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HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Citizen, 1996-05-01, Page 1Vol. 12 No. 18 Wednesday, May 1, 1996 71 +4tGST75O itizen The North Huron Dump consultants' study advises U-turn for county Mousy ways It was a game of cat and mouse as the kindergarten students of Hullett Central Public School performed numerous feline and rodent skits for the spring concert. Lindsey Van Baaren was one of many mice who populated the stage for renditions of Hickory Dickory dock, the Old Gray Cat, Six Little Mice, Pussy Cat Pussy Cat and many others. The Grade One class told the story of monkeys in the kitchen and the Grade Six students spoke of spring celebrations from around the world. Senior pupils staged the operetta Hotel Hollywood. The band and choir also performed. Postal subsidy ends subscriptions rise News Changes on the horizon for Natural Resources offices in Wingham See page 6 Business Walton 's Freedom Lite Inc., new industry that's flying high Starting page 8 Community Committee unveils plan for Blyth Greenway Project See page 13 Two consultants advised Huron County councillors Thursday to shelve plans for a county landfill site and look instead at alternatives to dispose of county waste. Steve Janes of Gore and Storrie Limited and Richard Cave of R. Cave and Associates advised the county to make more use of exist- ing landfill sites in the county by putting them under county control, while looking at alternatives rang- ing from exporting garbage to land- fills elsewhere in southern Ontario or Michigan, to making greater use of the Hensall composting facility. The result could be major savings over the cost of opening and oper- ating a new landfill on the Ashfield Twp. site currently being consid- ered, both said. The studies recommend a U-turn in the direction the county has been heading for nearly a decade under the Waste Management Master Plan which in the 1480s had recom- mended that a landfill site be con- sidered to handle what garbage could not be diverted through recy- cling. But the Concerned Citizens of Ashfield and Area, (CCAA) repre- senting people living in the area surrounding the proposed site, west of Lucknow, had urged council to take a new look at alternatives that might have come up in the mean- time. They had consulted Cave who agreed that a landfill might no longer be the direction for Huron County to go. At CCAA urging, and with the support of some coun- cillors like Blyth's Mason Bailey Dr. Daniel Rooyakkers and West Wawanosh's Bob Hallam, county council agreed two months ago to undertake the parallel alter- natives studies from Cave and Gore and Storrie. While CCAA representatives got renewed hope a landfill in their back yard might be avoided, how- ever, their enthusiasm for incinera- tion as an option was not echoed by the consultants. Janes said that larg- er incineration systems would be prohibitively expensive to build and operate and that though one smaller system shows promise, his company is of the opinion air scrubbers or a bag system will need to be added to bring air omissions to required levels of purity. "It's not viable yet," Cave said of the small-scale incinerator. "It's way too risky. I don't think we've got the cost pinned down yet." The keys to the recommendations are the improved management of current landfills to extend their life, and the fact that the county has no control over industrial, commercial and institutional (IC&I) waste and, if tipping fees at a new landfill were too high, would find alterna- tives in exporting their wastes to landfills elsewhere in Ontario or Michigan. "If the industrial and commercial waste goes somewhere outside Huron, it would drive up the cost of the Huron landfill," said Janes. If the county could be assured of getting all IC&I waste the estimat- ed cost of operating a new Huron landfill would be $63 per tonne, but current prices for exporting garbage By Janice Becker "Aggressive recruiting, public relations and a high level of ser- vice" is what brings new doctors to Seaforth, says Dr. Daniel Rooy- akkers, the latest addition to the Seaforth Medical Clinic and soon- to-be physician at the Seaforth- Brussels Clinic. "The staff is very progressive in their handling of government changes and it puts Seaforth Com- munity Hospital in a healthier posi- tion than other small facilities. New doctors will see this as a plus (when choosing a location for a practice)." Dr. Rooyakkers comes to the Seaforth and Brussels communities after studying in London, Thunder Bay, Hamilton and Victoria B.C. as to sites in southern Ontario is $55- $65 per tonne. "It's ironic that under the Munici- pal Act you have to plan (a landfill site) to take IC&I waste but you have no guarantee you'll get it," Cave said. Both consultants recommended the county look at exporting at least part of its waste. "Waste export has emerged in the last two or three years as an attrac- tive alternative," Jane said. Four commercial landfilling operations in Ontario as well as several in Michigan are competing for waste. "In my opinion the trend in export costs is down, down, down," said Cave. The county may be able to nego- tiate a good deal on exporting part of its garbage if it is in a strong position because of alternatives within the county, both said. Such leverage can be obtained by mak- ing best use of existing landfill capacity in municipal landfills. This can best be accomplished by the county taking over authority for the sites, both said. "Not too many counties have got this major asset," said Janes of the remaining capacity in the municipal landfills. "In all honesty I think you have to look at the resource in the best interests of all." Cave said county management could bring economies of scale that would make the current landfills last longer. For instance, he said, individual municipalities cannot afford compacting equipment but if Continued on page 6 well as practising in northern rural areas such as Geralton, Armstrong and two years in Englehart. He also spent time in Africa and South America and hopes to return for a month of service in the future. While continuing his studies in psychiatry in Toronto, Dr. Rooy- akkers is only practising 2 1/2 days at the Seaforth Clinic, but will begin spending Tuesdays in Brus- sels beginning May 7. In speaking of his reasons for coming to Seaforth, Dr. Rooy- akkers says he enjoys rural practice and is glad to be back in South- western Ontario as he grew up in Mapleton, near St. Thomas. Dr. Rooyakkers fills his off hours with any kind of sport, particularly hockey, skiing, running, fishing and golf. A century-old postal subsidy which had helped keep the price of receiving a community newspaper lower has ended, effective this week, leading to increases to some subscribers to The Citizen and sav- ings for others. The change will see an end to the "free-zone", free mailing privileges within a 40-mile radius for commu- nity newspapers in towns and vil- lages of under 10,000 population. Instead all newspapers will cost eight cents each to mail, or $4 per subscriber per year. In expectation of this increase, The Citizen increased its subscription rate by $2 in November to cover the six months of postage costs required for newspapers for the final six months of the subscription. A 14-year-old Belgrave boy was taken to Wingham and District Hospital with minor injuries after being struck while riding his bicy- cle. Wingham OPP are investigating the incident which occurred on Conc. 6 in East Wawanosh at 2:45 Effective immediately, the sub- scription rate will increase an addi- tional $2, to $27, including GST. Even at this increased rate, The Cit- izen will not fully recover the addi- tional postage costs since it must pay GST on the additional postage. There is good news, however, for those living farther from the area. The higher postal rates which had driven up subscription rates for those farther than 40 miles from Brussels, or those living in commu- nities with postal delivery, have been reduced to the same 8 cents per week amount. Effective this week, subscribers anywhere in Canada will pay the same $27 sub- scription rate. The price of a single copy will increase to 75 cents effective this week. p.m. April 27. According to police a 1992 Volkswagon, driven by John Voskamp, 26 of RR2, Atwood, was westbound on the road. As he approached two cyclists, police say Voskamp sounded his car horn, to warn the riders, but one cut in front of him as he was passing. Brussels gets new doctor Cyclist struck by car