The Citizen, 2011-11-24, Page 19THE CITIZEN, THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 24, 2011. PAGE 19.
2003 Dodge Caravan -silver, 3.3 L, auto, loaded, 7 pass., 171,753 kms . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . $4,495.
1998 Chrysler Concorde -taupe, 3.2 L, V6, loaded, 202,141 kms. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . $2,495.
1984 Rampage -neon green, 4 cyl, auto, 169,950 kms. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . $4,295.
2002 Chev Impala - blue, 3400, V6, 4 dr., loaded, 242,977 kms. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . $3,295.
2003 Chev Malibu - green, 3100,V6, 4 dr., loaded, 198,810 kms . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . $3,995.
1997 Ford Taurus GL - green 3 L, V6, loaded, 4 dr., 165,665 kms. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . $2,995.
2003 Ford Taurus LX - red, 3 L, V6, loaded, 4 dr., 201,714 kms. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . $3,995.
2000 Saturn SL2 -silver, 4 cyl., auto, 4 dr., loaded, 237,841 kms. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . $2,695.
2003 Chrysler PT Cruiser - blue, 4 cyl, auto, 4 dr., loaded, 241,724 km . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . $3,495.
2002 Jeep Grand Cherokee Laredo - brown, 4 L, 6 cyl., loaded, 4x4, 227,947 kms. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . $6,995.
1998 Jeep Grand Cherokee Laredo -black, 4 L, auto, loaded, cloth int., 4x4, low kms - 154,411 kms.. . . . . . . . $3,995.
2002 GMC Jimmy SLS -white, V6, auto, loaded, 4x4, 185,589 kms.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . $3,995.
2005 GMC Sierra SLE Z71 - black/silver, 5.3 L, V8, loaded, 4x4, Z71, quad cab, 273,688 kms. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . $8,495.
2002 GMC 1500 Sierra SLE - green 4.8 L, V8, auto, quad cab, long box, cloth int., loaded, 2WD, 231,906 kms . $5,995.
1998 GMC 1500 Sierra - green, V8, auto, ext cab, short box, loaded, 2WD, 245,147 kms. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . $3,495.
1997 Chev 1500 Silverado - blue/silver, 5.7 L, V8, loaded, ext. cab, short box, 4 x 4, 191,459 kms. . . . . . . . . . . $5,995.
2005 Ford F150 XLT - brown, 5.4 L, V8, 4x4, super cab, loaded, 238,953 kms . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . $8,495.
2003 Ford F150 XLT - green, 4.6 L, V8, auto, loaded, ext. cab, short box XTR pkg., 4x4, 253,598 kms. . . . . . . . $6,995.
2002 Ford F150 XLT - burgundy, 4.6 L, V8, ext cab, short box, XTR package, loaded, 4x4, 254,907 kms . . . . . . $6,795.
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Impact of school closures may not be felt for decadesWith the closure of a handful of
local schools slated some
stakeholders are concerned that
property values in Blyth, Brussels,
Belgrave and the surrounding area
could be at risk.
The Municipal Property
Assesment Corporation (MPAC), a
company that determines property
values and taxes through
assessments, say that market
conditions and local sales determine
property values and that individual
situations like a school closure don’t
dictate market directions.
“We haven’t seen an indication of
increase or decrease due to a single
development, like a school closure,”Terry Day, an account manager atthe MPAC headquarters in Pickeringsaid. “Usually changes are a result ofmultiple factors and not due to a
single one.”
Day explained that MPAC bases
its valuations on sales in the area and
not on the proximity of any
particular draw.
“The market will show us if there
is any effect, but we don’t use it in
our calculations,” he said. “If sales,
or prices go down, then assessments
go down.”
Brenda Campbell, a realtor with
Caldwell Banker who represents
homeowners and buyers in Blyth,
stated that while the entire real estate
market is soft right now the closure
hasn’t really affected her clients.
“No one has not wanted to buy inthe area because of the schoolclosure,” she said. Campbell stated that she hasrecently sold to three families in
Blyth, two with children, and none
had any concerns about the school
closure.
