The Times Advocate, 2005-02-23, Page 1(519)235-1115
www.hurontractor.com
EXETER JRAY
HA KS
vs MITCHELL
FRI. FEB. 25 8:30 p.m.
South Huron Rec Centre
TIMES -ADVOCATE
Exeter, Ontario, Canada
Wednesday,February 23, 2005
x.25 (includes GST)
I
•
•1*
The Exeter Legion branch public speaking competition was held Feb.
15, with the winners moving on to the zone competition in Seaforth
March 5. Pictured above in front from left are primary winners Braedi
Dwyer (1st, Stephen Central), Kelsey Rothbauer (2nd, Exeter Public)
and Jason Essery (3rd, Usborne Central); in back from left are junior
winners Grayson Homuth (I st, Exeter Public), Nicole Van Oss (tied for
2nd, Precious Blood), Josh King (tied for 2nd, Stephen Central) and
Taryn Dougall (3rd, Usborne Central). Below from left are intermedi-
ate winners Leanne Hoffman (1st, Exeter Public), Chad Insley (2nd,
Mount Carmel), Emmett O'Reilly (3rd, Precious Blood), Brett
Warwick (honourable mention, Usborne Central) and Carrie Powe
(honourable mention, Stephen Central). (photos/Scott Nixon)
ABCA spells
out projects
By Stephanie Mandziuk
TIMES -ADVOCATE STAFF
EXETER — Two board
members with the
Ausable Bayfield
Conservation Authority
have been re-elected to
their posts for a second,
consecutive year. Teresa
Ondrejicka stays on as
board chairperson and
Bill Weber remains vice
chairperson for 2005.
The board is preparing
for a busy year as out-
lined during its annual
meeting Feb. 17.
ABCA general manager
Tom Prout says one of
the main focuses will be
source water protection.
It's a review of surface
and ground water as
well as any water used
by municipalities for
drinking water, including
the Great Lakes. Prout
says facilitating and
developing plans for
source water protection
will be a joint venture
with the Maitland Valley
Conservation Authority.
It will likely take three
years to complete. Prout
adds similar initiatives
are taking place
province -wide.
The ABCA is also
updating plans for its
conservation areas,
something done about
every 10 years. The
authority will review
strategic initiatives,
which may include buy-
ing more land and devel-
oping campgrounds.
The ABCA owns 9,000
acres of land, 6,000 of
which are forested.
Steps are being taken to
update management
plans for forest property
by reviewing wildlife,
species at risk, flood
storage and wood
fibre/lumber production.
There are ongoing pro-
grams like tree planting,
private land stewardship
grants and maintaining
recreational facilties.
The ABCA also plans to
conduct periodic random
surveys over the next
year to determine how
many people use its facil-
ities, where they are
from and whether their
needs are being met.
Finally, one of the most
talked about functions of
the ABCA is coming up
soon. The annual con-
servation dinner is
scheduled for April 14 at
the South Huron Rec
Centre in Exeter. Tickets
are $45 each and are
going fast. For more
information call the
ABCA at 235-2610.
Education funding increase allows for renovation projects
By Stew Slater
SPECIAL TO THE TIMES -ADVOCATE
STRATFORD — An addition of $280 million to the
annual provincial education budget, announced in
rather unorthodox fashion by the ruling Liberals last
week, should allow the Avon Maitland District School
Board to "get a kickstart" on its long wish list of reno-
vation and maintenance projects.
"This will let us ... get ahead of where we thought
we would be," explained education director Geoff
Williams Feb. 18, after a statement by Perth Middlesex
MPP John Wilkinson at Romeo Public School in
Stratford. Wilkinson released specific 2005-06 totals
for the school boards in his riding, including
$15,736,931 for the Avon Maitland District School
Board and $1,120,758 for the Huron -Perth Catholic
District School Board.
The key to the funding, he noted, is that its allocation
is based on an assessment of each board's needs
rather than a "one size fits all" approach which
caused school boards to make decisions — including
the closure of schools — "because they're trying to
maximize some formula that was cooked up in Queen's
Park."
Williams agreed, stating the Avon Maitland board
will be able to fulfill the accountability requirements of
the funding because it has already undertaken a com-
prehensive maintenance needs assessment called
RECAPP.
The unorthodox nature of the announcement, howev-
er, was evident in the fact neither Wilkinson nor the
information he had been provided by the Education
Ministry could adequately clarify some of the questions
asked by members of the media and school
board officials.
Wilkinson's news release describes the
annual budget increase of $280 million as
an "amortization fund, available to school
boards across the province, to leverage
financing for $4 billion worth of needed
repairs, additions and replacement
schools." He later referred to it as "a five-
year rolling capital plan" which will more
effectively enable boards to plan mainte-
nance schedules into the coming years.
Pressed to explain how the government's initial
investment will be made to grow to $4 billion, he could
offer no details. He did, however, suggest a plan could
be modeled on an existing arrangement with Ontario
municipalities, through which the best deals on low-
interest financing are made available by grouping
together the borrowing needs of several governments.
"The minister of finance believes that, with an
increase of $280 million per year for education, it will
allow us to do about $4 billion worth of needed repairs
"This wil
. get ahe
where w
thought
would be
GEOFF
and new schools where they're needed," Wilkinson
said.
Also contributing to some confusion was the
Education Ministry's method of describing the allot-
ment of the 2005-06 funding. In the information pro-
vided by Wilkinson, the Avon Maitland portion is
described as a "board allocation" of
$1,144,715, and a "repair budget" of
$15,736,931. That caused Williams to
refer to "$1 million in the first phase and
$15 million in the second phase" of this
year's funding.
Wilkinson then stepped in, however, and
suggested all work could begin right away
if necessary; the $15.7 -million is the
board's total for this year, while the $1.1
million is just an initial pay -out to allow the
board to begin work as soon as possible.
On the provincial Liberal Party's Web site, mean-
while, a news release from Education Minister Gerard
Kennedy clearly describes the process through which
$280 million came to be added to the annual provincial
budget. It includes an admission that this announce-
ment was already made last year, but back then it was
only for about $200 million. There's still no explana-
tion, however, of how it will be invested and manipu-
lated to fund $4 billion worth of renovations and new
Ilet us..
ad of
e
we
WILLIAMS
EDUCATION
DIRECTOR
See FUNDING page 2