Wingham Advance-Times, 1981-01-14, Page 1t"
610.014 YOUR WI
llfsil'
c•
tbisytOWtj!1
�n1
Pay raises for employees
of the Town of WinghaM this
year will bebased on per-
formance as well as the cost
of living.
During its meeting last
week, town council approved
the 1981 wage and salary
guidelines recommended by
its finance and management
committee.
The guidelines establish a
basic increaiie of nine per
cent. However they allow for
employees who, in the
opinion of their department
head and the responsible
council committee, have
improved the performance
of their duties during the
past year to be awarded up
to an additional four per
cent.
By the same token em-
ployees whose performances
Dove missed
from the list
Last .week when we were
counting. up the senior
business people along the
main street we• missed the
fact that Dave Murray has
us all beaten. We don't know
exactly how long he has been
operating his machine shop,
but certainly longer than -any,
of the rest of us have been in
business. Sorry about that,
Dave.
Gordon
stay home
Writing from Florida,
Gordon Buchanan advises
Wingham people to stay°
home. In his words, "It's ice
cold here." °
According to news reports
the severe winter conditions
which we have been ex-
periencing have penetrated
right down the Atlantic
seabeard, .obviously chilling.
Off ' those Canadians who
have gone south to seek a
warmer climate.
For their information,
however, the weather isn't
the best here either. It was 30
below Celsius on Monday
morning, which works out to
22 below zero on the
Fahrenheit scale. Pretty
darn nippy any way you look
at it.
A little more information
for you guys in Florida: the
snow is now piled anywhere
' up to a=five-foot depth in your
driveway. It averages about
three feet deep on the level
ground.
Reid is
named
auditor
Barry Reid, CA; of Reid
and Associates, Wingham,
has been appointed to
auditor for 1981. This marks
a change• from past years,
when Thorne Riddell and Co.
of London always' handled
the town audit.
Councillor Dick LeVan
suggested at council's
inaugural meeting the, town
should invite proposals from
a number of auditors before
making its appointment.
Three proposals were in-
vited, and Mr. Reid's watt
chosen as the most
economical.
He proposed to do the audit
for 96,000 plus expenses.
Other pcoposali ranged from
$1,000 to 0,600 higher.
Only Councillor Jim Currie
expressed reservations,
commenting, "We're after
th, best value, but not at the
estpeese a mpertise."
Council was t ld Mr. Reid
has had previous experience
dping tke municipal audit for
IlleraiTewnidgp. •
have deterierited ljeve
up to font per°'_centsub-
tracted'from the:basic raise.
As •a 'consequence,•the
effective pay raise recejved
can vary between five and 13
•per cent. - ,
Councillors agreed' this '
sliding scale is a fairer way
of raising pay than 'an
across-the-board percentage
increase. .
The guidelines cover all
town employees except the
police, who currently are in
the second Year of a two-year
contract signed in 1980.
At the same meeting
. carried adopted a personnel
manual for town employees
prepared by Clerk -
Treasurer Byron ,Adams.
The manual sets out the
terms of employment for all
non -police employees, and is
intended to eliminate dif-
ferences in treatment among
the various departments:
The need for such a come
prehensive manual' -was
pointed out by Gordon
Baxter, a member of thea
previous council, and it has
been in preparation for a
number of months.
According to the manual,
the hours \.\of _ work for
"salaried Personae
by council forty eack depalr)
meat and some everWit
may be rewired witbotu'
additional , pay,: Mond,
workers are expected tq
work 421 home' per weak,
with overtime paid at UMW'
and -a -half.
All new employ
required to serve,' : thtee.
month probationary period-
Nine
eriod Nine statutory holidays
are set out, and an additional
two floating holidays•are
provided, -to be taken at. the
discretion of the: department
head.
r salaried per -
three weeks
r, four weeks
ars and five
15 years. For
they are: two
e year, three
ve years, four
years and five
years. _
provides the
nefits (per-
iniums paid by
to brackets) :
on Plan (50),
fat Insurance
en's Com-
), i
amountlife of twon-
salary (100),
th and . dis-
(100), OHIP
d health care
Ontario Muni -
es Retirement
and a dental
e rate paid on
ravel or work-
ess is set at 25
e, and the town
sonable meal
odation costs
meetings . or
-which are work-
°ddition the town
per cent of the
-related courses
:completed suc-
an employee,
full member:
rs in any
whose aims are
tly to an em-
•
NEW YEAR'S BABY—Vivian Campbell, RR 2, Wing -
ham, gave birth to the area's New Year's Baby,
Selena Ann, on Jan. 6, at 5:31 p.m. The infant daughter.
of Mr. and Mrs. Bruce Campbell weighed nine pounds.
