HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Citizen, 1987-04-29, Page 1Serving Brussels, Blyth, Auburn, Belgrave, Ethel,
Londesborough, Walton and surrounding townships.
VOL. 3 NO. 17 WEDNESDAY, APRIL 29, 1987.40 CENTS
Morris Twp. holds tax increase to 2.6%
Bryan Allan [left] and John Elliott try to rescue a few remaining live
fish from the more than 3,000 that died Saturday when intruders
turned off the water supply to a tank of rainbow trout on the fish farm
of Don Elliott of East Wawanosh township. A reward of $500 has been
offered for the arrest and conviction of the culprits who, the family
thinks, may have invaded the farm to make sure the first day of fishing
season was successful, turned off the water in the tank to make
catching the fish easier, then didn’t turn it on again. Loss is estimated
at $3,000-55,000.
Good management, a large
surplus left overfrom 1986, and the
light winter have all combined to
keep tax increases to Morris
Successful auction draws
'Lift Fund' doser to goal
Results of the auction held
Saturday night to help raise money
for the lift for the handicapped at
the Blyth and District Community
Centre pushed the fund more than
$2,000 closer to its goal of $30,000.
Janice Henry, chairman of the
fundraising drive said Monday,
the end definitely is in sight. As of
Monday, $22,346 had been raised
for the lift and the results of the
“pay as you pull” draw are still to
be calculated. She estimated that
would return more than $2,000. In
addition, two other large donations
will be coming in in the coming
weeks.
Donations at the auction ranged
from a hand-knitted afghan to
Township ratepayers low in the
1987budget, despite hefty increas-
esintheleviesim posed by both
Huron County Council and the
potted plants to home-baked cakes
to a deluxe gas barbecue. About
109 people attended the $10-a-
plate dinner and bid on the items
auctioned by Burt Lobb of Richard
Lobb auctions.
Frank Szusz, chairman of the
Blyth and District Community
Centre board had his beard
auctioned off and Murray Black,
manager of the meeting hall, had
his long hair sheared to a shorter
length all in the name of the cause.
The auction for the two clippings
brought in $164.
Donations to the fund can still be
given at the Blyth municipal office
and all donations are tax deduct
ible.
county school board.
The mill rate for farm and
residential ratepayers who support
the public school system has risen
by 5.31 mills, or 2.61 per cent over
the 1987 rate; while commercial
and business properties will pay
6.27 mills over last year, a rise of
2.62 percent. Farm and residential
ratepayers who support the separ
ate school system have the largest
increase, up by 7.04 mills or 3.43
per cent over 1987.
Translated into dollar figures,
this means that if you are a public
school supporter with property
assessed at $2,500 your taxes will
be $520.22 in 1987, up by 2.6 per
cent over the $506.95 you paid in
1986. If you support the separate
school system, you will pay $530.52
in taxes on an assessment of
$2,500, up by 3.4 per cent over the
$512.92 you paid last year.
The larger increase in taxes paid
by separate school supporters is
accounted forbythefactthatin
1987 for the first time, Huron
County taxpayers are being charg
ed with supporting their children
under the Huron-Perth Separate
Secondary School Board, even if
the child still attends a public
secondary school within the coun
ty. Prior to the implementation of
Bill 30 last January, Huron separ
ate school supporters were requir
ed only to contribute to the
education of their elementary
school children in Huron’s Catholic
schools.
Morris Township clerk-treasur
er Nancy Michie said that the
township’s revenue for this year
had been boosted by a surplus of
more than $29,000 from last year’s
budget, the result of “overall
underspending’’in 1986, a year
when Morris taxes showed no
increase over the previous year.
Mrs. Michie said that an over
estimate on the projected costs of
fire protection and the light winter
Continued on page 2
Fashion
Show
kicks off
Homecoming
Brussels’ 115th birthday party
and Homecoming celebration offi
cially began last Thursday when
the local Figure Skating Club held a
gala fashion show at the Brussels,
Morris and Grey Community
Centre to kick off next July’s major
event. And if the reception given to
the fashion show is any indication
of the success of the upcoming
Homecoming, the celebration
should be one of the biggest and
best parties ever seen in these
parts.
Playing to a crowd of more than
400 people at $5 per head, the
two-hour show saw more than 50
models of all ages and both sexes
display well over 100 outfits loaned
for the occasion by Brussels’ three
clothing stores, who, it was later
learned, sold close to 50 per cent of
the styles modeled as a direct
resuit of the show.
The show was completely plann
ed and executed by the members
and volunteers of the Brussels
Figure Skating Club, while the
models were all local volunteers
who required only two fittings and
one rehearsal prior to the event to
get their parts picture-perfect,
although very few of them had ever
previously performed a similar
role. Proceeds from the show will
be split between the skating club
and the Brussels Homecoming
Committee, which will use the fund
as seed money to propel the July
3-5 celebration into high gear.
The show was a happy combina
tion of high glamour, charming
personalities and slapstick hu
mour, and was highlighted at both
the beginning and the end by
presentations to several of the
area’s most outstanding citizens.
Wayne Lowe of Brussels, re
cently named as the Brussels-area
Citizen of the Year, was presented
with a plaque in recognition of his
status by Barbara Brown, a
Continued on page 11
Vandals
kill 3000 fish
A $500 reward has been offered
for the arrest and conviction of
vandals responsible for killing
thousands of fish on a Blyth-area
fish farm late Friday night or early
Saturday morning.
Donald Elliott, owner of the farm
on East Wawanosh sideroad 39-40,
has offered the reward and has
asked anyone who knows anything
to contact the Ontario Provincial
Police in Wingham.
Police are investigating the
incident after being called in by
Mr. Elliott’s father and mother
Gordon and Betty Elliott who live
on another section of the farm. The
Elliotts discovered the damage
Saturday morning when they
found the water supply to a large
outdoor tank turned off. Deprived
of oxygen more than 3,000 market
sized trout in the tank died.
By the time the Elliott family
arrived on the scene only a couple
of dozen fish were still alive and
many of those were beyond saving.
Fortunately for Mr. Elliott,
another 2,000 trout which were
scheduled to be released into
another tank nearby, were still
safely kept in a smaller tank inside
a building.
The vandals had unbolted the
hinges on a gate leading to the
farm, come in, done their damage,
left ruts from spinning tires, and
left, replacing the gate.
The damage is estimated at
$3,000 - $5,000.