HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Lucknow Sentinel, 1997-09-10, Page 1VOL.: 126 WK. 37
WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 10, 97
65 INCLUDES G.S.T.
Weed cutting major problem
by. Blake .Patterson
This summer, the coun-
ty's weed inspector John
,Gibson has fought a run-
ning battle with several
land owners' who did not •
want their. weeds cut, or at
least wanted to cut their
own weeds.
Gibson and his weed
cutting contractors, have
been kicked off property,
denied access to property,
sent several letters of com-
plaint,. and in one case, are
being taken to court. They
have even faced the wrath
:of Colborne Twp.
On July 8, a weed cone
^trot order was ..isst}ed-
against ,Colborne: Twp:"' for
the alluwances along
township roads.
The , township, :wa§.
given until Aug. 25 to cut
the weeds but their mower,'
broke down, and on Aug,..'
26 Gibson' sent in the
' county mo'w,ers' to, do the
job.
' The mowers, however.;
were denied access to'.
township property; and'
Gibson decided to consid-
er'legal action,.
Similarly, in •July, John
Freedoms, • agreed not to proceed with
In response to the corn- legal action •-against
' plaints, the • county' -s Colborne.
Agriculture and Public .As for the letters of
Works Committee metcomplai.nt, • County
recently with Ontario's Council • has directed.
Chief Weed Inspector, Clerk -Administrator Lyn
Craig Hunter to look. at Murray torespond to 'each
the Colborne "issue" and 9f them after consultation
outline the county's posi- ' with the Chief Weed '.
tion,in-regards to the Weed Inspector and County
Control Act.- Weed Inspector, .
The county appoints' a At the 'Sept. 4 meeting
weed inspector to invite-. . - of Council, Reeve Bili
mentthe province's Weed Clifford of Goderich said
Control Act, . he wanted those letters of
. Hunter said they Act is response to be made pub -
intended to reduce weed , " lie, He said the county's
infestation on Property', weed ctittiing problems
used'' for agricultural and have certainly been made
horticulturalpurposes and public arid he wanted the
to reduce 'health hazards solutions to be :Made as
caused by ragweed :pollen public as well:
and poison ivy.' ` ' Murray (responded by ..•
Further,, �in' regards; to saying'the county's solici-
proper notific•ation of tors have recommended;
weed cutting,; he explained' " otherwise.
the Act distinguishes In fact, in regards to a,
between properties under complaint which ^ has
resulted in' legal action
being taken: againstlthe
county, Murray. said the ..
by notices in newspapers, ' 'lawyers have told her not
and for'properties over 10 to respdnd directly to
acres, separate notice is complainants Bill and
sent, to the landowner.; Kathy Westbrook of Port
and over 10 acres,.
Cutting. on. properties:
under 10 acres` is Covered -
Klock loot of Goderich. Twp., .. Aside from satisfying. Albert. Rather, she said,
kicked the weed cutters .the mininum require response will.oiiiy be'
off his land twice, • .'ments of the Act, however, made, to the, Westbrook'
lawyer:
With that ' said,
Cdlborne Reeve . Bill •
Vanston•e recommended
the council, go into closed
session to discuss the. mat
ter further. •
,
The Westbrook''s are
taking Huron County to
orders, and legal action•is .,'cpurt because they say
al y judgement 11 • th bh d b
He toldthem he had not.; ' Hunter.also 'noted' :the
been properly notified and
had arranged. for a neigh-
bor to' cut the, weeds.
-For his part,' Gibson, told
Kloot, notification had.beef given according to
the' Weed.Control Act' and
unless eery wee,d•was cut..
by the next Monday; the
weed cutters. would return '
accoinpaoied, the OPP.
Likewise, in June;. Reg
and Carol )(ark of Hay.
Twp. ,said they .cut. theif
own weeds according to''
the weed control deadlines
published in area newspa-
pers. No matter.:Gibson
said there were still weeds
on, the York's lot, so the ,
weed cutters were "sent:in
and the York's•w�ere billed
accordingly..:
This month,, the string
of complaints continued
when The • Boel of
Goderieh Twp. seat a let-
ter. to the county stating
weeds on. his property had
been unnecessarily cut.
without notification and in
violation: of the Canadian
Charter of. Rights 'and
county weed. inspector:.
