Loading...
The Times Advocate, 2005-04-20, Page 22 Exeter Times–Advocate Wednesday, April 20, 2005 Regional wrap up Funding cut HENSALL — A young boy with autism has been cut off from his government -funded therapy. The treatment pro- vided to six-year-old Matthew Adair costs between $40,000 to $60,000. It's only available to children between the ages of two and five. The Huron Expositor reports Matthew's par- ents will now have to pay out of their own pockets if they want to continue their son's therapy. "We're faced with the situation of having to pay for a therapist or taking a reduction in salary and having one of us stay at home," said Kevin Adair, Matthew's father. Wind farm no threat GODERICH — A study conducted by EPCOR Power Development shows a proposed wind farm would not compro- mise the Goderich Municipal Airport. According to The Goderich Signal -Star, the farm will con- tribute about 109,000 megawatt hours of power annually. It would only affect 747 airplanes, and is therefore of no con- cern to the airport. SH budget up four per cent By Scott Nixon TIMES -ADVOCATE STAFF SOUTH HURON — South Huron will consider its 2005 budget for approval at its May 16 meeting, with a proposed four per cent tax increase. However, as a discussion at Monday night's council meeting revealed, not all councillors are happy about the numbers. As chief administrative officer Larry Brown explained, municipal taxation in the 2005 bud- get will increase by four per cent for a total general levy of $3,697,000. Area rated items such as street lighting are yet to be deter- mined. What does this mean for taxpayers? On a residential property assessed at $150,000, an Exeter property owner will pay $877.20 (a $25.20 increase over last year) in municipal taxes, while Usborne and Stephen property owners will pay $730.82 (a $19.15 increase over last year). The county budget and school board figures are not included in the above numbers. Council gave conditional acceptance to the 2005 draft budget, with Coun. Jim Dietrich voting against it. The budget includes a surplus of $208,000 from 2004 operations and increased provincial grants revenue totaling $640,000. Also, roads capital spending has increased to $1.7 million. The two Stephen ward councillors, Dietrich and Harvey Ratz, aren't happy with the amount of road work being done in their ward. Dietrich criticized the budget because only $58,000 of the $265,000 being spent on Stephen roads projects in 2005 comes from tax money — the rest comes from Stephen's reserves. On the other hand, Exeter will see $500,000 in road work from tax money. "The Ward 1 ratepayers are getting ripped," Dietrich said, adding that some roads in Stephen (such as Shipka and Mollard Line) were so bad early in the spring that drivers could only travel 10 km/h. He said more tax dollars should go into maintaining Stephen's roads. While Ratz didn't vote against the budget, he said the Stephen ward was "shortchanged" last year and "2006 better be Stephen's year." Mayor Rob Morley said Dietrich and Ratz shouldn't just focus on one year and criticize the municipality for not spending enough money on Stephen roads, but should notice the work done over five years. He noted this year's budget includes expenses of $88,000 in loose top road maintenance, which will go to the rural areas of South Huron. "That's a lot less than $500,000," Dietrich replied. Morley added that before amalgamation, the general taxes of the municipality paid for a new truck for Stephen. Exeter ward Coun. George Robertson replied to Dietrich and Ratz that no roadwork was done in Exeter in the first three years of amal- gamation. He said he thought council had set- tled their differences over the budget at previ- ous meetings. "Every time we come into a council meeting, Harvey, you start fighting about things Stephen doesn't get." Dietrich also wasn't happy about $150,000 of Stephen's reserves being allocated to the South Huron recreation reserve for proposed work on the Crediton Community Centre. Other council news: New trucks Council awarded tenders to low bidder Waycon International for two new single axle cab and chassis trucks for a total of $179,410. The price doesn't include costs for the har- nesses and plows, which are still to be deter- mined. Morley said the trucks will be delivered eight weeks after they are ordered. Good news Municipal staff recently received some posi- tive feedback from the Exeter Public School council, which in a letter to the municipality complimented staff on doing a "tremendous job" on snow removal on sidewalks near the school. The snow removal, as well as changes to traffic signage in the area, has made the area safer for children in the area. Another letter from parent George Finch also gave compliments to staff. South Huron