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Clinton News-Record, 1985-5-15, Page 1• lINI:011 6'fl➢[i8. iTO!` G-"1't$6.bT(i-9 STANDARD:11111E BAlh'Er iE11.1ly [BUGLE No, -20 WEDNESDAY , MAI 15, 1985 120TH Y EAR 50 CENTS • Education board gets funding, but no money for Vanastra School By Stephanie Levesque The Huron County board of education has received some capital money from the ministry of education, but nothing for Vanastra public school. The director of education, Bob Allan, told the May 1 ineeting of trustees they had received approval to purchase four school buses and one van for handicapped students. Also in the cm•;4-0 .., ., �. jc ;a �•n.,,.,,;t. ment for $326,000 to replace roofs at four elementary schools and $70,000 for renova- tions to the heating system at F.E. Madill secondary school in Wingham. Mr. Allan said this money will come next year, but the work may be done towards the end of this year. "Of course this means money has not been made available for Vanastra public school," said Mr. Allan. The director said he doesn't know wh6. Vanastra's future will be. The board ap- proved putting $105,000 in its 19$5 budget for Vanastra, but Mr. Allan said that now the ministry has denied funding for this year, he will be bringing the matter back to the board. The school board originally had just over $600,000 in its 1.985 budget earmarked for capital renovations. Public, RC boards co-operate By Stephanie Levesque A "real spirit of co-operation" exists between the Huron County board of educa- tion and the Huron -Perth, Roman Catholic separate school board. Trusteee John Jewitt, chairman of the separate school extension committee, said he is proud of the way his committee and its counterpart with the separate school board are working together. 'rhe committee has met twice. once by itself and once with the Huron -Perth school board's committee. At that meeting, the Catholic school board committee presented its tentative plan which calls for sharing facilities at Central Huron Secondary school in Clinton. This would house . Huron's Catholic high school students. Director of education Boll Allen said the board will make,its impact tatement at its June meeting. This statement will estimate the effect of a Catholic high school in Huron n., thn nrocont fii'p nnhlir high schools in the county. The committee states in its report that, while it prefers the Catholic school board not set up a high school, it has agreed to co-operate. Other alternatives to a Catholic high school discussed by the public school, board committee include adding religious ica- tion as a credit, the school within a Mhool concept and changing an existing public high schoolto a Catholic high school. Eckert waits for school funding. tative plan calls tor a Catholic high school to co -exist in Central Huron Secondary School in Clinton for Huron students. In Perth, the plan calls for St. Michael's school, now a Grade 7 and 8 school, to be phased -in as a high school. Eckert also noted that meetings between the Catholic school board and the Huron and Perth public school hoards have been set up and will be gone ahead with. "I can't imagine it '! funding l not going forward," said Mr. Eckert. The director of the Huron -Perth Roman Catholic separate school board expects legislation extending funding to Catholic high schools will go ahead once the provin- cial legislature resumes. "I wouldn't expect any significaht change in plans," said William Eckert in a Monday morning interview. The interview followed premier -elect Frank Miller's corrunents Friday that he would reconsi.ler the question of extending full funding to Catholic schools. "If he ( Miller) means he is thinking of go- ing back on the promise of full funding - 1 find that quite surprising. If it means his party will review, along with the other two parties, that is understandable," com- mented Mr. Eckert. He. noted both the Liberal and New Democratic parties support full funding. "We are proceeding with our plans," said Mr. Eckert. The board will receive the report of its secondary school planning committee May 13 and will make a decision May 21. The ten - • Balloons, hundreds of multi -colored balloons were launched skyward in a spectacular display on May 13 as part of the kick-off event for the Clinton Spring Fair. Hundreds of elementary school aged children in Clinton took part in the exciting event. On the countdown of 10, the balld'ons were 'released and warm spring breezes carried them northeast. ( Shelley McPhee photo) No surplus, no deficit for Clinton CLINTON- The 1984 financial audit for the Town of Clinton shows the books