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Times Advocate, 1997-09-10, Page 1I (€1f1ND (IIPENII 1"Z filexr 1. WAVIEIEIKIEINID sIIJI1rZ"' Friday September 12 - Sunday, September 14, 1997 More Hits ENTER TO WIN! hours: Sun. • Iburs. Grand Prize - 25 Movie Rentals 10 a.m. • 10p.m. Fri. & Sat. Sax 2-4 p.m. 2nd Prize -10 Movie Rentals 3rd Prize - 5 Movie RentalsIO a.m. - I1 p. Face Painting Call 235-3803, 26 Thames Rd. E. (Beside valu-mart) More copies SEIP'S valu-rnart 4 & 83 Exeter 235-0262 Delicious Hot Foods To Go Sett L t c g t r, ,.-,11)(•,, I SEIP'S valu-mart 4 & 83 Exeter 235-0262 Try our Daily ffot Food Special Inside Morrison Dam controversy See page 2 In the News Huron Farm Hiker Tour October 5 See page 10 Farm Update Health and planning departments could work together HURON COUNTY - Two county agencies are getting togeth- er to try to save on inspection du- plication. The county is likely to be given responsibility for sewage inspec- tion in the province's download- ing, which will mean both the county's planning and develop- ment department and health unit will need to visit a construction site. _ Gary Davidson, head of the plan - and developmenfdepartment said officials from one department will be trained to do some of the work of the other. That means that when a health unit official is inppecting a sewer, he or she could do some measuring for the planning department. "It's better to send one than two," said Davidson. Water supplies HENSALL - Steve Burns of B.M. Ross and Associates ad- dressed council (including a two- hour in -camera session to discuss a property matter) on a number of is- sues related to Hensall's watersup- -ply According to Burns, the hydroge- ological study is completed "with the exception of some additional work" later identified. "The Village of Hensall has a se- cure, proven supply in groundwater Wednesday. September 10, 1997 Huron United Way u Fl fj ;ITED WAY Huron United Way Director Frank Loscombe presented cheques to representatives of several Huron County agencies on Monday, night in Clinton. Local recipient agencies included: Anita Taylor (Huron Safe Homes for Youth), Karen Lehnen (VON Paliative Care Volunteer Program), Diane Beach (South Huron Big Brothers/Big Sisters) and Elaine D. Osborne (Huron Adult Day Centre). Kim Bilcke has been hired as Huron United Way's new executive director. Dashwood man recovering from attack By Craig Bradford T -A Reporter , TONDUtI - Henry VanderBurgt of Dashwood is recovering at a friend's home in London from head - injuries received after he was assaulted in Grand - Bend in the wee hours of Sept. 1. VanderBurgt, 31, was taker,- to South Huron 'Dis- trict Hospital and eventually ended up at- London's University Hospital after he was knotted down and hit his head on the pavement on Grand Bend's Hu- ron Street near the Spud Shack at about 2:40 a.m., Sept. 1, Lambton County OPP Det. Const. George Speck said. Speck added, athough VanderBurgt suf- fered serious cuts to his head and bled from his ears,' tie is expected• to make a full recovery. A source close to VanderBurgt who wanted to re' main anonymous confirmed he is doing fine but that he can't rememberwhat happened to him though. the rest -of his memory is intact. Two Guelph men„ aged 21 and 18, are charged with assault causing bodily harm in the incident, but Speck said that may change. "This investigation isn't •without its difficulties, Speck said. . . The.Guelph men's.charges'may be downgraded to causing a disturbance or public fighting if the in'- Water n= vestigation uncovers that a third man seen by some witnesses fleeing -the scene caused VanderBurgt's injuries. There .is no 'description of The rumored ittrd man, Speck- said. ' Two other men -with VanderBurgt were also hurt • and were treated and released from South Huron Hospital, Speck said. Skip Izon of Grand Bend, 45,' received stitches above, his right eye and David Knechtel of London, 32, received a black eye and bruises. Speck said. A: 29 -year-old London woman was also with the VanderBurgt group but was not involved in the fighting, Speck said. VanderBurgt's, injuries happened after a shouting match became physk:al, Speck said. "The two from Guelph started the fracas over a comment about someone's - boots," Speck said.. "Thais how easy it isto star a fight in Grand Bend on a long weekend.".. . Speck said alcohol was a contributing factor in the incident and Mat- fights are common in Grand Bend during holiday