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THE NEW TANNER ll Council supports keeping professional firefighters Guelph/Eramosa council decided to sup- port the Association of Municipalities of Ontario in their efforts to prevent discrimi- nation against professional firefighters who also volunteer their services in other com- munities. Called "double-hatters" by their union, some of these professionals are being THURSDAY, AUGUST 12, 2004 rive for work too tired to do their job prop- erly because they were moonlighting at a fire for their volunteer department," said Coun. Les Foote. "But if they're going to cut them off fighting fires, then they should cut them off all their other moonlighting jobs, too." Mayor Clint Martin said in the con- "What the union really wants is to see all fire departments manned by professionals," said Coun. David McCrae. He estimated it would cost the municipality millions of dol- lars to go to a full-time fire force. Foote said thanks to mutual aid arrange- ments with a neighbouring municipality, the whole year's worth of coverage in the pointed out. "You can't take a truck out without four people on it. So multiply that by staff to cover us 24/7 and the price is just phenomenal. It would cost the munici- pality millions to replace what our volunteers do for us." Clerk Janice Sheppard said volunteer de- partments are also the training ground for threatened with dismissal for moonlight- ing at a volunteer department. "T understand the basis for the union's concern is the possibility the men may ar- Suggestions wanted on doctor shortage Guelph/Eramosa coun- cillors want to hear from the Ontario College of Physicians and Surgeons about their suggestions on how to deal with the province's doctor short- age. Council advised clerk Janice Sheppard to con- tact the association and take them up on their of- fer to make a presentation on the topic. While no _ date could be suggested, Sheppard said she'd like to see it be part of a regu- lar council meeting so the public could be present to hear the speaker's sug- gestions. struction industry there were always professional firefighters moonlighting at other trades like carpentry or paint- ing during their free time. The Rockw old Guelph Township area only costs what it would cost to hire two professional fire- fighters. "But you couldn't do that," McCrae many full-time firefighters. They start training as a volunteer and that gets them valuable experience to get their foot in the Speeder of Week A 20-year-old driver from the United Kingdom has the distinction of be- ing Wellington OPP's Speeder of the Week'. Sergeant Rick Weiler, conducting traffic enforce- ment on Hwy. 6 at Clair Rd. observed a 2004 Grand Am travelling at a high rate of speed on Sat- urday, August 7 at 2:55 p.m. He activated the ra- dar beam and it registered 151 km/h in a posted 80 km/h zone. Nishan Chelvachandran, 20, from the United King- dom is charged with speeding and scheduled to appear in Guelph court on October 5. Water problems at Centre not solved by new well Drilling a new well for the Eden Mills Community Centre has not solved that facility's water problems. Public Works Manager Larry Van Wyck said tests of the treated water from the new system are satis- factory. However, the new Ministry of Environment tules require the raw wa- ter entering the system to be tested, too, and that has produced unsatisfactory results. E-coli was fund in the untreated water and the well falls in the category of groundwater under the di- Strategic Plan rect influence of surface water. Such sources must be monitored for turbidity and the results logged daily. The checks can be done manually with an annual cost of $18,250 or an online turbidity meter and data logger can be in- stalled. Operating costs for this would be lower but would still be $15,000 to $20,000 plus administra- tion charges.. This type of meter would also see 200-300 litres of water dumped into the sep- tic holding tank daily making it an impractical solution. While the water could be directed back into the natural drainage course, the shallow bed- rock in this location makes that cost prohibitive. Van Wyck suggested council might want to ex- amine new water regulations expected in coming months to see whether requirements for water systems for facilities run by an organization might be easier and cheaper to meet than those for a mu- nicipally-owned facility. ON THE ROCK: Even while on vacation in Newfound- land, Steven and Joshua Kelly continue to raise funds at their Kool-Aide stand for their favourite pet store, 4-D's "back home in Rockwood, Ontario" that was destroyed by fire in June. -- Submitted photo Firefighters hurt in blaze Officers from the County of Wellington O.P.P. re- sponded to a report of a structure fire at the Hermosa Valley Apartments at 7870, Highway 7 in Eramosa Township on Saturday at 11:43 am. Firefighters from Guelph also responded to the scene. All of the occupants of the building were evacuated safely and no _ tenants were injured. Three firefight- ers were injured when the fire Staff urged to think money-saving BY MAGGIE PETRUSHEVSKY The New Tanner Already staff at Guelph/Eramosa has begun looking at the municipality's stra- tegic plan, its master plans, the roads needs study and the fire business plan. From these foundations staff and coun- cil can make suggestions and decide on changes in light of the service analysis and the cost of changes. Cheyne said front line staff will be asked for suggestions on changes that would make operations more efficient or cost effective. Part of the process will see staff pre- paring summary sheets for their departments which will document the cost of services they provide and alter- native levels of service. This will also show how each service fits into the stra- tegic plan, the history of the service, problems with delivering the service, whether it is a mandatory service and whether it is provided by staff or through a consultant. The budget will need to include in- creases in the costs of wages, insurance and utilities since they are not negoti- able items. While all this information should ide- ally be readied through July, heavier summer workloads for roads and park managers means it may be September before everything is in place so the treas- urer can prepare reports for review by the clerk and management teams in October. Cheyne said she hopes to give coun- cil a draft budget in November and spend the month of December research- ing and reporting the answers to any council questions about the budget. Then through January council can hold their special council meetings and discus- sions in preparation for taking the proposed budget to the public in February. This will also be the time for public meetings if any are needed. Then by the end of February council should be able to adopt their budget for the year instead of it taking until April, as has been past practice. Councillors praised the new process and tossed around ideas. for rewarding staff who generate good,cost-saving ideas. flashed back at them. Two Continued on page 12 Four D's Pets PETS AND SUPPLIES 126 Main St. S Rockwood, ON. 519-856-4246 door to a full time position somewhere else. Erin youths charged in 9th Line theft Two 17-year-old youths from Erin were arrested and charged with Break and En- ter, Mischief under $5,000 and Possession of Break-In Tools following a break in at a Charleston Homes Con- struction site at 5328 Ninth Line, Erin on Sunday August 8, at Sam. Police said a locked trailer was forced open with bolt cutters and a hacksaw and the suspects loaded equipment from the trailer into their pick-up truck just as Welling- ton OPP arrived following a tip from a citizen. One youth was arrested at the scene but the other fled only to be later located at his home. On Friday August 6, be- "tween 11:37am and 4:30pm an unknown suspect entered a residence on Wellington Road 27 by smashing a rear basement window. Police said the suspect stole a lap top computer, play station video game, alcohol, jewellery, dig- ital camera and cellular phone. Anyone with information about this crime is asked to call the Guelph detachment of the OPP at 519-822-7250 or Crime Stoppers at 1-866> 222-TIPS. y d Everybody! Aa Ze RE-OPENED! We have Puppies, Kittens, Small Animals, Reptiles, Fish & Birds. COME AND SEE US FOR ALL YOUR PET SUPPLIES! Lacally Owned & Operated By Dwayne Hitchcock