CASS VOLUME 86, NUMBER 4 1 ______ - e _.” ’. -.. FIFTY CENTS 10 PAGES - -74 . ,Y,JANUARY 13,1992 Board nixes junior high track 0-G asking for 2-mill tax increase for roof repairs The Owen-Gage Board of junior high track program, seventh and eighth grades “It hasn’t done it lor bas- and other schools are bring- Education Monday formally Lack of interest and a poor and found 14 students were ketball,” replied Thies, who ing both seventh and eighth moved to ask district resi- academic track record interested in track. How- noted only 6 junior high grade teams to compete, dents to pay for $185,000 among some potential par- ever, he added, of those indi- basketball players - about Thies said. worth of roof repairs at the ticipants were the reasons viduals, 4, possibly 5, are in half of the roster - are ell- The question, he contin- elementary and high school cited during discussion of danger of being ineligible. gible to compete this week. ued, is “are we going to run buildings. the issue. Trustee Nick Warack It’s causing a real problem the (track) program and deal The board, during its regu- Junior high and high school asked if track might be an this year because Owen- with what we’re dealing lar monthly meeting ’.estab- Principal Manuel Thies told incentive for those students Gage ends up fielding only with now with basketball?” lished March 1, 1993, as the the board he surveyed the to bring up their grades. enough playersfor onegame Please turn to back page. date for a special bond elec- tion. If approved, the project will cost voters an average of 2 mills for 3 years. For the County, village road crews owner of a home with a market valueof $50,000,the tab would be about $50 per year. readv for Old Man Winter WORTH THE WAIT - Cass City’s New Year’s baby took School Supt. Harley Kirby her time, arriving at Hills and Dales General Hospital Sun- indicated the work needs to the Tuscola County Road be done now, before water Com miss io n board. day, Jan. 10, at 7:32 a.m. Kelsey Mary Russell, pictured problems turn into structural The yearly cos1 of remov- above with her parents, Don and Roseann Russell, Cass City, damage. ing snow from roads. and Therc are a number of se- highways varies about as will be showered with gifts from area merchants and busi- vcre leaksat the high school, much as Michigan winters nesses. The newborn has one brother at home, Brad, 12. according to the superinten- -averages are hard to come dent, who pointed out the by* roofing is simply old. The The county spent some last section of roof installed $457,000 in 1990 keeping on the building was put on in primary and local roads Leaf disposal to 1976, he said, adding, clear. In 1991, the cost to- “You’re lookingatroofs that taled about $510,000. have been on there, some of “There are a lot of vari- them, for over 20 years.” ables. A lot depends on the The planned work involves winter itself,” Mi klovic be major problem installation of insulation and said. Among the factors are a Duro-Last mernbrane roof the number and frequency of Sending leaves, grass clip- will be prohibited from legislators are considering covcring. storms, the amount of snow pings and other yard wastes sending yard wastes to regulating municipality Kirby commented the proj- on the ground and wind. to landfills will soon be a landfills beginning iq March composting efforts, requir- ect cost isn’t unreasonable When the area is hit by a thing of the past. 1993, said Sharon Mika, ing designation of a com- considering the district major storm, the road coni- A state law banning all Tuscola County’s resource posting site, installation of a would get a complete roof at mission is ready with an yard wastes from landfills recovery educator. She said kiner and monitoring. the high school and new arsenal of some 30 snow won’tgointofulleffect until the law is somewhat vague If approved, such require- roofing over the cafeteria, removal units, most of them the spring of 1995,but waste and added she knows of few ments would translate into gymnasium and upper level blade trucks and road grad- company officials say it municipalities that bag up higher costs for everyone, classrooms at the elemen- ers, as well as a good supply isn’t too soon to start think- their grass clippings. she said. tary school. of road salt (4,000 ton capac- ing about alternatives such The law will probably be Cass City Village Manager Roof leaks in Gagetown ity) and brine. as mulching and com- felt most in March 1995, Lou S. LaPonsie