Loading...
HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Brussels Post, 1981-01-21, Page 1Policevillage dissolved Ethel joins Grey GREY COUNCIL AND GOVERNMENT REPRESENTATIVES—Grey Township Council members and representatives from the Ministry of Intergovernmental Affairs met with Ethel ratepayers on Wednesday night to discuss whether or not Ethel should remain a police village. At the end of the table is Jim Pine, a government representative, councillors Charlie Thomas, Ben Terpstra, government representative Peter Jackson and Deputy-Reeve Leona Armstrong. (Photo by Ranney) russets Post When approzimately, 30 ratepayers show- ed up at the Ethel Community Centre on We.dnesday night, it seemed the majority favored the dissolution of Ethel as a police village. The ratepayers, who met with represent- atives of the Ministry of Intergovernmental Affairs and members of the Grey Township council were at the meeting to discuss whether or not Ethel should remain as a police village or should integrate with the Township of Grey. Peter Jackson, field officer with the mintistry, noted there had only been one trustee acclaimed for the police village, with the two remaining seats still vacant, and that if Ethel wanted to remain a police village they would have to hold an election to fill the vacancies. "We're not here trying to push one way or another, but because of the difficulty in getting trustees, it's something, you shouild think about as a community," he said. He. then explained the origins of police villages. He said that a police village was not really a municipality, but that it was one of the first organizations,to deal with municipal affairs. He said a police village has very limited powers under the municipal, act and they are very limited in the amount of funds they can raise. Prior,to 1965, police villages could expand their boundaries, but then the municipal act was changed and,now they can no longer expand, which makes them fairly static communities. He pointed out again Ethel had two alternatives, - remaining as. they were and electing two, trustees or to approach the provincial , government about integration with the Township of Grey. "How can it possibly survive (as a police village) with 15 mills, the assessment we've got?", one man asked. "Police villages have always been stuck with a 15 mill assessment,". Mr. Jackson, said. Part of that'15 mill assessment is for street lighting; 'the balanee!of it isliThat the police village can raise for their.own purposes. The police village of Ethel wound up with a deficit of S264 At the end of 1979, because a few years ago, they built ,sidewalks and thei' r cost ,exceeded the amount of assess- ment the police village could raise. Ethel has had a deficit every year since then. "Is there any benefit in keeping the police village?" another ratepayer wanted to know. Mr. , Jackson said some people feel. the sense of community would be lost if it wasn't a police village but he didn't think that was true. He said he felt Ethel as a community could continue and that, the only thing they had different from the other hamlets in the township (Cranbrook, Walton, and Moles- , worth) was that they were charged an extra 15 mill assessment. While most adults seem to have had at least one bout With the flu this year and sometimes more, most Schools in the area report that the absenteeism rate because of the flu doesn't seem to be any higher than East Wawanosh Public School in Belgrave was an exception and did report that He noted Ethel sidewalks are paid for by the residents, whereas if they, became integrated with the township, the cost would be spread over the entire township. One man wanted to know what are, the responsibilities of ,the people elected to be trustees ,and was told that they were elected to carry out certain responsibilities under the Municipal Act. He said, if residents had a problem, the trustees should try to rectify it. One man said people who lived in the area maybe gave Ethel a little bit of leverage if they had representation in the town. "The thing you have to consider is (keeping in , mind, the last municipal election) do you have that representation," Mr. Jackson said. He said residents of Ethel could run for township council if they wanted representation from their area or that they could make a presentation to council as a group of Ethel residents. "Your point is good as, long as you have that representation, but you don't have that representation," Mr. Jackson said., ,"If we had wanted, a trustee board, we would have elected one," a man in the audience said. "There's no sense in having this meeting tonight, because if we would have wanted trustees, the, board would have elected them. The people I've talked with - they're not in favor of it, so why have a police village," another audience member said. "I think the big thing is we're restricted financially," ,another said. Mr. Jackson siad they were paying the same general township rates as other township residents and getting an additional 15 mills (assessment) only the police village pays. , "If you're paying, for street lights and sidewalks 7 the rest of the $600, you're not going to do much with that," he said. , Mr. Jackson said if Ethel was in favor of integration with the township, the village trustees could:pa4A a, by law 'forward it to the Ontario Municipal Board(0M11). The OMB would call a public hearing, inviting all people w,ho wanted to make objections to the dissolutionment of, the police , village. , The OMB would then weigh the pros and cons. He said the other way would be for the residents of Ethel to submit a petition to the Ministry of Intergovernmental Affairs who could in turn send it to the OMB. Police village trustee Bill Dobson made a motion to abolish the trustees and dissolve Ethel as a police village. The majority of the people at the meeting seemed to agree with him. It was decided that the general consensus was to have the police village disband and to have Mr.