weekends: ' "If this guy didn't crack•his head open it might never have been reported to police; Speck said.. Anyone with information about the incident are asked to contact the Lambton County OPP at (519) 786-2349 or Crime Stoppers at 1-800-222-8477. for 1,900 (people) based on the in- Teachers we l I pre elusion of the York Street site," ex- , plained Burns, adding further ■- report card study is required to determine fiche 0nta rio standard . King Street well site is fine. If it is, p a population of 2,200 people could - be serviced pared for new "It's really eitcellent news. There are secure supplies here," Burns said. Hensall's- wells are currently • compensating for the lack of stor- age in the Hensall system (water tower and a reservoir) but will lose that ability as the population grows. Weber wants to be warden HURON COUNTY - Bill Weber wants to be warden of Huron County. The Stephen Township reeve de- clared his intentions at the county council meeting Sept. 4 in Gode- rich. Weber is the only person on council who has declared an inten- tion to be warden. He lost last year to current War- den Murray Keys. The warden's position is determined by a vote of county council. Director describes new Ontario - wide elementary' report card as narrow By Heather Mir T -A Reporter HURON COUNTY - Teachers arc prepared for the shift to a province -wide . report card to be imple- mented beginning this year, according to Huron County Board of Education.Director Paul Carroll. He said teachers are also well-positioned to implement new report cards in grade 9 once the province. has released the new format. "Frankly, i don't think any teachers or principals will ha'e any difficulty shift- ing gears," said Carroll, adding the new report card is formatted for use on com- puter software teachers are already fa- miliar with. Although the new format does not re- port as clearly on individual student ef- fort, it does definitively state parents are to know early in the year if their child is falling behind. The new report card also imple- ments an • Individual Education Plan for every student. in the Huron board, IEPs were previously only used for special education students. "F don't th teac princi - h shifting Carroll told the board at its Sept. 2 meeting he found the new report card to be more narrow than the one used by the Huron board in the past. He added he be- lieves teachers will still be able to reflect the way chil- dren work in how they use the report cards. "In that respect, I'm disappointed," he said. As with the past report card, the new one provides parents with information regarding- the student's strengths, weaknesses and suggestions for next steps. The new elementary report card will be issued at least three times a year end will have letter gradesfor grade 1-6 students and percentage grades for grade 7-8 students. For comparison. the card also indicates what the average marks are in the student's grade. A separate section will provide an assessment of a student's overall learn- ing skills including how well a student works independently and applies prob- lem -solving skills and participates in class. The standard report card will be phased in beginning this fall and will he fully implemented by the 1998-99 school year. A new standard high school report card, along with a "more rigorous and demanding curriculum" will be developed as part of the new high school program scheduled to being in 1999. " rankly, I ink any hers or pals will ave any diffcculty gears." gr Continued on page 2 Study outlines internal restructuring savings . EXETER - In October 1996, Ex- ' eter Council was presented witha• consultant's report concerning the reorganization of the internal opera- tions of the town. Some of the rec- ommendations have 'been iniple- mented over the last few months. The public has not been privy to the contents of that report until last •week, when a copy was delivered to the T -A. Some of the highlights of that re - .port, prepared by Oweson Ltd., Management Services include the following observations and rec- ommendations: 1. Adult recreation services. should -be put on a 100•per cent re- covery basis. 2. The town should provide elec- tric energy servicing for the im- mediate future, this service should be contracted with the PUC. (The implementation. of rec- ommendations 1 and 2 "...will re: sult in a savings of $401,200.") 3. Reduce the size of councilto five members. (savings $20.000) . 