Archive for February, 2009
Posted on Friday, February 27th, 2009
There are nine employees on the 100-thousand-dollar salary list for the County of Hastings.
Finance Director Susan Horwood presented the 2008 wages to yesterday’s county council meeting.
Chief Administrative Officer Jim Pine is at the top, with a salary and taxable benefits of just over 173-thousand dollars.
Emergency Services Director Doug Socha (sock-ah) was paid 126,582 dollars, former Planning Director Jean Rixen earned 122,697, and Social Services Director Eric Fry and and Horwood both had wages of 119,679 dollars.
Four other Hastings county employees also made more than 100-thousand dollars last year.
Posted on Friday, February 27th, 2009
Business in Hastings County is doing very well, despite the economic gloom and doom.
That’s the word from a recent business retention study undertaken by the county, covering more than 100-companies. Economic development manager, Andrew Redden, says the businesses did say they could do with a little help with networking and workshops. Redden says the county will undertake some branding and marketing strategies this summer in a bid to attract more business.
Posted on Friday, February 27th, 2009
There won’t be many students at a lot of schools in North and Central Hastings today.
About 50 buses didn’t make their runs this morning to schools in Tweed and Madoc, and another 50 were cancelled in the Bancroft area.
Icy roads, caused by last night’s rain, which froze when temperatures dipped below zero, were the reason drivers didn’t venture out.
Posted on Friday, February 27th, 2009
Plans are underway to build a major observatory 20-kilometres north east of Bon Echo provincial park, in the Denbigh area.
The area around Denbigh has some of the best Dark Night Skies in southern Canada, ideal for a high-definition telescope. Project spokesman Frank Roy told Hastings County council that the project could generate 10-million a year in tourist and other spin-off dollars. It would conduct scientific work, and include a visitors centre. County council sent the issue to the planning committee. Roy expects the observatory to be built in the spring of 2012.
Posted on Friday, February 27th, 2009
Officials say businesses in Hastings County will profit from the province’s new Green Energy Act.
The county carried out a study to see what businsses were looking for…and getting ideas about how to keep them in place. Many of the answers came up Green. Administrator Jim Pine says they’re interested in alternative energy sources, such as biomass, wind, or solar, as business possiblilities.
Posted on Friday, February 27th, 2009
A flood advisory for creeks and other small watercourses in the Lower Trent Watershed is still in effect, even though the risk is not that great.
Lower Trent Conservation Official Marilyn Bucholtz says not as much rain fell last night and this morning as expected.
There was concern heavy rain, combined with melting snow runoff, would cause higher flows and water levels, but there hasn’t been a big change so far today.
The advisory is for creeks and tributaries from Quinte West to Grafton, and north to Rice Lake, but doesn’t include the Trent River.
Posted on Friday, February 27th, 2009
Hastings County officials say provincial regulations make it impossible for many companies to take advantage of the Eastern Ontario Development Fund.
Administrator Jim Pine says businesses have to create ten new jobs before being eligible for money. He says three jobs are as important to Maynouth or Bancroft as ten jobs somewhere else. Pine says that Ontario’s premier is urging municipalities to create jobs, but this rule is a “bureaucratic impediment” to doing just that.
Posted on Friday, February 27th, 2009
A Picton-area man has been fined 880 dollars for missing royalty payments on fish caught on his commercial fishing licences.
Bryan McCormack, a Lake Ontario Commercial fisherman, pleaded guilty in Belleville court to 31 counts of failing to make the payments.
Natural Resoruces Conservation Officers found no royalty amounts were paid to the Crown on McCormack’s two licences from September, 2007 to December, 2008.
Posted on Friday, February 27th, 2009
Hastings County is concerned about the projected cost of meeting new provincial disability access requirements.
Administrator Jim Pine says the county certainly wants to be supportive but the costs are high.. Pine says some of the projects would cost three to four million dollars. The new regulations come into effect, beginning in 2011. The Association of Municipalities has asked the province to look at extending the time-lines.
Posted on Friday, February 27th, 2009
The President of the Ontario Nurses Association says she’s waiting for the full impact of bed cuts at Quinte Healthcare on Registered Nursing Positions.
Linda Haslam-Stroud says she doesn’t have any numbers, but says the Q-H-C board decision to reduce beds at the four hospitals will ultimately result in R-N layoffs.
She believes Quinte Health Care is in the top four of all the hospitals in Ontarion in cutting nurses..
Haslam-Stroud says the O-N-A is disappointed with the response of Health Minister David Caplan and Premier McGuinty to its concerns about the loss of nursing jobs across the province.
Posted on Friday, February 27th, 2009
Time is running out for anglers to get their ice huts off the Bay of Quinte.
