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HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Lucknow Sentinel, 1984-11-30, Page 2• • 4, Lucknow Sentinel Wednesday, November 28, 1984—Page Search for site considered Lyons and Snobelen properties *from page 1 cated the soils at these sites were not suitable for the treatment system. The Sentinel requested a list of the alter- nate sites which were considered, and rejected but Steve Burns of 13: M. Ross and Associates said he did not think they could "create a',1ist". The original search was a study of all the areas surrounding Lucknow and the Milne property was selected because the soil conditions were adequate and it was a remote location, said Burns. When the second search was conducted after the Milne property became unavailable, the area south of the Pinecrest Manor Nursing Home in Lucknow had been rejected in the original analysis because the soils were too fine and the deline to the river is toe sharp in that area. It was not considered suitable as a second choice, The area at the bottom .of the Canning Street hill, east of the Anderson. Flax mill, was not suitable because 'it is too wet. It is • also closer to the river and within the- low floodplain area where there is a higher water table and the system would have to deal with water coming down the hill across the site to the river. A suggestion to lOcate the treatment facility , on this property and pump the treated sewage out to the West Wawanosh site to the tile bed system is considered too costly and imprac- tical by Burns. He said there is a consid- erable advantage to having everything on one site. ' 'Measurements To Seale • Glen Walden informed the meeting his measurements based on the scale plan prepared by the engineers puts the treatment facility considerably closer to the residences on Place Street in Lucknow than • the engineers indicate. The engineers describe the, proposed location as south of the fence along the Snobelen proPetty behind the Finnigan barn. Access to the location can be made along the laneway running south of the Finnigan barn C,oming in from Huron County ROad 1. ' There is some disagreement between the residents in the area and the engineers about the scale of the drawings and the • exact locatien of the site. The residents fear they are being told the facility will be located in one site and when it is built, the site will be much closer to the Lucknow residences on Place Street: County Amendment Requited Since the proposal is to locate the facility in Huron County and West Wawanosh Township- does not have a secondary plan, the property falls under the Huron County official plan. According to the Huron " County Planning Department an amend- ment to the official plan will be required, • because the property is zoned agricultural and greenbelt. • According to George Brophy, solicitor for the Village of Lucknow, Lucknow council has received' planning advice, which says the location of the facility in the township is not of county significance, and therefore, a planning amendment will not •be required. Expropriation Not Posslble Lucknow could not expropriate the Floyd Milne property When Milne refused to sell it to the village for the treatment facility. Not only is expropriation usually contested, making it an expensive process, the munic- aplity, cannot expropriate if suitable land is found elsewhere and the owner is willing to sell it to the municipality for the purpose they require. Residents Have Standing Before OMB The township residents who object to the location of the facility in their neighbour- hood will have standing before the Ontario Municipal Board at a hearing to decide whether the OMB will approve the proposal. The residents had been promised a hearing by Willard Page of the Ministry of the Environment because he did not know they would be allowed to present their case to the OMB. Page agreed to an information meeting to explain the proposal and to permit the residents to ask questions but a hearing will " not - be provided by the Ministry of Environment, because the • approval of the proposal falls under the Public Health Act and no hearing is required. • Acknowledge there will be complaints The engineers and the Ministry, of the Environment acknowledged at the meeting the residents i.n the area will coinplain if the facility is located on the proposed site They acknowledged there are instances when ()deur will be a problem and residents will have reason to complain, The officials emphazied however that the Lucknow facility is very small' and if the tanks used in the process are permitted to remain open mechanical difficulties should be kept to a minimum and odour will, 'not make habitation in the are undesirable. • County Health Unit Defers, APproval The Medical Officer of Health for Huron County, Harry Ceislar has notified Luck now Vilage Council and the Ministry of the Environment that the Huron County Public Health Unit wishes to turn over approval of the facility to the Ministry