The Citizen, 1996-10-02, Page 1Vol. 12 No. 39 Wednesday, Oct 2, 1996
700 +5e GST750
By Janice Becker
By 1997, rural Ontario customers may see a change
in ,their phone bill as Bell Canada recently announced
an application to the CRTC (Canadian Radio-televison
and Telecommunications Commission) to improve the
quality of the service, eventually offering private lines,
call features and (hopefully) the elimination of mileage
charges.
At present, 61,000 rural Ontario Bell customers have
access only to party lines, mainly two or four clients
per line (though some areas have larger numbers), said
Gary Davison, chair of the Ontario Federation of
Agriculture Rural Affairs Committee and member of
the stakeholders panel which has worked with Bell for
rural improvements. (The number of independent
phone company users with party lines is unknown at
present.)
"Bell is hoping for speedy approval through the
CRTC to begin the modernization of rural phone
systems, said Davison. "They hope to get approval by
the year end and have a proposal on the table by the
end of the first quarter in 1997 for the elimination of
mileage charges."
The switch to digital technology will allow rural
users to purchase call features, select alternate long-
distance suppliers and improve fax/modem and intemet
services. These service enhancement features are
scheduled to be cOmpleted by the end of 1997.
The change in technology will give farmers and rural
families'"access to the information highway and
technology-to compete in today's global marketplace,"
said Tony Morris, OFA president.
The first phase of the application to the CRTC calls
for improved technology with a rate increase. The
second phase would involve the availability of private
lines and elimination of mileage charges.
Community
Committee names the
1996 Brussels Citizen of
the Year
See page 2
News
New riding facility opens
this weekend with horse
show
See page 6
Sports
Tigers' season ends.
Bulls play home opener,
Sunday
See page 11
Group of 6 says
`No' to province
The North Huron
itizen
By Bonnie Gropp
They will not go quietly.
•Council, staff and interested indi-
viduals from six local municipali-
ties met Sept. 25 in Brussels to
discuss amalgamation. The general
consensus was that while they
would do whatever they could to
share services and save costs, they
would not agree to boundary
changes.
Grey Twp. Deputy-Reeve Robin
Dunbar said, "We have decided on
[unarmed] resistance. We are say-
ing 'No' to the province."
The battle flag is being raised
over recent recommendations from
the province about the restructuring
of municipal governments. The
concern of many is that if an offen-
sive approach is not taken, any
decision may be taken from them.
"The one thing that seems to be
standing out, in any communica-
tions with the Minister of Munici-
pal Affairs and Housing Al Leach,
is that municipalites should get on
with the idea of restructuring. If
they don't the province may do it
for them," said Blyth Clerk-Trea-
surer John Stewart.
Several south Huron muniCipili-
ties have,already made a tactical
move by di-aWi•ng up a plan for
amalgamation.
Wary of waiting, Blyth council
organized a meeting last spring to
brainstorm with Brussels and the
townships of Morris, East
Wawanosh and Hullett.
After hearing more on the topic
at the August Association of
Municipal Officers (AMO) confer-
ence, Brussels council offered to
host another meeting with the
inclusion this time of Grey Twp.
The end result was the feeling that
while united they may stand, it will
not be with any change to the
municipalities, but rather to the
way business is done. "h was obvi-
ous from the start that councils are
not willing to see any boundary
changes. They will investigate the
sharing of services, but that's it,"
said Brussels Clerk/Treasurer
Donna White, who facilitated the
meeting.
Dunbar said, "We are doing
things efficiently now. Bigger is
not better. We all agreed that we
have yet to see that amalgamation
reduces costs to municipalities."
White also noted that there was a
great concern among those in atten-
dance that with amalgamation resi-
dents would lose a much needed
access to their politician. "Ratepay-
ers can access their local council-
lors easily."
"We feel this is democracy at
work," said Dunbar. "Ratepayers
can come and talk to to their local
politican."
Dunbar added that he is angry
that the "cost of the meetings
comes down on the taxpayers."Any
further discussion now will be done
by committee representatives, who
will act on each municipality's
behalf.
The need to explore options is
necessary as municipalities may be
hit with a cut in provincial transfer
payments. "We do expect cuts,"
said White, "but who knows how
much. We talked about ways of
surviving, but there were no solu-
tions."
Presently Brussels receives
$112,834, while Blyth get $96,626.
The townships are looking at losses
up to: $422,144, Morris; $255,983,
Continued on page 6
By Janice Becker
"This has been a tough year with
not much coming off (on sched-
ule)," said Brian Hall, Soil and
Crop Achlisor with the Ontario
Ministry of Agriculture, Food and
Rural Affairs office, Clinton.
The county received one and a
half to three inches of rainfall this
past weekend to add to the record
pace. Rain in the south has been
heavier, said Hall.
The wet September has caused
the wheat planting schedule to fall
behind. Though not yet out of the
acceptable period, it is past the
peak planting time frame. Next,
year's yields could be affected due
to the late planting, he said.
The quality of early white beans
continues to drop as the harvest is
delayed while the late white are
holding their own. "This week will
be critical for a good bean crop as it
is ready now," he said.
A few soyabean fields have been
harvested in recent days with the
quality coming in at average to
good.
The moisture level in the corn is
still high, however the_ fields which
were the most advanced in July and
were harder hit by corn bore will
need to be taken off as soon as pos-
sible. Farmers will not be able to
wait for the corn to dry down or
mature.
The pressure is increasing on
farmers as the delayed harvest for
several crops may cause a bunching
of harvest times near the end of the
season, said Hall. Producers, are
showing concern over the amount
of work which will have to be com-
pleted late in the fall.
Hot Dog Howdy!
Grey Central School decided on a different approach to the traditional parent teacher night
with a Hot Dog Howdy held last Wednesday night. Though the weather was a little on the
chilly side, there was a good turnout to the getting acquainted evening, either because of
the tasty dogs or for an opportunity to see the staff slaving over the barbecues. Alyssa
Diehl, daughter of David and Dianne, RR3, Brussels was one of many children taking in all
the excitement of the event. Crop advisor says
1996 a tough year Parties soon over
or rural phones