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The Goderich Signal-Star, 1987-08-19, Page 1once Commission increases force size BY LOU -ANN HOPE The Goderich Police Commission has "decided to take drastic steps with the policing situation in Goderich,"-toderich Mayor Eileen Palmer announced Friday morning at a special press conference. Mayor Palmer, chairman of the police commission, made the announcement on behalf of the Board of Police Commis- sioners. Included in her statement was the authorization for Goderich Police. Chief Patrick King to place an advertisement for a fourth class constable(s) to be hired for the local force. "There has been a lot of unrest in the town," Mayor Palmer said, adding the town people are wondering what is hap- pening with the local police force. "We have decided to ease this by releas- ing a statement," she said. The announcement, she said, would ease the unrest in the town by making the public aware of the commission's actions regar- ding the police force. "As many of the residents of the municipality are aware, the police force has not been operating at full working strength for a number of months. This is mainly due to Workmen's Compensation claims and sickness. The Commission, at their meeting of August 13, 1987, have taken positive action concerning active claims within the force and the Secretary of the Commission, Mr. Larry McCabe will be following out the instruction of the Com- mission with regards to these matters," Mayor Palmer stated. The Goderich Police Force has not been working with a full staff for the past six months. Mayor Palmer noted one officer has been off-duty and on workmen's com- pensation for the past six months while a second officer has been off-duty for the last month and also on workmen's compensa- tion. Both of these officers hold the posi- tion of sergeant, she added. HIRING AND PROMOTING "The Commission in order to endeavour Gttdederich_ --- strengthening the force have, effective im- mediately, promoted two first class con- stables within the force, namely Officer George Lonsbary and Officer Peter Mason to the position of Acting Sergeants," Mayor Palmer stated. "The commission has also authorized the Chief of Police, Mr. Patrick D. King, to place an advertisement in the appropriate newspapers for positions of a fourth class constable(s) for the Goderich Police Force. The Commission will be reviewing applications and taking the necessary ac- tion concerning restoration of the force to full,working strength," she added. Turn to page 3 60 CENTS PER COPY GODERICH, ONTARIO, WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 19, 1987 This happy young couple was seen riding down Main Street Dungannon, during the an- nual Dungannon Fair parade on Saturday, Aug. 16. ( photo by Patrick Raftis ) Centre holding plan on hold The Goderich Police Commission is still waiting , for information from the Ontario solicitor -general regarding the use of the Bluewater 'Centre for Young Offenders for overnight holding purposes. The commission would like to use the cen- tre as a holding facilitiy for young offenders awaiting trial rather than having to transport them to a London facility which takes both time and money. However, no response has been received from the solicitor -general's office. "I checked with Mayor John Balfour of Clinton but he still had no reply from the solicitor -general. I talked to Carl DeGran- dis ( superintendent of Bluewater Centre) but other than "very bad weather when he would' try to help us he still says no to the plan," Police Chief Patrick King informed the commissioners. He told the commissioners he also had ex- plained to DeGrandis they wouldn't house offenders there on a regular basis, just when they were arrested in the late afternoon, or during the evening and early morning hours. "We've been going. around in circles for the last three months" concerning this issue, commissioner Dave Gower said. The commission motionned to have a let- ter sent to Mayor Balfour asking for copies of letters sent to the solicitor -general regar- his matt 60 CENTS PER COPY Towns under -represented claim mayors at hearing Increase representation for towns on county council was the major recommen- dation of a brief recently submitted by the five mayors of Huron County, to the Ad- visory Committee on County Government. "The -fundamental problem faced by the residents of Huron County lies in the corn- ponent structure of the council as com- pared to the types of communities in which our people live. To be specific, about 40 per cent of our population live in the five towns and yet their representation at county council is approximately 20 per cent," said the brief presented at an Advisory Com- mittee hearing in London on Aug. 6. The committee, which includes Albert Bouwers; Mayor of Osgoode Township and a member of the Association of Municipalities of Ontario Board of Direc- tors; Doris Brick, Reeve of Ennismore Township, and also a member of the AMO board and Ron Eddy, Reeve of South Dum- phries Township and a former president AMO, was formed by the Ontario Ministry of Municipal Affairs. The committee's mandate isto examine the representaion and responsibility for functions within the present county government system and make recommendations back to, the ministry. The mayors of Goderich, Clinton, Seaforth, Wingham and Exeter said the shift from rural to urban living in Huron County has been so dramatic in recent years that the emphasis on concerns at the local level has shifted from municipal drainage and roads, to planning, waste disposal, policing, recreation and "a host of other problems that are foreign to the original reasons for the formation of towns — namely to serve the agricultural community". The mayors' brief suggests each town within acounty