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Home My WebLink AboutThe Citizen, 1991-12-11, Page 18PAGE 18. THE CITIZEN, WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 11,1991. County, Council briefs Councillors vote to freeze salaries Huron County Councillors decid ed at their Nov. 22 meeting (the last meeting of the old council) to rec ommend that no increase in the salaries or expense alotments of councillors next year. Under the plan, councillors would continue to receive $68 for a half-day session and $99.25 for a full-day session of council or com mittees. The mileage for council lors and staff without a car allowance will continue to be 30 cents per km while those with an $80 a month car allowance will receive 27 cents per km. The conference allowance for meals remains at $50 per day. The motion passed with little debate but Hullett Reeve did express reservations. "I applaud what you're doing but I wonder if in the long run it is the right thing to do," he said. He pointed out that when councillors put off increasing their stipends along with everybody else, they fall behind. At some point they then put in a larger than normal increase to catch up and the press plays it up and "we're painted to be the bad boys." However, he said if the councillors' sacrifice could inspire county staff to take less it might be worth it. "If we can come in with a 0 per cent increase to staff that's great." John Rodges, deputy Reeve of Goderich township said the execu tive committee felt that it should have been bringing in a recommen dation for a 2.5 per cent increase but "we felt we should be setting an example". The council approved a recom mendation from the executive com mittee that all departments aim to hold the budget increase to 2.5 per cent in 1992. ♦♦♦ Proposals will be sought from auctioneers on the sale of surplus properties of the road department. Up for sale will be the old county garage property in Wroxeter and the Fortune farm in Turnberry township. Money from the sale, explained Clerk-Administrator Nigel Bellchamber, must be used for roads department expenditures since the properties were purchased with funding from the Ministry of Transportation. Morris Reeve Doug Fraser, chairman of the road com mittee, pointed out that the money could be well spent in roads with the plans to upgrade the Cunning ham Bridge near Ethel next year. ♦♦♦ Gross revenue from the county's sale of surplus equipment, held at the Auburn garage totalled $81,646, including $5100 in sales for other municipalities. The coun ty had budgeted to make $50,000 from the sale but actually cleared $61,881. The county will forward a resolu tion to the Good Roads Association to have the association ask the province to re-write the Ontario Railway Act. County Engineer Denis Merrall Expensive testing on candidate sites won't be done unless necessary Huron County Council approved a budget of up to $11,000 per site for boring test holes on the six candidates sites for the Huron County landfill but if sites can be eliminated by a simple look at the lay of the land, the money won't be spent. Dr. Gary Davidson, director of planning ano development told county council Nov. 27 that once access is gained to the sites, if a simple walk-over of the site, or soil testing for agricultural purposes shows that the site is not suitable, it will be eliminated without further expense. Dr. Davidson was answering a question from Lionel Wilder, Reeve of Hay, who said people at a meeting in Vama had indicated the candidate site in Goderich Town ship has many springs and is proba bly unacceptable. "Should we spent $11,000 to prove it is an unaccept able site?" he wondered. Albert Wasson, Reeve of Blyth and chairman of the Waste Man agement Steering Committee said it's the intention of the committee to use the most cost efficient method to examine each site, start ing with the cheapest first. Grant Stirling, Reeve of Goderich Township said he was glad to hear that a visual inspection might be enough to eliminate a property because "I'm 100 per cent sure the site in Goderich Township is unacceptable." He called the site a very bad choice, being close to a farm residence and covered by a 100 year old woodlot. Howick reeve Norm Fairies said that no matter what the cost, the job of examining the candidates sites must be done the right way. He pointed to the case of Tiny Town ship where one step was missed in the evaluation process and an entire study was turned back by the envi ronmental board. Meanwhile other councillors questioned what the operation of the new site would be like. Exeter Reeve Bill Mickle wondered what would be allowed to be accepted at the site. With the Blue Box Pro gram, and composting and reduc tion programs, he wondered what would be left to put in the landfill. But Dr. Davidson said even with all the programs to reduce waste, it would be difficult to meet the provincial target of reducing 50 per cent of the waste stream. The site is being designed on the basis of that amount of reduction, he said. It may mean that there has to be a ban on some materials, he said. The Waterloo regional dump refuses to accept corrugated cardboard, for instance. "Can we ever reuse every thing?" he asked, and answered "No.