HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Citizen, 2012-08-02, Page 20PAGE 20. THE CITIZEN, THURSDAY, AUGUST 2, 2012.
An appeal to the Ontario
Municipal Board (OMB) against
rezoning of a Belgrave lot to
accommodate a fire hall, for a
proposed Morris-Turnberry fire
service has been withdrawn Morris-
Turnberry councillors learned at
their July 24 meeting.
Nancy Michie, administrator
clerk-treasurer, told council that a
July 31 hearing had been set to hear
Morris-Turnberry’s motion to
dispense with an OMB hearing but
that had been cancelled because theappeal was withdrawn.Unfortunately, she said, the
municipality’s lawyer had already
put together the case for the motion
to dismiss the appeal so there would
still be a sizeable legal bill to be
paid.
Though Belgrave resident Lynne
Armstrong has withdrawn her
OMB appeal, she has not
changed her opposition to the
formation of a Morris-Trunberry fire
service. She sent a letter to council
and was in the gallery to hear it dealt
with.
Armstrong argued that fewer thanone-third the number of volunteersfor the fire department had yet been
recruited, showing it to be unviable.
She also argued that the council
was underestimating the true cost of
operating a fire service.
But Mayor Paul Gowing said the
municipality hasn’t really started
recruiting volunteers because of
the uncertainty over the issue.
“It’s premature to state this [lack
of voluteer firefighters] is an issue.”Meanwhile Michie informedcouncil that North Huron had called
off the second meeting between her
and North Huron CAO Gary Long.
She said North Huron council wants
to discuss the issue before holding
another meeting.
Gowing said he understood a
special meeting of North Huron
council was to be held, but Long told
Citizen staff that only the regular
meeting of council on August 7 hasbeen scheduled.Council decided not to proceed at
this point with circulation of a
questionnaire to seek the opinion of
Morris-Turnberry residents on
forming their own fire department.
“It would be premature,” Gowing
said.
But he added “It is imperative we
get a positive response out of the
North Huron meeting.”
Rain stops crop slide
Last week’s rain was the saving
grace for the corn crop says Mervyn
Erb, a crop advisor from Brucefield.
“It stopped the slide,” Erb says. He
says more rain is needed to allow the
plants some recovery but it stopped
the decline for the moment.
“The corn is going to be short,” he
says. He expects the provincial
average yield to drop roughly 40
bushels per acre from last year due
to the drought.
“The local wheat harvest is pretty
much done,” says Erb. He says
yields are “probably better than
expected given how dry it was.”
The yields depended on the root
systems and the soil types according
to Erb. He says that there were both
highs and lows in the yield but on
average the harvest did better than
expected.
Due to how dry it was, there were
also very low rates of disease. Erb
says there were no problems this
year with fusarium head blight.
Straw yields were down and “double
the prices,” he says. He says most of
the straw sold for five to six cents
straight off the field. Unlike the corn
crop, the “the soybean crop has
faired better,” he says. “The beans
are looking good.” He is expecting
normal yields when the harvest
comes.
For the forages, the hay crop is
half of what it typically is says Erb.
He says “the quality has been good
but there’s no size.” “I’ve never seen
so much forage being planted after
the wheat came off,” he says. He
says many farmers are scrambling to
plant some kind of forage crop to
bale in the fall.
Erb says that at some point the
rain will return and points out that
other parts of the world have been
getting unusual amounts of rain this
summer. “The weather is always
changing,” he says, “we just don’t
know when.”
Appeal blocking M-T fire hall withdrawn
First place
Steve Silcock and Garrett Knight in their creation Tub Thumping won the Bathtub Races held
on the river in Brussels. Their streamlined construction brought them in long before the other
crafts finished. The races were part of the 140th Brussels Homecoming celebration over the
weekend. (Denny Scott photo)
By Ursina Studhalter
The Citizen
By Keith RoulstonThe Citizen