of the Environ • meat, E. T. Harrison, director of inspec tions for the health' unit, told the informa tion meeting, November 22, the health unit believes they are not qualified to Approv and assume responsibility for monitoring facility of this size. The health unit sent letter to the Ministry authorizing them t either approve or disapprove the project a Panel addresses questions of residents about sewage facility • Approximately 50 people including the West Wawanosh Township Council and concerned ratepayers of West Wawanosh • SPECI•AL REPORT and the Village 'of Lucknow attended an • information meeting called by the Lucknow • Village Council, to discuss the proposed sewage works treatment facility, to be located south of Lucknow 'in West Wawanosh Township. Burns Ross and Steve Burns of B. M. Ross and Associates, God'erich, engineer for the village of Lucknow, made presenta- • tions to the meeting explaining why the sewage works system is necessary in the village and the design of the proposed treatment facility. Following their presentations a question and • answer period was • conducted by George Brophy, solicitor for the village of Lucknow. Members of West Wawanosh Township Council and ratepayers of the • township and the village of Lucknow, who were in attendance asked questions of a • panel concerning the proposed facility and the impact' of its location. . Members of the panel included Lucknow Village, Council, , Burns Ross and Steve Ross, engineers for the village. of Lucknow, Cindy Fisher of the Huron County Planning • Department, Willard Page, Owen Sound, district officer of the- Ministry of Envir- onment, ,Bill Hutchison, environmental engineering officer, Ministry of the Envir- • onment 1-1. W. Rankin, director of inspec- tors, Bruce County Public Health Unit E.,, T. Harrison, director of inspections, Huron• , Coutity Public Health Unit and George Brophy, solicitor for the Village of, Luck - now. 11' The following is a partial text of The question and, answer period which took place at an information meeting'• held Nevember 22, at the Lucknow Town Hall. Kathryn Todd, West Wawanosh Why did Lucknow not proceed to expropri- • ate the Floyd Milne property, which had been approved suitable for the location of this treatment facility, especially when there were no objections to this site? George Joynt, reeve of Lucknow: When the option to purchase the Milne property • was made it was taken out for two years. It • would run out on. December 2, 1982. George Brophy, the solicitor for the town, called me and asked me what we wanted to do prior to the date of expiry and I told him to get in touch with Mr. Milne and see if he would agree to renewal of the option, and to set a date for expiry of the renewed option 'for the date the Ontario Municipal Board would bring down their decision. I was notified, after Mr. Brophy spoke to Mr. Milne he would not renew the option to purchase. The engineer (Burns Ross) went • to see Milne and he had made up his mil he didn't want to sell the property. So • either he made up his mind on the -fact it had closed and there was no finalization of the deal, he didn't want to sign a renewal, it could have been the tile bed area, I don't • know what it was. I can't tell you why he wouldn't renew George Exropriation itself is a very expensive procedure. Presumably Mr. Milne wouldn't have co-operated, or he • would have signed the renewal of the option. He wasn't going to ,co-operate, ,he • was going to oppose the expropriation, that would be a very expensive and hotly contested issue. Secondly you cannot expropriate some- thing just because you decide you want it. • The municipality has to prove the need for that particular property, if there are other sites available, you cannot expropriate this gentleman's •property over here, when there is somebody else over here prepared to sell to you momentarily,• • Gordon Brindley, deputy reeve West Wawanosh: Why did Lucknow council not have the guts to come to West Wawanosh council to see if they could get permission, to see: if they could even get the site before . they went to all this expense? Joynt: On October 24, 1983 the clerk of • Lucknow received a letter from Burns Ross who recommended she get in touch with the clerk of West Wawanosh and request a meeting between the two councils. Conse- quently, the earliest meeting the Lucknow clerk could get was December 6, 1983. On November 28, 1983 Lucknow • received another letter from Burns Ross stating that this meeting slated for December 6 had been cancelled by the clerk 6f the township of West Wawanosh and the council. Going to the .township of West Wawa - nosh with this facility is the last thing I ever wanted to do. The whole problem is that in the village of Lucknow we have no place else to go. As far as the type of soil conditions required, you.have to have fine aggregates, I don't want to do it and • neither does this council but Pin forced and this council has been forced to go out there. And I can tell you and I can tell my friends around here that signed this petition that I went to them and showed them a copy of both of these letters. I • showed them to Gerry Trieitap and Glen Walden. We as a council requested a meeting. I didn't want to go out there a • year or two years after and try to tell them what it was we wanted to do. That meeting could have been called sooner than • December. 