HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Citizen, 2008-08-21, Page 1Flying high
The biggest weekend of racing this season came to Motocross Town, Walton as the Lee farm
hosted the national championships. By 6 a.m. Aug. 12 traffic was backed up as trailers with
riders, gear and families, started to pull in for registration. Thousands of people were on site
throughout the five-day event. (Vicky Bremner photo)
At their Aug. 12 meeting, Morris-
Turnberry councillors discussed
issuing a press release on their
position regarding North Huron
zoning changes to allow a Canadian
Tire store in Wingham but vowed not
to stir the pot further on the issue.
Councillors were responding to a
letter from North Huron reeve Neil
Vincent sent to Morris-Turnberry
mayor Dorothy Kelly and printed in
The Wingham Advance-Times.
Councillors were concerned about
the perception that Morris-Turnberry
is blocking the zoning change
required for the store.
“The only reason we objected was
because of the drain,” said councillor
Bill Thompson, speaking of the
public meeting held to discuss the
zoning change. Morris-Turnberry
subsequently withdrew its objection
after being assured that stormwater
management was being properly
handled and that Wingham would
still have the capacity to offer
services to highway commercial
property next to Wingham but within
Morris-Turnberry.
Councillors agreed to look at a
draft of the press release at a meeting
later this month but indicated they
would not add fuel to the fire, simply
explaining their current position.
“We’ll just have to have broad
shoulders,” said mayor Dorothy
Kelly.
Councillors also authorized Kelly
to send a letter to a ratepayer who
had written to complain that the
municipality’s “negativity . . . is
counterproductive to growing our
communities”.
Kelly said she wanted the
ratepayer to know that although a
Morris-Turnberry landowner has
continued to object to the zoning
change, the municipality is not
supporting this objection.
The Maitland Valley Conservation
Authority (MVCA) invited several
local politicians out to one of its
most promising demonstration sites
last week.
The MVCA was offering up its
assistance to area representatives
and local landowners, showing them
what is possible with Murray and
Wilma Scott’s demonstration
project: The Scott Municipal Drain.
Federal Liberal candidate and
North Huron councillor Greg
McClinchey was there representing
both his and current Huron-Bruce
MP Paul Steckle’s interests, while
North Huron clerk-administrator
Kriss Snell was also in attendance.
The crowd also featured Goderich
mayor Deb Shewfelt, Ashfield-
Colborne-Wawanosh reeve Ben Van
Diepenbeek, Morris-Turnberry
councillor and MVCA chair Mark
Beaven, Cathy Winhold, special
assistant to John Wilkinson, MPP of
Perth-Wellington, Perth-Wellington
MP Gary Schellenberger,
Conservative candidate for Huron-
Bruce Ben Lobb and Sandra
Gardiner, Liberal MP candidate for
Perth-Wellington, among others.
Several in attendance commented
on the amount of activity on Scott’s
farm and were glad they made the
trip to a place they might not have
known about otherwise.
Over the last two years, Scott has
worked in co-operation with the
University of Waterloo and
extensively with the MVCA to make
all facets of the project happen.
The projects vary from simple
projects like windbreaks to cut down
on wind and snow in the winter and
increase shade and reduce
temperatures in the summer to
enhanced wetlands and constructed
berms for proper utilization of
rainwater and effective drainage.
While the Scotts no longer keep
livestock, he says that many of the
practices he is employing on his land
now can easily be worked into a
livestock operation and could have
significant benefits for farmers in the
area.
Scott compared this year’s
summer to last year. In 2007, Scott
said, his land experienced very dry
conditions, but because of the
wetlands and the underground
transferal of water from areas of
collection to the wetlands, he was
able to preserve as much
precipitation as he could and keep
his land in good shape.
This year, however, has seen rain
falling at record levels, and while he
never thought he would see the day,
he said, rain had overflowed his
most prominent wetland and flooded
the laneway. This was short-lived
however, as the land drained as it is
designed to do and kept the water
levels under control, even during
periods of high rain.
As the tour continued around
Scott’s land, various points of
interest were highlighted as the path
of the municipal drain was detailed
through the property.
Since the project began, Scott has
seen an influx of vegetation and
wildlife to his property and
specifically on the constructed
wetlands. He says there are dozens
of frogs and insects relying on the
wetlands now and with the increased
“It was a pretty horrendous sight.”
David Sparling of Blyth was in
Denver when the explosion at a
petroleum facility in North York
occurred on the morning of Aug. 10.
As lead instructor and course
developer for the Ontario Propane
Association’s liquified petroleum
gas responder gas course and the
propane emergencies advance
course for the province, Sparling
was among those called to assist at
the scene.
“The closest person is always
called,” said Sparling, who flew into
Detroit, then met up with another
local member of the OPA response
team, Dave Cartwright of Blyth,
before heading to Toronto. They
arrived Sunday night.
The men spent five hours there,
helping to wrap up the incident, said
Sparling. “The propane association
teams stop leaks, empty containers
at risk, then hand the scene back to
the chief and leave.”
Of special note is the fact that all
but two of the Propane Association’s
response team were trained at the
Emergency Services Training Centre
located at the south edge of
Blyth.
“And the two were actually not
responders,” said Sparling.
A total of 125 from across the
province have been trained at the
Centre.
The local ESTC is the only centre
currently that offers propane
training. “We can simulate situations
at the centre that you would never
have wanted to deal with if you
hadn’t done it here first.”
The response team has to return
every three years to recertify, said
Sparling.
“Of those 125 people, the reality is
that they won’t have been to a single
incident in those three years,” said
Sparling, adding that even with the
minimum safety requirements being
met, it would be “difficult to have an
event like this happen.”
With the investigation ongoing,
Sparling could say very little about
the mishap, other than “obviously
something went really wrong.”
What and how wrong, will
eventually be determined after what
he believes will be an extensive and
thorough investigation.
While there have been propane
explosions before, generally of small
tanks, or the sabotaging of some
residential tanks, what happened in
Toronto is rare. “This is the first time
in Canadian history that a propane
truck has exploded.”
An employee of Sunrise Propane
and a veteran firefighter died as a
result of the incident. “The last time
a firefighter was killed in Canada
with propane, the fire was
deliberately set.”
That this is a rare occurrence
seems underlined by local response.
Sparling said that their company,
five facilities in locations across
central and south-western Ontario,
has received two phone calls and an
e-mail since the explosion, none
from Blyth residents.
The company’s safety system was
fully overhauled last year.
“If there’s a fire it shuts down the
electrical systems and all propane
valves.”
M-T won’t add fuel to fire
CitizenTh
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$1.25 GST included Serving the communities of Blyth and Brussels and northern Huron County Thursday, Aug. 21, 2008
Volume 24 No. 33ENVIRONMENT- Pg. 7Groups partner to savebutternut trees SPORTS - Pg. 8 Baseball season windsdownWELCOME- Pg. 3New minister comes toBlyth United ChurchPublications Mail Agreement No. 40050141 PAP Registration No. 09244 Return Undeliverable Items to North Huron Publishing Company Inc., P.O. Box 152, BRUSSELS, ON N0G 1H0INSIDE THIS WEEK:
Locals assist at blast site
Politicians visit
promising site
By Shawn Loughlin
The Citizen
Continued on page 6
By Bonnie Gropp
The Citizen
By Keith Roulston
The Citizen