HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Citizen, 1989-01-18, Page 11THE CITIZEN, WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 18, 1989. PAGE 11.
Blyth Council briefs
Blyth councillors learn limitations of time
The new Blyth councillors found
out at their January 11 meeting,
how hard it is to get all their
business done in one night. As the
11 o’clock deadline set in the
procedural by-law approached,
councillors had to decide if they
would extend the deadline or put
off the rest of the business until a
special meeting. Councillors
agreed, because of the large
amount of work still to be covered
to have a special meeting which
was scheduled for Tuesday night,
January 17 at 6:30 p.m.
Former councillor Bev Elliott,
/V7VC4 gets employment grant
Murray Cardiff, M.P. for Huron-
Bruce last week announced that the
Maitland Valley Conservation Au
thority has been awarded funding
in the amount of $19,134 'under
Section 25 of the Unemployment
Insurance Job Creation Program.
Section 25 was formerly referred to
as Section 38 under the same
Program. --
The money will go towards a
Councillors don't have answers
Continued from page 1
new councillors the roots of the
dispute that started before their
term on council, Clerk-Treasurer
Helen Grubb explained that it had
been the position of the PUC that
Mr. Szarek should determine if he
can get a building permit for his lot
east of his current apartment
building, before they go to the
effort of discussing moving the
Ontario Hydro line. The lot in
question is lower than the others
served by the sewer line that ends
on the lot of the apartment build
ing. There is some concern that
there may not be enough fall for a
gravity-fed sewer system. -
The fact that the sewer line only
goes far enough onto the apartment
building lot to service the building
was also a sore point for Mr. Szarek
who addressed the issue both in his
presentation to council and in a
letter to council in which he
requested a refund on the money
he had been paying for a frontage
charge for the lot because the
sewer line doesn’t go across the
whole lot. He claimed he had been
paying for 82 feet of sewer line and
getting one foot of line. “The point
is I’ve paid for taxes on the
property and paid sewerage charge
on a line that doesn’t exist,’’ he
claimed. He worried that if he
develops the property to the east of
the building he’ll be expected to
pay for the extension of the line
across the 82 feet of property he’s
already been paying on.
He also wanted to know if he
developed his property on Dinsley
and on John Street, if the council
would open John Street for him.
Reeve Wasson said that depend
ed somewhat on how many houses
would be built. “Are you going to
build 12 houses, six houses or one
house. It makes a difference as to
how much money the village will
recover.’’ Mr. Szarek said he would
probably be building one house.
Reeve Wasson said it had been
council policy in the past to build to
service the next lot on a street, not
past vacant property to a house
farther down.
Mr. Szarek then asked that
council give him written answers to
his questions about servicing the
lots. Late, when council came back
to the issue and the new councillors
tried to come to grips with it, they
decided they weren’t in a position
to answer all Mr. Szarek’s ques
who had promoted the planting of
crab apple trees to decorate the
downtown area, appeared before
council to discuss the planting
program.
She said 10 trees had been
ordered for the village and she
would like to see them planted on
main street in planters to do the
most to improve the appearance of
downtown. There was some con
cern on the part of councillors if
there would be room for pedestrian
traffice on the sidewalks if planters
were put on the sidewalks but
council agreed to try it to see if
there was any problem.
The cost of building the planters
work project for planting trees and
improving woodlots in the Maitland
Valley area. This will result in three
jobs consisting of a total of 54 work
weeks.
The U.I. Section 25 Job Creation
program is designed to provide
opportunities for unemployed work
ers to maintain and utilize their work
skills during periods when they are
laid off and without other employ
ment.
tions. They agreed to contact B. M.
Ross and Associates, the engineer
ing company in charge of planning
for the sewers, to see if there would
be a charge to Mr. Szarek to build a
sewer line across the property he is
already paying a frontage charge
on. Questions about who would pay
for servicing lots on John Street
with sewers and water were a
matter for PUC, council agreed.
The only matter that was a.,
council decision was whether or not
to open up John St. Councillor
Dave Medd, noting the existing
policy of extending a road only to
the next lot on the street, said he
couldn’t see that council would
open the whole street from Dinsley
north to the Drummond Street
extension. Perhaps, he said, such
questions should be considered
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must still be solved however. The
cost of the planters ran to about $50
each last year, Merv Ritchie town
works foreman told council. Coun
cil agreed to look at the tree
planting budget and see if there is
money available to pay for planter
construction.*****
It took nearly a half hour to get
the minutes passed as Councillor
Dave Lee objected to several things
included in the minutes and some
things that weren’t.
He made a motion, supported by
council, that the minutes shouldn’t
include a notice that the next
meeting of the Blyth-Hullett Land
fill Site Committee would be Janu
ary 23 because that date had not
been mentioned at the last council
meeting and had only recently been
decided.
He also objected to the wording
of a motion that said the previous
council would act as an advisory
committee to help the current
council with the preparation of the
new zoning by-law. He said his
recollection was that the old council
was to meet with the new council
only for the first planning meeting
to bring them up to date on the
under a development agreement.
Councillors decided because of the
need for more information they
couldn’t go farther than that.
Councillors also rushed into a
decision on the moving of the
Ontario Hydro line onto the Dinsley
Street right-of-way. Mrs. Grubb
explained that Ontario Hydro had
asked for an answer from that
meeting.
“I don’t think under the circum
stances this council should be
expected to do that,” Reeve Was
son said. Councillor Medd agreed,
saying he didn’t see how he could
make a decision. He made a motion
asking that the Ontario Hydro
representative, Mr. Szarek, the
building inspector and the PUC all
be invited to a meeting to try to
work the problem out.
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reasoning behind some plan propo
sals. Later he withdrew the motion
when other councillors felt the
wording of the minutes didn’t
reflect any specific time the former
councillors would assist the current
council: whether it be one meeting
or iiK.m The amount of assistance
needed woua. ’ no to the current
councillors to decide.
Meanwhile on the subject ot inc
zoning bylaw, Helen Grubb, clerk
treasurer said Cindy Fisher of the
Huron County Planning and De
velopment office was expecting to
have background information to the
new councillors by the end of
January.
*****
Following a request from seniors
living in the Queen’s Villa apart
ments on Queen Street South to
have the west sidewalk on the
street kept open for them to get
requests the honour
of your presence at their
1989
Spring/Summer
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on
Sunday, January 22, 1989
at 2:00 pan.
at the
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524-4334
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downtown, council agreed to do
what they could to keep the
sidewalk open as long as the
weather permits.
Councillors expressed their un
derstanding that the residents did
n’t want to have to cross the busy
main street to use the sidewalk on
the east side of the street but
worried about their ability to keep
the sidewalk on the west side of the
street open under normal winter
conditions. In a normal winter,
Councillor Lee pointed out, there
are six to eight foot snow banks on
the west side of the street.
That’s why, Reeve Albert Was
son said, the east side of the street
has been cleaned again. In a winter
such as this council can try to keep
the sidewalk open, he said “but if it
gets bad, I agree with Councillor
Lee that it’s a tall challenge (to
keep the walk cleared).”
LISTOWEL
WallaceAve., North
291-1461