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