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The Goderich Signal-Star, 1983-03-09, Page 1Work is progressing on the St. Christopher's Beach redevelopment plan and crews were back on the job last week taking advantage of the warm weather. Silt, dredged from the mouth of Goderich Harbour is transported to various sections along St. Christopher's Beach to the town limits on the south. The work is part of the waterfront master plan. (photos by Dave Sykes) The taxpayers of Goderich will be asked to shell out more in tax money this' Wear and conservative estimates put the increase"mike five ,percent range. At a special budge cess n 1onday, council ap- preved total municipal expense of nearly $5 million,. an:,increase of two,per cent. et 982 spending Offset by revenues the town, will a tttraise $1,571,616 through taxation in the co year; - The increase boosts the eral' commercial ,hill rate to 144.23 from 141 t '.general residential mill :rate increases to til �ct 1992' fgiure However, the .town's Erna#:budget ha s three*: con .ponents: the town's general ifinnteiparrequirements, the levy paid to the County'off,Huron and the levy paid to the Huron. Board'of Education. While county council and tie Huron County Board of Education have yet to finalize 1983 budgets, town administrator Larry. McCabi estimatedthat, based`, on previous requisitions, focal taires would increase by at least five per cent this'year. There were somemixed feelings at the co ell table with respect to theanner'in which the final budget figures were formulated Original budgets submitted to council from various boards and committees off' council galled for $1,744,031 to be raised throughtaxationlThat represented a 14.3 per cent increase in the general commercial and residential militate; an increase found unacceptable. Through the session, councillors chopped an ad- ditional $203,415 from the original budget estimatesto reduce the amount • required to be raised from taxation to $1,540,6.16'. That represented no increase in the municipal portion of the Widget. However, most agreed that the taxpaYer could live with a modest tax. increase ;and so two percent or $31,000 was added; to the ' budget. The, $31,000 was placed in a reserve accoUnt to be used for. sick leave gratuity liability which, could reach $85,000 this year. Some councillors'.=arguedlthat the, municipality would be wise to setaside e431,000 for the police sick -leave fund during, a year.When ,the taxpayer Would : only face a two -per cent mcreaseS� munici : f�spending. Others sou'f elted`$la'e'`reshindtl 'be , ntO, crease in Municipal sperijding "considering the economic climate. _ Councillors Don Wheeler and Jim Searls voted against a motion to' add two. per cent to the general municipal fund and Wheeler, Searls and John Doherty voted against the motion to accept the budget as amended.. Searis, told council that thereshould not be an in- crease in the 1983 budget after $203,000 was chopped from the original esti;nates."We've done our job and. no major item, was cut from the budget." Mayor Eileen Palmer told council that the budget increase was kept under five per cent only because of a surplus of $188,000 from 1982- "We will not have that buffer neat year and the mill rate Will suffer," she staid. "We have gut out the fat and made a dent in some projects." Deputy -reeve. Jim Britnell claimed a slight in- crease reflected good planning on the part of council adding that council would do well to limittax in- creases to five per cent. The biggest deletion from the proposed budgets was a deletion of $14,350 from the tourist committee '- budget. The cut depleted the tourist committee's recommended budget of $39,975 by more than a third to $25,625. Some councillors claimed the tourist budget was full of duplication. Deletions included $1,600 from the tourist booth imnrovement budget; $400 from ad- ministration that was used for a phone in committee member Mac Campbell's store; $1,600 that was to be used for energy saving lights and sign improvement was chopped and over $7,000 was deleted from the publication budget. The committee has asked for $6,400 to reprint brochures, $1,400 for additional brochures and $1,900 for art work and transparency costs. More than $2,000 scheduled to be used for a bus tour promotion was also deleted. The general administration budget was clipped for $14,000 most of which was to be used for town hall improvements such as paving of the parking lot. At least $28,000 was removed from the fire budget but ,$20,000, needed for an estimated $17,000 in repairs to a fire truck, was kept in. Other major deletions included; $14,000 for paving at the mini community centre, $22,500 in repairs at the. Goderich Library, $18,000 scheduled for the harbour committee's reserve account and $1,700 from thepool budget.. chile-thesGedernch-1 erbtingr.Arta••Foiindat1'nom 'had asked council for a $16,500 grant to complete renovations at the Livery, council included $8,000 in the budget to be donated to the group. Council felt that the town often subsidizes recreation activities but ignores the cultural aspect of recreation. ouncil votes itself a raise While holding municipal spending to a two per cent increase, Goderich town council granted itself a five per cent increase in remuneration for 1983. Councillors Don Wheeler and Jim Searls introduced a motion calling for councillor's pay to remain at the 1982 level but the motion ,was defeated 5-3. Wheeler, Searls and John Doherty voted in favor of leaving the pay schedule at its level. A second motion. introduced by Searls 'asked that the matter of council's salary be tabled and that the town administrator consult other municipalities...on the pay schedule for members of council. The motion was lost for lack of a seconder but town ad- ministrator, Larry McCabe assured Searls that Goderichcouncil is on the "top end of the scale" in terms of salary paid to councillors. The five 'per cent pay increase means that six councillors and the reeve and deputy -reeve now earn $3,934 annually compared