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HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Citizen, 1991-10-09, Page 1News ■ Farm News ■______Sports______■ Entertainment Line-up forming for Blyth council election See page 3 Cash-starved farms get small bit of relief See page 22 Bulls blast off for new season with 2 big wins See page 12 Air Farce on target in Blyth performance See page 23 Grey Twp. hit with 4 of 6 possible landfill sites C itizenTheNorthHuron Wednesday, October 9,1991 60 cents There was shock and concern in Grey township last week when it was learned that four of six candidate sites for a Huron County landfill site were located in the township. Parcels of land on concessions 2 and 3, lots 6-10; concession 4, Lots 11-14, Lots, 10-15 on Concession 14 and 12-15, concession 15 and lots 14 and 15, concessions 16 and 17 were included in the four sites. In total, 26 landowners are involved. When nearby neighbours are added, the number of township families affected grows to 72. Grey Township Reeve Leona Armstrong said she was stunned when she received the news. As a member of the Waste Management Master Plan committee, she received the news minutes before the regular coun­ ty council session began at 10 a.m. Thursday. She said she was so shak­ en by the news she could hardly carry out her duties of introducing the page for the county council session, Grey resident David Armstrong. Minutes later, the entire council got,the news when the Stage 2B of the Waste Management Master Plan was released. By that time some of the landowners involved already had the news because coun­ ty employees had been delivering packages to all affected landown­ ers, both owners of the properties and immediate neighbours. The release of the study also identified an area of Goderich township and one in Howick town­ ship, northeast of Gorrie as possible sites. Les MacMillan, of Gore arid Storrie Limited, the consulting firm that prepared the report, stressed in a news conference during the lunch break at council, that the sites had been selected only through paper records and that some of the six sites may be eliminated simply by consultants gaining access to the property. "It is in the property own­ ers' best interest to allow access to their properties," he said, "because the property could end up being eliminated." Grey township clerk-treasurer Continued on page 22 Grey Reeve will run again to defend twp. Grey Township Reeve Leona Armstrong says she will run for office again to represent local peo­ ple and the township in negotia­ tions over a possible landfill site in the township. Hearty group Sunday's Fall Colour Tour at the Wawanosh Nature Centre, south-west of Belgrave was enjoyed by the more hale and hearty nature lovers as chill winds, rain and hail gave us a small hint of what's in store for us in the months to come. Despite the inclement weather, however, visitors were provided with at look autumn's scenic beauty, either by foot or on a tractor-pulled wagon ride, through the wooded area of the Nature Centre. JK funds withdrawn, leaves Huron uncertain The Huron County Board of Edu­ cation (HCBE) trustees learned at the October 7 meeting that the provincial government had reallo­ cated $50 million of the education transfer designated for incentive operating funding for junior and senior kindergarten as part of a change for government spending. The announcement came after Treasurer Floyd Laughren deliv­ ered a statement to the Ontario Legislature. Mr. Laughren slated that the gov­ ernment had an obligation to man­ age expenditures resulting from recession and other pressures. These pressures include $240 mil­ lion additional dollars for social assistance, $53 million more for forest fire fighting in northern Ontario, $215 million more to cover costs of the teachers' pension plan, $35 million for a farm assis­ tance fund, $57 million to the Human Rights Commission, $1.6 billion in short-fall from the federal government as a result of capping their payments to Ontario. The $50 million of the education transfer payment was surplus creat­ ed by schools boards not applying for incentive junior and senior kindergarten operating grants. This money has been turned back to the Treasury Board and is lost from the base of the education allocation for 1992. The government says the $50 million loss in for JK and Sk is problematic. Many boards had not applied for funding this year, due to overcrowded schools and lack of capital funding. The Minister stated that she still plans to proceed with Bill 125, which legislates mandato­ ry kindergarten by 1994. Trustee John Jpwitt said he was "shocked" by the report. "Much has been said about the fanner's plight and the idea of the $35 million they are getting for farm assistance fund. But $215 million allocated to cover the costs of teachers' pension plans, for people already making, $60, 70, 80,000 a year, it's absolutely shock­ ing." Director of Education Robert Allen said that the information is quite sketchy at present but there has been no study as to the avail­ ability of the funds for next year. "This board has not developed an implementation schedule on JK this year, so it has little or no effect on us at this time," he said. "I think I should be here for these people," she said Thursday, hours after it had been revealed that four of six candidate sites revealed in Huron County's Stage 2B report of the Waste Management Master Plan were in Grey township. The former county Warden said she a.so felt she should represent the interests of the township in the months ahead. "I've been through the whole process," she said, from the time the county began the Mas­ ter Plan study in May, 1988. Reeve Armstrong was a member of the Waste Management commit­ tee and learned of the location of the sites minutes before the report was released to council Thursday. Meanwhile the news of the possi­ ble location of a landfill site in the township had not brought a flood of new candidates for the upcoming municipal election. Township Clerk-Treasurer Brad McKnight said Monday that no additional reg­ istration papers had been taken out since the announcement of the sites. Candidates have until Friday to submit nomination papers.