Times-Advocate, 1996-01-24, Page 1SEIP'S
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Wednesday.January 24. 1996
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Inside
Snowstorm of
'71
See Crossroads
Announcements
pages 18-19
Experts
' page 20
Classifieds
pages 21-24
Local
airman -,
among those
honored by
Poland
OTTAWA- Flying Officer Har-
old Leonard Brown of Crediton,
one of 26 Canadian airmen killed
Aug. 5, 1944 in the liberation of
Poland, is among those who have
been honored by the Polish govern-
ment.
• They were posthumously award=
ed the Polish Home Army Cross.
Brown was killed while flying
supplies to the Polish Home Army
during the' Warsaw uprising.
In a ceremony held recently
wreaths were placed in Confedera-
tion Park by the Polish Ambassa-
dor as well as several Canadian of-
ficials.
Child abuse
prevention
workshop to
be held in
Clinton
CLINTON - The Huron County
Community Child Abuse Co-
ordinating Committee will be hold-
ing a workshop on Tues. Febrary
13 for volunteers who work with
children.
The workshop entitled, Pre-
vention - Together We Can Make a
Difference, will be held at the Hu-
ron County Health and Library
Complex on Highway 4, south of
Clinton behind the Huronview
complex at 7:30 p.m.
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7C G S t.) ONE DOLLAR
Former municipal. office slated to
become parkette and parking lot
EXETER - After a well -argued
discussion at the January 15 . meet-
ing, Exeter Council decided in a 6-
3 vote to enter into a partnership
with the Exeter Business Associa-
tion to buy and demolish the former
municipal office.
This building had served as the
town office for about 20 years be-
fore being vacated in favor of the
newly -renovated Olde Town Hall
building.
Business Association Streetscape
Chairman John Wuerth advised
council the B.A. had approved a
50-50 partnership up to $30,000 for
the purchasing and razing of 400
Main Street.
Other partners will be sought to
develop the property into a parkette
and parking lot.
Councillor Joe Rider began the
debate saying he was against the
purchase of the property for several
reasons: the loss of tax income, the
maintenance costs of the parkette,
the purchase price is too high, There
are other spending priorities - "This
building, the arena, the Library
need funds set aside no*: for immi-
nent major repairs, a new fire truck
will be required" He `Suggested
that the BIA attempt fundraising
through theme days. He concludes'
by saying that the project was not
part of the. Town's five-year plan
and everyone must realize that
there has been a major .cut-back in
Provincial grants.
'-
.Rider was supported by Council-
lor Robert Drummond who added
that the parkette nd parking lot are
not compatib with each other,
and "We ca t afford 530,000,plus
with no di t and questionable in-
direct income.
Councillor Bob Spears countered
that, "This is a short-term opportu-
nity with very good support from
the business community which sees
this purchase as a long-term benefit
to the Town. "Money is tight for
everyone and they're committing
50 per cent."
Councillor Ray Triebner, in sup-
porting Spears, added "This is a
great opportunity; the price is right;
it's a real bargain. As far as the
91
budget is concerned, the $30,000 is
manageable. There is the possibili-
ty,'that the property could be re-
sold. Besides we should be looking
atour long-term needs; maybe
wall have to expropriate property.
W4 need to enter partnerships to
met the Town's goals.
Alrummond countered that he
slitObts if there would be any re -sale
va4re.
Reeve Bill Mickle said, "We
don't have a 'complete business
plap. I question, as well, if 530,000
will be enough after the purchasing
and demolition to pay for the pav-
Ing, upkeep, snow removal. This
matter should be looked at in light
of drastic reductions in Provincial
grants and a potential reduction in
the County level for road subsi-
dies."
A recorded vote was requested.
Reeve Mickle, Councillor Drum-
mond and Rider were opposed;
Mayor Ben Hoogenboom, Deputy
Reeve Urlin and Councillors Trieb-
ner, Thom Huges and Wendy
Boyle supported the move.
Prep time cuts could
lead to fewer jobs
Teachers face a cut in preparation time
in an effort to save $1 billion
EXETER - An announcement of
administrative reforms expected in
February may result in fewer
rushers. ,trig_* .ehange..jn the w,$Y..:
teachers in On-
tario spend
their work day.
Education
Minister John
Snobelep said
Friday the prov-
ince will base
education fi-
nance reform on
the reports of
the Greater To-
ronto Area task
force, which has
suggested distributing tax dollars
raised by wealthy boards to poorer
boards; the school board reduction
task force, which recommends
cutting the number of boards in On-
tario by half as well as rec-
ommendations from the education
finance reform working group.
According to John Clarke, On-
tario Secondar School Teachers'
Federation District 45 Federation
Officer, a reduction in teachers'
preparation time means 30 to 40
teachers will lose their jobs in Hu-
ron County, adding teaching will
change greatly with the students
left as "the people that are -going to
suffer."
Snobelen has already cut $400
million in funding for schools and
an equal amount is anticipated to be
cut next year. According to a Lon-
don Free Press article, a further
$200 million may also be slashed,
totalling a school board budget re-
duction of $1 billion.
Huron County Board of Educa-
tion Trustee for Stephen Township
Bob Heywood was in Toronto on
Friday when the minister spoke
about savings , that could be
achieved by school boards.
"(Cutting prep time is) one way,
probably one of the easier ways of
addressing the need of cutting into
salaries...We all have to do a little
more for a little less, that's what the
rest of the world is experiencing,"
"Anytim
remove tea
staff f
school
you i
negatively
nature
ser
said Heywood adding, "I think it's a
sensible way.of attacking some of
the moneyleets I. think it
also hpnDlAl�lY."
