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Wingham Advance-Times, 1981-07-08, Page 1.74I,V,111 aSaa,;1-.1,44" , . • 1 . .ti • \ 100 I I .10 stOtiqi, • • Ab fiki 1 „001 • r rates rise again ustomers of PUC Starting my 1, most eti$tetnere.' of the Wingham NO* IllklitleS Commission aie 'paying more for their • electricity;„; The latest Merease raises rates ferp4 residential custoMera100 average of seen 'per.tept, while for. larger eanitaters the rates Are up an Average of 5.8 per Cent; Thi on to of the 3.1 per cent increase/In rates which tookeffect Wrebrilary. The only User not affected . by the recentincrease is the Western Topndry, the Wrest poWeri consumer in town; which: ts its electri- city , At a sOcial, low rate tied to 'the ViOlesale cost of power. How#ver its rate went up Apore at the beginning ofttlie year, when the bulk po*.er cost jumped by nine per Ont. Foran avelt4ge residential customer dimwit* 1,000 kilowatt hot. per month, the; new rates will mean 'a monthly charge of $37.65, compared to $35.25 .during the first half of this' year or $34.20 last year. The new rates, which are in the process of receiving approval from Ontario Hydro, were adopted by the PUC in an effort to avoid running up a deficit on hydro operations this year. Operating repOrts in recent ' months have shown the PUC with a deficit of about $25,000 on its hydro operations, and com- missioners expressed concern that without an additional rate hike the utility faced a sizeable deficit by year end. Tom McConkey, consumer services supervisor for Ontario Hydro in this region, said it is uncommon for a utility to have two te in- ' creases in one year. However he said me factors came to .light in e PUC's year-erd financi I • statement which showed th utility needed a larger hi-. crease than had been ap-2 proved earlier this year. He also pointed out that although the total rate in- crease for residential customers this year now stands at 10.1 per cent i this still isn't as high as for some other forms of energy. "No one likes to see a 10 per cent increase in anything, but in terms of other energy sources it's really com- paratively modest." Ken -Saxton, PUC manager, said the effects of the rate increase will not really start to show up until September or October, when the PUC collects its bills under the new rates, but he predicted • the increase "should be enough to get us through the year". At the moment the PUC is in ,reasonable shape' finan- cially, he reported, but said he would hate to have gone the whole year at the old rate. ' • • ILLUSTRATION COURTESY CANADIAN CANCER SOCIETY Terry. . . thanks and farewell. PUC awards pay The • Wingham Public Utilities . Commission has. awarded itt.employees a 4.4 Per cent. pay increase to 'compensate 4or the rising cost of livi. The inc ,bch takes effect Julr 9, will bring the wage for a. journeyman line- man to $10.46 per hour frem $1062. It is in line with a policy the utilities commission has followed for several years of reviewing the cost of living Legion Branch 1 a0 celebrates 50th anniversary of founding Wingham Branch 180 of the Royal Canadian Legion celebrated its 50th birthday with a big party, and all its friends came. The celebration started Friday. night, June 26, with a get-together party at the Legion Hall and continued Saturday with a banquet and dance, winding up on Sunday with a church parade at St. Paul's Anglican Church. Many people attended the celebrations, including former Legion branch members who since have moved away but returned to town for the occasion. Guests of honor included about 20 visitors from the American Legion and Veterans of Foreign Wars in Standish, Michigan — Wingham's sister city across the lake — MP Murray Cardiff and MPP Murray Elston, Wingham Mayor Bill Harris and branch charter members Dr. George Howson and James Currie. A third surviving chatter member, R. H. Lloyd, was not able to at- tend. At the Saturday night banquet, catered by ladies from St. Andrew's Presby- terian Church, certificates of merit were presented to the branch president, Willis Hall, and immediate past president, Clarence Ohm. Mr. Currie and Dr. Howson were awarded 50 -year Legion pin. In a special presentation. the American Legion, Standish, presented Branch 180 with a flag one of the U.S. veterans had brought back from France in 1944. The flag bears the Union Jack in one corner and the coats of arms of Canada, South Africa and Australia, Mr. Ohm reported, adding he never saw one like it before. The church parade Sunday featured a number of color parties and was led by the Brussels Legion Pipe Band. Wreaths 'were laid at the cenotaph during the parade