to the 1982 salary of $3,747. In 1983, Mayor Eileen Palmer will earn $7,869. Councillorsalso receive an annual honorarium of $150 for each board or committee they serve on. A Ugandans live in fear every By T.Marr There have been many movies released lately which deal with political unrest. in South American and Asian countries. Two of the films,"Missing" and "The Year of Living Dangerously" both depict scenes of innocent citizens being murdered by government troops. Most people realize that such acts do take place in certain countries but few of us will ever actually witness it. However, one area resident, Chris Borgal of Blyth, has experienced what it is like living in a country where soldiers terrorize innocent civilians. For the month of January and most of February,. Borgal lived in Uganda as part of an architectural exchange program. Prior to going to the African country, Borgal was host to a Ugandan architect, William Katatumba. Borgal arrived in Uganda on January 2 and within minutes of his arrival he encountered a frightening situation. "When I arrived I had a nasty bit of jet lag and I was quite tired," Borgal says. `,`We (Katatumba and Borgal) started driving and about 10 minutes from the airport we arrived at Entebbe which is where Uganda's president lives. There was a road block set up and so we stopped. A soldier walked up to the car, rested a machine gun on the door, pointed it at me and then he demanded money, which we gave him," Borgal recounts. Katatumba and Borgal were quite fortunate that the soldier only wanted money. "It is not uncommon for the soldiers to take your car as well," Borgal says. The first city which Borgal visited was Kampala, the capital of Uganda. Kampala is also where Katatumba lives and works. More importantly is it also where the soldiers do whatever they please. Describing the present situation in Kampala, Borgal says, "there are severe security problems in the city. The reason for this is that the soldiers are only paid $10 a month and so they loot and take what ever they need." You have a good chance of getting shot He also says, "if you aren't home by sundown you have a very good chance of getting shot by either the police, the government soldiers or the rebels." But Borgal says even being inside a house does not mean you are out of danger. Using Katatumba's house as an example Borgal explains, "William lives on the edge of Kampala which is somewhat removed from the danger but is still subject to looting. His house has steel bars on the windows and if_ looters do manage to get inside they have to get through bars inside the house. Well, William's house has been looted six times in the last five years." "The looting is done by the soldiers," Borgal says. "They just back a truck up to a house and take what they want," h'e adds. Since the residents of Kampala never know which house will be chosen as a target they take certain precautions in order to try and keep out of danger. "At night," Borgal says, "you close all the curtains, keep the lights down low and try not to attract any attentign." Keeping a low profile at night time may increase your chances of not becoming a victim, but it is not a guarantee. Borgal says that during the night machine gun fire can be heard throughout Kampala. "The night before I left Uganda, someone was shot in their house which was approximately 200 yards from where I was," Borgal recalls. "Basically you live in fear every night," he says. Although the majority of loo gs and murders take place at night, violence also)ccurs during the day. Rebel forces, government soldiers and police all attack one another within the city. "On the day I was leaving I was driving the car down one of the main streets when some fighting broke out," Borgal explains. "I had to jump out of the car and take cover because bullets were landing 20 subsequent motion introduced by Searls to eliminate the $150 pay for councillors was defeated with Searls and Doherty voting in favor of the motion. Searls told council that service on committees of council should not be rewarded. "No councillor should receive an honorarium for sitting on committees. We shouldn't receive any more money than we're paid," he said: The issue sparked little debate at' the council and few, except reeve Harry Worsell, felt compelled to speak in favor of the pay increase. "Ten years ago we didn't take a raise in pay and three years later we had to take 20 per cent to catch up," he said. "If we vote on a raise I'll vote in favor of it." Councillor John Dohertyy took exception to the proposed pay increase and told councillors they were reneging on campaign promises by voting for a five per cent raise. "In November everyone here campaigned on restraint," he said. "There should be no increase in council's pay." night feet in front of me. But then I had to quickly get back in ,the car otherwise the soldiers would have high- jacked it." Although fighting was taking place while Borgal was visiting Kampala, he says it had been worse before he arrived. "I talked to one hospital ad- ministrator and he said that three weeks before I, arrived, they were getting three people with bullet wounds a day, at that particular hospital. They were only getting three victims a week, when I talked to him," Borgal explains. "But towards the end of my stay, the cases increased because a bus was blown up by a soldier who accidentally set off a grenade laun- cher," he adds. lsorgal says that the killing which is presently taking place, has made some people reconsider their feelings about living under the rule of former dic- tator, Idi Amin. "At least when Amin was in charge the peopleknew who was going to be killed," Borgal explains. "Amin had the army under control, but now the army is totally out of control," Berge] says. Besides trying to deal with the problems created by the army, Borgal says Ugandans must also face other difficulties. "In Kampala the water system does not work properly," Borgal says. "During the first five days of my stay, there was no rater for four days. The