receive at least two votes or more, depending on population. Cur- rently towns are allowed either one or two votes, depending on population. The mayors indicated they are "of two minds," regarding the inclusion of mayors on county' council (currently reeves and in some cases. deputy reeves represent municipalities) but agreed if it "becomes an either-or situation," mayors, as heads of council should represent their towns. The mayors also suggested the elimina- tion of the positions of ' reeve and deputy reeve in the towns. "The titles are anachronisms with no meaning, especially in three towns (Seaforth, Clinton and Wingham) which can nevers send their deputies to county council because of their size," said the brief. They suggested each town be represented by the mayor and 'deputy mayor' (the councillor who receives the greatest number of votes), but all municipalities should have the power to substitute their representation for valid reasons. They also called for a secret ballot in ding t er. PlPr�io a r CP abandonment conditions set The Town of Goderich has served notice it will oppose the proposed abandonment of the, Canadian Pacific (CP) rail line from Gueilph to Goderich unless the aproval of the abandonment is subject to the railway restoring land within the town to its pre - rail condition. Town Council approved a draft letter to the Canadian Transport Commission, outlining its conditions for agreement to abandonment at their Aug. 17 meeting. Council wants the railway to remove all tracks and ties' withing the town and the bed leveled. They also want the bridge and abutments ove the North Harbour Road to be removed. The West Street overpass must be removed and the road replaced to the original alignment and grade. The con- struction of the road, etc. would be to the town's current standards, a project Goderich Public Works Commissioner Ken Hunter said would be "very expensive". Council also wants the fill between the North harbour Road and the Maitland River removed and the land reinstated with topsil and grass and the bridge over the Maitland River, including abutments, removed. , "Council would like to bring to the atten- tion of the Railway Committee that the Town of Goderich is senior in this par- ticular case and that to leave these struc- tures in place., many of which are located on town -owned land, would be unfair and unreasonable," the letter, prepared by Hunter and ap.proved by cou.nci,l, concludes. instead of the current "open vote" method, but agreed with the current system of an- nual elections for the position. EXETER In a separate brief, the Town of Exeter knocked the ministry for not having a representative from a town on the ad- visory committee. "The committee's lack of represenation from the small urban sector could produce an unbalanced approach and possibly ,a lack of valuable input in the preparation of its report," said the Exeter brief. The town also suggested a change in the emphasis of power at the local municipal level. "It is Exeter council's opinion that the local municipality is the 'first level" of government. We believe the designations of Upper -Tier (County), and Lower -Tier (municipality) provide unfortunate con- nonations (in conflict with) what really should be happening between the two levels of government. The local municipality is where the direct contact with the taxpayer is established." Exeter .also recommended municipalities be allowed the option of not participating in and paying for selected county services, to avoid duplication bet- ween county and municipal services. APPOINT OMBUDSMAN Goderich resident Elsa Haydon, who writes a column on municipal affairs for Focus newsmagazine, was one of only three private citizens who appeared before the committee during the two days of hear- ings in London. In her brief, Haydon urged the commit- tee to consider recommending the creation of an Ombudsman's office, or a similar non-partisan body, to give the public an op- portunity, on neutral ground, to express their concerns and objections relating to county government attitudes, actions and affairs, "when the concerns remain without meaningful response and attention locally". A brief submitted by Huron County Council recommended the principle of "one representative, one vote," be adhered to as closely as possible. However, they said, there should be flex- ibility in any legislation to allow councils to dcetermine the numbers of electors before a second member (for an individual municipality) is allowed, or a member of council has a second vote. Huron Council also recommended no substitution of representatives be allowed. Huron Council also recommended coun- ties be allowed to be responsible for waste managment, providing a majority of the local municipalites with at least sixty -six - and -two-thirds of the total assessment of the county approve the transfer of this function to county government. The Advisory Committee will be making a preliminary report to the Minister of Municipal Affairs on Sept. 30 and a second report is due in December. Family and Children's Services budget is reviewed BY YVETTE ZANDBERGEN A meeting of the Child Welfare Review Committee took place Monday at the re- quest of Huron County Council to review the proposed budget for the Family and 'Children's Services of Huron County. The meeting opened with a prepared brief from members of Huron County Council. Brian McBurney, warden of Huron County, stated the proposed budget appears to provide for an expansion of ser- vices even though the statistics for 1986 in the annual report would indicate other- wise. The reported totals for 1986 in each case were less than they were in either of the last two years. Salaries in administration positions have increased in excess of the provincial guidelines of approximately