back to the Legion Hall. Mr. Ohm reported the branch was very pleased with the • turnout for all events, noting there ap- peared to be a different crowd for each event. Former members came from as far away as New York to attend the celebra- tion, he reported. Wingham Branch 180 received, its charter on May 30, 1931, following about two years of planning. Charter members were Herb Campbell, Ken Weaver, Mr. Llpyd, Dr. G. H. Ross, Dr. Howson, Harry Town, W. G. Galbraith, Mr. Currie, E. S. Copeland, H. C. McLean, Frank Sturdy, G. L. Baker, A. M. Forbes, Charles Gillespie and Alfred Posliff, During the early years, meetings were held above the present IOW Hall on Josephine Street; later the Legion took over the Armouries. The Legion home on John Street (formerly St. Paul's rectory and the John Stephenson house) was purchased in ,1945. Much of the credit must go to the veterans of World War I, who made many changes and de- corated the building. It contained meeting rooms for both the men and the Ladies' Auxiliary, as well as club rooms. 4. This was the Legion's home until the present building was erected •on the former old salt block and Lloyd Door lumber yard next to the CPR tracks on Vic- toria Street. The property was purchased from Ontario Hydro and the structure was opened on Sept. 21.1968, with Legion Dominion President Robert Kohaly Officiating. The Legion was fclunded to provide service to veterans and their. families. In later years this has been ','ex- panded to include service to local. communities. Some of the projects the local branch has supported over the years include the Canadian Red Cross and Salvation Army, minor sports — both ball and hockey — in Wingham, Tees water and Whitechurch, the Block Parent association and a variety of non-profit, charitable organizations. in June and, if necessary, .awarding an interim pay , raise, which is taken into account in the annual pay review in January. PUC Manager Ken Saxton explained the purpose of the • policy is to keep wages here roughly in line with those paid by utilities of com- parable size, some of which are bound to cost of living allowances under union • contracts. In other business at their meeting last week, com- mission members decided for the first time in several years to publish the year-end financial statement. Chairman Roy •Bennett said the statement used to be published together with .the town's financial statement and he was not sure when the practice stopped, but he suggested it would be a good idea to publishagain. Rod Wraith commented• that he doesn't think publishing the statement will accomplish much, predic- ting the commission will get more complaints than if it didn't publish. However he added that he is in favor of publication -because I don't want people to think we're hiding anything". Mayor Bill Harris said he is in favor of publishing the crease stat • ent, since, some peop -want to see it. - In s manager's report, Ken axtop noted that statistic S released by. the Electrical Utilities Safety Association show the Wingham PUC has gone about 18 years since its last serious injury on its hydro operations, and eight to 10 years accident -free on waterworks. • .„ • ' THE RECENT MAIL STRIKE has caused people to resort to any method possible to acquire a copy of The ..Advance-Tes. Trevor and Joseph Agornbar of Frances Street entered the office last Thursday in true gangster style to pick up the family paper. Trevor and Joseph are the sons of Mr. and Mrs. Wayne Agombar. ouncil keeps caretaker, but adds cleaning service „ Wingham council has, deeided to keep the town " caretaker, but to add a janitorial service to ensure a better job of cleaning town building - Spar-Klean Janitorial Services • and Reliable Maintenanceof Wingham has, been hired to clean the Town Hall, Armouries, police station and nursery for the remainder of the year at a cost of $1;100 perrnonth. Gordon Carter, the town custodian, will continue to have some cleaning duties as well as outside maintenance chores, and will be kept on at his current wage. • The decision Monday night followed a lengthy review by the property committee of various options for cleaning and maintenance of the town buildings. All discussion during the meeting was conducted in committee -of -the -whole, but the committee recapped its investigation and explained its recommendations in a written report. In the report the com- mittee noted its concern that buildings were not being Postal strike could be a lengthy one DAVID RITTER [David Robert Ritter, son of Mr. and Mrs. R. P. Ritter of Wingham, grad- uated recently from the Mechanical Engineering Technology program at Fanshawe