Rick Elliott of Elliott Nixon
Insurance, however, feels that there
will be a negative impact, it just
hasn’t hit yet.
“Will there be a negative effect on
pricing? Yes, but we may not feel
those effects for upwards of 20
years,” he said. “The change we’ll
see immediately is the draw that the
communities have.”
Elliott explained that, without a
local school, and with people
needing to bus their children, there
may be fewer families looking tosettle in Blyth and more retirees orpeople already living in Blythlooking to buy homes.“The question won’t be how
valuable are the properties, but who
is buying, and how that will affect
the growth of the towns,” he said.
Elliott said that he isn’t seeing
anyone leave due to the school
closure, but that it will be harder to
market the area without the
educational facilities.
“Some communities that have lost
their schools are seeing an
immediate impact,” he said.
“Especially those up north where the
communities are farther apart.”
He said that when comparing
value smaller centres without their
schools will be at a serious
disadvantage when it comes to
attracting young families versus
larger centros that do have schools.
North Huron Councillor and Blyth
Ward representative Brock Vodden
stated that there is little local
evidence of reduced property value
but he has heard some stories which
indicate property values may fall.
“I spoke with a local resident who
had two appraisals done on their
house with the idea to sell it,” he
said. “He had one done a few yearsago and one done recently and thevalue had dropped 15 per cent.”Vodden said that the residentstated the appraiser was flirting with
risk by stating such a large drop.
“You really need some kind of
evidence or a good idea of where the
market is going to make that kind of
statement,” he said.
Vodden stated that, while that is
the only concrete story he’s heard,
he has heard anecdotal evidence that
people who recently moved into the
area due to the proximity of the
school are now considering leaving
due to the closures.
One concern that Vodden has is
that, while young families may find
Blyth, Brussels and Belgrave less
attractive without a nearby school,
older families and retirees may not
find them attractive either.
The loss of area schools and the
potential effect on property value
may also have consequences when it
comes to develop, according to
Vodden.
“A large developer is unlikely, in
my opinion, to look at a community
without a school,” he said. “When
people appraise lands and homes the
proximity of a school is a big factor.”
By Denny ScottThe Citizen
The November meeting of the
Melville Guild and WMS was held
at the home of Dona Knight on
Tuesday, Nov. 15.
The WMS Purpose was read in
unison to open the meeting. Jeanne
Kirkby gave the call to worship and
the hymn, “Onward Christian
Soldiers” was sung. Mrs. Kirkby
read the biography of John McCrae
and “In Flanders Fields” was
repeated in unison. Dona Knight
read a story “Women Remember
World War II” and a thank you to
Canada to the many veterans who
liberated Holland.
The hymn “Let There Be Peace on
Earth” was sung and Mrs. Kirkby
read several biographies of men who
served including Maldwyn
Williams, Elunid McNairn’s brother.
The Mizpah Benediction was
repeated in unison to close this part
of the meeting.
Jeanne Kirkby presided over the
business.
The minutes of the September
meeting were read and approved.
Leona Armstrong gave the WMS
treasurer’s report and Jeanne Kirkby
gave the Guild treasurer’s report.
The roll call was answered with
everyone telling about
someone that they knew that was in
the war.
Jeanne Kirkby invited everyone to
her home for the Christmas meeting.
Instead of gifts everyone is going to
bring items for the food bank.
The Scott Woods concert to be
held in our church on Dec. 3 was
discussed. Dona Knight and Alice
Marks will deliver the Christmas
poinsettias to the shut-ins.
Alice Marks moved to adjourn the
meeting. A lovely lunch was
served by Jeanne Kirkby and Dona
Knight.
Host thanks Holland liberators
ACW supports stream testing
Mike McElhone, a volunteer
stream tester and resident of
Ashfield-Colborne-Wawanosh
(ACW) spoke to ACW Council
about the quality of water in local
tributaries during the Nov. 15
regular council meeting.
McElhone explained that for the
past 10 years, volunteers throughout
the municipality, primarily himself
and his wife, have been taking
samples from local streams that feed
into Lake Huron and the numbers
aren’t encouraging.
