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The Times Advocate, 2008-12-03, Page 22 Times -Advocate Wednesday, December 3, 2008 South Huron Hospital updates council By Scott Nixon TIMES -ADVOCATE STAFF SOUTH HURON Council received an update about the goings-on at South Huron Hospital Monday night, with Mayor Ken Oke saying he is pleased the lines of com- munication between the two organizations are open. South Huron Hospital board members Cindy Maxfield and Jeff Keller along with chief executive officer Deb Hunt appeared before council. South Huron Hospital features 19 inpatient beds and has an average occupancy rate of 78 per cent. The emergency department is open 24 hours a day, 365 days a year. In ad- dition, the Walk -In Clinic is open three hours a day, 364 days a year and the Family Practice Clinic provides care five days a week. The hospital also offers specialty clinics and has visit- ing specialists. New programs are cardiac stress testing, which started in October, an osteoporosis clinic this month and a bone mineral densitometry in April 2009. Keller explained that between Jan. 1 and Sept. 30 of this year, 38 per cent of registrations with the South Huron Hospital Association were at the Walk -In Clinic, 36 per cent were at the emergency room, 23 per cent were at the Family Practice Clinic and three per cent were inpatients at the hospital. Financially, Keller said South Huron Hospital is doing well compared with other hospitals, although it is running a quarter two deficit of about $45,000. He said transfer pay- ments from the Local Health Integrated Network (LHIN) don t meet labour contract increases and there is also infla- tion and increased expenses to take into account. Huron County official plan reviewed By Pat Bolen TIMES -ADVOCATE STAFF EXETER A wide ranging dis- cussion on the future of Huron County was held Nov. 26 at Exeter Town Hall with the third of five meetings on updating the county official plan and the unveiling of the draft of the Sustainable Huron Take Action Report from the Hu- ron County Planning Department. The meeting brought together a wide range of interests rang- ing from those wanting to keep schools open to Lakeshore resi- dents and those interested in land use planning. Huron County Planner Wayne Caldwell said that in 1885, the population of Huron County was 80,000, while in 2006 it was 59,325. He added the last official plan was developed in the late 1990s. The meeting was part of the pro- vincially mandated five-year re- view process. After a video presention the meeting was broken into several groups which discussed the offi- cial plan and the Take Action re- port on topics which included the economy, energy, agriculture and the environment. A central idea to many of the dis- cussion topics was the issue of de- clining population which causes school closings and affects the size of the labour market for em- ployers looking to locate in Huron County. While attracting immigrants was seen as a solution to a low birth rate, it was asked, are we ready to welcome them? Another point was the idea of clustering homes as a basis for networks, although Coun. Jim Dietrich noted that keeping peo- ple living along roads is necessary to keep the roads maintained. Huron County director of plan- ning and development Scott Tou- saw noted the pressure on the environment in rural areas is of- ten more than it is in urban areas, since local politicians are always hungry for more assessment. Bluewater Mayor Bill Dowson replied that while the demand for services in rural areas is the same as in urban areas, it costs more to deliver them in rural areas. Dowson added there are a lot of septic systems in need of re- pairs along rural roads and that while there is always money for towns, those living on sideroads get none. Dowson said rural homeowners weren t asking for grants, but a lot of cleanup to the environment could be done by repairing the septic systems. It s one we have to do, said Dowson. Tousaw said there was also a lot of support for wind power, although Dowson noted a meet- ing recently in Toronto to discuss a wind power project saw a lot of opposition. Dowson said while people say they support wind energy, they don t want it in their backyards. It has to inconvenience some- body, said Dowson. Lakeshore resident Paul Mennil said wind energy isn t the answer to energy problems, although it may be suitable for local solu- tions. The wind doesn t blow when you need energy, Mennil said. He added that countries like Germany and Denmark haven t taken any coal fired power plants out of use and in fact are expand- ing them. Other meetings to discuss the re- ports will be in Wingham tonight (Wednesday) and in Seaforth on Thursday. The Take Action report will be launched in the spring of 2009. Written comments can be sub- mitted before Dec. 31 to the Huron County Planning Department or e-mailed to takeaction@huroncoun- ty.ca No teachers' deal yet for school board By Stew Slater TIMES -ADVOCATE STAFF SEAFORTH With a govern- ment -imposed deadline extended by five days, labour administra- tors at the Avon Maitland District School Board are in a waiting mode while contract negotiations with teachers at the provincial level finally move forward. We re worried. But we re in a powerless position at this time, explained board chairperson Meg Westley, when asked about the fact that as of last Tuesday neither the Elementary Teach- ers Federation of Ontario (ETFO) nor the Ontario Secondary School Teachers Federation (OSSTF) had complied with an Education Ministry demand to agree on so-called provincial discussion tables (PDTs) for new four-year, board -by -board deals. Education Minister Kathleen Wynne had asked the teachers unions to comply by Nov. 30; if not, the government would not make available adequate funds for boards to provide three per cent salary increases over each of the four years. Unions represent- ing Catholic teachers complied with the deadline; as a result, Catholic boards including the Huron -Perth