Lorna Stuart, president of the auxiliary, to the Wing -
ham and District Hospital, presented Mrs: Campbell
with -a -gift -on behalf of the auxillary.-,,,
RALPH JUTHMAN, a 20 -year-old Bible college ,student from Scarborough,. as
applying classroom instruction to real life situations during a three-week Altera-
ship at the Wingham Pentecostal Church. He said he Is enjoying 'working in
Wingham and appreciates the practical experience. Mr. Juthman is ks his..third
and final year at the Eastern Pentecostal Bible College of Ontario.
PUCrise in hydra rate
is held ta-3.1per cent.
The . cost "', of - electrical
power to customers of the
Wingham Public Utilities
Commission (PUC) will rise
by an average of only 3.1 per
cent this.y"ear under' "a new
rate schedule adopted by the
PUC.
In dollars and cents, this
works out to an increase of
about $1.05 per month for a
residential customer using
1,000 kilowatt hours, or $2.10
on an average bi-monthly
bill. '
The new rates, which take
effect the first of February,
still must be approved by
Ontario Hydro. However this
should' be a formality as the
rate schedule adopted was
the one r aaommended by
Hydro.
Although the price the
PUC pays Hydro for power
went up by 9.3 per cent this
year, utility customers
managed to escape with a
much smaller increase,
thanks in large partto a
hefty hike last year.
"You brought yourselves
into the 20th century last
year with a large increase,"
Tom McConkey, a rep-
resentative from Ontario
Hydro, told PUC members
during a meeting held to
review rates.
The PUC raised its rates
by 18.4 per cent last year,
while Hydro's bulk power
rate went up by 9.8 per cent.
He said this was a major
factor ..in holding the line on
rates this year, and indicates
that the decision a year ago
was the right one.
Normally utility rates
change by something less
than the wholesale rate
because local costs don't
increase as fast, he said. But
he added it ; appears the
'average rate •-increase for
utilities across the province
in 1981 will be about 12 per
cent, indicating that local
costs are starting to jump
ahead.
And although Ontario
Hydro's rates for electricity
are going up by between nine
and -10 per cent a year, he
noted that the cost of elec-
trical power is starting to
increase at lower rate than
for other fuels. Two-thirds of
Hydro's generating capacity
now comes from low-cost
sources — nuclear and
hydr eelectrie, he ren—ted.
The PUC also applied to
Ontario Hydro. for approval
of a 1981 capital works
program in the amount 6f
/Blackout
caused by
blown fuse
Residents along Leopold
Street and a few in other
sections of town were
blacked out for about half an
hour Monday night when a
line fuse blew at the corner
of Minnie and Patrick
streets.
A repair . crew from the
Public Utilities Commission
quickly located the problem
and had the power back on
by about 6:45 p.m. -
$111,400 and capital ex-
penditures of $207,400. This
represents . the maximum
which • cotild be spent 'if all
foreseeable projects went
ahead ' this Year, but is not
necessarily the PUC\ budget
for the year, Manager -Ken
Saxton explained.
Eighteen
laid of f at
Stanley Door
Eighteen workers were
laid' off at the Stanley Door
Systems factory in Wingham
last week.
A plant spokesman des-
cribedthe layoffs as
seasonal, explaining they
occur every year as con-
struction slows down. It's the
age-old story, he said:
because the work is related
to construction it tapers off
at the beginning of the year.
He said that usually the
layoffs - take place before
Christmas, but this year they
were held off until January.
The workers are called back
as they are needed when
orders pick up, usually
around May.
This reducer the work
force at the Stanley factory
to about 69, from a high of
around 80 last summer.
Stanley Door Systems Ltd..
is a division of The Stanley
Works of Connecticut. The
local factory produces steel
garage doors which are
shipped coast to coast in
Canada. _
Employees of the
Wingham' . Public Utilities
Commission. (PUC) have
been awarded a pay increase
°dine per cent for 1981.
Thincrease applies, to.
both linemen and office staff,
and is in addition to the 42
per cent cost of•living„raise
awarded last June, bringing
the total to "131/2 per cent.
This is made up of an 11 per
cent cost of Irving increase,
and a 21/2 per cent merit
raise.
The raise brings the -rate
for a journeyman lineman to
$10.02 per hour, which is in
line with the rates,; paid by
other utilities commissions
around this area.
The , commission also
agreed to give all linemen
andapprentices a $40 annual
allowance for safety clothing
and boots required on the
GRADUATES
Carey MacDonald, son
of Bruce and Catherine
MacDonald, is a recent
graduate of Conestoga
College of Appiled Arts
and Technology as all
electrician. He has been
employed for the past
several years by Koch
Electric of Wingham,
(Photo by s„ yam,.)
er cent
job. This is a new benefit and
is' in line withlhe average
• allowance provided by other
coriiinissions of comparable
size.