The Ontdrir Public
School Board Associa-
tion has listed several
ways boards can save
dollars including lim-
iting retirement pay-
ments, sharing re-
sources and creating
more flexible school
schedules.
Initiatives under con-
sideration by the prov-
ince include reducing
or taking away teachers'
pay for lesson preparation, re-
ducing or cutting department heads
e you
ching
rom a
system,
mpact
on the
of the
vice."
r
and replacing junior kindergarten
teachers with early -childhood ed-
ucators who earn as little es half of
what .teachers make..Sli0jn,4 pre.Z.,
brigs for teaehrr c u d' save
boards as much as $500 million.
Paul Carroll, HCBE director, said
the recommended cut in teacher
preparation time will fuel the on-
going debate over what constitutes
the working day for teachers.
"If there is legislation to reduce
the amount of teacher preparation
time, it will affect how individual
teachers spend their work day. In
the mix of staffing, it will reduce
the overall numbers of staff in
school systems. But it will not
have the same impact as we saw,
ce' Continued on page 2
Councillors question mayor
about PUC "Savings"
EXETER - Mayor Ben Hoogenboom reported to Council January 15 on
pan of the controversy involving the P.U.C. The Manager and Commis-
sion members declined to meet Council again, and so Hoogcnboom com-
mented on the meter -reading issue. "The new procedure will involve one
computer entry and considerable time savings. The staff has already been
reduced over the last two years. The new monthly billing and reading will
level out the cash flow and be consistent with the monthly power bills
from Ontario Hydro."
' Councillor Bob Spears asked "From the time there was a reduction of
staff and the time of the new meter reading procedure, was there a de-
crease in service?" With a "No" answer from Hoogenbroom, Spears add-
ed, "Then, there will be additional employee cost." Hoogenboom coun-
tered, "There will be some work that has to be contracted out because our
staff is not always qualified to do some jobs. Our intent now is to send em-
ployees back to school for more training."
Councillor Ray Triebner interjected, "but the foreman had not been ef-
fectively working - how can you say there's been a decrease?" Many more
questions were fired at the Mayor including Councillor Wendy Boyle's
"Would it not be better to contract out rather than have 'experts' sitting
around waiting for emergencies? There may be only a couple of times
when their expertise would be needed."
Hoogenboom concluded the discussion by giving a cheque to the Town
for $7,000 as an over -charge for '95. Deputy Reeve Dave Urlin asked if
ten more cheques would be coming.
Urlin later asked "With amalgamation, will Ontario Hydro, which ser-
vices the townships, serve as a well?" Hoogenboom answered that the
P.U.C.'s from Hensel!, Zurich, Grand Bend and Exeter would be meeting
the next night to discuss that issue, among others.
Conservation of
tax dollars hits
ABCA employees
Staff slashed by 50 per cent with
hints of more reductions to come
Heather Mir T -A staff
EXETER - After a brief in -camera meeting, the board of directors
Of the Ausable-Bayfield Conservation Authority announced their
short-term response to provincial cutbacks will be the elimination
of a total of 14 full-time staff positions.
The ABCA annual meeting held at the South Huron Recreation
Centre Thursday was expected to bring bad news for authority em-
ployees so the announcement so many people will be impacted was
a difficult pill to swallow.
"This is the toughest decision our board has ever made. Not one
of those people lost their job because of something they did, " said
General Manager Tom Prout.
Five of the 14 positions were eliminated by Dec. 31, 1995 and al-
though most will end March 31, -the planner/inspector position is
extended to May 31 and the position of senior planner will be elim-
inated effective June 30. -
The board also announced the creation of one new full-time posi-
tion and one six-month part-time contract. The information and ed-
ucation coordinator will be a full-time position combining the jobs
of information/education manager and inforniation technician.
"That's our conservation education program, our floodwater
awareness program in the schools...it includes our press releases
and d newsletters," said Prout.
A contract position for a Part VIII inspector will be created to de-
liver private sewage disposal system permitting in Middlesex
County on a user pay basis.
As authorities mark their 50th anniversary of conservation in On-
tario they face a budget crisis that threatens to end their existence.
Funding for conservation authorities comes from five sources in-
cluding general levy, user' fees and sale of goods, Ministry of Nat-
ural Resources transfer payments, special benefitting levy, Ministry
of Environment and Energy funding and other revenue. User fees,
sale of goods and general levy will remain as primary sources of
revenue in 1997.
"There will be very little if any MOE money and very little MNR
money. It goes from being a significant portion to an insignificant
portion," said Prout. ar
The board anticipates a total funding shortfall for 1996 of
$330,000 with an estimated additional $150,00 to $200,000 to be
reduced in 1997. This year the total transfer payment from ,the
:.Dgtittittice wjlLba $.12,tT illion to be share,�by 38 rt es. $ next
year this figure will be reduced to $10 million wit million les=
('ruhtirrucd ith rclutr rt 1141 it ..n Ih:r:;c 2
Skating Queens
The Zurich and Area Figure Skating Club brought home
two medalists from the Great Lakes Competition in Lon-
don on January 14. Krista Schilbe, 18, won a silver med-
al In Gold Free Skate and placed fifth in gold Elements.
Sarah -Rae Lovie, 13, won bronze in Pre -Novice Free
Skate. The two are coached by Marcy Walker.
Financial advice you can count on!
.George Godbolt
CLU, CFP
496 Main Street
Exeter ON
235-2740
When it comes to investment and tax strategies, t>ment and estate
planning, and more,.we hake the expertise and technology needed to help
secure your financial future.
Call me today for financial advice you can count on!
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