Catholic District School Board have signed new teacher contracts. On Friday, Nov 28, negotia- tors for the Ontario Secondary School Teachers Federation (OS- STF) tentatively agreed to a PDT, pending ratification yesterday (Tues., Dec. 2) by the provincial union s full leadership group. Also at the table were represen- tatives of the Education Ministry and the Ontario Public School Boards Association. The Elementary Teachers Federation of Ontario (ETFO), meanwhile, had abandoned discussions altogether until an 11th -hour return to talks Sun., Nov. 30. In returning to the table, ETFO requested an extension of the government deadline to this Friday, and a news blackout on all developments. Key issues for ETFO include increased demands for student supervision and the lack of wage parity between elementary and secondary teachers. In the absence of the provincial frameworks, Westley said, it has been impossible to undertake serious negotiations at the local level. It all starts at the provincial level, she commented. Until they go and figure that out, we don t have anything. Contacted on Monday, Avon Maitland communications man- ager Steve Howe said that, de- spite the recent developments at the provincial level, there can still be no movement locally until the PDTs are signed. At the board s regular meeting Nov. 25, tentative agreements were approved with three other labour groups: custodians and maintenance workers (repre- sented by the Canadian Auto Workers); principals and vice - principals; and non-union ad- ministrative employees. Earlier this fall, the board also agreed to terms with educational assistants and support workers. Contracts with all labour groups expired Aug. 31. So far, neither ETFO nor OSSTF has threatened labour action. Asked about the future of Family Health Teams, Hunt said South Huron s doctors are interested in joining the teams when those teams are ready. Oke noted he likes to see communication open between council and the hospital and thanked Keller, Maxfield and Hunt for their update. "We need this teamwork for South Huron," he said. Other council notes: Water rates bylaw passed South Huron s much-discussed Water and Wastewater Rates and Charges Bylaw was passed unanimously by council Monday night. The rates, previously reported by the Times -Advocate were adopted by council at a November meeting. The new rates go into effect Jan. 1, 2009, and will be available on the municipality s website. New president for HCFA By Pat Bolen TIMES -ADVOCATE STAFF CLINTON Although he wasn t thinking about it two years ago, after a term as vice- president of the Huron Coun- ty Federation of Agriculture (HCFA), Wayne Black was ready to take over as presi- dent of the fed- eration. Black was re- cently named as presi- dent and said it was a natu- ral progression and there is a great board to work with on the HCFA. Black is a 36 -year-old Dun- gannon -area cash crop farmer who has been involved with the HCFA since the fall of 2004. One of the goals for his term, said Black is to work on food labeling, so consumers know what they are buying. Black said he has spoken to both former Huron -Bruce MP Paul Steckle and Huron -Bruce MPP Carol Mitchell about the issue. A jar of olives is labeled as grown in Canada, said Black. Where are olives grown? Black said it is a challenge to remain optimistic in agriculture but he is optimistic by nature. Black agrees with former On- tario Federation of Agriculture president Geri Kamenz, who said at a recent HCFA meeting that it was a good time to be a farmer. For sure it s a better time, said Black who noted the increased sales of farm machinery in the county, which he said hasn t happened for several years. Black also hopes to work on reconnecting farmers to con- sumers, such as a demonstra- tion day by the HCFA at Lon- don s Covent Garden Market last year. Black said of the decision by the Ontario Pork Marketing Board to allow producers to sell their hogs wherever they like, it is too early to tell what kind of an impact it will have. There are negative and posi- tive impacts, said Black. 0I 0 i , 1110 1010101 01 0 0 .� 11000M0101001: 10 0 0 0101010 01' .`, go, ./10101.100010100 ' 010101101010100101 ,. , , 0101011010011010101 1 X11,- ,•1. 01' 01001010 !r X11 I �110010010100�0 Questions about ABCA budget Continued from front page Dowson added that while the municipality needs the ABCA, it s starting to take on a life of its own. It was decided to ask Prout to attend the Dec. 15 council meet- ing to answer questions on the budget. In other business, the Bayfield washroom project will be assessed as part of an overall municipal fa- cilities assessment after a report from general manager of munici- pal services Jim Bryson. Bryson said he would like to see the washroom project included in the assessment although it had been approved to go to tender. Hessel said a lot of time and ef- fort has gone into the project and to not go forward would be diffi- cult. He added that the best time for Canada Post would be in the early part of the year when it is slow be- fore it picks up again in March. While the next six to eight weeks would be workable said Hessel, the last thing I want to do is re- open the file. A motion was passed making the project part of the facilities as- sessment and that it would be the first to be reported on for the as- sessment. Wind turbine Power may be flowing from the wind turbine on Bronson Line within the next 60 days, accord- ing to Charles Edey, president of Magnum Wind Energy Corpora- tion, which has acquired the tur- bine from Green Breeze Inc. The transfer was finalized Mon- day night at council with the transfer of the road user agree- ment from Green Breeze to Mag- num. Edey told council that all the agreements are in place and the companies intention is to have power flowing as as soon as pos- sible. Hensall lighting Coun. Kay Wise invited mem- bers of council to the Hensall tree lighting which will be held Friday night at 6 p.m. with Santa Claus visiting afterwards in the fire hall.