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The Citizen, 1991-11-06, Page 17THE CITIZEN, WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 6 1991. PAGE 17. 90 hear Blyth candidates speak at meeting Continued from page 1 fee for councillors removed: the councillors should be able to get by with the regular stipend. He denied the feeling of some people that there was a "vigilante" committee attempting to get elect­ ed. "Nobody is after anybody", he said. "These people have been ded­ icated and have done a good job," he said of the past council. Incumbent Shirley Fyfe said Blyth residents can be proud of their unique village. The new library is another addition to the services offered, she said. She said she would like to see the area along Blyth Creek developed as well as renovation of the old railway water town and the railway lands. Tourism, she said, is an important factor for Blyth and we must make it a pleasant place to return to. Incumbent Lorna Fraser also pointed out the relocation of the library as an achievement of the last term, calling it "a place we can all be proud of’. As a member of the Memorial Hall board she was proud to see how busy the hall was, pointing out rooms throughout the building were busy that night. Former Reeve Robbie Lawrie, seeking election to council, said he’d like to see a review of all bylaws to update them. He said he was concerned by the significant increase in taxes, noting a 30 per cent increase in municipal taxes in the past three years and saying local taxes had increased $100 more than education taxes. There must be more volunteer time for committees, rather than people expecting to be paid, he said. He hit out at what he called "innuendos" that he was a quitter because he had resigned as reeve several years ago. He was in his third term as reeve when he resigned because of business pres­ sures, he said but in those three terms he had also overseen the installation of sanitary sewers, the building of a new arena, the senior citizens apartments and the new roof on Memorial Hall that allowed it to be used for the Blyth Festival. Doug Scrimgeour, a former PUC chairman seeking his first term on council, said that in the "sobering ’90's", it was important to elect a council full of the best people pos­ sible. "Never was there a greater need to elect a strong team to lead us through the ’90's", he said. He pointed to his own 31 years in busi­ ness on Blyth's main street, his years on P.U.C. and the original recreation council and his work on Blyth fire department. Incumbent Steven Sparling said Blyth had been blessed with being well managed through several terms of council. He pointed out that all the stores on main street are occupied and the community offers services communities much larger would envy. "The Blyth system works," he said. "Gel involved and let’s work to make something that's good, even better." George Szarek, a 17 year resident of Blyth said recent events has made him wonder if the future of the village will be good. The popu­ lation has been stable for 15 to 20 years he said while controlled growth is needed. He hit out at "skyrocketing" costs of administra­ tion, noting that 15 years ago there was a clerk and a part-time helper while now there are three people in the clerk's office. He said Morris St. is now being rebuilt, but the road had also been dug up 10 years ago to install sewers. Now the street is being rebuilt without replacing the old water mains. "Why pave it (with the old mains in place)", he wondered. "I believe we need a new team in." The potential councillors split over whether council should be paying to remove snow from main street sidewalks or whether main street merchants should do it. Mr. Lawrie said he had always felt it was unfair to business taxpayers off main street that main street mer­ chants had their sidewalks cleaned. But Mr. Elliott argued that busi­ nesses on main street do clean off their sidewalks but if the town did­ n't clean off large areas like in front of Memorial Hall, there would be large gaps in sidewalk mainte­ nance. "I've shovelled my sidewalk every day for 31 years," he said. Mr. Szarek agreed it was money well spent to clean main street side­ walks. John Battye said Blyth had one of the highest tax rates in southern Ontario and wondered if council­ lors would contact other towns to see how they managed to hold the line on spending. Mr. Scrimgeour said Blyth needed more growth to provide a broader tax base. You either need a high assessment or a high tax rate, he said. Councillor Lee said that as long as people keep asking for things, there will be high taxes. "I'm afraid we don't pick money off trees," he said. "Almost every council meet­ ing we have someone asking for money." Councillor Sparling pointed out that Blyth doesn't have a large commercial assessment so the homeowners have to pick up a larg­ er share of the tax bill than in some communities. Carol Casey