- Reeve Mickle wondered if the county was going to identify what materials would be acceptable at the new site but Dr. Davidson said the Waste Management Master Plan Study does not recommend it at this time. McKillop Reeve Marie Hicknell wondered if the Waterloo Region's Erb St. site in Kitchener was a model for the Huron site. Dr. Davidson said the site in Huron would be less visible. Most of the candidate sites are well back from the road, he said. The Waterloo site also has a large-scale composting plant which is visible from the road. If composting is adopted in Huron it may not necessarily be at the landfill site, he said. Grey Township Reeve Leona Armstrong expressed disappoint ment at the turnouts at two public meetings to discuss the landfill sites. The weather for Monday night's Brussels meeting had made driving poor, she said, but she had expected more people at the meet ing in Vama. "We're spending, and will be spending, mega bucks on waste management and it should be a concern to everybody in Huron," she said. explained again that the sale of the Goderich-Stratford CN Rail line to RailTex Inc., a private short-line operator from Texas, means the rules set down under the National Transportation Act will no longer apply and the railway would oper ate under the outdated Ontario law, a law intended only for street rail ways in urban centres. The act was last amended in 1951. Under the provincial legislation, there is now rules on the sharing of costs for level crossings or replace ment of railway bridges over road ways. "The potential liability would be several million dollars," he said. A township like Tuckersmith might be heavily hit financially, he said. Mr. Merrall said a meeting has been arranged with the Ministry of Transportation which has begun to realize how much it has at stake. The object would be to get an Ontario Municipal Board ruling that would leave the municipalities and the province no worse off than they are under the current federal legislation. ♦ ♦♦ Welfare rolls in Huron continue to grow at a record rate as the recession bites deep into the local economy. John MacKinnon, administrator of Social Services for the county said that the number of beneficiaries on social assistance in October increased 97.34 per cent over October 1990. Still, of 63 municipalities reporting, Huron County had the second lowest per centage of population receiving social assistance at only 1.28 per cent, compared to 7.14 per cent of the population of Peterborough receiving assistance. County council supported a reso lution from Grey County calling on the province to make immediate changes to criteria for eligibility for assistance which "has had a dra- matic and unacceptable increase impact on local costs." Council also supported another resolution from Kent County and the City of Chatham calling for the province to pick up all additional costs from the changes brought about by the "Back on Track" changes to the social assistance package. Council also approved a proposal to establish a Municipal Employ ment Program that would help match clients on social assistance with available jobs.The county only has to pick up 15-20 per cent of the cost, Mr. MacKinnon said in an interview later, and can recover that additional cost quickly if it can get people off the welfare roles. ♦♦♦ If the reduction in interest rates continues, county taxpayers could reap a big reward in reduced costs for financing the Huronview devel opments. County Treasurer Bill Alcock explained to the Executive committee that reduced interest costs and a faster payment of the province's contribution to the pro ject, could save the county $275,000 in 1995. ♦♦♦ Margaret Cronyn of Blyth received the Huron County Schol arship at Ridgetown College on Nov. 27. ‘for that unique and Make The Season Sparkle. (Jive Teleflora’s Crystal Sleigh Bouquet. Stunning flowers in an exquisite, faceted crystal sleigh. Your thoughtfulness will be treasured forever. To send one almost anywhere, call or visit our shop today. CHRISTMAS & COUNTRY Gifts & Flowers Blyth 523-4820 original gift come to The Pottery We will be open daily from Tuesday December 10th until Tuesday December 24th Weekdays (including Sat.) 10:30 a.m. - 5:00 p.m. Sundays 1 - 5 p.m. NO G.S.T. WILL BE CHARGED The Pottery BLYTH 523-9733 Note: We will be closing for the winter months ‘with a minimum $499. purchase O.A.C. ZILLIAX GODERICH 524-4334 LISTOWEL 291-1461 ■ ■ OPEN: Mon. to Sat. 9:30 - 5:30 Thurs. & Fri. ‘till 9:00 TOYLAND SALI COUNTY ROAD 12, WALTON 527-0245 887-6365