in a no surplus, no deficit position at the end of the year. Bill Vodden of the accounting firm Durst, Vodden and Bender presented the financial statement to council. This year the audit focussed primarily. on .the restoration costs for the Clinton Town Hall, Library and Police Station complex. The total cost of the restoration project is $1,682,854. Of that amount, $1,099,418 has been financed, leaving a balance of $583,436 to be paid through debentures. Mr. Vodden explained that financing in 1984, included $103,754 paid from general fund operating revenues and $325,535 of grants. Only $54,860 had been budgeted for town hall restoration costs in 1984. After providing for $103,754 of the town hall complex costs, the' geneal revenue fund ended 1984 with no surplus or deficit. • The major variances from budgeted expen- diture which made extra funds available in- cluded the following expenditures under budget: public works ! net of recoveries t $24,295; police, $8,346; general administra- tion, $5,105; transfers to cemetery board, $7,500; library, $7,190; planning and development, $10,792. Costs in excess of the budget included: in- terest of temporary borrowing, $12.548; transfer to recreation committee, $10,000; street lighting, $4,342. Public works charges to boards and com- mittees brought in an additional $20,919 that wasn't calculated in the 1984 budget. The figure was up from the $12,873 in revenue in 1983. As in 1983, the police expenditures again Huron is preferred route Ontario Hydro will announce sometime in July which of two systems it prefers to get the power out of the Bruce Nuclear Power Development. • Huron County's senior planner, Wayne Caldwell, said he had been given Hydro's time line recently and passed the informa- . tion on to Huron County Council. The two routes are, M1, which would pro- vide lines from BNPD to London through Huron County and M3, a route from Bruce to Esse (near Barrie) and then along the 401 to Caldwell said he has been told "unofficial- ly" that Hydro's preferred route through Huron County is the most westerly one, through the townships of Ashfield, Colborne, Goderich, Stanley, Stephen and Hay. The planner said the provincial utility is expected to officially announce the prefer- red Mi route within the next few weeks. ' Once the preferred system is announced this summer, environmental assessment d hearings, similar to the ones which took place in Stratford in 1982, will take place. came in under the budget. The 1984 budget figure wa; set at $251,546 and actual costs came in at $243,200. In 1983, police costs were $232,176. Cemetery costs also ran well under budget. In 1984 $2.5,000 was set aside for the cemetery, and only $17,500 was spent. Likewise the library budget was set at $31,840 in 1984 and actual expenditures came in at $24,650. Planning and industrial budgeting for the year was estimated at $12,000 and only $2,000 was spent. Other expenditures ran over budget. In- terest payments on temporary borrowing didn't 'exist in 1983. In 1984 the town budgeted $24,639 for this expense and the ac- tual expenditure amounted to $37,187, Street lighting, which cost the town $28,050 in 1983, amounted to an $43,092 expenditure in 1984, some $4,300 over the budgeted costs of$38,750. Some of the footing during the spring hike at Naftel's Creek Conservation Area was tricky and a cane came in handy. Because the Maitland Valley Conservation Authority lacks funds, a boardwalk started earlier cannot be completed without public donations. Until it is completed, visitors can expect a little dampness. The spring hike at Naftel's Creek Conservation Area on May 12 was part of the sesquicentennial celebrations of Goderich Township. (James Friel photo) Parking still a problem in . Clinton CLINTON - The public parking lot on Rat- tenbury Street East continues to be a thorn in the side of council and downtown mer- chants. Clinton's only large downtown parking lot is used by customers, shop employees and apartment residents. The diverse uses have been under debate for several years. The town •council parking committee presented 'a proposal to end the bickering. The 'proposal calls for free daytime park- ing; no overnight parking; spaces available for municipal employees' parking and one designated parking space for the handicap- ped. The proposal met with debate. Councillor John Deeves and bylaw en- forcement officer Murray Taylor have been keeping a close watch on the overnight park- ing situation at the lot. Councillor Deeves reported that cars are parked there for several days, not just overnight. Mr. Taylor added, "five or six park there