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HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Citizen, 1992-11-11, Page 19Fire prevention officer not needed, say county councillors When the 15 draft recommenda­ tions of the Huron County Study are circulated to the municipalities and the public, the proposal for a county fire prevention officer will not be included. That was the decision of Huron County councillors Thursday as they asked for amendments to the study before it was sent to the municipalities. The proposal in the study to con­ sider the fire prevention office "cre­ ates a position," said Tom Tomes, reeve of Stephen Township and currently the only candidate to become warden of the county next year. "Personally I don't think we need a fire prevention officer." He said volunteer fire departments are very close knit and wouldn't wel­ come someone coming from anoth­ er part of the county to tell them how to do their work. "I think it (the recommendation) should be eliminated right now and not go further." Reeve Tomes thought the recommendation has already been eliminated after comments back in March and was surprised to see it still in the report. He said travel expenses, let alone the salary of the officer, would be prohibitive. Goderich Reeve John Doherty also felt the recommendation had been sidelined at an earlier meet­ ing. He agreed that his fire depart­ ment wouldn't be pleased with an outside person giving advice. Bob Hallam, reeve of West Wawanosh, said he was "definitely opposed" to the cost of such an official. Jack Coleman, deputy-reeve of Stanley Township said many fire departments are under pressure to hire a full-time fire chief because of the administrative burden of doing fire inspections. The idea behind the hiring of a county fire safety Soil and crop meeting coming up by Brian Hall Farm Management Specialist for Huron County If crop farming is compared to baseball, then November is the bottom of the ninth inning of the seventh game. Very soon there will be no guessing about what effects different production factors had on yields - the proof is in the bin. Your local Soil and Crop Improvement Association has been keeping score of the players, treatments, and what really affected yields. The line-up includes com hybrid, soybean, wheat and canola variety trials, fertility, plant population and seeding and harvest method comparisons. Before we head into next year's competition and the World Series, we should review what happened this year and pick out the real winners. Trial results should be sent soon Continued from page 18 be sent to either Bruce Shillinglaw, RR 1, Londesboro NOM 2H0 or to the Ontario Ministry of Agriculture and Food office in Huron or Perth County. Trial results should be sent in by Nov. 23, however, later results will still be accepted. Remember to include your County council asks for road report The Huron County Road Com­ mittee has been asked to provide a report of what roads should be down-loaded from the county to the local municipalities. Hullett Reeve Tom Cunningham asked for the report after a motion of the road committee to circulate information about the county extending County Rd. 35 in How­ ick Township but also looking at removing County Roads 29 and 33 officer would be to take that burden off chiefs so there wouldn't be the need for so many full-time chiefs. An amendment was passed (put forward by Wingham Reeve Bruce Machan) to delete the provision for the fire safety officer. Also in the amendment was a move to include hard services like water and sewer to those soft ser­ vices like recreation and day care, that municipalities be encouraged to co-operate on providing. Anoth­ er provision to turn responsibilities for police villages over to the municipality was deleted because, Reeve Tomes said, the Ontario Municipal Act already gives that power to local municipalities. Norm Fairies, reeve of Howick, said he didn’t see anything wrong with the police village situation as it now stands. There are three police villages in his township. "Why eliminate them? What's the problem?" Tom Cunningham, reeve of Hul- lett said police villages* boards of trustees had so few financial resources that they could hardly cover street light costs, let alone other services. In the case of Auburn, the townships of Hullett, East Wawanosh and West Wawanosh got together to provide road improvements and split the cost of fire protection, he said. Villages split between townships have difficulty getting proper repre­ sentation on municipal councils because their vote is also split, Reeve Cunningham said. If police villages were to be dissolved, those split between two or three town­ ships should be included in one of those townships so they might have the voting strength to elect some­ one to sit on township council. Executive The executive for the Blyth Legion Branch 420 are, clockwise starting from bottom left, Donna Dougherty, president; Joe Chatterton, executive; Ralph McCrea, Sgt. at Arms; Alan Caldwell, poppy chairman; Robert Mclnnes, secretary; William Vincent, membership chairman; Gord Haggitt, first vice; John Stewart, service officer; Mary Lou Stewart, public relations officer and Clare Vincent, executive. Absent were: Robert Hillis, second vice; Donna Govier, treasurer; Chris Courtney, youth and education chairman; Colleen Bell and Doreen Ritchie, executive. The Huron Soil and Crop Improvement Association has organized its annual production meeting on Thursday, Dec. 3, 6:30 p.m. at the Blyth Community Centre. Tickets are available through your local soil and crop director or the Ontario Ministry of Agriculture and Food office in Clinton. Some key players and pinch­ hitters will be at the meeting to review this year's cropping trials and plan for 1993. Three of the players include Alan McCallum, Soil and Crop Advisor for Huron County; Laurence Taylor, Chairman, Land Stewardship Committee and Chris Hoskins, Maitland Valley Conservation Authority. One pinch-hitter this year is Dr. Erna van Duren, Agricultural Economics, University of Guelph. township and whether the trial was grown by no-till or conventional tillage. Com companies have also supported the Association by sending in variety trial results. Please check with your dealer to ensure your trial results are sent in. The more results received, the better the score card on varieties. from the county system. Both are also in Howick. Reeve Cunningham said it isn't fair to make such changes one at a time, leaving municipalities that were losing a county highway iso­ lated from the support of other municipalities. "If council wishes I can bring a map of roads that don’t meet the county criteria," Mr. Merrall said. $4.00 per metric tonne trucking allowance on soybeans and 7^ corn » CORN Now Receiving SOYAS & Londesboro Co-op is pleased to provide farmer- owned grain & bean elevator facilities in IB Londesboro. By working together, farmers can build their own successful agri-business! LONDESBORO CO-OP LONDESBORO Elevator 523-4470 Office 523-9606 Fast, Efficient Service Wagon Dumpers Competitive Trucking Rates Available Fair Grades & Prices