College, Lon- don. He has accepted a position with the Jarvis Clark Co. of North Bay. Western Hoedown approaching fast Wingham's Western Hoe- down is just over one week away and organizers are optimistic about this year's summer festivities. The Hoedown committee has planned a wide variety of events centring around a western theme. The Hoedown is slated for Thursday through Sunday of next week and will include a sidewalk sale, a bicycle parade, penny carnival and "Kidsworld" for the children and a teen dance for the young people. Other events scheduled are a talent show and western queen contest, a western evening and casino and a bingo. Everyone will be able to take in the Hoedown parade on Saturday, featuring bands, floats and an antique car display. Baseball fans can enjoy the game at both ballparks with the annual CKNX Slo- Pi tch Tournament being held Friday through Sunday. The Hoedown also offers a flapjack breakfast and a western barbeque at the arena on Saturday and an old-fashioned picnic on Sunday. All in all the Hoedown committee and many of the town's service groups have combined to plan what should be a very successful weekend of activities. A full schedule of events will be published in next week's paper. JANE VATH Jane Vath, daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Peter Vath of Diagonal Road in ,lAtingham, was part of the first graduating class from the physical fitness instructor's course at Fanshawe College in Lon- don. The graduation ex- ercises were held June 29 at 10:30 a.m. Whether it is serious or merely jockeying for position with the postal union, the " federal govern- ment indicated Monday it is prepared to sit out ,a long strike. Donald Johnston, presi- dent of the Treasury Board which is responsible for negotiating a settlement for the government, said the government has no intention of legislating the postal workers back to work, as it did in 1975 and again in 1978, but is ready to. let the strike drag on all summer. The inside postal workers have been on a legal strike for more than a week, idling the country's mail service, and have refused to return to the negotiating table until the government accepts the recommendations contained in a conciliation report. Among other things, the report recommends im- proved benefits, including paid maternity leave and better vacation' benefits. Mr. Johnston acknowl- edged the plight of small businesses which are es- pecially vulnerable to the mail stoppage, but gave no indication how the govern- ment would respond to their preOdicament. He said he will monitor its impact as the strike progresses and hopes banks will be considerate to the businessmen. Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau reiterated his refusal to introduce back -to - work legislation before Parliament recesses for the summer. "CUPW President Jean-Claude Parrot has made it clear that if legislated back to work he would disobey the order," Mr . Trudeau said. "There- fore I am at a loss to know what would advance negotiations or a settlement in this area cleaned properly under the previous system and laid out. the alternatives considered, including hiring a part-time janitor to help Mr. Carter or contracting all janitorial duties. The .committee explained it eventually decided the best option would be to assign certain duties to the present janitor and contract other duties. This alternative accounts for the variable nature of the job, requires no capital outlay for equipment, requires no further training of staff and will permit proper maintenance of the buildings, it said. Spar-Klean was hired .for the job as its tender on cleaning services was the lowest -of three received by the committee. The report calculated that the new cleaning arrange- ment can be accommodated within the existing budget, with a small stirplus. Priest is transferred Rev. Wes Gutowski was to have given his last hordily at Sacred Heart Church, Wingham, on Sunday, before accepting a • transfer to a parish in Sarnia. Unfortunately Father Gutowski was in a London hospital recovering from a kidney operation. His parishioners' pray for a speedy recovery and wish him God's blessing in his new parish His summer replacement is Rev Jim Higgins. whose homily dealt with the gospel message.' "Come all ye that are heavy laden and I will give you rest The parish picnic will be this SundaN. 12al the Falls Reserve Conservation Area at 2 p in Rick Fines, son of Mr. and Mrs. Warren Fines of Bluevaie, graduated from Fanshawe. College June 26 with a diploma in mechanical engineering technology, mobile equip- ment. Rick has accepted a position with Koehring Canada Ltd. at Brant- ford.