-Jackson meet with the trustees to discuss what would have to be done. Were not any_ more .absent with the flu than any other year, it's just the peak period of the year for having it. Both Brussels Public - School and Walton Public School said there was no More away than tisfial at this time of year with Walton repotting that there was just a couple out of class" at a time. • Huroh 4-H club elects BY: WILMA OKE Kenneth Mewhinney, R,R. 1., Lncknoyv, was.. elected president' nf county` 4-,H Club teaderS'Associa= tion at the annual meeting in Clinton, Wednesday. He suc- ceeds Barry Miller of R.R. 3 Exeter. Vice presidents are John Van Vliet, R.R. 2 Brussels and ,Brian Oldfield, R.R. 4 Seaforth; and secretary- treasurer, Maurice Hallahan R.R. 1 Belgrave. , Len Mac Gregor, exten- sion assistant for, Huron County of Ministry of Agri- culture and food reported last year there were 373, 4-H members in Huron enrolled in 32 clubs ,taking ,500 pro- jects with completion rate of 92 per cent. "To love ,is a proof of life. Indeed, it is the only proof, for once you , can't love another human being, you are not alive." The above words, read 'somewhere, seemed worthy of repeating. ****** A survey showed snowmobile accidents were down last year. It ,does ,not seem, hpwever, that such a report, should breed complacency on the part of snowmobilers, or cause them to relax their vigilance in the operation of their vehicles. Every, week, almost daily, we hear or read: of fatal snowmobile accidents and others causing serious injuries. It is the' snowmobile:A who are uSnally, the victims. Do not become a victim of your own recklessness. *oil*** Canadians who , fled the cold here to bask in the warmth of sunny Florida might as well have remained at home and saved those precious dollars. Those who have been braving the Florida beaches have not been clad in scanty bathing suits but huddled in heavy coats, well wrapped against the minus temperatures. * * * , If your car refupes to start, is stuck in your driyeway of rf yoti de not have your, own means of transportation, and have ,tO sorneWhere, you can. It it nice td know we BRUSSELS ONTARIO Of the 373 members, 102 are senior members and the average age is 14.6 years with the average tenure, in:, '4-H About 3.1 years. ' Don Pullen, Huron County ag. rep, commended the 4-H club leaders for, looking ahead to, build a good sound ,.future, contributing to youth leadership and providing en- couragement and guidance' while young people are living in a time of discovery. Mr. Pullen said, "We can encourage them to be ambi- tious, but youth must have a purpose and a long lasting motive., We are trying to help them to achieve, to accom- plish things that will eventu- ally pay off and , we are helping , them to make choices from all the different alternatives that they are being asked, to make." He said youth asks, HOw do .I know Nhat I 'map be? MaYbd job—hasn't been invented, yet!" He added, The crown of , is the exercise of choice." Mr. Pullen said that ability varies but youth , must have the ability , to, do things, adapta- bility to cope with new things and reliability, to do things well and keep on believing in what one is doing as "we learn to do by doing." He said, success is, not won without effort, thought alone is no use, action is necessary. Courage and tenacity are necessary and "we must learn, to take knocks, and develop the tendency to per- Please turn to page 3 have a taxi service available here when we need it. ***** • In Michigan they have found that raising the legal drinking age from 18 to 20 has significantly decreased the numbers of alcohol-related automobile accidents. in the ' 18 to 20 age bracket. There were also fewer crashes in the 16-17 year olds. Is there any reason, if - it would save people from alcohol-related fatalities and serious in,- juries, that the legal drinking age in Ontario cannot be raised to 20 years? sip* e at* What has been happening, weather wise? While we here, in the,traditionAl snow belt, have had, more than normal amount of snow and record cold temperatures, it is more or lesq what we have come to expect from time to time. Elsewhere weather has been playing tricks. Flowers have been hlooming early in B.C.; lack of enough snow for their needs in the prairie provinces has farmers worried; in the Winnipeg area there is not sufficient snow for good cross country skiing; fields are bare. ferhapq Florida has suffered the greatest shock. People are cold in buildings not,prepared for frigid tempera- tures. Citrus crops have been frozen on the trees and the unusual cold has played havoc with their tourist industry. INTERESTED RATEPAYERS--A crowd of about 30 ratepayers from Ethel attended a meeting in that community on Wednesday night to discuss whether or not Ethel Should remain a police village or should integrate With the Township of Grey. The majority at the meeting seemed - to favor integration. (Photo by Ranney) Flu no worse this year its absenteeism rate has been a lot worse this year. Therehad been' eight away in one claisroom of 26 but they don't know how many of these are away due to the flu. There were also 4tilte a few children at. Grey central last Week Who had the flu and some were being sent home thidugh the day. But the school reported` that there 400••••00/Mmimilie nis ESTAtl ISHEN 1•72 109TH YEAR - ISSUE NO. 3 WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 21, 1981 russets man vice president Short Shots by Evelyn Kennedy