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HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Lucknow Sentinel, 1993-11-17, Page 1LUCKNOW, ONTARIO Wednesday, November 17,1993 a,St Included Joint bylaw officer hired by Pat Livingston It's been a lengthy process, but seven area municipalities now have a joint bylaw enforcement officer. The steering committee, to investigate the feasibility of the arrangement, was formed last fall and last month Dennis. Thompson, of Culross Township, was hired to fill the position. The cooperating municipalities include Lucknow, Kinloss, Ripley, Huron, Culross, Tees - water and Mildmay. Mr. Thompson is hired on a contract basis, paid an hourly wage and mileage expenses. His job involves enforcing any ap- plicable bylaws as required by each municipality. It is up to each municipality to inform Mr. Thompson as to how often he is required to patrol. Mark Becker, clerk -treasurer of Kinloss, said it is his understan- ding that Mr. Thompson will meet separately with the council of each municipality in the next month or two. A reminder to Lucknow residents - the signs warning of no parking on village streets between 1 and 6 a.m. from November to . March, inclusive, are now posted. They're gearing up for winter weather by pat Livingston The lour surrounding municipalities of Lucknow, Ash- field, Kinloss and West Wawanosh have around 273 miles of roads to be plowed and/or sanded during winter driving conditions. All municipalities have their sand and salt supplies on hand and winter maintenance checks have been completed. A telephone call to each of the road departments last week revealed that each superinten- dent is ready for old man winter. However, not one was prepared to predict just what this winter might have in store for us. Lucknow Town foreman Gary Austin and works employee Doug Haldenby are responsible for the care and maintenance of 10 miles of streets within the village limits. Mr. Austin said they have one grader with a plow, and a dump truck with sander attachment to handle road clearing. This year they will also use a slush plow on the front of the dump truck. It will be attached when needed and Mr. Austin said it will be a great benefit in helping. keep the streets clean during hours when vehicular and pedestrian traffic is heavy. He said maneuvering the grader around streets when cars are parked on them is a little tricky. Failure to recycle can have backlash by Pat Livingston Lucknow residents who fail to use their blue boxes for recyclables are in fact "jeopardizing" the right of the village to use Mid -Huron Landfill Site (MHLS), 'says Coun- cillor George.' Gibson. Article number four in the MHLS Board document "Waste Diversion" states that since each municipality is supplying a recycling system in their own municipality, there is no need to duplicate the system. No loads will be accepted that contain items that recycle systems are set up for such as newspaper, steel, aluminum, cans, glass, etc. Councillor Gibson said that article four "effectively bans recyclables from Htslme�ville." ' When asked how dumping of OMB hearing is postponed The Ontario Municipal Board -(OMB) hearing scheduled for Dec. 3 in Kinloss Township has been postponed. Mark Becker, clerk treasurer of .the municipality, was informed last Friday of the postponement. Council hadearlier applied for a delay in the hearing and was refused. The applicant, Harry Donegan off Donegan Haulage, subsequently asked for a postponement citing a lack of time given to him by the OMB to send out the required notices to the affected parties, including those opposed to the proposed rezoning. According to the OMB the notices are to be sent out 50 days prior to the hearing date. Mr. Becker said the OMB hasn't said when the hearing would be rescheduled. recyclables could be detected he explained that after the load is weighed the hauler is given an area to dump in. He said it will not be difficult for the landfill site operator to see if recyclables are in the load. Councillor Gibson said, `There will be zero tolerance" of recyclables going into MHLS. The first offence will result in the municipality being charged a double tipping fee ($70 rather than $35 per tonne). A repeat offence will be reported to the MHLS board. "That would effectively mean that a municipality is in direct violation of its agreement (the right to dump) with the MHLS board," said Coun- cillor Gibson. . _ The changes at the landfill site are effective Jan. 1, 1994, As reported in last, week's paper, only 45 to 50 per cent of residents in the village are using the blue boxes. Councillor Gibson said it is imperative that residents understand the extreme importance of using the blue boxes. Items accepted include newspapers, glass bottles and jars, food and beverage cans and plastic -containers with screw on lids. Cardboard, Councillor Gibson said it was decided at last week's council meeting to contract with Carter's Waste Disposal, Wingham, for two dumpsters to receive clean cor- rugated cardboard for recycling. The bins will be located ,in the municipal parking lot behind the stores on the south side of Campbell Street. It is the responsibility of residents to flatten and deposit this type of cardboard in the dumpsters. After Jan. 1, corrugated cardboard will not be picked up with your curbside garbage. It is hoped to have the bins in place within two weeks. Clearing of the main street in the village has been tendered, but has not been awarded to anyone yet, said Mr. Austin. The patrol of Lucknow streets, to determine if they need plowed or sanded, starts around 3 a.m. in the morning, said Mr. Austin. A snow- fall of two inches or more brings out the plow. He aims to have all streets cleared by 8 a.m. The day's snowfall dictates whether another run is necessary, and this is where the slush plow will be very useful he said. Weekend procedures are basically the same. Mr. Austin said residents should be aware that the bylaw prohibiting parking on streets between 1 and 6 a.m. is in effect. Ashfield The road superintendent of Ash- field Township, Kevin Cook, has the largest territory to cover - 105 miles in the winter months. Mr. Cook said the township has about 15 roads that are not winter main- tained, and they are posted as such. In addition to himself, Mr. Cook has a staff of three full time and two part time operators, who work on an alternating basis, for the winter months. Schedules are posted ahead of time to allow the off -call operators to make personal plans. Equipment includes three graders with ice blades, front and side plows and a truck sander with a wing mast. They also tender for a truck with one way plow, wing and sander as backup. Mr. Cook patrols the roads around 3 a.m. in the morning and if neces- sary has a crew in for a 4 a.m. start in order to have all roads plowed by 7:30 a.m. He said it takes around three and half hours to plow the township. Currently plows are called out if there is around two and half inches of snow. Varying conditions, such as light or wet snow, or icy conditions are the deciding factor. Equipment is operated by one person, unless conditions are such that the• driver can't see safely. It is very. seldom that two operators are put 'on one piece of equipment. Roads are kept plowed, as neces- sary, during the day and the crew is usually. pulled off the roads by 11 p.m. at the latest, unless there is an emergency, said Mr. Cook. Operations downgrade a little on the weekends, but he tries to make sure roads are passable. Kinloss Henry Clark, road superintendent for Kinloss Township, begins his winter morning patrols around 3 a.m. as well. His department is responsible for maintaining 78 miles of the 100 miles within the township. Kinloss has around 10" roads that are not maintained during the winter. Mr. Clark and his two full time and one part time operators use two graders and two trucks, one of 'which is converted quickly- to a sander unit. }His crew aims to have all the roads open for the school buses to get out and get back home. On weekends, Mr. Clark said roads are handled about the same, although plows may be a little later. Mr. Clark said they will be "crac- king down" on vehicles parked on roadways this winter. West Wawanosh George Humphrey said West Wawanosh equipment is ready to go and commented "Last year this time we were snow plowing." This road superintendent has 'about 80 miles of roads to maintain during winter months, with the help of one full time and one part time operator. They use two graders and two trucks, one of which is a sander truck. Mr. Humphrey says he patrols early in the morning and tries to •turn to page 2 As members of the Royal Canadian Legion Branch 309 stood at ease, Jessie Johnston, a World War 1 widow, laid the provi4cial wreath during Remembrance Day services at the cenotap last week. (Pat Livingston photo)