6. , Gerry Priestap: Mr. Joynt do you -plan on forcing this site onto our property out there, no matter what we have to say? Joynt: There's no land in Lucknow. Priestaps • Did you try? Joynt: I wish you could tell me where it is. • Prlestap: Just because other property is. too dear, you fOund something cheap, that's why you ate going out there, and. this • letter also says you have no intentions of forcing, it on us. Brophy: This is an information meeting. • There_ is going to be an OMB (Ontario Municipal Board) hearing and at the OMB hearing an impartial body is going to sit • and make a decision on this. The Lucknow council obviously intends to have this property as the site for the sewage treatment facility and people disa- gree with that and if you disagree with that, you are perfectly entitled to make a presentation in front of the OMB and try to convince the OMB as to the right of your position. • • Jim Finnigan: How will you take the sludge out of the site. Is there a road to be built? Steve Burns, ere . ar•access ,road to the • site passes directly south of the Finnigan barn coming in from HurOn County Road 1• . Jim Finnigan: There' are kids that go around that barn. There is, no way that my father will allow you to use that road there. There is a road allowance behind there and that is what the town agreed to, that it was not going to be' anywhere near that barn. And Mr. Joynt knows that. Steve Burns: There is another option. We could go out to Canning Street, but certainly it was my understanding that this was,the access approved by Mr. Finnigan. I was not aware.that Mr. Finnigan had put a limitation on that. This is news to me. Jim Finnigan: There was a limitation when the land was purchased that they " would not go near that barn. They were supposed to go back the other way. There's kids running around there and the neigh- bours do not want that. And we have agreed there is going to be no road front • the barn to the highway for' that sludge to go out. Brophy: I think you had better have • Chester get hold of Mr. Ross and that had better be discussed. I was not iware of any • limitation that was in the contract. There is no limitation in the contract that says that. • Joe Hickey, West Wawanosh emmeillor; Why is Lucknow council proceeding when West Wawanosh • Township does • not approve? • ( Ab Murray, Lucknow councillor: I was •sitting on council when we made applica- tion to put sewers in the village of Lucknow. I don't know how come you figure it was the village of Lucknow that wanted the sewers. Bruce County Health Unit came to the Lucknow council with a problem. We are either going to clean up • the downtown area or we are going to dose it up. • , •N The only way we could ket funding at that time was to make application to the • water resources. That's what started the ball rolling. You seem to think it was the village of 'Iucknow that is putting this burden on the township of West Wawa - nosh. It all goes back that we do not run around dumping something into thecreek to get a • bad sample. They definitely came to the village with the problem. Pm sure if they come to the village of Auburn or the vil age 'of Dungannon, you have to act the same way. You either do it or It wasn't that we wanted to spend $1.5 million. •Hickey: I understand what you just told • me. This has happened other places. 'Ihey • must put a sewage sytem in. But that is really not my concern. It's your putting this in West Wawanosh. That's where I'm ,concerned. We do not, wish to have it. Sewage you tan put into Bruce COunty. It's a big place. • Murray: 'That is. just an arguement. As • far as forcing it on anybody, we took the best possible way that we could. If you list- en to the engineers there is definitely more uridesireable things in West Wawanosh than this thing and you don't nave to go very far. • Todd: Mr. Finnigan came to a council meeting in West Wawanosh and he told us he was told he could plant crops dver this and work the land. He said he got all his . information from the reeve. Finnigan: That is true. Mr. Joynt told my father specifically he would be able to work the land as he wished. There would' be no buildings on that site and i was there my self. • • Manray: I think that you are wrong. He Will be able to work the land other than where the buildings are. We have offered to purchase eight acres of the Finnigan property and eight' acres of the (Mike) • Turn to page 3' • 'fro S n area such yst( emg sid F ny my M he t ath ou • FI 11 our that m gait rttehhaee W e is ; sewa c l csoeplanuct In and 1 Af Lui Mir A 'Ne they destr the f Fir a.m. owne exten parke lretar . i PA a PI • di di