agrees. forced school officials to Equally prepared is Cass posting. when the new law will affect “If it comes to that,” he spend some $25,000 for City’s DPW,which is ready “I think education’s going everyone. commented, “then we’ve rcpairs in 1991-92. The dis- to battle snow with a crew of to be the biggest problem,” got a problem.” trict faces the same problem 5 men, 2 blade trucks, a salt/ said Ray Hayes, sales man- Hayes suggested that area Cass City officials have now, only on a much larger blade truck, grader, loader ager for Waste Manage- residents begin looking at collected and composted scale, and the general fund and 70 to 80 tons of salt. ment, Almont, which alternatives now. leaves and other yard wastes dollars simply aren’t there, Cass City officials have handles Cass City’s waste Those planning to buy a since the mid-l980s, when Kirby said. budgeted $42,700 (includ- and recycling programs. lawn mower in the near fu- outdoor burning was banned The project cost is an esti- ing $10,400 in state funding) “It is coming and we are ture, for example, should within the village limits. for winter maintenance in going to have to deal with consider purchasing a model Cass City uses the resulting mate and may be less than anticipated, according to 1993, according to Village it,” he added. “The more we that mulches grass clip- compost as top dirt in vari- Manager Lou S. LaPonsie, talk about it, the more it pings, he said. Backyard school officials, who em- ous projects. phasized any monies not who estimated Cass City has sinks in.” composting is another alter- The composting program some 20 miles of streets. Yard wastes make up native. usedmust,by law,go toward works well, but state regula- paying off the project debt. roughly 20 percent of the How much of an impact the tion in the form of required COUNTY ROAD CREWS are ready for another winter of 1,750 MILES law will have remains to be materials taken to landfills, monitoring and other simi- NO TRACK plowing and salting, as is the Cass City DPW. Above, village according to Hayes, who seen, Mika observed. lar measures could put an In contrast, the county has noted the new state law is “It’s hard to say what’s end to the local effort. Turning to athletics during mechanic Ed Nizzola performs some routine maintenance on about 1,750 miles of roads, being phased in. going to happen. Com- “It would be expensive,” including nearly 130 miles Municipalities with popu- posting is relatively inex- the 2 1/2-hour session, the a salt/blade truck. LaPonsie said, “especially board canceled this year’s Please turn back page. lations of 7,500 and above pensive to do,” she said, but for a small community.” to I First phase in place Feb. 1 Townsend aims for TV station in Cass City I school, college or masters systems indicated that the For scveral years now Bob degrees. No special equip- channels will be used for Townsend, director of the Think of it, bubbled Townsend, ment will be necessary if secondary education by 20 Regional Educational Me- newer televisions capable of percent, college courses, 60 dia Center (REMC) in Cass with the installation of a couple receiving all the channels City, has been attempting to percent, and professional are available. If not, a con- development, 20 percent. move district 10, that in- of 800 telephone lines we not only verter will be necessary. cludes schools in Huron, With the ITFS system we Tuscola and Sanilac coun- Securing a degree will not will be able to expand low could send out our programs but be free, Townsend cau- usage courses in our high ties, into teaching via tele- tioned. To get credit stu- communications. schools, Townsend says.v have the listener participate in dents must pay for all books For instance, he explained, At the end of this month he and materials as well as tui- if a couple of students want will have become successful them. tion fees. The advantage is when REMC takes the first to learn Japanese, it proba- that the work can be done in bly would be possible to do it step into electronic teach- the home, eliminating travel ing. Depending on how the cost campaign to succeed, with with the system with either is figured, the total expcnsc thesecond step to beareality and with studying dovetail- the student or the school At that time a Ku band ing with other work require- antenna will have been in- could bc nearly a half mil- when schools starts in Scp- district paying the tuition. ments. stalled at the top of the lion dollars.