overnight. They're abusing it. Some are parked there all week long." Mayor Chester Archibald indicated that he was in favor .of overnight parking and suggested that it could be regulated with a time limit. Employees at 'the, town hall, library and recreation office requested parking areas. Mr. Taylor suggested that five spaces would be required. Council debated the numbers rr but didn't make a firm decision. Councillor Deeves supported the han- dicapped space, noting that it was needed, "since all that money was spent on a ramp at the library." One way entrance off Ontario street was suggested by Councillor Bee Cooke. She noted that the single lane entrance and heavy traffic congestion at the entrance were dangerous. Street reconstruction A $110,957.85 bid from Lavis Construction has been accepted by Clinton Council for the street reconstruction work in town this year. Included in the 1985 project are: Fredrick Street, from the CNR Tracks to Joseph Street, $51,132.25; Wellington Street, from Orange to North Streets, $32,825.60; Matilda Street, from Walker to the CNR Tracks, $18,750; Mary Street, from Orange to Isaac Street, $8,250. The Lavis bid was the lowest of three ap- plications. The highest tender price was $147,299.53. Raceway, recreation come to fee agreement Other expenditures, which accounted for limited expenses in 1983, rose substantially in 1984. Costs for the sanitary sewer system in 1983 amounted to $3,290. The 1984 ex- penditure amounted to $44,629, just slightly less than the $45,000 budget. Recreation costs in the town rose from $103,852 in 1983 to $137,545 in 1984. The actual expenditures came in over $10,000 higher than the estimated budget of $127,545. A ma- jor difference in the recreation budget and actual costs came with the canteen pur- chases in 1984. Estimated to cost $34,000, the actual outlay amounted to $42,993. Also up from 1983 were the costs for bylaw enforcement in town. The 1983 costs of $4,580 were increased to $26,646 in 1984. CLINTON - The Clinton Raceway has agreed to pay a fee of $50 per race day for use of the grandstand facilities, a reduction of $25 from the original fee they were asked to pay. "We have to enforce the•user fees in order to recuperate costs that are associated with the facilities;" explained Recreation Direc- tor Kevin Duguay. In past years the racewayused the park facilities for free. This year council and the recreation committee have 'indicated that user fees must be enforced for all groups, from minor hockey to the raceway, from service group functions to Klompen Feest. The raceway committee opposed the fee proposal and met with council to voice their concerns about the limited financial budget that the raceway faces in 1985. The agreement was reached at a meeting between recreation and raceway represen- tatives. According to Recreation Committee Chairman Ron McKay;"It was a good meeting. It started off well, then got a little hostile but we left with a good feeling." It was also decided that the insurance for the Community Park facilities will be paid by the recreation committee. "It's not a significant amount, but it makes more sense when we enforce the user fees," said Mr. Duguay. This insurance does not include the two red barns, one is under the jurisdiction of the Turf Club and the other is property of the Raceway. However, councillor and commit- tee member Gord Gerrits expressed con- cerned about liability. "We should make sure an agreement is made that states that the town is not liable for the contents should something happen." Mr. Duguay is presently looking into such an agreement. Tote Board The recreation committee has budgeted $2,500 to fund the construction of a cement building that will house the electrical work for the baseball diamond lights, the line for the Raceway's electronic tote board and will also be used for storage. The Raceway's major project will be the purchasing of a $30,000 electronic tote board. The present board is no longer repairable, and because they are relocating the new board to sit between the two diamonds, a new building is required. However, all usable materials from the ex- isting building will be stored and used for other projects. Although the recreation committe has the expense of the new building in their budget, they will be putting proceeds from the adult baseball tournament, and possibly from the adult league, towards the project. STAGE LIGHTS SHINE ON TL;(:KERSMITH Tuckersnlith residents and friends took to the stage May 10 to entertain a full house at Central Huron Secondary School. The front page of the second section proves there's no biz like show biz.