Jim Hoyle of the Natural Resources Ministry’s Lake Ontario Management Unit in Glenora says the deadline is twelve o’clock on Sunday night, and anyone who leaves their shack behind could be fined .
He says it has been an unimpressive year for ice fishing for walleye on the Bay this winter, even though it is believed the fish stocks are healthy…
The number of huts on the ice peaked at about 350 last month, but is down to around 200 this week because of mild weather.
Posted on Friday, February 27th, 2009
A bit of concern about a new Shoppers Drug Mart in Picton.
The Prince Edward County Planning Committee voted Wednesday night to recommend County Council reject rezoning of property at Main and Washburn Streets for the 17-thousand square foot building.
Shoppers’ proposal would reduce parking spaces, and the committee also got comments about the store from other merchants and the Street Smarts and Heritage Advisory Committees.
The rezoning application will now go to the County Council meeting on March ninth.
Posted on Friday, February 27th, 2009
A store that has been open for only four-and-a-half months is the best new business in Brighton.
Dragonfly, which carrys unique jewelery, purses and clothing, picked up the award at the Brighton and District Chamber of Commerce Excellence Awards for 2008. It opened on Main Street in early October.
The General Business of the year is Gordon Tobey Developments, and Cindy Lewis of Rock, Paper, Scissors is the top business person.
The meeting also saw the election of Mary Robertson as President of the Brighton and District Chamber for 2009.
Posted on Friday, February 27th, 2009
The Kawartha-Pine Ridge School Board is considering e-learning as a way of dealing with reduced provincial funding for education because of declining enrolment..
Board chairperson Diane Lloyd told last night’s board meeting a teacher in one location could teach students at another school by having them log on to a computer.
The board’s secondary student enrolment increased by 398 students over the last four years, but the number of elementary students is down by almost 32-hundred.
Lloyd said e-learning wold allow students to continue taking certain courses despite declining enrolment.
Posted on Friday, February 27th, 2009
Students with skills, such as fluency in another language or expert talent on a musical instrument, could be eligible for credits toward diplomas at the high schools in Brighton and Campbellford.
The Kawartha-Pine Ridge School Board made that possible by aproving revisions to its Prior Learning Assessment and Recognition policy last night.
Trustees also voted to increase the board’s renovation fund by 5.1-million dollars for architectural, electrical and mechanical upgrades ab 39 schools.
They also appoved a five-and-a-half-million-dollar tender by Atlas Corporation to build a new school in Apsley, replacing the current elementary school building.
Posted on Wednesday, February 25th, 2009
Talks to reach a local contract for public elementary school teachers in Hastings-Prince Edward resume this week.
The negotiations are still necessary even though the Elementary Teachers Federation of Ontario accepted the province’s final contract offer earlier this month, and school boards have until March 31st to finish local bargaining.
Hastings-Prince Edward School Board Official Kerry Donnell says contract talks for the seven-hundred full time teachers will resume tomorrow, and continue on Monday and Tuesday, while those for the occasional elementary teachers will be held this Friday.
Local contract negotiations for elementary school teachers with the Kawartha-Pine Ridge and Limestone School Boards will also continue in an effort to reach an agreement.
Posted on Wednesday, February 25th, 2009
A Brighton woman faces 2 assault charges after allegedly punching her husband in the face several times, on two different occasions yesterday.
A 41 year old man said his 43 year old wife had last punched him while he was seated at his computer, just before Northumberland OPP arrived at the door.
The woman was charged, and appears in court April 7th.
Posted on Wednesday, February 25th, 2009
Central Hastings OPP have arrested a young man in connection with a house break in last week.
Several items were stolen when a window was broken at a home on River Heights Road, south of Marmora.
Yesterday, OPP picked up a 20 year old man from Mamora on the street, charging him with break, enter, and theft.
Posted on Wednesday, February 25th, 2009
Prince Edward County Mayor Leo Finnegan says he supports provincial legislation for “green energy.”
Mayor Finnegan says he welcomes the Green Energy Act, which includes province-wide standards on where new wind turbines can be located, taking that power away from municipalities. Several citizen’s groups in Prince Edward County are fighting proposals to put windmill projects in the County.
Posted on Wednesday, February 25th, 2009
Provincial officials say that contaminated soil from Belleville’s Meyers Pier area, that was dumped on a local farm, is being dealt with.
An independent contractor involved in the Meyer’s Pier cleanup dumped the soil. Ministry of Environment spokesperson, Nancy Dyck, says a third party consultant reported that the farmland was not appropriate for the soil. Dyck says it will be removed from the farm by the end of March. The city of Belleville expects to takeover the Meyers Pier area later this year once the 15-million dollar cleanup project is completed.
Sean gets physical...!