• 'In addition, commission-
ers again agreed to reyiew
wages and salaries in June
and, if necessary,' adjust
them to compensate for the
higher cost of living.
PUC Manager Ken Saxton .
was awarded an increase in
salary to . $33„000 from -
$26,000. Commissioners de-
cided he was underpaid for
the jobhe is doing when
compared to the average
"salary for managers of
comparable utilities com-
missions, especially since he
also iS responlsible for work
'done by, the PUC in a number
of surrounding villages...
. In other business at the
meeting held last Thursday
night, Roy Bennett was
reinstalled as chairman of
the commission and
Wingham Mayor Bill Harris
was welcomed aboard. He
takes over the seat of forger
mayor William Walden.
The commission approved
paying fees of $470 to the
Association of Municipal
Electrical , Utilities and
$224.60, to the Ontario Muni-
cipal Electrical Association,
as well as smaller amounts
to a number of other groups
and associations.
• It was announced that the
OMEA-AMEU•- annual
meeting will be held March
1-3 in Toronto, and all com-
missioners plan to attend.
In his manager's report,
Mr. Saxton reported the
crew has had to thaw a
couple of frozen services
already this winter. "It's
getting bad when you get
them in December,” he
commented. It also repaired
a broken Water main at the
corner of Shuter and Albert
streets.
He also reported the PUC
did a total of $68,000,worth of
work for ` other
rdalhicipalities last year. He
noted this system is working -
well, since it saves the
villages money and also
peroaits Wingham to have a
•
or
larger crew and. better
equipment. - -
Commissioners again dis-
cussed the • disagreement-
between
isagreementbetween • themselves and
Country Cable • Ltd. of
Listowel over new pole
rental rates. Commissioners •
Rey Bennett and Rod`Wraith
were quite upset at the cable
company's refusal so far to
sign a new rental agreement,
but agreed to take no action
until after the OMEA-AMEU
convention, when they can
find -out what others are
doing. -
The PUC has adopted the
AMEU's new schedule of
pole rental fees, raising the
annual rate per pole to over
eight dollars from $5.10.
However the cable company
is reluctant . to sign a new
long-term agreement until it
sees whether a proposed pro-
vincial body will be estab-
lished to review the charges,'
which it claims are ; out of
line.
Country Cable has offered
to 'n sign ” The agreement
provided an escape clause is ,
written in, allowing for a
review of the charges should
a - review committee be
established, but the PUC
objects to such a clause.
Country Cable,. like Many
other cable - television
companies, pays a pole
rental fee for the privilege of
running its lines on hydro or
telephone poles. Mr. Saxton -
noted this is a good System,
since it keeps to a minimum
the number of poles planted
around town.
Bran pays visit
wartime friends
Lloyd `Casey' Casemore of
Wingham recently returned
from a trip to Europe, during
which he visited a lady with
whom he had stayed during
World War II. Her name is
Mrs. Vermote-Delew of
Wijtshate, Belgium, which is
about 10 km-. north of
Armentieres.
It was early in 1945 when
this lady took two Canadian
soldiers into her home. The
ist Corps of Canadians had
'CASEY' CASEMORE of Wingham recently enjoyed
a reunion with a friend froyn the war. While In Europe
during' December he paid a visit to Mrs. Vermote-
Delew of Wijtshate, Belgium, a lady who had taken In
Casey and another soldier for three weeks of rest dur-
ing early 1945. New 02 years old, she still recalled the
Canadian soldiers the had hosted -during the %oar.
moved up from Italy, where
they had been fighting for 18.
months. The soldiers rested
in homes in Belgium' for
three weeks, and for the first
time in nearly a year arid a
half slept in real beds , in a
home, Mr. Casemore recalls.
"After our rest we moved
up to Nijmegen area and
started d the final battlees that
were to liberate Holland in
early May, 1945."
He returned in December,
1980, and found Mrs. Ver-
mote-Delew, now 82 years
old but still very active and
looking after her own home.
"She did remember me after
36 years, and her fainily has
invited me back for vacation
in the spring," he reported.
While Mr. Casemore was
in'Europe during the.month
of December, mostly in the
-Nijmegen and Arnhem
- 'areas, he visited many
Dutch friends and was
hosted at the Nijmegen, and
Oss Lions Club. He also
attended the Stilt-Lodowi jk
Masonic Lodge of Nijmegen,
which, is the third oldest
lodge in Europe, established
230 years ago. Iti addition he
was made a member of the
Royal British . Legion,
Nijmegen-Arnhe n Branch,
and an honorary member of
the Dutch Veteran Legion.
•