“We thought that, after 10 years,
we could stop doing it,” he said.
“But we’re in the 11th year and
we’ve decided we can’t stop. It’s a
relatively low cost venture and the
higher-tier governments aren’t doing
enough to fix the problems.”
The testing involves taking three
samples from each of the 12 sites in
ACW 15 times per year and
shipping the samples to a lab to be
tested.
Each sack of three tests costs $50
to test for three potentially
dangerous contaminants; nitrate
levels, total phosphorous and
Escherichia coli (also known as E.
coli).
ACW annually pays $2,500 to the
volunteers to cover the cost of
testing only, and cottagers and
lakefront residents cover the rest
paying between $10 and $25 each
annually.
The Maitland Valley Conversation
Authority (MVCA) selects the
laboratories to do the work, gathers
the results and produces the report
for free which, according to
McElhone, lends credibility to their
project.
“With the MVCA working on it, it
makes it legitimate,” he said. “They
also do a lot of work for free.”
The numbers from the 2010 report
were as expected, according to
McElhone.
“There were no miracles and no
disasters,” he said. “Things have
followed the logical conclusions.
The more water in a stream, the
better things are dissolved.”
The test samples are held against
provincial standards which,
according to McElhone, are the
toughest in the world.
“A failure is having more than 100
Colony Forming Units (CFU) of E.
coli per 100 millilitres of water,” he
said. “Other places have failures set
at 200 or more CFUs.”
McElhone stated that the failure
rate locally is significant.
“At Amberley, the number of
failures went from 33 to 53 times in
the past year and in Port Albert it
jumped from 35 to 63,” he said.
“Sunset Beach has dropped and
we’re not sure why.”
As far as the future of the project
goes, McElhone is concerned that
new practices by the Ministry of
Health will result in health dangers.
“They used to test samples to the
level they hit,” he said. “Now they
stop when they hit 1,000 CFUs.”
McElhone said that, as an
example, Rotary Cove in Goderich
on June 24 last year hit levels of
36,000 CFUs, and had, on
other tests, hit as high as 52,000
CFUs.
“The impact on health from being
exposed to 1,000 CFUs and 52,000
CFUs are drastically different,” he
said. “Only testing to 1,000 could
cause severe health complications.”
Council agreed to continue with
the testing and asked several
questions regarding lake and river
health locally.
The last card party for the season
was held in the Cranbrook Hall with
23 people in attendance. Edna
McLellan announced that after ten
years of hosting she was retiring
and asked that someone else take
charge.
Winners were: share the wealth,
Dorothy Martin and Yvonne
Knight; special prize, Viola Adams;
travelling lone hand, Viola Adams;
high lady, Helen Dobson; second
high, Dorothy Dilworth and Joan
Jacobs; lone hands, Jean Dewar,
Allan Edgar and Allan Martin;
men’s high, Keith Turnbull; second
high, Marion Harrison; tally, Adrian
Verstoep, Myrna Burnett, Sharon
Freeman, Delphine Dewar, Eileen
Ament, Marion Bartman, Yvonne
Knight, Norm Dobson and Betty
Wilken.
Edna would like to thank all the
folks who attended the card parties
and helped in anyway. There was
$700 raised for the hall.
The next euchre will be held on
the first Friday of April, 2012.
Card party host retires
The Auxiliary to the Clinton
Public Hospital (CPH) met at
Huronview on Monday, Nov. 14
with 34 members and guests
attending.
President Ann MacLean
introduced the guest speaker,
Barbara Springall, administrator of
Huronview. She gave a brief history
and facts about Huronview. She
thanked the CPH Auxiliary
for coming and bringing
the community into the
residence.
Gift of Light tickets are for sale.
Support your hospital and add a
light to make the tree glow brightly
during the holiday season. Receipts
available for $10 or more. The
lighting ceremony is Friday, Nov.
25 at 6:30 p.m.
The next meeting will be held at
CPH conference room on Monday,
Dec. 5 at 9:30 a.m. A silent auction
wil be held at this meeting. New
members are welcome.
CPH Auxliary learns
about Huronview history
By Denny Scott
The Citizen