four per cent and disproportionately with similar posi- tions in other departments in the county. Because Huron County is so farm dominated, there is a great detrimental ef- fect on the incomes of other businesses when the farm economy is down, said McBurney in the brief, "Although the economy of the province of Ontario may be bright at this time, and the province has surplus money to in- crease programs at an increased rate, the same conditions do not exist with the other participants in the program," he said. "The Children's Aid Society appears to have developed the attitude that their costs can increase regardless of guidelines or local economic conditions." Family and Children's Services of Huron County presented their Child Welfare Review, 1987 with emphasis on overview of current positions, relationship between Huron County and Family and Children's Services of Huron County, budget requests including the 1986 deficit and the 1987 re- quest. The review concerns the level of funding to be provided by this municipality for services to families and children in Huron County. After discussions with program super- visor Marc Roberts from the Ministry of Community and Social Services, the 1987 allocation of $1,259,971 was recommended for the agency. In May, 1987, a further $5,658 w'as allocated to the base to assist in the implementation of the Adoption Disclosure Legislation enacted July 1, 1987. This results in the Ministry's recom- mendation of the 1987 allocation at $1,265,629. Their year end 1986 expenditures went as follows: salaries $523,337; benefits $83,299; staff travel $99,164; staff training $13,844; building occupancy $30,305; pur- chase of services $40,069; boarding rate payments $288,780; professional services $3,768; clients personal fees $77,734; medical $3,949; financial assistance $8,535; promotion $4,981; office $52,696; capital $1,238 and miscellaneous had a surplus of $2,184. Total expenditures were $1,276,929 with a net deficit of $20,370. Roberts, program supervisor, attributed the deficit to actual spending over budget in the areas of staff travel and boarding rates. According to Roberts, in 1987 the Agency had proposed an increase of $30,253 in base funding to support a Parent Aide program, a preventative program in which a worker goes into the home of "high-risk"families to teach better methods of child manage- ment and family funcl ening. The goal is to reduce the incidence of child abuse and neglect and thereby, reduce the potential number of children needing to be placed in care. He said the Ministry is supportive of, the project and, for 1987, has agreed to one- Zoning change on Huron Road A re -zoning by-law, which would allow two types of businesses formerly restricted to the core -commerical area of town to be set up on Huron Road in Goderich, was passed by Goderich Town Council at their Aug. 17 meeting. Council passed the motion after hearing a report from Scott Tousaw, of the Huron County Planning Department, informing them the uses, a dry-cleaning operation and a Movie -Video Rental shop, do not con- flict with the town's Official Plan. A dry-cleaning operation would not "of- fend the town's policy on decentralization of the core area because drycleaning establishments are already permitted in a fairly wide range of zones," said Tousaw. He added that dry-cleaning services are not generally comparision shopped by con- sumers and so having one outside the core area will not detract from the core. Vido rental outlets, Tousaw noted, are already permitted in areas zoned Highway Commercial when run in connection with a convenience store. However, he noted, the'. by-law passed by council would not permit a video outlet to expand beyond renting movies into the sale of electronic home entertainment equipment such as stereos or video -cassette recorders. The proposed combined operation is to be located at the corner of Huron Road and Suncoast Drive, the former site of an auto - body repair shop. There is a 35 -day period in which area residents can file an official objection to the new by-law. INSIDE THE SIGNAL -STAR time funding of $30,000 as a demonstration project. "We feel that more experience in delivering this service is needed before its impact can truly be ascertained," he said. "We are willing to review the program at a future date and consider a 1988 base adjustment." For 1987, the Ministry has approved a base adjustment of $17,200 to the Agency's allocation. Of this amount, $12,200 was negotiated for an increase to the boarding rate line over and above the inflation fac- tor. The Agency is projecting a decrease in the volume of children in care as a result of the introduction of the Parent Aide Program. Also included in the Child Welfare Review, 1987 was a statement that the Children's Aid Society's performance in prevention and family support is "remarkable" stressing in June, 1985, 72 children were in their care and one year later this number dropped to 45 children, a reduction of 27 children. This was at- tributed to the result of introducing prevention programs over the past two years. The programs include the parent rnto:rave2a Golf tourney In sports, a Pike Lake man stormed the Sunset Golf course, shooting a 69, to take low gross at the annual Men's In- vitational Tournament. For story and pictures see the front page of the Sports section. Unique therapy Betty Bedard -Bidwell of Goderich is the only registered play and art therapist in Canada. She uses her training to help children by understaning and dealing with their behaviour. For stories and pictures see the front page of the Com- munity section. Children's books Pig Tales, a small independent children's book company, offers parents quality books at an inexpensive price. For more information see page 4 of the Community section.