Hospital hires new CEO By Scott Nixon TIMES -ADVOCATE STAFF EXETER — South Huron Hospital has its new chief executive officer. Debra Hunt will join the hospital effective May 9, where she will have a combined role of hospital CEO as well as senior director for strategic planning and systems integration for the Huron Perth Healthcare Alliance (HPHA). The South Huron Hospital Association (SHHA) announced in December its intention to hire a new CEO. Former CEO John Sutherland left last spring and was replaced on an interim basis until the end of January by Michael Boucher of St. Joseph's Health Care in London. In between Boucher's departure and Hunt's arrival in May, former hospital site administrator Janice Cosgrove has been at South Huron. In December, SHHA board chair Glenn Bartlett said he hoped the hiring of a new CEO would provide leadership stability to the hos- pital and stop the "revolving door" the hospital has seen in the last couple of years. The hiring was done in partnership with the HPHA. According to a statement released by the hospital, Hunt "brings a wealth of experience" to her new role as hospital CEO. Her most recent position was director of operations with the Rouge Valley Health System, where she Canada Post to honour Frayne's General Store EXETER — Almost five decades of postal service provided by two generations of the Frayne family will be recognized at a ceremony Sat., April 30 at noon in Exeter. The ceremony is open to the public and will take place outside, weather permitting. On that day Frayne's General Store, at 143 Main St. N., will close its doors for the last time. Also closing will be the Hay Canada Post retail outlet in the store. Canada Post has produced a special cancellation to recognize the years of service provided by David Frayne, who has operated the postal outlet for the last 15 years, and his father, the late Stan Frayne, who was Hay's postmaster from 1954 to 1987. Stan Frayne passed away in January. David and his mother Marion will be presented with an enlargement of the cancellation by Canada Post officials. Taking part in the ceremony will be Huron -Bruce MP Paul Steckle, South Huron Mayor Rob Morley and Bluewater Mayor Bill Dowson. Goderich Post Office superintendent Linda Walker, who is in charge of post offices in Huron County for Canada Post, said the company wanted to do some- thing special for the man who was known as the unofficial "Mayor of Francistown." "Stan Frayne will always be remembered as a solid member of Exeter's business community and more importantly, as a strong supporter of the com- munity," Walker said. Effective Mon., May 2, eligible customers who for- merly picked up their mail at Frayne's will obtain their mail from a Community Mailbox, a postal box at the Exeter Post Office or via rural mail delivery. Full postal services are available at the Exeter Post Office at 26 Sanders St. E. The Hay office first opened in 1842 with Joseph Hardy as the postmaster. was responsible for a $65 million operating budget. Rouge Valley includes hospitals in Ajax and Scarborough. Hunt also has experi- ence at the Grand River Hospital Corporation, the Hospital for Sick Children and Grey Bruce Health Services. Hunt has her Masters of Health Services Management from the University of Toronto, her Baccalaureate of Administrative and Commercial Studies from the University of Western Ontario and her Registered Nursing Diploma from the Owen Sound Regional Nursing School. Originally from Ingersoll, Hunt and her spouse Kerry will move to the area soon. Support workers close to strike Continued from front page agreed on everything but the wage offer. The wage offer, between what they're asking and what we're offering is between nine and 10 cents." Shaw added Community Living is looking at all its options with regard to contingency planning for a strike and said the day a strike is called, a lockout could also be called. "We don't have any money. We only get so much money from the government and we're not prepared to cut services. The only way we could increase salary in this case would be to cut ser- vices and lay off people. And we're not prepared to do that either," said Shaw. a1 f Gaiser "11 Kner Ins.keale EXETER - 235-2420 GRAND BEND - 238-8484 CLINTON - 482-3401 THE HEAT'S co ISI 1 1� G HAVEYOUR CAR'S AIR CONDITIONING SYSTEM EXETER SERVICED NOW AT OUR LICENSED FACILITY. AUTO SERVICE • RETRO -FITTING TO R-134 • RECHARGING • LEAK DETECTION & REPAIR • • SMELL ELIMINATION • ENVIRONMENTALLY RESPONSIBLE SERVICING • EXETER AUTO SERVICE CALL FOR YOUR APPOINTMENT!! 100 Thames Rd. E. 235-0160 Glenn Edward Enterprises Inc. PROUDLY CANADIAN OWNED AND OPERATED Mon-Thurs 8:30 a.m. - 8 p.m. Fri 8:30 a.m. - 9 p.m. Sat 8:30 a.m. - 6 p.m. Sun 10 a.m. -5 p.m. 235-0160 EXT�i Nzi III N AMERICAN EXPRESS