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$1.25 GST included Serving the communities of Blyth and Brussels and northern Huron County Thursday, November 4, 2010
Volume 26 No. 43
REMEMBER - Pg. 23History book to honourlocal veterans RECYCLING - Pg. 25 New recycling system hottopic in Central HuronCOURT- Pg. 16Blyth man gets 90 days in jail for assaultPublications Mail Agreement No. 40050141 Return Undeliverable Items to North Huron Publishing Company Inc., P.O. Box 152, BRUSSELS, ON N0G 1H0INSIDE THIS WEEK:C e l e b r a t i n g 25 YearsTheCitizen1985-2010
Residents of Ashfield-Colborne-
Wawanosh (ACW) felt snubbed as
council followed the
recommendations of engineers and
completed the Design and
Operations Report for Ashfield
landfill site before giving them their
say.
At a regular council meeting held
on October 19, ACW Township
Council decided to follow the
recommendation of engineers R. J.
Burnside and Associates Ltd. to
complete the report on the landfill
for the Certificate of Aproval to be
submitted to the Ministry of the
Environment, and to have that report
included a proposed expanded waste
footprint.
According to documentation
provided by the engineers, the
landfill site “can be designed and
developed without significant
adverse impacts to the environment,”
which was enough for councillors to
give it the go ahead.
Burnside had, in response to
requests from the council and
ratepayers, drilled additional test
wells at the Ashfield landfill site, and
brought the tests back from those
wells.
According to Burnside, the only
well with any possible problem in it
was the one actually drilled through
garbage. All of the other wells had
less hazardous materials than the
maximum amount allowed in
drinking water.
Councillors felt comfortable with
the decision being made based upon
that information.
“I’m prepared to carry on with this
project,” outgoing councillor Carl
Sloetjes stated. “We’ve addressed
the concerns [and] we’ve done as
much as we can with the site to
ensure nothing is going to happen.”
“We feel secure that moving
forward is the right decision,” Reeve
Ben Van Diepenbeek stated.
For months council has had
discussions with a group of citizens
that opposed the expansion of the
landfill for fear of contamination to
underground water sources.
Members of the group were
present, but were scheduled after the
engineers’ presentation, and after
council had already passed the
recommendation, which angered
them.
Concerned citizen Karen Snyder
was not happy with the decision,
however.
“I’m disappointed in this council,”
she said. “You knew that our
concerns were coming, yet you just
passed your amendment and
completed the application.
“This is blatant disregard of the
public consultation process,” she
said. “You negated anything we
would say and this is just
disgusting.”
Van Diepenbeek responded to this
accusation.
“Council is elected to make
decisions,” he said. “We listen to the
facts, we have clear facts that there is
no issue, we have an obligation to
move forward whether you like it or
not.”
“You are entitled to your opinion,”
Van Diepenbeek said to Snyder,
“But don’t confuse facts with
opinions. [Council continues] to
serve the public, and we will
continue with the landfill site as it
shows no danger to the public.”
Snyder stated that she believed
many of the groups involved should
not be due to conflicts of interest.
“When council declared its goal of
maximizing the Ashfield [Landfill
Site] so that the township could
become financially more self-
sustaining, it may have placed itself
in a position of conflict of interest,”
she said.
“We consider that [the engineers
of R.J. Burnside and Associates], in
the employ of council, may also be
in a position of conflict of interest,”
she said. “As they have been
contracted to provide a green light
for the [landfill site] expansion.”
She then stated that, since they
rely on the municipality and the
November is here and the leaves
are falling, so we can look forward
to a little less light in the evening
starting this weekend.
With the cold temperatures
coming, the dark days of winter are
coming and the time to “fall back”
has come.
Remember to turn your clocks
back one hour before going to bed
on Saturday night as we return to
Eastern Standard Time at 2 a.m. on
Sunday, Nov. 7.
While it will begin to get darker
earlier, the upside is an extra hour of
sleep on the night of Nov. 6.
Two people’s lives were ended
and one continues to fight for her
life after a collision on Sunday, Oct.
31.
Heinrich (Henry) Exel, age 72 of
Brussels, and 20-year-old Roman
Sturzenegger of Auburn died at the
scene of the crash in northern
Central Huron.
A 65-year-old woman, Exel’s wife
Margaret according to reports from
community members, was
transported to London’s Health
Sciences Centre and is currently in
very serious, but stable condition.
At approximately 6:30 p.m. on
Sunday evening, Sturzenegger’s
vehicle collided head on with the
Exel’s car on London Road north of
Londesboro according to The
Ontario Provincial Police (OPP).
Reports from the OPP state that
Sturzenegger’s northbound vehicle
appeared to have crossed the centre
line and collided with the Buick
head on.
Exel was a long-standing member
of the Brussels Lions Club and a
former carpenter who had since
retired. He was also a member of the
Blyth Christian Reformed Church.
North Huron fire chief John Black
stated that firefighters from the
Blyth station responded and assisted
where they could. The firefighters
extricated one patient for transport.
The road was closed until
approximately 3 a.m. on November
1 as OPP Technical Collision
Investigators pieced together the
puzzle.
Constable Joanna Van Mierlo,
Media Relations/Community
Services Officer for the Huron
detachment of the OPP said that
there was no mitigating factor for
the crash that the police have
discovered yet.
“We don’t know why it happened
yet,” she said. “It would have been
getting dark, it would have been
dusk, but not dark enough to be
dangerous.”
Van Mierlo explained that the
OPP were very busy investigating
the six deaths that happened on area
roads, and offered these tips for
safer driving.
“Drivers need to be aware when
they’re on the roads,” she said.
“They need to constantly be actively
driving. Driving should not be made
a secondary task.”
She also stated that drivers need to
be aware of changing conditions as
snow, reduced visibility and slippery
roads will be arriving soon.
Clocks to fall back
Sunday morning
Landfill hot topic in ACW
Two lives lost
in Halloween
night collision
Time to remember
As Remembrance Day approaches, representatives from the Blyth and Brussels Legions and
the Brussels Cadet Corps were out on Saturday pounding the pavement and canvassing their
respective villages so that residents could honour those who have fought and died to preserve
the way of life Canada enjoys. Bruce Mason was out on Saturday morning in Blyth selling to
Edna Rowe, centre, and Isabel White. (Vicky Bremner photo)
By Denny Scott
The Citizen
Roman Sturzenegger
Heinrich and Margaret
Exel
By Denny Scott
The Citizen
Continued on page 28
2008 Citizen Front (CMYK)_front page 10-11-02 12:20 PM Page 1