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HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Lucknow Sentinel, 1994-11-09, Page 1PUBLISHED IN LUCKNOW, ONTARIO Wednesday, November 9, 1994 55¢ G S.T Included Candidate profiles inside Profiles on candidates running, in the municipalities of Ashfield and Kinloss Township, as well as those seeking a position as trustee on the Bruce Grey Roman Catholic Separate School Board can be found inside this week's Sentinel. For your convenience, we have also included a synopsis of who's running where and what offices you will be voting for on Nov. 14. The last advance poll is today. Voting takes place next Monday between the hours of 10 a.m.. and 8 p.m. Remember - exercise your right - get out and vote. Lucknow council reviews successful term by Pat 'Livingston Lucknow ratepayers • must be satisfied with the way village business is being handled. Only 16 people, not including the current council or candidates in the up- coming election, turned out for last week's meeting. It was an opportunity, for the. current council to boast about suc- cessful projects during this past three-year term. It was also an opportunity for council 'hopefuls to introduce themselves and answer any questions from the public; none were forthcoming. Reeve Stuart Reavie reviewed the 1994 budgeted revenue and expen- sesfor the. village: Out of the total tax levy ('94) of $642,040 the village gets to keep 33.8 per cent, education gets 54.9 per cent and the county takes 11.3 per cern. That means that in dollar figures, about $217,000 of taxes collected go into the municipal coffers. Reavie pointed out that during council's three-year term, the vil- lage portion of taxes had been held to a zero per cent increase in years three and two, with a 2.1 per cent increase in their first year at • the helm. It is interesting to note that the $217,000 taxation figure represents only • 25.5 per cent of the total budgeted revenue for the year. The balance is received .from provincial grants, infrastructure grants, sewer user charges, annual sewer frontage and connections, rec and arena user fees, and the surplus from '93. Council has budgeted ,for a total of $850,888 in revenue for this year. On the other side of the balance Just the way her mother and grandmother did, Toni Vos of Blyth, spins wool.. Mrs. Vos was onee of the demonstrators at the Huron Tract Spinners and Weavers Guild 16th sale and exhibition last weekend. Mrs. Vos says she obtained her spinning wheel in 1972 along with. an Instruction booklet. It was a case of teach yourself until tater she found a place to take lessons. "It's very easy," said Mrs. Vos, "it just takes practise." There's no doubt about It, Mrs. Vos has had a lot of practice since 1972 and does In deed make it look very easy. (Pat Livingston photo) sheet, infrastructure projects ($170,000); street maintenance ($104,000) and street reconstructio% ($162,000) take the' biggest cuts out of the pie. •. Administration costs tally up to $78,000 on the budget. Reavie explained that this includes wages, insurance and overhead costs. Fire protection takes one of the smaller bites ($16,300) because of the shared arrangement with neieh- boring municipalities. Reavie said because of the Kinsmen's donations to the fire department, taxpayers were saved around $70,000. Ken Fischer, fire board represen- tative, said one major 'acquisition during their term of office was the new pumper truck, which cost each participating municipality about $25,000. Operation of the sewer system by the MOE costs the village close to $70,000 a year. Garbage collection, including landfill and recycling, comes• in at $41,000. Fischer, who sits on .the Mid Huron Landfill board, explained • that the board is comprised of eight municipalities 'dumping landfill at Hotmesville. The site was referred to as "state of the art" during the meeting. It operates under strict conditions, and has 10 to 15 years of life left. George Gibson, the municipality's representative on the Bruee Area Recycling Association, said the recycling system is "functioning very well." In addition to curb pickup, the association now has some depot systems set up and is doing contract work... Gibson said the association is •see Recycling,' page 11 Gravel pits biggest issue in Kinloss by Pat Livingston Gravel pits, in particular the proposed Donegan site, were the. hottest topic of- dicussion at last weeks meet the candidates nighf in Kinloss Township. About 90 people , showed up for the three hour ses- sion, chaired by Murray Simpson. Current councillor Erlma Jean Haldenby, who is not seeking re- election, addressed the gathering.. "I've learned a lot; it was 'a great experience and I'm thankful for the opportunity," said Haldenby. "It's nice to know people are interested in the,township," she said, referring to the number of candidates running and the number in attendance at the meeting. • Haldenby said her only disap- pointment during the three-year term was the : failure to get the Kinloss History . Book off the ground. Each candidate was givens the opportunity to introduce themselve Current councillors detailed what they had been involved in, while council hopefuls expressed qualities or experience they possess that would be beneficial, to 'the ratepayers. . Those .seeking election to Kinloss council are: incumbent Jim Boyle and past reeve Barry Johnston Mr the reeveship; current councillor John Husk and a former counctil- •lor/ree?ve Leo Murray for. the newly designated deputy -reeve seat; in- cumbent Brian Wolfe, and new- comers Perry Archer, Gerald Doel-' man, David Hanna, William Mac- Pherson, Gerald Mowbray, and Andrew Page for the three remaining seats at the council table. Doelman was absent because of a • prior commitment: As biographical information on each of the candidates can be found elsewhere in this paper, only a brief reference' to their opening remarks' will .be made here. Wolfe• was delighted • with the "wonderful crowd" and .quipped that he hoped it would be "light not heat" cast at the meeting. If elected, he offered to be "a bridue of ex- perience from the oldcouncil to the new." •see Kinloss, page 2 No answers forthcoming on unopened road allowance issue in, WW by Duane Jessop Bev Grierson thought she was going to get. some answers regar- ding the unopened road allowance to their property at an all candidates meeting for West Wawanosh Township held last week. Grierson said, "according to township records, this township continues to apply for.and receive a road subsidy each year, for the upkeep of sideroad 21-22, conces- sion '7 and .yet this council has withdrawn all services on this road for the past three years. Candidate for reeveib FliiJlam, told Grierson of the situation. "This matter is dealt with in - camera at our council meetings and is not for public interest," he said. Grierson responded by saying, "We have not taken legal action, we're not suing the township. But if they're going to use that excuse, I have a follow-up question. "Perhaps, the council could explain why all maintenance has been withdrawn from the sidcroad between Grant Johnston's and John Miller's, as this is another road the township applies for and receives a subsidy -on. .On what basis docs this township, make decisions on whose road they're going to main- tain and whose road they're not?" "1 think you have some infor- mation I don't have," replied Wal- ter Elliott,'candidate for reeve. "To my knowledge there has been no grant money received on those pieces of road, in .three years l have' been on council." Grierson also_asked the candidates if they would oppose West Wawanosh being one of the sites, considered for the new Huron County Landfill. Current reeve, Bob Hallcun said, "I do raise some issues at the com- mittee to show my support. "1 don't think that it is good to have a landfill in our arca." Hallam said that if he is elected, he will be back on the committee and will "use information that 1 •see Sherwood, page 2