questioned candi­ dates on their feelings about a recy­ cling program for Blyth. Councillor Lee said that Blyth already calls for people to separate their garbage into burnable and non-bumable garbage and many don’t do it. He wondered if people would properly sort their garbage for recycling. Right now there is a glut of materi­ als for recycling, he said. "At some point when the industry is on line, when there is a marke. (for recy­ PRINTING IS OUR BUSINESS Colour Printing Posters Letterheads Envelopes Business Cards WE CAN DO IT ALL! A COMPLETE PRINTING. SERVICE 1 Di VTU PRINTING INC. BLYTH 523-9211 cled materials) it will be time." Currently municipalities have to pay to have recycled materials taken away, he said. Mr. Scrimgeour wondered if Ms Casey would be willing to compost in the back yard. "We must stop garbage before it gets to the street Engineer hired to determine safety of Brussels building Brussels council Monday night agreed, pending advice of its lawyer, to hire a consulting engi­ neer to inspect the safety of a main street building. After reviewing a number of options to get action in repairing the front wall of the old Export Packers building, councillors decid­ ed they might as well hire the engi­ neer to see what can be done. The engineer's fee will be charged against the taxes of the building's owner. Council has been battling the building's owner for months over the need to repair the front wall which is leaning away from the building and out toward the street. Council was presented with options all the way from doing nothing and blocking off the sidewalk in front of the building, to taking legal action to require the owner to have an engineer's study done within 21 days and make repairs within 30 days or be charged. Clerk-treasurer Donna White recommended the lat­ ter course but Councillor Bruce Hahn suggested the owner was unlikely to comply with the order and was more likely to take the fine and the village would still be left with an unsafe building. Reeve Workman rejected the idea of blocking off the sidewalk: "If the wall goes, it will be half-way across the street." Reeve Workman pointed out the village already has invested thou­ sands in legal fees to see what action it could take to have the building made safe. Councillor Hahn suggested laying charges would likely cost the village thou- •Business Forms Brochures Flyers Carbonless Forms Labels (to be picked up)," he said. Councillor Sparling said the problem has to be eliminated at the source, with the problem of excess packaging. People must ask for intelligent packaging, he said. Mr. Szarek said he is glad to see garbage being burned at the Blyth- sands more. The village might as well hire the architect to see what needs to be done then demand the building be put in shape when the report comes in. If the work isn't carried out, then the village can have the work done and charge it to the taxes of the owner. "It's proba­ bly the only way to make it safe," he said. "We can have our heads split for fixing it but we can also save our butts from being sued (if the wall fell and hurt someone or damaged cars)" Reeve Workman said. Mrs. White said the building's owner has refused to co-operate with the building inspector and is apparently content to let the build­ ing stay in its current state. The owner had earlier suggested he would develop 10 apartments in the building as well as retail space on the main floor but plans were never forthcoming. Since then he has pro­ posed simply fixing up the original three apartments in the building as well as the retail space. No devel­ opment can start, however, until the village agrees to provide water and sewer service and that won't be allowed until a satisfactory agree­ ment is reached. A New Spirit of Giving A national program to encourage giving and volunteering VOTE for ROY AITCHESON for COUNCILLOR in MORRIS TOWNSHIP Your support would be appreciated IN MORRIS TOWNSHIP ON NOVEMBER 12 RE-ELECT WAYNE RILEY FOR COUNCILLOR your support Would be APPRECIATED IT'S TIME FOR A CHANGE VOTE CHARLES THOMAS FOR GREY TOWNSHIP REEVE Hullett landfill site. The cost of get­ ting a new landfill site is tremendous and "We're lucky we can still burn. We have to find a way to extend it." Retiring Reeve Albert Wasson summed up the meeting, congratu­ lating his council on their diligent work. There had been some trials and tribulations but "al least in the last half of the term the council has shown great progress." He said he regretted stepping down but cir­ cumstances "created around me have made me feel I should step down." He suggested another indi­ vidual who wouldn't have to declare conflict of interest so often would have a better chance as reeve. "I hope maybe I'll have another opportunity down the road," he said as the audience and candidates gave him a standing ovation. RE-ELECT GREG WILSON FOR BRUSSELS COUNCIL Are you concerned about Blyth? VOTE GEORGE SZAREK FORA BETTER BLYTH