4. Establish a .Committee of the Whole procedure. . 5. Dissolve the Cemetery Board and create -a Parks, Recreation.and. Cemetery Advisory Committee. The Rec Board spends too much time dealing. with operations, and the staff does not have clear lines of authority, resulting . in confusion and uncertainty. , _ 6-Create_a. Parks. Recreation.and - • Cemetery -Department - the . ce-.` metery is over -managed. (savings $46,700) Thereshould be one man- ager over all' three departments, and : the present' secretary/ receptionist 'should become the Recreation Programmer. The green- house operations should cease at the . cemetery and the flowers ten. dered; and opportunities for new perpetual . flower beds ` should should not be available. The con- - booth "should be chal- lenged to produce a 30 per cent profit or contracted out.. All' grass. cutting should be contracted out and one position eliminated. 7. Dissolve the Executive.. Re- ports should go directly to council. 8. Dissolve. the Public Works Committee. Repons go to council. 9. Reorganize . the town services - and assume the water operations. 10. Thefollowing positions, not people, should be eliminated:. Rec- . reation Director, Cemetery Super- intendent, one Public Works Labor • - er, part-time clerical/treasury, PUC Secretary -Treasurer, PUC Billing Clerk, two PUC linesmen and Pub lic Works Superintendent. I I. Create. a public utilities and works manager position. 12. The CAO should assume- the. :clerk's duties and responsibilities. _ 13. All senior positions including ., the•Fire Chief will report to CAO. 14. Place fire hydrant charge ($29,000) on the water billing. ' 15. Should amalgamation not - proceed, Exeter should initiate dis cussions to arfnex- abutting. urban ' areas and. jands for a I5 -year growth. - - 16. Initiate discussions• with- the' county to rationalize the .costs as- signed' to Exeter for county ser- vices provided, i.e. planning urban road rebates general administra- tion, etc. in general Comments, the 'report recommends the building inspector .,can .handle more .work_load . . and the CAO shouldbe responsible for all staff and - the financial opera •tions of the town. "He must- coordinate the de partments in an' efficient manner Carry out . . council's oblides:- Council olicies: Council should require the CAO to manage the .town in an efficient business -like manner. The CAO. has to remain .the manager.lof the • townl, . - The total savings from the. elim- ination of all positions is $131,000.. - ir Continued on page 2 Marijuana growers spreading plants out Seizures are down slightly but the-. har vos t ofcannabis won't end until late in October EXETER - Numbers of marijuana seizures may be down slightly as compared with last year due to an unseasonably wet, cool spring , says Const. Mike Scott of the Huron County OPP. • "We started out slow...just like the corn crops, the marijuana was a little behind," he explained. Although the cannabis harvest won't wr,ap•up until the end of•O-- • tober, the OPP las made several significant discoveries' including one near Arthur, where the culprit was arrested at the scene and his growing equipment seized. , "We had a ground crew there...they swanned the bush and drove 1 im out like a pheasant; • saudScott ddtng, "We caught him rcd- handed and we seized all his property, his tractors, his ATV.... he's released on $100,000 bail." Another major bust occurred' on Friday in Proton Township, cast of Durham in Grey. County. In 'this case at least 3,000 plants were confiscated. Closer to home, the OPP is beginning to receive numerous tips from farmers about growing operations. The trend now is to spread plants out among corn fields and in dense bush, making it more dif- ficult to spot even from the air. Through this procedure an opera- tion d'as found near Dublin in a corn field, however many of the lo- cal finds have been smaller in number, on average about 40 plants in one area. Const. Scott said changes in the Controlled Drug and Substance Act give officers a newavenue to seize equipment used for the cul- tivation of marijuana in :the same investigation. If caught, the cul- prit is charged with cultivation of a•narcotic and the arrest may.also lead to possession charges with the intent to traffic. The police will continue to conduct random air search and encour- age the public to call Crimestoppers 1-800-222-8477 with any tips that may lead to an arrest. No names are required and the tip may lead to a cash reward.