people have to. go to central distribution points to get water." "The power is frequently off and every two or three days there is a power breakage." "The roads are so bad that you can't drive in a straight line. You have to drive all over the road in order to avoidhuge pot holes," Borgal explains. Citing other problems, Borgar says that Ugandans are subject to a considerable amount of disease. "There is an attempt at a malaria control program but it has broken down because the land rovers, tents and chemicals used to institute the program, have either been looted or destroyed," he says. Borgal adds," in the southern part of the country there is severe fever. The fever has killed 2,000 Tanzanians and an unknown number of Ugandans. But while I was there, virtually every family had someone who was sick." Although a fever epidemic may not sound like a major problem, since doctors and hospital workers should be able to control it, in Uganda it is a problem. Doctors and hospitals are not equipped to handle even a small emergency. "In the hospitals, the sewage systems have failed, there is no power, therefore there is no refrigeration and there is no medicine," Borgal says. He adds, "I visited several hospitals and the con- ditions are pretty consistent. There are up to 40 or 50 people in a ward that should accommodate 20 and the patients have to lie on the floor because the beds have all been smashed. There aren't any windows -either, they have been smashed also." The hospitals could be reconstructed with the help of foreign aid but Borgal says obtaining the aid may be difficult. "The hospitals were only built 10 years ago and already they are destroyed. Foreign coun- tries don't want to offer money if they feel that this will happen again," Borgal points out. Presently a, recornstruction program is being im- plemented in Uganda. The United States government has pledged one-half billion dollars but Borgal says, "that's peanuts when you see all the damage." If more foreign aid is obtained, the reconstruction program may not be successful. "There is a con- siderable amount of government corruption," Borgal says. "There is also little support for the President but this may be because the civil service hasn't been paid in three months," Borgal explains. Turn to page 2 . was the reci*relit itafl fat' best front, pa a at the WWI O,tarioa !rl mutiiity Newspaper ssoclation com.e*ott lest Week iii"Toronto. The Signal -Star was judged to have the best frtat. .Page of the 35 newspapers inits circulation claw In the overall competition, the Signal -Star finished fourth. Goderich Signal -Star publisher, B.G. Slider was presentedwith a commemorative plaque by Association president Bill Pratt at the awards ceremony Friday. o .n hips get Wmtario grants Tourism and Recreation Minister Reuben B etz - announced that a total of $1.39 million in Wintarlo capital grants has been approved for 47 prejects the Southwestern region of • Ontario tto expand facilities for sports, fitness and recreation Several area projects, were among the 47 approved projects. The Township of East Wawanosh Was awarded a: grant of $4,446 to help provide playground: equipment at Belgrave Community, Centre. The Township of Ashfield has been awarded a Wintario capital grant of $1,969 to help with the in- stallation of a creative playground at St. Josephs Coimnunity School. The community has rallied around the school to make it the hub of community activity. The Township of Colborne has been awarded a Wintario grant of $2,885 to help construct a baseball diamond at the township's recreation centre in Holmesville. It will he the only facility of its kind in the township and township residents have volun- teered hours of labour to construct the diamond. One floor of museum. will open The first floor of the Huron County Pioneer Museum will be open this summer while a feasibility study team determines the future of the rnuseuin. Huron County council approved repairs to the first floor of the museum and named the study team at its Marchi session. An engineer's report from B. M. Ross and Associates of Goderich indicated materials to repair the main floor of the museum would cost under $500. The necessary repairs will be done by the museum staff. County council also learned that some of the ar- tifacts located on the second floor of the museum will be placed in storage in a presently unused building at the Goderich Airport. Museum curator Ray Scow chmer also indicated some artifacts from the second. floor will be brought down to the main floor to con- tinue the museuru's..education program. Those named to the feasibility study team include: Warden Grant Stirling, property committee chair- man Lionel Wilder, planning and development com- mittee member Bill Mickle, Huron County Board of Education chairman Dorothy Wallace, Goderich tourist committee representative Malcolm Campbell and Huron citizens - E. Jayne Cardno of Seaforth, William Bogie of Colborne Township, Paul Neilands of Hensall', Ross Merrill of Bayfield and Tom Jasper of Goderich. INSIDE THE SIGNAL -STAR Sports action The Goderich Machinist Atoms and the Signal -Star Juveniles are the only two local teams still left hi the OMHA playoffs. On Sunday, the Juveniles tied their series against Petrolia while the Atoms pulled' one game ahead of Strathroy. The stories and pictures pertaining to the games appear on the front page of the Recreation section. Nutrition month As part of Nutrition Month, the Huron County Nutrition Committee sponsored a Food Dollar and Sense Night last Wednesday evening. Tips on how to be a smart shopper, recipe demonstrations and door prizes were only a few of the special features of the evening. The story appears on page 12 of the Recreation section. Business Beat The Businesis Beat column this week features two new businesses, Perth Furniture and Goderich Ply- mouth Chrysler; one expanding company, Garb and Gear; and a business which has changed its location, the Pine River Cheese Factory. For more information, look inside the first section,