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HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Citizen, 1992-08-05, Page 1News 1 Farm markets Entertainment Blyth councillors agree to use written motions from now on Cattle prices drop $1 at Brussels last week Katherine Kaszas glad to be back with ‘Midnight’ See page 3 See page 11 See page 19 Bly th vacancy filled by Doug Scrimgeour CitizenTheNorth Huron After the sudden resignation of Blyth councillor John Elliott on July 6, the village council was faced with the problem of filling yet another vacant council seat for the third time in four years. After a lengthy discussion, the council finally nominated Doug Scrimgeour to fill the empty seat at its July 28 meeting. Reeve Dave Lee opened the discussion asking how council felt they should go about replacing the lost council member. Councillor Steve Sparling said that according to the Municipal Act there were three choices: a by-elec­ tion, appointment, or choosing the next person on the ballot. He then proceeded to ask Coun­ cillor Robbie Lawrie his opinion on how the vacancy should be filled. Councillor Lawrie responded by saying they should take the runner- up in the last election. Councillor Sparling then asked if Councillor Lawrie felt this was the right action to take "regardless of how much time" had passed after the election, and Councillor Lawrie replied he did. Councillor Sparling in turn stated that he thought a time frame should be installed. The question of the disinterest of the next person on the ballot was then brought forward by Councillor Sparling. Councillor Lawrie said they should "go to the next guy" because if he/she took the time to run, they're probably still interest­ ed. Reeve Lee reminded the council­ lors that advertisements were used to fill empty positions on the PUC. "If they advertise, the person is indicating that they really do want the job, " he added later. New Blyth Councillor The vacancy on the Blyth council was filled at the July 28 meeting. Doug Scrimgeour was appointed to replace John Elliott who resigned July 6. Councillor Sparling related that his inquiries told him appointment was the most common method of filling vacancies. However, he was quick to point out that he felt appointments disappointed a lot of people, and he used his own in 1989 and Loma Fraser's in 1990 as examples. Councillor Shirley Fyfe had little to say about the situation except she felt advertising followed by appointment would be a viable solution. Following the lengthy discussion a motion was made by Councillor Lawrie to ask the next person on the ballot to fill the spot on council, the runner-up being Doug Scrim­ geour. Mr. Scrimgeour was present for the discussion, and Reeve Lee asked him if he would stand as councillor if asked. The answer was yes. Councillor Sparling stated for the second time that evening, that he saw the need to adopt a by-law for filling vacancies on council. Nominations were opened to fill the vacancy and Mr. Scrimgeour was nominated first by Councillor Lawrie, second by Councillor Spar­ ling, and third by Councillor Fyfe. Mr. Scrimgeour will be sworn in at the next council meeting. Wingham OPP report quiet holiday weekend It was a very quiet holiday week­ end according to the Wingham OPP detachment. No liquor seizures were made, and no acci­ dents were reported except for a single vehicle accident in T umber - ry Twp. Crystal Finley of RR 1 Wingham lost control of her vehicle on Cone. 6/7 of Tumberry Twp. while pass­ ing another on loose gravel, caus­ ing her to skid into the ditch and strike a fence. There were no injuries and vehicle damage was light. Blyth plays Trick on dogs running loose At the July 28 meeting of the Blyth village council, Bob Trick of the animal control services in Clin­ ton made an agreement to provide a similar service for Blyth. Mr. Trick reviewed the by-laws and dog tag collection procedures followed by the village and pro­ claimed them quite outdated. He hopes the council will adopt Clin­ ton's by-laws, which he finds to work very well. Once a week, Mr. Trick will do a patrol of Blyth. If he sees a dog It’ll have to do Kids and water are traditional Civic Holiday partners and Amber Koehler of Belgrave keeps the tradition alive swinging on a rope into a backyard wading pool. It may not be quite as much fun as a swimming hole in a river, but then the weather wasn't quite the kind that made swimming a rite of summer either. with no tag, he will either encour­ age the owner to buy one from the clerk or sell one on the spot. In Clinton, dog owners buy tags on their own in January and Febru­ ary. For a single male dog owners pay $10 and for each additional male dog they pay $15. For a sin­ gle female owners pay $20 and for each additional female, there is a charge of $30. After March 1, owners must pay more. As it stands in Blyth, dog tags collection relies on the honour system. Mr. Trick can be called if there are any problems with a dog. Dur­ ing the day he can be contacted through the clerk's office and at night, through the dispatch in Mount Forest. Noise complaints concerning barking dogs can be made to the police. "A dog in Ontario," informs Mr. Trick, "is allowed one bite. After that it's an offense." The police look after the dog after that, he con­ tinues and the dog has to be quar­ antined 10 days at the owner's expense. Each patrol to Blyth will cost $30 and each call that he has to respond to, to pick up a dog, will also cost $30. The dog owner has to pay $50 if Mr. Trick picks up a dog. The police accompany him for the removal of dogs for protection. Blyth council moved to adopt Clinton's by-laws, plus have an additional by-law that a dog must be chained or within a fenced area so it is at^east three feet from the property line while unattended on the owner's property.