"shoul•d. use discretion,
,' persuasion and communi
Cation to: get property
owners to comply .with the
Aot `before. • .applying.
• •enforcement practices."
:.He said the issuing of
•
wa s a ,lu genre ca , • ey are eing . arasse y
but if possible, should be. ' the 'county weed cutters
avoided. if it ispossible to and y
ro •ng
l charged,
come to a: m
•w
utually benefi " $256.80'for weeds cut on
cial method to .eradicate `their property last year..
'weeds: On 'July 17, 199.6, a
.. As for larger property county contracted weed
owners such as Colborne °. cutting company .mistak
and other municipalities, enly mowed the
Huntersaid a written plan Westbrook's reforested
is needed• to show they are back lot killing more than
taking- steps',to satis f h 1,000 • b b trees w h' bh
ye e. .. a y i
requirements of the'A the misto k f
weed's. •
The county admitted a
mistake was made and the
contractor compensated
the Westbrooks through .
insurance, In April, how-
ever, the Westbrooks were,
charged for the cutting =- a
charge which the
' see 'Vireeds, page 2
Based on Hunter's rec-
ommendation, the corn;
mittee . decided each
municipality would be
asked to "develop a practi
cal and feasible plan for
weeds in their area and
that the plans would be
reviewed :annually,.
On this 'basis Gibson
Hu on
County to
ask
province n
for oney
by Blake Patterson
It's still uncertain •who.
will, get what,' but when
'the•province starts hand-
ing out money, Huron
County wants to have a„
spot at' the trough.
At the Sept. 4 meeting
of Huron' County' Council,
;it . was decided the county
should apply .immediately
for ' its share of the..
-province's Community°
Reinvestment Fund.
The, fund'was estab•-
l4ished by the province to ;
help municipalities' buffer
the' costs of restructuring
Wand dow'nloading, but. as
•yet, it has mot been made
clea;. how the money will
be distributed
Despite that uncertain= °
ty,, however, County
Council` decided to..go.
ahead with a request' for
funds. -
Hulle.tt; ' Reeve -
Tom Cunningham said, "
There is only'. so much..
,
don't apply and the, Well
runs dry, we: are out."
He admitted the county
still needs to'get more fig
ures from the province to.
• determine ' the' exact
impact of downloading on
the municipality, bat •said
it is important;to at least.'
Indicate some money
Selena Ducklow ofMitchell, readies herself for
lawnbowling at Lucknow. (Sh llinglaw photo)
Dards
by Pat Halpin.
to merge.
e Bruce and Grey,
County` Boards 'of
Education will ,,be official-
ly known as District Board
#7 'when they amalgamate
,in January, but plans are to
give it a more user -friend,
ly
ser friend-
ly nameas well.:
T,he amalgamation.
committee for -the two
boards isn't satisfied with
the province's use of num-
,bers to identify the new
district boards. Committee
member 'Tim Nicholls-
'Harrison' said the search is
on for amore descriptive
name of theboard that will
serve'the two counties.
"We're encouraging
everyone in the 'wider
community and the stu
dents in .the schools to
,,come up with possible
names and possible logos
for the nev school board,"
Nicholls -Harrison said
about a contest this fall.:
"We'•re' trying to talk'
about the cominitment' of
the two boards, co -opera-
'tion and the sharing that's
been going on, and'the
. excellence that we know is
there:, We're justwanting
to celebrate that." '
': Nicholls -Harrison said
the committee will short
list the suggestions, then'
let student's in Bruce and
Grey schools vote for their
favorite. The 'committee
will .make its selection
from the top three student
choices later this fail.
money in the pot. we
needed..
• "We 'should indicate so
we are • at least at the
trough• when the. money
comes,":he'said:
Usborne Reeve Pat
Down echoed
Cunningham's sentiments
and: said "We need •to
, have our hands out." . '
The request fromthe
county will ask for funds
to offset the.'entire impact.
of the loss, of the farm tax
rebate,:. - managed'..
forest/conservation lands
and gross receipts' taxes.
Goderich Reeve Bill '
Clifford (equested the
motion .betableduntil
more information is' pro- •
vided by the province. He
• said it was "premature' to
ask for money in light of
see Huron, page 2,
1
•