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The Brussels Post, 1979-10-10, Page 17THE LUCKY WINNER — Mrs. Vera Hastings of Brussels won the grand prize of a dishwasher when Oldfields Pro Hardware store celebrated their grand opening on the weekend. MOH says abortion count up in Huron Huron county council learned Thursday from the county medical of- ficer of health that the number of abortions carried out in 1978 represents a 75 percent increase in the past five years. Dr. Brian Lynch told council there were 73 abortions carried out over half of them on girls between the ages of 15 and 19. Lynch said 53.4 percent of the abortions per- formed were on girls 15 to 19 years of age, 23.3 percent on the 20 to 24 year old age group and 23.2 percent on the over 25 year old age group. He told council the number of abortions carried out on young women concerned him because of the adverse affect the operation may have on their ability to have children later in their lives. Goderich reeve Eileen Palmer was the only member of council to respond to the comments by Lynch pointing out to council that if those figures were to be reduced there "has to be a change in attitude toward sex education". Palmer suggested that the change come in the schools in the county. Lynch agreed with Palmer's comment pointing out that the place to begin sex education for younger people is prior to their entering high school. He The elementary teachers of Huron. County are pleased to present Dr. Donald Morgenson as a guest speak- er for an evening profes- sional activity lecture.. Dr. Morgenson is broad1S, ac- claimed for his speaking, ability and is well' "known throughout Ontario for his presentations on childhood development and psychol- ogy. Dr. Morgenson is a professor from Wilfred Laurier University in Water- loo. said sex education classes are most effective ' with younger people. He said he did not know how effective present sex education classes are in the county but pointed out they are "better than nothing". He said the Huron-Perth Separate School system operated an excellent family studies course for pre high school students adding he was unaware of a similar course for public school students. He pointed out that one of the problems en- countered in sex education classes is that it is more fashionable to give information to students rather than work on attitudes. Lynch said he felt most women were unaware of ill effects abortions can cause. He said many women regard abortion as convenient and easy. He said the Criminal Code made abortion illegal unless it was performed for medical reasons but added that many doctors are in- terpreting social reasons as health reasons. He pointed out that the abortions on women from Huron county were performed in other counties. He said abor- tion was a touchy subject pointing out that if one was performed in a small hospital in Huron there would be a great deal of "flak". His presentation "Child- hood's End" has been cho- sen as an introduction to the United Nations "Year of the Child" week activities in the school systems across the globe. The professional dev- lopmett t committee has Arran ged the presentation for 8:00 p.m., Wednesday, Oct. 11 at Clinton Public School to permit parents, as well as teachers to participate lit the activity. Classified Ads pay dividends Huron county council decided Thursday to make illegal tree cutting in the county a very expensive proposition. County council told its development committee to rewrite the county tree cutting bylaw to in- corportae recent changes in the Trees Act. The Trees Act, provincial legislation aimed at controlling the cutting of trees and clearing of forested areas, carries no weight in the county unless county council passes a bylaw to enforce it. Murray Dawson, Usborne deputy-reeve, told council that recent amendments to the Tree Act put "more teeth" in the county bylaw. He said the big change was in fines now levied for of- fendors of the bylaw. Under the present bylaw, which council will rescind to pass the up- dated version, the maximum fine for illegally cutting trees was $500. The maximum will now be $5,000. The other changes will deal with application procedures for lan- downers wishing to clear forested areas. Any owner planning to clear land will have to make application to the county. Notice of the proposed land clearing will then be given to surrounding landowners and they will have 21 days to object. If no objection is raised the county will then issue the permit if it feels the clearing is justified. If an objection is raised the matter will be dealt with by council or in court. Marvin Smith of the ministry of natural resources said the changes in the act are designed to protect forests not bush lots. He said the act clearly describes the type of trees and the con- centration of trees that are to be protected. He said if an owner has three acres of hawthorne and three maple trees the act would not prevent him from clearing the land. But he added that if an acre of land contained 400 or more trees it would be protected by the Trees Act. Smith said the legilsation is designed to protect a valuable resource. He said if counties "vigorously uphold" the Trees Act it does a "very good job" of protecting forest areas. Smith said forested areas of the county are necessary for a number of reasons. He said the forests play a great role in the depth of the water table as well as preventing soil erosion. He said the ideal ratio for forest to open land is 80-20, 20 percent of the land forested. But he added that if 10 percent of the land is under forest "that's not bad". Smith said that if a landowner started clearing trees from a protected area without a permit he may be liable for a fine but also can be ordered to replant the area cleared. He pointed out that in some areas of Huron county the tree act is needed badly while in others the ratio of forest and open land is ideal. He said townships in the south of the county are almost void of trees while some in the north are the opposite. Smith said Huron county has a decent ratio of forest to cleared land that hasn't changed much in the past 20 years. He said 13.6 percent of the land in Huron is under forest compated to 7.4 percent in Perth county. He added that that figure has changed less than two percent in the past 24 years. He said of all the land in Usborne township 4.5 percent is forest, McKillop is 5.8 percent and Ashfield is 7.8 per- cent, all below the ideal ratio. But he added that townships like Goderich and East Wawanosh are a little better than 20 percent forest which bringsg the county average up. Morris reeve Bill Elston reminded county council Thursday that when a landowner clears a sizeable bush area the effect can be wideranging. He said in areas in the south of the county wind erosion is causing problems adding that in some areas near in his own township clearing land has caused drainage problems. Elston said he realized that with land as valuable as it is he understood why owners wanted land cleared for crop production. But he added that drainage problems created sometimes force councils into installing municipal drains that cost all taxpayers money. Dawson told council the development committee wanted to find out as much as possible about the repercussions of the bylaw so it didn't make any mistakes. He said the bylaw does more than protect trees. Dawson said his township told its tree commissioner to "throw out the permit book" and inspect every application himself. He said the commissioner was told that anytime there was "any nitty gritty he didn't know what to do with to bring it to council". Brussels reeve Calvin Krauter, a plumber by trade, told council that lowering the water table would be an expensive proposition. He said if council ignored the Trees Act there would be a lot of plumbers "happy to sell submersible pumps that go down a long way for water and you're going to be paying $1,500 and $2,000 for them". The new bylaw will be brought back for coun- cil's action in October or November. THE BRUSSELS POST OCTOBER 10, 1979 17. Cutting trees? Checking county just could avoid $5000 fine Child development expert to speak Atlanta Homesteader HEATERS Burns wood or coal. Removable top for cooking use. • Stove pipes • Elbows • G.E. 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