after fuel lines froze, The
slick road cons: lions made driving slow -going and a number of fender bend-
ers kept OPP 1 ,tsy, however, no serious accidents were reported. Below,
Darlene L!ghtfnr"t found her car was covered In snow after she got off work
from the Bank o r Montreal on Frida afternoon.
•
GRAND BEND.- Following a
special meeting on Dec. 23, council
approved a donation of $2,500 to
the village winter carnival.
At its meeting on Dec.16. council
attempted to approve a donation of
51.500, but deferred the matter until
speaking with Winter Carnival Gen-
eral Manager David Sheppard. •
The carnival committee had re-
quested more money due to this
year's expanded program.
Zurich raises
bag tag fee
ZURICH - As of Jan. 20, Zurich
residents will pay S2 each for gar-
bage hag tags - a 50 cent hike from
the current rate.
The motion to raise the fee was
passed at council's meeting.Thurs-
day night in response to its prior re-
view of the Waste Site Board bud-
get when the status of bag tag sales.
was compared to landfill site and
co -collection costs.
"A deficit is evident," read the
minutes of December's council
meeting.
Belly dance
lessons soon
available
EXETER - Spring is just around
the corner. So arc belly dancing les-
sons and landscaping workshops to
be held by the South Huron Recrea-
tion Centre.
in the meantime, to get,you
through the rest of the winter you
may consider joining classes in ka-
rate, martial arts, Tai Chi. dog obe-
dience. first aid/CPR or youth gym-
nastics/kindcrgym.
As well, Kicks Aquatic Centre of-
fers a full program including Red
Cross swimming lessons, Bronze
Medallion, ladies' aquafit, recrea-
tional swimming and a kids' fitness
swim.
Winter walk
Jennifer Fisher keeps an eye
on her brother, J. D., while he
plays in the snow during a
walk with their mother, Cathy.
Lots of white stuff
April Holmes clears a path
outside her apartment in Exet-
er Friday moming.
. •
Hang on! -
These youngsters enjoy the
snow in Grand Bend last'
weekend.
Brave shoppers
Elizabeth Sanders. left, and
Judy Hansen defied the blow-
ing snow and sub -zero tem-
peratures on Friday.
Rec. Board chairperson resigns
After serving on the Board for nine year; Soldan
says he is frustrated with tardy members
By Chris Skalkos
T -A Reporter
EXETER - After nine years of
service Mike Soldan has resigned
as chairperson of the South Huron
and Community Recreation Centre
Board on Thursday.
In a letter to the Board Soldan
stated he is leaving with "many re=
grets" adding he was frustrated
with the lack of dedication from
some of the members.
He said some members of the
board were unable to attend all of
the meetings and were often absent
when the Board operated various
fundraising ventures leaving a nu-
cleus of dedicated people to carry
the workload.
"There were some members who
came when they could. btit if some-
thing else was on it didn't matter to
them. If they're going to be on the
Rec. Board they have to be willing
to make a commitment to it. if they
can't they shouldn't he onjitgetec.
Board," he said adding Meaings
were often held up by people who
needed to be updated on matters
discussed at previous meetings be-
cause they were absent. "We can't
function that way. Some nights we
wondered if we would even meet
quorum."
Soldan said those who were com-
mitted were feeling the. burden of
absentee members at fundraising
projects such as the Christmas
dance when they .were left with all
of the work.
"We had too\many people who
weren't measuring up to what was
expected and it left the rest of us
doing too much." he said.
However. as Board chairperson,
Soldan said he blames himself for
the tardy actions because he didn't
act to solve the problem.
"I have to take responsibility be-
cause I was the person in charge
and I didn't (say anything)." he
said adding he found it difficult to
enforce attendance because most of
the members are volunteers.
Soldan, who has been chairper-
son for five years. resigned on the
same day the Board held it's elec-
tion of officers and he hopes the
newly appointed chairperson will
open the committee to "new dy-
namics."
Continued on page 3
• Trustees worry about the dis-
mantling of an education system
that is used as a model of ex-
cellence throughout the world.
"Ontario is looked at as a leader
in puhlic education. We are de-
constructing today, what the con-
servatives deconstructed in the
'50's with the Avro Arross." said
Trustee Joan Van den Broecl .
Student trustees expressed con-
cern over what their role will he in
the reformed education system.
Although some speculated about
the role of the. hoard as a means to
articulate the province's agenda to
the public; - regulations will not, he
announced until this summer.
• See Province takes over
education spending, page 2
Name
that
road
ZURICH/HENSAL[JHAY
TOWNSHIP - Hensail, Zurich and
Hay Township must come to an
agreement on naming Highway #84
by Jan. 24, warns 9-1-1 Co-
ordinator Mike Pullen:
Atter considering many names
including Zurich Road, Hensal'
Road. Hensall-Zurich Road. Zu-
rich-Hensall Road and Canti-
Road. the 911 Project Committee
suggests using the name Zurich-
Hensall Road.
The Village of Hensall, had
voiced strong opposition to the
name Zurich Road. As well, res-
idents living closer to Hensall dis-
agreed with the original suggestion.
Cantin Road. claiming' it was sig-
nificant only to St. Joseph. •
Although hyphenated road names
are usually alphabetical. the com-
mittee felt Zurich should he the
first name in the hyphenation to
avoid potential confusion with the
existing Hensall Road. - • • _
"Hyphenated names are nut
viewed favorahty by emergency
personnel." read recent committee
minutes. "However. they have hecn
difficult to avoid when asking for
naming compromises betweenymu-
nicipalities."
At Zurich's council meeting
Thursday night. Reeve Dwayne La -
Pon suggested solving the problem.
by simply using the name. Bean
Road.
Restructuring alternative
LISTOWEL - Huron -Perth Hos-
pital Boards endorse a new restruc-
turing alternative developed by
Board members. physicians and
senior hospital managers in a senes
of meetings held over the last two
weeks. They recommend this pro-
posal be adopted by the DHC Task'
Force as the preferred option for
further development and puhlic
consultation. The proposal calls
for: • hospital care and emergency
services in all eight communities.
Each hospital will have in-patient
beds, out-patient programs and di-
agnostic services:
• services at Clinton. Exeter. Sea -
forth and St. Marys sized accord-
ing to the needs. of the communi-
ties they serve
• obstetrics and surgery to com-
plement essential services in Gode-
rich, Listowel and Wingham
(Goderich will continue to provide
mental health programs), and •
• Stratford to serve as a district
referral centre offering essential
services and programs that require
specialist support such as paediat-
rics. rehabilitation and specialized
surgery
• a staged. two-year, implementa-
tion (by April 1..19991` ' •
The plan. which meets•the Dis=
trict Health Councils Hospital and
Related Health Services Study
Task Force decision criteria. re-
sults in savings of 1343 per cent in
Ministry funding including a re-
duction of 17 per cent in adminis-
tration and support expenditures.
The hospitals' ability to put togeth-
er an alternative plan to meet the
noon deadline would not have been
possible without the work of the
Task Force, DHC staff, their con-
sultants and sub -groups and the in-
put from the public. The data ane
costing information developed b.) .
Price Waterhouse and the Task
Force allowed the hospitals to
build upon a solid information
base. They will meet with the
Task Force on Jan. 21.
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